MJ's build (yes finally finding time to do this)

Finally installed the diesel heater. The plan is to fill it up (kerosene) before trips and hope it lasts so I don’t have to carry any extra. The tank can hold 5L which roughly translates to 15 hours of use. I think my favorite part about it is the remote control that I can control from up top in bed.



The milk crate holds my pans and other misc kitchen stuff. I made the shelf underneath it removable so I can still access the water tank beneath it.


Also finally wired up the side flood lights using existing bolt holes. Found these hollow stainless bolts on ebay for the pos wire to pass through and grounded the neg wire to that same bolt using a ring terminal

 

(Forgot to post) Used a similar, but larger hollow stainless bolt to wire up the LED bar


And some pics from Mojave last week

by @jAndyMendo








by @916TacoTruck

 

Some interior shots of the drifter taken by @knockhanh at last month’s BASE CAMP Truck Meet:

 

Unexpected snow for Memorial Day weekend. Good thing for the Drifter

 

I dig how you're self-contained when you need to be.

Sweet rear bumper too!

 

do you have diagrams/Dimension of your interior cabinet of your vagabond? Really tempting to pull the trigger in the vagabond

 

Hah thanks!

When I was waiting for my Drifter to be built, I made all these nerdy sketches using a simple paint app. It provided for a rough estimate on how much material I would need to purchase, but when it came down to building everything, I kind of had to adjust on the fly because there are certain measurements I didn't know how to calculate without having everything in front of me. And even now that I have everything built, there are a few things that I would have done differently.

With that being said, if there's anything that you want me take measurements of, I'd be happy to provide for you. If/When you decide to pull the trigger on the Drifter, you'll have plenty of time to think of how you'll build it. IIRC, the build time is like 9-10 months after you put a deposit down. Good luck

 

I'm over your build right now.

 

May have been eyeballing that as well...

 

LOL thanks guys

 

First trip with the baby was a success. She had such a great time. Already looking forward to the next one.

 

Messing with night time photography

 

Did some mods to the Chinese diesel heater. I know it’s summer and I typically wouldn’t need the heater but the last couple times I camped it got down into the 40s at night - which isn’t a big deal but it’s a little different now having a baby - who isn’t suppose to sleep with a blanket.

When I initially bench tested the unit, it worked great and seemed pretty straightforward. But when installing it in the camper, it didn’t work and it took me a while to figure out why. Come to find out it’s because I routed the exhaust laterally then upward toward the bed cubby where I was more comfortable drilling a 1.5” hole. That wasn’t going to cut it since the exhaust needs to go downward so I finally just drilled a hole in the bed so it goes straight down.

I also built a little platform for it so I have a little play with the exhaust in case I didn’t drill the hole in the exact location it needed to be in. With the platform, I’m also able to mount the heater so that it faces slightly upward in the front to account for the fuel line in the back of the fuel tank that unfortunately doesn’t sit at the very bottom of the tank.



Now that it’s tilted, more of the fuel can be utilized. Also hidden behind the fuel tank is the little fuel filter that I added since it didn’t come with one.

I also modded the fuel cap. With the combination of my driving and higher elevation, the camper would sometimes smell a hint fuel. Wasn’t a big deal solo, but again with the baby I had to fix it. Come to find out the fuel cap has a small little hole on the top and diaphragm inside underneath that acts as a breather.


Only thing is it’s in my camper so it doesn’t have a proper place to breath. I simply copied the diff breather mod idea and routed it to the outside through the bed cubby using the same Toyota breather.





And the last thing I did was change the heater cover. No idea why it came with 4 small holes. I saw a lot of other units had the single large hole which was better for my use since I need to route the heater duct 90° so it goes through the middle galley

 

Other small mods:

Replaced my old Wet Okole seat covers (they let me re-order just the backs)

Before


After


And made a little make shift baby monitor for the Drifter using an old back up camera and portable monitor that I had laying around (all 12v)

 

When you drilled the hole for the exhaust re-route, did you do anything to keep water out of the bed? Like some kind of stopper you can install during the rainy season?

 

Pics from the weekend

 

The exhaust pipe is wrapped with this fibrous wrap used on headers (withstands 1800°F) and high temp polyimide tape so it fits really snug through the hole since the wrap is malleable

ARTR Titanium Lava Fiber 2 Inch x 50 Feet Exhaust Header Wrap Kit with 10pcs 11.8 Inch Stainless Steel Locking Ties

$18 ARTR Titanium Wrap 2" x 50 Feet Exhaust Header Heat Wrap Kit with 10pcs 11.8" Stainless Steel Locking Ties

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B012C5FOLK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_Rz8rFbNVZZ2VA

Foxnovo High Temperature Heat Resistant Tape Polyimide Film Adhesive Tape (50mm33m)

Foxnovo High Temperature Heat Resistant Tape Polyimide Film Adhesive Tape (50mm33m)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00N1QZY4M/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_.A8rFbVNT4CFY

Pic from underneath (looks close to the truck exhaust pipe from the angle, but there’s plenty of space between)

 

Also moved the ham antenna to a ditch light bracket from Rago fab (shout out to @DannyBFresco for the hook). It’s the old mount that attaches to the cowl so it doesnt hit the windshield when the hood is open