OBI Dweller Review and Discussion

Suns_PSD

New member
I have a very similar low payload capacity on my F150. My truck is a Limited model (lots of content) plus it's got some heavy tires as well as a topper.

When I actually weighed my F150 with a full tank and me in it, and I only have 690#s of payload. That's before my family, dogs, gear, a WDH & of course tongue weight of a D15 style trailer which is about 700#s or so.

Needless to say, I'll be technically well overweight and that's with an F150!

Meanwhile, I see people towing D15s with Tacos and Jeeps so I have sort of reached the conclusion to be smart, use a WDH, load the trailer correctly & limit my speeds to about 65 and everything will be fine.

I have friends that tow MUCH heavier loads with no issues. Ford (and Stellantis) have to rate these things for a weight that someone not as careful or cautious will likely be safe with. My best bud bought a 24' used Airstream and towed it with 4 cylinder Crossover and he told me it was totally fine and smooth. Go figure!
 

Suns_PSD

New member
Nothing really useful on that one. Payload is meaningless after adding stuff to the Jeep.

Somewhere in the manuals or online is the listed GVWR (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating) for that vehicle. It's probably around 6500#s or so. Then he just weighs his modified Jeep loaded and fueled up, and whatever is left is his allowable tongue weight.

Beyond that he'll also have a listed GCWR (Gross Combined Weight Rating) that he should technically not go over for the weight of his Jeep + his D15.
 
Has anyone used this 10 click method to adjust the Dweller brakes?

Push in on the star gear and lift it up. Keep doing this until the brake pads catch on your drum. When you can't spin your wheel by hand anymore, back the gear off by about 10 clicks by pushing down on the star gear. Does the wheel now spin freely (even if it sounds like the brake pads drag slightly on the drum)

I'm thinking of giving it a try. Let me know. Thanks
Have you had a chance to try this method yet ? With our camper manual brake lever fully pulled up the camper wheels are still rolling in the wheel chocks. I bought a drum brake adjustment tool off of Amazon but I haven’t had a chance yet to try and adjust the brakes.
 

CowboyKyle

Active member
Nothing really useful on that one. Payload is meaningless after adding stuff to the Jeep.
This is probably where we disagree (maybe?). That payload number is your maximum allowable weight you can add to the vehicle. Passengers, steel bumpers, recovery gear, heavier tires, tongue weight. Etc.

edit: after going back and looking, you were right. We didn't really need the payload. You're at 5420 without the trailer and a GVWR of 6250. That leaves you an available payload of approx 830lbs. Of which, tongue weight consumes 680lbs. Not a lot of margin.
 
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Josh00333

Member
Somewhere in the manuals or online is the listed GVWR (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating) for that vehicle. It's probably around 6500#s or so. Then he just weighs his modified Jeep loaded and fueled up, and whatever is left is his allowable tongue weight.

Beyond that he'll also have a listed GCWR (Gross Combined Weight Rating) that he should technically not go over for the weight of his Jeep + his D15.

The GVWR for each truck is on the door stickers.

This is probably where we disagree (maybe?). That payload number is your maximum allowable weight you can add to the vehicle. Passengers, steel bumpers, recovery gear, heavier tires, tongue weight. Etc.

edit: after going back and looking, you were right. We didn't really need the payload. You're at 5420 without the trailer and a GVWR of 6250. That leaves you an available payload of approx 830lbs. Of which, tongue weight consumes 680lbs. Not a lot of margin.

We’re on the same page. Payload sticker after you modify or load a truck with tools recovery gear, winches, lift kits big tires etc is not useful as you are deducting payload by adding all that stuff.

Only bonus of that scale is full of fuel me in it 180 dressed, annd all my gear was in the truck; straps tools jack etc.

Guys have to scale weigh your truck subtract that from your gvwr to get your “new” or practical payload.

That’s where most folks fail, they load the truck, modify the truck, then look at the sticker and go “I got 1500 pounds of payload!” Add the wife her purse 2 kids 3 dogs there own beer belly and then a 600 pound hitch… and the motorcycle in the bed, fire wood etc and are grossly overweight.

When I tow you’ll find my bed empty and no extra stuff in the truck.
 

CowboyKyle

Active member
The GVWR for each truck is on the door stickers.



We’re on the same page. Payload sticker after you modify or load a truck with tools recovery gear, winches, lift kits big tires etc is not useful as you are deducting payload by adding all that stuff.

Only bonus of that scale is full of fuel me in it 180 dressed, annd all my gear was in the truck; straps tools jack etc.

Guys have to scale weigh your truck subtract that from your gvwr to get your “new” or practical payload.

That’s where most folks fail, they load the truck, modify the truck, then look at the sticker and go “I got 1500 pounds of payload!” Add the wife her purse 2 kids 3 dogs there own beer belly and then a 600 pound hitch… and the motorcycle in the bed, fire wood etc and are grossly overweight.

When I tow you’ll find my bed empty and no extra stuff in the truck.
Agreed 100%. I do carry a lot of tools and gear. This is why I have an F250 to tow my Dweller.
 

Josh00333

Member
Congrats, how did the Glaadiator pull it. I will be getting a D15 and want to pull it with my JTR.

Pulled great!

Now I got the D13, have a supercharger on the jeep, and an AEV lift kit designed to carry more weight than the stock suspension, 35’s and am re-geared to 4.63’s.

So my experience may be totally different.
 

Skippy T

New member
Pulled great!

Now I got the D13, have a supercharger on the jeep, and an AEV lift kit designed to carry more weight than the stock suspension, 35’s and am re-geared to 4.63’s.

So my experience may be totally different.
Curious. Which Super Charger did you go with?
 

Suns_PSD

New member
Ultimately, it's not power that is the limiting factor in factory tow ratings but instead a combination of axle ratings, brake ratings, stability concerns, heat rejection capability (the gears really help with this), liability, idiot factor, etc.

The Jeep sounds awesome, but in reality, it's likely less suited for the task of pulling heavy trailers with high wind resistance, not more suited with the current mods.

That said, we all work with what we got, and our rigs become pretty important to us. especially when we have another 5 figures in mods added. I've had guys on the F150 forum tell me to undo my mods to improve towing capacity or even sell my Limited for a lighter Lariat. Frankly I'd rather jump off a cliff than do any of those things.

I'm in trucking and was once talking with a factory engineer about how the local owner operators take an old freight truck with a 12K# front axle, install 20K floater tires on that axle when turning it in to a dump truck, and proceed to haul 20K on that axle for years with no problems. That's while still using the 12K# steering gear box, hubs, springs, etc. He told me that on flat smooth ground that 12K# axle could probably haul 112K#s for a good while before failing, such is the nature of the over-engineering of these components to deal with poor drivers and rough conditions.
 
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Josh00333

Member
First trip, nothing exciting went to a private camp ground.

Good drive up, it’s 80 miles or so, back roads, up canyons, real pretty.

Handles great, rode nice at 70, stretch about 4 miles.

I’m happy!

Ac definitely not perfect but I’ll live with it.
 

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Josh00333

Member
AC, ok is there a way to set it so the fan does not blow unless the compressor is on?

Right now my fan blows even if it’s 60 inside and the thermostat is set to 75?
 

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