Vagabond Drifter Camper Buildout and Mods

i been looking into trying to build somthing like this. I need too see how much weight they support cause would be nice if you could also utilize it as a bench when in the camper. I been looking at roam and aluminum cases as well.

 

No, I dont plan on having back panels, just enclosing the exposed sides.

 

I didn't use back panels on my cabinets, they will take away valuable space. I used lightweight steel tube and welded up the frame, these are attached to the baseplate and the bed rail.

 

I have a Tundra and I am trying to shave weight at every turn. I got the 8020 with the drilled fasteners so that the long piece could go in the groove and the short sides could ride up in the t-slot, sitting on the raised part, where I would tighten them in. I am going to use stainless steel nutserts at four or six spots and never look back. The only structure I might add more to is the Fridge support, which will need to stop it from launching upward. The rest will just be support weight and no much more than the weight of the 8020 if launched vertically so no need to get crazy on those. Got the nutserts and the $35 tool that blows everything on Amazon away at McMaster. The tool requires two wrenches but crushes the stainless ones like butter. My setup will be very similar to yours with a counter/Nat. Luna on the left and a couch on the right. The center walkway will be about 20" wide and I will likely put some wood or rubber in the recessed part and cover with carpet.

 

I found that the bedrug/husky brand bed mats actually have grooves on the underside that fit into the bed surface grooves. I'm going to be purchasing one of those to level my floor before installing everything.

 

While the BedRug does have material that fills in the grooves, it isn't the most supportive if you are relying on this to provide a very flat surface with weight. Walking barefoot I can sometimes feel the bed surface underneath with putting pressure on just my heel.

Also, I am not sure if the BedRugs offered today are different foam. The one I had in my 1st gen is a really nice, plush and dense closed cell foam. The one I have now (the Toyota BedRug for the 2.0 gens with the cubby holes above the wheel wells) is a cheap feeling, airy, harder not so squishy foam.

 

What are you guys using for insulation? Im looking to camp in 20F weather quite a bit. Do you think It matters if I try to insulate with the reflectix stuff? I will have a diesel heater. I know functionally you should have air gaps for insulation so not sure the benefit/hassle I would get trying to insulate the bed area.

 

BedRug is all I have. It helps keep conductive heat gain/losses through the composite bed and the floor doesn't feel ice cold when getting out of bed in 20-30 degrees. The diesel heater will probably be great and will buy you time from having to do any/much insulation.

 

Is yours the full bed unit? I wonder if just the floor mat, either in rug or rubber material, is different?

 

I love Vagabond's Original design but this is VERY exciting! Of course the guys would design an aesthetic door and window. Can't wait to see what they roll out with! Hmm, my Nomad is a bit down the line, maybe they'll have this dialed by then I wonder if the door is off-center for visual balance and use of back wall space for mounts and rotopax etc.

 

I have reflectix under my baseplate. I don't have my Drifter yet but camp in negative farenheit temperatures with the topper, I have a really good Big Agnes sleeping pad and a -30 sleeping bag. I'm always plenty warm, and though I get lots of condensation partially because it's a very small space for now, since I live in the desert it's easy enough to air out once the weather warms up or once I get home where it tends to be warmer. I plan on redoing my buildout down the road with 8020 (the one I have now is a ply platform with a 3/4 length drawer and multiple cubbies) and will probably wrap reflectix up the sidewalls as well at that point but for now I'm too lazy since it's working fine as is. We got the insulation for our Drifter and will add the tent insulation once it becomes available, which I'm hoping it might be by the time ours is ready for pickup (we're VO201 so I'm hoping it'll be done by May at the latest but I'm not getting my hopes up).

 

Those do look good, and the Vagabond guys do have an eye for design, but I'm pretty sure they're using Tern Overland windows/doors.

The offset is probably because almost everyone builds cabinets that are wide on the passenger side, and narrow on the driver side - that way the door is lined up with the walkway!

 

I have a gas heater with 4kW output and it runs all night when the temperature is in the 20s, though I dont have any insulation it stays warm inside (Above 60F). The main area for heat loss I think is the tent itself, once VO releases the cold weather package for the tent it will be a game changer for winter camping. One issue with when its cold is that the gas struts cant open the roof by themselves, you have to go inside and push it up, then support the roof with the rod. Then comes another problem, the tent material is not really pliable when its super cold so the roof doesnt come up high enough to install the rod in its proper place. I usually jam the rod into the Drifter side channel to keep the roof from coming down. I live in MN so my experience is probably much worse than 90% of owners out there.

 

^ This. You can see in the other photos on Instagram that there is a large/tall cabinetry on the passenger side that would block any access if the door were wider or placed more to the passenger side. I like it and it looks like the existing Drifters could be retrofitted to this by removing the rear window & frame and then drilling, riveting and sealing this panel on.

PRO TIP: When the tent is colder for me in the 20s and I have trouble getting the support rod in, I go stand on the bed extension/slider piece and bend over slightly to use my back against the ceiling and then stand up/press my back into the roof to get the extension rod clipped easily. Or something like that. Now that I think about it I may just squat on that platform and use one hand with my long arms to press the roof up while the other hand is on the spring end of the rod and install then because I don't usually have any help when I do it.

 

back door is sweet, but there goes the chance of using your truck as a truck

 

i think with most people doing build outs, that concept has already left the building.

 

I do use my truck as a truck... a capable 4x4 to get me out on adventures. When I really need to "use my truck as a truck", it is still capable to do that.

 

As mentioned it is offset because most have the fridge on passenger side and the aisle is further left so the door is set where the walkway is roughly. It also leaves a nice large surface to mount accessories like Rotopax etc. as u guessed

 

Depends - traditional topper config still allows for quick/easy removal, and also use for larger items. A small camper door would even limit your ability to load in a few bikes functionally.

 

I think what he's getting at is that MOST people on here are building their trucks out as full-time campers and will never "use their truck as a truck" again. Those people will go for this new door since it plays in to that style.

I'm assuming the traditional tailgate/liftgate combo will continue to be an option from Vagabond for folks like you or me that like having the ability to load larger items. I like to keep my bikes inside the camper and use my tailgate for...tailgating, so this new door is not for me.

Personally, I was dreaming of something like this:


or this: