Bloverlanding in a Blazer

[SuperBuickGuy]

So I like car camping, yeah, I said it. Now that's called "Overlanding" car camping has been co-opted by the 20somethings who would never be caught dead doing a poor thing - but with its new name, it's 'hip'
I'm not hip, but I do like getting away - and going to an RV park has all the appeal to me of running a port-a-john truck.

So I have the Suburban, but I want to stand up.... it's as simple as that. I was going to use the FJ40 but camping inside it requires more flexibility then my 55 year old body has available.

Without further ado, meet my 'new' 1986 Blazer


it's not rusty.... fact is the only rust on it is surface rust (except the front, inner fenders - weirdly)... it's loaded, it smells, it doesn't run because there's a new access port in the oil pan
It's also a diesel. I like them.
plans are build a slide in camper, replace the motor, install the nv4500 I have, paint it, lift it, make it smell less (new carpet), and beat it like it owes me money.
this idea



only use a lot of the stuff we know now from overlanding... read, no plywood will be used in the construction - rather fiberglass, aluminum and carbon fiber.


it will also, likely, be fully self-contained with a cassette toilet.... but as with all things overland now, we really don't have to build in appliances - and as such, it gives quite a bit of flexibility.

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

basically the camper will have water, a way of heating water, and a long cabinet on one side and seating on the right (with a table). Most of things happen outside, even cooking does - thus a canopy with a pop top and an overhead space to sleep is about it.

 

[bobs77vet]

nice!

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

every build starts with cleanup... I'm pretty sure that nothing has been cleaned under this truck (probably preserved it)

looks so much better in the dark


got the rear gate open... the cable had been disconnected... no idea why - the motor works fine

nothing new carpet won't cure

saving this for FGZ

nothing left but holes

 

[phantomjock]

We are in the "market" for a tow rig. No HOA, but it needs to be no more than 20ft long - to fit in the driveway. Neighbors have been more than kind for my 12+ year "build." There are a bunch of professionally converted Chevy "vans" that hit the sweet spot for towing 5000#+, priced under the Mercedes versions, and a USA engine with HP. [Notably the Roadtrek 190 Popular, etc]

Meanwhile, I often wondered why no one builds a Slide-Up camper rig. Well they do. A company called Alaskan Campers. It has the furniture always installed, but in travel mode offers a lower, drag reduction profile. Here is a peak:


and a Link: http://alaskancampers.com/
They are just up the road from you- no? Videos on YT.

Cheers - Jim

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

there are two things that, being from the Pacific Northwest that I don't understand
1) Why anyone would ever consider Oly beer a craft beer
and 2) Why anyone would buy an Alaskan camper.
Yet they do to both....
Oly beer is terrible, it's what the rest of the world uses to teach people to hate beer.
Alaskan campers.... that gap all around the edge lets in cold air - it never seals and best of all, drive it down any road and water will leak in. The interior is natural finish cabinet grade birch.... it does not last. Before Overlanding became a thing, people couldn't give those campers away - now they're like Land Rovers, have an undeserved halo around them. Sorry folks, they're junk. ....

I know I know, ever the most beautiful woman in the world has an ex who hates the very air she breathes... maybe that's the case here too, but no, I won't be buying one.....

 

[rtj]

Funny, I’d been looking at options for a cheap camper or teardrop trailer for the truck.

One thing that kind of caught my eye was used contractor caps. They are taller than a normal cap and have a door in the back.

Since they are aluminum or fiberglass, you could buy them too big and cut them down. Basically provide bones for rebuilding.

The fiberglass ones are complete shells with a floor. Notching them down for my small pickup would be fairly easy.

Just a thought.

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

Funny, I’d been looking at options for a cheap camper or teardrop trailer for the truck.

One thing that kind of caught my eye was used contractor caps. They are taller than a normal cap and have a door in the back.

Since they are aluminum or fiberglass, you could buy them too big and cut them down. Basically provide bones for rebuilding.

The fiberglass ones are complete shells with a floor. Notching them down for my small pickup would be fairly easy.

Just a thought.

I plan on marketing what I build - thus a very limited audience is getting to watch this. It will attach the same way the current top does and be aluminum with either fiberglass or even carbon fiber over it. It's also going to be a 4 season camper. I ski, I'm going to be back at the resort I learned to teach skiing then ski patrol.... they don't have overnight accommodations, so this will be 'home' while I'm there.

 

[rtj]

There are a bunch of diy truck campers on YouTube. Most are wood framed from the look of it.

Good luck on project/development.

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

Update.
I bought a 34,000 mile motor out of a 99 H1 Hummer (and 4L80e) - the H1 owner went duramax. It's on its way from San Diego and should be here on Monday. That motor has 205 hp and 450 lb torque.... which is substantially higher then the 120/300 or so in the original H1s.... that said, I'll be doing updates to get it to 300 hp and 550 lb torque (bigger turbo, injection pump tuning, arp head studs and a fluid damper)... which is identical to what I did to my 94 Suburban 40,000 miles ago. it is the right update... not so much you break a crank but makes more power absolutely everywhere - and since these motors actually have a torque curve - it makes them a lot more fun to drive while still getting reasonable mpg (20s).

I bought new axles tonight - dana 60 front, corp 14 bolt rear. Front has a Yukon limited slip locker with 4.56 gears, rear has a Detroit locker and 4.56 gears. none has been run. Also new brakes and disk brake rear (not a good thing IMO because you lose the emergency brake)

rear diff seems back a hair too much.... finding out soon.... that said, I may not be able to help myself and will do a new suspension with coil overs...

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

pictures

I don't get why people keep telling me these are heavy.... I can lift with one finger

 

[Red77]

That crane is a nice touch! Sure makes life easier I'm sure with all the projects. On the emergency brake, are the calipers hydraulic only and no mechanical drum brake inside the rotor hat? Is it possible to swap the calipers to ones that also have the mechanical arm and screw style piston in the caliper to enable emergency braking? Or could you add a bracket and a separate mechanical caliper for that?

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

That crane is a nice touch! Sure makes life easier I'm sure with all the projects. On the emergency brake, are the calipers hydraulic only and no mechanical drum brake inside the rotor hat? Is it possible to swap the calipers to ones that also have the mechanical arm and screw style piston in the caliper to enable emergency braking? Or could you add a bracket and a separate mechanical caliper for that?

I am going to do something about that - on my FJ40, I have a transfer case brake - I might do that (and a slip yoke eliminator), or do a deep dive on how GM put an e-brake on their 14 bolts in their current trucks...

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

so today I chased down some seats.... yeah, red, at first I was going to make them grey - but ... I'm replacing the carpet, dash pad... I could simply go red - it would go well with the paint (going to stay grey with the maroon panel)...

also got a gm driver's side fender...


I'm internally debating where I'm going with this.... likely I'll put the 385/70LT16 toyo tires on this then go something bias and better suited for snow on the '40... but that leads to a cavalcade of decisions. I'm not a fan of front leaf springs - and the taller you get, the harsher it rides - especially given how short they are. This isn't true with coil overs or coil sprung front suspensions. I have a good share of the parts needed to do a coil sprung front... add to this that it already has cross steering installed and it becomes harder to justify leaf springs. Easier, sure, but if there was ever a rig that begged for such a coil conversion - it would be this one. The other bonus is I can move the axle forward and reduce the problem of the tire hitting the rear, lower corner of the fender.... which also means less vertical lift to put a reasonable size tire on it... seriously, 35s? I get it if the 'man' is steppin' on you, but here? the land of the free and where the sheep await with nervous bleets? no. Just no.

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

decision made. radius arm front suspension, leaf spring rear with ladder bars and airbag overloads. Leaf springs tow better, coil springs ride better and steer better.... roughly 8" lift so I can run 37s/38s (probably the tires on the '40 now because I'm not thrilled with them on the 40 - too stiff of sidewall)

I should go into details. radius arm because I don't need the travel I have on the '40. if you use radius arms on a long-travel suspension, your castor gets pretty extreme. This one will probably have 4" of vertical travel (which is about 12" full suspension travel - plenty for this). radius with coil springs allow you to run a variety of shocks - something that isn't really true with coilovers. The only real downside is you need to make sure your arm is in attached to the axle at the right castor... it can be at an angle but as is demonstrated by Fords with that suspension, you can really screw up your driveability of the rig by simply dropping the axle without lower the frame attachment point. Which leads me to the final point - one of the ends must be a soft poly otherwise it'll vibrate your hands off the steering wheel. In this case, it'll be johnny joints at the frame and poly at the axle.

no decision on interior color yet... but getting the seat frames ready - I literally ripped the frames out of the floor of the donor - it was rusted away - so I had to treat the frames... pitting, sure, but solid

time to weight the beast so I can get the right springs...

fun - left rear is not working.... so that's 4700 lbs, or almost exactly the same weight as the FJ40...
but it's up on the lift and ready to get stripped down.

 

[rtj]

Well, it looks like you picked a lucrative market, I see the new style airstream trailer starts at close to $60k. So, people are willing to spend the money.

Looks like a big project.

YouTube offered this and I like how he contoured/shaped it with flat panels.

 

[mfain]

Or you could just buy this one from my brother. Heavy duty ambulance suspension, air ride interior, new 8.1L injected BBC, and beautiful interior.

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

last year? maybe 3 years ago, there was a converted COE 'overlander' that was a former ski bus... it was pretty insane, especially that they shipped it from Belgium to the US then drove it to SEMA.

love COEs, but I'm all about getting away from people - and pavement rarely does that.

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

Well, it looks like you picked a lucrative market, I see the new style airstream trailer starts at close to $60k. So, people are willing to spend the money.

Looks like a big project.

YouTube offered this and I like how he contoured/shaped it with flat panels.

I sold a Suburban several years ago that I overlanded, then the guy who bought it from me travelled all over the West for 8 months... made very good money on that sale.... this was a 6.2 turbo diesel 3/4 ton.


yes, with AC....

 

[bobs77vet]

i like your brothers set up, thats pretty sweet.