Vagabond Drifter Camper Buildout and Mods

That looks very nice but rather large. I saw something about using the hot air of the diesel heater to warm up water (something like that, forgot what it was). I was trying to find the video on it but no luck

 

Such a sweet truck. I liked the bronze wheels, though! They looked great with the blue. Regarding the shower, for simplicity you could just get a collapsible rubber bucket from REI or similar, something in the 2-3 gallon range, a 12V submersible shower pump with a hand-held wand on a hose and an on-off flow control switch. Boil a kettle of water on the stove, mix it with cold in the bucket and take a shower. It works great. Yes, it uses stove fuel. But you would be using fuel for one of the hot water heater units anyway.

Edit: you could also use your bug spray pressurized can instead of the pump.

 

Right you are Ken. I was trying to wrap it up in a nut shell. The other thing to consider is the different charging requirements for AGM to Lithium.

 

Thanks I miss the bronze but I’m a black wheel guy at heart.

I never thought of just using the bug sprayer - I usually dump the water on my head from it. I’ll stop at home depot and buy a nozzle attachment and give it a shot!

 

I bought myself a rinse kit:

https://rinsekit.com/collections/ri...s-with-pressure-booster-pump-sprays-5-minutes



It takes 2 gallons of water and I added the hand pump and a 12V heater. Plug it in for about 1hr and its good for a shower that is fairly portable.

 

Living out of my Drifter for 2-3 months, I actually found it easiest with my routine to use the solar shower bags.
I'd generally stay in one spot for a week at a time, and so it worked out great to just put a few gallons in there in the morning and let the sun heat it passively all day while I was working, then just hang it from the end of a roof bar and shower in the afternoon.

Even a couple times when I needed to do the heating quicker, I'd just heat it over the stove and still put it in the solar shower bag.
I've got my water system setup so that I can pull from a different source like a pot or something and connect up a shower head, but it was more of a hassle than the bag in my opinion...

Now yes, I would actually prefer to have one of those ~2.5 gallon electric water heaters and have the system all setup with a thermostatic mixing valve and all that, but the cost/benefit isn't there for me right now given how much more space it would require in the camper, the extra power considerations, price, etc.

 

We have settled in the Nemo Helo after trying a bunch of other, more complicated products. We like it because it heats in the sun (or we add boiling water), has enough water for two great showers, packs small, and doesn’t require something to hang from. It has a foot pump. The unit is very durable and has a lifetime warranty from Nemo.

We tried three others products that were two to three times the price. None of them worked out for us. The Joolca Hottap was too complicated to set up and the hoses popping off the fixtures during showers. The RinseKit had a leak in the pressure tank. The Geyser system didn’t have enough water for two and the temp only got to 85. So, we have tried the complicated solutions and settled with the simple solution.



https://www.rei.com/product/163886/nemo-helio-lx-pressure-shower-22-liters

 

Anyone have any good resources on calculating solar needs and setup?
I'm ignorant as hell to it all, and am planning a Yeti 1500x to power fan, CFX55IM, and random accessory charging. Also planning a adhesive flexible panel to keep things minimal. Seems to be a lot of poor quality panels out there, so I was going to go with something like a Merlin panel. Trying to confirm the compatibility with that panel and the Yeti, and also try to calculate if 170 or 230 is enough wattage. Any help would be super appreciated.

https://www.solar-electric.com/merl...ffxIrQDqcuYQ7af6OnoSvshR-Kga-YSIaAl82EALw_wcB

 

I have learned a lot from these two:
https://www.mobile-solarpower.com/ Will Prowse, especially his Youtube videos
https://faroutride.com/van-electrical-calculator/

 

Thanks a bunch!

Back on the everpresent baseplate conversation, someone is using birch for a bed platform on their Landcruiser build and cut a bunch of holes in it to reduce weight. I'd like to do the same honestly and so long as I plan where the 80/20 is going to bolt to it, I cant imagine there would be much downside? Still should be pretty rigid I'd imagine? Would just fill the holes with some carpet or something

 

There are so many variables with solar power, it is pretty much a guess, no matter what your math. Here is the math I did for Eastern WA. 25 Ah to the battery for every 100 W of solar panel during the summer months. The Dometics seem to consume about 15 Ah per day in the cooler months, but 50 Ah per day in the hottest months in the summer (above 100 deg). You want to plan for the worst case, so you would need 200 W of solar to keep the fridge going in the summer. You can ignore cell phone charging, as it only takes a couple of Ah. Have you thought about fan usage in the summer? DM me if you want some feedback of your design.

 

I second the suggestion for Will Prowse's youtube videos! I watch some videos whenever I'm bored and always learn something new. He has also saved me from wasting money on cheap Amazon batteries and solar accessories.

 

How much would you guess you spent on just the 80/20 and wood build? What kind of wood and paint did you use? Any photos of the drawer?

looks amazing! Hope to build one soon. Thanks!

 

I'm making a similar build and my extrusion order was around $400

 

Been super busy the last few weeks!
Got the truck wrapped, installed KC Gravity lightbar, installed a Alucab shower box using Ironman quick disconnect awning brackets, mounted the Maxtrax up on the rack i made, and today installed 2 Odyssey batteries to replace the Optimas that just don't seem up to Snuff

 

Sorry for the long delay. (For those curious, this is regarding the Dickinson Newport propane fireplace.) Regarding the intake angle, you are correct that it cannot be flat horizontal. On my installation, the pipe does not pass through the Drifter perpendicular to the wall. It is angled up, which was tricky when it came to creating a two-part flanged sleeve that went through the camper wall at such an angle. The factory tube came with 3 of the coil spacers. I'm guessing you could buy extras from Dickinson. The arc you see on the flue while attached to my truck is the tightest bend the flue will make. That's as much as you can get out of it.

 

That looks amazing. Nice work!

 

Thank you!

 

More progress on the interior build. I got the cabinets finished and the deck / table piece done. The galley cabinet sink and stove are operational, but I have more work to do inside the cabinet. My design goal here was to have a comfortable standing height workspace for the kitchen galley, and space in the middle of the floor for two people to move around each other, but also to create a lounging deck for times when you just want to hang out in the camper. I didn't want to have to sit rigidly upright on a small bench seat for that. So I made a deck / table piece that allows two lounging chairs to be set up in "deck mode" and then it converts to both a tabletop or a countertop using the Lagun multi-position mounting system. When this piece is not being used, it just leans upright against the forward window. It matches the width of the center cabinet, so you can still open both side cabinet tops without it being in the way.

Deck mode:


Table mode:


Countertop mode:


One reason all this works is because I kept the fridge in the Extra Cab (where I've always had it). It stays cooler in there, doesn't take up precious space in the Drifter, and I never hear it.


The galley cabinet with the epoxy design wrapping around it turned out pretty cool. I got the black flush slam latches for the doors, but now that they're on I like the look of just the wood and epoxy. Does anyone know of a good latch system that would remain hidden? Some kind of releasing magnet?

 

Wow, this is turning out great, fantastic work