Jeep Wrangler Habitat Official Release

DingusKahn

Adventurer
Closer. I just tested another pre-production unit last week. It is a nice size: 92" wide x 188" long. There are a few changes still to be be made. It is anticipated to become available in the Spring as it will be sewn in Asia by NEMO and the lead time can be a a few months for overseas mfg. The final design will be compatible with the Habitat zipper attachments well as have webbing loops to attach to a conventional roof rack.

Too bad you don't have two of them to put on at the same time. Then have Cam develop a triangle piece that goes between the two to form one continuous cover. Stick a support pole in the center of the triangle section at it's outside (widest unsupported edge) and make it a bit lower than the main poles on the canopies. Then it would act like a gutter for the two main canopy sections. Or the valley of the roof between the two ridges of the canopies.
 

DingusKahn

Adventurer
I'm definitely open for a trip depending on timing of the actual Habitat delivery.

On the steering box, are you getting the famous clunky steering feel? I greased the steering linkage under the black rubber boot with "heavy" fifth wheel grease (you have to remove the metal boot seals and replace with zip ties) from info I read on one of the Jeep forums and that removed the clunk!

No, my box is shot. Death warble on hard braking. Putting in an aftermarket version with 1-3/4 hydraulic cylinder. AGR Performance.
 

brianjwilson

Some sort of lost...
DingusKahn,
Thanks so much for meeting with me and showing me your Jeep and Habitat!


Mario,
I have a few questions about the tent. Would it be possible to have a few minor changes made, or does AT have a big stack of tents already sitting at the shop? There are a few modifications that would make me feel a whole lot better about using one of these in the Pacific Northwest.
And does the habitat now come with molded in drip rails over the doors like the j30 does?
 
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anotherguy

Observer
As a heads up for any who might be saving up for one of these, the price for the JK Habitat has increased a fair amount. I was more than a little surprised when I got my quote but put down my deposit this week all the same.
 

kb7our

Explorer
DingusKahn,
Thanks so much for meeting with me and showing me your Jeep and Habitat!


Mario,
I have a few questions about the tent. Would it be possible to have a few minor changes made, or does AT have a big stack of tents already sitting at the shop? There are a few modifications that would make me feel a whole lot better about using one of these in the Pacific Northwest.
And does the habitat now come with molded in drip rails over the doors like the j30 does?

:lurk:

The only drip rail I have seen is a glue on strip so it would be interesting to see if UMV is now embedding a factory like drip rail (I doubt it but it sure would be a nice upgrade)

Also curious about the changes you would like for the wet climate as I do intend to spend some time in the Olympic NP area.
 

elcoyote

Supporting Sponsor, Overland Certified OC0004
Too bad you don't have two of them to put on at the same time. Then have Cam develop a triangle piece that goes between the two to form one continuous cover. Stick a support pole in the center of the triangle section at it's outside (widest unsupported edge) and make it a bit lower than the main poles on the canopies. Then it would act like a gutter for the two main canopy sections. Or the valley of the roof between the two ridges of the canopies.

Interesting idea. Perhaps something to be explored at a later date.

I have a few questions about the tent. Would it be possible to have a few minor changes made, or does AT have a big stack of tents already sitting at the shop? There are a few modifications that would make me feel a whole lot better about using one of these in the Pacific Northwest.
And does the habitat now come with molded in drip rails over the doors like the j30 does?

No planned changes for the tent for the near future as we have inventory to work through. The tent can be removed and re-installed for repairs or modifications if you care to undertake them. What would you specifically change? FWIW, We have spent many rainy and windy days in the tent, on one occasion, 3 consecutive days in Ouray and the tent performed well. We combined the experience with multiple brands of RTTs over the last 10+ years (Hannibal, Karoo, Autohome, EeziAwn, Serengeti, Naits-up, ARB Simpson and variants) and multiple brands of ground tents (Mountain Hardware, NEMO, Sierra Designs, Eureka etc) to hone the design.

The J30 does not have a molded in drip rail, it is a plastic strip that bonds on with 3M HiBond adhesive tape. The same molded drip rail that comes with the Habitat. My pictures show the Habitat with it not installed. It's on my to do list.
 

brianjwilson

Some sort of lost...
Mario Ill send you a PM. I think some of the things may be particular to the unit that I saw, so I don't want to bad mouth anything.
 

DingusKahn

Adventurer
Mario, is there any provision for adding lights and keeping wires out of the way inside the tent?

I drilled a hole in the floor of the base section which came out right behind the driver side rear door very close to the edge. My "house" battery is mounted on that little shelf area behind the rear seat, so that is where I started. Once in the top a ran the wire along the edge to the base of the aluminum pole section where I spliced in more wires to go to the rear and center frame pieces. I bought two inline switches from the hardware store and put them up the rail a ways where they were easy to reach. They are attache to some LED rope lights tie strapped to the poles.
 

DingusKahn

Adventurer
What would you specifically change?

Mario,
When Brian came by the one thing that the tent itself is causing a small problem (for me in the desert small) is the flap on the back section. It is very short and the way my tent got installed it is pulled too tight which causes it to pull up forming a gutter all the way around the rear. I think it can be fixed when we fix the texture problem.
 

brianjwilson

Some sort of lost...
I must have been mistaken on the drip rail. It was getting dark as I arrived, must have just been attached with tape or something then.

The flap on the rear section was one thing. The tent seemed to be really stretched tight, maybe it wasn't broken in. It seemed like the bottom of the tent wanted to pull out of the aluminum rail in some spots, and it wasn't sealed and the flap didn't cover it.
Some other things you pointed out hadn't gotten installed properly on yours, like the seals under the aluminum and such. Also, the aluminum strip wasn't secured at the front (over the hinge). The other thing we talked about were the fact that the upper parts of the side windows don't secure (another zipper or Velcro would fix that). Mario tells me that they have tested it in driving rain, and the side rain awning keeps it dry, for what it's worth. I think my concern was maybe more about strong wind blowing through the side.
I think the overall design is awesome, just wondering about some ways to tighten it up for multiple days of wet weather. But to be honest my biggest concern for MY use is putting that massive tent away wet on a regular basis. It rains differently here than it does in SoCal, NM, AZ. If I tried to wait for a break in the rain I could be waiting for weeks or months sometimes. Lol
Add the fact that I work out of state for two weeks at a time, and I could frequently be tucking a big wet tent away for three weeks with no way to dry it out. Trying to clean mold and mildew stains gets really old.

I'm really not trying to bash the design in any way. I'm just having doubts about how well it's going to suit me. My wife actually likes the J30 more because it is smaller, more simple, lighter, and seems like it will be easier to dry off and close up. It is also easy enough to open and close that she could open it up on a dry day while I'm away at work. Based on what I saw with the habitat, there is no way she could manage it herself.

Either way, if we end up with the j30, I know I'll still be envious whenever I see a habitat!
 
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anotherguy

Observer
brianjwilson; said:
. If I tried to wait for a break in the rain I could be waiting for weeks or months sometimes. Lol
Add the fact that I work out of state for two weeks at a time, and I could frequently be tucking a big wet tent away for three weeks with no way to dry it out. Trying to clean mold and mildew stains gets really old.

Is there something that I am missing that makes the habitat different from other RTT's in this regard?
 

brianjwilson

Some sort of lost...
No, I don't think so. I've never had a RTT so my concerns may be invalid, I don't know.
The tent material in the habitat feels like its very high quality and durable. I mostly worry about my schedule and the inability to dry it out at this point. Most of the small items on the tent are things that I could change on my own, given I could get the material. I'm just inquiring about what changes (if any) could be made and wondering if I should be concerned with storing this material soaking wet for weeks at a time.

For what it's worth I rarely see roof top tents around here. Almost never actually.
 

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