Jeep Wrangler Habitat Official Release

[Dan Grec]

The awning is still in process with NEMO, receiving some tweaks since the last blue colored prototype. There will be a provision for hanging walls that will be released later.

Hey Mario,

Can you tell me where the "poles" for the awning will be stored? i.e. do you have a tricky system in mind where they will fold into the habitat and be completely hidden within when the roof is "down", or will they be separate and the user will just throw them in the back of the Jeep when not in use?
In the case of the latter, how "big" are they?

Everything looks amazing! keep it up.

Thanks,
-Dan

 

[elcoyote]

I guess I'll be one of the guinea pigs for testing in the white stuff this winter...there is no shortage here. Mario-My idea of having the weather cooperating is NO snow!

Haha! Reminds me of a story Scott Brady told me about an Eskimo he met in the Arctic who said he was looking forward to global warming.

Can you tell me where the "poles" for the awning will be stored? i.e. do you have a tricky system in mind where they will fold into the habitat and be completely hidden within when the roof is "down", or will they be separate and the user will just throw them in the back of the Jeep when not in use?
In the case of the latter, how "big" are they?

The poles are collapsible and shock corded like tent poles. If memory serves me right they make a small bundle about 24" x 5" and fit into a sack. The awning stuffs down into a football sized bag as well. Sorry, no James Bond like clever stash system, just toss them in the back.

 

[DingusKahn]

Heater Install

In anticipation of picking up the Habitat in a couple of weeks I finished installing the Heat Source forced air furnace. I wanted it done now (in 100F weather????) so that when AT installs the new top we can cut the hole for the duct work up into the tent.
Here are a few photos.

(Descriptive text is above each photo)

This is the frame I made a couple of weeks ago. It will clamp to the factory roll bars.

The exhaust pipe. It is 1-1/2" pipe that I got from the muffler shop and bent up. It slips up behind the driver rear tire. There is a space in the very corner of the body with access to the wire harnes and fuel fill hoses. Don't worry, plenty of space so as not to heat up the gas lines.
The exhaust line off of the bottom of the heater (galvanized pipe on bottom) will go about 2" below the top bend. This creates a section of double wall pipe that gets me through the carpet and out of the vehicle.

Upper mounting flange

You can see the 1/4" nuts welded to the bottom of the flange to secure the pipe on top.

Here the exhaust pipe is up in the cab of the Jeep. The black tab behind it is the incoming propane line. The air intake for the cumbustion air is going to be in the big rubber gromet where the factory wires come up.

And a few shots of the finished install. I did use tape after all! It is High temp tape used to seal stove pipe. I had to seal the two pipes. I stuffed a bit of steel wool at the top to center the flex pipe into the muffler pipe to creat the double wall and not burn the carpet. I did not get the windows in the Habitat, and the ARB Fridge sets right next to this side of the Jeep. Unless you stick your head in and look these lines will not be noticed.

With the brace to the side it is VERY secure. I can grab the heater and shake the whole Jeep. The duct will be almost a 90 El out the port you see on the right end of the heater up through the new floor of the tent top. The heater kit came with a nice grill that will go up top and allow the duct hose to be clamped next to the roll bar you see here.

I wired it up, turned on the gas and fired it up. Had to crank the thermostate all the way up it was so hot here. WORKED GREAT !
Another project DONE!

edit: I don't know why there are pictures below here or how to get rid of them???

 

[Dave Bennett]

Nice ingenuity!

 

[bob91yj]

Wow, that's clever for sure.

The only thing I'm not sure about is the steel wool, ever seen that stuff burn?

http://www.popsci.com/diy/article/2007-10/burning-metal

 

[DingusKahn]

Wow, that's clever for sure.

The only thing I'm not sure about is the steel wool, ever seen that stuff burn?

http://www.popsci.com/diy/article/2007-10/burning-metal

Thanks for the info. I had seen that and forgotten. I will check it out. The video shows open flame lighting the steel wool. I will put some inside a piece of that same pipe I cut off and heat it up from the outside. Report to follow.
DK

 

[kb7our]

Thanks for the info. I had seen that and forgotten. I will check it out. The video shows open flame lighting the steel wool. I will put some inside a piece of that same pipe I cut off and heat it up from the outside. Report to follow.
DK

Lots of work and ingenuity there DK! I think I used some stovepipe fiberglass cord around the exhaust port on mine where it exits the JK trunk. Topped that with high temp silicone to seal up the opening and it's holding up terrific. As I recall it wasn't expensive and might even be something you can find at HD or similar home store if you decide to go that route.

 

[DingusKahn]

One more week

One week from tonight I will be sleeping in my JK Habitat somewhere outside of Prescott. I got my ARB dual compressor installed this week. Put it in the "trunk" or cubby hole in the back end of the JK. Built about a 3 gallon air tank and put it right in front of the rear axle underneath.
Today I took out the wide back seat in anticipation of installing the stage 2 storage compartment and complete water system. I think I will try to build my own seat support/seatbelt relocation bracket this week before I leave for the driver side back seat. Not real complicated...
I'll be taking the top off tomorrow for the drive over on Thursday. Hope it doesn't rain on my parade.

 

[kb7our]

One week from tonight I will be sleeping in my JK Habitat somewhere outside of Prescott. I got my ARB dual compressor installed this week. Put it in the "trunk" or cubby hole in the back end of the JK. Built about a 3 gallon air tank and put it right in front of the rear axle underneath.
Today I took out the wide back seat in anticipation of installing the stage 2 storage compartment and complete water system. I think I will try to build my own seat support/seatbelt relocation bracket this week before I leave for the driver side back seat. Not real complicated...
I'll be taking the top off tomorrow for the drive over on Thursday. Hope it doesn't rain on my parade.

Lucky you!

 

[brianjwilson]

Good luck! I'm looking forward to lots of pictures and hearing some honest reviews!

 

[jrueppel]

Definitely looking forward to photos!

 

[kb7our]

Definitely looking forward to photos!

Had a chance to meet up with DK this weekend on his way home from the install - nice of you to take the time to stop by DK! I'll defer to him for a full report as he had just got things installed. DK has quite the setup and I can tell you his photos of the heater install on the Portal do not do his setup justice - it is sweet! Overall I would say after the short time I spent looking things over the Habitat team still has a few kinks to work out which I know they are working on. Now supposedly mine is to be built by mid month according to UMV then AT takes over to complete the paint and install so we'll see how that holds up - not holding my breath but I sure wish someone would give me an accurate date and expectation. Probably another Habitat trip to the Grand Canyon early Oct postponed if I was a betting person. Come on guys we're all cheering for you to get the cadence set!

 

[Bikeman71]

What is the latest on lead time for someone who is interested in placing an order now?

 

[kb7our]

What is the latest on lead time for someone who is interested in placing an order now?

I recommend you call AT and speak to Mario. I am #11 and the newly revised delivery timeframe is November (argh!!!). Not sure how many are behind me but in front of me I believe it was actually #7 that just got delivered. They are working to ramp up to 2 per month if I recall correctly which is about right with 3 to go before mine. Plans beyond the current order backlog can best be answered by AT.

 

[Martyn]

Wade, it's difficult to give an accurate date for delivery of your Habitat at this point. As you know the forge that makes the torsion bars has been delayed with deliveries which impacts when the shell manufacturer can deliver to us.

It's the same issue any small manufacturer faces, if vendor are not timely with delivering parts then the project is delayed. The only way to guarantee delivery is to either produce all the parts in house, or to carry enough financial clout with the vendor to influence delivery dates.

Manufacturing torsion bars in house isn't a realistic venture for us, we don't own a forge, and our expertise is not in tempered sprung steel. The forge we use is one of the best in the business, and they manufacture torsion bars for all the big automobile manufacturers and big after market suspension companies. We use them because they produce a reliable durable product that we can trust. As we are a small customer for them all we can do is rely on them to deliver in a timely fashion, which is what we are doing. We have looked into alternative suppliers, but they don't produce the quality product we demand.

The manufacturer of our Habitat shell is also a small custom business like ours. They do not have the space to produce shells for up coming build while we wait for torsion bars. That wasn't part of the production plan, we are relying on just in time manufacturing in a low volume environment.

Situations like this occur frequently to small custom manufacturing business like ours. We do everything we can to reduce or eliminate them. When they do occur, and effect delivery dates are changed, we keep our customers informed. I'm not sure we can do more than we are already doing.