Wedge Campers & Assorted Oddities

Except the over-hang is way longer, as you can see in the pic it covers the entire roof of that double cab.

 

True, I am guessing thats to allow standing room with the bed down, although the bed does lift up via struts to allow you to move around under it.

 

I'd like to see a video of
driving over a whoop de do at 30 mph.

 

It has a large open area that extends past the bed for standing area.

 

Damn, wonder why the same price point as a habitat...its nice but the price point of a wedge is a bit lower, at least in this current market. I guess since they have a reputation in the market with the habitat they can start where they want. I am glad we have other, more affordable/high quality, options.

 

I suspect that the Summit shares many, if not most, of the parts used for the Habitat. It appears not to be a redesign, other than the roof assembly, and perhaps some improvements and tweaks. It should be relatively easy to get these into production since they're not starting from scratch.
Too bad its so expensive. I'm glad there's other viable competitors that cost less.

 

AT had the luxury of market dominance for a several years. Some people buy for the cool expo factor and others are more influenced with what their bank account can allow.

 

Sorry it took me so long, the patent I am told recently expired is this one:

https://patents.google.com/patent/US5544671A/en?oq=5544671

Whether that is actually why the segment has exploded, I don't know. But it seems at least coincidental that the style is now getting more popular once it is no longer patent encumbered.

 

So on Monday I had the unfortunate experience of crash testing my Vagabond Drifter.

While driving down a dirt road near Toponos, CO I took an incline turn too wide and flopped my truck on its side. The Drifter likely prevented me from rolling over completely, and I came to rest on the cabover portion of the Drifter. I was incredibly fortunate that my dog and me came away unscathed - if I had rolled completely over I don't think that would have been the case. The Drifter certainly prevented further damage to my dog, my truck, and me and for that I am grateful.

The Drifter sustained only minor injuries, and continues to be used (where I am writing this post from in fact - a body shop in Glennwood Springs). There is a dent in the cab over portion, and the entire camper shifted (you can see this in the photos) - I expected my bed bolts to be broken but instead only one of the c-clamps was busted and a few of the bolts were bent.
There's been some discussion about the structural integrity of the Drifter and after this I really have no doubt that it's incredibly strong. There is an absolute ton of bends, folds, and welds inside that all contribute to the structural integrity of it. A couple bent bolts and a minor dent are pretty impressive. The fact that the gas struts were on the inside, and that the folds and bends in the aluminum extend entirely around the camper I think are the keys in minimizing the damage I imagine.

My truck was not so lucky. The side airbags deployed and it laid on the driver side for around 5 hours (I was 40 miles from cell service) and we can't get the engine started. The spark plugs have all been pulled (it was hydrolocked), and it's been manually turned with a wrench (so it's not seized) but there's something electronic preventing it from cranking (it acts like it has a dead battery, starter doesn't even engage but fuel pump is active). Basically if we can get the engine going insurance will repair it, otherwise it's probably a loss. It's a 2017 Tacoma with about 30k miles on it.

I'll end with two notes -

I've been driving on dirt and forest roads since before I had my license, so I'm not new to it. I definitely got complacent, and likely didn't pay enough attention to the road. It seems obvious, but always pay attention and don't become complacent.

I'd recommend everything have some form of bailout/overnight bag in their cab with them. I'm not talking a threeper bag, but a bag that contains everything you would need for you and your family or pets if you had to walk out. I didn't have access to my bed for over 24 hours and luckily had some dog food, toiletries (contact lenses really), warm jacket, and cash in a bag that I grabbed when I climbed out.

 

Here's a shot (post accident) showing the interior. You can see the amount of bends/folds in the aluminum.

 

Pretty sure I could break that thing with my retard grade driving, or at least bend it to where it's hitting the top of the cab. That looks really unreliable for any desert romping more than 10mph.

 

holy shit. Glad you, your dog, and the drifter are okay.

 

Glad you guys are ok!

Thanks for sharing the story and the solid feed back! We really did put a lot of thought into the Drifter and we’re glad it prevented more damage to the truck!

Just so everyone knows, Zero was our first complete camper built, so it’s far from perfect and the production units are better built.

 

Good to hear you were uninjured. If you are confident it won't be somehow used against you, could you describe more on what happened?

Did you hike out to a landline somewhere or go the full 40 miles to cell service?

 

wow, glad you guys are ok. Testament to how strong these campers are!

 

I actually got *really* lucky and flopped the truck right in front of a dude on a family fishing trip. His brother drove me into town and I ended up knocking on doors so I could borrow a phone. The family that answered actually rebuilds Land Cruisers and had several 80 series in their front yard!
They were incredibly kind, ended up cooking elk steaks and let the amberlamps, fire truck, State patrol, and tow truck stage out of their yard. I felt really bad about taking up the fire truck and amberlamps time but it turns out that was their only call all week..

There's definitely something to be said about the friendliness and openness of rural communities - no way that would have happened in the city.

 

When insurance came by we noticed there was a dent in my roof, but we all agreed there was no way that was from the camper.

Looked closer today and my cab and the Drifter cab over definitely made contact with each other during the roll. Pretty crazy that the Drifter cab over portion over extended and hit my roof (well, my roof hit it rather) - and then popped back out with no damage (to the Drifter).

Missing my weather strip because it flew off in Wyoming

 

That contact could have been from your frame flexing, rather than the Drifter flexing.

 

It's possible but given that it landed on the Drifter I think the cab-over portion over extending seems more likely? I'm not an engineer.