Vagabond Drifter Camper Buildout and Mods

Love it!

 

LPG in Truck Bed + LPG alarm = Smart Move. Like the solar fan shade. What brand are those pouches that you attach to the carpeted ceiling? I want me some. Also, what kind of carpet did you use and how did you attach it to the ceiling? -Christy

 

The pouches are made by Blue Ridge Overland Gear - Vagabond Outdoors is actually a dealer for them as well. I basically use them as a medicine cabinet so have some medicine, toothbrush, contacts, etc. As well as some spare charging cables.

Carpet just came from Home Depot - it's about $18 for a roll of their outdoor carpet and will cover everything but the last 6 inches.

I used spray adhesive and a staple gun to attach it.

 

yeah it would be nice to see an extrusion of some sort on the side of the drifter. Definitely would make for a lot easier mounting of items. I am still trying to figure out how i am going to mount my shovels, axe, etc inside the drifter. thinking of drilling holes through the sleep platform and attaching l-track or something similar to the bottom so I can just use quick fists.

Anyone have any suggestions?

 

Hahaha, I haven't slept in a ground tent for probably 10 years. Bivy sacks or a camper for me..

But I have become one with the drill

 

I added an 80/20 extrusion to the side of mine and have been happy with it. The extrusion was honestly the only part on the GFC I liked, and I'm glad I have it.

 

Finally made some solid progress on my build out.

• A few coats of polyurethane.
• Tee nuts throughout makes it (relatively) easy to remove if necessary, but still rock solid.
• Removable tie down points in the middle of the floor for the fridge-freezer (which goes in the rear driver corner).
• The height of the driver and middle sections is the same as the fridge.
• Water cans and remaining portion of battery box will be covered by a piece of e-panel, as I needed the extra 3/8" clearance for the water cans.
• Another piece of ply (still to be added) will be able to go in the middle section of the "hallway" to provide a large enough elevated floor for the dog to sprawl out when the fridge-freezer is present. That will also allow me to put my camp chair on top of that area and use the sleeping platform extension as a desk.
• Dual group 31 AGMs installed and Redarc BCDC wired up

Still a few things left to do, such as the latch for the lid on the driver side.

One of my main priorities was to have as much of the storage as possible accessible from both outside and inside, so that I can avoid climbing in all the time to get something, and so the interior is functional enough to hang out, cook, etc in bad weather. Only the front, passenger side shelf is not accessible from outside, and only the long storage on the passenger side is not accessible from inside (with the tailgate still up, and depending on how long the item is).

And since I know it will come up - yes, two group 31 house batteries because in order for me to work remotely for my job, I have to be able to reliably power a laptop for 10 - 12+ hours a day, even if I can't pull in any solar juice.

Wiring of switches, fuse boxes, etc are pending word from Phil & Iggy on their re-designed panels. So next on the install list are the L track and 300 watts of solar for the roof.

 

That's beautiful work!

 

So I actually installed the panel backwards - thats why the finish is all jacked up.

Those bare wires are for the third brake light as well - I need to remove my drawer to wire it up and it's low on my priority list

 

First 2 nights in the Drifter at Gold Lake 4x4 campground. Sooo many ideas on what to do.

 

Thanks! But if you were to look closer, you'd see plenty of stuff where I screwed up a bit or just got lazy.
Plus, I hope I'm wrong, but I doubt it will stay in this condition very long, haha.

 

One thing I did do today was added a cheap LED strip light in the wiring track.

The standard interior light is a rock light on an angle mount. It does a decent job of illuminating the truck bed, but the light is kind of harsh and uneven for a "living" light if that makes sense.

The LED light strip is nice an even throughout, and I can leave it on without it causing strain on my eyes.

$12 Lepro 12V LED Strip Light, Flexible, SMD 2835, 16.4ft Tape Light for Home, Kitchen, Party, Christmas and More, Non-Waterproof, Daylight White(Not Include Power Adapter)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HSF65MC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apip_7zo2cMxMxqedw

 

Exactly what i had in mine for lighting. Although i think i would get one of the strips that are colour changeable. Nicely done.

 

@CalTacoma09

 

Nice! I'm doing exactly the same, but I got RGB + warm white, and I'll do a second one on the roof panel.

So you have them up IN the channels, pointing down and butted up against the exterior walls, right? ...Not just
on the bottom of the channel?
That's definitely what I've had in mind, so as not to block the zip tie slots, but I wondered if the channel would cause too much shading in the center of the bed.

 

Yup, they are in the top pointing down.

If they were on the bottom they would be blocked by all of the wires I have running.

 

It's diffused because it's being bounced.

 

Very cool stuff. How did you rig it up? I have a plug/power to the cubby on the drivers side where I used to connect my camper power. Not sure what I have planned for my Tradesman top yet. So far I've been able to get by with an inflatable light that I can change the color on, usually leave it on red. I have an extra LED strip from a set used at home and I want to hook it up somehow inside my shell which isn't too far off from the Vagabond other than I don't have a nice upper sleeping platform.

 

Definitely the backside of the panel. We hit it with a flap disc to remove the burrs from the laser cutting.

Install that raised corner panel!!! For the fuse panel, I plan to drill holes next to each terminal so wires can be run directly into the corner brace and up through the wiring channel. A bit more work, but it should look really clean and keep the wires tidy.

When a camper leaves the shop, the power, ground, and 3rd brake wires are connected to a female 6- pin panel- mounted Molex connector on the switch panel. We provide a male plug with power, ground, and wire for the 3rd brake light. We tap into the taillight and run the ground, unless a customer already has wires stubbed out from a previous camper shell. We then connect to those wires. We also connect the power if the customer has power provided at that point. For a fair price, we can run a wire to the stock battery or land the power wire to any corner of the camper. Earlier campers had Deutsch connectors, but we found the Molex connectors to be more user friendly without specialized tools. So there are 3 available pins if customers add accessories (dust lights, rear upper camera, etc.) and the camper can still be disconnected electrically from one plug.

Here’s @anomalyTRD ’s panel on the right. Switches for the standard light and additional lower light strips, ceiling light, and fan. LED indicators on each switch.



Wires running to each switch have a separate 2-pin Molex connector so the panel can be easily removed.

For our lower lighting option, we install them vertically facing outwards towards the camper walls. The lights we use are adhesive- backed and fit nicely on the vertical surface, above the wires, tucked against the upper corner. They don't interfere with the wiring track or zip- tie slots.