Vagabond Drifter Camper Buildout and Mods

I had a regular fiberglass cap shell and it was going to be $600 for color match at Maaco without taking the cap off. Ended up not doing it cause they wouldn’t be able to get the front surrounding the window since it’s up against the cab.

Not sure this practice applies to every location but I was not impressed with their ability to work with the customer. Then again, I wasn’t expecting much from the budget paint shop.

 

I think to do thorough paint job you will need to remove the Drifter from the vehicle. You will not be able to paint the window facing the cab not underneath the overhand.

I’ve seen Maaco’s work. I would not want a free paint job from them!

 

drive up to see them, they are 5 hours from you that is a hop skip and a jump. I drove 27 hour to get one installed and would do it to see them in person as well if I had to. its a sizeable investment, you want t make sure you are getting what you like. I did the same with GFC and various RTT manufactures. nothing beats hands on a product. That being said you will like the drifter, yet to met someone who doesn't.

 

Going to see one next weekend. Vagabond will be at an adventure show I believe next Saturday in Orange County. Hopefully a drifter is there.

Saw a GFC in person next is to see a Drifter.

 

you'll like the drifter a lot more. The build quality is much much higher quality and you do not get the issues the GFC is having with utilizing extrusion which has produced a lot of tolerance issues with closing the gfc tent section.

edited so it reads right: Must have been half a sleep.

 

This statement confuses me.
I agree it’s built better, for sure, but i think you mixed up some things in there.
There are no closing tolerance issues with my drifter

 

Da fuq you say?!
Here’s @Iggy reminiscing on a pretty lil grey one in the wild!
*TBC to you folks new to this thread (welcome btw), this is the Drifter prototype, not production

I honestly can’t wait to see the new grey!

 

Maaco quoted me $6-800 in Seattle

 

fixed, must have been half a sleep.

 

I to hope I like the Drifter as I need a sleeping solution badly.

I saw a GFC for a few hours and got to play with it some and I was not that impressed. Not sure why there is a huge following. Must be good marketing skills from GFC.

 

Aesthetically, the GFC looks pretty. Functionality (IMO) is inferior to the Drifter, but yes, their marketing has been great. I don't follow them on IG, but they're always showing up on my feed somehow. They've invested deep into their marketing by sponsoring a few high profile IG users. And they've figured out something with IG's algorithms, so kudos to them.

 

This ^

 

It's not a tolerance issue. The closing issue is primarily with the XL units. It is mostly because of the compressed air caught between the top and the sleeping platform when closing which would be an indication of close, not sloppy tolerances. I have no doubt that there will be a fix for this perhaps with different mattress materials and thickness or some sort of vent.
At least potential GFC customers don't have to deal with paying extra for powder coating. Also your mentioning of the GFC build quality being marginal is simply not true and I've seen both of them at the PNW Overland Expo. The build quality is excellent. Every but as good if not better than the Drifter.
BTW you still can't get a Drifter for a full size truck.

 

you clearly havent seen the Drifter on the Tundra?

 

That's true. You can't order one on the website.

 

do you own a phone? They do make calls as well. I know GFC wont answer but Vagabond always does.

 

After spending lots of quality time with both the GFC and the Drifter at NWOR, I chose the GFC. They sold me on the side access and the price (which is now almost $1000 higher). I didn’t buy the Drifter because I didn’t fit on the bed (This was before the bed extender was added to the Drifter).

However, when they called me to make the full payment, I balked. After spending Christmas in Baja, I realized the GFC would be perfect there. Open sides, and no insulation. But I don’t live in Baja, I live in Eastern Washington where it get damn cold. I realized it would be impossible to insulate the GFC well.

So, I sold my GFC spot (should have ordered a Drifter last summer) and ordered a Drifter. I am very happy i did. We plan to live out of it for a couple months in the summer and use it lots in the winter. Simple things like building out a charging / solar distribution system are so much easier when you actually have walls to mount them on.

Can’t wait until Sept. Phil and Iggy, keep the plant cranking!

 

OK. "much higher quality " is a very misleading statement but that's OK since you have to make allowances for the fanboy factor.