@Socalexpeditions Vagabond Drifter Build Thread and Trip Reports

Vagabond Interior Mods

First order of business was to add a Carbon Monoxide alarm that doubles as a temperature gauge. Saw this sitting outside my room at home and figured I'd slap some velcro on it and bring it into the truck.



Second thing I wanted was a handle to hold towels. I had a bunch of extra handles at home and decided to throw one on the top sliding cabinet piece. I can't slide the cabinet using the handle, but it does allow me to hang a towel and that's all I care about! Also learned why you buy quality towels...(these ones shed everywhere, even after being washed).



Also added a small dustpan, trash can, sponge/soap holder, and repacked the whole interior. Things are looking SWEET!

 

Switched out the fluid as my 5.29 gear Break-in is DONE. Still have yet to drive the truck.

Gear oil from the break-in looked good, and no big metal bits found on the drain plug.

3.7 quarts till overflowing.

Can you smell it? I can...

 

Vagabond Exterior Mods

Let me start off by saying, this installation sucked. 56 holes needed to be drilled, all had to line up, and nothing could be out of order.

When installing L-Track on a Drifter, USE LARGE FENDER WASHERS > BACKING PLATES! I used 1/8” x 2 Aluminum Flat Bar and dear God it took me forever.

Anyways, here are some pictures from the install. I’ll grab a good one tomorrow of the tracks on both sides!

Two pieces of 100” L-Track. Originally I planned on using these for the roof, but decided I’d rather have the sides done first.



Decided to not cut them with an angle grinder. CNC Band Saw kept the cuts clean and I am thankful I took a drive to a buddies shop.



Oh, and I resealed the Drifter. New bottom seal, siliconed the bed caps, applied more butyl....NO MORE LEAKS! Used a Forklift w/ extensions on 4x6’s. Didn’t have to strap it down to keep it from tilting forward since we picked it up from the very front.



All the pieces cut. 4x 50” pieces.



Measuring fifty times and cutting once. This was the first time in my life that I did not run the drill bit in a circle to wallow out a hole.

I used a punch set and got everything centered perfectly. Very proud of my work. Here you can see my lines. Don’t ask me how I came up with the measurements I did, but everything is straight and spaced correctly.



Inside shot after drilling pilot hole and 1/4” hole.



I originally planned on using camper tape as that is what the guys @ Vagabond use, but I couldn’t find any at Home Depot. Just resorted to using Silicone...lets pray for no leaks!



After that, I just put everything on. Had one person hold the bolt from the outside I used flat 1/4 - 20 hex bolts (3/4” long) vs. Vagabonds phillip head bolts.

Put the backing plate on and bam. Done. Took the photos way later at night. Took me about 4 hours to install them.

 

Vagabond Interior Mods

Finally!!!! The fridge is here!

I bought this CFX40 at a steal of a price, as well as a CFX35/40 Fridge Slide. Don’t need the slide so that’s for sale.

I am thoroughly impressed by this fridge. I previously had a Costway off Amazon that locked it’s temp at 31°F and froze everything. Ultimately ended up selling it.

The Dometic CFX40 is such a quiet fridge, and it’s not draining the battery nearly as bad as I expected. The Wi-Fi function is awesome (although pretty pointless). Cool feature though.

All that’s left for me to do is mount it in the truck bed. Still need to figure out what’s the best way.

UPS lady was not happy pulling up...She delivers all my heavy stuff with a frown. This time I carried it out of the truck for her. Took it inside to plug it in and cool it down, along with 2x gallon water jugs which are frozen. This will help keep the fridges compressor from kicking on constantly while in the bed.



Here it is inside the truck! I removed the handles and gently (aka dropped it on my big toe) placed it into it’s spot at the front of the bed. So, so happy with this fitment. Thanks Jerry for keeping the tolerances so tight!



So far, this thing has been great. I’ll report back once I use it more, but no complaints as of now.

 

I would advise putting a spacer block on the floor between the fridge and the bed wall. That will keep the fridge from being tight against the wall and provide space for good air flow. Just a little piece of 1" x 1" or similar.

Also, I had a piece of rubber shelf liner on the floor under the fridge. My fridge never slid around while driving and didn't need any straps or other retainers.

Your Taco/Drifter is looking great! Making it your own.

 

Thanks Jerry! I'll add both of those and see how it does.

 

TACOMA MOD DAY

Added a lil something something to the rear today!

This is the RigD Hitch Carrier Swingout. I really wanted a swingout for the spare tire but did not want a single/dual swingout. Hit up Jason at RigD and he managed to set aside this carrier for me...Got the last one!

Very stout, doesn’t wobble, and is easy to operate. Happy with my purchase

 

TACOMA MOD DAY

Today I went ahead and threw in an extra leaf that I ordered.

This is the AAL that I needed to turn my EL096R pack into an EL096R+ pack...a.k.a. an extremely thick leaf pack.

Got it down to 30 minutes per side, hour total. Things are awesome when they just WORK!

You can see the extra leaf installed in the pack (look for yellow anti-squeak pad). I installed them as the third leaf.




Picture of the leaf installed.



I didn’t end up purchasing a new center pin. Had enough room to get the AAL in, nut on with red loctite, and torqued down with a few threads showing.

Ride quality is still pretty great. The rear has definitely lifted, about 0.5”. I will report back after my trip on how the pack is holding up.

 

Tomorrow is the big day that I leave! So far I have 23 nights planned out before a break in Washington with family.

Nervous excited, most time I’ll be gone solo.

Need to figure out why the waypoints show up on my computer and not my phone. Tried logging out, syncing, etc. I made an original route with Google Maps too for turn-by-turn. I’ll use Gaia primarily for spots with no service. A little extra, and if all else fails I have paper maps I learned to read last week.

 

In Flagstaff, second night. Absolutely loving these camp spots.

 

Do you have a link of where you got that cool flip table?
I need that in my bed set up!

 

It was made by the previous owner

 

Picture I took in Colorado!

 

Camping out near Bozeman right now waiting out a storm. Decided last night after 7 days of not being able to shower, I needed a KOA day. Boy, for $32 I did all my laundry and showered TWICE! I’ll be doing this every week if I can’t shower.

 

One of those 12V water pump kits and a sprayer does wonders for morale. Plus Adam&Eve-ing it in the woods / desert is fun for a bit

 

Yeah I have a shower, but I haven’t been able to get the water warm or the weather to budge over 65°. I will he showering a lot more towards OR/CA

 

Great looking truck, love the drifter!

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the suspension. What made the previous truck better? Would you do anything different? We just bought our first tacoma recently. Our previous three trucks had bilstein 5100's and I was never happy with how they handled washboard roads. This is by far our most expensive truck yet and id like to get the suspension right. Only looking for 1.5" of lift or so, but want it to handle rocky off road situations and washboards well.

 

The +2 long travel and 12” rear shocks helped keep everything planted.

I will say, this truck I have now performs better in washboard roads, especially aired down.

 

Thats good to hear. I thought I read a couple pages back that this truck performs significantly worse on washboard. Thanks!

 

I really love the combo I got going on. I’ll switch leaf springs and have Archive Garage Hangers installed with King 2.5x12’s (maybe bypasses?) in the future.