CK5
Register an account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members.

'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.
Thanks for posting that link. I just checked to see where they landed.
I know most of the group would want to tackle Lippencot mine road which jumps off not too far from where they are right now. But one of the guys in the group is driving a battleship of a truck that can't navigate the tight switchbacks on that trail. So it will be interesting to see what direction they take from there. They may end up backtracking north past the racetrack playa to loop around.
 
Little update from the trail. Richard (the guy with the 2500hd Silverado eclb) had to bail due to a severe allergic reaction/attack of some type. He just texted me to say they took on lippencot this morning. Spot confirmed as I had been watching but without talking to anybody I wasn't sure what changed.

That was a big target I wanted to try for sure so I'm glad they got to do it. Sorry to see Richard had to go home, but I totally understand not wanting to have a major allergic reaction go down in the middle of nowhere. The fridge is locked down in Bill's Tacoma and coming home with him. Yea me!
 
Desert fungus. With all of the water they got, it has to be bad this year. As you drive or even walk through the dirt, the stuff gets kicked up. I know people who ended up in the hospital because of it.
 
Desert fungus. With all of the water they got, it has to be bad this year. As you drive or even walk through the dirt, the stuff gets kicked up. I know people who ended up in the hospital because of it.
That's kinda what he was telling me via text. The brush and other vegetation was coming off the bloom too. I was prepared too. I picked up some of these since I knew I'd be riding with my windows open due to lack of a/c. Not sure if it would have helped or not, but that was my plan for dust ingestion.

Tactical_Black-min-4-400x400.jpg
 
Had a visitor at work today. Bill peeled out of Death Valley yesterday to get home a little sooner and stopped by on his way home to deliver my ARB Fridge to me. Complete with a layer of DV dust.

48016316873_7b2e60e431_b.jpg


Brought it inside to plug it in and check the operation. Silently humming along getting cold inside. Woo hoo!
 
Those dudes on Wander The West are purists and FWC groupies. If you have something other than a FWC they don’t want anything to do with you on that site. Phuck’em dudes. Probably a lot of good info there though.

Ironically, Zoomads old FWC was built by the father of the guy that built my camper (Robbie Rowe of Phoenix Popup Campers). Robby Rowes dad was the founder of FWC where he sold it during a divorce and FWC moved to Woodlawn, CA under new ownership. Mr. Rowe moved to NC and continued to produce Tiger campers, which were a fiberglass camper that replaced the truck bed to give a true passthrough camper. When Robby became of age and financially stable enough to open his own business he created Phoenix Popup Campers, which are built with the original formula of the FWC. The old FWC like Zoomad's actually have more in common with my Phoenix than it does with a new FWC. The new FWC are pretty much cookie cutter campers where they fit everything but fit nothing well. They won’t do anything special for anybody outside of their cookie cutter recipe and I suspect it will only get worse now that an investment company purchased FWC this past year. When investment companies buy a solid manufacturing business that is usually the beginning of the end of a great product as they like to streamline everything and cost engineer products to death. Basically, cheapen them up to fatten their wallets and suck the value out before the resell the company again. If anybody would like a new aluminum framed camper custom made for any vehicle contact Phoenix Popup. Piss on modern day Four Wheel Campers and Wander the West

Just saw Phoenix Popup has your rig in their brochure.
 
Got a quick overnighter planned for Saturday after work. Need to get some dirt on the tires. None of my local squarebody buddies could muster up a weekend pass so I'm hitting the trail with my Jeep buddies. Prepped the Blazer. Meaning the fridge got installed and plugged in. Currently running on 110v right now so it's still humming along at 36 degrees. I'll throw my bag in Saturday morning, grab the dog and go to work. I'm covering parts so the owner is cool with the doggo being my assistant behind the parts counter. Come 1:00 the doors are locked and I'm headed west. I guess I better grab something to throw in there to cook for dinner and breakfast.
 
Got a quick overnighter planned for Saturday after work. Need to get some dirt on the tires. None of my local squarebody buddies could muster up a weekend pass so I'm hitting the trail with my Jeep buddies. Prepped the Blazer. Meaning the fridge got installed and plugged in. Currently running on 110v right now so it's still humming along at 36 degrees. I'll throw my bag in Saturday morning, grab the dog and go to work. I'm covering parts so the owner is cool with the doggo being my assistant behind the parts counter. Come 1:00 the doors are locked and I'm headed west. I guess I better grab something to throw in there to cook for dinner and breakfast.
36 degrees? That’s way to warm! Haha
 
As much as I like beer slushies, the water and Gatorade I bring along are kind of hard to drink when they are solid. Besides I'm not a pro-overlander with a dual zone fridge. If I was I'd be bringing ice cream for the group!
Oh yeah, I’m just messing with ya. I love my arb fridge but the displayed temperature is not accurate. I knew that before I bought it from the reviews. There is a temp offset adjustment that got me close bit it’s still off a little bit. I finally settled on 33 degrees on the display. It keeps stuff right on the borderline. The waters will be liquid, but they are supercooled. If you pull one out and smack it, it’ll freeze up. I had never seen that before it’s pretty neat.
 
Oh yeah, I’m just messing with ya. I love my arb fridge but the displayed temperature is not accurate. I knew that before I bought it from the reviews. There is a temp offset adjustment that got me close bit it’s still off a little bit. I finally settled on 33 degrees on the display. It keeps stuff right on the borderline. The waters will be liquid, but they are supercooled. If you pull one out and smack it, it’ll freeze up. I had never seen that before it’s pretty neat.
You ever do hobo chickens and potatoes? It’s my favorite campfire dinner. So easy. I get those cornish game hens and give em a dry rub and wrap them up in about three layers of tin foil. Same with the potatoes. Rub it with butter and sprinkle with garlic salt. Couple layers of foil. Toss em in the coals and drink till your foods done. Delish! Haha
 
Oh yeah, I’m just messing with ya. I love my arb fridge but the displayed temperature is not accurate. I knew that before I bought it from the reviews. There is a temp offset adjustment that got me close bit it’s still off a little bit. I finally settled on 33 degrees on the display. It keeps stuff right on the borderline. The waters will be liquid, but they are supercooled. If you pull one out and smack it, it’ll freeze up. I had never seen that before it’s pretty neat.
I'll I've done with mine was run it on the table in the house for the last week. Never put any other temp device in there to confirm the readout though. I'll play with it this weekend for sure. I've got a temp gun and a thermocouple for my dvom I'll use to confirm the value. I'll have to pull the instructions from the ARB website to the offset adjustment.

You ever do hobo chickens and potatoes? It’s my favorite campfire dinner. So easy. I get those cornish game hens and give em a dry rub and wrap them up in about three layers of tin foil. Same with the potatoes. Rub it with butter and sprinkle with garlic salt. Couple layers of foil. Toss em in the coals and drink till your foods done. Delish! Haha
I haven't tried that for hens but I've done potatoes the same way. Lately around here we've had fire bans that prohibited open campfires. But with the extremely wet winter we've had we might be able to have one. I think the menu is me grilling burgers/brats/hotdogs on my stove for this run.

Then a big ol mess of dirty eggs and bacon griddle for fresh breakfast burritos Sunday morning.
 
I'll I've done with mine was run it on the table in the house for the last week. Never put any other temp device in there to confirm the readout though. I'll play with it this weekend for sure. I've got a temp gun and a thermocouple for my dvom I'll use to confirm the value. I'll have to pull the instructions from the ARB website to the offset adjustment.


I haven't tried that for hens but I've done potatoes the same way. Lately around here we've had fire bans that prohibited open campfires. But with the extremely wet winter we've had we might be able to have one. I think the menu is me grilling burgers/brats/hotdogs on my stove for this run.

Then a big ol mess of dirty eggs and bacon griddle for fresh breakfast burritos Sunday morning.
Mmm, now I’m hungry
 
Got the Camper loaded out. Just need to throw my duffel bag and dog bed in the morning. I'll stop for beer at the liquor store on my way out of town. Pretty nice being able to throw it together in 30 minutes or so.


The chuck box. Got all the goodies for cooking in one pelican case. Toss it in and go.

I loaded the fridge with some gatorade and water for now. I've got some treats for desert after dinner that I'll put in there in the morning. Sitting in the hot truck and tossing in the warm gatorade and water brought the temp up. So I dialed it down to 31 for now. Should be down to temp in a couple of hours or less.
 
Top Bottom