Vagabond Drifter Camper Buildout and Mods

Is that solid wood or a veneer on your modules? Looks amazing.

 

I have been using a foldable pruning saw with pretty aggressive teeth for small or desperate jobs, and was planning to get something like the Milwaukee battery powered chainsaw for med-small trees. Gets rid of dealing with gas issues.

Another option is the nasty Silky Katanaboy. I saw it in action on SurvivalRussia's youtube channel. Works amazingly well and easy to store.

 

I bought an electric Stihl chainsaw. With two large capacity batteries I can get an hours worth of chainsaw work. There are no fumes to worry about, so I keep the saw behind the drivers seat in my Access Cab. With my solar setup, I can recharge the batteries at camp!

 

I was using the Frontrunner Strachits to keep mine secured to the top of the Goose Gear setup. It was simple enough. I still plan on mounting it to the roof rack when the next iteration comes to fruition.

 

Oof!! Yeah that would be an awful surprise to find. I talked to Rob about it and he also offers a version with almost like a cover. Same exact design, it just has a piece that zips closed around it. Sooo......!

Thanks! Those are just some plywood with "wood" vinyl stickers. Kept it simple!

 

Hey Everybody,
We just placed our order last night and paid the deposit.
Please tell me the build time (1 year?) goes by fast.

 

I’m five months in and it’s like molasses. And we’re preparing ourselves for 14-16 months wait total with the likely slowdowns right now. Still know it’ll be worth it!

 

It goes by fast...

In all honesty, the worst part is the last few months.

 

Congratulations and welcome to the fam!

 

Welcome to the Future Drifter Club! It hasn't been bad getting to this point, but I feel like the home stretch is going to be painful due to ole CV19. One thing about the wait and reading this forum, you will change your build plans numerous times w/ all the info. It's actually been somewhat beneficial even if I am still camping on the ground right now!

 

Congrats!

In 4 days will be 14 months waiting for me.

 

It'll go by fast. In the meantime you can upgrade your leaf pack, box your frame, look at axle upgrades, etc.

 

Welcome to the family! I spent a year planning my build and it eased the pain. We had had the Drifter 4 months and have probably camped 20 nights. It sound cliche, but this thing has the quality of an aircraft build. It is worth the price and the wait!

 

If you have a swing out there is a company (names Escaping me) they n Mc SME’s a small steel rack that mounts on your spare. The css as ol it a “bug out rack” I think. Solid base for a saw outside of your camper. Could also fab up something similar pretty easily.

There is s also a shop based in Canada that makes a chainsaw bag that can strap to your spare.

Edit:holy shit IDK what the hello was typing earlier new born sleep deprivation

 

https://www.nbexpeditions.com/shop

Also wanna do a plug for their GARB. I bought it earlier in the year and I see it as a far superior bag in quality to haul trash, firewood and other items! Worth checking out for anyone with a drifter/swing out

 

Today I joined the Drifter club. Got all the interior bits put together and polished all the aluminum minus roof...polishing sucked. All that's left is to replace the seal for the whole camper to stop the leaks and give it a test run next weekend. Still unsure which exact seal to use for the third gen. Right now it has the regular seal off a 2nd gen, so no brainer it leaks by the front bed cap corners. @tyfoon11 do you by chance know if there is one specific seal that is used for 3rd gens only, or is it a combo of two different seals to compensate for the taller front bed height? I can see the camper angled up and the gap is higher towards the front due to the raised front rail. I know you guys are getting emails out the ears right now and I don't want to contribute to those any more.

*I did not make the interior, but some may recognize it*

I'll let the owner out himself if he'd like to

 

Finally getting somewhere on my buildout! COVID threw me (and my business) for a loop, been running like crazy trying to keep up with customer service from home while closed. And now that we're back open, things are even more nuts! Anyway, been working some long nights on this thing. Girlfriend is mad at me, hopefully she forgives me when she realizes how much fun camping in a truck is...?

Here are some photos. I built everything. I'm no pro at wood or metal work, but the cabinets and floor and fridge slide came out okay. Not real happy with the insulation. I used 1" foil-lined foamboard, 3M contact adhesive, and some nylon to create the panels. Didn't want to permanently adhere the panels to the Drifter, so I used double-sided tape... which is failing pretty well already, arg! Going to have to come up with another solution that's also removable. Suggestions?

I built the screens (hatch and FR doors) as prototypes for future offerings to the Drifter family from Nightfall Overland, will see how they work in the real world for a while. Definitely going to be a minute before we have time to make these production items given how long the backlog is now after the COVID-19 closure.

Still need to wire up the power - solar/alternator charging a Relion lithium via a Redarc charger. Hopefully will have that done next week.

 

Wrap the foam in carpet and use spray on adhesive to hold it down. Then use the hook side of velcro that is stuck to the bed, drifter, etc. Wedge the carpet into the velcro and it'll stick and the panels are still removable. I got a 32-pack of little 3M velcro patches for $10 from Home Depot.

 

3rd gens use one unbroken length of triple bulb

$36 ESI Super Cap Seal XL 20 FT (2 1/8" Width x 1/2" Height x 20' Length) EPDM Rubber for Caps Over 200 lbs

https://www.amazon.com/Super-Width-Height-Length-Rubber/dp/B00NCCNUJQ

 

Thank you so much and appreciate the response, just purchased it!