Put Blazeland through its paces...
04-08-2011, 08:04 PM
#1
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Thread Starter
Put Blazeland through its paces...
And it handled everything and then some. I bought CrazyYota4X4's (controversial) kit of the yotatech C'fieds, threw 63" Chevys in the back and went out for three days of every kind of wheelin imaginable. Pre-runnin', overlandin', rockcrawlin'. The suspension was unstoppable in every situation. I made some droop stops that give me the maximum travel without binding the CVs at full droop - full lock, and kept low-pro upper stops. As you can see in the photo, this made for some serious travel. And arguably (though not so arguably in my book) much more useful travel than an SAS rig gets as my wheels remained at perfect camber with one at full cram and one at full droop. With the suspension fully crossed, my front end had traction and my long travel leaf-sprung rear end didn't.
Complaints: With my low torsion setting, the front end's almost 10 inches wider. Not a performance problem at all, but it did get me pulled over before I installed the Bushwackers.
Notes: On-road, the ride is reeeal smooth. The front end soaks up speed bumps like they're not there, and the rear Chevys combined with KillYourBack shocks do almost as well. It leans pretty far in turns (I'm sans swaybar), but the wide stance seems to make up for it.
I can take washes at whatever speed I choose. Can chirp the tires on hard pack. And after three days of abuse, my back aint sore in the least.
It shines in the rocks. The photo's from the Truckhaven obstacle course. While I didn't make the turn just following that spot, it had nothing to do with suspension. Wheelbase was just too long. The Blazeland kit got me in and out of the spot no problem- one tire crammed, the other drooped, they both gripped.
Complaints: With my low torsion setting, the front end's almost 10 inches wider. Not a performance problem at all, but it did get me pulled over before I installed the Bushwackers.
Notes: On-road, the ride is reeeal smooth. The front end soaks up speed bumps like they're not there, and the rear Chevys combined with KillYourBack shocks do almost as well. It leans pretty far in turns (I'm sans swaybar), but the wide stance seems to make up for it.
I can take washes at whatever speed I choose. Can chirp the tires on hard pack. And after three days of abuse, my back aint sore in the least.
It shines in the rocks. The photo's from the Truckhaven obstacle course. While I didn't make the turn just following that spot, it had nothing to do with suspension. Wheelbase was just too long. The Blazeland kit got me in and out of the spot no problem- one tire crammed, the other drooped, they both gripped.
04-08-2011, 08:14 PM
#3
I saw the first pic on the blazeland website, awesome picture man. Truck looks good.
By the way, did the chevy springs lift the rear any? Can I a picture from the side?
By the way, did the chevy springs lift the rear any? Can I a picture from the side?
Last edited by cr@ves4wheelin; 04-08-2011 at 08:17 PM.
04-09-2011, 04:16 PM
#6
Registered User
Great review. Thats an interesting thought on the dynamic camber actually improving traction. Seems to me, when you're flexed out, you're on uneven enough ground that it wouldn't matter, the whole tire isn't supporting the weight anyway. I suspect the weight distribution had more to do with the traction difference you saw, but you might be right.
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04-10-2011, 09:38 AM
#10
Registered User
[QUOTE=4bangercraig]And it handled everything and then some. I bought CrazyYota4X4's (controversial) kit of the yotatech C'fieds, threw 63" Chevys in the back and went out for three days of every kind of wheelin imaginable.
04-10-2011, 01:12 PM
#13
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Thread Starter
Running 3 inch spacers in the back to match width. Still a little wider in the front. Gotta open my door at drive-through ATMs and I get funny looks from cops, but I'm getting used to how wide it is. Not running over curbs on accident any more. Well worth dealing with for the travel it gives me, and I kinda like having the rocks a little further away from the body of the truck. Do wish I had wider sliders though.
Chevys gave me about 2-3 inches of lift. I'm running 9" long single shackles instead of duals. Heard too many stories about wheel hop and inconvenient unloading. The single shackles look kinda ridiculous, but they work pretty well so far. I'm running stock Toyota torsion bars and I'm glad they're as soft as they are. Don't plan on jumping my rig (trucks hate flying), and the ease of uptravel is comfy in the fast stuff and really nice to have in the rocks.
It's a little hard to tell what's really going on with what axle when all four tires spin, but I'm pretty well convinced that the dynamic camber aids traction. Check the second pic. Still got traction because the right tire has all kinds of rubber on the rock, but that back left tire just dug holes! At least with me behind the wheel, solid axles never seem to notch the truck up between boulders the way IFS does and the truck always winds up with a wheel all sideways against a rock. I got lockers, so it wasn't really a problem, but with a different rear diff that axle coulda been stuck. As it was, that rear left tire got wedged pretty good and I burned a little clutch freeing the axle. (in hindsight, shoulda used the starter motor...) Front axle put less rubber on the rock on each side, but I had traction on both sides.
I don't mind having a little extra clearance in the middle, either. With 33's I got more front diff clearance than my buddy's straight axle on 35's. ;-)
Chevys gave me about 2-3 inches of lift. I'm running 9" long single shackles instead of duals. Heard too many stories about wheel hop and inconvenient unloading. The single shackles look kinda ridiculous, but they work pretty well so far. I'm running stock Toyota torsion bars and I'm glad they're as soft as they are. Don't plan on jumping my rig (trucks hate flying), and the ease of uptravel is comfy in the fast stuff and really nice to have in the rocks.
It's a little hard to tell what's really going on with what axle when all four tires spin, but I'm pretty well convinced that the dynamic camber aids traction. Check the second pic. Still got traction because the right tire has all kinds of rubber on the rock, but that back left tire just dug holes! At least with me behind the wheel, solid axles never seem to notch the truck up between boulders the way IFS does and the truck always winds up with a wheel all sideways against a rock. I got lockers, so it wasn't really a problem, but with a different rear diff that axle coulda been stuck. As it was, that rear left tire got wedged pretty good and I burned a little clutch freeing the axle. (in hindsight, shoulda used the starter motor...) Front axle put less rubber on the rock on each side, but I had traction on both sides.
I don't mind having a little extra clearance in the middle, either. With 33's I got more front diff clearance than my buddy's straight axle on 35's. ;-)
04-10-2011, 07:24 PM
#15
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Thread Starter
Thanks three of us worked on it almost a week straight! Everything's worked out fantastically so far except for the shock towers we made out of old stock shackles. 3/2 of those broke before we got em welded together well enough...
Blazeland FTW! It's definitely made me a firm believer that long travel SAS is the future of 4wheelin. The versatility just can't be beat!
Blazeland FTW! It's definitely made me a firm believer that long travel SAS is the future of 4wheelin. The versatility just can't be beat!
04-17-2011, 07:53 PM
#19
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Blazeland LT up front
T100 Rear Axle (And coil to leaf conversion). I added about 4" to the wheelbase while I was at it
Still need an alignment, but I'm waiting for my extended rear brake lines before I drive it to the shop.
