'91 K5 Four Wheel Camper

[ZooMad75]

This is the paint I picked up.



Here is the bracket we bolted to the main part of the fender. Larry and I both have had issues with this bracket tearing the spot welds and allowing the fender to rattle against the cowl and in some cases the door.



It’s overkill for sure but this is the third fender I’ve put on for the same thing. I don’t want to go through this exercise again.

 

[Cucv_M1008]

That's a lot of bolts

 

[mrk5]

This is the paint I picked up. View attachment 413891

View attachment 413892

Here is the bracket we bolted to the main part of the fender. Larry and I both have had issues with this bracket tearing the spot welds and allowing the fender to rattle against the cowl and in some cases the door.

View attachment 413893

It’s overkill for sure but this is the third fender I’ve put on for the same thing. I don’t want to go through this exercise again.

Yes, I've always felt there was a way to improve the brackets for the front fenders. Mine are barely held on now.

 

[ZooMad75]

Yes, I've always felt there was a way to improve the brackets for the front fenders. Mine are barely held on now.

On both of Larry’s fenders on the K10 he did the same thing. Except he made a backing plate for the inside.

 

[ZooMad75]

Back in Denver. It was a marathon wrench session and in typical fashion my truck likes to fight us on jobs like this. I’ll get into the details tomorrow as I’m exhausted and need to clean off two layers of filth and go to bed.

But the drive home was a remarkable change from the drive down. Zero play in the steering gear. The springs don’t crash over bumps or expansion joints on the highway. The steering stabilizer is working too. The fresh rear shocks is keeping the rear from wagging its tail in wind or twisty roads.

It was a lot of work crammed into a couple of days and I can’t thank @Larry enough for his help and hospitality.

Time to crash out.

 

[ZooMad75]

I guess I’m showing my age. I feel like the truck must have run me over a couple of times this weekend. Tylenol is my buddy at this point.

But we kicked some ass yesterday none the less. I got the truck out of camp mode early. @Bent77 surprised us by dropping by and we bs’d for a little bit and we got to work after he left.

We pulled the steering gear to prep it for our buddy Bill to weld on the repair patch to the frame. Thankfully I only had one main crack to worry about fixing.





Bill v’d out the crack and moved on to fill it back in with the welder.



Then he got down to burning the plate in.



We did run into some issues with the welder. Within seconds of the initial arc starting the wire would ball up inside the welder. So Bill was spending more time undoing the nest created than laying beads. We paused and went after Bill’s welder and brought it back while he went to a quick birthday party.

Larry and I stayed busy by pulling the fender and door to fix the broken captured nut on the body.



We ended up stitching the nut back in and welded a large washer around it to give some structure back to the area.

But the fix definitely required more tear down than usual needed to replace a fender.



Wile waiting for bill to come back we stayed busy. We got the fresh new shocks replaced and installed the ORD support braces.



It took some doing but the fender is back on and adjusted in well.


I’ll get back to the saga of the steering box tonight. Off to work.

 

[Cucv_M1008]

I cant wait to take mine camping, seeing all your progress inspires me to get mine finished. I also feel beat up the next day after a hard day working on the truck.

 

[ZooMad75]

I cant wait to take mine camping, seeing all your progress inspires me to get mine finished. I also feel beat up the next day after a hard day working on the truck.

What helped was having absolutely everything we needed to get the job done. That saved a bunch of time chasing parts, bolts, etc. The run to grab the welder was timed perfectly to get a big sack of tacos too. So we pretty much maximized our time in the job.

Then I hopped in and drove 120 miles home. If that wasn’t a test in our work I don’t know what is.

 

[Babaganoosh]

Nicely done, looks good.

 

[Bent77]

Didn’t realize you were still here at sundown. I’d have come back and heckled all 3 of you

And because it came up…

 

[ZooMad75]

Sundown we were in cleanup mode. The steering gear install had complications. We were both getting pretty annoyed at that point.

 

[mrk5]

I'm going to miss the fender with the unit number on it.

 

[ZooMad75]

I'm going to miss the fender with the unit number on it.

You are not the only one to tell me that.

 

[6872xtc]

You are not the only one to tell me that.

Now you can get your own personalized one.

ZM1
That is possibly too similar to the blue truck being a ZR1 though.

So maybe ZMC1
Zoomad camper 1

 

[mrk5]

It's funny how we can be geeky about stuff like that. I thought the unit number was kinda cool. For some reason I also think putting the tire pressure at the top of the fender is kinda neat too.

 

[Cucv_M1008]

Unit numbers are sweet.

 

[ZooMad75]

It's funny how we can be geeky about stuff like that. I thought the unit number was kinda cool. For some reason I also think putting the tire pressure at the top of the fender is kinda neat too.

That’s your military background coming through.

Now you can get your own personalized one.

ZM1
That is possibly too similar to the blue truck being a ZR1 though.

So maybe ZMC1
Zoomad camper 1

I’ve tossed around the idea of a personalized plate. Thinking along the lines of K5CAMPR or just K5 CAMP. ZOO-K5 is another.

Though if I get my ass in gear and get my ham license I’d get a custom call sign that I’d use as the plate number too. Not sure what I would do for the call sign though.

 

[Bent77]

Zoo’s Poo

 

[ZooMad75]

Zoo’s Poo

No shitter to fill Clark. There is a shovel with a very specific purpose inside though.

 

[ZooMad75]

The saga of the steering box.

There’s always a certain aspect of a project that doesn’t go as planned. We thought we had that with a seized spring eye bolt or the stuck upper bushing. Oh no. Neither were it.

Once all the bracing was welded to the frame we let it cool and I fogged it with a quick coating of black paint. While it dried we put the door back on. We started by making sure the bolts fit through the holes. They didn’t. So a long drill bit was employed to make sure the holes will line up. Looked like we had it. I put the box up and we couldn’t get every bolt started.

Down it came again. Dress the holes and back up again. We can bolt up either both front or both back bolts but never both. By the 7th or 8th time we are questioning everything. Is it the right steering gear? Did the frame plate shift when we welded it on?

Keep in mind we had been at it hard all day and the day before. Not to mention the beers had after the work stopped. We were thin on patience and energy. Frustration was setting in and secondary back up plans getting worked out to get me back to Denver to be able to go to work. By the 11th time pulling it off the frame we noticed a pair of witness marks in the fresh paint.

Directly between both the front pair of bolt holes and the rear the paint was marked where the box was hitting the frame just setting it up there. You could rock it on the spot. Comparing to the box we removed the casting had more material between the machined sections where the bolts come through.

We gave it a shave with the flap disc and the 12th time it went back in and stayed up there. Arrgh.

Larry buttoned up the rest of the stuff on the gearbox and I put the fender back on. Filled it with fluid and fired it back up to bleed the system. Took it for a ride around the block. All felt fine so I loaded the last of my stuff, said my goodbyes and thanks and booked to the gas station for fuel and caffeine.

Leaving the gas station with the sun down I pulled the headlight switch out. Nada. No headlights. Strangely enough the high beam indicator was on along with the left turn signal on solid. Yep I knew what I did. My headlight relays and the left marker light share a ground at one of the bolts that tie the fender to the core support.

I pull into the Wally World parking lot and with the light on my phone I could see the loose ground wire next to the battery. Problem is I can’t reach my bear paw into it. Which means the battery has to come out.

I break out the tools and get to work. Bonus points given for dropping the bolt for the battery hold down and having to locate it. I got it all back together and packed up the tools and hit the road.

Pulled in at 11:00 last night.

I can say the truck has never driven like this. It was never horrible but I accepted stuff for what it is, a short wheelbase too heavy solid axle 4wd home on wheels. But I knew the old rough country springs just were too stiff. I knew my rear shocks were blown out and the steering box was getting looser by the day besides leaking like mad.

When you get so used to a truck and the changes occurs slowly over weeks/months you just accept it. The changes made erased a lot of the incremental loss of drive ability. I won’t say the steering is as tight and precise as a similar truck equipped with crossover steering with links and coilover shocks. But for what it is the feel is so much better. The rear shocks now back to doing their job has killed a lot of the sway or tail wagging the dog in windy situations. The fresh springs don’t crash and bang over bumps that cause the truck to get unsettled.

I can drive one handed at highway speed in the wind. I couldn’t do that before.

My ARB twin onboard air compressor showed up at work today. I know what I’m doing next weekend. Lol.