The Drifter - Specs and FAQ

Thats what I am shooting for, light but strong enough to use as a bench. Main reason i thought of wood is because its somewhat cheap and readily available.

 

I am looking for the same thing today. have looked at aluminum composite panel but expensive. maybe OPTIX acrylic at home depot. Was even thinking corrugated plastic sign board on sides and 12 gauge aluminum sheet on top. I am looking for light but waterproof. wood will not work for me.

 

Started building mine out of 1/2” birch plywood.

 

Nice, a lot of people seem to go the birch route.

I also have the dometic fridge, mine is the cfx 50 and will be going in the same location as yours.

 

Brian has a Goosegear fridge cabinet and some T-slot drawers he made. They are pretty stout! The GG paneling is 1/4” I believe.

Like anything else, it can be done DIY, but Goosegear definitely does it really well.

With these campers, or any for that matter, the interior builds will vary greatly in cost, skill, finish, materials, and configuration. Can’t wait to see what people come up with! @MTNHABITOVERLAND started a thread so owners can share their builds.

We will also be offering interior options. I’ve spent countless hours building out the Scout, Flippac, and modifying the 4wc interior. Much of that time was measuring and head scratching. So if someone has the budget, we’ll be able to offer a partial or complete interior based on some standard configurations.

 

I’m with you. I thought about waterproofing too. You’ve done research and are way ahead of me. I don’t have any funding available yet and didn’t want to start looking because it would just torture me. You’ve got good info though. Thanks.

 

Looks great MJ! That floor came out really nice too.

 

Thanks! The floor is also 1/2” birch but used roll on bedliner. Still not sure what i want to do with the drawers and cabinets. I’m thinking either paint or carpet

 

Also, for anyone else making a base platform out of wood, the stock bed bolts are long enough to reuse. I started to catch threads with 3/4” of bolt showing - and thats with the 1/2” plywood.

I used 6 washers underneath the base platform for each bolt. Used it to compensate for the spacing. Without the washers, the bed bolts caused bowing and I wasn’t able to get a level platform.

 

Phil got it right.

It's a Goose Gear fridge slide with an ARB 50QT with DIY 80/20 stove slide below it. Behind the Partner Stove is a custom box with spices, lighters, silverware and a chefs knife.

On the other side is a DIY 80/20 36 inch drawer. I have a divider running down the middle separating food/kitchen items from misc camp and truck stuff. On top of the that I have a 1/2 inch sheet of plywood wrapped in carpet that's on a hinge so I can access stuff from the top as well as stand on it.

I plan on getting rid of the drawer and going to a bench with stacked skinny drawers in front with a large compartment in back.

Excuse the mess - haven't had any time to do organization.

80/20 is awesome stuff - you can pick it up locally from Grainger and get it cut or order it cut online and from there you only need ansigle Allen key to build it.

 

I am looking forward to seeing what others come up with. I love the goosegear products and layout, just cant afford the actual thing so I thought I would mimic it to suit my needs, imitation is the sincerest for of flattery right? Not saying I can do it better or even half as good but I am hoping I can build a useful layout for a thrifty budget.

Thanks for the heads up, my plan was to indeed use the bed bolts but I hadnt gotten that far in research. This will be good to know, I will be laying down a solid base to bolt everything to.

I have a grainger nearby! Any idea what size 80/20 is typically used? Overlandnerd mentioned 1/4" so that helps me choose a wood.

After seeing your set up, I may start with their fridge slide as well, would it work with a cfx 50 dometic? I ll have to research that. But like I said, I love their stuff, just cant afford the price tag. Buying a camper was already a huge hit and much more than I have ever spent, outside of my house and buying a new vehicle. But its an investment in adventuring and thats how I look at it. Just hard to justify that same price tag for storage/bed buildout so I am opting to try and build it myself. I like DIY projects anyways.

 

Exactly what I was thinking. Didn’t want to go full out with 8020 on this first version of the build. I just wanna take this out all summer and really figure out the flow of everything and see if the set up is still feasible. I’m pretty sure there will be other versions of this. All of the pull handles, hinges, slides etc that I got can all be transferable if needed. I’m selectively cheap, but like you, I like a project. So this is the route I’m going... for now

btw I used about 3 sheets of 4’x8’ birch. 1/2” birch is 55 lbs/sheet and 3/4” is 83 lbs/sheet. So in essence I’m saving 84 lbs (28x3)

 

Awesome, I am thinking I will follow your lead and use 1/2" birch for the base but I will use 1/4" birch to finish the 80/20 framing. I will start this build this summer, hopefully will be done installing my blue seas system this Friday.

 

1 inch is the common 80/20, it fits 1/4 inch wood in the slats.

I think the Goose Gear fridge slide is just a Tembo Tusk surrounded by 80/20 and wood.

I love Goose Gear stuff but I'm the same boat...can't afford it and only reason I have this is I got a good deal on it.

 

I was looking into building something similar to Goose Gear with 8020 t-slot framing, but I ended up going with press-fit quick framing instead. T-slot becomes exceptionally more expensive when you add the 3-way bolt corner joints. They are $18-$20 each, and need 8 for one box. Granted you can go the less stylish route on the joints to save that $160.

I'm also glad I went with quick-frame because I'm using 3/8" laminated birch plywood, which fits perfectly with the 1/2" flange with a slight recess, but even it has a little more flex when I stand or sit on it than I'd like. I wouldn't trust 1/4" for something to stand on.

The only part of t-slot that I like is that you can add anchor points, but I'm working on adding L-track to my quick-frame to make up for that.

For reference, here's a progress shot of my drawer box, just ignore the fact that its screenshot'ed from an Instagram story.



You'll notice that the front (top) end isn't framed, which is on purpose so that the slides can clear while mounted to the side panels. Also ignore the lack of a panel on the large open part, it's... complicated.

 

Here’s the link so folks can start posting/chatting there. So many great ideas. Things will get lost in the shuffle here. I think most of us are at least building out the back for the summer months’ adventures then will be rethinking long-term specs.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/vagabond-drifter-camper-buildout-and-mods.540940/

 

Night #3 in the Drifter.

Woke up to rain near Bonneville Salt Flats, drove through the snow in SLC, hail and rain in Wyoming and now camped near a reservoir in Nebraska where it's warm and cloudy. Got in around 0300, so not sure how much sleep I will end up getting as need to get to Louisville tomorrow:

 

One of the things that I noticed on the Drifter that isn't on any of their previous versions and not on any other similar product is the offset sizes for the lid/sleeping platform. Vagabond Outdoors has the bottom piece bigger than the upper portion that opens up.



After having the drifter for a month now, I can say that I appreciate this subtle, yet important detail! The bottom portion being taller provides for a better place for the tent fabric to fall into and stay in place while closing. I can imagine it also being lighter when opening the tent (less material = lighter), especially with the weight of 2 solar panels on top of my roof. It also allows for a spot for an awning. I already have my 4' Tepui awning on the back, and hopefully I can install the 8' ARB awning in the next couple of days.

 

Sounds like a crazy haul across the country Brian! Wish I could have tagged along...





















Edit: Vagabond Outdoors does not condone littering on public or private lands

Love what your doing to the rig MJ!

We definitely had an awning mounting location in mind. And, as you said, made the lower roof/ overhang higher than the mattress so the tent drops in easier. We do have opposing webbing loops for front and rear shock cords, to pull the fabric in, but I haven’t needed it yet.

 

I hope you guys decide to offer a slider option in the window to help with ventilation when stealth camping.