Vagabond Drifter Camper Buildout and Mods

With locks and security I usually try to think like a thief to see how my security is. If you have a swing out or anything like that, locking that first would be a first line of defense. Second is I would see where the weakest link is, a thief is more likely to break a window before trying to figure out how to open the top. The risk is getting caught so if they take more time to steal something, the higher the chances of getting caught. The next thing to consider is damaged caused by the theft. A determined thief will cause more damage the harder it is to break in, so you need to find a balance of value of what is being protected to the amount of repairing the damage.

Just somethings to consider. One thing though is if you have a pad lock on the latches I would recommend not having them on when traveling since it could cosmetically hurt things on the PC or aluminum.

 

That was way too detailed; I always knew you were a thief

 

he steals hearts

 

You know, a locking Jeep hood latch is a great idea as it can be adjusted for compression...

just sayin

 

A few more projects completed today. Finally got a cooking light installed and added a switch panel for the light and a future water pump.





The fan lid came in as well so I swapped out the cracked one.

 

Has maxxair made any updates you can see or is it the same as the lid that cracked?

 

Seems to be exactly the same. I wish they made a more heavy duty one.

 

Thanks for the info man! I didn't know that could be an issue. I just installed a couple nylon washers to be safe.

 

A little more progress on the build-out. Getting the cabinet panels done. I stained and top-coated the birch, and for the galley I added a little Baja-inspired (sea of Cortez) color using a router and some epoxy resin.



The right side bench has a flush latch on the lid and a couple sliding panels on the front. I ordered some nice Aileron lift-assist / soft-close hinges from Rockler but apparently I screwed up on the tension estimate and it's too weak. So, I'll have to see about the heavy rated ones or go with something else.

 

Someone asked me if the galley cabinet was going to render the side door useless. My answer was "no" but it's a good consideration for anyone building a tall cabinet within the width of the side door(s). I still have more than half of the door space to use for full side access, and the section that is covered by the galley will probably get a shallow hatch added. That would be a nice place to stow smaller easy grab items while on the road.

 

could do something like this too.. he even has some velcro on there to keep it from bouncing around

 

How did you interface the barn door frame with the truck? I am doing the same to my ovrlnd camper and need to figure out the frame section to get a secure interface and keep the dust out. any pics would be greatly apprectiated

 

So so so sweet. I have the same truck and will be doing a much simpler build, but I would like to do some cabinets the same way. What wood did you use for the panelling and can you show how the wood fits into the extrusion?

 

Thank you. I used Baltic Birch plywood from Woodworker's Source. 1/4" ply for the panels set inside the extrusions and 1/2" ply for the surface mounted (door) panels. The 1/4" just slides into the center groove on the aluminum extrusions. There are decisions to be made with how the panels fit at the corners where the extrusions are fastened together. I had a tough time finding any info on how people address this. There are different fastening methods and cost and labor is a factor. There are expensive anchor fasteners that require milling and tapping of the extrusion ends. There are also the block type used at 3-way corners, where the ends of the extrusions get tapped to receive the attachment screws. And there are simple "hidden corner" fasteners which is what I used, that just have two allen-socket set screws. In any case, you have a situation where the little groove in the extrusion where the panel fits, will run into a solid surface at the corner connection. So, where the extrusion butts up against the connector fitting, you run out of slot at that corner junction. The panel has to get notched at this location. The notching is tricky because there isn't much space before the cut becomes visible. In the attached pics, you can see the short panel on the bottom has some visible edges where the notches were cut.



A downside to these hidden corner connectors is that you can only anchor both of the set screws on 2 of the 4 corners for any given panel because once the panel slides in, you can't access the screw heads to tighten them. It's difficult to explain, but imagine you build a frame with hidden brackets on each corner. Now, imagine you remove one side of the frame to slide the panel in. On that piece you just removed, you can only tighten down the set screws on the side of the bracket that is still attached to the piece you removed (the other ends of the bracket are just hanging free, not attached to anything). But once you place it back on the frame, and over the panel, you won't be able to access those remaining set screws to tighten them because the panel is now in the way.

 

Oh look...

https://expeditionupfitter.com/coll...r/products/under-floor-heating-fabric-12-volt

https://www.instagram.com/p/CIllUnKBcs5/?igshid=vzca75r942k

 

Saw that the other day when I was looking at heaters. Not sure it would be worth it unless your spending all day inside the camper

 

100% not worth it lol. Just put socks on haha

 

I have a heated 12v that'll I'll sleep on during ski trips.

 

Yup, seems more directed at the van lifers and RV’ers.

Looking forward to how your heater works out. Been tempted to just buy the Planar portable heater and be done with it.

 

I put a heated blanket down towards the end of the wedge where its always cold no matter how well the Drifter is heated. I feel a breeze coming through down there when its windy so I think where the zippers meet there is a hole.