Vagabond Drifter Camper Buildout and Mods

The stock rear door funnels water onto my tailgate on both the driver and passenger side. I added some paracord limiters to keep the window low. This does help. The best solution to the rear door problem is to deploy an awning from the Smarttouring Brackets. Eliminates any water drips on the tailgate.

 

My seat and carpet gets soaked if I get in and out of the truck just once in heavy rain. The Drifter collects the rain from a huge area and dumps it in a constant stream into the cab.

See the video Jason posted above.

 

No, the problem lies when you open a door to grab something quickly and the water is dripping or pouring onto that spot off of the Drifter roof.

What you are describing is a different issue, which plagues all canopies that have a rear windoor - even the Super Pacific X-1 wedge camper that has a "rain channel". Even their design allows water to collect on the rear windoor when it's open and opened past parallel causing rain to run downhill and up against the hinge. The hinge design on the Drifter and almost all fiberglass canopies/shells isn't water tight and will seep through the hinge and then drip down onto the tailgate near the gap between the bed. Solutions include filling that hinge with grease (which will collect dust and I'm not sure the grease would stay in there long term), deploying a rear awning (that doesn't have its own source of water collection/draining/dripping), or, like @MapJunkie states - restrict the rear window from opening more than parallel so that the water doesn't drain towards the hinge.

 

We have a Habitat and this happens during heavy rain. Not fun while buckling kids in car seats. I try to remember to park on a slope if possible or maybe there is a "pro" to a bro lean....haha

 

I haven't tried it yet since I keep forgetting until it rains and I get the interior and myself wet getting in and out but I was going to try running a bead of clear silicone on the side of the drifter at an angle towards the bed. I have no idea if it will work but I'm hoping water will run down the bead away from the doors. If that doesn't work, I'd try with some small thin strip of plastic or something to make a mini gutter to do the same water reroute.

 

Someone in here (or another wedge thread) mentioned some RV products like a drip rail... Personally I think it would look cheap and I'm not convinced it would stay on the lid in head/cold, etc so I haven't bothered with it yet.

$51 Trim-Lok Drip Rail, White – 1/2” Height, 25’ Length – PVC Plastic Rain Gutter for Cars, Vans, and RVs, Easy to Install Flexible Drip Rail Molding to Control Water Runoff, Durable 3M Tape Included

https://www.amazon.com/Trim-Lok-Drip-Rail-Plastic-Installs/dp/B01CJRH19Y/

 

Simpler option would be moving to somewhere in the drought ridden west

 

Does anyone know the part numbers/manufacture of the light-dimmer switch and the button head cable ties used?

 

I’m already there.

 

Hellermann Tyton 132-00011 Button Head Tie, 105lb, 15.0", Max Bundle Diameter 4.3" PA66HSUV, Black (Pack of 50)

$45 Hellermann Tyton 132-00011 Button Head Tie, 105lb, 15.0", Max Bundle Diameter 4.3" PA66HSUV, Black (Pack of 50)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D8O7LMU
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D8O7LMU

 

Can someone show me what the STS brackets look like on a drifter? Havent seen one in detail and trying to decide if I want that or direct mount

 

I have them on both sides and the rear; recommended!

https://www.instagram.com/p/CQzaiE9tdLZ/

https://www.instagram.com/p/CRnO7DvNQUk/

 

Alright yeah that's pretty slick, I think I'll do 2 sides.

How much additional weight can be on the top before the upgraded struts are needed?

 

I bought a set of suction-cup-mounted roof bars to hold a wind fairing (like the fairings made by Thule or Yakima.)

We only need one, so I’m selling the second bar, $45 plus shipping from Seattle. The set cost $135 + tax on Amazon.

 

Do you have a picture of the wind faring installed? I have the access cab and have found that there are no mounting nuts for racks on the access cab. I am curious to find out how the suction cups work. I hope they don’t lose suction in hot weather.

 

My wind fairing comes on Wednesday. I am also an access cab, and the other rack options were way too expensive, incompatible with the roof or camper, or not desirable.

If you install the suction cups in hot weather, they should hold in hot weather, of that temperature or cooler. Think of canning: the lids go on while the jars are hot, and the cooling of the jar causes considerable suction.

It’s cold here in Seattle and they are holding fine, but I am planning to re-stick the rack when I drive to Mexico in a few weeks — or just heat everything with a heat gun to stick them hard beforehand.

Another option is to fab or modify a fairing that works with the existing screws on the underside of the Drifter’s front edge. I decided not to do that because it requires leaving a gap under the fairing (or using a really flexible fairing) to account for frame flex. The suction cup rack seemed like the least work.

Note my primary goal is to deflect air that is rammed down between the cab and front of the camper, which is where all the wind noise comes from. My partner needs to take phone calls on the road.

 

You could always rivnut it... https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/prinsu-access-cab-install.422290/

 

Just the feet or crossbar as well?

 

crossbar included

 

To follow up on the slide-out panel for the galley cabinet; I finally figured out some nice removable storage panels. One for hand tools and one for kitchen tools. I'm showing the hand tool side here and I'll post some pics of the kitchen side when I get it finished. I also need to add some LED light with a door switch so the panels will light up at night. But, this is some progress and I'm so happy to have a place for frequently-used tools to be so easy to grab. If I want to remove either panel of tools, I just spin off the handle-nuts and they can be mobile.





https://youtu.be/46sEf2VMc08