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Vagabond Drifter Camper Buildout and Mods

Discussion in 'Bay Area Metal Fabrication' started by MTNHABITOVERLAND, Mar 27, 2018.

  1. Feb 26, 2020 at 6:29 PM
    #2981
    White Mountains

    White Mountains Well-Known Member

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    Thx didn't see that. Thought it was part of the frame that holds the bed platform.
     
  2. Feb 27, 2020 at 9:51 AM
    #2982
    cobes

    cobes habitual line-stepper

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    Link to net por favor?
     
  3. Feb 27, 2020 at 11:39 AM
    #2983
    Mr. Nobody

    Mr. Nobody Just a nobody

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    Those look great. My wife and I were just discussing how something like that would be awesome.

    What he said :D
     
    Anderson[QUOTED] likes this.
  4. Feb 27, 2020 at 4:23 PM
    #2984
    xplorn

    xplorn Well-Known Member

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  5. Feb 29, 2020 at 5:18 PM
    #2985
    joeydurango

    joeydurango Nightfall Overland

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    This happened today - solar panel installed! Always fun to drill holes in new, expensive objects.

    I used coroplast (corrogated plastic) as an insulation layer in a bid to keep the panel cooler and more efficient. Not sure if it will actually make a meaningful difference, but it was $10 to try and doesn't really change anything otherwise. I left a little opening at the front and rear - I know water will get in somehow, so may as well leave somewhere for it to escape. This also allows for some air circulation when driving. I cut the coroplast in a V-shape at the front so that water that gets in while the Drifter is deployed will naturally drain to the bottom of the V.

    I used Eternabond RV tape - 2", black - to mount the panel. Pretty cool stuff. Or at least, until you have to remove it. It's basically permanent and is rated for 25 years in the sun - if you want it off, you're going to be using mechanical means.

    This is a Merlin panel purchased through V.O., and the quality appears very nice. Haven't actually got it hooked up to anything yet, we'll see how it goes once the whole system is finished. The leads came with MC4 connectors installed but they were so long that I just cut them off to pass through the entry gland - I'll use an Anderson connector to plug into the Drifter's solar pre-wire, or maybe even just hard-connect them with a butt splice.

    IMG_1694.jpg

    IMG_1695.jpg
     
    cwhet10, Eazy.E, smelly621 and 11 others like this.
  6. Mar 2, 2020 at 4:48 AM
    #2986
    MapJunkie

    MapJunkie Well-Known Member

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    Drifter Hacks

    We have been using the Drifter heavily since pickup in January. In fact, we have used it every weekend. There is something addictive about having a home you can take almost anywhere.

    Here is a list of hacks that we have found for making the rig more useable.

    1) Where to put the pillows. We have been using a zero deg down bag and a 15 deg bag for camping in the winter months. These fit nicely on the bed when the top is closed. However, we struggled to figure out where to put the down pillows. If you leave them at the head of the bed, the tent material has no where to go. We pulled the foam forward and put them at the foot of the bed but they were difficult to get to.

    What has worked well is to pull the bed plate toward the back, but push the mattress back. The pillows fit great here.
    E80D78FC-8B63-4E4D-B7A7-48D1B0B21CEA.jpg
    CC5BD599-12DE-4C16-B3C5-C064C9322B90.jpg

    2) Zipper Tent Fabric Pull.
    I initially had a difficult time moving the tent zippers without getting the fabric caught. I have the same problem with my sleeping bag where the fabric gets caught in the zipper. My solution has been to pull out when zipping. This seems to pull the zipper away from the fabric and keep the fabric from getting caught and works every time.

    8F0777D3-59F2-47AD-BD1B-705DBA3C50E8.jpg
    4C969741-9B79-42C6-B9C0-9468A59488C6.jpg

    3) Bed slide.
    We have found that is is often easier to push up the bed slide with your back from under the bed rather than pulling up on the black strap start the sliding process. It can sometimes be difficult to lift the bed with the strap.
    Also, I am lifting up the head of the bed when sliding, to reduce the scratching on the bottom of the bed when they slide over the the screen heads. I need to countersink them.
    2817CAFF-C11D-4ECA-BA85-8C87D74EC269.jpg

    Does anyone else have a hack they want to share?
     
    cwhet10, tacoburn327, JerryW and 6 others like this.
  7. Mar 2, 2020 at 5:20 AM
    #2987
    SliMbo4.0

    SliMbo4.0 Well-Known Member

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    BP51, BAMF hangers, BruteForce HC, SCS, Vagabond Drifter
    Good stuff! Picking mine up in the next month so I'll have to keep these in mind and see what things I come up with.
     
  8. Mar 2, 2020 at 6:04 AM
    #2988
    joeydurango

    joeydurango Nightfall Overland

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    @MapJunkie I've been doing the same thing with the pillows, works great. Way better than having them down at the foot of the bed...

    You should check out Jerry's thread on how to improve the bed slide in the main V.O. forum contents section. No more lifting of the panel, and no more scratching either - that's on my short list of improvements to make, will happen by the time the rest of my buildout is finished!
     
  9. Mar 2, 2020 at 8:29 AM
    #2989
    SenatorBlutarsky

    SenatorBlutarsky Well-Known Member

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    Can you just link to the thread? I'm not sure what you're referring to and moving the extra bed panel back and forth is my only complaint so far.

    I have had some issues especially with pulling the bed platform back out from "hangout mode." Every third or fourth time I find that the platform either misses the side tracks and falls or the little rectangular plastic end caps get caught on the guide rails. I've super glued a few of the plastic caps in and that helps, but I've also destroyed a few of them by accident. Am I making sense?

    Speaking of this... @Overlanerd @Iggy @tyfoon11 where can I get more of those little rectangular plastic end caps that go in the open ends of the aluminium bed platform structure.
     
    tacoburn327 likes this.
  10. Mar 2, 2020 at 8:32 AM
    #2990
    Twizted

    Twizted 1GR FE

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    stock af, but hover if you think you disagree... RV living: Vagabond Drifter (6' bed) Custom bed cabinet buildout 175w Renogy solar panel 40a Rich Solar MPPT solar controller 1000w Wagan Pure Line inverter Lavaner Pro 2kw diesel heat exchanger Suspension/wheels: Toytec Aluma 2.5 front shocks with resis 13x700 coils (soon 14x700) Toytec Aluma 2.5 rear shocks SPC UCAs Deaver Stage 3 rear leaf springs Wheeler's 3 degree axle shims Wheeler's U-bolt flip Wheeler's Super Bumpstops 18"x9" XD Monster (x5) 275/75/18 Cooper ST MAXX (x5) EBC Stage 3 pads/rotors Electronics: Kenwood DNX773S iDatalink - Maestro RR Stubby Antenna No-name Switchback LEDs Hella Sharptone horns (no relay) Relocated backup camera w/DIY bracket Armor/recovery: BruteForceFab Rear HC w/swingout BAMF Sliders (DOM, 10 degree w/kick out, rattle-canned) BAMF IFS Skid (BAMF powder-coated) BAMF Mid Skid (BAMF powder-coated) BAMF TC Skid (BAMF powder-coated) BAMF LCA Skids (BAMF powder-coated) BAMF Rear Diff Skid (early model, powder-coated) BAMF CMC Plates US Offroad Winch Bumper Smittybilt X20 10k synthetic rope winch Total Chaos Bed Stiffeners ARB compressor w/air-up kit DIY cowl snorkel ARB rear air-locker Interior: Husky Floor Liners (F&R) Rear 40% seat-delete Hinged fridge platform in place of rear seat Exterior: CaliRaised Low-profile Ditch Light Brackets CaliRaised Side-projecting LED pods CaliRaised Faux TRD Pro Grille Morimoto amber LED fog lights One-of-a-kind 1GRFE plate (second iteration) Removed: OEM Bed Mat CaliRaised bed molle panels
    Scroll to the top of this page, and click this link:

    upload_2020-3-2_8-32-15.jpg




    Then, click this thread:
    upload_2020-3-2_8-32-48.jpg
     
  11. Mar 2, 2020 at 10:58 AM
    #2991
    JerryW

    JerryW Well-Known Member

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    Yeah, what he said! :)

    When I close my Drifter I pull the platform back, push the mattress/bedding forward and put my pillow on the exposed platform just like @MapJunkie shows above. Works great.

    Regarding those zipper hang-ups, I had the same trouble. There is a lot of extra fabric extending past the zipper(the part @MapJunkie is holding in his fingers in the pic above) so I carefully trimmed it back with some sharp scissors. I cut it back just past the teeth, so the slider doesn't have anything to grab. Now the zippers slide easy.

    37 nights spent in the Drifter so far!
     
    Eazy.E, SliMbo4.0, JasonLee and 5 others like this.
  12. Mar 3, 2020 at 1:19 PM
    #2992
    Eazy.E

    Eazy.E Big gulps huh?!

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    I have considered the wedge option as well, mainly for my wife because she is vertically challenged. But for now if she is camping in it alone she just pushes it up from underneath then from the back.
    Awesome idea tho!
     
    Last edited: Mar 3, 2020
  13. Mar 3, 2020 at 2:23 PM
    #2993
    tacoburn327

    tacoburn327 Well-Known Member

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    I sure hope she continues to camp in the drifter “alive”!:rofl:
     
    Gunshot-6A and Bentrodder like this.
  14. Mar 3, 2020 at 2:28 PM
    #2994
    Eazy.E

    Eazy.E Big gulps huh?!

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    Derrr lol she probably does too

    dead camping is tiring
     
    Gunshot-6A and brehew like this.
  15. Mar 3, 2020 at 2:40 PM
    #2995
    tacoburn327

    tacoburn327 Well-Known Member

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    :thumbsup:
     
    Eazy.E[QUOTED] likes this.
  16. Mar 4, 2020 at 12:25 PM
    #2996
    tyfoon11

    tyfoon11 Raguel

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  17. Mar 5, 2020 at 6:22 AM
    #2997
    cwhet10

    cwhet10 IG: badassbrunette

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    A few changes happened in my world.

    Got the V2 build out finished in time for the Salt Lake Offroad Expo. There's still a couple things left to add, like the platform for the aisle when I want to stealth camp.

    Also added solar panels and a 270° awning.

    February was busy to say the least.

    IMG_20200302_090243_765.jpg IMG_20200302_090243_767.jpg IMG_20200302_090243_766.jpg IMG_20200302_090243_775.jpg IMG_20200223_153901_518.jpg
     
    Last edited: Mar 5, 2020
  18. Mar 5, 2020 at 6:51 AM
    #2998
    MapJunkie

    MapJunkie Well-Known Member

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    Amazing build! I love the way you made it feel like a home. Did you find a way to fit a fridge in? I am working on a Proto build in my rig and have concluded that a fridge in the back mess up everything. Stealth camping for two becomes impossible with the fridge sticking up so high. We have defaulted to a Yeti for our build because they are so much shorter. Perhaps a fridge will go in the back seat eventually. Thanks for sharing!
     
    rob1208 and cwhet10[QUOTED] like this.
  19. Mar 5, 2020 at 7:17 AM
    #2999
    MapJunkie

    MapJunkie Well-Known Member

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    How High is Too High?

    We went camping again this weekend (so far we are 7/7). Winds were forecast to be gusting up to 30mph. We have camped in similar winds before, so decided not to cancel.

    We found a spot high in some desert hills near Tri-Cities, WA. We were able to get to sleep with moderate winds. Unfortunately, the winds kicked up to 50-60mph gusts around 2:00am. Even though we parked facing the wind, gusts keep hitting the sides, causing the vehicular to wobble. You can see in this video that I have a hard time standing up in the bed. https://youtu.be/78GvhfRW6P8

    We bailed and drove home in the middle of the night, since we don’t have a stealth camping mode option right now. My wife thought the the Difter might get be damaged in such high winds.

    So, @Iggy @Overlandnerd, do you have a recommendation for max wind to have the top popped up?

    What is the highest wind the rest of you will camp in? Has anyone used jacks to stabilize the vehicle in high winds?

    Were we just not adventurist enough to stick it out?
     
    alldownhill likes this.
  20. Mar 5, 2020 at 7:31 AM
    #3000
    joeydurango

    joeydurango Nightfall Overland

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    @cwhet10 Your build looks awesome, nice work!

    @MapJunkie I haven't been out in the Drifter enough yet to know, but it does appear much more bomber than my FWC, and I've been out in some serious wind with that thing. Can make it impossible to sleep for sure if the entire truck is pitching and yawing like a ship, and if the canvas is flapping. There was one time I camped on the edge of a canyon in SE Utah, and awoke about 3am with the sound of a train bearing down - got walloped by one hell of an intense front, and I think it would have destroyed the camper eventually. All of us (one FWC, one Flippac, one Maggiolina) scrambled to batten down the hatches, and it was really difficult for all of us. The wind made it almost impossible to stand up outside, and closing the tents was a crazy several minutes. I think the Drifter would be easier in that scenario, because it's just one side to pull down, whereas with the FWC I had to keep holding one side down while struggling to close the other.
     
    cwhet10 likes this.

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