Geomo’s Drifter Build

Had a pretty good blizzard with cross-wind and the tip down window seal showed its colors.



Given how well the side doors are sealed, the seal at the front was disappointing. I replaced it with some thicker bulb seal and it seals snugly now.

 

Cut a hole in the roof. When I ordered the Drifter, I didn’t understand that they have a wind deflector and extra bracing installed if the fan is ordered. As a consequence, I wanted a different fan than they supply and chose to do my own. Knowing what I know now, I’d have Vagabond do this instead of DIY. I installed the Maxxair Maxxfan mini. It has twin supports and locks closed. Only exhausts though.

 

I put closed cell foam over the cooler, because it was free and I figured it couldn’t hurt.

Water tank and kitchen mock-up:

 

Kitchen box on slide out. Also, I cut up yoga mats for tailgate padding.

 

Still a ton of cleanup, but campable!

 

This build looks amazing! Closed cell foam on the fridge looks super clean

 

Thank you for the kind words.

I suspect the closed cell foam will get ratty over time because it’s not really durable stuff. But hey, it was free!

 

Finally sanded the kitchen box and wiped some finish on.


Cut the”rug” and put a cover plate on the aluminum angle which supports the drawer slides.

 

Would you be able to point me to the kind of latches you are using on the panels for your battery box?

 

Southco Compression Latches. I got mine on fleabay, but you can probably find them all over. I originally wanted non-locking ones, but got a screaming good deal on ones with lock cores. They’ve never worked themselves locked, so that’s nice.

I think they’re item 62-41-351-3. You might need a slightly different reach, so here’s the spec sheet to decipher the item codes: https://www.southco.com/static/Literature/62.en.pdf
The ones I used are on page 2.

Fair warning: they come with hardware for super thin panels, so you might need to supply a longer bolt on the back, or trim the saddle ears (see the left side of the page for “Installation Notes” to calculate the proper bolt length).

 

Thank you! So many things to think about before my Drifter actually lands on the truck but it makes the wait more bearable!

 

You bet. Hey, we’re not far apart, so if you want to meet up sometime, we go down to FOCO roughly once a month. It might help you visualize some things that could work for you, and things that won’t. I saw you on the other thread looking to check out a Drifter and I was super busy at the time - glad you were able to find some other folks!

 

Yeah, absolutely, that would be cool. I was actually just up in Cheyenne for the first time a few weeks ago on the way back from Curt Gowdy. I really want to position my house battery in a similar fashion, so it would be good to see how you ran the wires into the bed from the engine bay etc. I also just noticed you are running BP-51s and would love to get your thoughts on that. I want to get things squared away suspension wise before we get the Drifter so I have been mulling what I want to spend (Dobinsons/MLO GTS 2") versus an adjustable coilover set up like the BP-51s. I am not really looking to lift my truck crazy amounts (or 4wheel it extremely hard) but the stock suspension is horrible in my opinion. I definitely want something that takes away the bone jarring ride and handling I get on even washboard dirt roads which my truck sees a lot of and if I have to go coilovers to overcome that, it's worth it to me. Everyone is really great on here, especially the Drifter community. @alldownhill (Garrett) from down in Denver was kind enough to show my wife & I his Drifter, which was all I needed to get things ordered (aka the wife onboard). Let me know when you may be down this way or if we are up in the area I will drop you a line. I think by next summer we may be able to arrange a Tri-state Drifter Meet up which could be cool! Take it easy.

 

Who's that?

 

Whoah, striking similarity! Who’s asking?

She is harry, so we call her “Harry”. Sleeps in the front passenger corner like yours too.

 

Olive Oyl wanted to know who we were looking at.

 

You are not. I got past the shark fin antenna and wondered why he had to trim it to drift his truck.


But this camper is still pretty cool

 

What did you end up doing for wiring for the fan?
I'm getting into the final stages of planning my DIY fan addition after verifying tonight that I can arrange the tent/panel inside when closed so that I can have the fan unobstructed to run airflow for the dog with the front slider window open.

 

I ran the wire between the roof aluminum and the roof insulation, over to the driver’s side. The square tube running the full length of the drivers side roof is continuous, so I ran the wire out the front. It loops to the inside and runs in the wire tray immediately under the sleeping platform (along with solar wires, and upstairs lights).

It’s a little difficult to explain.
I PMed a photo of the access hole on the inside of the roof. Let me know if you’d like some pictures showing the rest of the routing and I’ll get something in the daylight.

 

Photos photos!

I am ready to cut a hole in my Drifter for a fan! Would love to see your wiring.