K10 lift+speed

[tard01]

Anyone here taken a 4wd with some tires/lift and put it into more of a drag racer category rather than an off road build?

If anyone did, curious what build you went with. Block/tranny/gearing/lift size / tire size and how you feel about your results?

Been leaning towards starting a K10 project. probably in the range of a 2-6" suspension lift, 33-35" tires. Been leaning towards a 383 and gearing it more for speed than power. A bit of a reverse obvious sleeper. Obviously the weight and keeping the power to the ground will be a big obstacle, but i'm not going for full blown drag style, just some chirp-ing now and again.

curious how others may have done this if they have. did they gear front/rear for speed over power, or just the rear and 2wd it, then have the ability to switch to 4w for some more power in the front when needed?

[willett]

my '78 k20 has a 4" lift, 35's, and a 454. 3:73's behind a th400 it will blow most new gasser pickups out of the pond. Don't expect to win any 1/4 mile records but it sure is a good feeling to smoke some cocky bastard in a brand new f-150 at a traffic light

[Rubble]

Willet,I got a kick out of your comment!!! One more reason for the old square eh!!! Yup,really cool when the 78 kicks the newer truck butt!!!
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[Firebirdjones]

Yep, I've done this with a couple of 4x4's.

Lately I've been taking my 72 4x4 blazer to the strip for some passes, it's a blast.

The first one I did was a Jeep Scrambler, 4" suspension lift with soft springs and 2" body lift. 4.10 gears and 32" tires. I then installed a 96 injected LT1 355 mildly built, with a 4L60E behind it.
I knew the Jeep was fast on the street and had a ball sneaking up on people, but anything above 90 mph I was a bit hesitant. At the strip it weighed exactly 3500 lbs. and went 13.40 at 102 mph. That thing was just down right scary at those speeds though. So I had to rethink the suspension lift idea for a race truck But we drove it daily for a few years and loved it.

Fast forward to now. Left my 72 blazer 4x4 stock ride height, installed a front (and soon rear) sway bar for more stability. Installed 33" tires which raised the truck slightly but it's nothing extreme.
Then installed a 2004 6.0 LQ4 vortec, a 4L60E behind it, and swapped over to 3.73 gears. It gets up and goes very well. Just recently at the strip it weighed 4,960 lbs. and ran 14.40 at 95 mph. Put a whoopin on a new 5th gen SS camaro that slept at the light and spun his tires, I held him off to the finish line, absolutely hillarious Guy was shaking his head after that pass.
I had a video of it in the 69-72 blazer section for a while but don't know what happened to it, lost track. It was titled "Wanna see a 5,000 lbs. Blazer whoop a 5th gen SS?"

In reality though the blazer is just too heavy for any serious 1/4 mile work. Definately spunky. I drive it everyday. Soon to have a Magnuson on top for another 100 hp and new 1/4 mile times

Just for comparison sake, I'm taking my 79 1 ton pickup down on Dec 8th for some test and tune. It's a 2wd with a fresh 502, a 400 turbo and 3.73's. That truck weighs 5300 lbs. though but it cracked the 14's years ago with the original 454 in it. I expect it to be somewhere in that range still, just curious if it will run better than the blazer or not.

[tard01]

my buddy has been leaning me towards a 4L80E 4.10 and 4.11 gearing. I havent done enough research yet to have formed an opinion on that. He recommends the 80E instead of 60 because he's also trying to talk me into a programmable automatic shifter so i can adjust between streetable and quickpass that will jerk on the tranny a lot harder when engaged, so stepping up to the 80E should give me less wear and tear in the long run.

I've been trying to decide on tire and lift height. do you have a picture of your 33" with mild lift?

I know what i want from looking at other k10's, but i am not sure what height they are since most pics i find don't come with spec's =P

I think i can get away with using 33's and 2-4" but not sure if that meets what i want, or if it's jsut wishful thinking. I'd like to avoid going too extreme. I want a certain proportional look when the truck is finished and be able to use it as a semi-daily driver if i chose to. not looking to set any record times -- just surprise people.

[Firebirdjones]

We think alike. I also wanted a clean look, nothing lifted high, drive it daily etc..I also wasn't looking to set track records, but it is peppy enough to be fun to drive.

I'm not quite grasping the idea your buddy has on the 4L80 but I know what you mean. They do have capability of switching to and from tow/haul mode but I was never really interested in that for what I'm doing. I use Hptuner to tune with, and can change around the trans tables to my liking. Even with the shift kit installed I still moved the shift pressures around a bit for a nice firm shift, but nothing bone jarring. Once set I'm happy and just leave it alone.
I didn't use the 4L80 I had because it was just too long for my swap, and I didn't want to move the transfer case backwards and open a can of worms with driveshaft lengths, reconfiguring the exhaust system etc....As it was I had to move the engine forward 1.5" to accomodate the 4L60E and that's all I wanted to move. I built the trans to hold about 600 hp and I've been happy since. The low 3.06 first gear helps to get this heavy truck moving quickly without the need for excessive rear gear, hence the mild 3.73's, but if I really wanted to make this thing move, I would prefer 4.10's, even with the 3.06 first gear. That combo was kick ass in the Jeep Scrambler I built (mentioned above).
If you go with the 4L80 and a 33" tire, I'd personally want more than a 4.10 gear because the 80 still uses the 2.48 first gear. These trucks are heavy and need assistance to get up and go, if you are really after a peppy truck that is.

Different ways to go about it.

Here are a couple of shots of mine anyway. No lift on this one, just 33's, which made it high enough that I still unfortunately have to climb in. It's serves as the family SUV and daily driver for me.

[tard01]

ya, it sounds like we're pretty darn similar, but it also sounds like you've got more parts laying around than i do, hah. I'll be taking my sweet time prepping the frame and body since that is going to pretty much be my only way to slow myself down from buying too much too fast =P

Really like your truck, very nice.

i'm 6'6" so height and climbing arent my issue =P I had a 2009 Sierra 2500hd 8" lift and 37" tires that i could still just scoot into, no stepping or lunging required.


thanks for posting that picture. it may have told me i'll want 35's and 4" lift. I'm still in pre-planning phase, so i'll be hunting more pics/measurements to get that proportion i want, but that pic and measurement gives me a much better idea what i'm comparing to.


I very much appreciate the feedback. Probably couldn't have found a more similar mindset.

Out of curiosity, when you ran at the strip, did you keep it 2H, or go to 4H? I assume 4H, but was just curious.

[Firebirdjones]

I've just left it in 2HI.

[andrewmp6]

I would change the 383 for a lq4 its the 6.0 truck engine.Do a cam swap and car intake it will be pretty nasty but still be ok on fuel tho.

[Firebirdjones]

Originally Posted by andrewmp6

I would change the 383 for a lq4 its the 6.0 truck engine.Do a cam swap and car intake it will be pretty nasty but still be ok on fuel tho.

That's what I'm running, but I elected to keep the truck intake for a few reasons. On the dyno they actually make great power to about 55-5600, and the torque curve is much better below that range than the passenger car intakes, which is exactly what a heavy truck needs to get moving. The passenger car intake (most popular being the LS6) only makes more power above 5,000 rpms. I'm spending most of my time below that even though I shift at 6,000. I don't want to trade off the torque loss for a minor gain in peak power.

Also changing the truck intake for a car intake requires changing the entire accessory drive setup as everything is mounted lower to clear the throttle body. That's another added expense.



I have an LS6 cam here for a swap, but again a very tame camshaft to keep torque in a real range that is better suited for a truck. The cam will go in when the maggy goes on.

[russgt]

Like this?

Bobby's 4x4 truck - YouTube

[tard01]

ya...... no....

[Firebirdjones]

Originally Posted by russgt

Like this?
Bobby's 4x4 truck - YouTube

Not exactly. That really doesn't fit under the catagory of sleeper.

Mine is from Magnuson, maybe 6-7" tall and designed specifically for the LQ truck engines, fits under the hood of most cars, and will easily fit with room to spare under the hood of the blazer. I hope to get it installed after a get a better rearend underneath of it. As it is right now it likes to snap the pinion gear.

[Firebirdjones]

Here's mine at the track a couple weeks ago. The guy in the SS camaro didn't expect it. Funny stuff.

http://s755.photobucket.com/albums/x...t=M2U00044.mp4

[tard01]

Thanks for sharing the vid! love the camaro smoke too hahha