Wedge Campers & Assorted Oddities

oh right yes. the flippac was for sure. I just said the habitat because thats the only one you can still buy today.

I couldn't believe the interior space. It's huge. Im 6' 1'' and i felt like I was in a small bed room.

The tent itself..yeah i bet it would have sucked in wind and storms. I know had I decided to keep it I would have modified the tent a lot with more poles.

 

The quote above is from the drifter forum but wanted to post here to get different options: @dman100 mentioned "Great welds" and I've been wondering about how the aluminum welds will hold up to fatigue and shaking on dirt roads? From what I've heard aluminum is light and strong but terrible with fatigue - especially when the aluminum has been melted and welded.

I'm from San Diego and for years we've heard about the Callen Campers being the best for Baja due to their steel frame. I was actually looking at getting one (they are making some again these days) but found out they are 5K new and really heavy (700 lbs?) for a tacoma. I was looking at aluminum shells and things but kept hearing how baja eats welded aluminum campers (like FWC), its the washboard stress on those welded joints that will cause the design to tear itself apart. There are some things that I really like about the drifter (like side windows), but I've been worried about the aluminum welds holding up to fatigue and breaking when I'm way down some dirt road in Baja.

Anyone know where the welded joints are on the drifter? That would help in understanding its ability to hold up to fatigue and to get me home on down the road.

 

When buying my truck, I took into considerations where I was going to sleep. The 6' bed was really the only option for me regardless of what tent I went with because that meant I could sleep inside the bed in any weather. A veteran to tent camping and even with backpacking tents, I was basically done w/ the flappiness i'd get atop High Sierra Alpines in the middle of the night, the camper shell was a step in the right direction and sleeping in 18f weather in Yosemite was never a problem.

With the habitat, if it gets windy, I can close the top and still sleep comfortably inside being 5'8". Now if there were only an Access Cab with a 7' bed or a Regular Cab w/ an 8' bed.

 

I’ll let @Overlanerd reply in more detail, but what I saw, and what I’ve also been told by the Vagabond guys, doesn’t concern me at all. Yes, there are some welds, but the bulk of structural connections are a combination of bolts, solid cor rivets and structural adhesives. There is nothing inherently wrong with welded aluminum ... most modern motorcycle frames are welded up from aluminum castings and extrusions, and the Drifter seems to have solid mechanical engineering incorporated in the design. Note I am not affiliated with them in any way, but I am a retired, degreed mechanical engineer, with 40 years in industry, most of which involved sheet metal products for multi-national corporations, including 5 years design of cab and chassis parts for Peterbilt, the premium aluminum-cab truck in the US heavy truck market. That said, there’s nothing wrong with the GFC steel tube space frame and aluminum panels either. One’s a classic Ducati 916, one’s a new Panigale. It’s great to have this choice where a few years ago there was only the ‘glass, wood and (rusty) steel FlipPac.

 

The 4wc’s on my Scout and Tacoma did really well and I had no issues with either through Death Valley and many other trails. Same with my V1. But that’s a different design, so I’ll address ours.

The lower section corners are CNC bent. The top of the lower section is formed in a way that makes it extremely rigid. The lower panels connect at the top and bottom with welds. And a small portion of the vertical section. In the middle/ vertical portion of the panel connection, there is a bend. The bends of each panel are connected with mil- spec “AD” (2117 aluminum), and the stress is more
Tensile than shear. Not that these rivets don’t exceed the shear strength exerted at that point.

The lower lid corners are welded at 2 horizontal and two vertical seams. The rear of the lower lid is bolted to the lower camper portion. We also use a high-strength sealer/ adhesive. The cabover portion has tubing and sheet aluminum under the sleeping platform (with 1” foam insulation between the tubing sections) and a sheet aluminum under panel that is bolted to the lower lid. That sheet increases the lateral shear strength and definitely decreases the stress at the corners. As does the 3 bends in that formed section.

The roof is one piece. Bent and returned at each edge. The vertical seam and underside return are welded. So is the 1” x 1” awning track tubing and 1” x 1” cross braces. And the whole roof has a cross break that really adds strength.
Speaking of the roof, it has 1” foam insulation that has foil on one side and plastic sheeting on the other. It obviously blocks solar rays, is highly reflective, and seems to greatly reduce heat. At least that was my experience with the last 3 insulated aluminum-roofed campers, so it will be no different with this one.

It also blocks aliens/ the government from reading our thoughts.

The welds are also visible, so it’s very easy to inspect them. As opposed to other materials that could have internal damage, from impact, that is not visible.

TL;DR

Lower

• Pants that fit well and don’t fall down: bent corners with no seams.
• Belt: welded panel connections.
• Suspenders: mil-spec rivets.

Lower lid

• Pants that fit well and don’t fall down: bent with 2 vertical and 2 horizontal sections.
• Belt: welded at each seam.
• Suspenders: connected to lower body with bolts.
• 2nd set of suspenders: high strength sealant/ adhesive.

Roof

• Pants that fit well and don’t fall down: single sheet of 1/8”
• 5052 with cross breaks.
• Belt: welded corners.
• Suspenders: tube framing.

I was writing this before @dman100 posted, but I like his explanation much better than mine!

 

I will say that the roof and insulation is highly effective in direct sunlight. In the photo below, i had my roof facing the hill toward the sunrise and the whole interior of the Drifter stayed cool while it was a lot warmer outside.

 

Clearly a lot of thought has gone into this, thanks for sharing more detail. (just saw @Overlanerd's reply - lots of detail)

You will surely know this better than I, so correct me if I am wrong, but aluminum is made with different specs from the factory, 5052 H-32, where the 5052 refers to the specific alloy, and the H-32 refers to the tempering. When you weld aluminum you break down the tempering and this makes that welded point weaker. I think you can re-temper aluminum once it has been welded, like they do so aluminum bicycles don't crack but that's pretty specialized stuff (and expensive). Glad to hear about the rivets and adhesive, wondering about galvanic corrosion with the bolts, and wondering if the welds are being re-tempered? thanks

 

I’ve seen a lot of welded aluminum sled trailers break at the welds but those are subject to some pretty harsh roads and subzero temperatures. Trailers also don’t have anywhere near the shock absorption a shell on a Tacoma has. I’m assuming the handbuilt low production volume ensures a much better quality weld and product than mass produced trailers.

 

It seems like you are very knowledgeable when it comes to metallurgy. Are you a certified welding inspector by chance? Because these are the exact points my high-school buddy brought up. He’s a certified welding inspector for a Military contractor with 20 years in the industry and a degree in metallurgy. His assessment was that the forces put on these campers doesn’t come close those that would cause failure by welding.

To be fair, please compare your assessment to composite panels and extruded aluminum.

I appreciate the questions and am more than willing to address each issue. My cousin/ college roommate was an ME major and many of my friends are ME’s. I will defer your questions to them and provide solid answers.

 

The H32 in 5052 H32 isn’t actually a temper ... it’s a work hardening to quarter hard. This is the grade most commonly used for welded aluminum structures. The Vagabond guys couldn’t have picked a better material spec.

 

@Overlanerd and @dman100 thanks for the responses. No, not a welding inspector just heard a lot about Callen Campers and began asking around when I was getting ready to buy a new truck/camper. Look forward to hearing what the ME's share. Again, there are many parts of the Drifter design that I really like, especially the side windows and I like the long bed/overhang, but wondering about strength in the long run, so this is why I'm asking these questions.

 

I’m NOT a welding inspector but i am an engineer. Steel is stronger than aluminum period... aluminum is prone to fatigue cracking it’s just the way it is.

There’s a reason Planes are riveted rather than welded. Not saying the Drifter is anything but a great design but if you understand metallurgy Steel is always stronger than Aluminum, it’s just the way it is.

Aluminum WILL fatigue faster than steel....

 

I don’t think a single person argued that aluminum was stronger than steel.

I mean, good thing planes, vehicles and boats aren’t made out of aluminum right!

 

I was talking welds. And yes it’s a very good thing planes are made of Aluminum and are NOT welded. That fun little “bounce” you see in the wings wouldn’t fair well...

We were talking about Aluminum Welds weren’t we?

 

They have been welding on aluminum boats for years. Vehicle manufacturers are now starting to build cars and trucks out of aluminum using the welding process. It’s like any type of welding, it can be done correctly and be done incorrectly. I believe Vagabond outdoors has done their homework and are putting forth their best effort to provide the public a reliable, long lasting camper.

 

Why are we comparing aluminum campers to aluminum airplanes?

 

Some crazy people here like to try making their trucks with campers fly?

 

I think it’s been explained by @Overlanerd, but our campers are not fully welded. There are more rivets and bolts holding the camper together than welds.

Our campers are made from formed aluminum sheets and some areas require welding.

We are also not the only ones making campers out of/with aluminum, and I’m not aware of any camper that’s fully made of steel.

 

That’s a good answer

 

I can stand in my Drifter all the time. Even with the bed out. Theres plenty of room between the end of the bed and the back of the camper. I never have to add or remove my bed.