Bent is right. The bumper is well used since I've had it. I'm pretty sure it's tweaked again too.If you ever think about selling that Warn bumper pleeeeaaasseeee let me know.
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 worries. I used to have one years ago on my 78 k10 that came with an 8274. In typical dumbass fashion I sold the truck a few years later. Have regretted it ever since. So my original statement still stands.
Getting back from Backwards Bill, we headed off for the BBQ at the park. It was a great time as usuall. I did come back with some goodies from the raffle. I got a set of the Engineered Vintage shackle recovery points and a 14b diff cover from Great Lakes Extreme off road. Both solid parts for sure and I'm really happy I won them. Many thanks to both companies for donating them.
Saturday was on for an easy ride. The plan had us running down Potash road to Schaffer switchbacks and back to town via Gemini Bridges road.
After a little confusion, we set off.
Once you get into the river canyon the views are amazing already.
We hit a little adversity after the road turned to dirt. Nothing major, but I heard what sounded like a new exhaust leak and within 30 seconds of hearing it the truck listed over to the passenger side and the truck jerked to that side. I thought maybe it will air up but we found the split in the sidewall. So I pulled into a campground right where we were at and the group attacked my truck with efficiency. We got the spare on and took back off down the canyon. Thanks for the help everybody.
Back on the trail we moved right along.
We made it to the overlook known as Thelma and Louise point. We lined up and got out to check out the view.
Saturday was on for an easy ride. The plan had us running down Potash road to Schaffer switchbacks and back to town via Gemini Bridges road.
After a little confusion, we set off.
Once you get into the river canyon the views are amazing already.
We hit a little adversity after the road turned to dirt. Nothing major, but I heard what sounded like a new exhaust leak and within 30 seconds of hearing it the truck listed over to the passenger side and the truck jerked to that side. I thought maybe it will air up but we found the split in the sidewall. So I pulled into a campground right where we were at and the group attacked my truck with efficiency. We got the spare on and took back off down the canyon. Thanks for the help everybody.
Back on the trail we moved right along.
We made it to the overlook known as Thelma and Louise point. We lined up and got out to check out the view.
Getting back into it. After doing it for the 'Gram up on Thelma and Louise point, we motored on up the trail getting closer to Canyonlands and deeper into the amazing scenery there is back there.
Most of the shots from the entire trip were from my son hanging out the window trying to catch the folks behind us. Ron and his brother rolling along here.
At the entrance to Canyonlands. I had stopped the group here to make an adjustment. Last year on the Desert trip we went into the Needles District of Canyonlands with 4 rigs together. We got stopped by a park ranger who kindly let us know the max group size to travel together within Canyonlands was 3 for lesser environmental impact. Now the ranger did say as long as one lagged back a 1/2 mile or so it wouldn't be a big deal. I still don't understand the difference there, but hey they make the rules. Knowing that going into BB I figured our size might bring some attention if we happen to run into a ranger. So I gave instructions to @Cheavyk10, @cashsk5garage and @70jimmy to hang back about 5 minutes and let me, @Capt Ron and @expeditioneddie get some distance on them. This way we were just under the limit in each group.
Once we join the main trail we make a right turn and immediately start climbing the Schaffer Switchbacks. We are looking back on the second group from our vantage point above them. We weren't that high either.
Zoomed in from the same spot.
That's Cash making his climb up below us.
Dan and Duane pulling up the rear.
Being inside the National park meant we did run into traffic coming down. With the radios we had clear communication to the guys below us telling them what was coming and how many. The trail is mostly wide enough to allow for passing in most spots so it really wasn't too much of a problem.
Looking back on the trail from above you can see it lead its way out to the White Rim trail further on. Maybe next year before the Bash we take on that trail.
Duane's Jimmy was giving him a bit of an issue with a hot fuel pump that slowed him down coming up the switchbacks but he muscled through and got to the top. The trail dumps off on the main road to the park just near the main gate in. (if you go the way we did you don't have to pay the park entry fee) I ran ahead to scout out a spot to take a lunch break at. On top of the mesa the temps had dropped from the mid 90's in town to mid to low 80's and it was perfect. A clear dirt road was a good spot to stop and fix a quick lunch. We ate and hit the road for a few miles to the next stretch of dirt.
Gemini Bridges road is nice and wide and smooth for the first stretch.
We got to the namesake of the trail, the Gemini Bridges. It's a 300 yard walk from the parking area to check them out. Totally worth it too.
It's a surprise to realize where I was standing was literally a shelf over a large open space below. From where I was it looked and felt just like the rest of the surrounding rock.
Dan speaking to the rock gods or something. Maybe he was making shadow puppets on the rock.
Leaving the bridges heading east, the trail got a little rougher with a ledge every now and then. We came across Gooney bird rock. I remembered on a couple of youtube videos that there was a legend of some type that if you drove over the Gooney bird toes you would have good luck.
Most of the shots from the entire trip were from my son hanging out the window trying to catch the folks behind us. Ron and his brother rolling along here.
At the entrance to Canyonlands. I had stopped the group here to make an adjustment. Last year on the Desert trip we went into the Needles District of Canyonlands with 4 rigs together. We got stopped by a park ranger who kindly let us know the max group size to travel together within Canyonlands was 3 for lesser environmental impact. Now the ranger did say as long as one lagged back a 1/2 mile or so it wouldn't be a big deal. I still don't understand the difference there, but hey they make the rules. Knowing that going into BB I figured our size might bring some attention if we happen to run into a ranger. So I gave instructions to @Cheavyk10, @cashsk5garage and @70jimmy to hang back about 5 minutes and let me, @Capt Ron and @expeditioneddie get some distance on them. This way we were just under the limit in each group.
Once we join the main trail we make a right turn and immediately start climbing the Schaffer Switchbacks. We are looking back on the second group from our vantage point above them. We weren't that high either.
Zoomed in from the same spot.
That's Cash making his climb up below us.
Dan and Duane pulling up the rear.
Being inside the National park meant we did run into traffic coming down. With the radios we had clear communication to the guys below us telling them what was coming and how many. The trail is mostly wide enough to allow for passing in most spots so it really wasn't too much of a problem.
Looking back on the trail from above you can see it lead its way out to the White Rim trail further on. Maybe next year before the Bash we take on that trail.
Duane's Jimmy was giving him a bit of an issue with a hot fuel pump that slowed him down coming up the switchbacks but he muscled through and got to the top. The trail dumps off on the main road to the park just near the main gate in. (if you go the way we did you don't have to pay the park entry fee) I ran ahead to scout out a spot to take a lunch break at. On top of the mesa the temps had dropped from the mid 90's in town to mid to low 80's and it was perfect. A clear dirt road was a good spot to stop and fix a quick lunch. We ate and hit the road for a few miles to the next stretch of dirt.
Gemini Bridges road is nice and wide and smooth for the first stretch.
We got to the namesake of the trail, the Gemini Bridges. It's a 300 yard walk from the parking area to check them out. Totally worth it too.
It's a surprise to realize where I was standing was literally a shelf over a large open space below. From where I was it looked and felt just like the rest of the surrounding rock.
Dan speaking to the rock gods or something. Maybe he was making shadow puppets on the rock.
Leaving the bridges heading east, the trail got a little rougher with a ledge every now and then. We came across Gooney bird rock. I remembered on a couple of youtube videos that there was a legend of some type that if you drove over the Gooney bird toes you would have good luck.
We made our way out of the canyon to the last part of the trail.
I want to thank all the guys that signed up to ride along on the "easy" trail for Saturday. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as Robbie and I did. As much fun as we had had wheeling the harder stuff for 3 days, getting out into the backcountry to see the sights was just as rewarding as the days before.
I want to thank all the guys that signed up to ride along on the "easy" trail for Saturday. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as Robbie and I did. As much fun as we had had wheeling the harder stuff for 3 days, getting out into the backcountry to see the sights was just as rewarding as the days before.
they put him on a spit and bar b q'd him for tacos
Glad to see the shackle brackets go to a good home
Thanks @IGOR ! I might have to pick your brain about the install with the Warn Bumper I have.
Getting back to the conclusion of the trip...
After getting back to town from Gemini Bridges we stopped off at the O'Reilly's to get some lugnuts to put the flat tire back on the carrier so we didn't have to keep it inside the truck.
Back at the campground I cooked up some burgers and brats for Ron, his brother and us. Hung out and bs'd for a while until the storm blew in and we all turned in.
Sunday morning we reorganized the truck and helped Ron get the little tires back on the crawler and got him loaded up. A quick splash of fuel and a killer breakfast burrito at Maverick and we all hit the road.
It wasn't too long once we got onto I-70 when Ron pulled alongside to pull us over as he saw something wrong. Apparently, our front latches on the roof popped loose and it was starting to lift at 80mph. Major disaster averted we got back up to speed and started making some good time. The 8.1's in my truck and Ron's tow rig sucking down fuel like they are known for. We made quick fuel/pit stops in Grand Junction and Eagle making good time still.
We hit Vail pass with a stupid amount of traffic on it. I got hung up in the right lane with a slow mover. Ron got around us and when I finally got the chance to go around the engine fell on its face. It actually stalled when I pushed in the clutch to downshift out of 5th. I got it restarted but it was way down on power. I limped along the right lane and intermittently the power came back on and went away again. It felt like I was losing the fuel pump. After barely getting over the summit I pulled way off the shoulder to stop and check it out. I thought I had my fuel pressure gauge in the back, but didn't have it. I restarted a couple of times and finally, it seemed to be running a little better so we waited for traffic to clear and went for it. We had called ahead to Ron and let them know something was up so they were waiting on the side of the road.
Back together again I decided to pull off at Copper mountain to check a little closer. No excessive pressure or vacuum on the tank when I pulled the cap and it was running ok. So we decide to get to Dillon before making the major climb up to the Eisenhower tunnel and double-check.
The few miles to Dillon go by without a problem. I'm thinking it wasn't so much that the fuel pump wasn't failing but we are losing power or ground. So in a parking lot, I crawled under and verified everything is good and tight underneath. So I go back under the hood and look one more time. Sure enough, the main power wire to the ECM at the battery was not 100% tight.
We also notice the battery had shifted forward during all the rough stuff and was running against the solenoid for the auxiliary battery. I make a quick fix to disable the solenoid and ran the cable direct from one battery to the other.
No issues after that rolling all the way to Denver. We waved goodbye to Ron and his brother as we split on the highway.
Back at my Dad's, we get the kid unloaded and say out goodbyes and I make the run to have a quick visit with my Mom in the nursing home as it's on the way.
I pull into the parking lot and I can hear hissing. Sounded like someone using an air compressor to blow off some dust. Then I look back at the truck as I hop out of the seat. Son of a .... The left rear tire split the sidewall just as I rolled into the lot. I've already got the spare on the ground and another split tire on the carrier. I needed help. I text Ron. His place is only about 10 minutes away from the nursing home.
I go in and visit with my Mom while Ron grabs what he needs to help. When Ron gets there I come down to help. Ron brought the spare off of his Crawlabago since he's running the same size. We swap it out and I make the call to go back to my Dad's place and leave mine there. Two split sidewalls in two days and I had another 100 miles to go. I don't have to be Jimmy the Greek to know the odds aren't in my favor to make it.
I trade rides at Dad's and get home late. Through a buddy, I arrange to get some tires thrown on it and finally brought it home yesterday.
Trip stats.
1,184 miles total.
103 gallons of fuel used
11.52 mpg total average.
14.15 mpg best tank
6.37 mpg worst tank
Two split Duratrac tires
One mangled fender and door.
Zero broken parts.
I've got to say thanks again to @Capt Ron as he convinced me to go, let us bunk up with him in the cabin, and rescued me when I lost the second tire. I've got a pretty big mess going on in my personal life and early on he recognized it and knew I needed a break in the action and to getaway. I'm very thankful for his kindness, generosity, and being a good friend in general. Looking forward to the next run.
The trip did help me in many ways. I got to reconnect with my son. We had a blast and had time to live in the moment and not worry about all the other stress in our lives. We hung out with a lot of cool folks and saw sights that some only get to see from the screen of a computer, tv, or phone. Totally needed it and am so happy we went. Making memories is part of the joy of these trucks. Sorry for the sappiness, just sharing what I feel.
Getting back to the conclusion of the trip...
After getting back to town from Gemini Bridges we stopped off at the O'Reilly's to get some lugnuts to put the flat tire back on the carrier so we didn't have to keep it inside the truck.
Back at the campground I cooked up some burgers and brats for Ron, his brother and us. Hung out and bs'd for a while until the storm blew in and we all turned in.
Sunday morning we reorganized the truck and helped Ron get the little tires back on the crawler and got him loaded up. A quick splash of fuel and a killer breakfast burrito at Maverick and we all hit the road.
It wasn't too long once we got onto I-70 when Ron pulled alongside to pull us over as he saw something wrong. Apparently, our front latches on the roof popped loose and it was starting to lift at 80mph. Major disaster averted we got back up to speed and started making some good time. The 8.1's in my truck and Ron's tow rig sucking down fuel like they are known for. We made quick fuel/pit stops in Grand Junction and Eagle making good time still.
We hit Vail pass with a stupid amount of traffic on it. I got hung up in the right lane with a slow mover. Ron got around us and when I finally got the chance to go around the engine fell on its face. It actually stalled when I pushed in the clutch to downshift out of 5th. I got it restarted but it was way down on power. I limped along the right lane and intermittently the power came back on and went away again. It felt like I was losing the fuel pump. After barely getting over the summit I pulled way off the shoulder to stop and check it out. I thought I had my fuel pressure gauge in the back, but didn't have it. I restarted a couple of times and finally, it seemed to be running a little better so we waited for traffic to clear and went for it. We had called ahead to Ron and let them know something was up so they were waiting on the side of the road.
Back together again I decided to pull off at Copper mountain to check a little closer. No excessive pressure or vacuum on the tank when I pulled the cap and it was running ok. So we decide to get to Dillon before making the major climb up to the Eisenhower tunnel and double-check.
The few miles to Dillon go by without a problem. I'm thinking it wasn't so much that the fuel pump wasn't failing but we are losing power or ground. So in a parking lot, I crawled under and verified everything is good and tight underneath. So I go back under the hood and look one more time. Sure enough, the main power wire to the ECM at the battery was not 100% tight.
We also notice the battery had shifted forward during all the rough stuff and was running against the solenoid for the auxiliary battery. I make a quick fix to disable the solenoid and ran the cable direct from one battery to the other.
No issues after that rolling all the way to Denver. We waved goodbye to Ron and his brother as we split on the highway.
Back at my Dad's, we get the kid unloaded and say out goodbyes and I make the run to have a quick visit with my Mom in the nursing home as it's on the way.
I pull into the parking lot and I can hear hissing. Sounded like someone using an air compressor to blow off some dust. Then I look back at the truck as I hop out of the seat. Son of a .... The left rear tire split the sidewall just as I rolled into the lot. I've already got the spare on the ground and another split tire on the carrier. I needed help. I text Ron. His place is only about 10 minutes away from the nursing home.
I go in and visit with my Mom while Ron grabs what he needs to help. When Ron gets there I come down to help. Ron brought the spare off of his Crawlabago since he's running the same size. We swap it out and I make the call to go back to my Dad's place and leave mine there. Two split sidewalls in two days and I had another 100 miles to go. I don't have to be Jimmy the Greek to know the odds aren't in my favor to make it.
I trade rides at Dad's and get home late. Through a buddy, I arrange to get some tires thrown on it and finally brought it home yesterday.
Trip stats.
1,184 miles total.
103 gallons of fuel used
11.52 mpg total average.
14.15 mpg best tank
6.37 mpg worst tank
Two split Duratrac tires
One mangled fender and door.
Zero broken parts.
I've got to say thanks again to @Capt Ron as he convinced me to go, let us bunk up with him in the cabin, and rescued me when I lost the second tire. I've got a pretty big mess going on in my personal life and early on he recognized it and knew I needed a break in the action and to getaway. I'm very thankful for his kindness, generosity, and being a good friend in general. Looking forward to the next run.
The trip did help me in many ways. I got to reconnect with my son. We had a blast and had time to live in the moment and not worry about all the other stress in our lives. We hung out with a lot of cool folks and saw sights that some only get to see from the screen of a computer, tv, or phone. Totally needed it and am so happy we went. Making memories is part of the joy of these trucks. Sorry for the sappiness, just sharing what I feel.
Splendid!
Sounds like a blast. Finding David in a random diner parking lot is a nice way to kick off Blazer Bash.
Sounds like a blast. Finding David in a random diner parking lot is a nice way to kick off Blazer Bash.
Did you figure out what caused the problem with the fuel gauge? Is it indexing incorrectly, or is the circuit shorted out? 
I need a new sending unit. The float arm has to be broke inside the tank. On the plus side, the gauge is very optimistic. It reads full all the time now. Drove 120 miles last night and it still shows full. I don't believe it at all, but it's always nice to see a fuel gauge at full. Until I can fix it, I'm just filling up between 150 and 200 miles driven.Did you figure out what caused the problem with the fuel gauge? Is it indexing incorrectly, or is the circuit shorted out?
So more Duratracs in the future ???
Oh. Full would be an open circuit. I had thought you said it was reading empty.
Either way, checking the sending unit is a good place to start. Might have developed some irregularities in the potentiometer trace.
Discontinued from Goodyear. Honestly, they were great tires on this truck. I beat the piss out of them. They had 25,000+ miles, on and off. The off-road miles were not easy either. I think the failure really came from the age/mileage and the fact that I drove all over Moab and surrounding trails at low tire pressures. I was being lazy and not airing up for the 8-10 miles back to town. I also went lower than I usually do for traction and given the heavy weight of the beast didn't help the sidewalls from getting worked over pretty good.
I had planned on replacement of the tires after the trip, I just didn't think it would be as soon as I got back.
The plastic arm broke when we put the higher pressure fuel pump back in for the 8.1. We epoxied it, but it was less than accurate than before pulling it. The beating it took bouncing around on 4 days of trails finished it off. I didn't have money for another sender so we tried to make the band-aid work.
I ended up about 100 miles less than you for the trip. FWIW, my old school big block averaged 9.3mpg over the entire trip.
Thay isn't shabby at all for that combo. Probably would closer to 6 if you didn't have the injection on it.
I bet it helped dropping the bed and a chunk of the frame too.
I bet it helped dropping the bed and a chunk of the frame too.
