04 blazer project

What's wrong with the ratchet latch you've got on there now?

not as blingy

What's wrong with the ratchet latch you've got on there now?

We learned in lemons racing that ratchet straps are far more tolerant of hood misalignment, impacts and damage than hood pins are.

Thought that was worth a mention with your take-no-prisoners offroading style lately.

Thought that was worth a mention with your take-no-prisoners offroading style lately.

i really need to stop that.
it's not sustainable

progress



next up is grill and skid plate.

This is probably a stupid question for a truck getting HD bumpers and a winch but how much do you think the hood latch and bracket weighed?

This is probably a stupid question for a truck getting HD bumpers and a winch but how much do you think the hood latch and bracket weighed?

I'll pick it up and guesstimate this weekend if i remember.
not all that much though. <5 lbs total probably. glass fenders will save you more weight than taking these off

Def a badazz looking truck.  Digging what you are doing with the front end.

This is probably a stupid question for a truck getting HD bumpers and a winch but how much do you think the hood latch and bracket weighed?

I'll pick it up and guesstimate this weekend if i remember.
not all that much though. <5 lbs total probably. glass fenders will save you more weight than taking these off

I haven't been able to find glass fenders in stock dimensions - I don't want to go with the full pre-runner look. I think I'd also like to keep my inner fenders too, although I'm open to ditching them if the truck turns into a very race-focused vehicle.

There are these:
http://www.andysautosport.com/products/andys_auto_sport__46800F.html

No idea on weight though and they have the vents behind the wheel, but doesn't look like there is much on the back side.

Found a few pictures on S10forum:
http://www.s10forum.com/forum/f30/95-s10-show-truck-332505/index2.html#post5612462

I'm thinking about using some aluminum trailer fenders for inners on the Blazer. Hopefully I can find some wide enough without breaking the bank too bad. I don't have much, if anything, to mount to them, but keeping road debris outside the engine bay would be a plus.

still no grill, but bumper is done

Looks ready to pre-run haha

And that bumper looks professional. How did you get that nice bent bull bar?

https://www.affordableoffroad.com/shop/main-and-side-prerunner-tubes-prerunrtubes/

their listed 15" height is optimistic though.
ended up around 13" after evening out the "legs" which were about 1.5-2" off.
kinda wish it was a taller hoop, but wasnt going to wait for a new one, i think it looks fine, just could've had more protection if it were a ouch taller

got it wired up today.

Nice.

I finally added some dcdc boost coverters to my headlights.

Running 1 160w unit per 55w rated low beam bulb with the expectation it will stretch their questionable made in china life expectancy.

Voltage is a steady 16v regardless of input, output is remarkably brighter. No regrets at 1 week post install.

2 for $40 shipped with a tracking number and crazy fast.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/152271068844

Nice.

I finally added some dcdc boost coverters to my headlights.

Running 1 160w unit per 55w rated low beam bulb with the expectation it will stretch their questionable made in china life expectancy.

Voltage is a steady 16v regardless of input, output is remarkably brighter. No regrets at 1 week post install.

2 for $40 shipped with a tracking number and crazy fast.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/152271068844

Any chance you could do up a quick how-to on this? I know it's likely easy but I'm not good at things so...

The bumper and light setup looks badass. Who needs a grill anyway?

interesting. how does the potting on the backside look? pretty waterproof-ey?
curious why you are running 2 when 1 should handle a pair of 55W headlights
i reread your post and understand for hopes of longevity

I assume it has 2 wires in, 2 wires out?

so it just goes inline on your headlight harness.
It's not very efficient at 85% so fatter wires should help

Yes, 2in, 2out, so pretty easy to wire. I added mating headlight connectors to each so it just plugs inline at the bulb.

Other reasons to use 2 is because the silverado has separate fused circuits for each bulb, and so that I can fail one converter or one overdriven bulb and drive home with one light instead of diagnosing on the side of the road in the dark.

Potting looks OK when installed. Its been in rain a few times and no issues yet.

The factory harness is sized and fused for 10A to each bulb. With the higher voltage and ~85% efficiency that puts me at a 90W draw on each circuit. The nice part is unlike a relay kit you dont care what the input voltage to this box is, so long as you aren't popping fuses or melting wires.

are silverado headlight housings glass or plastic?

the reflectors in the stock blazer fog lights disintegrated away when i upped the bulb wattage in there (was fine in winter, damage happened in august or so)

I'm curious to hear the long-term review on your setup

Plastic.

Knowing that people out there run quad beam setups gives some confidence in not overheating the housings.

Also these are already sundamaged on the front optics. I'll polish them out, maybe add a UV film back on. Then its a real race to see what fails first

-(new) Bulbs from being run at the top of their voltage range
-Converters from being cheap
-Original headlight wiring from higher current
-Headlight housings from higher power
-Headlight housings from UV damage

Now taking bets. I'll post back when something breaks.

I guess I could ask a mod to split this off into its own thread too.

good point. although i'm already running quad beam, HIRs so upping heat may not be a great idea.
i had good results polishing and then coating the smoothed out housings with a 50/50 mix of mineral spirits and wood varnish.
we'll see how long this lasts too.

im gonna put my money on headlight bulbs burning out in 1.5 years

14k miles on these rear EBC greenstuff pads... previous set was 7k miles on centric ceramics. Next up is supposedly lifetime warranty duralast pads. We'll see how these wear in Michigan mud!


of course pushing the piston back in on these calipers means they seize up.
I ordered replacement pistons and seals this time instead of a whole new caliper, we'll see how that works once i receive it.


also went through another timken front wheel bearing.
basically im averaging 1-2 years per timken bearing. ugh.

Got a new proforged idler arm too, this is a yearly replacement.

im highly considering swapping to a solid front axle soon after the v8 swap