The Drifter - Specs and FAQ

more like a Pri

 

Too bad there is not enough space for recovery tracks. Long bed probably works better for such a setup. Thanks!

 

Joshua, I replied to your PM. Can you pinpoint the source of the leak on the door? Is a bolt for the inner frame, or a from the latch itself? The fix is maybe some sealant, but I want to discuss this with FR.

Thanks for letting us know about his one! We'll take to the window company. The first we have heard of this issue, but definitely don't want it to happen again.

 

Hey Drifters, looking for insight from those of you with Windoors or Sliding Window. I'm leaning towards either 2 windoors or 1windoor&1slider since there isnt a windoor slider. I'll be getting the dropdown front window with slider and a fan for sure. Does the slider make significant difference in temp inside the camper from just the front cab window being open to lose the convenience of a windoor on both sides? When we are parked I figure I could prop a windoor open with some rope around the outside lock into the camper to get more lower level airflow if we dont want them fully deployed. Planning to use it a lot as a snow cabin next winter and will probably get a dog someday too so sliders appeal to that but windoors look more versitile. Just looking for insight from those that have either option based on your experiences. Thanks!

 

I opted for no doors or windows. I originally thought I would install topper sliding windoors later but I think I prefer no windows. I have a dog and the front slider is enough for the rare time she has to stay in the back for a short time. I wouldn't leave the dog in there for extended periods or hot days anyway.

I think the windoor would be really nice to access the bed. But, without the windows, the walls provide a lot of extra storage surface. If the top is popped, there is plenty of light from the tent.

 

I love easy access to the bed from the sides, so I'm all about windoors/ FrontRunner gullwing doors

 

I have frontrunner doors and the sliding front window. Side doors are really great for access. That being said, i don't have any large permanent bed build-out. If you did, side access probably wouldn't be as warranted.

Surprisingly, even with dog i haven't used the front sliding window at all yet. Maybe peak summer? But the dog is almost always riding in the cab. If i went back and did it again i'd probably just get the standard front window.

 

I also opted for no windoors. We ended up covering our windows with insulation 90 percent of the time so this go we decided to hold off.

Having said that I have had windoors on regular canopies and they rock. If the future I will probably order a front runner windoor and hack a hole in one side of the drifter. This is more so for access in side without having to open up my swing out. When I am hauling a dirtbike it makes it a bit difficult to get inside to grab something with out taking the bike off.

 

I ran a Drifter for 3 months with no windoors, and 4 months with windoors and much, much prefer having at least one windoor. YMMV, but especially with a swingout rear bumper, it made accessing the bed much quicker and easier.

For instance, I had a water hose attached to a pump I could access from the windoor to fill a water bowl for my dog.

 

We have a slider and like it for the dogs. We can put them in the cab, open it up and they can still be part of the party while we are back there getting food ready without being in the way, e.g. dripping slobber while begging for ham.

 

We travel with cats and have one windoor and one slider window. Since we don’t have a permanent build out yet we use the slider window much more than the windoor.

I have plans for leaving frequently used gear on the windoor side and maybe building it in a way so I have inside and outside access to it.

The cats are small enough to crawl from the cab to the back through the cab window. The slider window definitely grants peace of mind for increased airflow.

Also - just a thought - sometimes I also move the tent portion back when the top is down and open/vent the fan to further provide airflow when truck is in stealth mode.

 

I was wondering if this was possible.

 

Thanks for all the windows insight everyone, and great fan stealth mode tip, especially if I go with windoors and not a side window slider! Drifter fever, can't wait!

 

My windoor leaks around where it is mounted, through the t-handle and around the door seal. This even happens when parked. Really disappointed in the windoor & installation quality.

 

Anyone know of a source for the front hinges?

 

This was surprising to read. I had lots of communication on the rear hatch design and was told it's not a problem to build it for a Tundra as their shop truck was a gen 1 tundra, and they have access to the 2005/2006 CC model that has the deeper bed. I was told I the hatch was going to be a full sized to allow loading of a 4'x8' sheet of plywood as well. What I received was a hatch that was too narrow for plywood, was about 3" too short so now I have to deal with not tripping on the hatch door frame when getting in or out. This was a total PITA the whole trip and I expect it to remain so. This probably will be just fine on a Tacoma with the a shallower bed as the frame would extend down past the bed floor, but this was built for my gen 1 Tundra. Another PITA was the lack of an interior handle to close the rear hatch or secure it. I will probably have a local fab shop build a usable rear hatch as this one wasn't delivered as stated.


Just got back from a vacation with the drifter. I got 16.0 - 16.8 mpg at 65 mph with the 500lbs on the truck (solar, awning, fan and rear hatch). Addl weight from fridge/clothes/yeti was not much. The suspension is all stock an handled the camper fine. We stayed on paved roads visiting some national parks. Currently, I don't trust the clamps for off roads trips yet. The Drifter was supposed to be built for a bolt on application, but the flange is too narrow to use bolts and the clamps only just reach the flange but twisted around from on road driving leaving only half of the clamp surface providing pressure. Only the front clamps really secure well. I have yet to receive the brackets to secure the hatch frame to the bed bolts. (24 days since install) The raised electrical corner boxes weren't installed for the bigger rocker switches.

I noticed a crack in a weld prior to the trip. Rear drivers side where top meets the side. You might want to check your Drifter in case this isn't just a random quality issue. The hatch struts were too weak at install so VG sent replacement struts but the connecting ends were different and the thread diameter was different too so this was another PITA the whole trip. The correct struts still haven't been received. I was also missing the Molex connector pigtail so the fan and light was inop for the trip. The pigtail arrived during my trip. The awning was missing the latch to secure it open to the drifter and Amazon dropped the order so the awning wasn't used. The gap at the rear of the drifter and the awning seems excessive compared to other installs I have seen.

The windoor leaks between the drifter and the window frame. When the windoor is opened water runs out from the t-handle and makes a good sized puddle on floor. For what I paid for this and the 2.5 months late delivery, I expected to have at least what was discussed and ordered. I am glad that others have received great builds, but this one seem lacking from those builds.








EDIT: Just got word that VB has the replacement hatch struts on the way.

 

Sounds like you got a lemon. Makes me wonder if Vagabond have so many orders to fullfil that they are slipping on quality. I dont see why a company cant stop taking orders, catch up, open up a preorder for another batch. I bet they will sell out every time as the product is incredible. If its greed to capture every order and allowing it to slip by several months on delivery with quality issues then its a good way to lose consumer confidence.

 

John, sorry you are having issues with your camper. We definitely would have liked to address this privately as we have only learned of many of these issues in your post.

Rear Hatch
We discussed that your hatch would be a prototype, designed for the Tacoma, but we would be able to adapt it to the Tundra, which we did. I don't recall stating that a full sized sheet of plywood would fit through the door. Because the hatch was designed as a retrofit, so that existing customers can swap it to their current campers, the door width was designed so the side sections were substantial enough for the opening.

The struts we installed were not heavy enough, and we had heavier struts ordered before you left the shop. It was my fault that the heavier struts were not the correct size. New struts were ordered yesterday and are set to arrive on Wednesday.

Per our discussion, the hatch was designed for the Tacoma. We never stated that there wouldn't be a lip below the door due to the Tundra's taller bed height. We are waiting on the extrusion required to stabilize this section, and will send it to you next week.

We really take our time with each new offering. Per our discussion, this rear hatch was a prototype. I apologize if I didn't make this clear enough. We were reluctant in agreeing to provide a prototype to a customer, and this is a great example of why we will never repeat this. Especially since no additional cost was charged.

Crack
The crack in the top of the lower roof is not structural since that section is bolted to the lower section on either side of the weld, and fully welded on the exterior. And the seam beneath that joint is fully TIG welded prior to bolting it. Please take it to the shop that welded your bed caps and we will compensate you for the costs. We can also send you VHB tape to re-apply the plastic edging, since that will have to be pulled back before welding.
We don't know why the weld cracked since no one else has reported a similar one. But we definitely want to give you peace of mind.

Clamps
The clamps were not long enough because of the fabricated custom bed caps. Upon leaving the shop, I offered to send longer clamps. Per our conversation, it was not an issue and you would go to a camper shell shop to purchase longer ones. I can still source and send longer ones to you if you haven't already purchased them. Please note that this was an issue because of the custom bed caps. If the camper shell shop was open at the time of installation that evening, I would have grabbed them prior to you leaving.

Awning
The issue could be caused by the lack of tension in the cam strap. In your picture, there is considerable slack between two of the arms.
Please tension the cam and hopefully that takes care of the issue. We have installed all of the 270° awnings the same, checked them before pickup, and we didn't see an issue with your awing.

Windoor
Because the top of the windoor is radiused, the storm hinge doesn't go all the way to the end. This is typical of all radiused doors because of physics. The door opens further than 90° for access. In rainy conditions, it has to be kept less than 90° to allow for water to run away from the camper. This can be achieved in many ways, but most use a small section of paracord.

This is very common for most people who have owned camper shells with rear radiused windows. I can send you pictures if your require more clarity.

Lead Time
We are working to decrease our lead times. No one benefits more from efficiency than us.

We discussed a Tuesday pickup, that could possibly move into Wednesday, due to the complications with the prototype rear door. While we welcome customers to see our shop during the installation, arriving on Monday morning did not help the process of completing the camper.

Figuring out the prototype rear hatch was not a process that should have been rushed, but we were trying to meet your deadline while adapting it to a 1st gen Tundra.

Again, we will work to make things right and wished the issues could have been addressed privately. We appreciated your expression of gratitude for the hard work you observed during your 3-day presence at our shop.

Edit: Sliding the sleeping platform towards the rear keeps the tent from hanging into the camper area when the roof is in the travel position.

Edit 2: The raised corner panels, for Carling type switches, wasn't installed because it is only included in the Bluesea USB/ 12 volt package, which you did not purchase.

 

We are so appreciative that our customers see the benefits of our campers and are willing to make a commitment. Many have been asking, since expo of 2018, if they could provide a deposit for the full- sized camper. We did not take a deposit on any Nomads until we completed one 2 weeks ago. And the Nomads will be built in the sequence they are ordered, which is currently after the backlog of Drifters. While this may have been frustrating for those with full- sized trucks, since the Drifter lead times continued to grow, we decided that a Nomad needed to be completed before taking orders.

While this may not have been the best business decision, since full- sized truck customers were essentially saying, "Take my money!", I hope that helps to address the ethical nature of our business practices.

 

I don't think you need to address anything. Smart business sense to get the full sized out there in the market so to speak and testing etc.