vintageracer
To Infinity and Beyond!
My Hallmark Bronco camper weighs about 700 lbs according to the last guy there left at Hallmark when they were built so I would say 800 lbs is a good number.
I was curious if you new exactly the weight.
Guess who's back!?! Atl-atl's K5 Blazer + Four Wheel Camper "The Crawlin Cabin" documentation thread!
- Thread starter Atl-atl
- Start date
My Hallmark Bronco camper weighs about 700 lbs according to the last guy there left at Hallmark when they were built so I would say 800 lbs is a good number.
I was curious if you new exactly the weight.
Atl-atl
Adventurer
Cool thanks. I would also like to know exactly the weight. Im about to remove it to work on it so if I can find a set of corner weight scales to borrow it would be easy to find out.
Atl-atl
Adventurer
Awesome, thanks for posting! I guess the older ones were lighter than the newer ones. No way theres 400lbs of difference in the floor and sidewalls alone.
zoomad75
K5 Camper guy
It depended on the options for sure. I'd say a unit with a 3-way fridge would weigh in a smidge more than one with an Icebox. Keep in mind, I've found some that came with a plywood floor that had carpet or linoleum and some didn't have anything but the carpet the Blazer came with. Mine came with the plywood floor that was 3/4" thick and covered in carpet. It had the floor mount for a standard RV-style table too.
The later FWC Blazer campers that had the shorter cab-over section could have been lighter, but they did have a pullout section to expand the upper sleeping space that might offset some of that saving.
I've got images saved from online ads that would add to the variance in weight. I know of at least two Blazer campers that were equipped with windows on both sides, no cabinet on the driver's side, and no furnace/propane or water tank. Essentially they would be "shell" models way before FWC ever thought about selling them as an option. My guess would be those were probably the lightest of them all.
Atl-atl
Adventurer
Interesting, mine has just carpet on the Blazer floor but it also has the standard RV table mount. I also have the icebox not fridge and the shorter cabover bed area with the slider inside and extra cushions so Im guessing its on the lighter side. Ill be adding a fridge soon though.
zoomad75
K5 Camper guy
You have the larger cab-over section like mine. It might have the pull-out section, but the later Blazer Campers were shorter in that they barely reached the top of the windshield.
Atl-atl
Adventurer
You have the larger cab-over section like mine. It might have the pull-out section, but the later Blazer Campers were shorter in that they barely reached the top of the windshield.
Oh, I know what youre talking about. I had an old Fleet that I remodeled that had the ultra short cabover section.
Bella PSD
Explorer
Hey Mike, It's Louie from Ohio. I can add a little to this story, hope you don't mind.
A friend first told me about this 4WC Blazer at a dealer in Columbus called Riverside or something like that. They just sent a text and told me River Side or something like that. It was a few days after they saw it and just said they were in the Columbus Ohio area. i work in Columbus every 2 weeks for a day and tried to find it but never could. I drove all over the southern Columbus area looking!! Then on Facebook it came up on a daily search I do for Four Wheel Campers. Here is the picture from the ad that I finally found. I attached I picture of the facebook marketplace ad. That ad could have saved me more than few hours driving around looking for it
!The story with this Blazer is about as good as the Blazer itself!
!
Louie
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Atl-atl
Adventurer
Hey Mike, It's Louie from Ohio. I can add a little to this story, hope you don't mind.
A friend first told me about this 4WC Blazer at a dealer in Columbus called Riverside or something like that. They just sent a text and told me River Side or something like that. It was a few days after they saw it and just said they were in the Columbus Ohio area. i work in Columbus every 2 weeks for a day and tried to find it but never could. I drove all over the southern Columbus area looking!! Then on Facebook it came up on a daily search I do for Four Wheel Campers. Here is the picture from the ad that I finally found. I attached I picture of the facebook marketplace ad. That ad could have saved me more than few hours driving around looking for it
The story with this Blazer is about as good as the Blazer itself!
!View attachment 738794
Louie
Thats great, thanks Louie! I do recall seeing this facebook ad at one point. I think it was in a barn where the car lot kept some vehicles. It is a remarkable story, I love the little details like this that keep popping up.
Atl-atl
Adventurer
Well I finally got some work done on the Blazer today! I got crushed at work in August and its been raining nonstop which has made it difficult to get the camper off the truck. Finally did this afternoon and it went really smoothly. Wife helped but we realized that one person can definitely do it. I was a little worried about the slope of my driveway being too steep for the jacks to hold the camper steady but they worked great. I was also worried the slope would make it too difficult to push the camper on the dolly into the garage but the huge casters rolled like butta. I started removing the old seals and misc. rubber gunk. There is definitely some paint overspray to take care of and some touch up needed but overall Im quite happy about the condition of the bed rails, truck roof, area where the camper meets the roof/b-pillar.
Atl-atl
Adventurer
The cabover bed was definitely in contact with the roof for a very long time. There are a few spots of raw metal that are very thin. The roof of the truck is going to need some attention. As for the camper front wall it was worse than I expected. I didnt notice previously but someone had made repair panels out of sheet metal and caulked them into place. They did a good job because I didnt realize it was sheet metal until I removed them. What was left behind was just typical FWC rotten particle board. Ive seen worse and surprisingly the lower wood panels that sit on the trucks bed rails are in good enough shape to salvage. This would have added huge time and effort that I didnt want to do so Im pretty happy there.
Managed to get the entire front wall torn off and most of the trim pieces and misc. stuff that hold the cabover bed in. Didnt remove the cabover bed floor yet because Im trying to figure out how to remove/reinstall it in one piece without completely removing the interior of the camper. Its not going to be easy. Last time I did this I had an empty shell of a camper so it was a snap. Thankfully the old front wall is intact enough that I will easily be able to use it as a template for the new wall. Also the truck and camper fit next to each other in the garage as well as front to back in line and the camper roof has room to pop up inside which is rad. Plenty of room to work on things.
Managed to get the entire front wall torn off and most of the trim pieces and misc. stuff that hold the cabover bed in. Didnt remove the cabover bed floor yet because Im trying to figure out how to remove/reinstall it in one piece without completely removing the interior of the camper. Its not going to be easy. Last time I did this I had an empty shell of a camper so it was a snap. Thankfully the old front wall is intact enough that I will easily be able to use it as a template for the new wall. Also the truck and camper fit next to each other in the garage as well as front to back in line and the camper roof has room to pop up inside which is rad. Plenty of room to work on things.
Atl-atl
Adventurer
Well looky what we have here!!! A few wiggles and it came right out! I couldnt believe it. Should be simple to get the new piece in, in one piece. Ive been in this position before but this is the least stressful/least work it has ever taken to get here. Fingers crossed.
One negative is I noticed a broken weld. Its at the passenger side junction of the vertical wall and cabover area. It seems to be old though, no fresh clean aluminum to be seen. It moves quite a bit when you push on the wall. I cant decide if I need to get it repaired by a mobile welder(which is really hard to find around here for welding aluminum) or I should try to fab up some kind of mechanical solution or if bolting everything back together will be sufficient.
Good weld on driver side
Broken weld on passenger side
I painstakingly removed every staple and the remaining bits of carpet from the front wall so I could trace the shape of the opening onto my new panel. The original opening was not symmetrical because of the location of the fridge behind the drivers seat. When I was taking my measurements I decided I was going to open up the cut a little to give myself a little bit more leg room. Should gain about an inch which will be nice. Im 6 feet tall and the seat is just a little too close to be comfortable on long rides so this will be a welcome change.
I managed to get both the front wall and cabover bed panel traced onto the new plywood while grilling dinner tonight. When I bought the plywood a month ago I had a guy at Home Depot cut it to the height and width I had measured and to my amazement it was within 1/16" of the original dims on both panels. Man would it be nice to have one of those crazy upright saws.
My work week is a little light so Im hoping to make a ton of progress. I picked up a gallon of Kilz Mold and Mildew primer but Im not sure what Im going to use for a finish coat. Ive read a thousand different opinions about what to paint it with but there doesn't seem to be a definitive answer. I need to figure something out in the next 48 hours, suggestions are welcome.
Also picked up my remaining parts from the powder coater. Got a few places to grind off the coating but it all turned out great. I really want to crank on this thing this weekend since the weather is finally dry for a change but the wife wants to go camping since we havent been in 2 months. Cant really complain either way.
One negative is I noticed a broken weld. Its at the passenger side junction of the vertical wall and cabover area. It seems to be old though, no fresh clean aluminum to be seen. It moves quite a bit when you push on the wall. I cant decide if I need to get it repaired by a mobile welder(which is really hard to find around here for welding aluminum) or I should try to fab up some kind of mechanical solution or if bolting everything back together will be sufficient.
Good weld on driver side
Broken weld on passenger side
I painstakingly removed every staple and the remaining bits of carpet from the front wall so I could trace the shape of the opening onto my new panel. The original opening was not symmetrical because of the location of the fridge behind the drivers seat. When I was taking my measurements I decided I was going to open up the cut a little to give myself a little bit more leg room. Should gain about an inch which will be nice. Im 6 feet tall and the seat is just a little too close to be comfortable on long rides so this will be a welcome change.
I managed to get both the front wall and cabover bed panel traced onto the new plywood while grilling dinner tonight. When I bought the plywood a month ago I had a guy at Home Depot cut it to the height and width I had measured and to my amazement it was within 1/16" of the original dims on both panels. Man would it be nice to have one of those crazy upright saws.
My work week is a little light so Im hoping to make a ton of progress. I picked up a gallon of Kilz Mold and Mildew primer but Im not sure what Im going to use for a finish coat. Ive read a thousand different opinions about what to paint it with but there doesn't seem to be a definitive answer. I need to figure something out in the next 48 hours, suggestions are welcome.
Also picked up my remaining parts from the powder coater. Got a few places to grind off the coating but it all turned out great. I really want to crank on this thing this weekend since the weather is finally dry for a change but the wife wants to go camping since we havent been in 2 months. Cant really complain either way.
