Vagabond Drifter Camper Buildout and Mods

Unless you want to rattle your teeth out, don't. Will also prematurely wear out those deavers you just paid good money for. I had a shackle flip, hated it, took em off and went with BAMF shackle hangers that retain factory geometry.

explanation why:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...ot-a-build-thread.455075/page-5#post-13411036

 

Ah yes yes!! Shackle hanger! Thank you
And might I add, the link was helpful anyway.

 

Living the dream.

 

Yeah, what she said..

 

It's not a bad life.

 

I ordered my Drifter back in May and I'm trying to get my suspension dialed in before I pick it up around March. I just installed Bilstein 6112 in the front on the 3rd clip and Bilstein 5100 with OME heavy duty Dakars in the rear. The ride quality is way better then the spacer lift it had when I bought it, but here's my problem. They are supposed to be rated at 660 pounds, but they definitely are not holding close to that weight. I put 650 in the back and it's sagged a lot!!! Even with only 350 pounds it has the W shape in the leaf's. What should I do??? Try to return to Wheelers Offroad and get Deavers or add a leaf to the Dakars? Hopefully I can return them as they didn't work as specified.

The photo is with only 350 pounds.

See YouTube video : https://youtu.be/5JcxSJYVqJA

 

Yeah warranty return them and get Deavers 100%

 

How’s it working for ya? I’m in the market finally for a better heating option over the Mr. Buddy.

 

Ok, that's what I was thinking. Deaver stage 3 is the one to get? Hopefully Wheeler's offroad will return them with no hassle...

 

It’s working really well. It’s starting to warm up in CO but it’s nice to have for the high elevation spots. I got the Webasto for the easy altitude adjustment. There are cheaper alternatives but I haven’t seen successful altitude adjustments. The webasto is also thermostatically controlled so you just set the temp and it cycles on/off as needed.

 

Beautiful! Thanks for the quick review.

 

Yes.

 

If I get the Deaver stage 3 will my truck be close to level? It's currently 22.5" in the front from center hub to fender and 24" in rear.

 

I couldn’t tell ya. That all depends on your load.

 

I started with an extra HD leaf and heavy Dakars (Icon front coilovers). The truck now has quite a few miles weight on the setup. It hasn't really moved from ~22.5/23.5 after a few measurements over time since adding the Drifter, LRA tank, f/r bumpers, sliders, Frontrunner drawers/water tank. I did have a weird diagonal difference that adjusting the coilovers got closer to even and probably will try to tune again after a winch and skids go on. When I first put the suspension on it was about 2 1/4" difference front to rear without tank/drawers/difter/gear load in the rear.

If it were to move much I would likely add another leaf. Performance wise it has been fantastic. Very controlled and reliable in a few hairy situations.

 

This looks over loaded right? These are OME Dakar Heavy Duty with 650 pounds in the bed.

 

If that is level ground, then I’d say the “w” shape you have pictured here is telling me it’s loaded beyond the spring capacity.

 

Yes, it's flat ground. Even with only 350 pounds it's got a slight "w" as you can see in the photo below. Wheelers Offroad is talking to OME for warranty.

 

I'm waiting as well...