Vagabond Drifter Camper Buildout and Mods

Question: Any downside in your experience to the propane location?
Thank you.

 

I get the sail thing. Lost at least 2 mpg at a minimum and with a headwind, well....
Saw zhellman has a short roof rack with a fairing, but cannot tell mfr. Wondering if there is enough room for it on the Tacoma. Any one know what it is? I will bump him if not.
Thanks

 

@SenatorBlutarsky, do you have the VO lighting package that is mounted up in the c-channel? If so, I am interested to know how the carpet affects the light output. I was thinking of adding carpet, but the lighting needs the white surface to reflect on. I have the insulation package, so that might make give me less space to install carpet.

 

Nope, I just have the standard tailgate light from VO.

 

Thanks for asking... have not seen any significant difference in MPG. But I haven't shared that with the Mrs who complains about me wasting my (I mean our) hard earn money. Luckily she doesn't read the Tacoma World forum.

 

Actually I purchased the roadshower and had it shipped directly to VO. I will leave it to Phil V to discuss the charges because he encountered some challenges and may have concluded perhaps I wasn't charged enough.
I will confess that I am an old fart... so never in a tight squeeze situation where width was an issue.
I never noticed any noise after the Drifter install... I put on the fairing in attempt to improve MPG.

 

I haven't seen a lot of discussion about solar, extra battery, or sub panels. I'm wondering what solar panels and charge controllers people are running, size and location of extra battery, type and location of sub panel, do you have you truck and house batteries linked together, if so how?? Any info is much appreciated, I still have 10+ months to figure everything out, but I would like to have the plan and all the parts ready to go when the time comes.

 

You have not been looking hard enough...

Seriously, these topics are heavily discussed, even in this very thread.

 

I didn't read the thread beginning to end, I am sure it has been discussed here before, but I didn't turn up much when I searched it and didn't see much as I want through. I was hoping to get the discussion started again, but I can always Google it if it's a dead topic now.

 

Awkwardly enough...

I put on the Drifter, went to 5.29 gears, and now have gained almost 3 MPG. I don't really feel the drifter on my truck until I turn. Getting around 18.8 MPG.

 

There's info out there, but I'm happy to share.

(Also, FYI, the TacomaWorld search function is seriously bad. If I want to find X on TacomaWorld, I use Google to search for "tacomaworld X". Works much better.)

I'm running a Merlin 165W panel, a

$460 RedArc BCDC1225D Dual Input 25A in-Vehicle DC Battery Charger

RedArc BCDC1225D charge controller, and a Relion RB-100LT battery. The RedArc unit receives charge from both the truck battery and the solar panel and judiciously doles it out to the camper battery. Everything except my fuse panel is in a (very heavy) little box, which can be removed from the truck via three bolts, five connectors, and a strong back. Will have to get some photos soon...

 

Haha

did the fairing help with the wind noise ?

 

That's awesome what gears are recommended for a Auto 2nd gen running 34-35" tires?

 

The RedArc looks like a good option, how long have you been running it?? Have you had any issues with it yet?? The one thing I don't like about it is it being an all in one unit if it goes bad then you're really screwed.

 

4.88’s

 

4.88's is what I'd recommend and most on here probably.

 

Renogy 160W Solar Panel to a Rich Solar 20A Charge Controller to a 100Ah Deep Cycle Battery from Windy Nation.

I'll be adding another 160W Renogy panel, as well as another battery. I found that I'd easily drain just the single battery using an inverter for charging my laptop. If you keep everything 12v, you'll be able to get by with a lot more.

I'll add pics on here in a second. This isn't my work; the previous owner did a fabulous job and I'm sharing his work. I'll be removing the panel up top and putting both panels on L-Track.

 

The battery came from Windy Nation(www.windynation.com) - 100Ah.

 

Updating the post, good to see you on here!!!

 

I literally got it wired up this week, so I haven't used it at all really. Does exactly what it's supposed to, though, I haven't had to tinker with my system at all - just designed it, put it together, plugged it in, and it's been golden. I've been checking it multiple times per day (working from home!) and it's always doing what it's supposed to be.

I hear the "single-unit failure" argument. I like the small footprint, the simplicity of wiring, and RedArc's reliability reputation is pretty stellar. That's pretty far down my list of things I see failing, although of course that's not impossible!