Jeep Wrangler Habitat Official Release

[DingusKahn]

Unless I've missed it before, tell us about the tailgate lights, they look nice. Sink and faucet look like they are working nicely. Everything looks great!

You might want to consider some caribou cargo quick fasten mounts for the pelican case to the top of the AT Drawer. I mount my Pelican case on top of the drawer like that and it works very nicely and is locked down when the top is off. When I'm not out camping I use the same fasteners to hold down my subwoofer to the top of the drawer.

Those lights were one of the dumb luck finds. I was in AutoZone just looking around. I saw these with all of the colored versions that "Tuners" use to customize their rides. The long strips are white LEDs with a sticky back. The other 4 are half of a set of four LEDs in a little square made to go inside the lip of the truck bed to light up the bed of a pickup. I used my wife's hot glue gun to stick all the wires to the glass. the switch is on a gang with an inside light and the water pump.

 

[washington taco]

Thanks Dingus! Please continue to post as you camp in colder weather.

 

[kb7our]

Great pics and setup DK! You have me thinking again about things like a faucet, the lights on the rear glass, and other useful tweaks. One thing I want to do is mount my Pelican on a slideout drawer that has very low/shallow sides on top of the AT drawer unit. I want to be able to slide out the Pelican (my food pantry) and pop it open keeping it in place and also easily lift it right out of a shallow sided slideout shelf when necessary. Need to identify materials for the shallow slideout drawer and the right slide configuration to mount to the top of the AT drawer.

Did you plumb the AT Nautic Jr water heater and if so what do you think about it?

Unfortunately, still no delivery date on my unit and even with the torsion rods coming in now there is yet another delay surprise on parts

 

[Dan Grec]

Rather than any explanations, I'll wait for questions.

Thanks for the awesome pics, that looks amazing.

I'm wondering about the bedding setup.

1. Can you leave a mattress permanently "in" the roof, even when you fold it closed?
(I imagine it's 4" high density or something)

2. How about bedding? (pillows, sleeping bags/blankets, can they stay when folded closed?

3. What are your thoughts on the habitat tent being wet, and folding it away. Do you think the mattress and bedding would get soaked?

4. How strong does the folded open roof feel when you're lying in there / moving around? Can you feel it flex or anything, or is it rock solid?

Thanks again,
-Dan

 

[DingusKahn]

Great pics and setup DK! You have me thinking again about things like a faucet, the lights on the rear glass, and other useful tweaks. One thing I want to do is mount my Pelican on a slideout drawer that has very low/shallow sides on top of the AT drawer unit. I want to be able to slide out the Pelican (my food pantry) and pop it open keeping it in place and also easily lift it right out of a shallow sided slideout shelf when necessary. Need to identify materials for the shallow slideout drawer and the right slide configuration to mount to the top of the AT drawer.

Did you plumb the AT Nautic Jr water heater and if so what do you think about it?

Unfortunately, still no delivery date on my unit and even with the torsion rods coming in now there is yet another delay surprise on parts

Oh man. Sorry to hear about the delays.
The electric water heater does work well. It gets very hot. Too bad I can't leave the heater on without the motor running. BTW, my big water tank held 12.25 gallons. It's nice to have hot water for a while, and at least warm water then next morning.

For the Pelican case; there are two companies that make drop down slides for fridges. They aren't cheap, but they would work fine for a case.

 

[DingusKahn]

Thanks for the awesome pics, that looks amazing.

I'm wondering about the bedding setup.

1. Can you leave a mattress permanently "in" the roof, even when you fold it closed?
(I imagine it's 4" high density or something)

2. How about bedding? (pillows, sleeping bags/blankets, can they stay when folded closed?

3. What are your thoughts on the habitat tent being wet, and folding it away. Do you think the mattress and bedding would get soaked?

4. How strong does the folded open roof feel when you're lying in there / moving around? Can you feel it flex or anything, or is it rock solid?

Thanks again,
-Dan

Hey Dan,
1) I took out the foam pad. I bought two Nemo insulated Cosmo air mattresses with the double pillow top. The good thing is it completely fills the width of the shell, each pad being 25" wide. The pillow top is really a bag that both Cosmos go into. I bought a fitted sheet and a flat sheet (for a double bed) then used two Army surplus poncho liners for blankets. What I did was to put three nylon straps ( both ends of the bed and middle) in the lid section of the tent. I used one #8 sheet metal screw with flat washer and screwed the end of the strap to the floor of the lid. put the screw about 4" from the side with the strap heading out to the side. One side doubled over to be 6" long (not adjustable) with half of the buckle. the other is about 5ft long with the other half of the plastic buckle. Lay the bedding out and fasten the two sides of strapping and pull snug to hold the bedding down. Works with any bedding you choose. Just undo the buckle and air up the pads and you are ready for bed. It stays there when closed, you never have to remove it.
2) A small pillow would be able to stay there. i would put it close to the hinge end.
3) I have no idea about the wet. It will be month before it rains on me while camping. we get 7 inches per year...
4)VERY STRONG! I am MOST impressed with how strong the top is; both halves. That thing is built like a tank. I have not felt the floor give under me anywhere. I cut a hole in the floor in back for my heater vent. The top part is a good 3/8" think, then some foam and a 3/16 layer below that, which is carpeted as it is the header of the jeep interior. NO flex; Yes rock solid.

I'll try to get pics of my bedding straps. i told Mario about it. It works way better than velcro and works with any bedding, even allowing you to change and just strap right in.

 

[Dan Grec]

....I'll try to get pics of my bedding straps. i told Mario about it. It works way better than velcro and works with any bedding, even allowing you to change and just strap right in.

Wicked, DK. Thanks for all the information.

I had been thinking about some kind of bedding strap system, it sounds like you have it dialed.

I wish I could see one of these in person, but it's ~2500mi. one way for me so unlikely to happen soon.

-Dan

 

[Ford Prefect]

Just come to the Expo. They bring at least one out to each Expo so far since they put them out.

They are shockingly smaller feeling than I expected, more narrow that is. The length seems plentiful IMHO, but you just need to go into it knowing it is not as wide as the roof of the jeep. This is, in part, due to the way the tent narrows in rather tight at the top.

Personally I love it. If I had ended up with that Jeep, rather than the Grand Cherokee I bought, I think I would have picked up this tent myself.

 

[Dan Grec]

Just come to the Expo. They bring at least one out to each Expo so far since they put them out.

I'd love to, but I'm in The Yukon. It's a long drive and time commitment (even if I fly).

They are shockingly smaller feeling than I expected, more narrow that is. The length seems plentiful IMHO, but you just need to go into it knowing it is not as wide as the roof of the jeep. This is, in part, due to the way the tent narrows in rather tight at the top.

Interesting. I've always like the design because of the huge amount of internal, bug and weather free volume it creates. (or I thought it did)
Are you also talking about width at the bottom - i.e. the mattress width?

If anyone has a second, I'd love to know the width of the mattress, and the width of the tent at the "top" above the mattress.

Thanks,
-Dan

 

[Ford Prefect]

Yeah the mattress is (In my opinion and by eyeball alone) apparently only a motorhome size mattress. So if they say it is a queen, for instance, you can count on it being about two inches wider than a full, and a full is typically a few inches wider than a twin and both obviously much smaller than you would expect. The photos do not convey the lack of space inside them. For instance the boy in the photo earlier, if you look at him in the photo outside the jeep, he is not that large at all, but the space inside the tent looks like it would be comfortable for two people his size to sleep side by side. I was really impressed by the massive burgeoning on cavernous space inside until I climbed up into one.

Like I say, it would still be interested in purchasing it, but it is smaller than I thought. I personally feel the pickup truck versions are much more space in the bed area than is this thing. Of course this has two beds and the pu only has one, an obvious difference there, but given that this jeep is bigger than some of those pickup trucks (Like the keep Comanche they also brought) it is surprisingly smaller inside. (feeling)

I would not mind seeing the measurement specs on them as well. I do love the concept though. My wife is pushing for a pick up right now, so I may get one after all (for the truck) if I end up with the truck, who knows...

 

[Healeyjet]

I was at the Off-Road Expo in Pomona last weekend and had the chance to get up in to the Habitat. Upon entering the Habitat my wife and I felt it to be much larger than we had anticipated from the photos. We crawled out onto the front sleeping platform (not sure what is actually called) and laid down as we would if we were sleeping. We were laying on the mattress that the owner of the Habitat on display had installed. I believe it was a Nemo air mattress and sleeping bag. I am 6'5" and weigh around 265 lbs., my wife is 5'7" and weighs around 135 lbs. We found the sleeping area to be quite comfortable for the two of us laying side by side. We sleep at home on a queen bed and the Habitat seemed a bit smaller but still very comfortable! The roof when turned upside down to become the floor does not flex at all and we rocked it back and forth. Any movement in the vehicle comes from the movement of the Jeeps suspension, that Habitat is rock solid! We were concerned that it may be tough to get up in to the Habitat as I am bigger than average. The owner of the Jeep on display had a roll bar installed so the hatch to get up in to the Habitat was cut in half space wise by the roll bar running back to front in the Jeep. Even with this roll bar in place we still had no problem getting up in to the Jeep and making our way through the hatch up in to the Habitat. The one thing that struck my wife was how spacious the tent seemed when inside.
Ward

 

[DingusKahn]

Width

I have two 25" air mattresses side by side in the Habitat. They just barely fit, so I would say it is at most 50" wide. The front and rear are about the same width. I think it is the same as a double bed, between a single and a queen.

 

[Ford Prefect]

Thanks Ding.

 

[Ursa Minor]

Berth Measurements

I'd love to know the width of the mattress, and the width of the tent at the "top" above the mattress

Dan - the forward berth is 48.5" x 85" long, the rear berth is 87" x 51." The tent walls taper inward slightly, with a 44" side to side upper dimension (measured at the bends of the center pole from outside to outside)

cheers, John

 

[DingusKahn]

B U G S ! ! ! !

OK. New Topic. Bugs.
As posted above, I was out a couple of weeks ago for two nights. There were some miller bugs flying around, not too many. They ended up in the tent. The main way they got in was while I had the back open while cooking diner. The back end is very handy and a dang nice kitchen. But it has to stay open to use. And the bugs get in. I have been thinking about a solution, but not very hard. Anyone know of bug screen that can be put in as a curtain. I think it would be best in front of the fridge. Basically behind the rear seat all they way across and top to bottom. That would be behind the hatch up to the tent area. So if the back doors are closed no bugs would get in the tent and you could leave the back open as long as you want. With my light setup, that is until bedtime for me.

How about some input?