so how did they do it

[NecroWolf]

i've been curious for long time about the details of the two wheel drive conversions. did they just swap the 4x4 knuckle for a 2wd spindle and leave the torsion bar or split the half shaft and leave the stub to hold the bearings on? did the torsion bars get tossed for coil overs?

 

[Captain Morgan]

Re: so how did they do it

I know of one which chopped the front frame off and welded on the front of a 2WD frame, and another that just did a full frame swap from a doaner 2WD Blazer

you cannot swap 2WD for 4X4 knuckles, the parts arent even close last time I checked.

 

[midnightbluS10]

Re: so how did they do it

http://forums.s-series.org/viewtopic.php?t=45862&highlight=2wd+conversion

Changing from 2wd to 4x4.

There are 2 ways to complete this conversion. You can a 4x4 frame and swap your body onto the 4x4 frame. The second is to convert to a solid front axle (SFA).

Changing 4x4 to 2wd.

I have tried this so please do not follow in my footsteps.

Some say that you can simply remove your front differential and CV axles and everything will work fine. THIS IS NOT TRUE. The axle shaft is an integral part of the hub assembly and holds it together. When you remove the cv axle completely the hub is not strong enough to hold itself together. The hub assembly will fail and result in your brake caliper being the only thing holding your brake rotor, wheel, and tire on the vehicle.

One way you can successfully do this is by disassembling one of your CV axles so that all you have left is the splined end that passes through the hub assembly. This will work to eliminate your 4x4.

Another possability is to find some of the Brazilian 2wd front spindles. the Brazilian trucks all have 4x4 frames, however the 2wd have a different spindle than those trucks with 4x4 or American 2wd trucks. I have been told but have not yet confirmed that some ZR2 Blazers are 2wd and have these same spindles as the Brazilian trucks.

2wd spindle onto 4x4 control arms
You cannot change the 4x4 spindles to normal 2wd (non-Brazilian or ZR2) spindles. The control arms are different as are the tie rods, ball joints, and ball joint mounting positions and directions ( I have also tried this).

Hopefully my experiences with trying to eliminate 4x4 will help someone else out.

 

[mackeral5]

Re: so how did they do it

my first sbc swap into an s series was an early 80's 4wd blazer, around 1993 or 1994. at the time I was into the lowrider scene so the extra money for 4wd conversion parts wasn't worth it at the time.

I removed the cv shafts, then learned the hard way that the hubs would come apart without the outer joint. ended up dissassembling the cv shafts and used the outer piece to keep the hub together, as others have described.

I used a 12" tailstock/output shaft out of a BOP th350 which had a tranny mount built into the tailstock. this solved the driveshaft to torsion bar crossmember clearance issues.

with the front drive/axle out of the way you could drop the oil pan if needed, which I did due to a leaky rear main seal...