CK5
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'91 K5 Four Wheel Camper
This is the build for my 1991 V1500 Blazer, AKA the K5.3. It started out life being sold to the U.S. Government with a 350 TBI/700r4/241 combo. 4 years with a 5.3/700r4 Combo and now moving to an 8.1L Vortec and NV4500 5-speed.
No way, these campers don't work that way. The floor is not part of the main body. It just bolts onto the bed rails like the stock top. They are built to be used off road. Drop the lid down, lock it and go. just can't leave things loose in back.
Larry probably has good tips for keeping your junk intact
He's got a lot of miles on his and knows the pitfalls pretty well.
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So the good side of the camper was the price. $300. But for the price one should expect a problem or two. This one has it. There is a limted amount of wood used in these units, but what wood is in this one is rotten. Mainly the front wall to the cab of the truck and the bottom of the cabover section. Why they used particle board in these areas is beyond me. Guy selling it said the damage was recent, but the cab wall section has been painted over. Thankfully the vinyl skirt between the top and the base is in decent shape with no mold or tears. It is the insulated skirt too.
Sharp eyes will spot the main problem here.
Close up
Stuff is swelled like mad.
Cab wall.
Roof needs resealed. Going to do some research on the hot ticket to fix this. Bedliner is one idea Larry said is common. Needs a new roof vent too.
Headliner is sagging, but is pretty easy to replace after the leaks are mitigated.
The tag shows it is a 1982 model.
Got to pick it up next weekend. I have a plan with my buddy John and his brother the carpenter to fix the bad spots. The rest of it is actually is decent. Time to go find some marine grade plywood, sealer and some sheet fiberglass to make a lasting repair.
Sharp eyes will spot the main problem here.
Close up
Stuff is swelled like mad.
Cab wall.
Roof needs resealed. Going to do some research on the hot ticket to fix this. Bedliner is one idea Larry said is common. Needs a new roof vent too.
Headliner is sagging, but is pretty easy to replace after the leaks are mitigated.
The tag shows it is a 1982 model.
Got to pick it up next weekend. I have a plan with my buddy John and his brother the carpenter to fix the bad spots. The rest of it is actually is decent. Time to go find some marine grade plywood, sealer and some sheet fiberglass to make a lasting repair.
For the roof repairs check out your local industrial flat roofer. I've got friends that work at the local one and they've done a couple slide in campers with the same stuff they use on flat roofs (the name escapes me right now). Said they've got a 25yr warranty on it.
When I get to that point I'll check into it. Thanks!
Given your dry climate and even more dry destinations, how much rain is this camper going to see?
Dry? Normally. We've been having monsoon like rain practically every day down here for the last couple of weeks. The prarie is green which is unheard of for August.
But @bent72 is right. When we get rain it's enough to make it leak. Not to mention the snow load. We don't get as much snow in my end of the state as bent down on the north or in the mountains, but when we do it's got to go somewhere when it melts. My garage is too small to fit the combination too, so outside it will be. So it must be water tight.
Wow that was a long day. But we managed to get to Denver, swap the stock top onto my buddy John's trailer, pick swap on the camper, come back home, take the camper back off and put the stock top back on in about 12 hours. Had one minor hiccup, but it went pretty smooth.
Before we got to Mom and Dad's place I had made arrangements to buy some camper jacks from a guy in Denver too. I had actually posted something about the camper on Wander The West and a guy messaged me that he had some camper jacks to sell. This illustrates how close I was to not getting this. As he had gone over to look at it and then found the jacks. Then he told his wife what he was up to and let's just say she put her foot down. So he had to back out of the deal and put the jacks up for sale. Good luck for me on two counts. He didn't buy the camper and I was able to buy a set of jacks for what it would have cost me to rent jacks twice. Bonus, the jacks were like new.
18886 by Rob Zulian, on Flickr
Since the Blazer was sitting at my Dad's house this week, he helped while we were on the way up by crawling in the back and removing all the bolts to the top. Pretty impressive since he's 78 and still recovering from his 2nd knee surgery in a year. It was a big help since we had the top off within a few minutes.
Top off, Utah dust still inside.
IMG_20170813_112605615 by Rob Zulian, on Flickr
Top on Trailer.
IMG_20170813_112618079 by Rob Zulian, on Flickr
Topless.
IMG_20170813_114728557 by Rob Zulian, on Flickr
Not bad looking top off.
IMG_20170813_122005971 by Rob Zulian, on Flickr
The donor and transplant patient.
IMG_20170813_130235603 by Rob Zulian, on Flickr
Pretty clean inside, but the carpet is going out, the shag on the walls is going away as well as the dingy curtains.
IMG_20170813_130447811 by Rob Zulian, on Flickr
Plenty of room for activities!
IMG_20170813_130452836 by Rob Zulian, on Flickr
The resident engineer checking out the donor. (aka Dad)
IMG_20170813_131141147_HDR by Rob Zulian, on Flickr
This is where things would get interesting. We needed to figure out if the jacks had enough lifting height to get the camper high enough to reach my truck. The donor is stock all the way down to the tires. Mine is sitting on 35" tires and 4" worth of lift. It was quickly found that the camper jacks just barely reached the stock Blazer, so some technical jenga work was in order. Multiple chunks of wood to get the jacks up higher so we could get one truck out from under it and then crank it up and pull mine in under it.
IMG_20170813_133200019 by Rob Zulian, on Flickr
Just as we started lifting and looking for any missed bolts we realized there were two still clinging on for dear life. Front two on the drivers side. At first you can't see them, that is until you take a few screws out and slide the fridge out slightly.
IMG_20170813_140710044 by Rob Zulian, on Flickr
This is where we ran into the biggest issue of the day. The most forward bolt had it's caged nut in the body strip out. I had tried to snap it loose with my 1/4" drive matco cordless impact but it just spun. His Blazer still had the interior side panels so the only way to see the bottom side of the bolt was to remove the ashtray, but we still couldn't get anything on it to hold it. So a sawzall was brought out to take the head off. We lost the better part of an hour screwing around with one bolt.
IMG_20170813_141908767 by Rob Zulian, on Flickr
Me goofing around taking pics while the guy gnaws away at the bolt.
IMG_20170813_142008963 by Rob Zulian, on Flickr
It's off! We then had to remove the floor from the other blazer to set it into mine prior to dropping the camper on.
IMG_20170813_142906896 by Rob Zulian, on Flickr
After a nerve racking few minutes of backing up, re-aligning and backing up again we finally got it lined up to lower the jacks.
IMG_20170813_150719087 by Rob Zulian, on Flickr
Other side.
IMG_20170813_150733505 by Rob Zulian, on Flickr
Back in Pueblo. This time at John's place. I was able to pop the top fully with both lifting panels. It's not as smooth to lift as Larry's is, since the lifting mechanisms are completely different, but it works. We will have to rebuild the front lift panels due to water damage. Top needs cleaned, but is free of rips and tears.
IMG_20170813_192341476_HDR by Rob Zulian, on Flickr
Other side.
IMG_20170813_192354186_HDR by Rob Zulian, on Flickr
After some organized chaos getting the camper back off again, we dropped it down closer to the ground and could see all the issues with the roof that caused the damage. Screws loose, exposed and the vent that is blasted but covered with a chunk of tarp and tape are the main issues. No tears in the roof itself though. We got the stock top back on in the dark and called it a day.
The 2hour drive down was interesting. The hole in the front of the roof was gulping in more air than any part of the windows would let out. Anything past 65 mph caused the top to develop some lift I could see in the mirrors. So we kept it at 65. This will go away when the wood is replaced. I will say it didn't feel much different to drive with the camper on.
Time to go to bed.
Before we got to Mom and Dad's place I had made arrangements to buy some camper jacks from a guy in Denver too. I had actually posted something about the camper on Wander The West and a guy messaged me that he had some camper jacks to sell. This illustrates how close I was to not getting this. As he had gone over to look at it and then found the jacks. Then he told his wife what he was up to and let's just say she put her foot down. So he had to back out of the deal and put the jacks up for sale. Good luck for me on two counts. He didn't buy the camper and I was able to buy a set of jacks for what it would have cost me to rent jacks twice. Bonus, the jacks were like new.
18886 by Rob Zulian, on FlickrSince the Blazer was sitting at my Dad's house this week, he helped while we were on the way up by crawling in the back and removing all the bolts to the top. Pretty impressive since he's 78 and still recovering from his 2nd knee surgery in a year. It was a big help since we had the top off within a few minutes.
Top off, Utah dust still inside.
IMG_20170813_112605615 by Rob Zulian, on FlickrTop on Trailer.
IMG_20170813_112618079 by Rob Zulian, on FlickrTopless.
IMG_20170813_114728557 by Rob Zulian, on FlickrNot bad looking top off.
IMG_20170813_122005971 by Rob Zulian, on FlickrThe donor and transplant patient.
IMG_20170813_130235603 by Rob Zulian, on FlickrPretty clean inside, but the carpet is going out, the shag on the walls is going away as well as the dingy curtains.
IMG_20170813_130447811 by Rob Zulian, on FlickrPlenty of room for activities!
IMG_20170813_130452836 by Rob Zulian, on FlickrThe resident engineer checking out the donor. (aka Dad)
IMG_20170813_131141147_HDR by Rob Zulian, on FlickrThis is where things would get interesting. We needed to figure out if the jacks had enough lifting height to get the camper high enough to reach my truck. The donor is stock all the way down to the tires. Mine is sitting on 35" tires and 4" worth of lift. It was quickly found that the camper jacks just barely reached the stock Blazer, so some technical jenga work was in order. Multiple chunks of wood to get the jacks up higher so we could get one truck out from under it and then crank it up and pull mine in under it.
IMG_20170813_133200019 by Rob Zulian, on FlickrJust as we started lifting and looking for any missed bolts we realized there were two still clinging on for dear life. Front two on the drivers side. At first you can't see them, that is until you take a few screws out and slide the fridge out slightly.
IMG_20170813_140710044 by Rob Zulian, on FlickrThis is where we ran into the biggest issue of the day. The most forward bolt had it's caged nut in the body strip out. I had tried to snap it loose with my 1/4" drive matco cordless impact but it just spun. His Blazer still had the interior side panels so the only way to see the bottom side of the bolt was to remove the ashtray, but we still couldn't get anything on it to hold it. So a sawzall was brought out to take the head off. We lost the better part of an hour screwing around with one bolt.
IMG_20170813_141908767 by Rob Zulian, on FlickrMe goofing around taking pics while the guy gnaws away at the bolt.
IMG_20170813_142008963 by Rob Zulian, on FlickrIt's off! We then had to remove the floor from the other blazer to set it into mine prior to dropping the camper on.
IMG_20170813_142906896 by Rob Zulian, on FlickrAfter a nerve racking few minutes of backing up, re-aligning and backing up again we finally got it lined up to lower the jacks.
IMG_20170813_150719087 by Rob Zulian, on FlickrOther side.
IMG_20170813_150733505 by Rob Zulian, on FlickrBack in Pueblo. This time at John's place. I was able to pop the top fully with both lifting panels. It's not as smooth to lift as Larry's is, since the lifting mechanisms are completely different, but it works. We will have to rebuild the front lift panels due to water damage. Top needs cleaned, but is free of rips and tears.
IMG_20170813_192341476_HDR by Rob Zulian, on FlickrOther side.
IMG_20170813_192354186_HDR by Rob Zulian, on FlickrAfter some organized chaos getting the camper back off again, we dropped it down closer to the ground and could see all the issues with the roof that caused the damage. Screws loose, exposed and the vent that is blasted but covered with a chunk of tarp and tape are the main issues. No tears in the roof itself though. We got the stock top back on in the dark and called it a day.
The 2hour drive down was interesting. The hole in the front of the roof was gulping in more air than any part of the windows would let out. Anything past 65 mph caused the top to develop some lift I could see in the mirrors. So we kept it at 65. This will go away when the wood is replaced. I will say it didn't feel much different to drive with the camper on.
Time to go to bed.
Woohoo!
I feel like that's the story of my entire time in this hobby!
It does look pretty cool. I think it looks better on your color truck than it did the other.
Tony Vickers
1/2 ton status
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You got one great deal. Even if you dropped 3K in repairs, it will be better than anything out there for a low price. I'm amazed that you found one for a K5.
That's what I said. Totally stoked.
The colors do compliment the tan better than the red/white. Just needs a through scrubbing. Once cleaned up I might want you to replicate the Blazer and 4wheel pop up logos. I'll PM you when I get to that point. That might be a while.
Thanks!
I thought that when I was looking at it last week. You can't get Four Wheel Campers to build a Blazer specific unit anymore. They stopped that non-sense in the late 80's. Pheonix Campers will build one for a Blazer to your specs, but you'll pay for it. I'm amazed I found one too. I've been watching craigslist for a while and seriously for the last couple of years. Problem has been the Blazers they've been attached too have been garbage and they didn't want to separate. So this offering was rare and I had to jump. It totally needs work, but they are pretty basic and shouldn't be too hard to fix.
very cool!
Any idea what it weighs??
If I go by some old magazine article from the 70's the camper is supposedly only 75 pounds heavier than a stock fiberglass top.
It is heavier, but I didn't notice it as a higher load on the little 5.3 yet. Replacing the rotting particle board and some other pieces inside for the bench with 3/4 plywood will probably be a slight increase in overall weight too. I'll have to get it weighed empty with the stock top and again with the camper on.
By the time I've got a real rear bumper with dual swing outs for the spare and fuel cans it's going to gain weight. Time will tell how I like the 5.3 loaded down hard. Might need 4.56's or 6.0 repower or just bite the bullet and go 8.1 if I can find one.
