Four Wheel Blazer Pop-up, Finally found one

[Boonie]

Zoomad,

Thanks for expressing the thinking behind much of what you have done. You are right about me probably not using my rig in the same way you do, but our concepts remain the same. Keep it light, but durable. Keep the weight we carry low. As I stated early in my post I believe in preparing for 90%, not 100%, of what I MAY encounter and I change my plans when I encounter the remaining 10%.

Last night I watched Tim's video on his cabinet build, so with his experience and Vic's, I'll go with 1/2" in the cabinets. My overhead is longer than the original Grandby, but shorter than yours. At the back of the cab my bed rests directly on the Jeep top which I have supported directly on the roll bar and since my camper is a permanent mount it can be supported at the front as well by my light bar, so I may try 1/2 there also, but I am in the 250 lb range!

Like you suggested I'll wait until I get further along in the build or even after I start using before I decide to add airbags to the rear.

Keep the rubber side down,
Boonie

 

[Zoomad]

Yeah, I'm a little more on the hard core off road side of the scale. I'm not going to beat the snot out of it on a full blown rock crawling trail, but I'm not shy of a good trail at least until the trees get tight. But you are right, the same rules apply. Keep the weight down and as low as you can.

We went a little overboard on the cabinet for sure since it really only needs to support itself and is not structural to the camper. But I didn't want it coming apart in the boonies on a long trip either. The current bench was built with lessons learned from the first version. The main one being was to make version 2 to be more of a complete box with only a slight cutout for the wheel tub. Version 1 really only had 3 sides and was attached to a vertical board that was attached to the edge of the bottom board for the side of the camper (the board that gets bolted to the bed rail to attach that side of the camper to the truck). What I didn't understand was the amount of movement that still occurs between the camper and the body of the truck. It isn't much, but it was enough for the front board to pull away from the board attached to the camper. I ended up having to make temporary repairs after only a day on the Mojave Road. By having the version 2 made as a complete box with a single hinged lid I only attached it to the floor and not to the side. The box is much more rigid and since it's only attached to the floor and not the side and the floor any movement between the truck and the camper won't try and rip it apart. So far the concept has proven to be very durable.

 

[Zoomad]

Been a little busy in the quarantine. I really wanted to tint the windows in the camper as the sun has already started to bleach the curtains. I've never done any kind of window tinting ever before. That shows. I got a cheap kit off of Amazon with 35% tint and got after it.
This shows I probably went too light on the tint. Bottom pane is tinted, top is clear. Not much difference.

Looks a little darker installed. It's a 20ft job for sure.

I also got the step plate I had made welded in and painted up.

I had to patch some holes in the beer can thick exterior from our silly attempt at Blanca Peak last year. How the "off road" camper only came with a skin not much thicker than a can of Coors light is mind boggling. I've got plans to rectify this when I reskin the camper, but for now patches are gonna do.

This hole went all the way through to the inside even busting through the interior paneling. Note to self, stay out of Juniper trees.

Outside of an oil change, it's ready for the Desert trip this year. Validation run up to the hills this weekend for camping systems check and it's go time in under a month.

 

[Zoomad]

The desert trip is behind us now. We had a lot of fun, dealt with some serious breakage too. Here's the full trip report:

https://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/topic/20184-desert-trip-2020-san-raphael-swell-utah/

The following weekend after the trip I ripped the 5.3/700r4 combo out of the truck too. I had a guy from another forum with a 77 K5 with another FWC make an offer for the combo that would replace his original carb'd small block that won't run in the heat.

The 8.1 5-speed swap is now currently in motion.

 

[Mighty Dodge Ram]

Is this all happening at the BigAssGas Garage? Must be a busy place these days...

 

[Zoomad]

Is this all happening at the BigAssGas Garage? Must be a busy place these days...

The final swap is. He's planning on working on the K10 later in the fall/winter. Right now that means he has some issues to work out on his Suburban that have been nagging him. He can keep working on it, while I'm plugging away at home on mine to prep it. Mainly I've got to deal with the clutch/brake pedal swap, pull the seats, console and flooring. This way we can have clear access to add the hole to the floor for the 5-speed.

I've got some wiring to clean up since I have better access with everything out of the way that I'll deal with too. Once I'm ready we'll tow it over to Larry's and we should be able to knock it out in a weekend or too. I'll have all the parts ready and Larry will have already prepped the engine for install.

 

[87K5]

What is the big wooden structure on the front and back side of the camper, is that the factory top lifting setup? I have read through your build on another couple webpages before I found out about this forum.

Trying to figure out what all mine is missing and needs.

Does the bed have anything slide out section or extension to make it wider? If not, I may add that feature into mine.

 

[Zoomad]

Yep the wooden items on each end are the lift panels. Mine was wasted on the front when I got mine. Ended up using a single section of 1/4" plywood hinged at the bottom. I've replaced the front again with one made out of bent electrical conduit. It works very well and is a common mod on these campers on this forum.

Mine does not have a bed extension. Mine is almost 4 feet deep from the front to the back though. I'm a big dude and have more than enough room to spread out without needing more. I wouldn't have room for a second person up there. In all my research on the blazer style campers I've yet to find one that had a bed extension in it. Two reasons I can think of for that. One, the bed is wider than a similar normal FWC camper of the time. The second is the small cabinet over the window with the slider doors. It goes right up to the bed and would be in the way of the bed extension. If you take the little cabinet out you would have all the room you need.

So you picked up a Blazer camper recently? Where did you get it? What kind of shape is it in?

 

[87K5]

Yep the wooden items on each end are the lift panels. Mine was wasted on the front when I got mine. Ended up using a single section of 1/4" plywood hinged at the bottom. I've replaced the front again with one made out of bent electrical conduit. It works very well and is a common mod on these campers on this forum.

Mine does not have a bed extension. Mine is almost 4 feet deep from the front to the back though. I'm a big dude and have more than enough room to spread out without needing more. I wouldn't have room for a second person up there. In all my research on the blazer style campers I've yet to find one that had a bed extension in it. Two reasons I can think of for that. One, the bed is wider than a similar normal FWC camper of the time. The second is the small cabinet over the window with the slider doors. It goes right up to the bed and would be in the way of the bed extension. If you take the little cabinet out you would have all the room you need.

So you picked up a Blazer camper recently? Where did you get it? What kind of shape is it in?

I am picking it up this week. I will link to a post after I get it, take some pics and have a chance to inspect it. Unfortunately, I have not seen one of these in person and going by the pictures my wife was concerned about the small bed platform. I am sure the first mods will be to extend the bed platform lol.

 

[Zoomad]

I am picking it up this week. I will link to a post after I get it, take some pics and have a chance to inspect it. Unfortunately, I have not seen one of these in person and going by the pictures my wife was concerned about the small bed platform. I am sure the first mods will be to extend the bed platform lol.

Reason I ask is I've been watching as they come up for sale. One just got sold out of Cheyenne Wyoming a couple of weeks ago that my buddy missed out on. A green camo paint job on the Blazer and camper.

Another one was for sale in Seattle that was all brown.

I pull all the pics on the ads for my collection, so I might have a pic of it.

 

[Zoomad]

Not much going on with the camper since the engine/trans swap is in full swing. Engine and trans are in, wiring is done and front sheet metal is back on. It's within a week of first fire up with the 8.1.

 

[Zoomad]

Sorry for the glare..

 

[CougarCouple]

Looks nice happy for you, now you will really have to respect the skinny pedal when off roading.
Russ

 

[Zoomad]

Between the big block and more gear reduction in granny low, I'll be using my big toe on the throttle pedal.

 

[Vic Harder]

Which intake manifold is that? I had the 8.1/Alison combo in my previous Sierra 3/4 ton. It moved nicely when asked to.

 

[Zoomad]

Which intake manifold is that? I had the 8.1/Alison combo in my previous Sierra 3/4 ton. It moved nicely when asked to.

It's the stock one. It's just not under the normal 8.1 engine cover. Not many know what they look like without it.

I've got a lot of experience with the 8.1 platform and agree they move out well when asked. Don't matter if it's a 24,000 pound RV or my soon to be 7,000 pound off roadster. I'm betting it's going to move out a little better than the Class A rv's I was dealing with or most of the trucks that came with an 8.1. Having my buddy Larry pass me going up Monarch or Wolf Creek Passes without downshifting out of 5th gear also demonstrates what the 8.1 can do when not stuck with a Class A house on it's back. The little tune it's got will help with that.

 

[Vic Harder]

I had an HP Tuners tune done on mine. That got me better drivability and about 15% better fuel economy. Zoomad indeed!

 

[ntsqd]

Can't recall, axles already upgraded? 14bff's & D60's aren't the lightest things, but it's sure nice to know that you probably can't break them until you do something extremely stupid.

For a fledgling project we're thinking coil sprung Dodge D60 front, for the LHD t/c that will come with the "LS" power-train, and an RDB vintage 14bff for the rear.

 

[Zoomad]

Can't recall, axles already upgraded? 14bff's & D60's aren't the lightest things, but it's sure nice to know that you probably can't break them until you do something extremely stupid.

For a fledgling project we're thinking coil sprung Dodge D60 front, for the LHD t/c that will come with the "LS" power-train, and an RDB vintage 14bff for the rear.

14b full floater already out back. D44 up front still. Next planned upgrade once my wallet recovers is the chrome-moly shafts for the D44. In the meantime I'll be careful off road.

But, that being said the truck is a runner again. We got it fired up today. Drove it down to the end of Larry's street and back. Needs exhaust but it runs, turns, shifts and stops great.
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[Zoomad]

Boy it's been a while since I've updated this thread. Lots have happened, but not a lot of changes to the truck or camper since the 8.1/5-speed went in. But I have completed a couple of long runs with it.

I missed out on our annual desert trip last year yet again. Work was part of it, but the main issue was my Mom having ALS and all the complications that come with it. I didn't want to leave and have anything happen. As the year progressed, things in my life were changing between my wife and I and not for the better. I needed a break. I needed to hang out with my son and get some one on one time. Mom gave her blessing even though she was in worse shape than earlier but even she recognized I needed some time out.

So the boy (funny I refer him as that, he's 25!) and I made another run for Moab and the Blazer Bash event. We took off a couple of days early to hit some dirt solo.

We stopped to check out the Dewey bridge before hitting the Top of the World trail.

Let this be known, the trail itself is no joke. While it could be done in a stock 4wd truck with good spotting, it will probably take some hits to the bumpers, frame/skidplates and rockers. I wouldn't take the average truck on this trail. It is ledge city. Relentless, one after another after another.

This was an easy spot. The lack of pics after this kind of relates as to the challenges that came after it.

Quick rant here. We ran into an "overland group" wearing matching camp shirts with logos and instagram handles wasting time at the overlook of the trail. It's one of the iconic spots to get your truck on the ledge and take a pic. However these clowns were taking a half hour per truck to set up the shot, take pics and fly a drone around and then the next guy goes through it again. One even set up a dang roof top tent, another one actually donned a climbing harness and spooled some winch cable to hang over the edge. They were not friendly at all. By the time I got up there I parked and my son scrambled over to the side to get the shot. It might have taken 5 minutes but we still got the stink eye from one of the women because she had the climbing gear in hand and she wanted her turn to hang over the side. Bottom line, don't do this.

We got our shot and got the hell out of there.

We helped some fellow Colorado wheelers on our way down and found a flat spot to set up camp and cook some dinner.

We got into Moab and ended up taking a quick run down Steelbender with a badass Suburban and doing our best to keep up with it.

On Blazer Bash we took on Backwards Bill with a good sized group.

This is probably the hardest section on the trail and proved it by me pulling 3 wheelies trying to get up the last ledge.

The next day I got to lead a small group of guys on an easier but scenic trail down Potash road and up the Schaffer switchbacks and back. That other Blazer camper is a bone stock truck with a Hallmark Blazer camper. It's a time capsule.

Made it back from Moab and proceeded to handle life stuff again...