Eileen and I spent a number of days in Escalante NP. Stuck one day when the road fell out. Then a torrential downpour turned the dry stream beds into rocker deep rivers. Fun times.
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.
Greetings from Cortez, CO. Had some great days on dirt, some highs and lows. Mechanical/electrical, changed plans and directions and currently on the quest to get home.
Yesterday was a crazy day in its own right with more mechanical issues on the Navajo res. Which as some of you know a 4pack of whities are not looked too highly on. We usually haul ass to avoid conflict but when the truck breaks the situation changes quickly. I’ll go into the details later but it got tense for about 15 minutes and it got took a ton of restraint on my sons part and showing of strength between the rest of us to de-escalate the situation. I’ve had some crazy interactions on the res before but this one takes the prize.
We limped the truck up 160 off the res, past four corners and made it here. Got a U-Haul lined up to carry the beast home. I’ve got a couple of theory’s but if it’s what I think it is I don’t want to attack it on the side of the road. As it is we have A lot of winding narrow mountain roads that lack shoulders. So it’s just the safest to carry it back. I’ll keep the tracking up. But once loaded we’ll take it easy.
Yesterday was a crazy day in its own right with more mechanical issues on the Navajo res. Which as some of you know a 4pack of whities are not looked too highly on. We usually haul ass to avoid conflict but when the truck breaks the situation changes quickly. I’ll go into the details later but it got tense for about 15 minutes and it got took a ton of restraint on my sons part and showing of strength between the rest of us to de-escalate the situation. I’ve had some crazy interactions on the res before but this one takes the prize.
We limped the truck up 160 off the res, past four corners and made it here. Got a U-Haul lined up to carry the beast home. I’ve got a couple of theory’s but if it’s what I think it is I don’t want to attack it on the side of the road. As it is we have A lot of winding narrow mountain roads that lack shoulders. So it’s just the safest to carry it back. I’ll keep the tracking up. But once loaded we’ll take it easy.
You made the right call, the res is not a good place to break down
I have never changed a flat with as much urgency as I did in the badlands on the reservation. As I was getting into the truck, a reservation cop pulled up. I waited. He just wanted to make sure I was good. I blew through Yuba City and kept going. So thankful I had put the 57 gallon tank in the truck.
I stopped for fuel once on the way to Moab, luckily I had my Hispanic friend and they thought he was native. He is a big dude so he bulked up and they moved away from the trailer.
Made it home with zero issues. Picked up the truck and trailer as soon as they opened. The kid and I loaded up at the loves truck stop and made the trip back without an issue.
The shower and sleep I had at the holiday inn express was definitely attitude changing. We had left over fried chicken from a restaurant in Page Bill raved about and since he had to go up to get my filters he had to get a full family order to bring back for lunch as I swapped the filter on. Given that the situation got tense shortly after they returned with the food and the filters we put the remaining in my fridge and it was great for dinner.
We ended up with a 26 footer box truck and one of the new toy hauler trailers Uhaul has now. That is one slick unit. Only thing lacking is proper straps. They have two chains they expect one to tie down with. Both of which I used mainly as
Safety backup since I bought a pair of proper tie down straps from the trailer place. The front chain I was able to tension by pulling forward a couple inches looping the chain and backing the truck up. I couldn’t have done that on the rear as that chain comes up from a hole in the deck that was behind the rear axle. Or at that point in time I didn’t see how I could. I strapped each axle down diagonally and for added security I pulled out some winch rope and put tension to the front/center tie down loop they had. Stopped outside of Cortez to recheck tension of the straps, good. Checked multiple times along the way, good.
The sad part of it being a stoopid duty ford did actually work ok as tow rig. Though the v10 didn’t make an ounce of torque below 3000 rpm. If you kept it wound up to 4000-4500 rpm it would pull for days. Wolf creek pass was pulled in 3rd gear, at 4500 rpm doing about 28 mph. For 8 flipping miles. But I’ll give it credit the coolant temp stayed rock steady and more impressive the trans temp never moved. The next four mountain passes topped over 9000 feet each went mostly the same way. Wound up.
It did ok if you just turned up the tunes to avoid listening to the v10 wailing away in front of you.
Time to crash.
The shower and sleep I had at the holiday inn express was definitely attitude changing. We had left over fried chicken from a restaurant in Page Bill raved about and since he had to go up to get my filters he had to get a full family order to bring back for lunch as I swapped the filter on. Given that the situation got tense shortly after they returned with the food and the filters we put the remaining in my fridge and it was great for dinner.
We ended up with a 26 footer box truck and one of the new toy hauler trailers Uhaul has now. That is one slick unit. Only thing lacking is proper straps. They have two chains they expect one to tie down with. Both of which I used mainly as
Safety backup since I bought a pair of proper tie down straps from the trailer place. The front chain I was able to tension by pulling forward a couple inches looping the chain and backing the truck up. I couldn’t have done that on the rear as that chain comes up from a hole in the deck that was behind the rear axle. Or at that point in time I didn’t see how I could. I strapped each axle down diagonally and for added security I pulled out some winch rope and put tension to the front/center tie down loop they had. Stopped outside of Cortez to recheck tension of the straps, good. Checked multiple times along the way, good.
The sad part of it being a stoopid duty ford did actually work ok as tow rig. Though the v10 didn’t make an ounce of torque below 3000 rpm. If you kept it wound up to 4000-4500 rpm it would pull for days. Wolf creek pass was pulled in 3rd gear, at 4500 rpm doing about 28 mph. For 8 flipping miles. But I’ll give it credit the coolant temp stayed rock steady and more impressive the trans temp never moved. The next four mountain passes topped over 9000 feet each went mostly the same way. Wound up.
It did ok if you just turned up the tunes to avoid listening to the v10 wailing away in front of you.
Time to crash.
Res craziness.
We pushed out of Page full of fuel and snacks with the full Intention to not stop on the res. Best laid plans right?
We were flat hauling the mail through the res. Like passing a line of slow movers without pulling the shifter out of fifth. The 8.1 was running like a top. Feeling good, the kid and I made the mistake of talking about how well we were doing.
That was it. We officially upset the mechanical gods and the tach needle fell to zero as we created a hill. I radioed ahead to Bill and he found a spot next to a gas station on the side of the highway. We coasted in behind him. With Andy behind us.
I break out my fuel pressure gauge and thread it on the rail noticing not even a dribble of fuel as I do it. Key cycled and no gauge movement. I crawl under and check voltage and with the key cycled I can see voltage and hear the pump run.
I grab a pair of wrenches and crack the fuel line at the inlet of the fuel filter and have someone cycle the key. Fuel sprayed all over. We need a filter.
With a couple of calls to Page made the plan is to send Bill and the kid back to Page for a couple of filters. Bill amended the plan to order his favorite fried chicken and drop Robbie off there to get it while he gets the filters.
That means we got a 2ish hour wait while they make the run. Andy and I hop in the jeep and are on alert for any res shenanigans. It don’t take long. Older guy pulls up in Ram truck with a load of hay. Gets out and I decide to get out so nothing stupid goes down. The guy was actually pretty cool. Wanted to make sure we were ok. Asked a lot of questions but it was all truck talk. Never hit me up for anything. He asked one more time if we were good and after I say yes he pats me on my shoulder and says good luck and drives off.
Next up for entertainment was the pair of res stray dogs harassing tourists at the gas pumps. Kinda sad really as the pups looked more hungry than aggressive. But seeing how that’s bad for business the local dog catcher shows up and trapped them pretty quickly.
Action was pretty quiet for a while. Until we see a guy coming towards us on the highway, cross over and haul ass down the shoulder opposite of the side of the road from the direction is moving. Passes right by us and almost wipes out a mustang waiting to turn at the intersection. Narrowly avoiding the impact the mustang gives chase and the haul off together in the other direction.
I’m watching Bill’s location on OnX using the the new group function. Which is awesome in times like this where the group is split up further than radios can reach. Downside is the group function only works when everyone has cell coverage. So it don’t work off grid, but usually then group is close enough radios reach.
I see Bill is close and go make sure I’ve got what I need to make a quick swap of things. He pulls in and I grab the filter and proceed to take a gas bath pretty quickly. The guys much on chicken and I pop out to join them. I asked Robbie to hop in back and grab me a fresh shirt to change into while I clean up using Bill’s fresh water and soap.
Cleaned up and fresh shirt I get a quick bite while the kid rolls up my tarp and packs tools. It’s around this point. He realizes his phone is MIA. Backtracking he thought he left it on the fender of the jeep while he took a leak and then Andy went over and topped off his gas since we had it running with the ac on while we waited. This is were we left ourselves wide open to getting harassed. Had we not started the search for the phone we would have been gone.
Search in process I’m retracing Andy’s path to the gas station in the dirt. That’s when our new drunk friend pulls up in his hammered Edge. He makes a lap around the trucks yelling “Hey” at the guys. Robbie is all over my truck and Bill’s searching for his phone and getting frustrated. All the while the drunk guy has chosen to hone in on him and start calling him names like Hippie, ****** and a few others along those lines. Andy being from law enforcement, instantly gets in between to talk the guy down. Andy is taller than me at 6’3” if I had to guess and has a certain presence about him. Bill has secured his side arm and has it clearly place in his lap as he is sitting in his wheelchair. He’s not holding it up or pointing it, just a noticeable reminder it’s there.
I hear the the yelling and make my way back to the trucks. Andy got the kid into the Blazer and told him not to react. It took a ton of restraint but he listened. I move in closest to calmly tell the guy move on. He says he likes the three of us, but the hippie is an asshole. Drunk logic being he’s not going to say shit about two large dudes and a guy with a piece but the skinny long haired kid was an easy target. We remind him he’s just a kid and it’s just time for him to move along and we will be out in seconds.
Drunk guy mumbles some more, tells the hippie to FO one last time and he peels off in the dirt. We hop in the trucks and make a fast exit.
It was pretty tense for a few minutes until he left. We couldn’t see the guys hands so we had no idea if he had a gun or a knife. He was unpredictable but Andy’s got experience with drunks through is job and handled the situation perfectly. Robbie could have made it worse by making comments back (which he has always been pretty vocal) wisely stayed quiet when Andy told him to and got in the truck.
He was pretty wound up over his phone going missing. Which was understandable. But I was pretty confident he dropped it inside the truck when he got me my shirt. The camper was a disaster anyway from the week and tossing stuff inside for a quick getaway. Sure enough Dad was proven right and he had found it at another stall point down the road and his attitude came almost back to normal. He would not be 100% until he got off the res completely.
That’s the crazy story how the kid got roughed up verbally by a drunk local. We escaped without incident. Another crazy adventure story to relive around a campfire later and laugh about. Which Bill and Andy being of the same twisted sense of humor as both of us have too, might have called him hippy over the radio a couple of times and made direct suggestions that maybe a new shorter haircut is in order. He finally cracked a smile and giggled.
We pushed out of Page full of fuel and snacks with the full Intention to not stop on the res. Best laid plans right?
We were flat hauling the mail through the res. Like passing a line of slow movers without pulling the shifter out of fifth. The 8.1 was running like a top. Feeling good, the kid and I made the mistake of talking about how well we were doing.
That was it. We officially upset the mechanical gods and the tach needle fell to zero as we created a hill. I radioed ahead to Bill and he found a spot next to a gas station on the side of the highway. We coasted in behind him. With Andy behind us.
I break out my fuel pressure gauge and thread it on the rail noticing not even a dribble of fuel as I do it. Key cycled and no gauge movement. I crawl under and check voltage and with the key cycled I can see voltage and hear the pump run.
I grab a pair of wrenches and crack the fuel line at the inlet of the fuel filter and have someone cycle the key. Fuel sprayed all over. We need a filter.
With a couple of calls to Page made the plan is to send Bill and the kid back to Page for a couple of filters. Bill amended the plan to order his favorite fried chicken and drop Robbie off there to get it while he gets the filters.
That means we got a 2ish hour wait while they make the run. Andy and I hop in the jeep and are on alert for any res shenanigans. It don’t take long. Older guy pulls up in Ram truck with a load of hay. Gets out and I decide to get out so nothing stupid goes down. The guy was actually pretty cool. Wanted to make sure we were ok. Asked a lot of questions but it was all truck talk. Never hit me up for anything. He asked one more time if we were good and after I say yes he pats me on my shoulder and says good luck and drives off.
Next up for entertainment was the pair of res stray dogs harassing tourists at the gas pumps. Kinda sad really as the pups looked more hungry than aggressive. But seeing how that’s bad for business the local dog catcher shows up and trapped them pretty quickly.
Action was pretty quiet for a while. Until we see a guy coming towards us on the highway, cross over and haul ass down the shoulder opposite of the side of the road from the direction is moving. Passes right by us and almost wipes out a mustang waiting to turn at the intersection. Narrowly avoiding the impact the mustang gives chase and the haul off together in the other direction.
I’m watching Bill’s location on OnX using the the new group function. Which is awesome in times like this where the group is split up further than radios can reach. Downside is the group function only works when everyone has cell coverage. So it don’t work off grid, but usually then group is close enough radios reach.
I see Bill is close and go make sure I’ve got what I need to make a quick swap of things. He pulls in and I grab the filter and proceed to take a gas bath pretty quickly. The guys much on chicken and I pop out to join them. I asked Robbie to hop in back and grab me a fresh shirt to change into while I clean up using Bill’s fresh water and soap.
Cleaned up and fresh shirt I get a quick bite while the kid rolls up my tarp and packs tools. It’s around this point. He realizes his phone is MIA. Backtracking he thought he left it on the fender of the jeep while he took a leak and then Andy went over and topped off his gas since we had it running with the ac on while we waited. This is were we left ourselves wide open to getting harassed. Had we not started the search for the phone we would have been gone.
Search in process I’m retracing Andy’s path to the gas station in the dirt. That’s when our new drunk friend pulls up in his hammered Edge. He makes a lap around the trucks yelling “Hey” at the guys. Robbie is all over my truck and Bill’s searching for his phone and getting frustrated. All the while the drunk guy has chosen to hone in on him and start calling him names like Hippie, ****** and a few others along those lines. Andy being from law enforcement, instantly gets in between to talk the guy down. Andy is taller than me at 6’3” if I had to guess and has a certain presence about him. Bill has secured his side arm and has it clearly place in his lap as he is sitting in his wheelchair. He’s not holding it up or pointing it, just a noticeable reminder it’s there.
I hear the the yelling and make my way back to the trucks. Andy got the kid into the Blazer and told him not to react. It took a ton of restraint but he listened. I move in closest to calmly tell the guy move on. He says he likes the three of us, but the hippie is an asshole. Drunk logic being he’s not going to say shit about two large dudes and a guy with a piece but the skinny long haired kid was an easy target. We remind him he’s just a kid and it’s just time for him to move along and we will be out in seconds.
Drunk guy mumbles some more, tells the hippie to FO one last time and he peels off in the dirt. We hop in the trucks and make a fast exit.
It was pretty tense for a few minutes until he left. We couldn’t see the guys hands so we had no idea if he had a gun or a knife. He was unpredictable but Andy’s got experience with drunks through is job and handled the situation perfectly. Robbie could have made it worse by making comments back (which he has always been pretty vocal) wisely stayed quiet when Andy told him to and got in the truck.
He was pretty wound up over his phone going missing. Which was understandable. But I was pretty confident he dropped it inside the truck when he got me my shirt. The camper was a disaster anyway from the week and tossing stuff inside for a quick getaway. Sure enough Dad was proven right and he had found it at another stall point down the road and his attitude came almost back to normal. He would not be 100% until he got off the res completely.
That’s the crazy story how the kid got roughed up verbally by a drunk local. We escaped without incident. Another crazy adventure story to relive around a campfire later and laugh about. Which Bill and Andy being of the same twisted sense of humor as both of us have too, might have called him hippy over the radio a couple of times and made direct suggestions that maybe a new shorter haircut is in order. He finally cracked a smile and giggled.
Typical res stuff, it’s part of the reason I travel to Moab with the 82 in tow.
All being said, you guys made it out pretty good.
All being said, you guys made it out pretty good.
Where exactly is this reservation area? I’d like to mental note this for any future adventures.
Is this the Teec Nos Pos area near the 4 corners?
Pretty much, northern az near the boarders.
From Blanding,UT all the way down to like Tuba City,AZ and over to Cortez,CO. There's others but that's the main area.
Most of north-eastern Az is Navajo reservation land. US highway 160 runs right through the middle of it to the four corners area.
Ute reservation is on the Colorado side of the four corners leading into Cortez. Smaller reservations dot all over the southwest in AZ, UT and NM and I’ve driven through many in my work travels. I’ve yet to have an interaction like this one. But odd ones are unique at least to me with the Navajo.
There are bad apples in every race and this guy happened to be one of them. I’ve known a few over the years and they’re incredibly cool people to get to know. So I’ve got nothing against them as a people, but one has to be prepared to deal with the bad apples when on any reservation.
It’s weird to say this but as a white guy, it’s the closest thing I’ll get to feeling what racial discrimination is like. I had gone into the gas station building to ask if anybody found a phone in the last 10 minutes and every eye in that place was on me the second I crossed the threshold. It was not a good feeling. I’m sure they watched me every step I took back to my truck.
So have a full tank in the truck before you attempt to cross that one. Limit your exposure and watch your 6 on the highway as they drive fast and pass whenever the hell they feel like it. Double yellows, blind hills or corners. They will pass regardless of their own safety much less yours.
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Yep reservations can be sketchy. Had a group of 4 in a vehicle try and run me off the road multiple times crossing a reservation in Minnesota. It was obvious they had been drinking. I finally just hammered the little chevy luv pickup for all it was worth. Luckily either the bomber car they were driving couldn't keep up or they were too toasted to keep up.
I was stopped in construction in South Fork Colorado, looking around at the vehicles passing and here comes a U-Haul with a square on a trailer. "Hey wait a minute, I know that blazer." So texted Zoo.
Sorry about the break down! But sometimes we just have to scoop up the rig and haul it home, or in my case part way home and someone else haul it the rest of the way.
Speaking of which my transmission should be done in the next couple weeks from blowing it in Moab!..
I was stopped in construction in South Fork Colorado, looking around at the vehicles passing and here comes a U-Haul with a square on a trailer. "Hey wait a minute, I know that blazer." So texted Zoo.
Sorry about the break down! But sometimes we just have to scoop up the rig and haul it home, or in my case part way home and someone else haul it the rest of the way.
Speaking of which my transmission should be done in the next couple weeks from blowing it in Moab!..
Yeah it's wise to make decisions like this.
I once hauled my car 2 miles home when I lost oil pressure, getting it to a safe place to work on it and diagnose the cause was easier
I once hauled my car 2 miles home when I lost oil pressure, getting it to a safe place to work on it and diagnose the cause was easier
I drove my 82 home 10 miles in 1st gear… I was poor and couldn’t afford a tow.
I once blew my rear driveshaft at the park, then blew a trailer tire on the way home. I unloaded the trail rig and drove 45min home in FWD. 0/10 would not recommend.
A side from the rez drama, what is the prognosis on the crawlabego
Oh I have done plenty of that.
That's why eventually I chose to tow when possible to prevent the worst.
I pay $139 / year for AAA that gets me one 200 miles tow and 3 100 miles per year
The current working theory right now is I have a crank sensor going open when hot. It’s got the later style sensor so I should not have an issue with it getting stuck when I do replace it. However some 8.1’s did have a phantom stall issue that kicked a lot of peoples butts and I think it was mine on the trip.
The problem is when the crank sensor fails, it stalls, like right now. Think just turning the switch to shut it off. No stumble. Just off. And since it kills the system, it will not set a crank sensor code. I did have a p0347 knock sensor code set, but that won’t cause a stall, but might have caught the knock slightly as it went down. Dunno.
Here’s what I do know. Initially the problem was fuel related. Engine stumbled just like it ran out of fuel. This I believe was self induced. In my repair to the exhaust hanger on the driver side I neglected to see the two weatherpack connectors for the sending unit could get close to the exhaust pipe. When we had no fuel pump on key on I found both connectors melted on the exhaust. Which is where I found no less than FOUR butt connectors hidden in the harness between the connector and the frame for both the fuel pump power and sending unit. Obviously adding some resistance into the mix. Spliced in fresh wire for both circuits and still had no pump. I did have voltage finally just the pump was smoked.
Tow to a shady spot off the main trail and swapped in the spare pump I had with me. Fired right up. So problem fixed right? Nada.
Next day after 30 miles off road I try to cross a crack and it stumbles like it’s out of gas again. Keep in mind we dumped close to 15 gallons in after the pump and the tank showed 3/4-7/8 on the gauge which has been reasonably accurate up to this point. No way did I burn 20+ gallons in 30 miles. Barely a half mile to decent graded dirt rides we ride tow strap some more. Unsure if we are out of gas Bill and my son race ahead for Big Water to grab more fuel. Andy was dangerously low on the rental too.
They meet us further down and I dump 12-13 gallons back in and give Andy the rest of one can. Showing full, engine fires right up. Of course while we are waiting I’m running every contingency down in my head. Did the regulator fail again and fill the oil pan with gas? Oil level was spot on full, no fuel smell. My fuel pressure gauge went doa so no confirmation there.
We make it to Alstrom point and decide to throw in the towel. I’m not risking it more and screwing up peoples vacation limping my broke truck all over the desert. Head home in the morning.
We take off the next day. Air up in Big Water and spend 45 minutes hooking my sway bar back up (stupid side quest I should have left alone, will explain later). More fuel in Page, only taking 8 gallons. Which the math wasn’t mathing. That’s my red flag telling me I’m not using extra fuel. I was curious from the day before and wanted to know if the tank would take a lot or a little to fill up. In this case 8 gallons for the ride in from where I added fuel the day before and all the driving after made sense.
So far running great. 1 hour down the road. Dead. Stumbling and died. Can’t confirm with my gauge, but cracking the fuel line at the filter proved there was residual pressure on the inlet side. I that’s where the filter came in. Sent Bill and Robbie inner another chase for filters. (Could not blow through the filter)
Put the fresh one in and it fires up. Cool we gone now! Not so fast. This time like the switch was off. Limp it to the next res gas spot and do a world record 3 minute filter change (same spot we changed Larry’s u-joint on the k10 last year).
Not five miles down does it die again. Like the key was switched off. Limp it further since it was showing 1/2 tank on the gauge. Rather than the 15 gallons in Jerry cans I had onboard being hot, let’s get cool fuel from another res gas station. Now it takes 12 gallons which check out based on the distance we covered.
After fueling up it stalled again in the same way but if we let it set a few minutes it always fired back up without having to cycle the key multiple times times as in a case where it lost fuel and had to reprime the system. We limped into Cortez this wat. The p0347 code was back and a cursory wiggle test at both knock sensors, cam sensor and map sensor wiring yielding no results. I could not find any damaged or compromised wiring that might be taking out the 5v reference circuit either.
That’s the long way around to say why I think it’s the crank sensor. Nothing else could cause it.
It will run without a Cam sensor. Not great but it will. Cranks sensor fails and the engine won’t run at all if it’s not generating the signal.
Have I looked at it yet since I got home? Absolutely not. I grabbed my duffel bag and the food out of it and left it where we parked it behind the garage. Had I looked at it this last weekend I might have thrown a lit match at it and watched it burn. My cup of frustration did runeth over multiple times. My son and the others did talk me down off the ledge but needless to say I’m not happy about it. The self inflicted stuff for one. The filter issue I knew about and since I never fixed my open evap line is why I’m sucking in garbage to clog the filter. Between that and the melted wires I know why this latest pump died. The crank sensor just being timed well enough to make me overlook it as a cause didn’t help.
I’m in lovely Lubbock Texas this week far enough away to avoid setting it ablaze. By the weekend I’ll have a new crank sensor in hand and see if I can sneak it out without removing the intake.
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