FAQ: When will I get my Drifter? How long are people waiting?

Total guess, but might come back to their pannel laser cutting/forming woes. Seems like they've struggled to find a supplier that fits their needs in terms of quality/batch size and ordering cadence. So the more combinations of side panel sizes (6ft, 5 ft), window sizes (none, tern, front runner, standard windoor), roofs with fan/without fan, powder coat/no powder coat etc... the more chances increase that one bad panel from the supplier can cause a hold up on any given build.

 

I’m in the same boat, order 172, didn’t add anything fancy but it’s been two months since powder coating, two unanswered emails sent to Phil, and nothing but crickets.
Feels like we should be getting close but who knows.

 

What options did you order?

 

The whole crew is wonderful. They are just as excited for a camper to leave, as we are picking it up. Phil came back with an empty trailer dropping things off at the PCer. He is very calculated with his communication, and as soon as your camper is ready to go - I have no doubt you will hear from him.

I know it's not much solace, but they will take care of you! I did see ~4 campers that were very close... I think I saw the name Bradley, and Chris. But that could be totally wrong.

Rest assured, you will hear immediately when it is ready. I'm not sure why mine was ready prior to others.

 

I gave that to the lady, so I could buy an Esker Elkat. But the transition served me right for 4 seasons!

 

i wouldn’t say his communication is calculated, but i get what you mean. wish it was less “calculated” haha.

i honestly think my delay is because i emailed last august/september that i wanted an awning and they didn’t respond until about it until jan/feb, i confirmed, and then didn’t receive an invoice until march. maybe it’s something else but… if it walks like a dog and barks like a dog…

i’m neither bradley or chris, though my last name is weirdly some odd combo of those two names? so fingers crossed. i will probably give it a few weeks and ping phil, as i would love to pick it up next month during some PTO. the saga continues.

random question: i have some molle panels installed in my bed that use the tracks that are used for mounting the camper. i assume i should pull those off prior to pick up? or can their clamps be added at any point?

 

you know, i think this makes a lot of sense. until you posted this i kind of assumed the laser cuts were fairly uniform across camper sizes to get the body of the camper prepped for the former, then BO did the other cuts in house for things like windows and vents. but if you are setting up for scale, that is antithetical to it. also way less accurate and way more room for error.

 

They pulled my rails to seal the holes. Are the molle panels on the sides, or up next to the cab? They use 4 mounts on each side

 

sides. did you waterproof before hand? i just did the bed caps this past weekend, but didn’t do anything with the mounting rails, just the bed caps. sounds like i should pull em though.

 

Probably pull em... I did the cubbies on both sides. I also got the aluminum bed caps.

 

GREAT, thanks for the info. congrats again. enjoy! can’t wait to see some of these drifters in the wild…. trying to not get ahead of myself but planning a big ole trip down to NM this june…

 

Nothing special, one side window, lighting, usb plugs, the fan, insulation and tracks on the roof. Didn’t add anything extra when we paid the final invoice in hopes it’d speed things along, didn’t even add an awning, we’re just going to try to do it ourselves to save time. Emailed them again yesterday hopefully I get a response.

 

did you happen to see a bunch of aluminum panels ready to be welded together or in the process….? Wondering how far away they are from starting the next batch…

 

TWO Months since powdercoating?!

 

Dang! At #180 for me the anticipation is killing me. Did you see my Nomad with 330 watt Merlin Panel on top? I just had the "lid only" powder-coated white.

 

I saw what looked to be the rest of this batch, mostly built.

 

Is there anyone else in the current batch who is also waiting on Tern products? Phil emailed me March 1st saying the Tern window for my camper was coming in that week and my camper would be ready a few days after but still haven’t heard back. Curious if anyone has gotten updates?

 

Yes, I am also waiting on one. Chetterthecat sent me a pic and my raw Nomad is in the corner and the white powder coated top is on another table. Is yours all black?

 

Yeah, all black 6ft drifter! Have you heard any updates on the Tern order?

 

Lmao; That is ridiculous. It’s stuff like this that inch me closer and closer to selling my build spot. It baffles me how a company is going to tell you it’s ready in a week and doesn’t even have the courtesy to notify it will be longer or give an update two weeks later. What build # are you?