Atl-atl's K5 Blazer Four Wheel Camper "The Crawlin Cabin" documentation thread!

[ZooMad75]

I contemplated it, there is room, I think Im going to pass though. Really the outdoor shower is for cooling off after a bike ride, washing things down etc. Not so much for truly taking showers.

Gotcha.

Larry's got a water heater in his Phoenix camper on the K10 and it's never used on weekend trips to the mountains. But out in the desert everyone gets a turn after a day on the trail. The hot outdoor shower is life changing after a day in the dirt for sure. But in my case we usually go out together so I don't need to have one in mine. As long as I bring water I can mooch his.

 

[Big Ray]

Your body mounts affect body alignment as well. Its very pronounced on my old Suburbans.

 

[Atl-atl]

Your body mounts affect body alignment as well. Its very pronounced on my old Suburbans.

Yeah mine are in pretty bad shape, add it to the list hahaha.

Also thanks for all the likes!

 

[Big Ray]

Nice rig. Subscribed!

 

[Atl-atl]

Ive been gone for a while. My house is under contract to sell so ive been doing work to get it ready for that and the Blazer has been neglected for a few weeks now. Today I picked up my new tank/shower/pump and a bunch of misc. water lines and fittings as well as some propane fittings to start rerouting. The good news is I am able to use a "stock" water tank from an RV supply place and reuse all existing holes in the camper except one. Im ok with filling one hole and making one new hole, especially because its on the horizontal wooden surface underneath the overhang of the camper that sticks out over the bedsides. Obviously I will have to cut a hole in the side of the camper for the outside shower enclosure but thats fine. Its going to fit on the exterior wall above the water tank sandwiched in between the tank and the sink. I didn't think it would fit there so Im super happy about it. This means Im getting twice the water capacity as the stock tank and basically not losing any storage under the counter.

New locations for everything. Just need to plumb it all now.

 

[Wes Harden]

looking good, but those white scotch lock splicers gotta go in the trash. they are horrible at carrying loads and will cause problems in the future.

 

[Atl-atl]

looking good, but those white scotch lock splicers gotta go in the trash. they are horrible at carrying loads and will cause problems in the future.

Oh yeah, the whole camper will be getting rewired as part of this project.

 

[Atl-atl]

Well, I made a big hole in the driver side wall of the camper. It wasn't without some educated guessing, finger crossing, breath holding, lots of measuring, pushing, prodding etc. but in the end it worked! Since I have previously stripped the exterior skin of other Four Wheel Campers, I was relatively confident in the location of the vertical and horizontal aluminum structure in side the walls and after about an hour of figuring I went for it.

Here is a picture of the 80's Fleet(same generation as my Blazer camper) that I completely tore down which gave me the best guess as to how much room there would be between the structure of the camper in the area I was hoping to install the shower.

Turns out the measurement was exactly the same! I like when companies follow standard procedure/sizing. After framing out the newly cut opening with some extra 1" aluminum square stock, the shower I bought had 1/4" of wiggle room between the propane cabinet and the next vertical support of the camper wall.

Not a window...

I had to trim the shower enclosure to fit up against the propane cabinet. I have since packed it with butyl tape so its water tight.

Currently the shower head is at 5'6" when in the holder. After the lift/tires it should be above 6' which is great because Im 6' tall.

Dry fit everything except the fill line.

Got some shims to tilt the tank towards the drain and some perforated metal strap to fasten down the tank.

Bolted down tank, hose clamped lines, replaced the fill inlet and ran new hose for the fill.

Finished all the hookups, ran a temporary switch to the pump and filled it with water to pressure test the system and then ran out of daylight. womp womp. I flipped the switch and my faucet was leaking so water got everywhere. The good news is the pump works, the faucet gets pressure, the shower head works, the fill/drain work and all seems well.

 

[Capt Ron]

Great work. I'm really liking the shower/tank setup. Do you have links/part #s ?

 

[Atl-atl]

Great work. I'm really liking the shower/tank setup. Do you have links/part #s ?

Thanks!

Shower
https://www.statetrailer.com/produc...at=P1&subcat=09A2&item_no=9213403&detail=true

Tank
https://www.statetrailer.com/produc...cat=P1&subcat=09G&item_no=9113000&detail=true

Pump
https://www.statetrailer.com/products.php?item=Flow+Jet+Low+Flow+Plus&item_no=9050500&detail=true

 

[Capt Ron]

Thanks

 

[Atl-atl]

Thanks

I will say, you definitely get what you pay for. I basically bought the cheapest stuff available to see if I could make it work. 1gpm is too much for the faucet and not really enough for the shower. (I bought a new faucet to try and will report back this weekend.) I might reroute the lines so the shower gets the straight shot and the faucet gets the 90 degree bend in the line. If I did it over Id do a 3gpm pump with a regulator for the faucet. This particular shower is rated at "2.5gpm" which is probably fine with a 3gpm pump but it already seams to leak a tiny bit at 1gpm. I might pull apart the fittings and tape or silicone them all. Im going to rewire the camper and run the system a few cycles to see how it all works before making any changes. If you're going to spend $50 on the shower enclosure it probably makes sense to just spend $100 on a nicer one, so long as it fits in the space you're working with. What do they say? Buy once cry once? I should probably start living by that mantra.

 

[ZooMad75]

Thanks

You got a day to find the stuff and install it before leaving dude. Best get busy. Or bring some extra water along and you can share in Larry's heated shower off of the K10. I'll tell you right now it may not seem like much but it's amazing after a long day on a dusty trail. It changes your outlook for sure.

 

[Atl-atl]

You got a day to find the stuff and install it before leaving dude. Best get busy. Or bring some extra water along and you can share in Larry's heated shower off of the K10. I'll tell you right now it may not seem like much but it's amazing after a long day on a dusty trail. It changes your outlook for sure.

Wait, I saw you mentioned a desert trip in your thread but I didn't realize it was happening...now! What are the details? I could possibly meet you guys for a night or two this weekend depending on your general location. I saw Green River. How far West/South are you headed? Its friggin hot, Im not sure what I can handle right now with no AC and potentially some lingering vaporlock.

 

[Capt Ron]

You got a day to find the stuff and install it before leaving dude. Best get busy. Or bring some extra water along and you can share in Larry's heated shower off of the K10. I'll tell you right now it may not seem like much but it's amazing after a long day on a dusty trail. It changes your outlook for sure.

LOL,yea not gonna happen before DT2020. I am bringing as much extra water as I can carry. Damn rig is pretty much full. The Monster Energy Umbrella girls are gonna have to sit on each others lap.

 

[ZooMad75]

Wait, I saw you mentioned a desert trip in your thread but I didn't realize it was happening...now! What are the details? I could possibly meet you guys for a night or two this weekend depending on your general location. I saw Green River. How far West/South are you headed? Its friggin hot, Im not sure what I can handle right now with no AC and potentially some lingering vaporlock.

Green River is the meeting point Saturday. From there we head west Sunday on I-70 for about 30 miles and pull off and hit dirt in the San Raphael Swell on Fix It pass. We will camp somewhere on the north end of that trail and come back south on Eva Conover and link up with Eagle Canyon to go under I-70 and proceed southbound. From there it's anybody's guess where we go. I suspect we'll have a meeting of the minds in the morning layout the map and pick a general direction to head out on. My general idea is to progress southerly for the possible fuel and supply restocking at Hanksville.

Yes, it's gonna be hot. The more we head south, the hotter it's going to get. I've survived two desert trips and one Blazer Bash without A/C. My way to beat the heat is lots of cold drinks (water/gatorade/iced tea), a cooling towel to keep on my neck, and a spray bottle of water. Keep the towel wet and spray a mist as needed. I might load a 12v evaporative cooler for the camper when we park to help beat the heat when it's time for bed.

We've got a big group lined up for sure (at least 10 right now) but I will speak from experience here, this area is not fun in a truck that can't handle the heat. I did that in '17 and had issues that behaved a lot like a vapor lock (ended up being a pinched hose right off the fuel pump in the tank) and I lost count of the times I got stopped from stalling and waiting to bleed the air out of the system. Add to that my stock radiator wasn't up to the task to keep the 5.3 cool unless I was moving at a decent clip.

I don't think it would be an issue to tag along but we only ask that the truck is ready for the task. We won't leave a broke truck behind but it's a drag working on them on the trip. We take great care to push them prior to the trip to work out the kinks and find the problems before we head out for a week. That being said, stuff happens regardless, but we try to limit the possibilities for failure. There will be some decent wheeling involved at least on the first three trails for sure. It's not full-blown rock crawling, but it ain't going to be graded dirt roads either. We like to say we have 4lo for a reason and like to use it so we can and will get into technical stuff. But we aren't looking for body damage.

My thread has more details I just posted up, including a link to Larry's GPS spot page that will be tracking our progress.

 

[Atl-atl]

Green River is the meeting point Saturday. From there we head west Sunday on I-70 for about 30 miles and pull off and hit dirt in the San Raphael Swell on Fix It pass. We will camp somewhere on the north end of that trail and come back south on Eva Conover and link up with Eagle Canyon to go under I-70 and proceed southbound. From there it's anybody's guess where we go. I suspect we'll have a meeting of the minds in the morning layout the map and pick a general direction to head out on. My general idea is to progress southerly for the possible fuel and supply restocking at Hanksville.

Yes, it's gonna be hot. The more we head south, the hotter it's going to get. I've survived two desert trips and one Blazer Bash without A/C. My way to beat the heat is lots of cold drinks (water/gatorade/iced tea), a cooling towel to keep on my neck, and a spray bottle of water. Keep the towel wet and spray a mist as needed. I might load a 12v evaporative cooler for the camper when we park to help beat the heat when it's time for bed.

We've got a big group lined up for sure (at least 10 right now) but I will speak from experience here, this area is not fun in a truck that can't handle the heat. I did that in '17 and had issues that behaved a lot like a vapor lock (ended up being a pinched hose right off the fuel pump in the tank) and I lost count of the times I got stopped from stalling and waiting to bleed the air out of the system. Add to that my stock radiator wasn't up to the task to keep the 5.3 cool unless I was moving at a decent clip.

I don't think it would be an issue to tag along but we only ask that the truck is ready for the task. We won't leave a broke truck behind but it's a drag working on them on the trip. We take great care to push them prior to the trip to work out the kinks and find the problems before we head out for a week. That being said, stuff happens regardless, but we try to limit the possibilities for failure. There will be some decent wheeling involved at least on the first three trails for sure. It's not full-blown rock crawling, but it ain't going to be graded dirt roads either. We like to say we have 4lo for a reason and like to use it so we can and will get into technical stuff. But we aren't looking for body damage.

My thread has more details I just posted up, including a link to Larry's GPS spot page that will be tracking our progress.

Ive been following you guys, for better or worse hahaha, wish I could be there!

 

[Atl-atl]

Got hot again in AZ but I forced myself to continue on the camper for a bit this evening. Pulled the ice box and started the wiring harness for the camper. I'll be running a 6 circuit Blue Sea fuse box with negative. I have the wiring broken down with current and future fitting onto 6 circuits, since I don't plan on anything crazy like solar or shore power this is plenty. I'll be rewiring from the camper to the house battery/charging relay as well. My circuits are as follows:

1. Furnace/Thermostat
2. Water pump
3. Rear "porch" light
4. Interior lights
5. LP/CO detector
6. Fridge (*future)

Currently the truck has some old school relay that seems to work but it gets really hot and I feel like it will fail at any time. Im planning to run a Blue Sea SI-ACR which is good for 120 amps continuously with spikes to 210 amps. This should be plenty for now.

This is the extent of the stock FWC fuse block for the camper...things were different back then. On the bottom right you can see the wiring which is coming in from the relay under the hood of the truck. Its just two 12 gauge wires black/white in a grey sheath. The black is the ground that goes from the house battery/AC compressor bracket straight to the furnace. There is a semi-modern bullet connector extending the(now larger) black wire to the furnace. The white wire powers the two fuses on the block which are; white to the interior ceiling lights and red to the furnace/thermostat/rear outside light all tapped off the single wire. When was the last time you saw flathead screws!?!

New wiring will have a separate fuse for each individual item in the camper which should make diagnosis of issues (as well as adding circuits for new stuff) much easier. The original wiring was literally stapled to the cabinetry. The new wiring is inside accordian loom that will be held in place with wire loom clamps.

 

[Atl-atl]

Im planning to upgrade to a fridge in the future and already have the one picked out(Truck Fridge TF65) that will fit into my icebox opening, just need to spend the money. Ive included its Ah rating into my calculations and I should be fine without solar. My total draw is 13.2Ah so that calculates to 316.8Ah/24 hours. Obviously I wont be running everything at the same time, all day. In fact Ill likely never run everything at the same time. Lights, for example, are typically only on for a few seconds or minutes at a time and only one of them not all of them. Water pump only runs for a few seconds at a time. Furnace is rarely even needed etc. The fridge would be the only thing running consistently but even then its running intermittently just to keep its contents cold. I currently have a dual battery setup with a charging relay with a total of 125Ah. Eventually I will get a matching Duracell Ultra AGM starting/cycling battery to match my Duracell Ultra AGM house battery and then my total Ah will be close to 200. My Realistic draw in a 24 hour period without running the vehicle is probably in the 50-60 range with the fridge. My house battery is 90Ah. The other reality of my camping situation is I very rarely stay in the same place two nights in a row. My friends and I are much more adventure/overland type campers so I will almost always be driving the vehicle for some amount of time, multiple hours most likely, in between "deep cycles" of the battery. Could I upgrade to solar? Sure. Will I? Probably not. It will be easy to wire in a charge controller once this current round of wiring is completed though...

Furnace/T-stat 3A
Water pump 1.6A
Outside light 0.5A
Inside lights 0.5A x4
*future fridge 6A (40A/24hours)
LP/CO detector 0.1A

Total =13.2Ah, 316.8A/24 hours

 

[Atl-atl]

Still working on the wiring. It doesnt look like Ive accomplished much but it feels like I have. Wiring sure is time consuming. Im getting really close though. I picked up some rubber shielded 12/3(not romex, actual braided wire, gotta love Ace hardware) and ran it from the relay/house battery underhood to the camper, deleted the old truck to camper wiring, deleted the old fuse block, mounted the new fuse block, ran the new harness for the Furnace/T-stat/water pump/porch light, finished all the connections, deleted the old dry rotted and stapled wiring and deleted half of the ceiling light wiring.

Tomorrow Ill run new wires for the ceiling lights, at least as much as I can without removing the ceiling material which is a major undertaking for another day. A couple things Im super excited about are the fact that no wires remain inside the icebox cabinet. This means I can easily add a fridge when I get around to it, especially with the provision for it in the fuse block right around the corner. And when I eventually need to remove the camper from the truck I now simply need to undo the + and - from the fuse block, fish the 12/3 loom through one hole and the wiring is completely detached.

I used a few different wire gauge charts to determine what size wire to run from the truck to the fuse block in the camper. I have a 15 foot run of wire and an absolute max of 13.2A (which will never happen) so I decided on 12 gauge because 10 just seemed like such overkill. Realistically Ill only be using 6-8A at a time. That might change in winter if Im running the furnace and fridge and lights and doing a lot of dishes in the sink but that will be a rare occurrence. I can always bump the truck to camper wiring to 10awg or even 8awg, if needed, with relative ease. As for the rest of the wiring I went with 14awg which is plenty, calculations would have allowed for 16 if I wanted.

Currently have a 30A barrel fuse in line between the house battery and the fuse block. Per "the maths" I should have a 45A fuse so Ill probably swap to an ANL style fuse and holder when I swap out this old crappy charging relay for a Blue Sea one in the near future. For now this is fine since I wont be running the furnace anytime soon!

Fuse block mounted and harness started.

Looks like a rats nest but its just a little buttoning up away from being done. All brand new wiring and connections... Also I ran quick connects for the switches and thermostat connections because, unfortunately, to access everything you have to remove the whole cabinet face. The way the factory wired it there was a couple extra feet of wire so you could pull the face back but you had to undo a bunch of stuff to actually remove the face and be able to work on anything under the counter.