Vagabond Drifter Camper Buildout and Mods

Oh shoot, I may have lied to you. That’s before any regear… my bad!

 

What was your gear ratio before you regeared?

 

4.10

Looks like I'll be changing that gear!

 

You’re getting 22.09 mpg.

And I wouldn’t bother changing the gear because your increase in tire size almost exactly offsets your reduced drive ratio from your new gears.

 

Homie beat me to it but here to second his post that you’ve effectively cancelled out your larger tires with your regear. Even if inadvertent, good call! Haha

Try using a GPS app on your phone quick but your Speedo is probably pretty close as-is.

 

Sick boys, thanks for the info. Pretty happy with that tbh. 22yo truck, 22MPG.

 

Side note as I just got my registration in the mail and saw my weight fee drastically bumped up from $30-40 on my Tacoma to $250+ for my Ram. If your truck is listed as commercial (all CA trucks) and you have a camper, it’s fairly easy to change it to a passenger vehicle to drop the weight fee. Here’s the link if it helps anyone out!

https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/handb...rcial-vehicles/pickup-with-a-camper-attached/

 

When I looked into that back in the day, there seemed to be a condition where you had to had a toilet, sink and something else that was also "permanent". Has that changed?

 

Where can I get a similar flexible propane line?

 

I changed mine on my previous truck. Explained it was a camper that lived on the truck permanently. So an RV and not a commercial vehicle.
They hardly even looked at it and approved it. Didn’t even look inside.
Saved about $100 on registration.

 

What do you guys think of a tank like this? (still on showering)

- narrow aluminum tank, 2-3G rotopax style, welded together
-- I have an aluminum spool for the mig. and a grinder or 5

- threaded flange welded in to allow screw-in heating element
--ok now we may be talking stainless
-- or not, 1" aluminum flanges are cheap
--fixed element gets rid of safety issues and potential for water/high amp electricity mixing

- a pump, or setup high enough for gravity feed (unlikely)

- a lid of some type to allow cleaning?
--also to allow filling manually
--or well sealed to allow water to be heated prior to arrival

- a temp gauge would be cool
- so would a level site (lol, not scope creep at all!)

- to fit near the back of the camper along one side or the other, with some brackets to secure to top and bottom of camper


Actually you could do this with a plastic welder too. I'd feel better with metal and the heating element.

(this element, fyi)

$25 DERNORD 12V 600W Immersion Heater Submersible Water Heater Element Stainless Steel Heating Element with 1" NPSM Fitting Double U Type

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0182BETBE

 

Propex heater question: I've searched for about an hour or two trying to find the answer to what ya'll are using to run propane to the Hs2000 propex heaters. I'm mounting it on the baseplate from goose gear. I was considering a "hard line" like copper with compression fittings, but I do some light off-roading with my camper and was worried about a fitting coming loose, breaking a line, etc... Flexible tubing under the truck was another option I was looking at. You can DM to keep the thread tidy.

 

Pretty cool idea if you can pull it off.

I definitely wouldn't do plastic considering the expansion/pressures it would see. And without being any sort of expert, I'd even be a little concerned about the aluminum expanding with pressure if it's going to be a rectangular shape like a rotopax.
It doesn't sound like you plan on using it for potable water at all, but I don't think you could without it being stainless.
And you'll also want to have it on a thermostat unless you're comfortable with the risk of just manually turning it off when it's reached temperature.

But as far as that element, it's the same one I use, and it does great.

 

When you say “pump” are you referring to a water pump to pull the water or an air pump to drive the water? (You can’t really use adequate air pressure in the container shape you describe.)

If you are not using air pressure, plastic is fine. For example, Google “bucket heater” and you will find lots of different implementations. And HDPE is good to go for potable water.

(Edit: removed grossly overpriced example.)

 

I think you meant to include @xplorn 's original post in your quote...
But yeah, you're right - plastic shouldn't be a complete write-off, there's just a few extra considerations depending on how the system is setup.

 

After removing half my buildout for the growing family, I lost a place to put phones/water/stuff at night.

Minimalist nightstand:



I used aluminum angle iron and "welded" (not really) them together with those Alumirods. Then riveted an rv side table mount to the outside and the drifter. Temporary plywood to fill it out until I find something I like better. An aluminum support near the hatch helps up the weight capacity. The whole thing pops off and stores under the matress when more room is needed.


Alumaloy 20 Rods - USA Made, As Seen on TV, 1/8" x 18" Simple Welding Rods, Aluminum Brazing/Welding Rods, Aluminum Repair

$30 Alumaloy 20 Rods- USA Made - As Seen on TV, Simple Aluminum Repair Brazing/Welding Rods, 1/8"' x 18" rods.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MQX8QJY?_encoding=UTF8

AP Products (013-164922 30.25" Table Support

$11 AP Products (013-164922 30.25" Table Support, Silver

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00G44IZEO?_encoding=UTF8

 

I installed my Propex with copper lines and it has worked flawlessly. I don’t jump my truck, but I have driven many hundreds of washboard miles. I would stick with copper if you can, because that is speced in the Propex manual.

 

The only issue I could see with copper is if you don't properly secure it over the length of the run in a way that allows it to flex during vibrations. That could lead to work hardening and an eventual crack. That being said, with proper support (zip ties are my plan) it's a reliable option.

 

I recently built a functional gravity shower using a 300w heating element with my reliance 7 gallon water container. I did not want to buy another container and store it. I use the 7 gallon container for washing hands, brushing teeth, etc etc. so I drilled a hole in it and installed the same heating element but 300 watts. Added some pvc pipe with shut off valve. When I’m done I screw in the spigot and the container is functional as original again. I heat the 7 gallons water to 104f in about 2 hours. Be careful using the 600w. It can up to pull 50 amps. That’s a lot. You better have a robust 12v system to take on that much power.

 

FYI, my 600w element usually pulls more like ~56 amps (on lithium).
With resistive elements, increased voltage = increased amperage too.