The Drifter - Specs and FAQ

@georginclay04. I will be driving through Denver after my install in late Apr or early May. There is @cheatdeathdan in Co. Springs and @tdubd in Aurora that showed me there Drifters. You will have to contact them.

 

Would

I’ll take you up on that alldownhill.. tried to message you but your privacy settings don’t allow it. I’m in golden a good bit climbing at earth treks when I can score a guest pass from buddies.

 

Just placed an order for a Drifter. VO-117.

Let the waiting begin!

 

Congrats! I assume you liked what you saw at the SFO event yesterday?

What options did you pick?

 

Thank you!

Cant wait to camp in this thing. Can't reject your offer to Baja next time.

I always knew I would like the Drifter but I am always nervous buying big items sight unseen.

I selected:

Lower Lighting
Ceiling Lighting
Insulation
L Track
Slider Cab window
I will get the 10" or 12" bed extension too as the current setup is a bit tight for me.

I thought I would want the fan, but the fan was a bit loud for me and I would never sleep with the fan on. So decided against it for now. Also like the look without the fan.

When my Drifter goes into production I will select which Windoor options I want as I did not select those yet. I am still undecided but leaning towards the Frontrunner solid gullwing windoors. Iggy said i can select those later.

 

Welcome to the family. I'd vote or a fan and frontrunner door.

 

^seconded.

 

And just like a family, unsolicited opinions about your choices are provided!

 

Nice! I pretty much had the same options, but added the lighting and L-Track myself. I also got the fan and sooo happy I did. I've never needed it during the night while sleeping, but have used it a bunch in the morning when everyone else in their ground tent or RTT have to get out of their tents for the day since it's too hot to be in. Similarly, I have used it during the day at a musical festival to take naps. In those situations, I was pretty tired and could care less about the noise of the fan. I think the fan is going to be difficult to add in later. There's extra framing in the lid that supports the fan and the electrical runs from where the fan is in the lid all the way to the hinged side. Otherwise, @tacomgee would have added it already.

 

Thanks for the explanation, maybe I will consider it. I probably still have a good 7-8 months to make a decision. Think lead time is 9 months right now.

Is there a website to the manufacturer or model number of the fan they use? Would like to check out the specs of the fan for amp draw, size, etc.

 

Amp draw is small, but we use 3 speed reversible Fantastic Fans.

 

I had the same fan in my van and didn’t mind it. It’s one of those little noises that you kind of get used to and turns into white noise, especially on the lower settings.

 

true, I use it to help get air flow in the tent to dry things out from condensation or on those stifling hot days with no air flow. A lil does an a lot. Noisy yes, moves a f lot of air though.

 

We have been camping in ours in all weather conditions in the PNW this winter. Lots of snow camping and camping out in down pours. We weathered a heavy rain and wind storm out on the coast and stayed toasty warm and dry in our Drifter.

Like @tacomgee mentioned a lot of problem areas come from the bed of the truck not the camper. One of the most critical design features the drifter has to combat rain is the the aluminum channel that the tent connects to on the base of the shell. The Keder line track is raised up an inch or so which allows rain/snow build up to run off. Any water pool up you get is against the aluminum rather than the tent.

When it was snowing hard we had a bit of snow build up on the rear mesh/tent window overnight and nothing ever saturated through the tent. Brushed it off and closed up the top and we were on our way.

Take the time to prep and seal up the bed before you get your Drifter and you will be one happy camper!

 

Make sure you get the snow out from btw the tent fabric and the seal. It will melt ad freeze the tent lid shut. I would also suggest using a silicone lube on the gaskets to help with freezing, go sparingly as you do not want to get dust gathering on the seals.

 

I say "brushed off" which is the compressed way of explaining the thorough cleaning I do prior to closing up lol

 

Who needs a ladder, when you have a Drifter...?

 

Realized I never responded...Sent you a PM

 

Super new member but I'm jumping in with both feet. Placed my order after a brief chat with Jay today (thanks for taking the time to answer my questions). Now the wait begins!



Thank you everyone on this thread for all the awesome support. Between consuming this thread and the build out thread, I feel like I'm on my way to a master's degree in Drifter studies

In the meantime, anyone have one of these in the Salt Lake City area? I'd love to check one out before I can hopefully make the trek down to Overland Expo West.

 

That's in late May right? I'm hoping I'll have my Drifter before then.....?!

You'd be more than welcome to check mine out once I have it.