1986 GMC S-15
- Thread starter Andrew_S
- Start date
Explorerinil
Observer
I couldn’t have said it better myself, this is by far the best thread on this forum. Very cool seeing someone so talented that he can build that camper and everything else himself.
Andrew_S
Observer
Man they are such cool animals. They can be super chill and just hang in a tree all day.Brother, you do get out there don't you? My deer season opened last weekend but the tag I drew is not an area I've been able to scout so it's not looking promising this year. Oh, and yeah, what's with all the porcupines?? I had never seen one before this year.
Good luck on your hunt, new areas can be super challenging.
Thanks guys, really appreciate the good words. End of the day this is just a good old truck making it happen.
My little brother came for a visit and we hit the bush hunting for a few days. We were greeted by another small dump.
He got to see his first ever moose, and then about 25+ more.
Decent amount of snow up top
A few hundred meters lower it was like summer again
This little electric saw finally gave up the ghost
Fintry falls, 110 year old concrete water pipe bridge. So sketchy to walk across this,
Rainbow falls forest
Found some nice pines on the hike
Pines & grouse for dinner
Decided to forge ahead with the WJ cross over steering for the new axle.
I needed to section out 3.5" from the tie rod bar
Need to scrounge up some 1.25" solid bar to slid in and beef this up a bit.
It'll be interesting to see how much weight the truck picks up. This dana 30 is a chunker at 315lbs...
Back out in the bush
Andrew_S
Observer
A couple of random hunting pics from earlier, out of order
Sighting in the new T3X 300wm
Bird days
View from the old KVR
Thumbs up to Expedition upfitters. I emailed about my original tank/cap leaking diesel and they immediately sent over a new one no charge at all. There is something to be said for great customer service.
Sighting in the new T3X 300wm
Bird days
View from the old KVR
Thumbs up to Expedition upfitters. I emailed about my original tank/cap leaking diesel and they immediately sent over a new one no charge at all. There is something to be said for great customer service.
Andrew_S
Observer
One last sit before the weather turned to cold for my liking,
This is old girl is getting old
Views from the top of Terrace mountain
Opted to pop the top and enjoy the scenery and a beer with the diesel heater.
The road to the top of Terrace is a nasty little quad trail. A bunch of icy/steep sections.
We headed out for a moose hunt this weekend, tons of snow up in the bush now.
One pair of chains quickly became two + 4low. You can see how much snow the front end was pushing in sections.
Fastest way to clean your wheels is drive through 2' of snow.
Home for the evening.
The underbody was getting a nice scrub as well.
We barely made it up the mountain with the current snow sitting on the ground. Around 10pm it started snowing hard again. At 1:30am we had to call it and head home.
Picture doesn't do this justice. Pushing a ton of snow trying to get back down.
Was quite literally pushing piles up over the hood to make it through some areas. Had to clear the grill a few times, it was so plugged with snow the truck started running hot.
Back down where it was raining,
These chains are worth their weight in gold on nights like last night. If I lost just one of these we would have been stuck on the mountain.
This is old girl is getting old
Views from the top of Terrace mountain
Opted to pop the top and enjoy the scenery and a beer with the diesel heater.
The road to the top of Terrace is a nasty little quad trail. A bunch of icy/steep sections.
We headed out for a moose hunt this weekend, tons of snow up in the bush now.
One pair of chains quickly became two + 4low. You can see how much snow the front end was pushing in sections.
Fastest way to clean your wheels is drive through 2' of snow.
Home for the evening.
The underbody was getting a nice scrub as well.
We barely made it up the mountain with the current snow sitting on the ground. Around 10pm it started snowing hard again. At 1:30am we had to call it and head home.
Picture doesn't do this justice. Pushing a ton of snow trying to get back down.
Was quite literally pushing piles up over the hood to make it through some areas. Had to clear the grill a few times, it was so plugged with snow the truck started running hot.
Back down where it was raining,
These chains are worth their weight in gold on nights like last night. If I lost just one of these we would have been stuck on the mountain.
Buddha.
Finally in expo white.
Those pictures remind me of a snow day we had in high school. We found out that while punching through snow drifts with a ‘92 ranger snow will build up in the engine compartment and stall the mechanical radiator fan and cause overheating. Maybe the fan clutch was weak. We ended up getting rescued by a pathfinder on interco thornbirds. It was a fun day.
Todd780
OverCamper
I get that, lol
I live the next province over and wish I had more time to spend roaming BC.
And for that matter my own province of Alberta...
Explorerinil
Observer
At least you guys don’t live in Illinois like I do.
Todd780
OverCamper
Andrew_S
Observer
Wow that must have been a ton of snow to stop the fan, unreal.
Ooof, not a fan of doing that media stuff hahaha. Still waiting to see some pic of your unit out in the wild!All this and Global TV star as well
Alberta has some really awesome spots. Pretty much the entire western side is unreal.
Quick update, haven't done much.
Decided to forge ahead with the Wj stock crossover steering but upgrade it slightly.
The stock drag link was about 3.5" wider then the XJ axle. I sectioned out the piece and sleeved with 1.125" DOM.
After about an hour of pounding the Sleeve into the stock tube I was ready to go.
Plug welds were likely overkill because there is no force on earth that could possibly get the sleeve back out of the stock tube.
Snow is handy to have around for cooling parts off
All done except the paint. The stock tube + DOM makes a 1.375" pipe w/ .288" wall. Should be more then beefy enough for what I'm doing. Will likely upgrade the tie-rods at a later date.
Once I get the axle positioned I can modify the drag link, I'm guessing it will need to be shortened as well.
Parts remaining;
Coils & Shocks
Tires & rims
Coil Buckets
Andrew_S
Observer
First real winter camping trip this weekend,
This little planar laughs at -5, barely running,
Just a sliver left, smart beaver.
Although it was cold we couldn't do any ice fishing on the first lake, it was still open water.
Burned about 2.5 liters of diesel in 18 hours and only 11 amp/hr of power.
This little lake froze over just a skim while we ate breakfast. The wind picked up and blew it all into shore almost immediately. Maybe next weekend.
Decided to pack up and head a bit higher for night 2.
Almost 1000m higher elevation we crossed our fingers and started hiking.
Bingo! 7" of beautiful clear ice.
Beautiful day to boot
The entire lake was covered in 3" of frost.
Smokies over a fire while we wait for the bite to pick up.
The air was so still our campfire smoke barely moved down the lake.
The Jawjacker tripped a few times but never managed to hold on.
On the way back out.
-13 was good reason for a nice big fire while making dinner,
Another day, another lake. Got into some great brook trout today.
So happy to have fish on the menu again.
This little planar laughs at -5, barely running,
Just a sliver left, smart beaver.
Although it was cold we couldn't do any ice fishing on the first lake, it was still open water.
Burned about 2.5 liters of diesel in 18 hours and only 11 amp/hr of power.
This little lake froze over just a skim while we ate breakfast. The wind picked up and blew it all into shore almost immediately. Maybe next weekend.
Decided to pack up and head a bit higher for night 2.
Almost 1000m higher elevation we crossed our fingers and started hiking.
Bingo! 7" of beautiful clear ice.
Beautiful day to boot
The entire lake was covered in 3" of frost.
Smokies over a fire while we wait for the bite to pick up.
The air was so still our campfire smoke barely moved down the lake.
The Jawjacker tripped a few times but never managed to hold on.
On the way back out.
-13 was good reason for a nice big fire while making dinner,
Another day, another lake. Got into some great brook trout today.
So happy to have fish on the menu again.
Todd780
OverCamper
Nice haul!First real winter camping trip this weekend,
This little planar laughs at -5, barely running,
Just a sliver left, smart beaver.
Although it was cold we couldn't do any ice fishing on the first lake, it was still open water.
Burned about 2.5 liters of diesel in 18 hours and only 11 amp/hr of power.
This little lake froze over just a skim while we ate breakfast. The wind picked up and blew it all into shore almost immediately. Maybe next weekend.
Decided to pack up and head a bit higher for night 2.
Almost 1000m higher elevation we crossed our fingers and started hiking.
Bingo! 7" of beautiful clear ice.
Beautiful day to boot
The entire lake was covered in 3" of frost.
Smokies over a fire while we wait for the bite to pick up.
The air was so still our campfire smoke barely moved down the lake.
The Jawjacker tripped a few times but never managed to hold on.
On the way back out.
-13 was good reason for a nice big fire while making dinner,
Another day, another lake. Got into some great brook trout today.
So happy to have fish on the menu again.