The GF and I took the Dodge camping this year to test the rooftop tent before our New England trip and I swear half the campground came over to look at it, simply amazed.
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.
I would have been right there with them. That’s a killer setup. Maybe it’s all the Hot Rod Magazines I read in the 80’s when they were pushing the “dare to be different “ agenda that has me avoiding the popular wheeling/overlanding type rigs. But I will admit crawling to the top of any pass in Colorado in the summertime when it’s mostly jeeps and Toyotas and getting the stink eye when I roll up in my K5 and a house on its back is pretty priceless. The look is equal parts disgust and deflating that a 30+ year old full size with a camper on it just covered the same ground they did. Some guys get it and ask about it to see what been done to it and others will not interact at all like I just shot a puppy in front of them. It’s wonderful to annoy the piss out of those folks who think (insert brand here) is the only type of rig to be on the trails.
My favorite stupid question many have asked in a very condescending tone is “how on earth did you get that truck up here?” To which I respond simply “I drove it up, just like you silly!” I’d say 9 times out of 10 they don’t find my comment nearly as funny as I did. Might be a heavily dripping in sarcasm tone, but “F” them if they can’t take the joke.
I hear that from 4 wheelers when we roll up in the manx buggies, while negotiating an obstacle. How'd you guys get here, normally we'll say if you let us go by we'll show you. So much fun.
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When we were on the Rubicon we met a guy in a vw sand rail, he made it quite far but eventually he broke the transmission.
We dragged him out.
I couldn't believe how far he got in 2wd no flex
Got a call from my buddy Bill to see if I’m free to take some time off to get some dirt on our tires again. Some time in the desert is on the menu so us Colorado guys can escape winter for a week.
Granted, winter around here has been pretty mild around here, but time in the desert where I won’t need ac is welcome.
There’s a chance our buddy Nick from Phoenix might be able to join us with his 3dr Cummins powered burb.
Target zone is Death Valley but that’s in the air depending on trail conditions. Could be St. George/hurricane or southern Nevada. Researching via OnX now.
All the truck needs is an oil change and fix the exhaust leak.
Granted, winter around here has been pretty mild around here, but time in the desert where I won’t need ac is welcome.
There’s a chance our buddy Nick from Phoenix might be able to join us with his 3dr Cummins powered burb.
Target zone is Death Valley but that’s in the air depending on trail conditions. Could be St. George/hurricane or southern Nevada. Researching via OnX now.
All the truck needs is an oil change and fix the exhaust leak.
Nice to hear Nick is still enjoying his burb.
That is a fine piece of art
Nick’s truck will outlive a nuclear holocaust.
I did a little work on the Truck to prepare for our post Xmas trip. I’ve been sitting on a Chinese Vevor diesel heater that my buddy Bill originally bought, but went in a different direction.
First up getting the 43 year old propane forced air furnace out. Pulled the panel and got started with the propane feed line.
With the old out of the way I was able to clean up the corner to be ready for the new unit.
The new unit is much smaller than the old one. I was able to reuse the floor and back wall of the old enclosure. I was able to move it up higher which should give me a little more space underneath for running the exhaust out.
Wiring will get tied back and routed cleanly I just wanted to get it set up and give it a run. Plus I have a couple of 90 degree elbows to route the exhaust out the back wall through the old exhaust outlet.
It works quite well. Blower is powerful and pretty quiet. The fuel pump does have some clicking noise when it’s working but it’s not loud. It belts out heat It should work very well for the amount of space I have inside the camper.
The fuel tank has through holes for mounting that matched up to the swing out pretty well. That’s roughly 2 gallons of diesel in it now.
The tank fits with the swing out closed with about 3/4” to spare.
I’ve got some heat shielding wrap for the exhaust and a CO detector coming in tomorrow.
The controller is somewhat maddening to figure out but I pressed enough buttons to prime the fuel system and get it up and running.
I’ll bring the Mr buddy heater as a backup on the trip but this should do the trick quite well.
First up getting the 43 year old propane forced air furnace out. Pulled the panel and got started with the propane feed line.
With the old out of the way I was able to clean up the corner to be ready for the new unit.
The new unit is much smaller than the old one. I was able to reuse the floor and back wall of the old enclosure. I was able to move it up higher which should give me a little more space underneath for running the exhaust out.
Wiring will get tied back and routed cleanly I just wanted to get it set up and give it a run. Plus I have a couple of 90 degree elbows to route the exhaust out the back wall through the old exhaust outlet.
It works quite well. Blower is powerful and pretty quiet. The fuel pump does have some clicking noise when it’s working but it’s not loud. It belts out heat It should work very well for the amount of space I have inside the camper.
The fuel tank has through holes for mounting that matched up to the swing out pretty well. That’s roughly 2 gallons of diesel in it now.
The tank fits with the swing out closed with about 3/4” to spare.
I’ve got some heat shielding wrap for the exhaust and a CO detector coming in tomorrow.
The controller is somewhat maddening to figure out but I pressed enough buttons to prime the fuel system and get it up and running.
I’ll bring the Mr buddy heater as a backup on the trip but this should do the trick quite well.
I have one sitting in my storage.I did a little work on the Truck to prepare for our post Xmas trip. I’ve been sitting on a Chinese Vevor diesel heater that my buddy Bill originally bought, but went in a different direction.
First up getting the 43 year old propane forced air furnace out. Pulled the panel and got started with the propane feed line.
With the old out of the way I was able to clean up the corner to be ready for the new unit.
The new unit is much smaller than the old one. I was able to reuse the floor and back wall of the old enclosure. I was able to move it up higher which should give me a little more space underneath for running the exhaust out.
Wiring will get tied back and routed cleanly I just wanted to get it set up and give it a run. Plus I have a couple of 90 degree elbows to route the exhaust out the back wall through the old exhaust outlet.
It works quite well. Blower is powerful and pretty quiet. The fuel pump does have some clicking noise when it’s working but it’s not loud. It belts out heat It should work very well for the amount of space I have inside the camper.
The fuel tank has through holes for mounting that matched up to the swing out pretty well. That’s roughly 2 gallons of diesel in it now.
The tank fits with the swing out closed with about 3/4” to spare.
I’ve got some heat shielding wrap for the exhaust and a CO detector coming in tomorrow.
The controller is somewhat maddening to figure out but I pressed enough buttons to prime the fuel system and get it up and running.
I’ll bring the Mr buddy heater as a backup on the trip but this should do the trick quite well.
I know they work well but I don't know how long they last, you will be our guinea pig.
I have a diesel truck that's why I liked the diesel heater, one fuel for everything
I’m curious on how the diesel heater uses fuel. My Big Buddy propane heater burned though a 1 pound propane bottle in 6 hours on low. Which means on a my 20pound bbq cylinder I’d get 120 hours. The forced air propane furnace chewed through propane pretty fast too.
So I’m really curious how efficient the diesel really will be too.
I can tell you to be careful where your outlet is pointed as ive seen people melt things and burn their skin with them.
Yeah I figured that out really quick trying to hook up the duct and outlet while the unit was running. It got my attention really quick.
The first couple of runs I’m going to feel out the controls because what I’m finding is this particular unit is not 100% thermostatically controlled. Rather than shut down or off when the target temp is reached, this unit will slow down the fan and fuel pump output. The net result is similar but most reports I’ve read will run at low and go well past the target temp. Which would have a similar result to my big buddy catalytic heater does on low. It will flat cook you out of the camper. The old furnace did use an actual mercury style analog thermostat. Which did shut the burner off when the temp was hit but on a really cold night with the thermal loss from the canvas the furnace ran for 15min, off for 5min and repeat all night. It was warm but noisy.
Like anything else there’s a whole community of guys fiddling with these heaters and there are options for updated mother boards and actual thermostat style controls. Time will tell if I have to go that way. With a new zero degree sleeping bag I may only run the heater to warm up the space before bed time, kill it and fire it up in the morning to take the chill off as I get ready.
The diesel heaters are a dry heat vs the moisture that a propane unit puts out.
The forced air unit was pretty dry to use. But the buddy heater will almost make it rain inside if the conditions are right.
The 90 degree elbows showed up with the other stuff. Was able to bend the exhaust with one of the 90’s to reach the outlet without a need for the other 90. I think I’m not going to run this permanently. The outlet through the body is higher than the heater. I’m certain it’s going to trap moisture in the long run. I’ll get a new pipe with a through wall insulated bezel to run it straight out instead of like I have it now.
The forced air unit used an air-air heat exchanger like the diesel heater to keep carbon-monoxide out via the exhaust pipe. Since the water vapor goes out the exhaust pipe with the other gasses, they don't build up inside.
Got the exhaust pipe covered up with exhaust wrap. Exhaust outlet reinstalled on the camper body. Tidied up the wiring and gave it another test run. It’s unseasonably warm here today as the temps were in the high 60’s. But within a 1/2 hour of running it using my temp gun I was seeing surface temps on the opposite side of wall of the camper near the roof (top down) were in the high 80’s. I did put the 90 Degree elbow on the outlet so now the outlet goes straight into the interior instead angled right at the fridge.
I spent a good chunk of time checking temps of the exhaust and make sure nothing is in danger of getting torched. The wrap does a good job keeping the pipe from melting anything near it.
I studied the manual to figure out how to regulate the temp/fan speed but my chinesium translator seems to be on the fritz. I’ll probably end up ordering a different controller to be able to run it in true thermostat style.
I spent a good chunk of time checking temps of the exhaust and make sure nothing is in danger of getting torched. The wrap does a good job keeping the pipe from melting anything near it.
I studied the manual to figure out how to regulate the temp/fan speed but my chinesium translator seems to be on the fritz. I’ll probably end up ordering a different controller to be able to run it in true thermostat style.
Xmas day progress. Since the family get together didn’t start until the afternoon I got some needed stuff done this morning. Oil changed and found my exhaust leak. Both sides at the flange to the pipe was loose. Each side. Not crazy loose but enough you could hear it.
Truck is partially packed. Laundry in the dryer so I’ll pack my clothes tonight.
Target location has changed. Rain has hit Death Valley in the last couple of days. Moving to plan b. Southeastern Arizona. Bomb around the desert, maybe go to tombstone. Might end up near Pima air museum and check it out. Nothing really set in stone. Just depends.
I’ll have my garmin fired up and shoot the link for anybody that wants to follow.
Truck is partially packed. Laundry in the dryer so I’ll pack my clothes tonight.
Target location has changed. Rain has hit Death Valley in the last couple of days. Moving to plan b. Southeastern Arizona. Bomb around the desert, maybe go to tombstone. Might end up near Pima air museum and check it out. Nothing really set in stone. Just depends.
I’ll have my garmin fired up and shoot the link for anybody that wants to follow.
I think you will be in my neck of the woods on the drive or close. Let me know if you need any help
Will do dude. Sounds like we are going start out south and maybe work our way to DV. Weather forecast up there looks better a couple days down the road.
Have a tow rig and trailer.
