AT Tacoma Habitat: Official Thread

Clutch

<---Pass
View attachment 384889
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.

Yikes, that is gasser F250 mileage.
 

kalieaire

Observer
Yikes, that is gasser F250 mileage.


through all the mountains and all the hills,
driving seventy five to eighty,
in a box with wheels

Should note fillup 123, that's a fill-up of 24.463 gallons yielding 10.74 mpg. 2nd Gen Tacoma tanks are 21 gallons. I added 8 gallons here after a couple days on trails. Getting closer to 8.5-9mpg but it was the end of that trail section before we hit up fire roads again. so the fire road mpg bumped it up a bit.

This is typical fuel economy the whole group saw since we were crawling at 10-15mpg for a majority of the trail in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd gear.
 
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Clutch

<---Pass
through all the mountains and all the hills,
driving seventy five to eighty,
in a box with wheels

Should note fillup 123, that's a fill-up of 24.463 gallons yielding 10.74 mpg. 2nd Gen Tacoma tanks are 21 gallons. I added 8 gallons here after a couple days on trails. Getting closer to 8.5-9mpg but it was the end of that trail section before we hit up fire roads again. so the fire road mpg bumped it up a bit.

This is typical fuel economy the whole group saw since we were crawling at 10-15mpg for a majority of the trail in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd gear.

Wow, that is pretty horrible.
 

Clutch

<---Pass
Lifted Tacoma with a FlipPac or RTT and appropriate off road wheels should be about 15 highway and 10 trail. That's what everyone with a similar configuration gets. Tacomas are gas hogs.

You guys must drive harder than me, because My 1st Gen with a Wildernest and 32's gets 18-20 hwy and 14-16 offroad. If I was getting your guy's mileage I would go back to my '76 F250 with a 390, that thing got 8-10 mpg no matter if it was loaded or not.

Don't wheel the truck too too much, as the dirt bikes are better at it, the 2T's get 25-30 mpg, and the 4T's are in the 35-40 mpg range.
 

L2MTB

New member
I know everyone has their own driving styles but when you drive 75-80 mph over hill and dale your mileage will be bad. Also if you go by your stock odometer your mileage will be off. My trip to Moab and back from San Diego there was a 300 mile difference. Don't think you should place all the blame for lousy gas mileage on the gear you add to your vehicle when it might be your right foot causing your problem.
 
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Clutch

<---Pass
I know everyone has their own driving styles but when you drive 75-80 mph over hill and dale your mileage will be bad. Also if you go by your stock odometer your mileage will be off. My trip to Moab and back from San Diego there was a 300 mile difference. Don't think you should place all the blame for lousy gas mileage on the gear you add to your vehicle when it might be attached to your right foot.

That is probably the biggest difference, most the roads I take are 55-65 mph, try to stay off the interstate. Believe those guys are younger than me, I'm not much in a hurry anymore. ;)
 

kalieaire

Observer
You guys must drive harder than me, because My 1st Gen with a Wildernest and 32's gets 18-20 hwy and 14-16 offroad. If I was getting your guy's mileage I would go back to my '76 F250 with a 390, that thing got 8-10 mpg no matter if it was loaded or not.

Don't wheel the truck too too much, as the dirt bikes are better at it, the 2T's get 25-30 mpg, and the 4T's are in the 35-40 mpg range.

We're on trails a majority of the time, not fire roads. I did make the distinction between the two and how they affect fuel economy. The effects of driving through rough trails is always at the detriment to fuel economy especially starting and stopping to exit the vehicle to remove downfall. Groomed fire roads generally yield the same MPG as highway. Airing down to 12psi also yields a slight detriment to fuel economy.

Here's a sample:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OKNnJxKTqA



I know everyone has their own driving styles but when you drive 75-80 mph over hill and dale your mileage will be bad. Also if you go by your stock odometer your mileage will be off. My trip to Moab and back from San Diego there was a 300 mile difference. Don't think you should place all the blame for lousy gas mileage on the gear you add to your vehicle when it might be your right foot causing your problem.


  • I never said it would not. In fact, when I drove a stock Tacoma on highway 5 at 55, I got roughly 17.9 MPG averaged over ~1000 miles, drafting 50-100 feet behind a trailer garnered up to 19 MPG. After the lift and tires, the MPG was 16.7 max at 65-70mph on the highway. For 25,000 of the first 30,000 miles on the Tacoma, I drive between 60-65mph and generally shift below 2k. The last 5k was 1) a 1,000 mile round trip to PelfreyBilt in a single day, 2) roughly a week later was picking up the Habitat, 820mile round trip, 4) 3 days later a non-stop drive to the Grand Canyon and back home, 2,000+ miles 5) a month later and a drive to get the Habitat removed to get upgrades installed, 820 mile round trip.
  • I made a clear distinction regarding the relation between speed, fuel economy, and expected performance. I am merely mentioning the facts which speak for themselves.
  • I do realize that the odometer is off, it is because I am running 285/75-R16 Goodyear MTRs vs stock 265/70-R16, a 7.3% increase in circumference. Every mile traveled on the odometer is 1.073 miles and this is has been meticulously verified in Gaia GPS over the past 6,000 miles of driving between fixed points for every tank. If I didn't take into account the circumference difference, calculated mpg would be clearly lower as well.
  • It should also be noted that there's a weight difference between the Goodyear MTRs LT285/75-R16 and the B.F. Goodrich KO 265/70-R16. 54.96 lbs vs 48.55 lbs respectively. Keep in mind there is a volumetric difference in the amount of air the tires can hold as well as how much pressure each one can hold. Depending on weight, the E-Rated MTRs may need more than 32psi to keep the contact patch even on pavement.
 

Clutch

<---Pass
We're on trails a majority of the time, not fire roads. I did make the distinction between the two and how they affect fuel economy. The effects of driving through rough trails is always at the detriment to fuel economy especially starting and stopping to exit the vehicle to remove downfall. Groomed fire roads generally yield the same MPG as highway. Airing down to 12psi also yields a slight detriment to fuel economy.

Here's a sample:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OKNnJxKTqA


Yeah, I don't anything that rough in the truck, much rather be on the bikes....even on fireroads. Bikes to me are more comfortable and waaaay faster on washboards, have to use the fireroads to connect trails. Mainly just use the truck to haul the bikes to the trailhead and use as a base camp.
 

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kalieaire

Observer
Yeah, I don't anything that rough in the truck, much rather be on the bikes....even on fireroads. Bikes to me are more comfortable and waaaay faster on washboards, have to use the fireroads to connect trails. Mainly just use the truck to haul the bikes to the trailhead and use as a base camp.

Washboard in general isn't a problem for us since we have remote reservoir shocks that can easily handle the repeated cycling. The stock valving on my Icons are rougher than Kings, which by the way 2.5" dia shocks w/ compression adjustment, it's like driving on clouds. On the next rebuild, I'll very likely upgrade them to CDC. But on washboard, we can cruise comfortably between 40 and 70mph and get somewhere in the 16 mpg range on the slower side and down to 13-14 mpg on the faster side. The folks w/o rooftop tents or anything sticking out above the cab generally get 2-3mpg better.

That's a pretty crazy trail to go through even on a dirt bike though. Props to you for being able to make it out there. I chose the habitat for a combination of comfort and the fact that I can drive my base camp. Being able to arrive at a destination and literally fall asleep in less than 5 minutes is a huge plus.

If I were planning to be stuck in one place, I'd would consider next building out a 4x4 Sprinter 140 or a Isuzu NPR.
 

Clutch

<---Pass
Washboard in general isn't a problem for us since we have remote reservoir shocks that can easily handle the repeated cycling. The stock valving on my Icons are rougher than Kings, which by the way 2.5" dia shocks w/ compression adjustment, it's like driving on clouds. On the next rebuild, I'll very likely upgrade them to CDC. But on washboard, we can cruise comfortably between 40 and 70mph and get somewhere in the 16 mpg range on the slower side and down to 13-14 mpg on the faster side. The folks w/o rooftop tents or anything sticking out above the cab generally get 2-3mpg better.

That's a pretty crazy trail to go through even on a dirt bike though. Props to you for being able to make it out there. I chose the habitat for a combination of comfort and the fact that I can drive my base camp. Being able to arrive at a destination and literally fall asleep in less than 5 minutes is a huge plus.

If I were planning to be stuck in one place, I'd would consider next building out a 4x4 Sprinter 140 or a Isuzu NPR.

I have Camburg 2.5's on mine, no reservoirs....it does "ok". I don't want to invest any more money into it, than I have to...rather spend it on the bikes. As they say, different strokes for different folks.

Thanks...yeah we do some real silly stuff on the bikes, like them better for exploring the back country...be cruising a fire road, and then see a goat trail out of the corner of my eye..."Hey, lets go see where that goes!" Can't do that in my Tacoma.

4X4 Sprinter or NPR would be nice, moto buddy has a simple Fuso box truck, he can fit a couple bikes in there, with damn near a whole repair shop for the motos...they just sleep on cots and use basic camping gear, nothing too fancy. My Taco works ok for now. Maybe get one of those when I cash in some of my investments when I retire.
 
How do these do in wind conditions? Is that tent material really flappy? Looks like a lot more tent than a Flippac which I'm sure helps with weather, downside may be wind though. My RTT can be pretty loud in wind situation dude to the tent material flapping.
 

kalieaire

Observer
I have Camburg 2.5's on mine, no reservoirs....it does "ok". I don't want to invest any more money into it, than I have to...rather spend it on the bikes. As they say, different strokes for different folks.

Thanks...yeah we do some real silly stuff on the bikes, like them better for exploring the back country...be cruising a fire road, and then see a goat trail out of the corner of my eye..."Hey, lets go see where that goes!" Can't do that in my Tacoma.

4X4 Sprinter or NPR would be nice, moto buddy has a simple Fuso box truck, he can fit a couple bikes in there, with damn near a whole repair shop for the motos...they just sleep on cots and use basic camping gear, nothing too fancy. My Taco works ok for now. Maybe get one of those when I cash in some of my investments when I retire.

Yeah, that's true, I bet you work out your core really hard on a dirtbike for balancing though. Your abs must be rock solid. I want to take a snowmobile up sometime, but I'd have to pull a trailer, a Box Truck Chassis or a Sprinter would be a lot easier since it can fit inside.

Cooking for me is a big thing so I plan on building a 100,000 btu wok stove to go with some standard 15k BTU burners for making soups, broths, frying. The idea is that I should be able to cook a full 12 course Thanksgiving dinner on the trail. Turkey w/ all the fixings, Garlic Sunchokes, Pulled Beef Lengua rolls, Solar Oven Mustard Lamb Racks on a salad bed of Spinach/Romaine/Almonds/Sweet Peppers, Risotto, Fettuccine Alfredo with a duo of lobster and smoked brisket. When I go out, I just want to decompress and cook or do some backpacking instead.
 

Andrew_v949

New member
Don't mean to hijack this thread one bit but I am strongly looking at a habitat and in need of some insight. My biggest thing if I do this is what to do with my suspension to make it best suit my needs, and what I can do to combat MPG loss. I'm reading that I might be taking a hit with my tire choice. What do you guys think the best plan of attack would be for an economical solution to beefier suspension that would handle my "lack of" serious off roading needs? Here's a thread I started that goes a little more in depth to my condundrum. Trying to figure out the potential of getting one of these things



http://redirect.viglink.com/?format=go&jsonp=vglnk_148634563562414&key=ec71621b94a3328a8a574c90106be074&libId=iytdbsej010004rm000DAgfbosjvy0mcb&loc=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.expeditionportal.com%2Fforum%2Fthreads%2F168151-questions-for-a-potential-overland-Tacoma-build&v=1&out=http%3A%2F%2Fforum.expeditionportal.com%2Fthreads%2F168151-questions-for-a-potential-overland-Tacoma-build&title=questions%20for%20a%20potential%20overland%20Tacoma%20build%20-%20Expedition%20Portal&txt=questions%20for%20a%20potential%20overland%20Tacoma%20build
 

Clutch

<---Pass
Don't mean to hijack this thread one bit but I am strongly looking at a habitat and in need of some insight. My biggest thing if I do this is what to do with my suspension to make it best suit my needs, and what I can do to combat MPG loss. I'm reading that I might be taking a hit with my tire choice. What do you guys think the best plan of attack would be for an economical solution to beefier suspension that would handle my "lack of" serious off roading needs? Here's a thread I started that goes a little more in depth to my condundrum. Trying to figure out the potential of getting one of these things

I don't care for airbags as then tend to be fussy.

Run Old Man Emu Dakar HD's on mine, think my Wildernest is 250lbs, about 100 lbs lighter than the Habitat. Full of camping/moto gear for 2 people two and bikes on a trailer, it handles the weight just fine. Engine is a little underpowered, but if you're not in a hurry like me...it works.


Yeah, that's true, I bet you work out your core really hard on a dirtbike for balancing though. Your abs must be rock solid. I want to take a snowmobile up sometime, but I'd have to pull a trailer, a Box Truck Chassis or a Sprinter would be a lot easier since it can fit inside.

Cooking for me is a big thing so I plan on building a 100,000 btu wok stove to go with some standard 15k BTU burners for making soups, broths, frying. The idea is that I should be able to cook a full 12 course Thanksgiving dinner on the trail. Turkey w/ all the fixings, Garlic Sunchokes, Pulled Beef Lengua rolls, Solar Oven Mustard Lamb Racks on a salad bed of Spinach/Romaine/Almonds/Sweet Peppers, Risotto, Fettuccine Alfredo with a duo of lobster and smoked brisket. When I go out, I just want to decompress and cook or do some backpacking instead.

Rock solid abs!? Yeah, they are under my middle aged bulge. :elkgrin: Snowmobiles are awfully fun, we had a couple growing up, probably been 30 some odd years since I have been on one. Believe they are like boats something you want to borrow or rent but never own. ;) I go back and forth on a van/box truck...or just a simple pickup and trailer. Single van/truck gets awfully long, in tight situations could be a bit of hassle. That and you can just drop a trailer, and use the truck to go get things. Often times you need to run get a broken down bike, supplies, or parts, etc. I used to operate heavy equipment for a living, so now...like to keep everything somewhat compact...that may change when I retire, and living full time out of vehicle. Or I just may say effe it all and live off a bike.

Like to keep it pretty simple for cooking while traveling. We grow about 95% of our own vegetables, which consumes a massive amount of time. Processing all of it is a huge amount of work. That and I cook an awful lot at home. On the road...don't like to be bothered with it. Though cooking a full 7 course meal out in the middle of no where would be cool, I can see the appeal for some people.
 
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