OBI Dweller Review and Discussion

[WillySwan]

So that black tape around the fan housing...that was SO sticky I couldn't crank the lid open. I ran a light coating of lithium grease over it to drop the tackiness. It almost looks like it was put on as an afterthought. Any reason to leave it there?

I’m not sure what black tape you are referring to around the fan housing. Can you share a picture?


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[rblitz]

I’m not sure what black tape you are referring to around the fan housing. Can you share a picture?


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You can see it in the last pic in your previous post. It's just added to the sloped part of the lid housing.

 

[USR103]

Hi, I've read the bulk of the 46 pages of this thread. This is great information and very helpful!
It looks like the 13 and 15 both have the sway problem, is that correct? Dealer I'm speaking with said it's only the 15..
Is anyone pulling the 13 with a LC100? If so, any general feedback and how painful is the mileage?
thank you

I just spoke with someone that is trying the 15 with only one spare to see if that will help with the sway. Has anyone tried this?

 

[lacresta]

I just spoke with someone that is trying the 15 with only one spare to see if that will help with the sway. Has anyone tried this?

I'm looking at a 13, but for whatever it's worth the dealer said removing both spares from the 15 helped resolve the sway...

I'm still trying to clarify if the 13 has the sway issue....

 

[WillySwan]

He added that tape himself.

That's correct. The tape you see in my picture is the what I added to block the air flow.

 

[WillySwan]

I think there's some cross-ways terminology going on in this thread.

In my personal opinion (thousands and thousands of towing miles, coast to coast, 1,500lbs to 30,000lbs) the Dweller 13/15 trailers have (arbitrary numbers) 65% of their towability issue with the blue axis -ROCKING- (perpendicular T) to the ground. And 35% of their towability issue with the red axis -SWAY- (parallel =) to the ground.

@WillySwan corrected 90% of the BLUE axis rocking with the stiffer shocks (I'd argue a Jeep style sway bar or air bags may further help). These trailers -when completely empty- are erroring on the tongue light side of the equation, which significantly facilitates traditional sway -RED axis. This is pretty easy to correct. I eliminated 95% of traditional RED axis sway with a generator in the tongue box and emptying grey water at home, post trip.

Both of these issues axis off the hitch (green arrow). Sway control bars, weight distribution hitch, all of these (in my opinion) are truly just band aids for an improperly balanced setup (tow vehicle capacities being part of this equation). I have almost 600lbs of tongue weight, aftermarket shocks and can safely do 80mph in high winds.

This is a GREAT post and I could not agree more. With the proper shocks, the proper tongue weight, AND the properly set up tow vehicle, a D13 is a very comfortable rig to tow at highway speeds. I do think a sway bar is an interesting idea, particularly if you could easily disconnect it. I can't comment on the D15.

Earlier this week, I did back-to-back 800-ish mile days pulling my Dweller. Day 1 was Austin, TX to Farmington, NM (825 miles). Day 2 was Farmington to Boise (775 miles). Both days were all pavement, all day long. Lots of hours at 70+mph. I tried to cap speed at 75mph, but there were a few excursions over that. It was rock solid the entire trip.

The proper tow vehicle set up is critical. Since I upgraded the Dweller shocks last year, I have done variations of this trip several times with different tow vehicle set ups.

• The first trip was with my 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee. It is rated to tow 7000 lbs and has the Quadra-Lift (air bag) suspension so it self-levels under the tongue weight. It pulls "fine", but there were several times where it felt like the "tail was wagging the dog". I could feel the weight of the trailer pushing the Grand Cherokee around. I was very hesitant to exceed 65mph. Regardless of tow rating, my opinion is that the D13 is borderline too much trailer for a tow vehicle of this size for extended highway travel.
• The next trip was with a new stock 1/2 ton Ram Rebel. The added wheelbase and weight of the Rebel made a big difference in towing behavior. The D13 feels much more "settled" behind the Ram. The issue with this set up was that I had quite a bit of squat from the tongue weight. In addition, humps in the road resulted in a lot of "porpoising", but there was no swaying and no rocking.
• Prior to the trip this week, I installed an air bag assist system from Timber Grove on my Ram. It is a fantastic product. About 45psi in the bags returned my Rebel to stock height in the rear. As mentioned above, the rig felt rock solid the entire trip. The only additional change I may investigate are upgraded shocks on the Ram, but I am hesitant to do anything the will change the current cushy ride as it is now my daily driver.

 

[tjtx]

Does anyone know what alternative struts will work on the front toolbox? I've been waiting for the dealership and OBi to replace them for 2+ months and I'd just rather do it myself at this point.

 

[WillySwan]

Are there any numbers on the existing struts?

When @rblitz had issue with his struts, I looked up the numbers on mine. The key specs are: 370mm (14.6") extended length, 130mm (5.1") stroke, 260N (60lb) force. Rblitz said he had located struts on Amazon for about $60 in the case that OBI did not warrant them. I do not know whether he ever got any satisfaction (or struts) from OBI.

 

[WillySwan]

Here is a quick write up on the pressurization system I designed and installed in my Dweller. It is going to be several months before I will be able to comment on the overall effectiveness, but I am cautiously optimistic that this system, combined with my efforts to seal up the Dweller, will significantly reduce the amount of dust that gets inside.

The key design parameters were:

• No interference with existing systems/components
• Minimal impact on storage
• Quality, long life components that can be easily sourced
• Short duct runs that are as efficient as possible
• A reasonable professional looking appearance

The key components of the system are:

• Air cleaner
• Wall penetration fitting where the duct passes through the front wall of the Dweller
• 12 volt blower
• Ductwork components
• Electrical

Air cleaner
The top of the front gear box is where I chose to locate the air cleaner. There is limited space to work with, so that limited my selection of an air cleaner. The unit I choose is a Donaldson FPG series air cleaner, p/n G070020. It is an industrial engine air cleaner. Key attributes are:

• Fits in the available space
• 3 inch inlet and outlet
• 2-stage filtration - pre-filter design removes large particles and water prior to final filtration
• Heavy duty construction
• Readily available replacement filter elements

Wall penetration
This is a simple but critical component. I started working on a clean-sheet design to have fabricated locally, I then stumbled across the perfect solution: a 3-inch marine exhaust tip. It is polished stainless steel with a TIG welded flange. It is the perfect solution for my application.

12 Volt blower
After looking at lots of options, I settled on a squirrel cage marine bilge blower. There are 3 and 4 inch options available. I went with the 4-inch version. The 3-inch blower specs did not blow enough CFM under pressure. The 4-inch version I selected is a Jabso continuous-duty rated flange-mounted blower. The p/n is 35760-0092.

Duct components
Key exterior duct components

• Generic 3-inch intake snorkel off EBay. It is surprisingly high quality. It also provides initial water removal.
• 3-inch stainless tube. Polished exhaust pipe purchased from Amazon
• 3-inch “Cobra elbow” - this is the funky elbow connecting the outlet of the air cleaner to the wall penetration, Not ideal from a restriction perspective, but it is what was needed to be able to locate the wall penetration where I wanted it.

Key interior duct components

• 3-inch x 4-inch coupler
• 4-inch flex pipe. This is another component that really exceeded expectations. This is a semi-rigid accordian duct. it holds in place very well once it is formed to shape. The primary usage for this is woodshop vacuum systems.

Outlet Grill

• Homemade. 5-inch x 7-inch oversize to hide blower mounting bolts.

Electrical
The electrical is maybe more complicated than needed, but I am happy with the result.

• The electrical is wired through the current gauge on the Dweller control panel so I can measure the amp draw.
• I installed an on/off switch in the Dweller. I also added a PWM motor speed controller. My thinking was that I may want to use the blower as a variable speed vent fan when the Dweller is parked.
• I wired it so that I can also control the fan from a yet-to-be-installed switch in the cab of my tow vehicle where I can remotely turn the fan on when hitting dirt roads. Adding this complexity, combined with the PWM speed controller, required relays for both the 12v+ and 12v-..

Still to be done

• I need to do the wiring for the cab mounted control switch in my tow vehicle. This will happen at the same time as I wire an Anderson connector for a DC/DC charger
• I may extend the intake snorkel to the top of the Dweller. The fact that the front wall of the Dweller is not angled at 45 degrees complicates things, but I think I have it figured out.

As mentioned, it will be some time before I get to give this a thorough test on some dusty roads. With the Dweller parked and the fan running, I can feel air blowing out of the exterior louvers of the refrigerator compartment. I take that as a good sign that I have things reasonably well sealed up and that there is a chance this will work as expected.

The photos below show most of the details. I am very satisfied with the result. Let me know if there are any questions. I am out-of-pocket for most of the next month, but I will respond when I can.





Wall Penetration / Exhaust Flange



Below is the interior ductwork and fan which are located tight against the left wall of the front interior storage cubby.



This shows the interior grill, the on/off switch and the PWM speed controller.

 

[lacresta]

I think there's some cross-ways terminology going on in this thread.

In my personal opinion (thousands and thousands of towing miles, coast to coast, 1,500lbs to 30,000lbs) the Dweller 13/15 trailers have (arbitrary numbers) 65% of their towability issue with the blue axis -ROCKING- (perpendicular T) to the ground. And 35% of their towability issue with the red axis -SWAY- (parallel =) to the ground.

@WillySwan corrected 90% of the BLUE axis rocking with the stiffer shocks (I'd argue a Jeep style sway bar or air bags may further help). These trailers -when completely empty- are erroring on the tongue light side of the equation, which significantly facilitates traditional sway -RED axis. This is pretty easy to correct. I eliminated 95% of traditional RED axis sway with a generator in the tongue box and emptying grey water at home, post trip.

Both of these issues axis off the hitch (green arrow). Sway control bars, weight distribution hitch, all of these (in my opinion) are truly just band aids for an improperly balanced setup (tow vehicle capacities being part of this equation). I have almost 600lbs of tongue weight, aftermarket shocks and can safely do 80mph in high winds.

View attachment 777998

Thanks for sharing your experience and knowledge...Spoke to OBI distributor in Tempe yesterday, he said they "fixed the sway problems on the 2022 and newer 13's...

 

[WillySwan]

Thanks for sharing your experience and knowledge...Spoke to OBI distributor in Tempe yesterday, he said they "fixed the sway problems on the 2022 and newer 13's...

This is 100% "educated speculation" and I may be wrong, but I bet that their fix to the sway problem was moving the batteries forward from the rear compartment to the dinette seat compartment in order to increase tongue weight. I can not think of any other reason they would move the batteries to this location. Most D13 already seem to tilt a bit to the passenger side and relocating the batteries under the seat will only exasperate that situation.

If there are any additional details on what the fix involves it would be great to hear them.

 

[RonBA]

I am having an issue with my batteries discharging even when everything is turned off. I came back from a trip and the solar charger was charging. Turned off everything and let the Trailer set for several days in sunlight. Went to turn on power and nothing came on. Checked solar charger and it was showing E01 (batteries over discharged). Unhooked solar panels from charger then batteries. Hooked batteries up to a battery charger (trickle charger). After a few days I checked the batteries with volt meter (13 volts). Hooked up batteries to solar charger then hooked up solar panels ( solar charger showed it was charging batteries). Turned on power and everything worked. I hooked up my generator to test the 120 volt. AC was running, but I noticed that my battery voltage was dropping. then I heard a loud "whistle", but was unable to locate where it came from. Manually turned off everything (, lights, water heater, pump ect), but battery voltage is still dropping.
I am currently recharging my batteries with a trickle charger. Anyone have any ideas what could be causing this? Yes I have traced wires looking for damage.

 

[rblitz]

That's correct. The tape you see in my picture is the what I added to block the air flow.

Weird coincidence. Mine came with tape like that sectioned and placed almost identically. Mine is double sided and it grabs the lid so hard I can't open it.

 

[rblitz]

When @rblitz had issue with his struts, I looked up the numbers on mine. The key specs are: 370mm (14.6") extended length, 130mm (5.1") stroke, 260N (60lb) force. Rblitz said he had located struts on Amazon for about $60 in the case that OBI did not warrant them. I do not know whether he ever got any satisfaction (or struts) from OBI.

I called OBi (had to go through their new sales option on the menu) and the person there told me I had to work through my dealer. My dealer (where do I begin) is probably the worst customer service I've ever dealt with for any product. So I doubt I'll be able to take advantage of my warranty.

I haven't replaced the struts yet but plan to this summer.

 

[leosgarza]

Picked our 15 up from ROA on 3-30 and stayed out on Burr Point on 3-31. We have the equalizer and fox shocks and it did well. The drive also consisted of high wind and snow. We took off the equalizer in Hanksville and drove about 15 miles of highway before going off road. Without the equalizer the trailer was all over the road on the highway , it was like night and day. We drove back to Castle Rock south of Denver without any problems, even survived the crater potholes on I70.

What is your equalizer that you are using? Thanks.

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