Vagabond Drifter Camper Buildout and Mods

Can anyone post pictures of the bed setup (deployed and completely stowed) for a LONG bed Vagabond Drifter? I want to see the interior setup in relation to how it works with the long bed version of the Drifter.

 

If you’ve checked out @Iggy ’s videos, they are all on a longbed model Drifter

 

I've had my GFC since mid-October, so it's been on for several good rainy spells (at least by Santa Rosa standards) and I pressure washed my truck yesterday after getting back from a trip to the Sierra. I haven't found any water inside I can blame on the GFC. I do need to seal the bed corners better where the bed sides meet the cab wall portion - but that just runs down the front corners, then goes underneath the bedmat and out the drain holes.

I think you hear a lot more complaining from the few people that have had a leak than the majority that don't have any issues. I wouldn't be surprised if we hear about a drifter that has a leak somewhere down the line as more units get put into service.

I like many things about the Drifter, and would have loved to support a local company with my purchase - but the differences in design were important enough to me to choose the GFC over the Drifter based on the way I use my truck. I don't understand why there is a contingent of you guys in Nor-Cal (including some that don't have either product) that are hell bent on bashing GFC at every opportunity.

Is there some bad blood between Iggy/Phil and Wiley/Graeme that we don't know about? Just trying to understand the fuss, because it seems over the top to me.

 

People vent when there are issues with any product which hasn't lived up to their expectations. When Wildernest and Flippac were the only options for trucks they too had issues. Flippac didn't address those issues and is no longer in production. New products have a teething period. Hopefully all the complaints are looked at and remedies found. Doubt there is any "bad blood".

 

Let’s not read into this beyond the comment posted, so things don’t go over the top.

Phil and I are focused on creating an amazing product. Anyone who knows us, talks with us about the Drifter and off-roading in general knows how passionate we are about what we do. So our energy and attention goes to our products and customers, not the competion. We don’t have bad blood with anyone, it’s just bad Karma.

 

The only other spot wasn't any part of the drifter or drifter/truck connection, but the Frontrunner door seals. Water worked its way through where the seal comes together in the bottom middle of each door. Happened on both doors. Slight drip, no stream of water or anything. I haven't fixed it yet but shouldn't take more than a dab of rubber sealant on each joint.

edit: I also haven't played with adjusting the latch pressure on the frontrunner doors, which is adjustable.

 

I'm a bit confused on the leakage issues. While I wait for my Drifter, I snagged an old snugtop shell from some dude locally (great deal for $150!). The thing had been sitting outside for a while at his place up in Big Cottonwood Canyon. It's been on my truck this winter without any sealing of the stock bedrail caps, didn't replace the bulb seals on the shell, just threw some c-clamps on. I haven't had any issues with leaking through lots of snow/rain and up/down temps this winter. This shell even has the old accordion style cab connection and that hasn't leaked either.

I know I have a small sample size since I've only had the shell on there a few months. Am I just getting lucky with my shell? Are people just being overly concerned about leaking or is this an actual problem to worry about?

 

Just for some reference to you and anyone else out there looking at the Drifter that's currently stock. Here's a quick review of what putting a Drifter on a stock 3rd gen long bed is like plus some other musing about camping in the heavy rains of the PNW.

• You will want to build up your rear suspension at the very least. Photo is the stock rear springs with the drifter only, empty bed after plenty of settling and 1000+ miles traveled. Also i've noticed i lost almost as much in the front suspension as the rear in terms of compression. Truck is still sitting level! Full upgrades all the way around is coming soon.
  
• The ride, inverted springs notwithstanding, is actually quite good. And i haven't hit anything hard enough to get to the bumpstops yet.
  
• No issues at all with leaks or seal between the Drifter and stock 3rd gen bed caps. Care does need to be taken when they first put it on for you and the days following to make sure you re-tighten the bolts. I wasn't careful enough and mine shifted slightly, had to reset it. I don't really see a good reason to replace the bed caps, and i wasn't able to find long bed caps anyways. EDIT: I did not seal my stock bed caps in any way before install. I've had no issues with water intrusion at that location.
• No water leaks using the tent, not even accidental leaks with open windows. the slight roof overhang on the edges works wonderfully for leaving side windows cracked at the top while it's raining.
  
• Wind noise really isn't an issue even over stock tires.
• Mileage only seems to really be affected at 65mph+. My truck does shit mileage on winter gas, i averaged high 18's on the 1200 miles to go pick it up. and got high 17's on the way back. But one 3 hour stretch at 75mph and the mileage went all the way to 15mpg. Keep it about 60 and you'll barely notice it's there.
• Setup and takedown are great. I routinely find myself setting it up almost every time i stopped on the coast, just for a better view and a comfy place to sit up there. Keeping most of all of you bedding in place is great.
  
• Watch out for condensation, but really only on the walls that aren't the windows. Rarely if ever saw any on the roof.
  
• Windows are easy to keep cracked while sleeping even in heavy rain without any issue of water intrusion.

Happy to answer any other questions people have about stock trucks and the Drifter.

 

Maybe. It's a common place for leaks and we live the rainy northwest. It'd be a pain to deal with after the Drifter is on, so we preemptively put on tape, rvt silicone and the kbvoodoo caps.

 

I don’t speak for Iggy or Phil. I have my own opinions and that’s where that comment came from. I’m positive that there is no bad blood between any of them. It’s comments like yours that lead to things like that.
I’ve seen both products and am glad I went with the superior product.
I’m glad you got the perfect GFC that has no issues, but there are many that aren’t so lucky. Water leaks, lids that don’t close, wet cushions, rusting parts, moving panels the have a bed are all thing that other owners have complained about. Then other owners like you come and justify a piss poor product saying “well mine doesn’t do that” or “it’s ok, I’m sure there is a fix in the works” or “water in my camper doesn’t really bother me.”
To me, that’s shit. Once again, my opinion.
Also, unlike you, I have never posted in a GFC thread with my opinions and thoughts like you did here. So thanks for stopping by

 

Do you have a link to any of the GFCs that had a true water leak that wasn’t caused by the truck bed or driving it without the rear panel in? I have an order in so I’ve been keeping an eye on the issues and I thought that the few people that had leaking in the upper tent area was because they didn’t know they were supposed to leave the rear panel in.

Agreed that the inconsistency with the lid is annoying but I haven’t heard of any that won’t close at all and if it wasn’t so low profile it wouldn’t be an issue. They also are talking about using their inch thinner mattress from the roof top tent in the camper so they will all close easier. The lower profile and lighter weight design is the main thing I like about it but it definitely has some down sides.

 

I’m not sure. I stopped paying attention when the solution was to remove a panel to close it because “it wasn’t designed to have it in”.....um ok. So not only can you not store any bedding up there now apparently you can’t even store the bed parts in the camper?! What a joke.

As far as lighter weight, I believe the weight difference is only around 50lbs on a base drifter. The weight comes into play when you start adding options like windows, front runner doors and fans. You know, because you can do that with a Drifter.
Lower profile? What’s lower? I guess I’ll stick with a little bit thicker top section if that’s what you’re referring to. I believe it maybe an inch if that. If the extra space means I can leave my pillows, blankets, full sheet set in there. Oh and the mattress. You’d think that would be a given, but I guess not for some campers lol

Good luck with your purchase

 

To call it a piss poor product is a bit much of an exaggeration. It's a different product for a different target audience. It's nowhere near the camper that the Drifter is, that's for sure, but it's lighter, cheaper and more useful for using the truck as a truck. For people who want a camper on their Tacoma for living in the Drifter is the way to go, for an everyday use jack of all trades the GFC is a better choice.

We can still all hangout, camp and drink beer together though.

 

man you are in fairbanks. I would need a propex or mrbuddy to sleep in those temps. how do you survive?

 

With a warm bag and clothes. I tried -20° last week with my Mr. Buddy but gave up on staying the night. It never warmed up enough to be comfortable without a jacket, gloves and hat on. I'm looking into a propex or one of the diesel heaters.

 

I bring my woman and like to keep the love alive. A heater would be a requirement. I talked to Wiley about heater options and he may have a option coming to allow a vent to be attached, a propex would be a nice option then. The drifter its a base feature of heated space. I am not a shit in my camper type of dood, but that seems to be very popular with the vagabond owners.

 

I like to shit and eat where I sleep.

 

Asking for a link to legit leaks was an honest question. I wasn’t sure if you were exaggerating or if there If there were legitimate major issues with the GFC that I had missed. I’d sell my deposit if there was something major but I haven’t heard of anything that’s a deal breaker and it sounded like maybe you had. I definitely haven’t seen anyone that needs to remove a panel to close it either, it just makes it easier and the 2 inch mattress would solve that issue if it’s that big of a deal.

If the shorter overall height means I can’t keep my pillows up there with the 2 inch mattress then I’ll take that trade off for being able to fit in the parking garage at work.

Both of these are awesome and I follow this thread because I saw the Drifter on Expedition Portal before I even knew about the GFC. I think the Drifter is better for a lot of the builds that are going on in here but I plan on keeping my setup pretty simple for weekend to week long camping and mountain bike trips so I decided on the GFC.

 

The temperature swings here can be pretty wild. Two days ago it got up to +32, now it's -9 and supposed to be -33 Friday night. Keeps things interesting.

 

Oh fuck that! I'm a puss!