The Drifter - Specs and FAQ

You’re right. I got my camper the other day and decided to drive straight home bailing on a trip I had planned for a year. 1700 miles in 46 hours only stopping for gas and short walks for the dogs with one night at my cabin in Seaside. Was mega lame, but I’m home, safe and bored off my ass. It just felt like the right thing to do and all that stuff I was going to see will still be there.

My dog seemed to enjoy his new bed, even let me sleep on it next to him, but he was scared of the edge.

 

As badly as I want to get away (and easily could with this setup), the right thing to do is stay home. So my wife and I have been home for the better part of two weeks. Her almost exclusively at the house, and me when not there, at the fire station. I have to admit, the Drifter makes an excellent self isolation space on the app floor during my shifts



Stay safe and healthy everyone. Do the right thing and we'll all get through this as quick as possible.

 

What size load bars are you all running? I'm thinking of going to 1345 FrontRunner bars to keep the bar footprint inside the roof line of the Drifter, but I know the 1425 is another option with a bit of overhang. What are you running? Drop some pics if possible. Thanks!!

 

After-Trip Maintenance Item

Has anyone found condensation under the mattress half that overhangs the truck bed? I have only camped in cold weather, so I don’t know if this happens when it is warm. I presume this occurs because the moveable bed doesn’t have insulation and causes condensation there due to body temperature.

I found this condensation by accident and now include drying out the mattress as part of my after-camping maintenance. I would to know if I am the only one seeing this. It seems like it could get mildewy if not dried out.

 

Yeah, that happened to us as well a couple times camping in the snow while not running the heater much and at a low temp. I think your suspicion is right about it being due to lack of insulation because one night we ran the heater at a higher temp and I didn’t recall seeing it when putting the bed away to hang in the morning. Current events limit our cold weather R&D but I suspect once we finish insulating the tent and truck bed it should eliminate most moisture under there.

 

I noticed it after snow camping once, just let it air out after

 

We used those interlocking foam mats like these

https://images.app.goo.gl/HkEhwWEFgMHyVHnf7

Under our mattress when we go winter camping and had no condensation or frost on the under side of the mattress (-15 to -25c) our tent walls and roof were another story.

A trick I picked up in the arctic is to use a real skin (sheep, reindeer, caribou ect) ontop of the mattress and it will provide amazing insulation and almost completely prevent heat loss by conduction.

Also as an FYI the tent material gets incredibly stiff in the cold and I think if we were to do anything much colder -35c (-31f) the material would crack with repeated opening and closing. Keeping in mind it was -25c (-13f) and we didn't find any cracks or discolouration that would lead me to believe that a crack was starting along any of the creases. But I'd be hesitant to work the material much colder than that like I mentioned above I think you'd run into issues in the - 30s. the material was stiff but didn't start to feel brittle until the -25c range.

We also didn't have our webasto working so we couldn't warm the tent material up prior to closing it and from our experience that is where the issue would be the fabric didn't want to co operate when we were taking the tent down also the shocks were stiff as hell. But pre warming it would solve that issue I believe.

Anyways let's be honest though much past -25 is not much fun. So unless were were stranded I doubt very much we will be spending anytime in the drifter past -25c

 

Here is something folks use that I came across on wanderthewest. I think a lot of four wheel camper folks use it. http://www.hyperventmarine.com/products.html

"Why HyperVent?
HyperVent is the most practical solution for the prevention of dampness (condensation) forming beneath boat beds. Before HyperVent, the approach to dealing with dampness and the resulting mold (odor) was to accept the problem as inevitable and to treat the symptoms. The most common treatment was simply drying the bedding above-deck in the sun (if available)."

 

Thanks! Seems simpler than Froli Sleep system.

 

Same type of mat that Tepui uses in their roof top tents.

 

That's what my wife installed under our mattress. It's worked fine thus far but I haven't done any extreme temperatures with it yet. I will also say the company that we bought from went above and beyond. We even received a thank you phone call directly from the owner for our purchase. I'd definitely recommend them.

www.Mattressinsider.com

PLASTIDIIIIIIP!!!!!

jk

 

I tried the lube, dry and wet. Nothing worked for me. Then I tried these for winter and they seemed to be better than nothing. Not extensively tested but never had a freeze up. YMMV.

$8 Dust Cover for Bauer TC311 / T-311 Locking T-Handles | Lock Sock for Bauer T-311 T-Handle

https://www.amazon.com/Dust-Cover-for-TC311-Handles/dp/B00DP4LHTQ#customerReviews

 

Got my camper pushed out another month due to California being on lockdown. Been waiting over a year so this is very anticlimactic. Also ATOverland is still installing their campers for customers so maybe there are advantages to being in Montana???

 

Thought they were in Northern Arizona...

 

You thinking of GFC?

 

yeah my go fast was supposed to be done end of April but go fast shut their doors like a week ago. Hopefully they start back up soon

 

You are right, for some reason I thought they were in Montana because expedition overland always advertise for them.

 

Just want to point out that the entire world is on orders to stay home.
And if other companies aren’t following the orders, then they are part of the fucking problem and why we will all probably be ordered on longer tighter lockdown moving forward.

We all want our damn campers.
Your passive aggressive complaining isn’t gonna help anything. Maybe focus on the positive and that as soon as this is done, your camper will be too.
Or not, it’s up to you.

 

Thanks for such great advice! I am definitely sleeping better knowing there are great people such as yourself around.

 

GFC has shutdown production