From what I understand, standard lift kits (meaning Rancho, Pro Comp, etc.) on the mini trucks/Blazers are a bear to put on. My first recommendation is have someone knowledgable do it for you.

All that aside, yes it's pretty common to get a three inch lift. Rancho makes a decent lift kit. It all depends on what size tires you want. And then we start getting into the headache of new gears and stuff to get your driveability closer to what it was!

Hope that helps.

- J.R. -

 

I just purchased a 94s10 and I did some looking and it seems like if you aren't mr. money bags it's hard to find a lift kit. I plan to put on a 3" body lift, even though I don't like them, just because it is sooo expensive to buy a kit. Some one told me that the reg. 4x4 and the zr2 are no different except for the lift springs in the back. If that is so you could just tweak up the torsion bars in the front and add some longer shackels to the back and have at least the 2" lift that the zr2's come with from the factory. I do that soon and post what I find out. Much luck

 

The ZR2 IS different from the "regular" S-10's. Aside from the extra 15 hp, the frame is also wider, as are the rear axle and I believe the A-arms (axle shafts, etc.).

- J.R. -

 

Did you ever get a chance to measure the difference in the A-arms? To get decent lift and articulation out of one of these trucks, it'll probably have to be some kind of custom fabricated kit or something. That sucks, because these are very nice trucks, and even though Toyota and Ford supposedly sell more and seem to be more popular to be used with lift kits and stuff (I think the problem is that few drive this type of truck because there aren't any good, high articulation lift kits, and because of this, no one makes any suspensions comparable to what is available for Toyotas and Jeeps, and that type of vehicle). I'm wondering if the front suspension (at least A-arms maybe, and possibly axle shafts) from a full size chevy might be able to be modified to work on one of these trucks. A friend of mine has a full size Chevy truck, and I think I'm going to be doing some measurements on it and see what I can find...

Tim
"The_Sandman_454"
/wwwthreads_images/icons/cool.gif '79 Suburban 4x4 454, 6" lift, 35x12.5s & '85 GMC S15 4x4

 

I haven't had a chance to find out any measurements. I suppose I will do that this weekend, if I can get the time!

I looked at the fullsize set up, and the control arms on those suckers are wayyyyy too wide to apply to our mini trucks. I think the best best is either custom fab or go with the ZR2 set up.

I e-mailed that guy from the link I sent you earlier, and he tells me that Camburn was going to make the arms for about $800. Please note, that doesn't include new axleshaft mounting, shock hoops, shocks, rear springs, bigger torsion bars, better ball joints, etc.

I think tonight I'll go through all the stuff I received about doing my old Toyota and see what applies to the Chevy. My only problem is that I have four wheel antilock disc brakes. This is good on a stock level but can be a bear when you go with a lift. I think the other lift kits which have extensions to the ABS lines, but I'm a little wary of any type of connection to an electrical source. You tend to lose a little along the way with connectors in the path...

man, so much to think about! So little time! NO MONEY AT ALL... Gotta win the lottery. Or knock off some convenience stores or something...

FBI, Cops, etc. please note -- it's a frickin' joke. /wwwthreads_images/icons/wink.gif

- J.R. -

 

*cough cough* J.R., let me know when you're going to *cough* knock over those stores, because I need some cash too, and wouldn't mind helping... Notice, this is a continuation of J.R.'s joke. In no way am I serious, at least, although I'd like any cash donations anyone is willing to donate to the "J.R.'s and Sandman's GM SMALL TRUCK SUSPENSION UPGRADE FUND" What you'll get in exhange for your donations: The satisfaction of knowing you helped two guys who just want good high articulation suspensions for GM Small Trucks be able to afford some.
/wwwthreads_images/icons/laugh.gif/wwwthreads_images/icons/laugh.gif/wwwthreads_images/icons/laugh.gif/wwwthreads_images/icons/laugh.gif/wwwthreads_images/icons/laugh.gif/wwwthreads_images/icons/laugh.gif

Yeah, those ABS lines wouldn't be something to do too much fooling around with. I'll bet a brake place could set it up with longer lines and wires for a fair price.

Ouch! $800 for the A-arms alone seems a little steep, at least to me, especially considering that amount is about 1/2 the price a complete kit for a Toy would run.

Tim
"The_Sandman_454"
/wwwthreads_images/icons/cool.gif '79 Suburban 4x4 454, 6" lift, 35x12.5s & '85 GMC S15 4x4

 

The price actually isn't that bad, considering Advanced Toyota Suspensions wants about $1200 for their A-arm kits for Toys. Of course, I have heard both good and bad about the ATS kits (from they're great to they suck), but never got a chance to see one up close.

And of course there's always other places to try...

- J.R. -

 

I guess I haven't seen either new prices lists, or complete kit prices, then. Isn't it weird how different people can give such a different review of a product?

Tim
"The_Sandman_454"
/wwwthreads_images/icons/cool.gif '79 Suburban 4x4 454, 6" lift, 35x12.5s & '85 GMC S15 4x4

 

Yeah, it's interesting to see what people have to say about a product. Sometimes you have to add up the "nay's" and the "yay's" and take the difference as a general guideline.

Some people have such bad luck with products, not to mention they might have screwed something up during installation. Others have great results with a product and they'll swear by it up and down...

We're considering putting out a magazine for trucks here pretty soon. It'll be expensive (it's a newsletter), but it'll be just like Motorcycle Consumer News (for those of you who know what MCN is). We'll be doing some real world product tests and give the results without any BS. We don't have advertisers, and will do actual results based on dyno's, gas sampling, etc. Should be real interesting once we get it off the ground!


- J.R. -

 

That magazine/news letter sounds very interesting... Any other info. about it, like actual pricing available yet?

I'm glad I just had a Statistics class, so I can figure out the average, and stuff like the standard deviation, and all that other crap that is useless to 99.999% of the general population about the opinions. /wwwthreads_images/icons/smile.gif/wwwthreads_images/icons/laugh.gif

Tim
"The_Sandman_454"
/wwwthreads_images/icons/cool.gif '79 Suburban 4x4 454, 6" lift, 35x12.5s & '85 GMC S15 4x4

 

Well, you do know that 74.37% of those numbers are made up, right? /wwwthreads_images/icons/smile.gif

Nothing new yet on the newsletter. All I can tell you now is that we are planning on getting our first issue out for January, 2000. We're just starting this one out.

I'll get more details once we get everything going well!

- J.R. -

 

cool, keep us posted!!!

Tim
"The_Sandman_454"
/wwwthreads_images/icons/cool.gif '79 Suburban 4x4 454, 6" lift, 35x12.5s & '85 GMC S15 4x4