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1978 Nomad Trailer Restoration/Project: 88GMCtruck is at it again.
- Thread starter 88gmctruck
- Start date
625fireman
I have injecter-itis
88gmctruck
02GMCtruck
So... just got to work. Spent the entire morning repairing the right side wall. It was a little more damaged than I originally thought, but I was in there so replaced what needed it.
Took some siding off.
To repair this at the door, and these above the wheel well.
Door area repaired, and additional stud added for the dinette to mount to
Other side of wheel well repaired, and another additional stud added for the dinette to mount to
Back together
Sealed up the water fill and reflector, and installed with new screws.
Sealed the door with putty tape
Oh and just as I was finishing putting the door back on, a guy from town was walking by. He stopped and commented that he's been noticing all the work being put into it and how he's never heard of someone rebuilding a trailer, and that I'm doing a great job. Was a really nice thing to say.
Anyway, after work the stove, dinette and couch/bed goes back in, then packing for tomorrow!
Took some siding off.
To repair this at the door, and these above the wheel well.
Door area repaired, and additional stud added for the dinette to mount to
Other side of wheel well repaired, and another additional stud added for the dinette to mount to
Back together
Sealed up the water fill and reflector, and installed with new screws.
Sealed the door with putty tape
Oh and just as I was finishing putting the door back on, a guy from town was walking by. He stopped and commented that he's been noticing all the work being put into it and how he's never heard of someone rebuilding a trailer, and that I'm doing a great job. Was a really nice thing to say.
Anyway, after work the stove, dinette and couch/bed goes back in, then packing for tomorrow!
Ozzie
Snow looming...run!!
What a fun project....that looks like something I'd like to do...nice job!
great white
Well-Known Member
Would make one heck of a 4 wheelin' base camp........
btfarm
America First!
You're gonna have a damn nice weekend getaway rig and probably less than a grand total in it!
88gmctruck
02GMCtruck
Sorry to leave everyone out of the loop for the weekend, but Friday after work I stayed up till 2AM putting the insides back together then cleaning and loading the trailer. This is what she's looking like on the insides now. It's all back together, everything cleaned (even washed all the cusions and curtians) and the camping gear loaded.
Anyway, once it was together, I then got up at 6AM and got more things ready in the truck and I was off! So I took the trailer to Ione, Wa (over 3 hours north of me) for a bachelor party. Everything went very well overall. on the way up, the truck towed the trailer pretty good. Had quite the diverse drive; started off in the rolling hills of the Palouse desert, making the little over an hour trek to Spokane and into the city. Made my way trough the city to meet up with the other camping crew, and headed farther north along some long flat highway, then onto a single lane highway in the foothills. Eventually we made it to Ione, Wa, 26 miles from the Canadian border. From there we headed to Lake Sullivan, which was up in the mountains aways. so lots of narrow winding, eventually gravel roads ensued. I even managed to ford a small creek with the trailer to get to the camping area.
All in all, the trailer towed quite well. It didn't sway a bit or buck, which was great as I did not want to spend the money on a weight distributing hitch if I didn't have to. The brakes worked good and the bearings didn't get too hot. The only problem I had with the trailer overall is my water pump isn't self priming (have to manually pull water through it) and I ended up puncturing a hole in a trailer tire with a sharp rock, but we patched that up.
The truck towed the trailer good on the way up. I definitely know it was back there, but I managed to drive smart enough not to hold people up on the highway, in most cases i didn't drop under the speed limit but infact had enough power to gain speed. Everything was in check, even with the temp pushing 95 outside and the AC blasting. Motor was running about 200 and the trans about 180.
On the way back, however, like and idiot I put regular in the truck and it wasn't happy. My truck doesn't prefer regular while it's hauling and I simply wasn't thinking about it. So, I had BAD spark knock on the way home. Combined the regular fuel causing spark knock, plus triple digit weather, the motor was heating up more than I like it. I ended up leaving the AC off and even at one point turning the heater on to help out. The motor saw a peak of 240 at one point, trans saw 200. Nothing horrible, but just something to make note of.
All in all, it was a good time and I can't wait to take the trailer out again. Soon I'll be investigating why my hot water heater doesn't work, take the fridge out and see if I can get it working, and do a few other misc things. I'm also looking up gears for the truck and contemplating a motor for it. There is a nice 383 built with 460 FT LBS and 390 HP for $2,500 and a 7year 70k warranty somewhat locally. But for now I'm just going to settle for gears.
Anyway, once it was together, I then got up at 6AM and got more things ready in the truck and I was off! So I took the trailer to Ione, Wa (over 3 hours north of me) for a bachelor party. Everything went very well overall. on the way up, the truck towed the trailer pretty good. Had quite the diverse drive; started off in the rolling hills of the Palouse desert, making the little over an hour trek to Spokane and into the city. Made my way trough the city to meet up with the other camping crew, and headed farther north along some long flat highway, then onto a single lane highway in the foothills. Eventually we made it to Ione, Wa, 26 miles from the Canadian border. From there we headed to Lake Sullivan, which was up in the mountains aways. so lots of narrow winding, eventually gravel roads ensued. I even managed to ford a small creek with the trailer to get to the camping area.
All in all, the trailer towed quite well. It didn't sway a bit or buck, which was great as I did not want to spend the money on a weight distributing hitch if I didn't have to. The brakes worked good and the bearings didn't get too hot. The only problem I had with the trailer overall is my water pump isn't self priming (have to manually pull water through it) and I ended up puncturing a hole in a trailer tire with a sharp rock, but we patched that up.
The truck towed the trailer good on the way up. I definitely know it was back there, but I managed to drive smart enough not to hold people up on the highway, in most cases i didn't drop under the speed limit but infact had enough power to gain speed. Everything was in check, even with the temp pushing 95 outside and the AC blasting. Motor was running about 200 and the trans about 180.
On the way back, however, like and idiot I put regular in the truck and it wasn't happy. My truck doesn't prefer regular while it's hauling and I simply wasn't thinking about it. So, I had BAD spark knock on the way home. Combined the regular fuel causing spark knock, plus triple digit weather, the motor was heating up more than I like it. I ended up leaving the AC off and even at one point turning the heater on to help out. The motor saw a peak of 240 at one point, trans saw 200. Nothing horrible, but just something to make note of.
All in all, it was a good time and I can't wait to take the trailer out again. Soon I'll be investigating why my hot water heater doesn't work, take the fridge out and see if I can get it working, and do a few other misc things. I'm also looking up gears for the truck and contemplating a motor for it. There is a nice 383 built with 460 FT LBS and 390 HP for $2,500 and a 7year 70k warranty somewhat locally. But for now I'm just going to settle for gears.
great white
Well-Known Member
Not too shabby! Great little get away rig for the little bit o' cash and work you have in to it.
What's the deal-e-o with the curved in bathroom wall?
What's the deal-e-o with the curved in bathroom wall?
88gmctruck
02GMCtruck
The little waves in the wallpaper are from water damage, while the actual large curve is how the wall is, it comes to a point in the back of the trailer and they used the entire available space.
great white
Well-Known Member
Ah, gotcha. That's the back wall of the trailer....makes sense now.
BIGR
Lucky To Be Here
Great trip and great job on the camper.
Atleast the camper survived its first bachelor party. Don't know how much drinking was involved, but I have been to a few that would have destroyed a camper if we had been staying in one, instead of a tent. Not much you can do to a tent other than tear holes in it or burn it up in a camp fire.
Atleast the camper survived its first bachelor party. Don't know how much drinking was involved, but I have been to a few that would have destroyed a camper if we had been staying in one, instead of a tent. Not much you can do to a tent other than tear holes in it or burn it up in a camp fire.
83GMCK2500
Active Member
8 or 9 cases (Costco, 30-packs), 2 bottles of Jager, 1 bottle of Pendleton's. I spy my white truck in the background of one shot.
88gmctruck
02GMCtruck
Yes, the camper did survive the weekend, despite the amount of liquor involved. Luckily for the trailer it pretty much didn't see people in it at all, with the exception of using the bathroom. The man of the evening at one point did pop the center metal/plastic portion of the screen door out, but it wasn't broken and went right together. Everyone had their own tents and such anyway. I did let Devin have the honor of crashing in the trailer as well.
Didn't get many pictures at all of the weekend, but when we got there Devin promptly re-built the firepit into this magnificent creation. Prior it was just a big pile of rocks and dirt (no real pit there).
At one point we did run out of fire wood (the pit was large enough to cause us to consume large amounts of wood) so we pulled out an already downed tree with the red truck as well. I had to be gentle at first as the side of the truck was up against a tree . All the drunk party goers were giving me crud about being too easy on it, but Devin and I got this sucker out.
Oh, and everyone enjoyed the "sun" on the front of the truck. 8-HIDs work wonders for nighttime tree removal and sawing, let alone the gigantic game of beer pong with 5-gallon buckets.
On a trailer related note, I added up my costs thus far, and the grand total including the purchase, and licencing is $975.23. Not bad at all for what I have now. Probably going to have another few hundred into it when I repair the front and back walls, fix a few panels, and seal the whole thing up. There will be more to come, although at a possibly slower pace. I'm hoping to get into the water heater, heater and fridge this weekend.
Didn't get many pictures at all of the weekend, but when we got there Devin promptly re-built the firepit into this magnificent creation. Prior it was just a big pile of rocks and dirt (no real pit there).
At one point we did run out of fire wood (the pit was large enough to cause us to consume large amounts of wood) so we pulled out an already downed tree with the red truck as well.
I had to be gentle at first as the side of the truck was up against a tree . All the drunk party goers were giving me crud about being too easy on it, but Devin and I got this sucker out.
Oh, and everyone enjoyed the "sun" on the front of the truck. 8-HIDs work wonders for nighttime tree removal and sawing, let alone the gigantic game of beer pong with 5-gallon buckets.
On a trailer related note, I added up my costs thus far, and the grand total including the purchase, and licencing is $975.23. Not bad at all for what I have now. Probably going to have another few hundred into it when I repair the front and back walls, fix a few panels, and seal the whole thing up. There will be more to come, although at a possibly slower pace. I'm hoping to get into the water heater, heater and fridge this weekend.
trouttrooper
Big Blocks ROCK!!!
What is the gearing in that truck? I'm sure I've been told, but don't remember.
I had my 22' TT during my era of my '84 K20 RCLB. 350, manual tranny......and get this. It was the heavy duty package and they put freakin 3.42 gears in it. I drove from Idaho Falls to Boise (300 miles) in 2nd gear and 40mph once because of a huge headwind. I did get to draft a semi at one point, but I couldn't keep up at one of the hills so back to 2nd gear I went.
Also had an older 8' cabover camper at one point too when I had that truck. Dad and I were heading out on a hunting adventure with me leading and him following in his truck. I rounded the bend on hwy 28 heading up the Lemhi valley and was slammed by a nasty headwind. Truck went from 65 to 40 in a matter of seconds. Once dad realized what was happening he went around and let me draft him the rest of the way. At least then I could maintain 50ish.
I don't have that problem now
I had my 22' TT during my era of my '84 K20 RCLB. 350, manual tranny......and get this. It was the heavy duty package and they put freakin 3.42 gears in it. I drove from Idaho Falls to Boise (300 miles) in 2nd gear and 40mph once because of a huge headwind. I did get to draft a semi at one point, but I couldn't keep up at one of the hills so back to 2nd gear I went.
Also had an older 8' cabover camper at one point too when I had that truck. Dad and I were heading out on a hunting adventure with me leading and him following in his truck. I rounded the bend on hwy 28 heading up the Lemhi valley and was slammed by a nasty headwind. Truck went from 65 to 40 in a matter of seconds. Once dad realized what was happening he went around and let me draft him the rest of the way. At least then I could maintain 50ish.
I don't have that problem now
88gmctruck
02GMCtruck
My truck still has the stock 3.73s, which puts my crusing ability at under 60 in 4th or over 70 in 5th..... not very ideal.
I'm going to be ordering a set of 4.56s today and put them in early next week.
I'm going to be ordering a set of 4.56s today and put them in early next week.
doober
New Member
Nice work. In record time also. It would have taken me a good 6 months to do that.
I had to look at the pictures acouple of times. I have a brother in law that lives over in Rockport right next to Concrete WA. Last time I was out to visit him he had a camper like yours, mabey alittle longer. He told me if I wanted it I could bring my truck and pull it home and have it. After seeing how yours turned out I might have to take him up on it. I just don't know if it would make it all the way home here. Anyway, really a nice job on the trailer. Wish I had some of your ambition.
I had to look at the pictures acouple of times. I have a brother in law that lives over in Rockport right next to Concrete WA. Last time I was out to visit him he had a camper like yours, mabey alittle longer. He told me if I wanted it I could bring my truck and pull it home and have it. After seeing how yours turned out I might have to take him up on it. I just don't know if it would make it all the way home here. Anyway, really a nice job on the trailer. Wish I had some of your ambition.
88gmctruck
02GMCtruck
Yeah, I think a trip from WA to WI would be a little much if it was in bad shape like mine was.
gulfyankee
New Member
where did u get the mirrors from? i need those for towing my 38 footer
BigO-L3
Reb...very non PC
Great job fellas. I wish I had your help/knowledge. I forget to drain the pipes in my horse trlr with LQ and have been trying to fix them. Ir is really a pain trying to get to most of them, and has really tested my patience:mad2:
88gmctruck
02GMCtruck
They are made by CIPA, model 95155. RVDirect is the cheapest place to buy them. http://store.rvdirect.com/rvdirect/details.php?ProdClass=Trailering+and+Safety&ITEM=3295155 They are out of stock now, but will come back in.
Thanks!