Vagabond Drifter Camper Buildout and Mods

Vagabond sells them.

 

I used the voodoo rail caps and they sucked. The finish chips off easily and the. Comes the rust. I think there are companies who make em out of aluminum I would recommend that.

 

From what I understand the old KB Voodoo bed rail caps sucked, but the new ones do not. Mine are aluminum and the power coating has had not chipped at all in over a year. I am a big fan.

 

^ Same here

 

I would say that if I had the chance I would change the bed caps before installing the camper on my 3rd Gen. You will still need to deal with gaps on all four corners but avoid leaking along the sides. Also make sure when the camper is installed its not sitting too far back like mine. It will not be possible to reposition the Drifter without a forklift.

 

@Kclamer so i repositioned mine using several people inside, camper closed, just lifted and moved it the inch or two. wasnt to hard, take some time with some one on the outside to make sure the seal moves too. could be worth a shot


this is also how we removed and put the gfc off mine and onto my girlfriends truck

 

Nice! You must have some strong friends. I tried to do it when I got home from the install last year but I couldnt get the thing to lift.

 

the Relentless/VO ones are for second gens only, will not fit 3rds.

 

d'oh! Third gens are always a problem...

 

*Turd gens

 

I don't know, I just did a (decently) thorough job of sealing under the 3rd gen bed rail caps, and in the front corners and stuff before installation. And on the few occasions when I get a little water ingress (usually only at the front of the bed), I shrug it off cause it's not enough to hurt anything.
Now, I am in the general Southwest, so it's not frequent, but my Drifter has definitely still seen some extreme rain/snow.

 

I'm not saying that this is the smart way to go, just sharing my experience...

I did absolutely nothing to my 2nd gen before the camper went on (didn't really have time with a newborn). The camper has been sitting on the stock plastic bed caps with no sealing at all for two years now. I definitely get some dust inside, but I've not seen any leaking at all so far. Those stock bed caps are bowed out a bit at this point though and I'm sure there's some scratching of the bed caps going on underneath.
Is this where I use this...?

 

I only had a little bit of scuffing. Cleaned it up with some light sand paper, touched up with primer then paint, and then put down tape

 

Mine was pretty bad from the bed rack and RTT prior to Drifter install, but most of it is on there outside edge, which means it's still visible under the KB VooDoo caps. I should have gotten the Relentless ones, but got these used prior to the Drifter...

 

I guess its harder to touch up another color besides white. I just used "gloss white" spray paint from HD. But also my attention to detail is low. I think Ive touched up my 040 paint with that same spray paint
Plus I put the tape over the touch-up.

I heard the Relentless caps are very hard to get.

 

The projects begin.
Sealed up the bed rails with tape and silicone before the install.

While I did that I also tore apart the 120v outlet box and the little storage box. Need to keep working on the cubby box. Hard to get it to totally seal.

Drifter install last Friday.

Immediate trip to the mountains. Our luck we usually camp in the desert during the winter so shorts and light sleeping bags were nice.

First bath

More sealing of the Drifter from various things.
Bugs via a Strawfoot screen. Super easy to install and high quality. Very happy with it. Probably going to glue some magnets underneath the bed to hold the bottom in place since I added temporary seal material along the bottom.

Also took someone’s advice on the forum to use electrician putty for temporary sealing of spots around the bed. Super easy to work with and easy to clean up.

Started laying out the 12v arrangement with cardboard. Only bought half a sheet of plywood so want to make it right lol

Battleborn battery that I will build a tiedown baseplate and use the long bed bolt for anchorage, Redarc controller & some other fun stuff that I will use all thread to anchor to t slot nuts slid along the rails. Keep the buildout simple for now while we decide what we want longer term.

As requested, Vagabond ran all the wires to this corner (with plenty to spare) for the solar as well as light/fan power for the Drifter.

 

Lessons learned...... use the bed bolts if you want a fridge slide....... pretty sure I'm the only one who thought I could get away with it.

 

What am I looking at haha

 

About to start doing the same (Drifter not ready yet).
How does the Drifter come wired?
Does it come with loose cables for each item like upper lights, lower lights, fan, etc and you supply your own fuse/fuseblock?
I am trying to figure out if I can get by with my blue sea 6 fuse block or size up.

 

I asked for my wiring to all run to the front passenger corner where I am putting my battery (weight). I will fuse it up there myself.
I believe they will run it directly to the main battery if you want and fuse it appropriately to save you the panel. Would have to tear open the panel and look to make sure. Someone else may be able to confirm.