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

Personally not running anything yet, still have stock suspension and is handling the weight I have pretty good as of right now but will be looking into a leaf pack here in the future for sure. Just not sure what I will go with yet

 

I’m running icon RXT on my tundra with habitat. I’ve been happy with it.

 

Tundras are better equipped for the loads but my buddies RXT are flattening on tacoma with just shell, spare, bumper and gear. OME always flatten. My advice dont get general purpose leafs like ome or wheelers.

imo tailored deavers are the best option. Weigh your truck (whole and rear) and tell them the numbers with lift expectations. They will take care of you

I think alcan sold so it may be better or it may be worse or it may take forever because of the transition. Im not sure but worth noting.

 

I have OME HD with an overload removed and an extra middle AAL. It is not the conventional route but i wanted my lift to be with the arch not an overload acting like a lift block. I also have the ride rite bags with cradles.

the setup is okay but i am really heavy so its hard for me to get away without the bags. I got the leaf pack for a bargain so it was the best option for me.

if money wasnt an option or if i had to pay full price then id do deaver.

 

OME pack with extra

$82 D29XL Leaf Spring

D29XL leaf.

Firestone bags mounted to bump-stop pads, daystar cradles.

 

Deaver never answered the phone for me either. I ordered via @HeadStrong Off-Road and they immediately got back to me about the lead time ( can't remember how long at that time). I was fine with waiting though, so all was good. Ended up getting earlier than expected, and they've been awesome ( I have U402 Stage 3 paired with Bilstein 5160s)

 

How heavy are you?

 

about as heavy as my ex is now....


But i have never weighed my truck. Habitat, steel high clearance bumper, 2 5gal fuel, 285/70/17 spare, older steel and wooden bedslide, 3 toolboxes, 55L cooler, 3 bins of gear, and then misc. so pretty heavy

 

Yeah, my truck was just over 6000lbs BEFORE sliders, rear bumper with swingout and dual jerrys, 10lb propane, and my hot water setup. Not including food, clothes, etc, but most everything else i would take camping. Also without my 11 inch drop hitch (that thing is heavy) and the trailer I often pull when heading out somewhere (7x16 dual axle car trailer about 4500lbs, don't know exact tongue weight). Truck sits pretty much level with the deavers.

 

Im a drifter owner but I’m running ATS leafs and love them. They’re solid for over 800lbs added weight. About the same price as OME as well. I would definitely recommend those or Dobinsons options.

 

I too am really heavy. Fully loaded Im at roughly 1000-1100lbs. I had a Four Wheel Campers Finch before this and now the Atlas and theyve done me well but my biggest complaint with the cradle combo is the clunking noises they make together. Id like to alleviate them all together so Im not reliant of them. Id hate to be out and about and have one fail.

 

I had OME dakar in place and they were great with an empty bed or ok with the RTT. with the Habitat and my steel HC swing-gate, gas rotopax aluminum propane bottle, the OME Dakar showed wimpyness. All-Pro Expo leaf paks were suggested and I placed them. they are semi ok but clearly at their limit of usefullness. need replacement, not looking forward to placing a new leaf pak, but abso,lutely neccessary, Deaver stage 3 or custom set...I've also placed the BAMF shackle hangars and shackles

 

Thanks everyone for all of the feedback. It seems the general consensus is for Deavers. I still havent ruled out General Springs of KS as I need more info.
Side note I did receive my Duluth Trading Seat Bunker and it will not fit between campers upper bulkhead without some modifications to the inner pole. It needs to be shortened. But it does fit perfectly within the length of the camper.

 

Hey all, im new to posting in this forum and im only about 50 pages into reading this whole thread so if this question has been asked already id appreciate a redirection to the answers.

anyways im planning on getting the habitat top and fabricating a GFC style base to suit my needs. but before i can fabricate the base i would like to see a habitat camper in person so that i can take real life measurements so that i can avoid any issues when i pick up the habitat and install onsite. specifically im concerned about placing the side panel doors of the base in the right position to avoid the hydraulic struts when the habitat is closed and id like to access the bed of the truck from the side.

so if anyone who is part of this forum lives in or around the Easter Sierras, specifically around the Mammoth Lakes, CA or Bishop, CA area id love to take a look at your habitat and take some measurements of the whole thing.

i have added some autoCAD 3DS renderings of my idea for the base to this post. i need to figure out the spacing of the yellow vertical supports so that i can open the side panel doors with the habitat closed and not have the hydraulic struts be in the way of opening up the side pannels. i have also added a photoshop edit of the Prinsu designs roof rack image. i plan on making the base tall enough so that when the habitat is installed it can have clearance so i dont need to do any cutting of the roof rack. also id like to have the possibility that i can remove the habitat roof system and place a aluminum plate across the top of the camper base to use as a stand alone camper shell and still have full roof rack capabilities.

Thanks for all the great information in this thread to anyone who contributed. and i hope that i posted these pictures properly...

Jaro

 

@Mattjaro I roll thru the region toward Big Pine occasionally. from the looks of it, I'm not rolling thru for the rest of the year. I'm usually on a nonstop 8 hr jam 80-50-395-168.
Looks like a fun project. there was another guy who did a reversal mount flip forward on an alternative base shell. IIRC he had a summer/winter residence in the Mammoth area.
have no further info on his project and he no longer on TW.
your project looks doable, interesting idea on the removable top. pretty certain the unit i have, as well as all factory units are put together with heavy duty double stick adhesive and then bolted together. that is a huge lever arm when opened and i think the combo of adhesive and bolt work together. I have made a modification that helps counter act the lever arm, in terms of attachment of shell to bed sides/rails. I would strongly suggest you incorporate a cross plate at the front of the bed, that is held in place by the right and left bed bolts, and then thru turnbuckle or fixed tubing, attaches vertically to the upper lateral corners of your lower shell fab. reliance on the utility rails for attachment is less than adequate for anything but street use. so, when designing your lift doors, besure and accomadate for the forward corner supports.
I have a short prinsu rack, works well. my shell is standard, and i have noticed the over cab section does make slight contact on the sharkfin.
I could take photos of the struts and measure, probably the only near-time asset i can give.

 

thanks for all your input. so i think i understand your recommendation on using the Drings in the front corners of the truck bed to help strap down the camper shell with the habitat on top. do you not think that the bedrail that is on the front wall of the truck bed would be sufficient to hold down the top with the cantilevered force? i think i removed my driver side front d ring because i have a bed platform that holds a battery in that front driver side corner compartment.

yes that would be helpful to send some pictures of a tape measure showing the offsets. im also curious of the angle of the back wall of the base that AT makes, so a vertical and horizontal measurement of the angle of base's back wall from the back bottom corner. and then also the vertical and horizontal measurements of the hydraulic strut's mounting points from the top back corner of the base (where the habitat meets the base).

that would be extremely helpful. i talked to Mario at AT and he said that the lower mounting point for the strut is vertically plumb with the hinges of the habitat. and 20" down. Mario also said the top attachement point of the hydraulic strutis about 19" horizontally from the hinges. Mario sent me some plans of the midsection and top section of the habitat, so i see where the holes are for the attachement point of the top clam shell.

anyways thanks for all the assistance, and i cant wait to get this thing fabed up and start campin.

Jaro

 

On Habitat standard shells, the front panel is not attached. the OEM bed utility rail is removed and sealing flange placed, no hold down there.
I was suggesting, and it is just a suggestion, that on the floor of your bed you fab a steel plate with holes to accept the two bed bolts. the plate spans the width of the bed, and from that plate you fab steel eyes or 'struts' that that you can use as hold downs from the just under your tent section. The idea is similiar to what some larger camper inserts use to hold the the slide in unit in place.
The steel plate could rest under your bed platform.
There have been bed racks built that have been mounted via front and rear bed bolts, leaving your utility rack for the light duty tie-ins it's designed for. But anyway, I was just chirping since your fabricating a base unit.
I'll work on some photo and measure

 

also, @sawbladeduller any chance you could take a measurement of how much higher than your roof rack does the shark fin stick up, or is it pretty level with the top of the roof rack?

thanks

 

Shark fin does not stick up above where the rack would be. Sending photo on TW conversation.

 

My camper just impacts my shark fin as well. When she comes out of storage in May, I’ll be pulling the headliner, adding sound matting and changing to a pre-2012 type antenna to gain clearance. It’s really there to plug the hole. Satellite radio comes through the bumper mounted dome.