Vagabond Drifter Camper Buildout and Mods

This times a million.

We were expecting 4°F when we decided to hightail it out of town right after one Thanksgiving dinner. We were able to hit up every single super touristy summer spot along route 395 with either a handful or zero people.

That night it dropped to -12°F. Bringing an Ice Fishing shelter was a ridiculously good move. We tried for a couple hours to get the campfire going well and tried to even shovel a snow wall to block the wind. Ended up just going inside where there was zero wind and Mr Heater Little Buddy.

Only 36 degrees inside, but felt toasty AF because there was zero wind.

 

So apparently I chose the wrong product to glue down this roof gland.
Does anyone have a different recommendation?

 

i mean, do you really want it permanent? I'd imagine you'd want something with studs and nuts to clamp down.

 

Has anyone found anything for cooling when camping in 90-95F plus heat?

Besides using like a electric cooling blanket? I was thinking of getting something to just replace the heater. Basically a winter/summer setup.

 

The Chilipad is great but it sucks a lot of power (80-150 watts). I'm usually pretty happy with a fan and t-shirt and shorts.

 

Same here, i just run a fan that is portable. Its still muggy and hot but makes it bearable.

 

I’m currently in Kansas where it’s 85+ degrees and 75% humidity.

A rechargeable fan worked well last night with all windows open on the Drifter.

 

We bought a TransCool evaporative cooler. It is imported from Australia, but it really works. It has two high velocity fans that force air through the wet filter. We used it in Moab last summer to make camping in temps above 100 bearable.

 

After a year of waiting for this I finally got the Alu Cab Shadow Awning Installed! VO pre-installed the mounting brackets for me so install should have been pretty easy except that the holes were about 1" off so some drilling and grinding was required. Wife got a pretty good shoulder workout holding this thing in place, hehe.

 

Make sure you get a few extra arms, they will bend and break in the wind, they're designed to do that so they don't mess up the rest of the truck.

 

It was really windy this morning so I couldnt get it fully open without it flying up. Put it back in so as not to break it. The brackets VO installed are freaking stout. I ended up ruining two drill bits and two dremel grinding stones to slot the holes.

 

Nice! We've had ours ~3 years and have been very happy with it. We haven't had to replace the arm, but don't use it much.

 

Last weekend when we camped it rained so we had to pack everything and get inside. Now with this awning we will be able to stash things underneith and cook.

 

Yes, it's great for that. One challenge we've had is that there is a gap on the back of the truck - it covers the tailgate but when the drifter window is open and raining the rain goes between the gap and the rain run off kind of sucks. Something like this is needed, but this one apparently only works with the AluCab camper.
https://www.alu-cab.com/product/270-shadow-awning-gutter-kit/

We've been lucky and haven't been in really hard rain in awhile so it's ended up being on the back burner. Anyway, if solutions exist, let us know!

 

I would almost think the AC gutter kit could be adapted to the Drifter pretty easily as long as the height of your awing and the camper lined up close enough. It's just a keder rail with a flange that is riveted to camper edge much like the way you mount the little pc of c-channel extrusion to the camper to hold the awing open. I can take a few pics of it if you want to explore further. Just let me know.

 

Seems like there would be room above the rear window for a permanent gutter. A 4 foot piece of bent aluminum could work and you wouldn't have to fiddle with anything.

 

Maybe too late with the residue you have on there now but VO uses VHB tape

 

Added some little touches. Used carabiners and shock cord to add a some storage to the solid wall. It allows me to secure some gear for transport or keep it out of the way. When it's not needed, the shock cord can be unhooked from the top and stowed below the bench cushion. The bottoms are just looped under the clamps.

Next I went with the simplest solution to keeping my drawer closed, a peg.
I wanted to secure the buddyheater in the isle as I won't bring it on summer trips. Keeping in mind that the floor is also a sleeping area I wanted eyelets to be as flush as possible. These are picture frame hangers.
Lastly I added a carbon monoxide detector out of the way behind the fridge.

 

I can't get over this roof saftey bar. It may be the most over engendered part on the drifter. It's awsome.
In an effort to find out of the way places to store gear that I don't want to leave outside but don't want taking up the limited floor space in the drifter, I looked to this pole.

I added velcro with double sided tape and velcro straps to add two carabiners. They are spaced for my wife and my daypacks.
Pretty happy with the extra storage. They feel super solid and hang over the fridge so I don't bump into them when in the isle. They are also out of the way when the bed is fully deployed too (long bed, short bed results may vary).
You obviously have to remove any bags before closing up but the pole stows just as before, nice and clean.

 

Did you order the alu cab or VO? I have one slated for mine, but I wouldn't wait (longer) for the drifter if they were waiting on AC.