It's been a while since I've updated this thread. We've had such a hot summer I didn't feel much like working on the Blazer.
I finally made some time this weekend. I bought some drop spindles and heavy duty springs since I'm putting a big block in it.
I've never changed ball joints or spindles. I was nervous about doing the swap so it was easy to make excuses to not do it. This weekend I finally manned up and went for it.
The driver's side took about 8 hours and 4 trips to the parts store and the passengers side took about 2 hours. I would have had it done sooner but the threads on the bottom ball joint were galled up some so I had to clean them up and that took about 30 minutes. I cut the heavy duty springs because I don't think the 2" spindle drop would be nearly enough. I cut 1 3/4 rounds out of the springs. Hopefully, the truck won't drag the ground once the engine is in it. If it does, I guess I'll get another set of springs and cut them less.
I'm shocked at how little clearance there is between the steering arm and the rim. It was so close that it knocked the inside weight off of the rim. I guess I'll have to grind it some and maybe use a spacer just to give myself a little clearance.
I changed the tie rods too.
To type this out it doesn't seem like I didn't much but my back would beg to differ.
My next hurdle will be the brake lines. I'm completely replacing the brakes since the whole system was in bad shape. After the brakes, I hope to swap the 3 on the tree column for the Automatic column.
Here are the pictures. I know some people are going to give me crap for not painting the A-arms but this isn't a show truck. I am much more concerned about it being safe and reliable. The fancy stuff will come later after I get it back on the road.
