AT Tacoma Habitat: Official Thread

[kalieaire]

Awesome. I keep going back and forth about the windows. Very curious how the "room" will look. but love the side awning, especially the pitched roof, my ARB awning over my tailgate is nice, but collects water unless I lower a leg, but then being 6'3" I can't stand under it.

Thanks for the quick response, look forward to putting one on order later this year.

the room is going to be really nice to have. I did a trip to the grand canyon over thanksgiving and was wishing I had one every evening. It got really cold, dipped into 20s and 45mph gusts. I ended up sleeping with the tent closed because I didn't want to deal with the wind and rain for a week. Fortunately for me, it's just me. so I could sleep on all my storage bins. My truck has a 3" lift and I'm running 33's, I'm actually thinking about going 35s and then a regear so I can tackle the rubicon. I should also note that I'm sagging a lot in the rear. The habitat plus, fridge, plus high clearance bumper, plus spare tire on a swingout, plus 20 gallons of extra fuel is significantly weighing down my tacoma. I didn't bring my hi-lift, my tool set, secondary battery, or chainsaw either. I'm definitely going for a set of Alcans. We have a friend on TacomaWorld that was running Alcans with his swift. They customized the leafs for 1200lbs. Calculating all my extra gear, I might be doing 1400.

Also, rear windows, having a rear swing out probably means you can't see out the back anyway. Backing up is a severe pain since I don't have a useful camera anymore. There are a couple of brakelight cameras available as options, you should consider one of those in your build.

 

[ebbs]

the room is going to be really nice to have. I did a trip to the grand canyon over thanksgiving and was wishing I had one every evening. It got really cold, dipped into 20s and 45mph gusts. I ended up sleeping with the tent closed because I didn't want to deal with the wind and rain for a week. Fortunately for me, it's just me. so I could sleep on all my storage bins. My truck has a 3" lift and I'm running 33's, I'm actually thinking about going 35s and then a regear so I can tackle the rubicon. I should also note that I'm sagging a lot in the rear. The habitat plus, fridge, plus high clearance bumper, plus spare tire on a swingout, plus 20 gallons of extra fuel is significantly weighing down my tacoma. I didn't bring my hi-lift, my tool set, secondary battery, or chainsaw either. I'm definitely going for a set of Alcans. We have a friend on TacomaWorld that was running Alcans with his swift. They customized the leafs for 1200lbs. Calculating all my extra gear, I might be doing 1400.

Also, rear windows, having a rear swing out probably means you can't see out the back anyway. Backing up is a severe pain since I don't have a useful camera anymore. There are a couple of brakelight cameras available as options, you should consider one of those in your build.

Awesome! I'd love to see move about your build. been following you on Instagram for a bit looks like. I was planning on Alcan, All pro expeditions, or wheeler's HD. I have OME Dakar's on my 99 right now, and they're ok, but not completely satasfied.

 

[kalieaire]

Awesome! I'd love to see move about your build. been following you on Instagram for a bit looks like. I was planning on Alcan, All pro expeditions, or wheeler's HD. I have OME Dakar's on my 99 right now, and they're ok, but not completely satasfied.

oh haha, thanks for the follow.

As far as my build, I can't imagine it being too impressive since I literally got it 3 days before the trip and I'm waiting on my shapertool before I really start the rear build. I just have this massive list of parts to install right now. I'm running in 2.5 remote resi icons on the front, expo leafs in the rear w/ stock shocks. I have to install my 12" shock relo kit from bamf and then the 2.0" rear 12" remote resi smoothies from icon. a zeon 10s, arb dual compressor, renogy solar panel, webasto heater, srq dust lights, ebay rock lights, some sort of custom interior lighting w/ nichia 219b leds, some sort of custom shelf system in the cabin for my camera gear. my build won't detract too far from eexisting ones like twoyearsnotice, jon burtt, or dave bennet. Instead I'll be focusing on refinements to make the living space as intuitive as possible.

but who knows, i might get tired in two years and get a 4x4 sprinter...

I definitely have to regear. I was originally thinking 4.56 for the 33s, but the aero difference alone between habitat and no-habitat might i absolutely need 4.88s. i went from 16.2.-16.7 mpgs to 12.6 regardless of weight. i can only imagine what the fwc folks have to deal with. I want to try a roof rack w/ a polycarbonate fairing to see if that helps.

This is one of those moments a diesel would be so great.

 

[kalieaire]

oh, and here's our trip write up for Arizona.

http://expeditionportal.com/the-grand-adventure-the-north-rim-of-the-grand-canyon/

Our friend Victor Nguyen https://instagram.com/adv_t4r wrote it.

Pictures were a mix from me, @adv_t4r and @247daryl

 

[inv3ctiv3]

Also you can relocate your camera it's super easy, here's how I did it: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...el-log-pic-heavy.368397/page-46#post-13644865

PS - Love your truck!

 

[calicamper]

oh haha, thanks for the follow.

As far as my build, I can't imagine it being too impressive since I literally got it 3 days before the trip and I'm waiting on my shapertool before I really start the rear build. I just have this massive list of parts to install right now. I'm running in 2.5 remote resi icons on the front, expo leafs in the rear w/ stock shocks. I have to install my 12" shock relo kit from bamf and then the 2.0" rear 12" remote resi smoothies from icon. a zeon 10s, arb dual compressor, renogy solar panel, webasto heater, srq dust lights, ebay rock lights, some sort of custom interior lighting w/ nichia 219b leds, some sort of custom shelf system in the cabin for my camera gear. my build won't detract too far from eexisting ones like twoyearsnotice, jon burtt, or dave bennet. Instead I'll be focusing on refinements to make the living space as intuitive as possible.

but who knows, i might get tired in two years and get a 4x4 sprinter...

I definitely have to regear. I was originally thinking 4.56 for the 33s, but the aero difference alone between habitat and no-habitat might i absolutely need 4.88s. i went from 16.2.-16.7 mpgs to 12.6 regardless of weight. i can only imagine what the fwc folks have to deal with. I want to try a roof rack w/ a polycarbonate fairing to see if that helps.

This is one of those moments a diesel would be so great.

The big tires vs gearing is a big mileage hit. The fwc 2.8L diesel guys on near stock sized rubber report around 25mpg if you keep speeds reasonable. Diesels are a different animal for sure. I doubt the Habitat on the 2.8L diesel would even register in 65mph and under speeds regarding a mileage impact.

 

[ebbs]

oh haha, thanks for the follow.

As far as my build, I can't imagine it being too impressive since I literally got it 3 days before the trip and I'm waiting on my shapertool before I really start the rear build. I just have this massive list of parts to install right now. I'm running in 2.5 remote resi icons on the front, expo leafs in the rear w/ stock shocks. I have to install my 12" shock relo kit from bamf and then the 2.0" rear 12" remote resi smoothies from icon. a zeon 10s, arb dual compressor, renogy solar panel, webasto heater, srq dust lights, ebay rock lights, some sort of custom interior lighting w/ nichia 219b leds, some sort of custom shelf system in the cabin for my camera gear. my build won't detract too far from eexisting ones like twoyearsnotice, jon burtt, or dave bennet. Instead I'll be focusing on refinements to make the living space as intuitive as possible.

but who knows, i might get tired in two years and get a 4x4 sprinter...

I definitely have to regear. I was originally thinking 4.56 for the 33s, but the aero difference alone between habitat and no-habitat might i absolutely need 4.88s. i went from 16.2.-16.7 mpgs to 12.6 regardless of weight. i can only imagine what the fwc folks have to deal with. I want to try a roof rack w/ a polycarbonate fairing to see if that helps.

This is one of those moments a diesel would be so great.

Thanks for the info on the springs, I would have thought the expo's would handle it considering the Habitat isn't much different than a rack and tent (though I guess with all that secure/dry storage we pack more **** lol). I'm trying to figure out if I want icon or king shocks, I know Icon's are digresive, and King are progressive, but I'm not sure which I would like better, but I have got a bit of time lol. Personally I'd rather be overgeared than under. especially if you don't do high speeds much. but there's always the SC for more power ;-) lol... I'll be reading up on your writeup for sure. Thanks!

 

[Ultralite]

Overall height on a stock Tacoma?

I'm looking for the height of the camper on a stock Tacoma to give me at least some idea of height for garage purposes. I realize tires and lifts vary so at stock height at least I'll have a ball park.

For me, it would be a daily driver in a big city where I park in garages a lot. Usually the garages are 6' 8" in clearance.

Thanks in advance...

 

[Andrew_v949]

oh haha, thanks for the follow.

As far as my build, I can't imagine it being too impressive since I literally got it 3 days before the trip and I'm waiting on my shapertool before I really start the rear build. I just have this massive list of parts to install right now. I'm running in 2.5 remote resi icons on the front, expo leafs in the rear w/ stock shocks. I have to install my 12" shock relo kit from bamf and then the 2.0" rear 12" remote resi smoothies from icon. a zeon 10s, arb dual compressor, renogy solar panel, webasto heater, srq dust lights, ebay rock lights, some sort of custom interior lighting w/ nichia 219b leds, some sort of custom shelf system in the cabin for my camera gear. my build won't detract too far from eexisting ones like twoyearsnotice, jon burtt, or dave bennet. Instead I'll be focusing on refinements to make the living space as intuitive as possible.

but who knows, i might get tired in two years and get a 4x4 sprinter...

I definitely have to regear. I was originally thinking 4.56 for the 33s, but the aero difference alone between habitat and no-habitat might i absolutely need 4.88s. i went from 16.2.-16.7 mpgs to 12.6 regardless of weight. i can only imagine what the fwc folks have to deal with. I want to try a roof rack w/ a polycarbonate fairing to see if that helps.

This is one of those moments a diesel would be so great.

Wow, the Habitat knocked down your mpg that much???

 

[L2MTB]

Mileage with a Habitat on my Tacoma

I have seen some posts about mileage on a Tacoma with the Habitat installed and this is my experience after using my Habitat for the past year. I have a 2013 Tacoma Access Cab 4x4 the one with the Habitat prototype on it. For a quick reference it has a snorkel, Magnaflow exhaust, Nitro 4.56 regear, General Graber AT2's LT285/75R16 and if you checkout AT Overland you will see it is fully built. It is my daily driver, work/office/overland truck and house on wheels.

The odometer is about 8 miles per 100 miles off when compared to my Garmin GPS. So if I drive 100 miles my odometer will show 100 miles and the GPS shows 108 miles. Speedometer is about 3 mph off when comparing, Taco will say 65 mph and Garmin 68 mph. Usual work week mix of highway (90%) and street (10%) I do 253 miles and fill it up to right around 18 gallons, 14.05 avg. I drive conservative never in a big hurry to get to work 65 mph on the highway. On long trips I can average as high as 16.5 mpg to as low as 12 mpg. wind is the big killer. I just did a trip from San Diego to Springdale UT to Moab and back and average about 15.2 mpg fully loaded for work (1,631 miles of mixed driving). I try to stay at 70 mph (2500 rpm with the regear) use cruise control on the flats and take it off on hills and downhills (do not use cruise control on uphills and downhills it will kill you mileage!). Uphills I can cruise at 68-69 mph at the same 2500 rpm but if in cruise control it will kick it up to 3500+ in no time. Downhill I take cruise control off as I can usually just coast or just rest my foot on the gas to stay at 70 mph due to the weight of the Taco.

None of this is scientific it is just what I have experienced matching my Taco's odometer and speedometer and my Garmin GPS. I don't stress about my mileage as I knew going in it would not be great, I enjoy my truck for what it is, a comfortable build that gets me to where I want to go and I am always happy in it rain or shine. I have not had any problems deploying the Habitat in the wind or rain but maybe I am not as picky as others and just go with the flow. If you have any questions just ask. Thanks Lou

 

[kalieaire]

The big tires vs gearing is a big mileage hit. The fwc 2.8L diesel guys on near stock sized rubber report around 25mpg if you keep speeds reasonable. Diesels are a different animal for sure. I doubt the Habitat on the 2.8L diesel would even register in 65mph and under speeds regarding a mileage impact.

I think you misunderstood, the MPG hit was from the habitat. Stock to Larger tires was a 1.5mpg hit. Habitat was nearly 4 due to aero. I carried the same weight before w/ a snugtop rebel, same tires and lift, no discernible mpg difference. aero plays a huge part in mpg, that's just a simple fact.

Thanks for the info on the springs, I would have thought the expo's would handle it considering the Habitat isn't much different than a rack and tent (though I guess with all that secure/dry storage we pack more **** lol). I'm trying to figure out if I want icon or king shocks, I know Icon's are digresive, and King are progressive, but I'm not sure which I would like better, but I have got a bit of time lol. Personally I'd rather be overgeared than under. especially if you don't do high speeds much. but there's always the SC for more power ;-) lol... I'll be reading up on your writeup for sure. Thanks!

everyone i know running icons eventually switch to king. they end up having issues with the shafts experiencing pitting. it's possible the metal used is not as good, or the folks using icons drive rougher w/o maintaining their equipment after a trip. there're people who leave things muddy w/o cleaning them up and the dirt and grit really eat up seals and stainless shafts.

Wow, the Habitat knocked down your mpg that much???

yep.



122 is the first tank w/ the habitat on the way back to sf. 12.87mpg
123 was trail mileage
124 was drive back to norcal through long dirt roads to the next leg so mpgs were higher since we were only going 40-50 the entire time
125-127 were driving back from arizona to sf at 75mph cruise control and dropping down to 4th gear going over mountains
128 was leisurely drive to LA to drop off the habitat for some changes
129 was driving back to norcal jamming up 5.

 

[Andrew_v949]

I have seen some posts about mileage on a Tacoma with the Habitat installed and this is my experience after using my Habitat for the past year. I have a 2013 Tacoma Access Cab 4x4 the one with the Habitat prototype on it. For a quick reference it has a snorkel, Magnaflow exhaust, Nitro 4.56 regear, General Graber AT2's LT285/75R16 and if you checkout AT Overland you will see it is fully built. It is my daily driver, work/office/overland truck and house on wheels.

The odometer is about 8 miles per 100 miles off when compared to my Garmin GPS. So if I drive 100 miles my odometer will show 100 miles and the GPS shows 108 miles. Speedometer is about 3 mph off when comparing, Taco will say 65 mph and Garmin 68 mph. Usual work week mix of highway (90%) and street (10%) I do 253 miles and fill it up to right around 18 gallons, 14.05 avg. I drive conservative never in a big hurry to get to work 65 mph on the highway. On long trips I can average as high as 16.5 mpg to as low as 12 mpg. wind is the big killer. I just did a trip from San Diego to Springdale UT to Moab and back and average about 15.2 mpg fully loaded for work (1,631 miles of mixed driving). I try to stay at 70 mph (2500 rpm with the regear) use cruise control on the flats and take it off on hills and downhills (do not use cruise control on uphills and downhills it will kill you mileage!). Uphills I can cruise at 68-69 mph at the same 2500 rpm but if in cruise control it will kick it up to 3500+ in no time. Downhill I take cruise control off as I can usually just coast or just rest my foot on the gas to stay at 70 mph due to the weight of the Taco.

None of this is scientific it is just what I have experienced matching my Taco's odometer and speedometer and my Garmin GPS. I don't stress about my mileage as I knew going in it would not be great, I enjoy my truck for what it is, a comfortable build that gets me to where I want to go and I am always happy in it rain or shine. I have not had any problems deploying the Habitat in the wind or rain but maybe I am not as picky as others and just go with the flow. If you have any questions just ask. Thanks Lou

Had my tacoma for 10 years now. Don't really know much about the ratios. I'm guessing 4.56's are lower than stock? I'm currently running 265 75R16's, and at about 73mph on the speedo(according to odo) I'm spinning about 2100 rpm . Not sure what going to bigger tires has done to my speedometer conversion tho. This is my daily driver as well. I live in SD and commute to LA for work. 120 miles one way....so needless to say mpg is a big deal for me. If I go this route I might try to find a deflector or something to put in front of it and help with the aero's. I just turned 240K on this truck and I am at the cross roads of upgrading to my dream vehicle (4x4 sprinter) to suit all my moto/camping/surfing needs...or just put some money into this thing. After doing some research, I was looking at about 70k for a sprinter and about ~47k for a transit with a quigly conversion. I was looking to get an ultra light hauler for my desert runs and camping trips. But after talking to a lot of guys that did the same thing, the end result was them buying a bigger truck...and eventually a bigger trailer Lol. Saw this and even though its pricey, it might fit me and my lovely ladie's needs. I'm sure I'll have to do some suspension mods to accomodate all of this, but that's part of it I suppose

 

[Zam15]

Could really use a Habitat to finish off the Tacoma... My RTT has seen better days!

 

[goosegear]

oh haha, thanks for the follow.

As far as my build, I can't imagine it being too impressive since I literally got it 3 days before the trip and I'm waiting on my shapertool before I really start the rear build. I just have this massive list of parts to install right now. I'm running in 2.5 remote resi icons on the front, expo leafs in the rear w/ stock shocks. I have to install my 12" shock relo kit from bamf and then the 2.0" rear 12" remote resi smoothies from icon. a zeon 10s, arb dual compressor, renogy solar panel, webasto heater, srq dust lights, ebay rock lights, some sort of custom interior lighting w/ nichia 219b leds, some sort of custom shelf system in the cabin for my camera gear. my build won't detract too far from eexisting ones like twoyearsnotice, jon burtt, or dave bennet. Instead I'll be focusing on refinements to make the living space as intuitive as possible.

but who knows, i might get tired in two years and get a 4x4 sprinter...

I definitely have to regear. I was originally thinking 4.56 for the 33s, but the aero difference alone between habitat and no-habitat might i absolutely need 4.88s. i went from 16.2.-16.7 mpgs to 12.6 regardless of weight. i can only imagine what the fwc folks have to deal with. I want to try a roof rack w/ a polycarbonate fairing to see if that helps.

This is one of those moments a diesel would be so great.

We are very surprised at your mileage loss. On our 3rd gen Tacoma was averaging 16-17 prior to the Habitat with the lift and 285/75-16's on stock gears and of course the underpowered 3rd gen motor. With the Habitat and our entire build out which is pretty extensive we are still getting low to mid 14mpg's, if we drive it like a normal human being (which isn't often, but we try to save a little MPG's when we can). We are still on stock gears, for now anyway. Not just the habitat but the entire build cost us around 2-3mpg's and our build is by no means small. We suffered a larger mileage loss on our rigs with RTT's and their large brick shapes on top of roof racks. Our Habitat on the 3rd gen Tacoma is actually shorter than our 4th gen 4Runner with an RTT on a low profile Prinsu rack. Not arguing, just wondering where your mpg losses are.

There is a link on our site for the build with more pictures too. We will add more interior systems pictures, such as water and power systems, in the near future.

 

[kalieaire]

We are very surprised at your mileage loss. On our 3rd gen Tacoma was averaging 16-17 prior to the Habitat with the lift and 285/75-16's on stock gears and of course the underpowered 3rd gen motor. With the Habitat and our entire build out which is pretty extensive we are still getting low to mid 14mpg's, if we drive it like a normal human being (which isn't often, but we try to save a little MPG's when we can). We are still on stock gears, for now anyway. Not just the habitat but the entire build cost us around 2-3mpg's and our build is by no means small. We suffered a larger mileage loss on our rigs with RTT's and their large brick shapes on top of roof racks. Our Habitat on the 3rd gen Tacoma is actually shorter than our 4th gen 4Runner with an RTT on a low profile Prinsu rack. Not arguing, just wondering where your mpg losses are.
There is a link on our site for the build with more pictures too. We will add more interior systems pictures, such as water and power systems, in the near future.

There's a bigger loss on the 2nd gen manual transmissions. It's just a hit we have to take for the 6-speed Manual. The Automatics are geared for better MPG. That's why the 6-speed is more peppy than the 5-Speed auto usually. During our Grand Canyon trip which consisted of:

• 1x 1st generation tacoma
• 4x 3rd generation tacomas
• 1x 3rd generation tacoma
• 1x 5th generation 4runner
• 1x gx470

1st gen tacoma on 32s and stock everything else running with no RTT had the same mileage as the rest of the 2nd gens and the 5th gen 4runner.

Of the 2nd Gen Tacomas:

• 3" Lift, RTT, DCSB, V6, Bedrack, regear 4.56, 6MT (Full steel plate bumpers + skids) -- 33s
• 3" Lift, RTT, DCBS, V6, Camper shell, Stock Gears, 5AT (Full steel plate bumpers + skids) -- 33s
• 3" Lift, RTT, DCLB, V6, Bedrack, regear 4.56, 5AT (hybrid bumpers + skids) -- 35s
• 3" Lift, Habitat, AC, V6, Stock Gears, 6MT (Full steel plate bumpers) -- 33s

3rd Gen Tacoma:

• 3" Lift, RTT, DCLB, V6, Bedrack, Stock Gears, 6AT (Stock Bumpers) 33s

5th Gen 4runner:

• 3" Lift, RTT, V6, Stock Gears, 5AT, (Full steel plate bumpers + skids) 33s

When we were all one increment after the 1/2 tank mark, the 3rd gen Tacoma was at 1/4 tank. Though less punchy than the 4.0L 1GR-FE, the 3.5L 2GR-FKS is actually very good for the trail due to it's fuel sippy nature.


I also expect that your tire on your roof is helping out a lot. I'll wager that when I get a rack installed with a wind deflector, I'll pickup an extra MPG. On solo trips where I'll be cruising significantly slower, like 65mph on Highway 5, I'll likely gain back another MPG.

At any rate, it's the nature of the beast, this doesn't really affect me since it's a trip vehicle only. I've been driving the same daily driver that gets 30+ mpg for 13 years.