Vagabond Drifter Camper Buildout and Mods

Easiest thing to do is make a baseplate (birch plywood) and attach it to the bed with the 6 bed bolts. No new holes and you can then secure anything to it. OEM bolts are long enough to accommodate a 1/2” board, not sure about anything thicker (just from personal experience). Also add a few washers underneath the board or else fastening the bolts will cave in a little because of the bed ridges (2nd gen - not sure of other gens but probably similar)

 

So I haven't built my fridge slide yet, but I am going the baseplate route. I put some details of the baseplate I built already on my build thread if you want to check it out. I am securing the plate to the bed using the front 4 bed mounting bolts (closest to the cab) so I didn't need to drill any new holes. A couple others on here are using the same method for their base plate mounting as well. Then everything is going to mount to that plate much like the goose gear systems. I have been running around with the plate in there for a month or so and did some light wheeling here & there and no issues so far.

 

I’m so happy with my drifter,bois. Love it when my big purchase is the right purchase.

 

Thanks for the advice. I'll go with the 1/2" birch plywood route as you guys suggest.

 

I had considered making a baseplate, but the extra weight on my 1st gen adds up quickly.

 

Oops, my bad.

 

In case you need reference

 

Heck yeah! I think it was @MTNHABITOVERLAND who suggested this tip so I excuse me if I misquote or screw up the process. I believe she said if you add Vaseline to the bed bolt heads, then place the platform cutout in, when you remove the platform you’ll have perfectly marked drill holes.

 

You can also lay it in & just tap on each bolt head spot w/ a rubber mallet. Makes a perfect indent on the underside for drilling & no lube! Ha ha

 

Sexy lineup

 

We have a Dometic and love it!!! Good investment.

 

What size bedding are you all using? I've seen mention of queen and full size sheets, but I'd like to avoid a ton of extra fabric If I can.

 

I've been doing the same and ended up with that same fridge. Hopefully in the next few weeks things will start getting put together.

 

Full works best. But a lot of times, full and queen are the same size sheets.

 

Full.

 

Yeah I noticed that. The particular set I'm looking at at Costco has a full set and a queen set, so I thought I'd play it safe and ask.

 

For sure get the full

 

We use an old set of Queen sheets since we were gonna throw them out otherwise. They're definitely a little big, but not overly so.