Vagabond Drifter Camper Buildout and Mods

No, I do see that now, thanks. I was looking at the Vagabond specific section, not the general Tacoma section. Yeah, (sorry GG) but I am definitely building out my own, I just wanted worst case weight data since I'm currently preoccupied w/ suspension.. ha ha. I recently built a portable camp kitchen out of 1" profile extrusion and it turned out way heavier than I was planning. Learned some lessons there for sure.

 

We have 2 frontrunner windoors. Love them. Would do it all over again. The FR windoors/windows are bigger than the vagabond which increases access to the cab, which is nice and I think they are heavier duty (though I did not see the vagabond ones). I can see the advantage of having only a single windoor for mounting stuff on the inside and out of the other side including the maxtrax. If money were an issue, I'd probably splurge on the FR windoor and just buy one. I like the windoor over the window because it's one less thing I need to cover when dressing and people can't see as easily into the inside of the cab, the privacy is nice. This is preference though. The sliding doors when we ordered were not very scratch resistant. I'm very glad we did not get them even though they are kind of sweet. We already have lots of new pinstripes on the truck and we aren't hard cover overlanders - we would have scratched them up a lot by now.

 

That's exactly what I did

 

Alrightly, then. I'm going out on a limb here for the build out. If you want to build out by participating in a Taco Wedgie NFL fantasy football league, pm me your email and I'll send you an invite and the details for the $20 buy-in using Paypal. Giving Drifter owners first dibs because, well, we are Drifter owners or soon to be (or wanna be).....Drifter solicitations until Thursday mid-day and then I"ll open it up to the larger wedgie community. There are 10 slots, first prize is 80% of the contributions, second is 20%. Apparently, my time off work is worth nothing.

Those who don't take the game too seriously are ideal for this league, I'm cheeky and like to talk smack but don't really care - hopefully you are in the same boat. Not well-suited to hyper competitive individuals. Draft is scheduled for Tuesday, Sept 3 at 8pm PST.

Fantasy football is another thing I know relatively little about. Seems I get tired of knowing what I'm supposed to know at work. Knowing nothing about other stuff (e.g. truck mods, fantasy) apparently keeps life interesting. Hopefully, I won't fu** managing the league too badly. Let me know if there is anything I haven't covered.

 

I have the regular windoors on both sides. I can reach all the way to the front and rear of the drifter from them, so I don't think you need the frontrunners for better access. I will say I kinda wish I got the solid ones. The tint is quite dark on the windows and I'm not really worried about theft but it'd be nice for privacy, mostly for changing at a trailhead.

 

I think I know what my mom's getting me for Christmas...home made Drifter curtains. She just doesn't know it yet .

 

Sorry just saw this.

Like @georginclay04 said, just call or e-mail and let them know your setup and expected weight. They're pretty awesome and will get you what you need.

 

We're trying to meet up with Phil later this week (maybe) so we can template the rear hatch. We plan to offer an insulated window cover for the hatch and possible the glass windoors. Will keep you guys updated. Wish someone near Santa Cruz had a Drifter that we could pattern.

 

I'm very much interested in this. Any chance of an insulated tent cover? I was thinking about trying to sew some sort of giant triangular quilt for the tent in the winter.

 

I feel like it's only a matter of time for something like this. I think it might have been on IG, but I know I saw a video of the inside tent insulation AT Overland offers for the Summit. It was a quilted reflective silver material. Looked pretty good. Depending on how it attaches, you might be able to modify to fit the Drifter tent. They can't be too much different in size.

Yeah, I am just going to call Deaver once I decide on my actual suspension otherwise. Everything else seems like a temporary solution. I am between ICON or ELKA at this point. I did a rough payload weight estimate (attached) and I can easily imagine I will need to sustain 1000# when loaded for bear. Add's up real quick.

 

I work on the west side of Santa Cruz and occasionally drive my truck w/ Drifter in, although I live in San Jose. Lemme know if you need something to template. I can drop my truck off and pedal over to work.

 

I live on the Westside and would like to check out a Drifter ... haven’t seen one since I saw an early proto in Benicia a while back. Maybe a Drifter/Strawfoot meetup?

 

Tomorrow at my shop! Email me: info@strawfoothandmade.com

 

My wife and I made a set fro the back out of black full length curtains we found new at the goodwill. trimmed the bottoms off, added a center zipper, and use a length of bungee and a couple carabiners to hook it to the underside of the hidden wiring track on our drifter. doubles as a pretty decent bug screen aswell.

yassss so much of this needs to happen, rear hatch and fronts ... and rear windows on double cabs... all the covers lol

 

For, those of you who have ordered custom Deaver packs, is my logic on this right? Cargo rating for 2nd Gen DCSB is 750# w/ two people. So when your saying 800, 1000, 1200# over stock your saying this spring pack is going to carry 750 + that weight?

 

Don’t ask us, ask Deaver.

https://deaverspring.com/

Honestly, it’s best to just talk to them about what you have planned, your weight range and intended use. In turn, they will ask questions of you. That’s why they are custom.

 

cool. I'll have to keep that zipper idea in mind. My mom is real crafty and likes to make gifts instead of buying them. So, it's a win-win.

 

I checked out your truck and Drifter. Very nice ... thanks and thanks to @belloinsella as well.

 

To those looking for an improved knob/crank for the fan, I think I found it.

*Disclaimer - I just installed it, so haven't put it through its paces yet.
But it's aluminum rather than plastic, and the feel of it when you close it nice and tight is way more confidence-inspiring than the plastic one.

The caveat is that you have to cut the crank portion down in order for it to clear the side trim of the fan.

You need the 1 3/16" length unless you want it to hang down below the plane of the roof.

UNITED STATES HDW WP8887C WP-8887C Mobile Home Metal Crank for Awning Type Windows, 1-3/16"

https://www.amazon.com/UNITED-STATES-HDW-WP8887C-Windows/dp/B000BPE5MI?th=1

Before


Installed

 

Just got the spacer kit out and some real suspension installed! I was mostly looking to add some leaf springs to handle the weight, but I went ahead and did all four corners while I was at it. Fox shocks all around, SPC UCAs, and Icon RXT leaf pack.

I went with the Icon leaf pack since it met my weight/lift needs and saved me a little money over Deaver or Alcan. I've been driving it around with about 500lbs back there (including the camper) and it rides great. Here's a pic of how it's sitting at that weight.


Hoping to get it on some dirt this weekend.