Vagabond Drifter Camper Buildout and Mods

Thank you! I didn't know it came in different thicknesses, so that's good to know.

 

If you want to do a baseplate and you have a short bed, you can do it out of single piece of baltic birch which comes in 5x5. I opted for no base plate and bolted my cabinets to the bed directly: saves around 40 lbs.

 

Namaskeet

 

Good idea. I hadn't thought of that option.

 

Quoted the dimensions above.
If you do it, go for the 5x5 Baltic birch, 1/2". Makes it super easy for a short bed.

MacBeath Hardwoods - I think I paid just over $100 for 3 sheets.

 

Awesome! Thanks for that info. I'll swing by there sometime this week.

 

I picked up my drifter back in February and figured I'd add my build info. Pardon the wall of text/pictures.

I bought a the truck mainly for the camper last August:


I worked through various concepts in sketchup... it ended up not being particularly helpful but I had a while to wait before the camper was ready:


My plan for the build was to make everything as portable and removable as possible while still providing space for electrical and mechanical as well as a bed platform for the kids. The hope was to fit a family of four somewhat comfortably in the camper. Whether that will be a success is to be determined but it has worked really well so far. I settled on a mixture of built-ins and removable bins to allow for the space inside for four people. The bins can come out to make room for sleep or stay in if I'm solo or just with my wife.

When I started the auxiliary battery system, I really wanted to stuff the battery somewhere under the truck bed. However, there wasn't much room so I settled on a homemade portable battery box. I found a renogy 100ah gel battery on craigslist for $100 and got a 30a DC-DC charger on Amazon warehouse deal for $105. I ran wire from my starter battery to the charger. I put a fuse block and some connectors on the box. The charger is also an MPPT solar capable so I wired a sae plug for a future panel. I eventually ditched the tool box enclosure but kept the portability by wiring in quick disconnects. The wire to the starter battery connects to the auxiliary battery via and anderson plug. The solar panel and Drifter switch panel connect via sae connectors.


After I got the camper, I installed a flexible solar panel. I used adhesive backed velcro to fasten the panel to the roof and ran a strip of duck tape around the lip. After a few months of snow/sun, it seems to be holding up well. I didn't like the idea of fighting with vhb tape if I ever needed to remove the panel:


I installed an awning on the back of the camper:


I ordered a bunch of 30mm aluminum extrusion and started working on a built in cabinet. The point of the cabinet is to house the electrical/heater/water/fridge and provide a platform and some additional storage. It was my first time working with the t-slot extrusion but it was pretty straight forward. I put the cabinet together with a fridge slide. The slide shelf is temporary until I figure out how I want to do a nested drawer. I think I'm going to do a pullout sink with a faucet. The kids approved of the bed platform.



I ordered a webasto diesel heater. I went with the webasto for the easy high altitude adjustment being in Colorado. I bench tested it, cut a whole in the truck bed and mounted it. The heater is really the only thing that will not be easily removable. I had a shop install and auxiliary fuel tap in my tank to supply diesel to the heater:




The portable battery box ended up being more bulky than I wanted so I built a small platform for the battery to sit above the heater:


The current build looks really simple but mostly accomplishes what I wanted it to do. The main cabinet is bolted to the floor with two bolts so it is really easy to remove. The battery box is fastened to the floor via tie downs and straps. The platform across the truck bed is independently removable so I can still transport large items:




Next on the to-do list is a 12v water system. A 5gal water can fits next to the battery in the above picture. I want to do a pull out sink and/or a quick connector for a water hose at the back of the cabinet by the fridge. Also, I think carpeted panels for the walls will be good for attaching velcro back storage bags for organization. One note is that obviously it isn't ideal having the built in weight all on one side. However, it is on the passenger side and opposite of the fuel tank so the distribution isn't too bad. Also, when loaded up, the bins of stuff go towards the left side.

Anyway, that was a bit of a wall of text and pictures but hopefully it helps folks with their builds. Easily my favorite part, not counting the camper itself, is the diesel heater. Being able to keep myself and four year old comfortable with lows in the 20s this past weekend was great.

 

Totally jelly, can't wait to get mine, I like the L shape you have going on!

 

I also like the L shape two floor design. Having two floors makes storage much easier IMO. Where did you buy the 30mm aluminum extrusion pieces? How do they hold each other together. In your diesel heater platform it is hard to see how its held together. I am thinking of doing building something similar.

 

I got the extrusion from Zyltech. It worked out to be the cheapest option I could find. It was approximately $0.20/inch including shipping for the 3030 series. Grainger and 8020.net were in the $0.30/inch range. Google Zyltech coupon and you can usually find a 10 or 15% off.

There are a ton of different fastener options. My favorite, which I used the most, is an inside semi-hidden bracket:
http://www.zyltech.com/t-slot-l-type-90-degree-3030-inside-bracket-12-pack/

Also, the L-brackets are nice for strength. I used spring backed nuts which is nice because they hold their position in the tracks and make assembly/re-assembly easier. The diesel heater platform is held together with the inside brackets and a plywood platform sits in the t-track.

The biggest challenge that I didn't plan for is that the bed floor is not co-planar with the bed rail. I obviously want the platform to be in the same plane as the bed rails as the camper references the rails. The front of the bed rails is over an inch higher above the bed floor than in the back. Building with the extrusion made it about as easy as it could be as you could construct the frame in iterations.

 

Awesome thank you for those suggestions. What refrigerator slides did you go with? I was checking McMaster and there are a ton of drawer slide options.

 

$59 VADANIA 24" Heavy Duty Drawer Slide with Lock #VD2053, 2" Width Up to 218lb Load Capacity, 3-Fold Full Extension, Ball Bearing Lock-in & Lock-Out, Side Mount, 1-Pair

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07HQMXZHY/

 

I noticed these have left and right lockable slides. I remember my previous fridge slide I only had one slide that was lockable. Made it easier to open since you just need to deal with one slide to unlock vs both sides. On the version you linked do you have to unlock both sides to open?

 

Yes, some people do a single lockable drawer slide. Its a two handed operation to pull out my fridge. I like the extra rigidity you get from dual locking, especially as I plan to have an additional nest drawer.

 

I had a Goosegear Icebox with fridge slide that I sold. It only locked on one side and it was very rigid with no movement when closed. Trying to find a slide combo with only one lockable slide similar to the Goosegear. I have small kids and I feel it will be easier for them to open the slide on their own without asking me to do it for them.

 

You can buy one lockable drawer slide and one non-lockable to achieve what you want (the link I provided is a pair obviously but you can find singles). I might try that with the nested drawer: get a pair of non-lockable and do one of each for the two drawers.

 

Nice work! This set up is very similar to my old set up in our Flippac. The L shape leave a lot of open floor space which is nice and the flexibility of a modular set up is tough to beat!

 

Got around to installing my hatch light before our trip last weekend. It’s nothing fancy, I had a length of lighting left over from our interior lights that I was saving for this. I had already wired a blank switch on my panel so adding it in was simple. Worked out great, gave a ton of light (it’s not really dark in this photo) for cooking and doesn’t cast shadows as I thought it would.

 

Any ideas with how to mount panels to the camper walls? I want to do carpeted, possibly insulated, panels cover the walls from corner panel to corner panel for velcro storage.

In a related question, what kind of tape is used to attach the corner switch panel brackets? I'm trying to avoid drilling through the walls.