i have always had a buddy or three with a blazer from the late 70's, and i have always had a 78 bronco. every time i looked at the components, my bronco always looked beefier. plus until i started modifying everything, i hadn't broken a thing. not so with the blazers. i'm curious to hear what other people think. i know the frames are much weaker, but the bodies also look weaker in terms of cracking and flex. is there anything better about the blazer?

 

nope.......

 

Stupid question on a Ford site.

 

I don't know, I've seen a awefull lot of 70's bronco's that you could see through both sides they were so rusty.

I feel the automatic trans in the blazers were a good deal better than anything ford offered at the time.

The GM HEI ignition is also vastly superior to Ford's ignition at the time. Getting a 70's ford V8 wet is always and iffy prospect.

Both vehicles have their strong and weak points and neither are half as good as a Cherokee chief of the same year. After you swapped out the ford ignition system anyhow.

 

K5 Blazers were/are notorious for cracking the frame around the steering box.

 

Remember this is the Ford vs. Competition forum... where we present an unbiased view... so its not stupid at all

 

I can't verify this for truth or not,but back in the late 80's/early 90s when i was in the ARMY I was told the army picked the chevy blazer and trucks because the chevies passed the tests better than the bronco did. Like i said,i don't know this for the truth,but I heard this from several different people in the 4 years I was in.

 

In here there is no such thing as a stupid question...Only stupid people who ask them...

Tim

 

 

 

The "78" Bronco had steering Box Issues as well..I think there were undersized as I recall.

 

didn't the K5 have the crappy GM 10 bolt rear end? 10bolt <<<< ford 9"

 

The test must have been for gas mileage, lol.

 

I rode & drove many of both in those years. I owned a 79 CK20 4x4. The Chevy had much better steering, also had a solid front axle. The frame cracking by the steering box was not a problem if you checked the steering box bolts from time to time. The cause of every cracked frame (I worked for a GM dealer) that I ever saw was a direct result of the steering box bolts working themselves loose. the stress of the bolts walking around cracked the frames. I drove my 79 CK20 4x4 to 320,000 miles without cracking the frame. The Bronco did have a stiffer frame.
The 350 Chevy was faster than even the 400M, but not better. The 351/400M was a very tough engine. The Chevy had higher STOCK ground clearance. C-6 was far better auto than the Turbo 350 in the Blazer. Bronco had a nicer interior.
Both were good trucks. But the Bronco would take a much better beating & hold up.
These are opinions from a lot of being on & off-road with both these trucks in those years.

 

You gotta be kidding me??? 1978? They both sucked big time! Was any vehicle in 1978 any good! They were both junk in my opinion as well as any 1978 Dodge Ram charger. 1978 were dark crappy days in car history! 1972-1983 were horrible years for vehicles! In 1975 the CAT was added and hp levels took a crap from there until well into the 80's. If I had to pick one I'd take the Blazer cuz of it's 7 inches of ground clearance and that small block 350 & 400 4 barrel with the turbo 400 trans was bullet proof!!! But the engines in 1978 were de-tuned pathetic weak dogs for their cubic inches!

1978 Blazer Specs:

http://www.coloradok5.com/brochures/1978/blazer8.jpg

1978 Bronco Specs:

1978 Bronco Dealer Brochure | bronco.com