The Drifter - Specs and FAQ

Glad you're OK!!!

 

yeah even my 91 Ford Ranger had one of these, it was behind the glove box.

 

Yeah, fuel pump still works though so we think it's something more than that.

 

Glade your ok! Was looking to see exactly where this was you are a good couple hours away from me!

 

It was in Routt NF.

 

Glad you are ok. As said above the Tacoma does have a roll over sensor. Are there any engine codes? Is there a Toyota dealership anywhere near you?

 

Yeah, there's one in Glenwood Springs.

 

Wow. Glad you’re ok.

Hellava story though.

 

Pretty cool testiment that your able to still pop it open and sleep out of it after rolling on its side. Glad to hear you and the pup are ok. Always scary being involved in a partial or full roll over regardless.

@DoorDing - I’m a little confused at your comment of the internal structure. From my understanding it’s a solid aluminum panel, what exactly are you talking about here?

 

A few things came to mind when Brian texted me on Monday.

Relief that he and the dog were not injured.

Bummed that he has to go through this and that his truck was damaged.

Reassured that the campers we’re building can take some serious abuse.

Because of the way the campers are designed, each panel/ major component is a structural shape that has rigidity due to the strategic bend locations. The design also allows for the distribution of static and dynamic loads over a greater area. This reduces stress in the corners, which are obviously areas that can handle more compressive forces. So it’s really hard to point load the camper in most situations.

It looks like the DS part of the cabover took the weight of the truck and the lower lid compressed into the front DS portion of the shell. And that section of the cabover took a direct hit to the ground. The damage is considerably minimal.

All of the bends, rivets, and bolts can be easily observed from the interior. The welds can be inspected from the exterior. Unlike composite components that could have internal damage which can’t be visually inspected. This is the welded area that should really be inspected:



Looks pretty damn good to me.

One thing to note about Zero: Unlike the production models, there is no adhesive sealant between the shell and lower roof. Just the (24) 1/4-20 SS button head cap bolts and flanged lock nuts. We put closed cell foam tape in between there so we could remove the roof assembly later. You know- for science. Same with the lower cabover panel that has adhesive sealant on production models. Just foam tape there too.

So Zero is actually less structurally sound than our production units because it has no adhesive.

I’m not going to say we built the strongest camper, but it would obviously do better than our trucks in this situation.




TL;DR: Buy a Drifter

 

IIRC the code it gave was a "startability malfunction" code which when googled actually seemed unrelated.

Body shop in Steamboat thought there was some immobilizer inside so it needed to go to Toyota to repair. So it towed 2.5 hours to Glenwood Springs Toyota where it got taken off the flatbed and the guys at Toyota managed to break the driver side door getting the VIN before saying it needed to go back to a body shop to get sensors replaced.
So now it's back at a body shop.

 

Word, good luck man! I'm sure they will get you back on the road soon.

 

@Iggy & @Overlanerd - hypothetically speaking, if the need arose in a situation similar to this, are the top and lower shell sections able to be removed/replaced independently? And if so, would it even be cost-effective to do so?

 

That's a good question. I gave up my apartment so I don't technically have anything to go back to and I'm about 18 hours from home anyways.

I'm currently "camped" at a body shop in Glennwood Springs waiting to hear if they can get the engine started. If they can, it'll get fixed and I'll head back West - if it can't then I will probably buy a 2nd gen (I'm actually kind of thinking of an ACLB since I love the camper space so much) and head West. So its really just a big delay but honestly there's a lot worse places to be stuck than Glennwood Springs..

 

When insurance came by we noticed there was a dent in my roof, but we all agreed there was no way that was from the camper.

Looked closer today and my cab and the Drifter cab over definitely made contact with each other during the roll. Pretty crazy that the Drifter cab over portion over extended and hit my roof (well, my roof hit it rather) - and then popped back out with no damage (to the Drifter).

Missing my weather strip because it flew off in Wyoming

 

Just drifting around Baja with @MJonaGS32 and catching some of the Baja 500

 

Hypothetically. Aside from the 24 bolts, they are attached with a sealant adhesive. It would probably be difficult to separate them, but not impossible. Not sure if it would be cost effective though since it would really interrupt production to do so.

I guess we’ll treat that situation on a case by case basis. And it’s a good idea to get additional insurance, to cover the cost of a new camper, so you have more options.

 

@danneskjold Glad you and dog are OK. But thanks also for owning up to your complacency contributing to the accident. I’ve been licensed for 45 years and have road-raced cars and motorcycles. But I think many (most) of us drive too fast on unpaved backcountry roads. I know I did when I had my turbo Forester ... I’ve slowed down in my Taco. Not as much fun, but I pay more attention to the scenery. One reason I’m tempted to keep my stock suspension.

 

One advantage of a drawer is it's easier for a dog to jump out

 

Over the weekend my wife, my dog and I hauled out to the middle of nowhere to meet Phil and join the Vagabond fam! So stoked on the places we will go with this camper.