1986 GMC S-15

[Andrew_S]

^ The only real goal is to get out, anything on top of that is a bonus.
More importantly than a goal, we definitely have a cut off, that's typically when the freezers (2) are full.
This year, we have back-back-back guests/family visiting from Oct-Mar.... So we were able to justify harvesting a bit more.

quick update,

All cleaned up and under cover for the winter.

Serious t-case leak fixed on the '86. Note to self, always check the depth of install for seals, don't assume flush is good.

Annual Christmas tree run,

and it's that time of year again!

First time camping in December, friggin loving it.

Total game changer for ice fishing. So many first light - prime time opportunities.

I'll have to hit up some new lakes. I'm afraid my go-to either winter killed or had a really bad algae bloom this year.

Anymore snow and these roads will be cut off for us.

Most local lakes are not safe yet. Warm temps and a lot of snow insulating the ice, makes for really unsafe conditions.

 

[Todd780]

Wow! Lots of snow there! Looks like you have a lot more than we do already.

 

[Andrew_S]

Definitely^ It's been a heavy year for snow this December.

A few quick updates

Junk yard find

Glass on all 4 sides now

Got the badges in the mail. The guy did an awesome job

Back out on the hardwater

The wifey is picking up ski touring. It works great, I can fish and she goes touring.

Confirmed the camper works good at temps down to -25C or -13f.

another day another lake

8" of crystal clear ice

Another outing

bedded cow moose

I never really considered blowing snow being an issue with putting together the gasketing on the camper. Sometimes you just get lucky.

Dragging this sled sure makes a guy feel fat.

100% my happy place

 

[Copperhead14]

The windows look great. Excellent job recycling those.

As always, I thoroughly enjoy your pictures and adventures.

 

[Piston broke]

Hey Andrew,

I randomly found your camper searching high and low for home built hard wall pop-ups (few and far between) since I’ve been back-burner planning and daydreaming of building one for a few years now.


the big budget, gadget happy “overland” trend has gotten pretty crazy lately. Nice to see a return to the essentials, and getting more field time than most of the big budgets anyway.Faster take down and setup and better poor weather protection than a tent, basically storage and hard walls and not sleeping on the ground, while keeping better off road capability than a big hard wall camper are the happy medium I’m looking for

Yours is an awesome example of ticking the right boxes.

I came and started mid thread for the camper. Went back and read from page 1 through the entire thread out of curiosity.
Thanks for taking the time and effort to document and post your build and trips! It’s a Huge effort to keep updating, but it’s much appreciated! You’ve re-kindled my desire to get going and get out there again next summer.

thanks and if you care to keep us posted for whatever comes along, we’re happy to follow!

I grew up out that way, and moved to the prairies a while ago, but your pics sure make me keen on next summers trips west.

 

[Andrew_S]

^Thanks for the good words.
You hit the nail on the head, build criteria was:

Quick/Easy setup/takedown
Dry & warm
Non compromising Truck - i.e. -Fit a moose in the bed
Light-ish
Durable

Depending on where you are, the prairies have some great fishing lakes! Thanks again and good luck getting out there.

The windows look great. Excellent job recycling those.

As always, I thoroughly enjoy your pictures and adventures.

Appreciate it thanks. Need to get that window installed and tinted soon.


I'm loving having the different age classes of game on the wall. It's so neat to be able to see the physical changes in the skulls as they grow.
Next year we need to get a 3x3 mulie or a 5x5 lol.

4runner starter needed some love - contacts & rotor.

Unfortunately it didn't fix the issue. Nothing like doing a ************ job twice...

Buddy has some striping left over - just slapped it on for a visual. I've been trying to get something better made but the prices are unreal.

Finally got around to installing the brake bias adjuster.

Modified bracket

All it needs now is some nice stainless hardware

I friggin love this mightvac. Bleeding brakes is so easy and a one man job now.

Decided it was time to start putting this thing together. Gapping rings for boost.

Top ring gap 0.025"
Second ring - 0.022"

Crank going in,

Getting there

Custom ground cam going in

It's nothing to radical, .433 lift & .249 duration, should make really good torque.

More to come soon.

 

[ITTOG]

It has been 30 years since I have built an engine. Seeing your pictures brought up great memories with my grandfather when we were working on cars all the time. I would buy, rebuild, sell, repeat! Each time I bought it was a better or more expensive car. Made a lot of money doing that. Great times. Thanks for sparking the memories.

 

[ThundahBeagle]

I started reading this thread, couldnt help "like"-ing near everything on the first several pages. Skipped to the end to say that I have a 14 Sierra and love it. But a friend of mine had a first gen chevy S-10 back in 1992 or so. Very similar to yours stock. I'd love to find a nice example and do similar things.

As others have said, this is Overlanding. We just used to call it camping. But you are doing it right!

Nice work and some of the most gorgeous scenery I have ever seen. Love to get up to BC some day

 

[Andrew_S]

It has been 30 years since I have built an engine. Seeing your pictures brought up great memories with my grandfather when we were working on cars all the time. I would buy, rebuild, sell, repeat! Each time I bought it was a better or more expensive car. Made a lot of money doing that. Great times. Thanks for sparking the memories.

It's my kind of meditation!

I started reading this thread, couldnt help "like"-ing near everything on the first several pages. Skipped to the end to say that I have a 14 Sierra and love it. But a friend of mine had a first gen chevy S-10 back in 1992 or so. Very similar to yours stock. I'd love to find a nice example and do similar things.

As others have said, this is Overlanding. We just used to call it camping. But you are doing it right!

Nice work and some of the most gorgeous scenery I have ever seen. Love to get up to BC some day

'14 was a good year for those trucks! It's definitely camping for us. Thanks, appreciate the good words.

Quick side project Saturday,

Finally got motivation to knock this one off. So happy it's done now.

 

[Piston broke]

Nice work on the cart!

I have a couple questions if you don’t mind.

I went back and looked over the pages with the actuator install and seals, but couldn’t find anything about tracks for the upper and lower to ride on. Did I miss them, couldn’t see anything in the pics either. Or is the upper shell just located by the actuators and main wiper/seal while it’s travelling up and down?

I’m relatively comfortable doing fab work with steel but have avoided getting into welding aluminum. Is a spool gun for the mig adequate for the light material you used for the frame in this thing? Control problems with heat or anything with the light tubing? Adding a spool gun would be much cheaper than jumping to a tig, and probably the best (or at least most practical) way to get going.

 

[Andrew_S]

The upper box wraps around the back of the inner box by about 11/2" on either side. I secured two pieces of hdpe as slides to control the forward/back movement while lifting. I also installed 4 tabs against the actuators that keep them from tipping more than 1" in either direction.

I opted out of getting optically synchronized actuators (my mistake) because I was intimidated by the wiring and controller.

The difficulty with a track system is the actuators need to be synchronized very closely to match the tolerance of the track. These actuators with such a long stroke, can be out as much as +/- 1" at full extension. I ultimately decided to forgo the track because it wasn't needed and added complexity/weight.
In short, you're correct the upper box is located by the seals, the actuators and that it physically wraps around the back of the lower box at all times.

I would never tig a camper unless I had an absolute ton of time & were fixated on perfect welds.
I used a variety of material varying from 0.060"tube up to 3/16" plate. The bulk of the structure was either 1.5x1.x5x0.060 Square tube SC, 1"x1"x.125" square tube RC, for the main structural components 1.5"x1.5"x.1875" square tube RC (total overkill, would go lighter to save weight on the next one).

I would definitely start picking up the tig for anything lighter than .050. The 0.060 tubing was a non issue with the spool gun set up and the right settings. This camper was my first time ever welding aluminum. I practiced on a variety of scrap pieces until I felt comfortable. If you have a background with Mig, a lot of it translates. My experience is a spool gun only really likes pushing the puddle, slight angle from 90* and preheating thicker material helps a lot if you're after that perfect weld.
The spool gun is definitely the way to go for production and bang for your buck. My .02, hope that helps.

 

[Piston broke]

My .02, hope that helps.

It does indeed, thanks for the detailed reply, much approach!

 

[N.Penley]

Andrew,
I have to offer another piece of advice after reading this the 2nd time.

Don’t make that camper too comfortable or you’ll be strapping a baby seat in there.

Enjoy every moment you spend with your wife in that truck. You are blessed to have a woman that enjoys hunting, fishing, and being outdoors and doesn’t seem to mind getting her hands dirty. Women like that are hard to find. Buy her something nice next time your out on a parts run. Lol.

Speaking of parts...Whats next? SAS? Interior mods?


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[SFP]

Enjoy every moment you spend with your wife in that truck. You are blessed to have a woman that enjoys hunting, fishing, and being outdoors and doesn’t seem to mind getting her hands dirty. Women like that are hard to find. Buy her something nice next time your out on a parts run.

I second what Andrew said.

I'm afraid to ask how many of us are "single" due to our love of the back country, wheeling and overlanding

 

[Andrew_S]

^ wrong type of girl if their not interested in this stuff in my opinion.

Andrew,
I have to offer another piece of advice after reading this the 2nd time.

Don’t make that camper too comfortable or you’ll be strapping a baby seat in there.

Enjoy every moment you spend with your wife in that truck. You are blessed to have a woman that enjoys hunting, fishing, and being outdoors and doesn’t seem to mind getting her hands dirty. Women like that are hard to find. Buy her something nice next time your out on a parts run. Lol.

Speaking of parts...Whats next? SAS? Interior mods?


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Sheesh, this will be a big problem if we have kids here soon. Reg cab life does not align with child life haha.

Whats next - I will likely pick away at everything slowly and accomplish nothing haha. Finish out the exterior, interior and I'm guessing SAS. Turbo Motor after that. Probability of everything happening in that order is likely slim.

I was down for about two weeks with covid. Then I pinched a nerve in my neck which cost me another week. Picked away at a few things though.

I built a cross member for the front of the bed to help carry the extra load of the camper. The stock bed cross members aren't only sitting on 1.5" mount. Now the weight is divided up across the entire cross member.

Love burning in thick stock like this left over tubing. Another argument for spool gun when whipping something out quickly.

First time using one of these ultra sonic cleaners, does such a great job.

Soaking in an oil bath until I can assemble the top end.

Back to the front window, decided on a final position.

had both front & rear window tinted

Cut the center support out of the front wall. God damn does Sikaflex ever stick.
It was everything I had to pry and cut out the old support. Forget about rivets, all a guy needs is sika.

So happy with the final product. Looks so much more finished with glass on all 4 sides.

Meeting with a guy on Friday to get some printed vinyl stripes made. The stripes and badges should be on shortly.

More of the same old hardwater fishing,

My favourite fish to eat. Fish tacos tonight!