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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
Bent77 said:
The first picture on quick glance looks like you’re using the down spout on the house to mess with the head light :haha:
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It’s an optical contusion…

Well I thought I’d be putting the winch in today with the top plates to the bumper. That didn’t happen.

I thought I’d give the bumper one more coat of paint, then go run some errands and hit it later in the day. Not sure what happened but I ended up with more runs than a gringo that drank the water in Tijuana.

I added sanding discs to my list of crap to get today. I swear I’ve burned five cans of paint on this bumper so I’m not happy to grind a chunk of it off to clean it up.

I’m not a body and paint guy for sure. The DA and my mouse palm sender make quick work of the crap. Two more coats with some flash time in between and it’s presentable. Not perfect, but no runs.

IMG_0053.jpeg

IMG_0053.jpeg



I guess I’ll put the top plates and winch in after work this week. The steering stabilizer is on at least. Though that was its own source of frustration with fine thread studs for the shock I was lacking nuts for. At least my local ace is well stocked in fine thread grade 8 stuff.
 
Where did you get the headlight aiming tool? I've tried to find something like that with no luck.
 
mrk5 said:
Where did you get the headlight aiming tool? I've tried to find something like that with no luck.
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It’s from my Dad’s stockpile of stuff.
doubletrouble said:
We use to use those way back when I was doing autobody, I forgot all about them.
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We had a set at the dealership, Gm special tool number and all. Though it was made by hoppy and looked exactly like the kit I have now. Ironically I never saw my Dad use his. My old ace tech at the dealership broke them out to do and older rig and I was watching the process. Pretty simple to adjust until the line matches up.

Got to admit old technology isn’t necessarily bad compared to new stuff. In this case using the tools you don’t have to wait until it’s dark and see how the light pattern sits on a wall from a specific distance. I did mine in broad daylight and never even turned the lights on. It’s way more accurate than what you can get on the composite lamps with built in adjusters aiming at a wall.
 
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Hopkins Hoppy Headlight Aimer Aiming Service Center Kit Model B4A | eBay

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Hopkins Hoppy Mechanical Headlight Headlamp Aiming Kit Aimer Set B4A | eBay

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This reminds me, I need to do the manx type since change the rear torsion bars, noticed I was blinding people at night in pismo last March. Don't drive it much at night.
20240523_153945.jpg
 
Got the top plates on the bumper tonight. The raptor liner got messed up on the driver side but I'm so tired of dealing with effing paint issues I'm going to run it. I've got other stuff to attend to this weekend on the truck than painting stuff again. I need to swap in the second battery, spool in the winch rope and make sure the camper wiring is functional after putting the battery in. Plus I still need to clean it out and prep it for the desert trip.

But the bumper looks good complete at least. I did take a little time to align the bumper better now that the winch is in. It was tilted a little too far back and go closer to level now.
IMG_0082.jpeg

IMG_0082.jpeg


IMG_0081.jpeg

IMG_0081.jpeg

 
Knocking things out on my list of crap to get done.

The winch rope is on. Holy hell does the 8274 spool up fast! Still need to do it under tension but I wanted to get it on the drum.
IMG_0094.jpeg

IMG_0094.jpeg



The rope didn’t come with a hook (though for the price it sure as hell should have). I picked up a forged rough country unit.

IMG_0093.jpeg

IMG_0093.jpeg




I had to get a second battery for the camper side and got it all tied in with connections.

IMG_0095.jpeg

IMG_0095.jpeg

The taillights were noted to be dim when Bill was following me a couple of weeks ago. I’ve got LED bulbs out back but he was right. They work but it’s dim.

Sure enough I found the inside housings covered in tan paint. I didn’t remember that but I went and grabbed a can of Alberta Chrome and got to work.
IMG_0098.jpeg

IMG_0098.jpeg


I gave them a couple of coats after scrubbing the Utah dirt off of them both. I put them back together with some new LED bulbs in the stop/turn and move the other LED bulb to the back up light. Much better now.

IMG_0100.jpeg

IMG_0100.jpeg


IMG_0099.jpeg

IMG_0099.jpeg



I spent the majority of yesterday scrubbing the inside out. It’s finally clean again.
IMG_0097.jpeg

IMG_0097.jpeg

 
ZooMad75 said:
Knocking things out on my list of crap to get done.

The winch rope is on. Holy hell does the 8274 spool up fast! Still need to do it under tension but I wanted to get it on the drum.
IMG_0094.jpeg

IMG_0094.jpeg



The rope didn’t come with a hook (though for the price it sure as hell should have). I picked up a forged rough country unit.

IMG_0093.jpeg

IMG_0093.jpeg




I had to get a second battery for the camper side and got it all tied in with connections.

IMG_0095.jpeg

IMG_0095.jpeg

The taillights were noted to be dim when Bill was following me a couple of weeks ago. I’ve got LED bulbs out back but he was right. They work but it’s dim.

Sure enough I found the inside housings covered in tan paint. I didn’t remember that but I went and grabbed a can of Alberta Chrome and got to work.
IMG_0098.jpeg

IMG_0098.jpeg


I gave them a couple of coats after scrubbing the Utah dirt off of them both. I put them back together with some new LED bulbs in the stop/turn and move the other LED bulb to the back up light. Much better now.

IMG_0100.jpeg

IMG_0100.jpeg


IMG_0099.jpeg

IMG_0099.jpeg



I spent the majority of yesterday scrubbing the inside out. It’s finally clean again.
IMG_0097.jpeg

IMG_0097.jpeg

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Very convenient place for those monster hinges blocking the tail light
 
imiceman44 said:
Very convenient place for those monster hinges blocking the tail light
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First off about all they block is the backup light bulb. Secondly the left has been that way for few years and I’ve yet to get any harassment from any Johnny Law in four states that I have driven it in.

But I do certainly appreciate your constructive criticism. It’s totally noted and just as likely to not be addressed to your liking at all. I guess I’ll have to refrain from throwing the trans in reverse because I doubt anybody could see the insanely bright white LED bulbs I have back there.
 
ZooMad75 said:
First off about all they block is the backup light bulb. Secondly the left has been that way for few years and I’ve yet to get any harassment from any Johnny Law in four states that I have driven it in.

But I do certainly appreciate your constructive criticism. It’s totally noted and just as likely to not be addressed to your liking at all. I guess I’ll have to refrain from throwing the trans in reverse because I doubt anybody could see the insanely bright white LED bulbs I have back there.
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It was just an observation, nothing to worry about.
It has to be exactly in alignment to block the light and in real life that can only happen for a fraction of a second on one or the other
 
imiceman44 said:
Very convenient place for those monster hinges blocking the tail light
Click to expand...
Mine is about the same, except I only have a single swing. That position is very hard to avoid. Obviously, the hub/spindle has to be outside of where the tailgate opens. Making the bumper wider than the body and moving the spindle outside worsens the leverage (stiffening these corners is a critical criteria for swing-outs) and makes the bumper prone to hitting stuff. As for height, there is only an inch or so to play with between the top of the frame rails and where the tailgate folds down to. You could theoretically make the bumper step down at the outer end and attach the swing arm higher up on the hub and get the hub a couple of inches lower, but now you're making the leverage on the spindle worse and greatly complicating the design/build.

The simple solution is probably making holes in the bumper for some bigger back-up lights. The factory light is pretty small to begin with. A 2-stage would be cool, where you get "normal" illumination for street and parking lots, then a switch for "off-road" backing lights.
 
Added an extra reverse lamp to my bumper.IMG_20200213_185551.jpgIMG_20200213_185604.jpg
It is a small flanged 4 led cube sourced from Auto Zone. Have it wired to trailer plug. Need to do a draw test, wondering now if it should have a relay. for extended reversing
 
Blue85 said:
Mine is about the same, except I only have a single swing. That position is very hard to avoid. Obviously, the hub/spindle has to be outside of where the tailgate opens. Making the bumper wider than the body and moving the spindle outside worsens the leverage (stiffening these corners is a critical criteria for swing-outs) and makes the bumper prone to hitting stuff. As for height, there is only an inch or so to play with between the top of the frame rails and where the tailgate folds down to. You could theoretically make the bumper step down at the outer end and attach the swing arm higher up on the hub and get the hub a couple of inches lower, but now you're making the leverage on the spindle worse and greatly complicating the design/build.

The simple solution is probably making holes in the bumper for some bigger back-up lights. The factory light is pretty small to begin with. A 2-stage would be cool, where you get "normal" illumination for street and parking lots, then a switch for "off-road" backing lights.
Click to expand...
It’s totally a balance for sure. I didn’t want to block the brake/turn but the backup light was a sacrifice. Though the door on the camper is centered I could have cheated inboard of the light but that would have created two new issues. One, a factory tailgate wouldn’t be able to be used. Two to remove the camper either the bumper has to come off completely or it has to be raised enough to clear the swings. Which raising the camper is sketchy enough as it is just getting it an inch or two off the bedrail as it is.

The entire idea in my case was to use shared components with the front axle. In a pinch I can swipe a lockout if I damage one. If I’m having a really bad day I can swipe the bearings.

But one of the biggest factors behind my setup is strength. If you look at what most fab suppliers list for swing out parts they are trailer spindles. Which are far smaller than the bearings and spindle in a d44/10b setup. Sure the size of the hub is twice as bulky but I’ll trade the size for the strength factor.

I may add some secondary back up lights at a later date, but I don’t want to French in any trailer lights to the face of the bumper.
 
ZooMad75 said:
The entire idea in my case was to use shared components with the front axle. In a pinch I can swipe a lockout if I damage one. If I’m having a really bad day I can swipe the bearings.

But one of the biggest factors behind my setup is strength. If you look at what most fab suppliers list for swing out parts they are trailer spindles. Which are far smaller than the bearings and spindle in a d44/10b setup. Sure the size of the hub is twice as bulky but I’ll trade the size for the strength factor.
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Same. I ran the trailer spindle for a while, until it cracked and fell off.
 
mrk5 said:
I got to see this in person yesterday! It looks and sounds great! Very nicely setup engine bay, too.
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Thanks! It was cool to hang out and check out the shop and your truck too. It was good test run before the desert trip. My side trip to Erie was a bust but it did allow me to check out the new Bucc-ees. What a zoo that place is on a holiday. Not sure I need to go out of my way to go back.
 
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