Vagabond Drifter Camper Buildout and Mods

nope, it'll go with the truck when i trade it in. or resell it

 

[QUOTE="MJonaGS32, post: 19198733, m

You sure that isn't 1200constant? 1200 over stock would be more than f350 springs. regardless that is a serious amount of weight. I thought i was heavy with the truck. what are you carrying that requires that much and can you wheel the rig?

Edit, ah you built a organizer system/drawers in the interior.

 

I’m running the Deaver stage 3’s, that’s 800-1000 over stock.

 

Wouldn't that be an 800-1000lb constant load not over stock, that would imply you can take the factory load and add an additional 800-1000lbs over stock.

 

That’s what Scott at Deaver told me. When I ran stock a barrel of wine was about the factory limit. If I carried that truck would sag and be on the bumps. At that time I went to dealer and they said it was normal, but this was also before the rear leaf TSB. I got the OMEs after that. They held up for a while and I even added the extra overload leaf, but after a while they also sagged and I was in the bumps on every trip.

No with the Deavers, when the trucks fully loaded and camp ready, it sits level and not near the bumps.

 

I went through the same as Iggy pretty much before getting Deaver.

My Deavers are 1200 over stock. Which with a bed rack (80), RTT (150), HC Rear with swingout (220), full size spare (120), 10 gallons fuel (70), 4 gallons rotopax with water (30). All of those are guesstimates but puts me at almost 700 pounds with no gear in the bed. So when I load up with a few totes and food I’m still sitting at almost the same height I am unloaded. Curious to see how much/if at all different it sits with the drifter.

 

hmm, that seems like an excessive amount of load capacity on the truck especially on such long springs. My interpretation when I talked to them was that say for instance the expeditor level springs at stage 3 were 800-1000lbs constant weight, meaning that the springs would not sag until that was exceeded. could be wrong on that though, will have to call them again.

 

MJ any help with the right sealant to go with...
..recently did the switch out to voodoo and the caulking I used is still wet 4ish days later..im gonna take em off and redo em?

 

This is what I used my first go around with the oem plastic bed caps

https://www.westmarine.com/buy/3m--marine-grade-silicone-sealant-clear--190233

Going to apply the same stuff when I put the KB VooDoo caps on

 

I used a tube of black silicone caulk from Home Depot

 

You guys with the 1200lb springs, how’s the ride quality when you aren’t fully loaded? Is it still ok or is it noticeably harsher?

 

When you have your Drifter, it’s always fully loaded

 

We used this 100% RTV clear silicone:

$6 Permatex 80050 Clear RTV Silicone Adhesive Sealant, 3 oz

https://www.amazon.com/Permatex-800...2&sr=8-2&keywords=permatex+clear+rtv+silicone. It has worked fine. I would get at least 3 of these tubes or a big boy of this. At home depot, this silicone is with the car/auto stuff, not the bath/plumbing stuff which is where they originally sent me and tried to get me to buy non-RTV stuff. West Marine, if you have one near you, is probably the best place to go.

 

How much did those 1200lb deaver springs run $ you?

 

I camp with a guy who had a flippac on his Tacoma and ran Deaver springs and he HATED them. He said the squeaking was beyond maddening and they flattened out on him pretty quickly, twice. And he even had a custom pack built by the company. I almost went with Dakars but decided to go the super custom route with Chevy 63s. They've handled the bed rack/RTT combo like it's nothing. Once the bed is fully built out, we'll see how much weight is back there and if an extra leaf is needed.

 

Well they cannot nearly be as squeaky as the ome HD Dakars with two AAL’s I have. Way way way worse then the stock tacoma springs. Actually the ironman were the best sorings yet fairly quiet just couldn’t support the weight.

 

Another rookie question. So, my basic understanding is that springs carry the load and shocks dampen the movement and a super bump will help when we hit potholes (uh, pretty rudimentary understanding here). The recs have been to wait until we have the drifter on and our weight situation better known before addressing these things. So, what's in the future for upgrades? Clearly leaf springs, and probably deavers or something heavy weight bearing to handle (drifter (320lbs) with 2 frontrunner gullwing windows/hatches (~60lbs) + alucab awning (~60lbs) + box (~50lbs). Super bumps also.

Do we need upgraded shocks? Is a lift necessary? These are costs that we were not originally anticipating and so want to be very strategic about what we do here. We want to do what is needed, but no more. We are weekend warriors, likely mostly on forest service roads when out. Advice/thoughts appreciated.

 

I have Chevy 63s also. 3 leaf removed overload. They ok with bed rack/rtt combo. I’ve since upgraded to 5 leaf with overload for camper setup

 

Your understanding is pretty much bang on. Springs carry the weight, shocks/struts control the rebound/compression of the springs.

The shocks/springs should be upgraded, as with the increased weight the valuing, compression and rebound on the shocks will not be adequate. Nor are the stock springs sufficient, no air bags will not fix this its a bandaid solution or stop gap measure.

Lift is not necessary, only if you are off-roading and I don’t mean forestry roads, I mean actual off roading. I’d hazard a guess and say 90% of the lifted truck crowd actually use the lift, most just want the look, hence why spacer lifts are so popular and is what dealers tend to gravitate towards. If you replacing shocks/springs you may as well lift it, you probably won’t have a choice in that matter depending on what kit you get.

 

Aaen, This is awesome - exactly the feedback we were looking for. Thank you! Are there particular shock kits that are affordable and that will do the trick that you (or others here) know and recommend that we should look at? We are following the conversations about deaver and other springs and this has been helfpul.