Vagabond Drifter Camper Buildout and Mods

Did you just add eyelet brackets to an ez down kit?

 

Finished up the solar and finally had a chance to give all the updates a decent test run.
Still quite a bit left to do, and a bunch of the electrical is just in a temporary state till I get a couple other components, but the concept is working out perfectly so far.

 

Are those colored things tote bags?

 

Yep. Got a set of four several years ago on a whim, and they're perfect for my application at least.
Currently I'm using one for clothes, one for the dog's stuff, one for kitchen stuff, and one for dry food.

Mountainsmith "cubes", if I remember right. I think they still sell them, but believe they've changed a fair amount since.

 

I’ve got the same idea as you for future storage. The old style cubes are still available on steep and cheap

https://www.steepandcheap.com/mount...GBQEoFuIx_v7ua3qEBi-13jNXy2KnNvxoCrigQAvD_BwE

 

3 panels? You’re not going dry any time soon. Great use of space!

 

Yeah, not under typical camping conditions.
But for me, to work remotely means 10 - 12+ hours running the laptop (with like a 1.5 hour battery life) plus my phone as a hotspot. Add that to the demand from the dual zone, potentially the fan and a couple hours worth of lights, and I'd come up short even pulling in a full 300w for Utah's 5.5-6 average peak sun hours.

Working and being stationary for more than a couple days will definitely be the exception, rather than the rule, but I got an amazing deal on the panels anyway...

 

What solar system are you running? I love your setup.

 

The strut is from the EZ Down kit modified so it doesn't jam the cable. I added it to the Relentless Fabrication Aluminum Tailgate skin. Makes the tailgate stronger and smooth

Yes, I got the brackets from Amazon. I just copied this guy... @Crom see post #2708
Funny when I pulled the old plastic cover off all but two of the original brackets were still glued together. So basically I caught a major flaw before I broke something.

 

These Renogy panels into a 4 to 1 combiner cable, with my own cabling down into the camper and running through

DROK® Small Digital Multimeter, DC 6.5-100V 50A Voltage Amperage Power Energy Meter DC Volt Amp Tester Watt Meter Gauge Monitor LCD Digital Display with Blue Backlight with 50A/75mV Shunt

this shunt & monitor so I can see what's coming in. Then into a Redarc BCDC1240D which is a three stage smart charger *that also has a provision for working with variable voltage alternators like ours*, using either solar or alternator input, as well as isolating my two no-name AGM group 31 110Ah batteries from the starting battery.

And thanks!

 

Thanks man!

 

That’s what it looks like, I like that route more than the normal ez down set up, might have to convert mine!

 

I hate that it binds up the cable!

 

We Have about 8 of those Mountain Smith soft bags in the garage. Haven't really used them in the last 6 years, but they work well. The only issue is that they work really well when fully stuffed, but don't hold their shape well otherwise. I've thought about adding some Coroplast (corrugated plastic) to the interior to make them more like the Frontrunner soft bags. I love the size and they're perfect for soft goods (pillows, blankets) and climbing gear.

We also have 2 sets of these:

Kelty Basecamp Bureau Storage Bin

https://www.amazon.com/Kelty-Baseca...002YY1PE0/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

No longer offered. They have a metal wire frame that can fold down so the cubes can be flat-packed. We use one or two (sets of four) on family trips. Two in winter, one in summer.

Of all the softbags, I like the Frontrunners the best because of the structure and divider. And they still fold flat. The are also the most expensive though.

Just like switching my whole setup (years ago) from cotton socks to hiking socks (my feet don't stink as much), it happened one pair at a time. And I was actually happy to receive socks for Christmas. Spread the cost out over time. Did the same with switching the Rubbermaid containers over to Wolfpacks and Cubpacks. About 2/ year over a 4 year period.

The plan is to slowly phase over to all soft storage to Frontrunner bags. Quality functional storage is worth the cost IMO.

Or you can do it all at once. We're a Frontrunner dealer BTW...

 

Do you have a link to where you sources the extrusion from? I would like to use your idea.

 

TNutz has it in 96” increments, but if you have a Grainger locally they carry it in like 76” I think.

https://www.tnutz.com/

 

Currently doing the same, especially after complaints of "why does it smell like death when you take your shoes off"

I get most of my extrusion stuff from https://www.tnutz.com/

 

Check out the Costco wool socks - I’ve been wearing them for 5 years or so and they are totally comparable to the smart wool ones at a fraction of a price.

 

Another good source of extrusion and related parts is:

https://8020.net/

 

Thanks for the links guys!