Ryan's Tacoma Build and Adventures Thread

Great looking build!

 

ARB 2500 awning got installed today.

Got the ARB Awning Room to go with it, too.

 

A dozen holes were drilled in the side of the Habitat and nutserts installed.


I purchased 12 inches of 3x5 aluminum tube, I think .1875in? Cut it into 2x 4 inch long sections at about a 45 degree angle. My cuts were pretty crappy with a cutoff wheel. A nice chop saw woulda made it much cleaner, but o well!


The standoffs coulda been another 1/4 inch further out to help clear the Habitat's gas strut, but a couple washers did the trick between the awning and the mounts.


These things are stout!


Used a piece of flat steel to make a simple bracket up front. Used the existing bolt as well as one more nutsert to hold it in place.

 

Finally got around to painting and carpeting the milk crate lids, AKA my new floor! Next will be the walls. Thought about doing it tonight, but got lazy. Prolly need a second set of hands to get the carpet up anyhow.

 

I've been wanting to get rid of this mess of cords coming from fridge and battery charger...



So I added a NOCO shore power plug to my battery box to clean up the cords. I also added a single outlet 110 with dual USB outlets for when I'm hooked up to shore power. I did contemplate running the NOCO plug on the outside of the vehicle, but it was MUCH easier to just do this. And the cord easily fits through with the Habitat closed up against it's rubber seal.

 

Finally got some BLINKY LIGHTS!!! Feniex Fusion Surface Mounts. Instead of using the built in flash patterns I have set them to "steady on" and use the Feniex 4200 Mini's wigwag function. I shoulda video'd the controller, but the gist of it is that the top two buttons match the flashing pattern of the outside lights so you know what pattern you are set to.

 

Installed the rear strobes last night. Feniex Cannon Amber/White. The Cannon's have multiple modes, each one assigned to an individual power wire, each with a priority level. I'm only using two currently. Highest priority is a brake pop (quick strobe then steady on) in white. This is now my reverse light as we installed these in place of the OEM reverse light. They are definitely brighter than the standard bulb. The next hot wire is connected to my Feniex 4200 Mini along with the front lights in my previous post. This mode is set to steady on in amber.

As we found out last night, these Cannon's get confused by the 4200 Mini controller. With the Cannon set to amber, it should follow the below flash patterns of the controller, flashing ONLY in amber. HOWEVER, a few of the patterns trick the Cannon into using Amber, White, or even both at the same time (EXTRA BRIGHT!). Or if you choose the Quad Flash [Slow] pattern, the Cannon's do NOTHING. Not on at all.



Does it suck a lil that I don't get pattern #7? Yeah, maybe a little... But is it awesome I'm getting amber+WHITE strobing? DEFINITELY.

The Vid below shows the front and rear strobes going with Hazards (one of the 2 Combination Patterns for the strobes). Should be pretty easy to tell which are which!

 

Posted this pic in another thread after someone was making fun of my "cute" double chair. People got a good laugh.

But hey, Since I found the pic figured I better share it on here since he's sort of our Habitat's unofficial mascot: Rhymo. When we were down in SLC for my bro-in-law's wedding/Habitat install, my wife's younger (much younger) sister bought this for her. It's been with us all 21 nights in the Habitat so far.

 

Swapped out my original battery. Got tired of self-jumping off my house batteries.

So here it is, my third Optima. Went with yellowtop since didn't need the extra terminals the bluetop house batteries have.

 

Hey, loving the build. Great work. I just ordered a set of Deaver U402 stage 3 for my Habitat and was curious: are you liking the Bilstein 5160s or if you had to do it over again, would you pick up a set of King’s?

 

Hey @Rude1 , sorry I didn't see this sooner.

I am no connoisseur when it comes to suspension. Would King's be better? Quite possibly. But no, I wouldn't do it differently. To me the truck rides great for having as much weight on it as it does. I don't do any hardcore offroading so the cost savings vs King's was a no-brainer. Just having the Reservoirs was enough to add extra piece of mind for myself.

 

So I tested out my water heater last night. Almost works too well. This thing can go through water FAST.

The build was actually relatively simple. As I didn't want to drill the case I decided I'd mount 4 wood blocks, probably about 2x10 inches or so each, to the water pump and the water heater. For the water heater, it is screwed into the blocks which run horizontally, one at the top, one at the bottom. The water pump is attached similarly, with the blocks running vertically. I then used JB Weld to adhere them to the case. I did the water heater a day earlier so it had time to fully cure before I sat it upright.

I added a 12v plug to the pump for any standard cigarette style port. I didn't add a switch, but I could see that as being handy.

The water and shower hoses easily fit in the case without having to disconnect them. The propane hose was too rigid to leave attached. With a 90 degree elbow, it probably would have been fine, but I just used what came with the water heater. It's easy enough to screw on that hose when setting it up. If you wonder why the heater is attached so low on the door, it's because I left space for the heat shield to be left mounted, but I forgot to put it on in the pic below.

I'm planning to buy a velcro pouch and attach it above the water pump to hold a couple small crescent wrenches and possibly roll the 12v cord into. I think that will help keep things organized. Ultimately, the plan is to mount this to a rear swingout (Brute Force Fab, I hope) in place of a spare tire. Next to it will be the propane tank and water cans, making everything easy to setup.

• First off was the Condition 1 case. This thing is pretty massive, but was the best option I could find price wise and have enough room to have the water heater mounted to door and pump mounted in case and not slam into each other.
  
  $270 Condition 1 25" Large Heavy-Duty Protective Waterproof Hard Case, Model 024, Portable Storage Box with Customizable Foam, Camera, Tool, Hunting, Made in USA, 24.27"x19.40"x13.57" Black
  https://www.amazon.com/Condition-Bl...ondition+1+xl&qid=1557336736&s=gateway&sr=8-2

• Then we have the Eccotemp L5, seems to be a common option for a water heater.
  
  $159 Eccotemp L5 1.5 GPM Portable Outdoor Tankless Water Heater
  https://www.amazon.com/Eccotemp-L5-...s=eccotemp+l5&qid=1557336660&s=gateway&sr=8-3

• This Seaflo pump I ordered thinking the variable speed might be helpful to keep from cycling, as I hoped I wouldn't need an accumulator tank. It works perfect if you ask me. And I'm blown away how quiet it is. I originally plugged it into a battery jump pack I had and it was quiet enough I thought it wasn't working right so I plugged into my truck's 12v. No difference (meaning I could technically run this away from truck anywhere with my jump pack and propane).
  
  $63 SEAFLO 42 Series 12V 3.0 GPM 55PSI Continuous Duty Diaphragm Pump with Bypass for Reduced Cycling, Fresh/Salt Water, 4-Year Warranty, UL & CSA Certified, Self-Priming for Marine, RV, Off-Grid, Boats
  https://www.amazon.com/Seaflo-Pressure-Diaphragm-Internal-cycling/dp/B01CQ7DD0S/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=3GNUV4ELJTZLF&keywords=seaflo+42+series+12+volt+pump&qid=1557336705&s=gateway&sprefix=seaflo+42%2Caps%2C180&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&smid=A3EBZ5HHZPL73

• And I decided I wanted to find a 12v extension to cut down for a power cord that wasn't super cheap quality since I didn't want to run it in loom for protection. Decided on NOCO as I love the quality of their Battery Charger I'm using. Hopefully it stands up well over time.
  
  $15 NOCO GC019 15A 14AWG 12V Adapter, Heavy-Duty Cigarette Lighter Plug, and Male to Female Socket With 12-Foot Extension Cord
  https://www.amazon.com/NOCO-GC019-1...12v+extension&qid=1557336774&s=gateway&sr=8-3

 

Thanks for the reply. I decided to fork over the money over for some kings, but really believe the Bilsteins are a great option and more than capable.
One more question: Did you add any axle shims or carrier bearing spacers for you deavers? I'm not finding a lot info on the stage 3 with similar weight and want to get all the parts before the install.

 

Nope, didn't install any shims or anything. Nothing has fallen apart yet. I do have a bit of vibration around 60mph but it might have been there before the lift. I honestly can't remember. Sorry I'm not much help on that! Good luck.

 

This is helpful! Thanks.

 

Nights 22 and 23, this time out at Sun Lakes-Dry Falls State Park, WA. First time staying at a proper campground. Wasn't too bad. I'd do it again for sure.

Was the first time using the ARB Awning Room. Loved it. Sadly though, raccoons did a number on the screen. Gonna need to patch that. Just about a 2 inch hole and a couple other lil snags.



I need to do a better job of taking pics... Got one of the truck, but not of the beautiful canyon walls or the lake we floated around in for a bit to escape the heat after a bicycle ride.

This will prolly be our last camping trip before our Habitat's 1st birthday. 23 nights doesn't sound too low. Hopefully can do better in the coming year!

 

On the way home we stopped by Sand Hollow Campground right along the Columbia. Will try and make a short weekend of it this summer.

Drove through the less sandy area at Beverly Sand Dunes to see the camping situation there. Looks like it would be a great place to camp with a group. Not a ton of riding area for the ATVs, but fine for some small runs between relaxing with friends I'm sure.

 

Nights 24 and 25 in the Habitat.

We Headed out to Moses Lake for a little fun with our Search and Rescue Unit and family and friends. Had a decent turnout.



Unfortunately, I was so busy having a good time I forgot to take any pics of our actual campsite. The only pic of the Habitat is the below. The Silver and Black ball of sleeping bag is my very chilly wife. The second night we pulled out her sleeping bag liner and some blankets, it helped keep her much more comfortable.



While we were out riding we had this Can Am Maverick x3 Max rollover about a hundred yards in front of us. We rushed over to make sure they were ok. Luckily no one injured. But we were shocked to find it was two kids (without helmets) with no adult supervision whatsoever. The oldest was probably about 14.

 

Very nice! I might have to copy a few of your ideas as I slowly improve my camping set up. I’m glad I stumbled on this build.

 

Thanks, Man. I'll have to finish digging through your build soon, too. 4 pages down, 10 to go

I actually remember seeing you post about painting the BFF bumper screwed into the pallet quite awhile back, recognized your thread from that. Looks like a great idea. I'm definitely not looking forward to painting my rear bumper when it comes in, lol.