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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.
Overview Gallery Discussion
skunked said:
those bumpers are nice for standing on, I miss mine for that reason.
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I think that will come in handy. I'm tall but can't reach to the middle of the engine standing on the ground. Should make access to the rear better.
 
I'm short, had a warn bumper on my first Jimmy, was handy for reaching into the engine bay. Made my bumper for this one big enough to stand on, was a bitch changing heads out on step stool.
 
ZooMad75 said:
Got a lot done today for sure. A little pissed at myself, but I'll get to that in a bit. Got out this morning and opened the box the liner came in. Tossed it out on the driveway to let it relax in the sun. Little did I realize that was exactly what the instructions say not to do. I should have had it out 48 hours to do this. Oh well, not much for instructions anyway. Nor do I think it would have made any difference.


While the flooring was soaking in some rays I commenced to gut the interior, again. Seats out, console out. Wiring routing finalized and held down with tape to keep it from moving.

Here's the end of the K40 CB antenna cable that makes for a easier install so you don't have to bore a giant hole


I damn near torched my hands trying to lift the hot front section into place. The heat made it nice and pliable, but it also made it very loose. Loose like trying to shove a limp noodle up a straw. It was a wrestling match. Main problem, the t-case shifter. It's in the freaking way. The floor I thought was where it needed to be to start opening the hole for the shifter. Had I stopped and went to the other side and looked I would have seen it was too far to the left of center. Yep you guessed it I cut the freaking hole in the wrong spot. Hindsight.. You know that feeling when you royally screw up? I do. Just pissed away the dough for a nice ACC floor with a couple of quick slices with my blade. It's minor in the scheme of things as I didn't blow up a trans or anything to put it in perspective. But it does piss me off. Not sure how to hide it as it is a good size hole. What can I say when I mess up I do it on a big scale.

Anyway here the console base is in and I'm cutting holes for the seat bolts.


More of this side. Also shown the offending device that shanked the hole..


Passenger seat in. Off in the distance, a hole big enough to drive a truck through.


The back went much easier. Had to trim the end on the front side some. Also needed to clearance the side where the seat lock is. Not really keen on the fit of the wheel well sections. Very lumpy and need more trimming.


Drivers side seat in. Notice the dirt on the front. I'm still getting sand out of the dash. Just sat there with my shop vac tapping on the bottom of the dash knocking more loose and sucking it up.


Funny side note. The winged a-holes decided to come back and reclaim the spot in the quarter panel. Armed with my trusty shop vac I just sucked the little buggers out of the air when they got near the truck. Note to self, if you drive the truck wasps can't make a nest in it.
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I just finished doing the same thing. What a PITA. The rear tub covers looked to be the hardest ended up being easy.
 
Upon further review, I've posted that the bumper was not a Warn unit. After doing a lot of google image searching I've come to the conclusion that my bumper is indeed a Warn Classic bumper. The search came back with multiple makes and models using the same bumper but called it the Warn Classic. Not that that really means anything ground breaking. Just making a correction on an earlier statement. But I did find a PDF of a Warn catalog from 99 or 2000 that listed the Classic bumper for 81-91 Blazers in black powder coat or Chome. This version has been discontinued by Warn. Can't wait to load it up with the XD9000i.
 
I went ahead and mounted up the XD9000i to the bumper. Had to drill a couple of holes to mount it up, but that was pretty easy. Used grade 8 bolts to cinch it down. I hooked the cables up to the main battery to test the functions and spool the cable up better than it was. I didn't have any weight on it, but I just needed to even it out on the drum as somebody else had it all wadded up on the left side. Everything works like it should. Cable is in good condition with no kinks or bad spots.



I even cleaned it up a little.


The winch fits in there good.


There is more room to fit a bigger winch for sure, but this one should do just fine.


I mounted up the solenoid for the 2nd battery mounted on the backside of the core support. The second battery is charging in the garage. I need to cut the cable I got to length and take it over to Larry's to use his terminal tool to complete them. Then I can install the battery and wire the solenoid up to a keyed source to allow it to charge while running and disconnect when the key is off. I've got a switch to run it but I'll go this way to get it rolling in time for our annual snow run on new years day.

Pretty stoked. I've got some ideas kicking around in my brain about building an onboard air system. Need to gather some more parts.
 
You going to Paint this truck someday?

For some reason I just don't feel like that bumper looks right on that truck, to bulky for a sleek build.

But if you like it that's all that matters!:thumb:
 
beags86 said:
You going to Paint this truck someday?

For some reason I just don't feel like that bumper looks right on that truck, to bulky for a sleek build.

But if you like it that's all that matters!:thumb:
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Yeah, paint is on the plan of things to do. Only have a couple of dents to pull. The bumper is certainly not small, but it works. I like it as it's different but something that could have been bought for it back when the truck was new. The rear bumper will balance it out once we get going on that end.
 
That looks great. I have what I think is one of the old bolt together versions but the end pieces have been tortured enough to need to be retired. I think I am going to use the center piece and some flat stock with tubing to make a pre-runner style that bolt to the center piece so in case they get bent I can pull them and replace them.
 
since i cant find/afford a Kickey bumper/Brush Gaurd, id really like one like this, seems as though they are impossible to find, i remember a few years ago (20 lol) that every 4x4 had one
 
RubberFloorMat said:
since i cant find/afford a Kickey bumper/Brush Gaurd, id really like one like this, seems as though they are impossible to find, i remember a few years ago (20 lol) that every 4x4 had one
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Yeah they are kind of a rare item now days. most of them are either on the truck and someone doesn't want to sell it, wrecked, or on some truck in a field or wrecking yard waiting to be found.
 
Larry said:
Looks good dude! A bulky period correct bumper looks good on a bulky rig. A 9K winch is better than no winch. Look how many times that little 8K Sidewinder has bailed us out of ugly messes when the 10K Shittybilt wouldn't even work :smile1:
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I agree. Besides, I've got $40 into the winch plus some tractor paint. I can't beat that at all. Nice thing was when I unspooled the cable to straighten it out on the drum the condition of the cable was mint. No strands poking out, no kinks or flat spots. If I had to guess the winch when it was on the Jeep was used a few times. The sidewinder proved our portly rides can be moved by it. I've got a crazy heavy duty snatch block from our wrecker that my previous parts manager ordered wrong and didn't ship it back. 4 ton snatch block. With 100ft of cable I can double it on the snatch block and have more strength with a slower speed.
3kxe8_as01.jpg


Is it overkill from a standard off road style snatch block. Hell yeah. But when the mail order company we got it from said it wasn't worth returning for the shipping charges they refunded our money anyway. So, no cost. Only problem is the hook is so frigging huge it don't fit in the holes in the bed on our wreckers so it wasn't useful. We use it on the wrecker to redirect pulls and aid in unloading. So having it hook securely to the bed is critical. This one didn't fit and so it went home with me.

I drove it to work today just to see if the added weight on the front end changed the ride quality. It did. An extra 100 pounds did smooth things out up front. While it was up there I had one of my guys throw it up on the alignment rack and check the toe. I know we didn't put a tape to it so it was off. Had almost 3/4's of a degree of toe in. Spec is 0. Ended up on .08. Steering wheel is straight now too. Drove nice on the way home.
 
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