goawaymore
Member
Sounds like you did just enough experimenting! Pre-coffee annoyance is never a good start to the day
OBI Dweller Review and Discussion
- Thread starter gendlert
- Start date
nemesisnight
Member
So I went out to do the Monroe shock swap tonight and am going to try and do a little different experiment. The Monroe shocks are way stiffer than stock and designed for a decently heavy vehicle so doubling up seemed excessive possibly (I could very well be wrong). So I left one stock shock and one new Monroe shock to test out. Hoping to get the best of both worlds for better road manners and still good offroading. Worst case I'll just swap all over to the new ones but feel like it's worth trying?
nemesisnight
Member
Have you considered a dedicated electric tea kettle? Those are pretty cheap, take up very little space and are super fast to a boil. Seems like most are anywhere from 1100W to 1500W. I have one I use at home occasionally and considered trying it in the caravan but am too lazy camping and usually just do cold brew for summer camping as I personally prefer cold coffee since I always run hot ?, haha. I guess the advantage of your setup is you can also cook with the induction cooktop if needed.
Robustoobi34
New member
That is brilliant! And to be clear, you are powering this off of the batteries, not shore power, correct?
Also, that would be a great solution for my AeroPress... also a great way to make coffee...espresso style in the AM...
FordGuy1
Adventurer
That is not a bad idea. The issue over looked by so many people is the piston size in a small shock like Monroe. A lot do not realize that the outside body of the shock is not the shock at all, but a outer body that has nothing to due with the size of the shock . The piston is tiny inside, so that makes the valving super small resulting in the shock overheating and fading very easy. If you compare the dampening ability of lets say, a Fox 2.0 for example, the piston is twice the size as a Monroe or a factory damper. If this works well, I would consider investing in a really good shock like a Fox, King, Icon with a 2.5 piston. The other thing to consider on a trailer is the lack of travel and what happens on a wash board road. A shock with a reservoir is going to help tremendously with aeration, and also adds a lot more oil capacity. I think we overlook the importance of shock quality on our trailers.
nemesisnight
Member
Yea @WillySwan did a ton of research trying to find a good bolt on option in post #90. Super grateful for him looking into it all and searching extensively. I am sure many of us would love better shocks that can handle the off-road abuse without overheating. Unfortunately the options are very limited as he goes over in depth on what would fit "as is", without doing some fairly heavy fab work and relocating all the shock tabs. Even the owner of OBI has tried working with companies like fox and king but they were unable to supply a big enough volume. If someone paves the way and finds a better option I bet many of us would jump on board, but for now I am excited to start using the caravan and test this setup.
FordGuy1
Adventurer
It is very easy to have a custom shock made. If you fit a Monroe, you can make it work. I used to have Icon make me custom shocks with no issues.
Attachments
Update on the Generac 2500i. My wife had mentioned to her friend at work that the generator we bought didn't work on the ac and her friend offered to try out her generator. She said it powers her campers ac so my wife brought it home. It was the same generator... I started her 2500i up and it ran way quieter and I was skeptical it would even work. I plugged the camper in and the ac fired up right away. I pulled out the one I just bought and started it up. It idled way higher and when I plugged in the camper it revved up way high and shut off like it was doing before. Long story short my generator must be defective out the box. I'm excited that this little, quiet generator works. I just have to exchange mine.
Robustoobi34
New member
Great news. looks like a compact and effective little unit....
Could you PM me the contact at Icon you work with? I couldn’t get them to give me the time of day.
That’s a nice photo. Were you involved with the design of Turtleback’s Icon suspension option?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
FordGuy1
Adventurer
Not involved at all. Icon is slammed like everyone right now. I am friends with a couple guy's at Icon. I will ask who the best contact is. King is also one that could make a set very easy. do you have the extended and compressed length?
FordGuy1
Adventurer
It looks like you can use a standard Fox or King. Look at these:
| Motorsports Shocks | FOX
FOX redefines ride dynamics for ATVs, mountain bikes, motocross, off-road vehicles, snowmobiles, trucks, and UTVs.
www.ridefox.com
Here are my measurements of the stock shock absorbers on the Dweller:
- Compressed Length = ~12.25 inches
- Extended Length = ~19.625 inches
- Upper Mounting =
- Loop Bushing & Sleeve Mount
- 5/8" (16mm) Sleeve ID X 1-1/2" Sleeve OAL
- Lower Mounting =
- Loop Bushing & Sleeve Mount
- 5/8" (16mm) Sleeve ID X 1-1/2" Sleeve OAL
Don’t put a lot of effort into chasing leads at King or Icon on my behalf. If you have a contact, I would like to chat with them, but I’m not sure I will pursue a custom shock. I’ve got another thousand miles on my current set-up and it continues to do everything I need. I think if I went with a custom shock I would notice very little change from what I have now.
Regarding durability, time will tell. The Monroe 60 series commercial shocks are a quality product. They have a 35mm bore, a 16mm piston rod and a 2.25 inch reservoir housing. The quality of the bushing and sleeve on the end fittings are a vast improvement over the stock Dweller shock.
The Compaks suspension under the Dweller appears to be “very similar” to the Cruisemaster XT suspension. The Monroe shocks I’m running now are of similar specs to the G35 shock used on the XT suspension except the Monroe has a beefier piston rod (16mm vs. 14mm).
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I exchanged it and the new one works great!