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

We've had ours for about 6mo, with a few dozen nights in it.

Right now the taco is in winter hibernation at my sister in law's place.



Cons:
- By far the worst part is dragging your back across the rear opening, over the tail gate in the middle of the night.

- We have the thick fabric olive tent. That combined with an early sleep platform in a short bed unit caused a perfect storm. Over the course of our two week trip across Utah and Colorado, we ended up forming a couple holes in our tent. This was caused by the top bow making a pressure/wear point along the front edge of the sleep platform. AT met us on the road, looked it over, determined the culprit, and when we got home a new tent body was waiting for us.

- I wish I would have opted for the paint match.

Pros:
- everything!!! We came from a well loved rooftop tent, but with two kids, we outgrew it. The quality and build is far in excess of our $1400 RTT. I was unsure, and looking for a used flippac or something. Glad we went with the habitat.

I am sure I'll have some more in a few.

 

It’s nice that your set up fits into your garage, I’m two inches to tall to fit in my garage. It kills me to have my brand new taco sitting out in the elements. Cons! Yea I needed a skin graph on my back after jumping in the back of the truck one night. Lol

 

I put a piece of rubber fender trim there and it has made it ALOT less dangerous.

 

That's my sister in law's garage, 8' doors. My house has 7' doors and the truck in daily driver mode is right at 7'... she stays in the driveway. I get it though. This is two days after we got back from picking the Habitat up.

 

We had gusts up to 60 mph last night in Skagway, AK. That is the image that kept me up all night haha

 

Anyone take extra precautions to deter dust intrusion into habitat? I took some good ~20 mile trips on dirt and didn't notice much dust in bed, but just bought a tailgate seal to deter it... Also thinking of siliconing a few of the little gaps.

 

@excorcist Have you posted a write up anywhere on how you made that swing out?

 

Not yet... Its funny some ideas you develop in your head never translate when you actually try and build them, but this has been better than I had planned. As far as I know its the only swingout built around the stock bumper, and probably weighs 1/4 of a traditional armored bumper w/ swingout.

I have been meaning to do a writeup on it, Ill try and get working on that this week and tag you when its done. (to get your mind going, think of an avid rear bumper guard with swingout)

 

Here is a post from my build thread talking about the hooks I replaced on the tent wing straps.

 

I saw this a while back when reading your build thread, need to order some of those.

 

sub'd for future updates. also just started looking into these for ease of use/comfort on my groups' weekend trips and family outings. my back and the families' needs have changed, so goes the story of the build right. lol

Anyone want to buy an offroad trailer and/or some kayaks to help fund my habitat?

are there no options to run a full roof rack? I saw a FlipPac once that had some tracks between the bed and Pac to raise it up but not sure how it was constructed. going to see if I can track down some info, otherwise my rack will be for sale also.

 

I ordered, and set them in a cubby in the truck for when the stock ones fail.

 

Are any suspension upgrades or modifications needed or help after adding Habitat to keep it's off-road worthiness? I am looking at King OEM or BP-51 as a suspension upgrade.

 

Ideally Yes, if you leave your stock springs in there you will be sagging. I actually have an SUA and will be needing to either get some special AAL or a custom pack from Alcan made.

 

Roof rack is listed as an option online. The pictures AT used to show online of their prototype had roof rack cross bars. And as some have mentioned you can get L-track either installed by AT or yourself.

Also, this is probably the FlipPac you saw with the track between the bed and shell:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/wts-2012-adventure-trailers-flippac-camper.529132/

 

You are probably talking about G.T.'s flippac found for sale here: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...rs-flippac-camper.529132/page-3#post-17078210

You could conceivably do the same thing with the habitat, but honestly your not going to be able to put anything on the section of rack thats below the overhang anyways so you might as well just trim it down.

 

And what about struts/shocks... will stock struts/shocks need to be upgraded from stock?

 

Not unless you are planning on getting a lift... I guess if you really want to get the best ride you can get kings or the like and have them valved for the specific weight.

 

I finally got around to doing an OME HD Dakar leaf pack with an additional leaf. I upgraded to Fox 2.5 in the rear with DSC adjusters. The adjusters, so I can tune for the load in the back. I'll do the front soon, but takes time. Also upgraded to superbumps all the way around. At minimum, you will need some sort of AAL to help with the extra weight. Speaking from a guy that was riding on bump stops for a little while, the sooner you do this the better. Get whatever struts or shocks you want, but the rear leaf springs are what really will need quick attention.

I guess when Toyota designed the max load for the Tacoma, they never expected people would actually keep it on their vehicles around the clock.

 

As been mentioned, upgrading your springs is kind of more important to handle the weight, but that typically comes along with a lift which necessitates shocks (and they're a good idea anyway)

For myself I went with All-Pro expo springs, and for now I have Bilstein B110 shocks until I get relocated shock towers installed for 12" Kings.

Down the road if I ever get a rear armor with a swingout I'll probably consider getting a custom leaf pack from Deaver or Alcan. But that's far away for now.