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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
Well, it wasn’t nearly as exciting as going to Blazer Bash but we had a great time. The Wheeler Lake trail definitely keep your attention. You and Robbie got some cool shots too! The timing of getting that deer in flight was perfect. Glad someone got a picture of the trail damage too. I forgot to take any pictures of the shimmy damper at all.

My pics are uploading to Flickr now but you’ll have to edit the videos and GoPro’s as my laptop refuses to run any video editing software
 
nbrown2500 said:
What tire carrier setup are you running and how is it set up ZooMad75?
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It's a home brew setup than swings up and down. It uses the receiver hitch as the attachment point to the truck.

It does the job, but after a couple days camping it's sure a pain in the arse to lift up that tire to pack up and leave.

I will be building a swing out carrier over the winter. It will be much better on my back.
 
So my buddy John (with the yellow jeep) called me last week about taking another run at Pomeroy with some friends of his coming into town from Oklahoma. Kinda short notice and I had to work that Saturday too. By the time I got to the trail it was going to be 3:00-3:30. Meaning I probably won't be able to go after the cutthroat or grayling in the lake kinda late, but I'm still getting seat time.

John's youngest son wanted to run but, no room in the Jeep with the rear seat out so I said he could ride along with me. Tony ended up meeting me at work and I decided to take one of my dogs with me to get her more used to riding off road. The dog got to hold tight with me covering the parts dept and everybody got a kick having a pooch at the shop.

We boogied out of town quickly and hit the trail pretty much when I expected to. We were hitting some of the aspens at peak color too in the valley just out of St. Elmo.
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We pulled up to the base of the trail for Pomeroy and came across this little gem. Doors had the name "Lion's Den Mine". I know it's in use as it wasn't there a month ago when we were up there. Little K10 is rough but still making a living for somebody.
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Nothing nutty on the trail so I didn't take many pictures on the way up. There was a Pinzgauer riding my ass up most of the way. Didn't snap a pic though.

Camped at the same spot we did last time. Fine tuning the camp setup and can admit anything less than level in the camper makes sleeping challenging. In this pic I was about 4 degrees from level, sloped to the front. Didn't think it was much, but a slick sleeping bag had gravity pulling my ass to the front all night long.
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Came back down Sunday and Shane with the red jeep wanted to try Hancock pass since he left early on the last run we did up here. We agreed but we would just go up and back. Dropping down the back side would have another half day's ride to get back to St. Elmo. Waiting for Shane to catch up coming down Pomeroy.
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Storm the doggo found a comfy spot on the bench to ride on.
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Summit of Hancock pass, 12,140 feet above sea level.
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It was a simple run, no crazy hard stuff. Just some fall wheeling in Colorado.
 
It was time to get some maintenance done on the K5.3 today. Put about 5,000 miles on it this summer with all the wheeling adventures, runs to Denver and work every now and then. Took it to work today and used the lift in the shop to change the oil, grease everything, rotate the tires and check/top off all the fluids. It was a lot nicer than doing it in my driveway.

The 5.3 is doing great, only down a 1/2 qt with all the abuse I've put it through. I did find a couple of minor issues I'll have to address. The 14b pinon seal has leaked a little. It's not dripping but the fluid level was down slightly. The other issue is the coolant overflow tank is cracked. I think I have another one in the garage.

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Oh and I undid some tomfoolery that a couple of merry pranksters had done on the last two desert trips.
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Yes those are wind chimes and a harmonica. Funny thing was I never heard either while driving. So it means I'm either deaf, run with the stereo too loud or they just didn't make the intended noise they wanted.
 
Hehe, I believe someone bought a frog on a wind chime to leave at the frog shrine on the Mojave Rd. Someone may have accidentally dropped the chime part and some mechanics wire on your frame a few days later at the Toroweep Overlook. It wasn't me up to the shinanigans this time but I was disappointed yet another good prank was waisted to your oblivion of noticing its existence for months :haha:
 
Larry said:
Hehe, I believe someone bought a frog on a wind chime to leave at the frog shrine on the Mojave Rd. Someone may have accidentally dropped the chime part and some mechanics wire on your frame a few days later at the Toroweep Overlook. It wasn't me up to the shinanigans this time but I was disappointed yet another good prank was waisted to your oblivion of noticing its existence for months :haha:
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Oh I saw the chimes before. Bill fessed up to it. Jenn bought the chimes in the gas station we filled up in bullhead before we hit the Mojave. She was right behind me in line and I saw her with them.

It was just easier to extract with the truck on the rack.
 
Larry said:
Hehe, I believe someone bought a frog on a wind chime to leave at the frog shrine on the Mojave Rd. Someone may have accidentally dropped the chime part and some mechanics wire on your frame a few days later at the Toroweep Overlook. It wasn't me up to the shinanigans this time but I was disappointed yet another good prank was waisted to your oblivion of noticing its existence for months :haha:
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ZooMad75 said:
Oh I saw the chimes before. Bill fessed up to it. Jenn bought the chimes in the gas station we filled up in bullhead before we hit the Mojave. She was right behind me in line and I saw her with them.

It was just easier to extract with the truck on the rack.
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You guys are funny... :haha: :haha:
 
campfire said:
You guys are funny... :haha: :haha:
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We entertain ourselves. Larry picked up on my prank I set up for him on the desert trip pretty quick. I found a 12v horn that only made the sound of an old steam train engine. You know, chugga chugga choo choo noise. Wired it into a 4-way trailer connector that would sound the horn whenever he hit the brakes or used the right turn signal. It got epoxied to a little magnetic parts tray so it could be placed just about anywhere. Oh yeah, it was friggin loud too.

Plan was to wait until the time was right to deploy. Night three on the trail was after our near death experience on the interstate outside of Las Vegas. We all needed to decompress a little and a few of us overserved ourselves. Larry was in rare form and Ian being sober saw the opportunity to take action. He grabbed me and stood watch while Larry continued to tell stories. I crawled under the back of the tailgate of Larry's truck in the dark and found a nice hidden spot near the trailer plug. The tray was on top of bracket and was stuck well. I didn't think of if it could be seen closing the gate, but it was hidden from view underneath. Ian and I both giggled like a couple of 10-year-old boys thinking we got the prankster at his own game that night.

The next morning we made sure to line up behind him on the way out with the cameras rolling to catch this in action. We could see the stop lights come on but no sound. WTF? Then Ian spied the plug hanging loose. Nothing was said on the radio to say Larry found it so we just waited for the right time again to plug it in. That came a little way down the trail when we stopped to regroup from spreading out due to the dust. Larry had walked up to talk to guys at the front and Ian swung around the opposite side to the back of Larry's ride again. Plugged it in and came back. Now we were in front of him but I had a good visual on Larry in my mirror. Sure enough, as soon as he put his foot on the brake he heard it. I got the bird signal in the mirror as he got out and unplugged it. We laughed again as Larry gave us shit over the radio.

As it turned out old eagle eye spotted the device as he closed up the gate that morning. He didn't know what it was, but he knew it wasn't his.

I'll have to be more creative on the next run.
 
ZooMad75 said:
We entertain ourselves. Larry picked up on my prank I set up for him on the desert trip pretty quick. I found a 12v horn that only made the sound of an old steam train engine. You know, chugga chugga choo choo noise. Wired it into a 4-way trailer connector that would sound the horn whenever he hit the brakes or used the right turn signal. It got epoxied to a little magnetic parts tray so it could be placed just about anywhere. Oh yeah, it was friggin loud too.

Plan was to wait until the time was right to deploy. Night three on the trail was after our near death experience on the interstate outside of Las Vegas. We all needed to decompress a little and a few of us overserved ourselves. Larry was in rare form and Ian being sober saw the opportunity to take action. He grabbed me and stood watch while Larry continued to tell stories. I crawled under the back of the tailgate of Larry's truck in the dark and found a nice hidden spot near the trailer plug. The tray was on top of bracket and was stuck well. I didn't think of if it could be seen closing the gate, but it was hidden from view underneath. Ian and I both giggled like a couple of 10-year-old boys thinking we got the prankster at his own game that night.

The next morning we made sure to line up behind him on the way out with the cameras rolling to catch this in action. We could see the stop lights come on but no sound. WTF? Then Ian spied the plug hanging loose. Nothing was said on the radio to say Larry found it so we just waited for the right time again to plug it in. That came a little way down the trail when we stopped to regroup from spreading out due to the dust. Larry had walked up to talk to guys at the front and Ian swung around the opposite side to the back of Larry's ride again. Plugged it in and came back. Now we were in front of him but I had a good visual on Larry in my mirror. Sure enough, as soon as he put his foot on the brake he heard it. I got the bird signal in the mirror as he got out and unplugged it. We laughed again as Larry gave us shit over the radio.

As it turned out old eagle eye spotted the device as he closed up the gate that morning. He didn't know what it was, but he knew it wasn't his.

I'll have to be more creative on the next run.
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Hahahaha!
 
Obviously, I have no skin in the game. but Larry seems like a fun one to prank so, p.m. inbound
 
Hehe, I am not trying to get you a divorce dude. I’m trying to kill you off with Hantavirus, so I can have your K5.3 rig :whistle:

Seriously, after acquiring some new experience with the ranch fresh C20 this summer that sat for 15 years in a field I suspect the reason the seller has it priced rather reasonably is because it is a rolling Hantavirus cesspool. The dude even makes mention of “INTERIOR OF TRUCK DOES HAVE MOUSE DROPPINGS AND URINE”. The Blazer can probably be cleaned up but I wouldn’t be surprised if the camper itself is a goner just do to the mouse leftovers. This thing has been sitting in a barn for over 25 years with mice living in it. Once that smell is in there it is not coming out of wood or fabric. Even still, $2900 isn't too bad for a clean Blazer but it would still need a top and gate.

That C20 I got off the ranch smelled so bad I peeled the doors off the second day it was here. It sat here outside for 3 weeks with the doors off and still smelled so bad you couldn’t go within a few feet of it without getting a headache. You smelled it. I’m actually surprised we didn’t get Hantavirus getting the steering column of it. Mouse piss and poo is no joke and can kill you
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@Larry oh I saw the little remark about mouse poop and pee. The entirety of the camper would need to be gutted anyway. Replace the particleboard, yank the cabinet and start over and replace the wood on the passenger side and the wood/carpet floor too.

Essentially strip the camper to the aluminum frame inside and start over. Then new non pissed on insulation can be added back in, rewire and rebuild from there. These campers are easy to strip down. After what we went though on mine it wouldn't be anymore than a weekend to remove from the Blazer and strip down. Provided you have a tvek suit and full face resperator of course.
 
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