Four Wheel Blazer Pop-up, Finally found one

[Colorado Mark]

I'm almost positive I saw your friend with the blue K10 up in that area last year.

That truck and his set-up really stood out.

It was another deciding reason my wife & I agreed we really missed our old pop-up and needed to get another.

 

[Zoomad]

If you saw my buddy, you just missed me then. We were up there together. Was it around Fairplay? On our way up the Wheeler lake trail he nailed his drag link on a boulder and knocked the steering stabilizer off. We were intending on going over Mosquito pass, but the death wobble came on hard north of 30 mph. Since mine was still roadworthy, we ran ahead into Fairplay to find the parts store while he limped it down the road at a much safer speed.

That blue is pretty noticeable for sure. Mine tends to blend in a little more stealthy.

 

[Colorado Mark]

Yes. My friend that has all the property above Alma has a second house in FairPlay.

We sometimes use his house as a base.

 

[Zoomad]

Got back to work on the bumper today. Swing arm stop and latch installed and we have the main brackets to the frame tacked into place.

Bill added some gussets to the front of the tow receiver with holes for chain hookup. Also seen here is the stop welded to the front of the arm. We will be adding some 1/2" stock for the arm to rest on when the swing arm is locked in place with the clamp.

Mocking the toggle latch into place.

Welded into its final position.

Bill starting on the frame brackets.

Lined up and ready to grind the bumper to tack to the brackets.

Tacking into position.

More tacking.

I threw the swingarm on to get a better idea how it looks together.

Swing arm open. We are going to add some sheet metal or diamond plate to close the gap between the bumper and the back of the body. It's going to make the bumper into a wider step to get into the camper.

 

[ntsqd]

One of the few places where diamond plate is appropriate. FWIW one or more of the marine paint vendors sells grit that you can add to the paint to add traction. I used some that we got from West Marine in the POR-15 that a friend painted his rock-slider/steps with.

 

[CougarCouple]

Looks real nice Tim, your friend did a nice job.

Russ

 

[Zoomad]

Thanks guys. It was a big milestone to see it on the truck finally. More work to be done yet.

 

[Zoomad]

Bill and I took the build on the road to another buddy's place where we would have access to a 220v welder. You might recognize the truck from some of our adventures. He's in the middle of some bumper rework too.

Bill made a slight change to the gussets for the receiver by cutting them a little shorter and at an angle vs the way he had it before. I like it better this way too.

With the d-ring mounts tacked in place Bill is getting set up to burn them in.

Getting busy.

The final product for the d-ring mount.

Other side:

The bumper to frame bracket for one side. He had to stop to let the welder cool because he hit the duty cycle on it, so there is about an inch worth less to weld. It got finished once the welder came back online.

The other side completed.

Main bumper is ready for cleanup, primer and paint. The swing arm still needs a couple of close out plugs for the end of the open tube and it will be ready to paint. Still have the table, jerry can basket and step to build.

 

[Mighty Dodge Ram]

How cold was it in Larry’s garage?

 

[EDR]

Nice looking and STOUT bumper. Great work. It will be an asset out on the trail.

 

[EDR]

Nice looking and STOUT bumper. Great work. It will be an asset out on the trail.

 

[Zoomad]

How cold was it in Larry’s garage?

Not bad at all, as long as the door is shut! His heater keeps it nice.

Nice looking and STOUT bumper. Great work. It will be an asset out on the trail.

Thanks! It should be an asset. We have a couple more items planned to add to it for more functionality.

 

[Zoomad]

We got a lot accomplished this week. Final cleanup on the bumper with primer and paint. Got it installed today. It all went together as we planned. We got it all mounted up with 5 grade 8 bolts per side so I'm pretty sure it's not going anywhere.

After blending in a couple of welds we shot some self etching primer on it.

We then shot the parts with our favorite semi-gloss tractor paint.

We let the paint dry since Friday and installed it this morning. Bill packed the bearings and installed a new hub seal I picked up the other day at work.

The workbench was rolled into position so we didn't have to carry it across the garage.

It's on and swingarm installed.

Closed and locked in place.

Thankfully our measurements were on the mark for the tire location. Left light is not obscured by the tire and as a bonus the tire does not block the window in the door at all. Just a couple of inches in where the tire is widest. Much better than the tire dead center like it was.

The hub and lock side of the swing arm.

Light is very visible. It will still be when I put the same size tire on the wheel that I have on the ground.

I had to take the truck out to test the action on the latch on crappy washboard roads. So I went 9 miles back into the wildlife area the west of our local reservoir. The Banks sticker was a joke by my buddy Bill. He said it "needed" something right there. It's coming off.

Side view from the right.

The latch detail.

The driver's side.

Had to take the obligatory poser shot at the bank of the Arkansas River.

We still need to build the basket for the fuel cans, table, step and close out panel between the bumper and body. Much smaller projects we can knock out indivdually.

Super happy with the results so far.

 

[CougarCouple]

Looks nice but I always thought the Arkansas river was pretty.

Oh and bumper looking good as well.

Russ

 

[Mighty Dodge Ram]

Whoa...really nice work.

 

[Zoomad]

Thanks Guys! I'm happy it came out so well.

 

[Zoomad]

Less than 3 months from the desert trip and I've yanked out the lower bench. It was a rush to do it last time, but I sure found the weak points. #1 the original bench built off of a skirt stapled to the edge of the bottom board on top of the bed rail. We copied this and on the desert trip last year it started pulling away at the front. This caused the whole setup to twist. Not good.

So I yanked out after removing my temporary repairs of multiple L brackets to hold them together.

This means I'm starting over. Cleaned it all out. Even got all the Mojave dust out of it.

With help from a co-worker who is way more skilled in cabinetry than I am we came up with a plan. The new bench is going to be a freestanding box. No attachment to the sidewall. Unlike before, it will be built with a bottom and complete back panel. The top will be hinged for access inside. To fix the issue with the too narrow sleeping space, we are going to add an extra section to fold out into the walkway with a couple of supports. Cushions will be no longer stapled to the lids. I've got to make some covers for the 4" memory foam I have socked away for this.

My guy has made some templates to fit around the wheel tub for a nice snug fit. So it should fit nice.

I also took some time to correct the issue of dust getting in between the tailgate opening and the back wall of the camper. This is just an area that the camper does not fit quite right. I was able to take some pipe insulation and wedge it in the sides and across the bottom. What driving I have done since doing it, there is no further dust getting in. Thank goodness.

 

[Zoomad]

My co-worker got the bench done this week. It's built really stout out of 3/4" plywood. It's a ton of enclosed storage too.

I can keep most of my heavy gear in here and keep it out of the cabinet on the left side to help shift some weight over to the right.

The need for a wider sleeping space is why there is added stuff on the lid. There are 3 of these (two in the pic) that fold out when the added section is folded open. See the hinge on the edge?

He used some basic door hinges to allow these legs to get into position.

Basically, as the flap is folded open, the support legs will fold open on their own and fall into position. The added space is awesome.

As before, the overall height is even with the camper side. I'll be making cushions for this space out of 4" memory foam.

I've driven around with it a litte this weekend and so far it's rock steady. The added support legs can and will bang/rattle on rough pavement or dirt roads. I'll be adding a latch to hold the lid tight and look into some lock or way to secure the legs while in travel mode. The cushions will sit on top and would also quiet it down some, but I would like to lock them in when in travel mode. That's one big difference from this FWC unit to all the others. I can hear all the noise going on in the camper since it's open right behind my seat. In the bed of a truck with no opening into the interior of the truck it may not be obnoxious like it is in this case.

I'm torn on covering it in carpet used for speaker boxes or staining and making easy wipe cleanup.

 

[ntsqd]

I think that I'd router in a small recess in each leg for a magnet and create a small pocket in the other piece for some small steel plates. If you get it right the magnets will stop the rattling and not be strong enough to hold the legs horizontally so they'll still fold down with gravity.

 

[CougarCouple]

Looking like a nice storage, bench, bed design.
I’ll second the magnet or what about the thin rubber mats they put in tool drawers. Combined with the foam cushion might do the trick.


Russ