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Marriage of a M1009 and Chalet

Metrodps

Metrodps

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OK I have the Chalet bug again! :doah:

I was thinking how would taking a M1009 because of the diesel and the camper off a chalet and put a rig together. Leave the camper as close to factory as possible and keep the M1009 exterior military.

Now most the M1009's I have talked to owners about say they get around 25 mpg on highway. Now my thoughts are how would the steering be and what mods would you have to do to the M1009 suspension?

What do you guys think about doing this? I am looking at this as a project down the road in about two years. The Chalets have been going for around $3,000 on eBay. I have located one on the outskirts of S.L.C. that has been sitting for 3 years.
 
original balzer said:
Cool as long as you camo the outside of the chalet. It would look like some sort of mobile command or radio unit.
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Sounds like a Craig Artzer project! OB I was thinking desert tan or just OD Green :haha:
 
I'd love to have a chalet, Anyone ever been inside one? Are they roomy? Would be awesome for camping. Some shag carpet, oh man! How hard are they to take out? Any different then a regular blazer?
 
dremu said:
Been done... one guy has two or three, including both 70's orange camper on a green camo '09 and a green-camo camper.
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I have seen the green one gutted and more office than camper. But I didn't know if it was a Chalet painted green or the marriage I propose.

Like I said with the M1009 you have the diesel and the second alternator. The truck has the the brush guard and d-ring set up. I am wondering how the hydro assist would handle it. A lot of questions.

I know I would have to mod the rear bumper and a tire carrier. SO with the added weight what would it do to the mileage?
 
I doubt any M1009 is getting 25 mpg on the highway. Those are the top end fuel mileage numbers for a 6.2 and you pretty much need overdrive to get them. The M1009 in stock form will be spinning at 2200 rpm at 65 mph. It should reliably get 21-22 mpg, and I'd venture the extra weight of the Chalet camper plus extra wind drag might knock off 1-2 mpg.

20-21 should be likely.

I can squeeze 25-26 mpg out of my 83 pick-up, but it's lighter, lower and spins at an ideal 1850 rpm at 65 mph.

Rene
 
Thanks for the link dremu, The only thing I didn't find out, do they come with a generator of some sort, or does the ac/dc converter run off the battery? Any problems with them killing batteries alot?
 
I had a chalet and loved it, though it was VERY heavy and wore out my tires pretty fast. My mileage was terrible already so I didn't pay much attention. The tires were ProComp MTs so that may have contributed to the additional wear. IMHO your first order of business should be a suspension upgrade (either 3/4t springs or airbags) and then take a look at your gearing if you haven't already done so.

The interior of mine was roomy...for one person. Took my boys duck hunting and camping in it a couple of times and found it pretty cramped when it came time to get dressed in the morning.

When I was first heading into my divorce, I actually had permission from my chief to park it in the back lot and live there for a while till I could afford a trailer. Fortunately, I met a new woman shortly after that and she's been taking care of me ever since. Hopefully, I'll be able to change rolls with her before she gets wise that I've pretty much been a leech for the last few years:whistle: Especially since I sold my chalet a few years ago and no longer have it as an option:doah:
 
The convertor runs off the battery. I'm not sure if they're all set up like this, but I've got dual batteries that are isolated. The camper runs off one, the truck off the other. I've used my camper battery to jump start my truck battery before. All I run off the 12volt system is lights and a fan, so I've never had any issues with drain. You have to have shore power or an invertor if you want a/c current to the camper.
 
Metrodps said:
I have seen the green one gutted and more officethan camper. But I didn't know if it was a Chalet painted green or the marriage I propose.
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Your not talking about mine are you? If so I need to get some more pics up. It's definitely not an office, though I suppose I could work from the deerlease.:thinking:
 
[
What do you guys think about doing this? I am looking at this as a project down the road in about two years. The Chalets have been going for around $3,000 on eBay. I have located one on the outskirts of S.L.C. that has been sitting for 3 years.[/quote]

If its the one in west Bountiful with the orange tint all over it the tint does come off and its not in all that bad of shape, I think its been sitting for about six years
 
chalet2506 said:
Your not talking about mine are you? If so I need to get some more pics up. It's definitely not an office, though I suppose I could work from the deerlease.:thinking:
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Yea I think it was your truck. So was it a regular Chalet or did you do a marriage of a chalet box and K5? I was thinking a military blazer would be the better choice since it is diesel and 3:73 gears plus it has the dual alts and batteries. They would be easier to convert and charging would be a breeze.

kgblazerfive said:
If its the one in west Bountiful with the orange tint all over it the tint does come off and its not in all that bad of shape, I think its been sitting for about six years
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It looks like it is sitting by a body shop and the truck was the rusty orange.
 
Mine was a stock Chalet. I don't see why it'd be a problem to put a chalet camper on a military blazer. It would just be a matter of bolting it on, running power to the camper, and wiring the taillights in.
 
I was thinking 3:73 for a little more power yet still keeping mileage. I am sorry I didn't make it clearer. My rig has 3:08 gears and they are dog when I am loaded and driving on PA Turnpike. I get 15-16 mpg highway driving 60 mph and 10 -11 in the city. Now going through PA on pike forget that it is average 10 mpg.
 
I would sugest upgradeing to 16" wheels and tires. A 305x75x16 is about the same as a 33x12.5x15 but has a higher load rateing and they are more puncture resistant. Should handle the wieght better and last a bit longer.
 
1978Blazerk5 said:
wow thats kinda weird, Condering you could get the military K30's (cant remember M1___) with 4.56 gears and a Detriot. Idk I heard that somewhere on CK5
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Yep. The CUCV *Blazer*'s are on 10-bolts with 3.08:1 (NOT 3:08, thankyouverymuch).

The CUCV *pickups* are on D60/14BFF (duallies had D70 in back) with 4.56:1.

(3:8 gears would be ... well, 0.375:1, so a serious overdrive! :haha: )

-- A
 
Metrodps said:
.....taking a M1009 because of the diesel and the camper off a chalet and put a rig together.....What do you guys think about doing this?....located one on the outskirts of S.L.C. that has been sitting for 3 years.
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---- copying part of my post on a similar subject over at the expeditionportal.com forum------- Call me an evil speculator, scroll down to Lot #312 in this auction's results page for a '76 Chalet with what seems to be a mild lift kit (or maybe those tires make it look extra tall, see photo below) but is otherwise stock: http://www.raleighclassic.com/new/results.php

$17,000!!! Considering what I saw at the recent Barrett-Jackson Auction this past January for rather rare '70s cars, I'm thinking it's not economically wise to alter a reasonably good condition original Chalet.

Myself, I'll keep my Chalet as stock as possible and probably sell it to a collector since it is in quite good original condition, and I'll start over later with an early '80s diesel Blazer with o.d. tranny, so at least I'll be ahead of the game already. From what I've seen, there is a somewhat steady stream of Chalets for sale where the Blazer underneath is too far rusted to save, and some are campers-only, long since separated from the Blazer and nobody knows where it is now....

And as I mentioned in a different post earlier today, I know of 3 Chalet shell-onlys and 8 complete units (the all-tan '77 in SLC included) currently for sale, along with 6 others where I'm uncertain of their sale status. PM me if you want those two lists....

#0058 Chalet.jpg
 
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