Vagabond Drifter Camper Buildout and Mods

This is a great idea Iggy. The HS2000 in the same location, same orientation, would point the exhaust flu / intake directly out through the cubby, and allow a much smaller profile. Due to the heat of the exhaust and our composite bed, this would be the ideal solution for anyone considering a Propex.

I have the HS2211 because I assumed mounting outside of the bed would be ideal, but I'm still on the fence about ducting 3" hoses.

 

Yeah, especially two hoses! That's a lot drilling, so I'm working on something for that too.

 

Jesus work faster it is not getting any warmer here in Northern AB any time soon, only colder. See the plate system, hmm, I like the idea, and venting it out through the cubby. One would have to seal the cubby around the plate though or there would be a heck of a lot of dust intrusion in the summer time.

I'm still currently on the fence about propex or espar systems. I get deals on both thru one of my subs for all the work I give them. just not sure what route to go and lying under the truck day dreaming in freezing temps is not fun times.

 

Shot you a note back on the other forum, nooksack.com.

 

This is great to see! Its one of the final pieces of puzzle along with shipping to Canada and paint. Can't wait to see how it turns out!

 

Just drive down and pick one up!!! I did worth the drive!!

 

You are brave! I might, if I have to. Phil already offered to arrange shipping to the border...I just need to arrange a drop off point. I hate the idea of dealing with the border crossing.

 

i’m crossing to pick up a GFC. i haven’t had much trouble bringing stuff across (even firearms!). what did they charge you? pst and gst only?

 

total cost to import was 185 bucks at the border.

 

Bring it across the ab border, you will only pay 5% max, mine was less, not sure why, maybe cause it was American made? didn't;t ask questions, i just boogied out, total time at the border was 10mins. Great fellas

 

oh and never take the big crossings, the lines are huge, always go to the small border crossings. agents are always friendly, courteous and genuinely interested in the trucks/rig. Last one had a sweet old dodge parked out side and we got into bs'ing about trails while the paperwork was being filled out.

 

I've never had any trouble - except for that one time I'll tell you about over a beer. Not a good idea to discuss on a public forum. It was ridiculous but it put the fear of god in me. It's not worth trying to save 100 bucks ($40 Candian in the case where I need a beer to tell you about it) for me to lose my nexus card. I travel across the border regularly.

Good to know that 185 was all you got dinged.

 

I have had some interesting stories crossing the border as well. I use to buy used motorbikes have them shipped up to Montana. Drive across import them and resell in Calgary. Use to make some money on it not a lot.


Anyways one time, they decided to bring me into the secondary screening area and rip me a new one as they didn't believe i was declaring the value properly. Stupidly I forgot my visa receipt and they started trying to catch me in a lie when I wasn't had everything but the payment receipt, it was on my desk, thankfully I could bring it up on my bank acct to show them. It ended well, with me shaking one guys hand and telling the other guy he was a asshole when he wanted to shake my hand and then me proceeding to go back into the main building and asking for the shift supervisor who proceeded to rip this CBSA agent a new one for how he was going on with me and the other guys in the secondary screening (oddly everyone had motorbikes that day). Needless to say I now steer clear of that border crossing.

 

Mods! Batting 0.95 for 2.

1. Tried to install Rago Fab bed stiffeners today. Youtube tutorial says this was "very, very easy". It's not hard, but you've got to have the right tools. After dropping some money on the ratchet, torqx bits, etc. and getting the tail light off we realized our home drill is not strong enough to drill through metal. Fail......

2. Successfully installed KB Voodoo rails today (YES!). Fortunately, no drill required. Used aluminum waterproof tape to cover the holes and each rail got 3 oz of RVT silicone smeared on before we affixed the rail. Enough silicone? Who knows. Hopefully with the tape, yes. Otherwise, we'll just fill in gaps as we go. It's what I bought and what we had. No directions from KB Voodoo, but pretty logical. Main thing is upon completion of rail bed #1 there was a pretty big gap between the KB cap and the actual bed rail at the end near the tailgate. On bed rail #2 we put pressure at end when returning screws and this made a big difference - cap is much more snug against the rail. Went back to try and fix #1 and when tightening the 10mm bolt, the bolt head popped off. WTF? I am not that strong. Whatever. It's sister next to it is on and probably the weight from the Drifter will help secure it further. I do think there should be directions for this product, especially re: how to minimize the gap. The bolt head popping off means full success not reached but rather 0.95/1.0 success. Not bad for a rookie I suppose.

One step closer to being Drifter ready....auxiliary battery install in a week. Fortunately, we are not doing that one!

 

My bed rail caps also had one side (driver’s) that had more gap towards the back of the bed. It got smaller with the GFC on top but is still noticeable if you know to look for it.

 

Crazy...Ours was also the driver's side. Did you just fill with silicone? That seems to be what we are thinking.

 

Yeah, I just squeezed some extra in there and called it good. Hasn’t been a source of leaks yet and shouldn’t with how much silicone is spread under there. If you keep the truck dirty people won’t even notice.

 

That's easy.

 

Time to sell pieces of my interior build. Can possibly leave some at Vagabond for the Bay Area folks. If there's something I'm missing you're interested in let me know! All prices are OBO

Goose Gear Icebox Fridge Slide for an ARB50QT and similar size fridges - $600. $800 w/Partner stove and stove slide

Propex HS2000 w/thermostat and hoses and second stage regulator to connect to a Propane tank - $600

Custom stacked drawer. Designed to fit flush against the side before the wheel well. Has a hinged lid to access contents while in the camper - $400

 

Any interest in selling/trading your wheels and tires?