I'm definitely not giving up the Isuzu, but ...

I just looked at a 1978 Blazer with a Chalet camper on top. Interestingly, the Blazer is full time 4wd (didn't know they made any blazers like that) but has a locking center diff and a low range.

It has a 400 CID engine and an automatic tranny, both of which seem to be in great shape.

Any thoughts on this? I want this vehicle for some light wheeling/serious camping, and it seems like the perfect mix.

The chalet camper is a bit taller than I would like (i.e. higher center of gravity), but at least it has some room. I can see myself wheeling it down moderate roads. Mostly this vehicle has the profile of a K5 Blazer, but with about 2 feet more of overhang in back(PATHETIC departure angle -- definitely won't be doing fins and things in it).

The camper is a pop-up, but it is about a foot taller with the top down than the Four Wheel campers I've been looking at. I realize this vehicle will never be hardcore, but I'm stoked about the idea of having a camper and being able to find a nice spot on a moderate road and instead of climbing out and setting up a tent just popping up the top and turning on the furnace.

With that 400 CID engine, do you think it would be a good tow vehicle for my Passport? It's empty weight is 6,700 lbs -- which definitely makes it heavier than the passport. And it's probably just a little longer, perhaps not in wheelbase but in total vehicle length.

yeah, im goinna go out on a limb and say that with a 400 ci engine, you just might have enough power to tow that passport. just barely <img border="0" alt="[Drunk]" title="" src="graemlins/drunk.gif" />

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, Helv, Helvetica, Sans">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, Helv, Helvetica, Sans">Originally posted by MANCINATOR:
<strong>yeah, im goinna go out on a limb and say that with a 400 ci engine, you just might have enough power to tow that passport. just barely <img border="0" alt="[Drunk]" title="" src="graemlins/drunk.gif" /> </strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, Helv, Helvetica, Sans">Well ... remember, this is a 7,000 lb vehicle with a 400 ci engine and the Passport is 5,000 lbs. And since I'm always heading West out of Denver to wheel (i.e. Moab, the mountains) I'm generally climbing 5% grades up to the Eisenhower tunnel. These climbs will humble about any gas engine hauling a lot of weight (which is why the vehicle I REALLY want is a Ford F250 with a diesel).

My whole purpose in buying this, BTW, is so that even after our little one is born in August I still want to be able to go camping. Maybe not this year, but at least next. And while I'm not ready to jump into what I REALLy want, the F250 with a Four Wheel pop-up, I think this would be a great test vehicle to see if truck camping is what we really want to do. And given the price of this thing, I should be able to sell it in a coupla' years and get the majority of my $$ out of it.

There's a whole website on these kinds of vehicles here and a few pictures below:

<img src="http://www.blazerchalet.com/floorplan-side.jpg" alt=" - " />

<img src="http://www.blazerchalet.com/travellin.jpg" alt=" - " />

<img src="http://www.blazerchalet.com/interiorappliances2.jpg" alt=" - " />