AT Tacoma Habitat: Official Thread

Martyn · Nov 27, 2017

excorcist said:
Thanks Martyn. I ended up ordering an 8 foot smittybilt awning as 4wheelparts had an amazing sale on them. They are designed to be somewhat universal... If it doesn't work so be it but would like to try.

Im hoping to mount somewhat flush to side of habitat in front of the struts using L track, but if that doesn't work I should most certainly be able to make something like Wanderer has shown.

An 8ft awning won't work in front of the strut, and if it's attached to the lid the awning rotates as the lid is opened.

Hold off brackets maybe the answer. Something substantial made from stainless would be best, needs to be isolated from the aluminum skin.

calicamper · Nov 27, 2017

We have lots of high grade stainless riveted to really really expensive sail boat masts sitting in salty places. The easy method is a coat of good quality silicon put down between the Alu and other metal. My 1986 mast is pretty clean still.

elcoyote · Nov 28, 2017

calicamper said:
We have lots of high grade stainless riveted to really really expensive sail boat masts sitting in salty places. The easy method is a coat of good quality silicon put down between the Alu and other metal. My 1986 mast is pretty clean still.

Make sure it is a type II silicone without acetic acid otherwise you will experience corrosion with the aluminum.

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excorcist · Nov 28, 2017

Tried attaching a picture of my plans.. used a pic found on internet, Black lines denote where L track will be, Red line Denotes where I plan to mount awning, the length is not an issue as if it hangs over the front I am not concerned, from my measurements the length should be close to perfect, main worry is if the side of the habitat sits on the same plane as the roof rack, again something i can adjust with spacers, or brackets. Another concern is that I will be able to leave room for both the door opening, and access to the habitat latches.

DVexile · Nov 29, 2017

I really don't think attaching something to both the Habitat and the roof rack at the same time is a good idea at all. Typically the bed and the cab move significantly relative to each other when off-road so you'll put massive stress on the awning mounts as well as where the roof rack mounts to the cab.

elcoyote · Nov 29, 2017

DVexile said:
I really don't think attaching something to both the Habitat and the roof rack at the same time is a good idea at all. Typically the bed and the cab move significantly relative to each other when off-road so you'll put massive stress on the awning mounts as well as where the roof rack mounts to the cab.

I would agree with this statement. I think the better option is to raise the awning off of the track giving enough clearance for the gas springs and to move it rearward .

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excorcist · Nov 29, 2017

elcoyote said:
I would agree with this statement. I think the better option is to raise the awning off of the track giving enough clearance for the gas springs and to move it rearward .

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The concern of flex is something I hadn't considered, as I have seen so many other awnings attached across camper shells to roof racks I didn't even think about it.

I could definitely isolate the awning mounts with some rubber which would alleviate alot of the torque, or as you mentioned mount solely to the habitat. Will have to play it by ear I guess, hard to make certain plans until I have everything in front of me. Glad to have things to consider though, thanks again for the input.

kalieaire · Nov 29, 2017

excorcist said:
The concern of flex is something I hadn't considered, as I have seen so many other awnings attached across camper shells to roof racks I didn't even think about it.

I could definitely isolate the awning mounts with some rubber which would alleviate alot of the torque, or as you mentioned mount solely to the habitat. Will have to play it by ear I guess, hard to make certain plans until I have everything in front of me. Glad to have things to consider though, thanks again for the input.

I haven't seen any done this way, but if they have, that's a really poor life choice.

https://youtu.be/bCHLqN06-Ok?t=73

Check the video starting at 1:13

Both the Tacoma and the Tundra have partially boxed frames and mostly C-Chanel frames. The reason Toyota gives is that it's setup for rock crawling for additional flex, kinda of like suspension travel, but not really. Even with fully boxed frames it's a poor choice unless the mount accounted for several degrees of chassis/frame flex and longitudinal extension. Basically under stress, it's not a question of if it will wear, just how quickly it wears through things that weren't meant to be worn. Any attempt at isolation would simply be a band-aid. A better choice would be to have an awning swing out and get unwound across the length of the vehicle. Like mount a 3' awning spanning the top of the cab from the windshield to the rear window and pull it from the front of the rack to the back of the habitat.

excorcist · Nov 30, 2017

kalieaire said:
I haven't seen any done this way, but if they have, that's a really poor life choice.

https://youtu.be/bCHLqN06-Ok?t=73

Check the video starting at 1:13

Both the Tacoma and the Tundra have partially boxed frames and mostly C-Chanel frames. The reason Toyota gives is that it's setup for rock crawling for additional flex, kinda of like suspension travel, but not really. Even with fully boxed frames it's a poor choice unless the mount accounted for several degrees of chassis/frame flex and longitudinal extension. Basically under stress, it's not a question of if it will wear, just how quickly it wears through things that weren't meant to be worn. Any attempt at isolation would simply be a band-aid. A better choice would be to have an awning swing out and get unwound across the length of the vehicle. Like mount a 3' awning spanning the top of the cab from the windshield to the rear window and pull it from the front of the rack to the back of the habitat.

Maybe I just thought I had seen people mount across racks from cab to shell, I did a quick google search and didn't see anything. In any case it looks like isolation may not be the answer either.

Very interesting video, I will be doing some frame reinforcement down the road as I have definitely noticed how flexy the back end is while working under there on jack stands etc.. Think I saw a rear frame box kit for under 200$ over on Tacoma world...Never knew they flexed that much though.

kalieaire · Nov 30, 2017

excorcist said:
Maybe I just thought I had seen people mount across racks from cab to shell, I did a quick google search and didn't see anything. In any case it looks like isolation may not be the answer either.

Very interesting video, I will be doing some frame reinforcement down the road as I have definitely noticed how flexy the back end is while working under there on jack stands etc.. Think I saw a rear frame box kit for under 200$ over on Tacoma world...Never knew they flexed that much though.

Yeah, I wouldn't think anything of it. we see things, we see things, all good.

But the flex is technically really useful for crawling on stock suspension. However, when we put stuff like caps on the truck, a section of the ladder frame flexes less and puts more stress in the section of the frame between the cab and the bed, even though it's the spot that has the lease amount of deflection.

Folks who go w/ BAMF's (bay area metal fab) extended shock mounts for 12" of travel (like me) have much less issues with not having enough flex. But ymmv.

If you really want to do a frame boxing, trail gear i think sell kits for ~109-140, but lots of prep work like welding nuts in place etc, and with this sort of bed off work, I'd consider installing long travel, replacing the rear axle, or both.

Honestly, I'd replace the rear axle with dynatrac or curry long before I box my frame. i'm always afraid my stock diff is going to explode.

excorcist · Nov 30, 2017

kalieaire said:
Yeah, I wouldn't think anything of it. we see things, we see things, all good.

But the flex is technically really useful for crawling on stock suspension. However, when we put stuff like caps on the truck, a section of the ladder frame flexes less and puts more stress in the section of the frame between the cab and the bed, even though it's the spot that has the lease amount of deflection.

Folks who go w/ BAMF's (bay area metal fab) extended shock mounts for 12" of travel (like me) have much less issues with not having enough flex. But ymmv.

If you really want to do a frame boxing, trail gear i think sell kits for ~109-140, but lots of prep work like welding nuts in place etc, and with this sort of bed off work, I'd consider installing long travel, replacing the rear axle, or both.

Honestly, I'd replace the rear axle with dynatrac or curry long before I box my frame. i'm always afraid my stock diff is going to explode.

I have Total Chaos SUA kit in rear with expedition leafs and adjustable king remote resis, and I actually ordered a Bamf relocation kit through their black Friday sale last week so I can run a longer shock... Its just unsettling seeing the amount the frame flexes when using a jack back there, I want to do some sort of re-inforcement, even if I dont full on box the frame in (as I don't plan on having to remove the bed once the habitat is on)

As far as replacing the axle I think that would be a little overkill for me, as I really don't go "rock crawling" or looking for the toughest trails; just exploring backroads and the occasional rough terrain while out hunting/fishing/camping/exploring. Plus I re-geared and am only on 33s so its not tooo much on the little 8.4 3rd.

Keyne · Nov 30, 2017

Have they fixed the leaking tent issue? Read the seams weren’t sealed at the factory so sealing kits were supplied. Was this just with the early tents and they are now sealed before sale?

elcoyote · Nov 30, 2017

Keyne said:
Have they fixed the leaking tent issue? Read the seams weren’t sealed at the factory so sealing kits were supplied. Was this just with the early tents and they are now sealed before sale?

From a previous post:

"There were some issues with tent seam sealing in one batch we had but that has been resolved. We sent out sealing kits to customers and fixed those that were local. The balance of the batch were all sealed in house and tested with a sprinkler system before being mounted.

We have made a change back to our original fabric which has different sewing characteristics that makes seam sealing much simpler. "

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kalieaire · Dec 1, 2017

excorcist said:
I have Total Chaos SUA kit in rear with expedition leafs and adjustable king remote resis, and I actually ordered a Bamf relocation kit through their black Friday sale last week so I can run a longer shock... Its just unsettling seeing the amount the frame flexes when using a jack back there, I want to do some sort of re-inforcement, even if I dont full on box the frame in (as I don't plan on having to remove the bed once the habitat is on)

As far as replacing the axle I think that would be a little overkill for me, as I really don't go "rock crawling" or looking for the toughest trails; just exploring backroads and the occasional rough terrain while out hunting/fishing/camping/exploring. Plus I re-geared and am only on 33s so its not tooo much on the little 8.4 3rd.

I suppose. I've just seen plenty of people who don't really wheel much and just go camping, like me, but their diffs end up puking up all over the place. I'm running 33s too. And it doesn't matter if it's stock, nitro, yukon, or whatever. Add the weight, go off the road, go up hill or anything that is going to taxes the driveline, and it's eventually going to wear and throw a tooth. 8.4" and 8.0" diff, there's no difference since they run the same sing ring gear anyway. I mean some people who never go offroad destroy their driveline because they turned out part time 4wd on pavement.

crap happens.

I'm just hedging my bets and getting an axle i know will last.

kalieaire · Dec 1, 2017

elcoyote said:
Yours seems to be the only one we have heard about. It was removed and then reinstalled. I will be sending you an email about replacing your mounting with our new mounting system. It uses the Toyota cargo restraint track on the bed sidewalls for attachment.

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Mario, Have you received my emails?

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AT Tacoma Habitat: Official Thread

Martyn

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excorcist

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