1978 Nomad Trailer Restoration/Project: 88GMCtruck is at it again.

[DRAGGIN95]

Nice, those axles should be strong as heck, and those wheel's are going to look good!

 

[90chevstepside]

Nice!

 

[91RCSBsilvy]

i just read the whole thread and that is amazing work man it has come along way good job

 

[GTAwheelman]

Amazing!

Been thinking of getting a camper myself and redoing it. however after seeing how much work you put in, i will be super careful on finding one that is in great shape. i dont think i could put all the work you did. the rot was super crazy

its like a brand new 1978 camper. it really makes me want to get one.

 

[88GMCtruck]

Nothing new to report on the trailer front. Been too pre-occupied with work, the 454 swap and the quads to go camping yet this summer. I have a trip planned in July, basically I have to get the truck done, quads running well and the trailer all sealed up by then.

I have to install the LED tails and re-seal the trailer before anything can really happen, and I'd like to get curtains/blinds in the thing at some point.

 

[88GMCtruck]

Time for an update! Those who haven't followed my "never ending 88 GMC build thread", I've been doing some upgrades on the truck side of things. After some part collecting, planning, and a great deal of work, I have removed the 200,000 mile, untouched TBI 350 in favor of a freshly rebuilt 454. I purchased a TBI 454 w/76k on the odometer from a 1990 C3500. I lucked out even more than I thought I could have, the motor ended up having ~10k on it was was a GM replacement Gen 6 block. After ditching the peanut port heads, flat tappet cam and boat anchor intake, it was fitted to roller mercruiser vortec cam, vortec heads, and edelbrock intake with built TBI on top. After all said and done, it's about 385HP 500FT/LB. During this swap the NV4500 got a new set of syncros, and the truck got full stainless 3" dual exhaust.

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Now, back to what this thread is about. The trailer has also been getting some loving. Over the last few weeks I have sealed up the entire trailer, and finished the LED taillights.

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I also found some cheap fabric, and borrowed mom's sewing machine and made up some simple curtains. One of these days I'll be dying or recovering the cushions as well.

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After selling the 99 diesel I've severely decreased the amount of storage space, even though it's what I started with. However with the purchase of the quads, I've created a problem. Hauling 2 quads in the bed of the truck causes me to remove my toolbox, spare tire and well, creates a condition of me not hauling ANYTHING back there except the quads. My first solution was to build a quad rack over the bedrails, similar to a sleddeck for snowmobiles. After measuring everything, with the height of the truck I'd be hitting the front of the trailer. So, another solution ensued.

I had the toolbox from the 99 diesel still, and figured putting it on the trailer tongue would regain a decent amount of lost bed storage, give me more trailer storage, help add a bit more tongue weight and lengthen it a bit which will help in the handling department. I couldn't just add this huge toolbox as is, so the original coupler was cut off, and a piece of 3x3x1/4 box was used to add 2.5' to the tongue. The propane tanks were moved forward, and the wiring was entirely re-worked.

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After it was all painted, the toolbox was added. It has mercury lights on the lid, some misc tools, onboard air, and hold the batteries. There is also plans for some anchors and a tray of sorts for fuel cans/cooler on the lid.

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[Darkrider]

Wowza...just finished reading this entire thread tonight and i gotta say Damn! looks good man. Yet more reason for me to keep asking my boss about a trailer that the company has that isnt used anymore.....

 

[Rewind]

Wow, more great work on both projects!

Sent from my padded cell using Tapatalk 2

 

[88GMCtruck]

Finished up some stuff with the truck and the trailer prior to the trip.

Batteries secured to the box with a simple bracket I made

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Put a vent in the back of the box for the batteries.

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Made a fuel rack on the toolbox lid from aluminum angle. The cans will stay empty 98% of the time, seeing as the extra weight isn't needed when I can fill them up when i'm close to my destination.

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I then got the quads in the truck, trailer loaded and everything hooked together.

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Truck ran great. It pulls, so much torque. I had no problem keeping speed everywhere.... At least for the first two hours. At some point it started hesitating, coughing and would give me no power.... So I pulled over and swapped back to the last chip. It ran fine a few more miles then again did was running poorly. Pulled off, multimetered a few sensors, checked connections etc, and hooked the laptop up. Ran fine a few miles, then again it started acting up. So, over on the side of the road again. After a bit of a cooldown period (for me) the data was looked at and it looked as if the oxygen sensor (which was new) was reading high voltage, above the norm which indicated it was likely failing, and making the truck think it was running rich, thus cutting fuel. being it was now about 11PM, I was in the middle of BFE and had 4+ hours of driving left, I unplugged the sensor and ran with the base fuel map and the SES light on. Truck ran without major issue after, unfortunately netting me about 5.5MPG...... But I made it. Next morning a stop at Napa and a new sensor was installed and it ran great after.


Here is the sand camp. All my toys in one spot!

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Next to my buddy's 89 K5

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Few shots out in the sand. This thing hauls out there. 454 sounds nice revved up around 5-6k.

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Packed up, heading home. Running properly, I netted about 8.1MPG doing about 70MPH most of the way.

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[bow61509]

Looks like you had fun glad to hear everything worked out and your getting to enjoy the 454

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