Vagabond Drifter Camper Buildout and Mods

Long bed floor template!
Thanks to a buddy having an oem bed mat Added a half inch to two sections...fits like a glove!

Going to try @MJonaGS32 suggestion of using oem bed bolts with “spacers” as needed. Don’t know if the 3rd gen bolt lengths differ from 2nd gen yet.

 

Fwiw I've never bothered anchoring my bed platorms down and never had an issue ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

It can become an issue when bombing down the desert roads at 60+mph... the page service roads can get some nasty woops in them...

 

Yeah with the whole interior build anchored to this sheet and the way I use this truck...it’s definitely getting bolted. I can see how some would be fine with out it though.

Note: A 4x8 sheet will leave a little to be desired on the edges fore and aft of the wheel wells. About 3” to be exact. This will need to be taken into consideration when adding cabinetry later as it won’t be level.



So there are three options...
1. Make a cut down the middle of the bed lengthwise and connect a thin center buffer of sorts
2. Make a cut across the bed center widthwise and connect parts of two sheets
3. Sit back, grab a beer and stare at those 3” gaps that probably will be covered eventually anyway.

 

Or option 4:

Order a custom sheet of whatever wood or poly material you want.

My bed will have the base made from a poly resin board. Great for mounting anything to and strong enough/flexible enough to withstand the jouncing around that will ensue.

 

I would do option 1 with some sort of dark wood flooring. I have always liked contrasting wood color designs on the flooring of homes, so why not here?

 

This is one situation where the weird 5' x 5' sized Baltic birch will actually make things easier ...for the short beds, at least.

 

I’m planning on covering this Baltic birch sheet with vinyl (high usage) wood look planks. *thumbs up!

 

In the Flippac, the floor was never bolted down. But the lower cabinets were attached to the bed rails at 6 points. Just another option to further complicate things

 

I used a 4x8 sheet and cut out a small piece to fill in the rest of the bed on the left side and connected it by the Kreg jig edge joining option.


(google image)

Then I filled the seam and screws holes with wood filler, then sanded as smooth as I could. The bedliner hides it well, but you can still see the imperfection on the left edge (about half way up), that is where I added the extra piece and straight down. I used the oem bed mat to trace out the shape on plywood and used a combination of a circular saw and jigsaw to cut it out

 

Aaahhh yes the kreg jig!! That’s right! I’m on it tomorrow.
Mark this as option number 4, 5 or 6. I lost count.

 

@danneskjold @MJonaGS32 @MTNHABITOVERLAND what fridge are you installing?

For those looking for a fridge there is a group buy going on currently....

From :

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Oh, and we said the prices aren’t on the website for the sale as it is a group only deal. Does that mean you can’t tell anyone else to go and use your code? I mean….how would be ever really know…

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@MJonaGS32 @MTNHABITOVERLAND do you have an approximate weight for the wood bed mat? I have been using 3/4" rubber stall mat and it works really well as a no-slip surface but it is heavy af.

 

I used Baltic Birch 1/2”. While I don’t know the exact weight, after using the bed mat as a template I can tell you the wood is lighter.

 

Has anyone looked into bed rail caps like these from Voodoo?

 

I'm using an ARB 50Qt.

You can look up the weight on 1/2 inch (whatever the metric equivalent is) 5x5 piece of Baltic birch to figure out what my short bed platform weighs. Then take a little off for the wheel wells.

 

I had given thought to securing the camper directly to the bed rail using this as a flat washer of sorts to get rid of the camper c-clamps. Still mulling over how to access and drill through the bed cap itself.

 

That was my thought as well. What does the channel on the Drifter look like? I was thinking of asking to have mine drilled during production to make it easier.

 

A 4’x8’ sheet of 1/2” birch plywood is 55 lbs

A 4’x8’ sheet of 3/4” birch plywood is 83 lbs

 

Thanks, I clearly should have thought of looking up the sheet weights to ball park. Even 3/4" is significantly lighter than the mat I use now.