Vagabond Drifter Camper Buildout and Mods

I won't speak for @SenatorBlutarsky but I have a 1Up rack with no swingout at all, and I can lower the rack - with or without bikes - and clear the tailgate easy. One of my favorite things about the 1Up rack.

 

Spotted in Death Valley...I can't post in the Vagabond main thread...got the banhammer there...

 

Hi, @4wdExplorer !

 

I have a RakAttach with a 2 bike 1-up... yes, with the bike rack flat and no bikes you can open the tailgate. You can DM me to come check it out - I’m not far from you @georginclay04

 

Yas. 1up is the best rack... And it clears the gate

 

Looks like this was answered multiple times... but yes.

One thing to add though, I use the swing out much more than the tilt mechanism on the rack. You can open the tailgate with the rack flat or tilted down, but it's still kinda in the way. The swing out doesn't take much longer to use and it makes access much easier.

 

You should of came and said hello! I remember you driving up the road I believe.

I spotted another Drifter. First time ever, I helped him fix his battery. He couldnt start his Tacoma. He lives in Benicia, cool dude.

 

+1 on 1up. I love mine

 

You guys are hardcore with the bike rack set ups!

I found a $30 Yakima spare tire mount off craigslist that’s been serving me well. It moves with the Relentless rear bumper swingout so no extra steps than usual when getting into the Drifter

 

You guys are hard-core with the bumper setups. I have some plastic bumpers that serve me well and came with my truck.

Jokes aside. That $30 bike rack wouldn't be able to carry most modern mountain bikes due to the frame shape. Also, the nice racks only clamp the bike by the tires to avoid any contact with a fancy carbon fiber frame.

 

I'm a big fan of the compact hitch swing outs. One benefit is you can leave the swing out rack on the truck full time and it's never in the way as the tailgate clears/covers it without a bike or other rack attached. I've been using the kuat pivot v2 and it works great, it has a pretty long swing arm and swings to 120deg.

 

No matter what bike rack you have, the ability to swing them out of the way while loaded versus tilting is worth every penny you need to invest to do so in my opinion. It makes life so much easier.

 

I built a mount to attach a Thule to one side of my swingout. So far it works well but I am going to add some removable struts down to my tow points to take some of the bounce out and add a little more stability.

 

This is the dream

 

THIS IS WHAT THE PEOPLE WANT

 

That is sweet for sure... but this people right here wants as light and simple as possible, with as few parts to break and as little movement as possible. 1Up rack directly mounted to the bumper achieves all of that, and I'm definitely willing to sacrifice a bit of time to remove the bike at camp to easily access the Drifter, if I don't feel like coming in over the side of the tailgate. I really hate the rattle/sway/looseness involved with almost all racks/swingouts available.

Just my two cents, everyone's got a different take of course!

 

It's funny how different we all use the same gear! For me, other than the drifter itself the swing-out is my favorite part of my truck setup. We use it as extra table top at camp for a tool box, jackets, beer etc. It's good for storing the bikes before/after/in-between rides. Also, if it breaks, I can still tilt down the rack and get in to the tailgate just as you do. A hitch received welded in to a swing-out bumper would just be a cleaner version of the add-on swing out. As you said though...to each their own!

 

Show off

 

I dig that bumper. Which is it? Clean and no bike swing out/tire swing out conflict.