AT Habitat, Atlas, & Summit Pictures, ideas, aaand BS

You didn't get your oil changed at the Renton WA Toyota dealership did you? They didn't torque one wheel on mine, one lug fell off, two more i took off with my fingers, lol.

 

Nope, you hear of these scenarios all too often, hence why I hate letting other people work on my truck.

 

Have you done the Applegate Lassen trail by any chance?

 

Been on parts of it plenty of times, never did a designated trip for the trail itself.

 

Thankfully never had a tire fall off, but I did have a rear brake assembly fall off after hitting a big puddle a *tad* fast. Took it in to the dealer and found out what happened, I asked if it had broken off due to me hitting the puddle at speed, they said "No, it didn't get put back on properly". Last place to work on my truck was in Alaska, the brakes fell off about 2 weeks after I drove all the way back to CO from up there... Gotta love people's work sometimes.

 

@excorcist how did you attach those kayak paddle clips? Just drill and tap into the side rail? I'm copying you.

 

Yep, just used some really small sheet metal type screws and a tiny drill bit... although I did just see someone on the facebook group for habitats used some of these :

$25 Command 8358002331 08358002331 Plastic Broom Gripper, Band, 4-Pack, 4 Pack, Grey/White, 2 Count

https://www.amazon.com/Command-Broo...d=1537330688&sr=8-4&keywords=command+broom+3m

And they attached them to the inside of hatch. Looked really convenient and out of the way at the same time... as well as less intrusive.

 

Found the picture:

 

I used stainless steel broom holders and some VHB tape.

 

Where did you mount them?

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/at-habitat-pictures-ideas-aaand-bs.532519/page-27#post-18354543

 

Any new ideas on heating the Habitat? It's getting colder in Northern California (41F in the early morning and 84F in the day) but we like to camp throughout the year. Only issue is that both my wife and 17 year old corgi, like it warm inside and blankets/bags aren't enough. There has been a few discussion on this thread, mostly about mattress pads and Webasto heater. I'm looking for a safe option and Mr. Heater is not a consideration - checked with Zodi yesterday and they confirmed that their 20,000 BTU heater is discontinued despite their website that says "Coming Soon". Looks like my best option is the HeatSource portable kit from Adventure trailers (I don't want a permanent mount), but at $1500 it isn't cheap. There is a good thread on Expedition Portal - https://www.expeditionportal.com/fo...test-results-five-ways-to-heat-a-tent.188602/ - and it seemed that the best solution was something similar to Heatsource - Propex Portable heat kit.

Any suggestions...?

 

Heatsource and Propex are the same thing.

I have a Propex I installed in a Vagabond Drifter and I’m a huge fan - it does require drilling 2x 1.5 inch holes in your bed though.

It’s very efficient, and the heat it puts out is nice and dry with no crazy odor.

 

I'm hesitant to drill into the bed, not sure why but just seems so permanent - Where did you locate the heater? Did you consider a portable kit?

 

Curious why the Mr. Heater is not a consideration? We fire ours up while we are getting ready for bed. Turning it off before we call it a night. Turn it on again in the morning before we finally climb outta our sleeping bags. Do you need something to leave on all night? Cause yeah, I agree I don't like the idea of leaving the Mr. Heater on all night. In fact, I'm pretty sure it only goes like 6 hours on a tank anyhow.

EDIT: I'm talking about the Mr. Heater Buddy

 

Exactly that reason - I need something to keep on at night, especially for the dog. We were in Anza Borega last winter and one night it got down to about 33F and had to take him into the bag with us and he doesn’t really like that - the things we do for our pets. Also thinking of more cold weather camping further north when it is also likely to be raining and likely spend a bit more time inside the Habitat. I have the little buddy and its not bad, but CO and low O2 are a concern.

 

Gotcha. Makes sense. And yeah, I worry about the CO and low O2 even though they are supposed to be safe.

Something that might help a bit is something that blocks the bed portion of the Habitat from the rest of the open truck bed. Below you can see the mosquito net my wife hung up. In the morning when I climb out of bed it is noticeably colder outside the screen. It must keep a decent amount of our body heat in with us. I'm thinking a heavy blanket or something might work to keep even more in.

Keep us posted with your ideas/solutions. I hope to be using the Habitat year round, and the wife isn't going to like it when we can see our breath in the tent.

 

I located it behind my fridge slide on the right side of the bed inside a shelf I made.

I opted for a "permanent" install as I am living full time out of my rig and I don't think there's really a good way to pipe the hot air in/out without resulting in a lot of heat loss. I have no regrets and have used it several times already.

I have also since added an LPG alarm just in case.

 

Acclimate.

We don’t pull out the sleeping bags till night temps drop below 30. Just a nice down comforter and a woobie over my wife’s feet.

Then again we’ve bathed in glacier melt, so there is that. Living in the frozen tundra of MN helps get used to those temps. But honestly. The coldest o have ever been was a February night in Yakima WA.

 

I'm fine with the cold - the 17 year old corgi is the one who needs the warmth - I used to live in Vermont and went winter camping all the time - "You can't teach an old dog to acclimate" - it is likely his final year and trying to keep him comfortable while he camps.