Vagabond Drifter Camper Buildout and Mods

I would have moved it back a foot or so to tell people it's the world's smallest 270 degree awning.

 

Was actually a pretty easy install, good thing my wife volunteered to hold the bolts with a wrench on the outside while I tightened them on the inside. The brackets I got for this stick out twice as far as the ones for the awning. Its good because of the fenders flaring out pushing into the shower.

 

Hahaha, that would be hilarious! I centered in on the door as I intend to make a window for the gullwing door to open into the shower. This way I can have a showerhead come out from inside and have a shelf to put things on. The water heater is going to be mounted on the side facing the cab as I have a solid wall there.

 

Can you post some photos of the inside showing how that NOCO A/C power plug looks on the rear? I'm planning on installing one of these soon as I dial my electrical design.

 

Drifter and setup made a bachelor party in NV great this weekend.

Fridge and power didn’t have any hiccups from Thursday night when I started packing until Monday evening when I cleaned out the fridge.

Come today when I went to do a final wash inside the fridge, nothing in the back worked. Charge controlled showed incoming solar and alternator power, no breakers or fuses tripped but no lights or fridge power. Start tracing wires and found this.

I didn’t hook the charge controller output back up when I took all my pieces and parts out when I stored my truck a couple weeks. Whoops.

No solar or alternator charging to the battery and everything ran all weekend! Pretty happy with that unplanned test.

Now it charges for who knows how many hours on an AC charger to get it back up to charge.

 

Got the heater wired and plumbed.

The initial start-up produces some serious heat, but after the engine gets to temp, the heater goes into low-production mode.




It also draws some decent power on start-up, but calms down on low.

Start-up:



Low (1.2hz):




Idle:

 

Still need better cable-management, but this'll do for now.

 

Has anyone done an electrical set up and using an induction plate? I'm thinking of dropping propane completely and just going full electric and firewood. I know I'll need a big inverter and battery for an 1800W (max) induction plate...

 

I've thought about it because I already have PLENTY of battery power to do it. But even then, I just don't see the reason to.

• I just carry 2-3 of the 1 pounders, which has always been more than enough propane for me (and I refill them rather than paying what ...like $6 each for those now?)
• I have a torch head that I use for those 1 pounders
• I often use both burners of my Coleman stove
• The Coleman will always be more portable than an induction plate
• I use a lightweight aluminum pot/pan set, which of course wouldn't work with induction, and the replacements would be heavier
• Induction would be the only reason that I'd have any need to upgrade from my current (smaller/lighter) 500W inverter
• Finally, sticking with the setup I already use is (basically) free compared to switching/upgrading

Though, if I was starting from scratch, I'd think a little harder about it for the sake of ditching propane like you're saying.

 

Yeah, I'm reducing random consumables where I can. If I'm already adding cost and weight of an electrical system, it's insignificant to add a few more pounds and dollars to add capacity and convert everything to electric now while I have zero interior build out and just a 10AWG running to the rear from the main battery powering my fridge.

I'm already using cast iron, so everything except my kettle would work and at that point, I'd switch to a dedicated electric 1L kettle (~500W) for more efficiency.

 

I have been using a 900w electric teakettle and a 1000w induction cooktop during the winter months. I have a 1000w inverter from Victron. This has been a game changer for four season camping. In the past, we would get the camper nice and toasty in the morning with our heater. Then, I would have to turn on the fan to make breakfast with a stove. We have found that cooking inside lights up our CO sensor unless you have the fan on medium. This sucks all the hot air out of the camper. So, running electrical for our cooking has eliminated this issue. Game changer.

 

Here is a picture of the back of the ac adapter.

 

Looking for input from any running Dobinsons leafs in anticipation of getting our Drifter this year, fingers crossed. trying to finalize the rear suspension plans and install before the trip. I have narrowed the spring selection to either the Deaver U402 Stage 3’s or Dobinsons 112/113s thanks to input from this forum. The two concerns I have picked up on have been a harsh ride resulting from a recent design change with the Deavers and shackle contact with the second spring on the Dobinsons. Of the two concerns I feel that the Dobinsons may be my best option for ride quality and weight bearing considering some quick work with an angle grinder to reshape the spring end might be the fix on the Dobinsons. Has anyone here experienced the shackle contact problem with the Dobinsons? I am also going to post a similar query in the suspension thread, but figured this may be the best focused group with camper builds.

 

My Dobonsons 112's have been great, but I'm not overloaded.
Drifter, Hest mattress, 50L fridge, a few bins with tire chains, spare oil, hand tools, two bikes, hitch rack, 20# propane tank, kitchen bin. No interior. Stock bumpers, no sliders.

I guess if you have a heavy steel bumper with swingouts and a big spare as well as an interior, you may need the 113's.

I just spent a week in Canyonlands flexing out the Dobinsons with stock hangers and shackles. I haven't crawled underneath to do my post-trip inspection yet, but that will happen soon and I'll post an update. I have NOT trimmed the second leaf even though I am aware of the potential shackle interference.

EDIT: Apparently I didn't wheel hard enough to flex/spread the 2nd Dobinsons leaf into the shackle. No signs of damage.

 

Appreciate the input!

Hopefully the 112s will do it for us as well, but nice to have the 113 option if needed; as you speculated our build will be heavy even with efforts to keep it down. Weight already building up with installed aluminum front bumper/winch, full skids (aluminum), sliders, high clearance rear bumper with dual swings; not to mention the pending install of a Goose Gear rear build, fridge, Long Range fuel tank…endless it seems.

hope your adventures in the Canyonlands went well and very interested in the results of your post trip inspection.

 

Nothing better than a photo, makes it much easier to lay down the cash!

 

You may want to just order a custom pack from Deaver or Alcan at that point. Then you can specify your weight range as well as desired lift. I have a decent lift when the truck is "empty" (just Drifter & mattress) but when it's normally loaded (not for a trip where I bring EVERYTHING), I still have about 1" higher than front.

 

I flexed out more than this, but I'm still going through photos and videos, so this is the best I have.

 

I was referring to the photo you provided of the spring hanger, but this looks like much more fun . I will also consider your custom build suggestion. Good to have time to iron these things out as well as this forum to lean on for advise…Thanks!

 

As far as dust/waterproofing goes, are people doing anything to seal the sides of tailgate door? like, the short side where it latches? not sure i’ve seen anything on it beyond the strip you can run along the long edge at the bottom.