OBI Dweller Review and Discussion

[rblitz]

Thx ! Looks like your bolt is not rubbing against the "fascia trim" piece like mine. Mine is rubbing and starting to indent just above the "v" part of the bolt about 3/4" above the threads. It is hard to see with my pic. I think the bolt thing was probably a fluke. Overall I think the trailer is very well built.

I have the same happening on the driver/rear roof latch.

 

[tjtx]

First time actually taking the trailer on any rough terrain, 0 drama, ezpz. The DO35 does well, and we made it down Pine Canyon Rd which isn't too awful but past where they said trailers should be.

Towed great for 800+ miles without any issues. Also I can't say enough good things about the Truma heater, such low power draw and so much heat.

We're sitting at 95% full after running Starlink, the fridge, and misc lights all day with the solar. Cannot recommend the LiFePo4 upgrade enough for the extra capacity (still 300ah but you can actually run down to 0% without damaging the batteries)

 

[LaBlaze]

So I have done the shock upgrade and am still annoyed at the rocking my Dweller has, I think OBI needs to really figure out a fix for this as it can't just be written off as well that's the nature of these rigs.....Plenty of other inependent suspension trailers pull great without the bandaids we are trying to use with mixed results. Maybe some dwellers are worse than others, definitely seems worse on the 15's!! Mine is pretty terrible and basically unusable when empty unless it's weighted down a ton up front and completely filled with water, I can't even drive it safely above 45 mph empty. I'm struggling to know what to do in the winter months to even transport it. When I fill the front water tank I'm getting water in the back tank and even my water heater so then I'm not even winterized anymore. Does anyone know to prevent this, if I change the lever under the bed to front tank only will this help? Even then it seems like water will travel in the lines up to that point where the handle is (plus i have to pop out the bed just to reach it), then I potentially will freeze a line still. Pretty annoyed and I do like my Dweller but not pleased with how dangerous it is to tow......I'm towing with a pretty stout 2014 200 series land cruiser rated at around 8500lbs rating, so not an under rated vehicle.

Search ROA videos on towing the 15. They show how much it sways going over 50mph. We have a 13 so not as big of sway as the 13 but we're trying to figure out how to attach an Equalizer WDH to the mchitch.

 

[calicamper]

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

The Tow Vehicle.
2023 Chevrolet Colorado Trailboss
2.7L Turbo High Output Engine with 310 HP and 430 lb-ft of Torque
I selected the Trailboss version to keep the Tow rating high at 7700 lbs.
GAWR FRT 3500
GAWR RR 3600
GVWR 6250
-I do not intend on wheeling this truck!- I've destroyed enough nice rigs in my younger years. It'll mostly run DNR/Forrest Service logging roads with the occasional "I'm pretty sure I can make it moments" when I'm dumb..

The Trailer.
2022 Dweller 13
New enough that the control panel is to the left when you enter the door on the side of the settee. The batteries are under that same seat.

The dealership bought a few at auction, not sure how many but they did say they had a 15 that was sold recently as well but the 13 I bought was the last of it kind on the lot. It had been stripped of the feezer and outside shower curtain setup, but the dealership had replaced the cooler with a ICECO model. They weren't moving well and it was likely heading back to the auction block again had I not purchased it. Everything else looks to be pretty standard to what I have read.

How it Towed.
The first stretch of road leaving Fallon is a max speed of 65. The road is well maintained and 65 was what I towed it at. For a "Mid Size" truck, this trailer is the perfect size. I had plenty of power pulling power and on this section it track well without any sway or wheel feedback. The mirrors on the truck are adequate, though I'm interested in a camera setup for the back of the trailer.(I had a semi pulling a corner at an intersection that needed more room and I had to have the Mrs jump out and have the car behind me back up and then signal me how much room I had to reverse..) I dont need it, but man it would it be nice! The new full size Silverados have ghost trailer camera setup but I dont think its doable on the Colorado...

The squat on the truck is more than I like(see picture below) and the truck canopy, tools and amout of gear I had in the back of the truck didnt help. I have a set of RAS(road active suspension) helper springs on the way that get here Tuesday that should address that issue, however in truth, I was 80lbs over the GAWR for my rear axel and within 170lbs of GVWR. I found a set of scales along the way that I could peek in the scale house and see my weights. Front Axel 2400, Rear Axel 3680, Trailer Axel 4800.
I did not disconnect to see trailer stand alone weight. Could I have lightened the tongue weight or repositioned the load in the bed and been within, probably. Two 30lb bottles full, generator, bottle jack and Jack stands in the front box, only the front water tank full. In my opinion theres room to adjust. Moral of the story is, if you're running a mid size truck just know you cant load er' down like the Clampetts!

After a long drive from Washington and getting the trailer loaded we didnt make it much further then the far side of Reno, and ended up staying in the Cabelas parking lot for the first night. Early the following morning, after a short run on I-80 we headed off onto 89 north through Sierraville, the back side of Lassen, Hat Creek and made the turn west at hwy 299. That stretch of road was perfect for this setup. Most is 55 mph, windy roads with little traffic. We setup the trailer for lunch and a nap on a dirt trail somewhere around Hat Creek. The trailer is great for that. Simple, fast setup. Easy to whip into a side trail, without worrying if you'll be able to turn around and easy enough to bounce over a rock or two to get it into position. The bed is super comfortable in my opinion, and a bathroom that is always available (my popup had the same cassette toilet setup but was inaccessible without setting the whole thing up) is amazing! The room inside the trailer is adequate. It's just my wife and I and we're used to dancing around each other in our little c-dory boat for days on end.

We stopped at Wisky Town Lake, specifically Brandy Creek Campground for the next night. Weather was rainy the whole day and only got worse as we passed through Redding. The campground spots are a bit wierd, think wide parking lot spots.. It was only us and the camp host in the place so I parked how I pleased across 2 spots and left the truck attached which in hind sight was helpful. We had a nice quiet dinner and were really hopeful for just a relaxing night to finally unwind..Then the wind started... 50 MPH winds slamming the side of the trailer. Lightning, lighting up the sky and trees over the top of the trailer swaying like crazy..We lowered the top but left the bed extended, I put on some rain gear, jumped in the truck and repositioned the trailer into the wind, and as clear from the trees as possible. Disconnected the truck and parked it sideways to help block the wind and called it a night with the top lowered down just incase. Three trees were down in the park the next morning, but luckily none near us.. Looking back, we could have left the top up, it handled the worst of it, but the unknown was enough to error on the safe side..

The next morning we pushed up the coast to the 101. Got a photo with Paul and Babe, hiked a spot along 199 in a redwood grove and decided since we were running low on time we would continue out 199 to Grant's Pass then north on I5 home.

It was getting late and with nothing but a couple of DNR road possibilities for the nights stay, we swung into a gas station for fuel around Obrian Oregon and noticed a restaurant across the street that was still open on a Sunday night. My wife hurried across the road to get us a table incase they were closing early while I finished fueling. As luck would have it, the glass of wine I ordered happen to be the brand owned buy a couple that walked in the door minutes after. The owner Reggie, asked what I was drinking, then clued me in that it was his wine, a local vineyard two minutes down the road. They were great folks to talk with, asked where we were staying for the night, and when we replied we hadn't quite figured that out yet they suggested their winery, complete with RV hookups on a beautiful ranch. Sold! It was dark when we rolled in but an amazing place to wake up to in the morning and I'd highly recommend them if you're in the area. https://augustinoestate.com/

Towing continued to be good the next day through hwy 199. Once back in Washington on I-5 is where it took a little more concentration. Nothing I would concider "white knuckle", but the ruts from the heavy trucks that run the interstate + traffic + higher speeds of other vehicles required more attention and speed control then before. Sometimes I'm doing 65, sometimes less. Nothing that made me feel unsafe, but I could see how some folks that dont tow alot could worry. We got home late that night after a ferry ride (total vehicle length barely less than 40' for those of us that use the ferry system).

Things we'll look at improving on.
-RAS suspension added to truck.
-Monroe shocks swap on the trailer.
-Addressing the workload/power distribution of the AC shore power when connected. I didnt see a voltage increase to the batteries anywhere near the gain when on solar. (The solar worked great, but we do live in the PNW and my honda 2000 will be used for battery charging and I dont want it to run forever..)
-Load distribution. Where stuff goes and how to balance it out a little better.

Things we loved.
- The bathroom and water pressure(although at a cost to hot water duration) .
-The Truma heater. The ducting bed side is amazing, its quiet, and pumps out the heat on cold nights without issue. (Need to figure out the INET or a remote to turn it on while still in bed!)
- The bed is super comfy. (I spend alot of time backcountry on the ground, this is a nice break from that!)

It truly is a nice little trailer packed in with alot of nice features. I'll be taking it hunting out of Forks WA (read wet) next week so more to follow on condensation issues and cold weather ops.

Sorry so much about towing, that just seemed to be the sticking point so many are worried about....

I have raced sailboats at Whisky Town many times in May. Have been there when the wicked late season storms have come in and kicked winds up in the 50’s. I know that exact spot you parked and have moved out across to the far side away from those pines twice!! One did come down clipped a pickup one yr. Us regatta guys sleep in weird stuff. I slept in my wife’s Jetta sedan with rear seats down one yr, my Sequoia one yr. A buddy slept in his sail locker box on his trailer (think coffin used to store sails under the boat racked on the trailer 😆)

 

[tjtx]

Search ROA videos on towing the 15. They show how much it sways going over 50mph. We have a 13 so not as big of sway as the 13 but we're trying to figure out how to attach an Equalizer WDH to the mchitch.

If you look back at my post history, i did it with the McHitch and then moved to a DO35. It requires changing jockey wheel to something that can come off (ARK makes one).

With the McHitch the saddles go just in front of the cross member, with the DO35 they move back, but either way you need a jockey wheel you can remove and swing around it.

 

[tjtx]

I also forgot to reply about these:

Wind Shield to suit SMEV Gas Stove

Cook with ease and without any disturbance from the wind with our Wind Shield to suit Smev Gas Stove. Order now at Kaon Australia.

www.kaon.com.au

10/10 work amazingly well. 20-30mph winds and my stove flame isn't going out.

 

[LaBlaze]

So we picked up our OBI dweller 13 from the dealer the other day. They showed us how to release the jockey wheel by pulling on the blue handle but we can't seem to figure it out! We've tried googling it for videos but we're still stuck with it up. Does someone have a video of them putting the jockey wheel down on their dweller? It's currently still hooked up to our truck. We're currently out camping and need to use our truck lol TIA

 

[Xid_az]

So we picked up our OBI dweller 13 from the dealer the other day. They showed us how to release the jockey wheel by pulling on the blue handle but we can't seem to figure it out! We've tried googling it for videos but we're still stuck with it up. Does someone have a video of them putting the jockey wheel down on their dweller? It's currently still hooked up to our truck. We're currently out camping and need to use our truck lol TIA

Sometimes it's just had to pull out because it's under spring pressure. You just have to pull out away from the trailer (not up) and while pulled out, rotate the whole assembly down so the jockey is perpendicular to the trailer tounge.

If you don't need to rotate the trailer tounge, the 4 corner steadies should support the weight just fine with the jockey up. The problem is you may need the jockey to push the tounge up to get the mchitch unhooked.

 

[LaBlaze]

Sometimes it's just had to pull out because it's under spring pressure. You just have to pull out away from the trailer (not up) and while pulled out, rotate the whole assembly down so the jockey is perpendicular to the trailer tounge.

If you don't need to rotate the trailer tounge, the 4 corner steadies should support the weight just fine with the jockey up. The problem is you may need the jockey to push the tounge up to get the mchitch unhooked.

Thank you!! We finally got it after really pulling it hard. Wondering if we need to put some wd40 on it or something.

 

[FrazzledRN]

I live close to Houston Texas and have put a deposit down on a new 2022 updated Dweller 13 I’m picking up Friday. I’m having some second thoughts due to some posts I’ve seen about the air conditioner issues. I don’t mind improvising or buying something additional to be comfortable. What can I do? I saw someone used a second ac unit and vented it out the mesh, what type of ac? Portable ac unit? Any info will be appreciated.

 

[LaBlaze]

If you look back at my post history, i did it with the McHitch and then moved to a DO35. It requires changing jockey wheel to something that can come off (ARK makes one).

With the McHitch the saddles go just in front of the cross member, with the DO35 they move back, but either way you need a jockey wheel you can remove and swing around it.

Thank you! What jockey wheel did you use when you had the mchitch? I see it's an ark. Also I'm new to the forum and still learning how to post from my phone without making the posts all weird so my apologies!

 

[LaBlaze]

I live close to Houston Texas and have put a deposit down on a new 2022 updated Dweller 13 I’m picking up Friday. I’m having some second thoughts due to some posts I’ve seen about the air conditioner issues. I don’t mind improvising or buying something additional to be comfortable. What can I do? I saw someone used a second ac unit and vented it out the mesh, what type of ac? Portable ac unit? Any info will be appreciated.

ROA adds a roof AC to it also. When I talked to them and told them we want to go camping in TX 110-120 degrees they said that anything over 90 is like "spitting on a fire" since its only 9000 btus. We're in Austin bit camp all over the US.
We'll be looking into a portable ac unit too for summer camping and vent it out a window but we need a solution we can run off the batteries cause 90% of the time We're at primitive spots. (we're going to be upgrading our batteries and having the ac rewired so it can work off of the batteries and not have to be on shore power)
I'm interested to see what other people do and if they have a solution for off grid in 110+ weather!
Also congrats on your new trailer!! Are you apart of the Texas overland group on Facebook?
Thanks
Laura

 

[FrazzledRN]

ROA adds a roof AC to it also. When I talked to them and told them we want to go camping in TX 110-120 degrees they said that anything over 90 is like "spitting on a fire" since its only 9000 btus. We're in Austin bit camp all over the US.
We'll be looking into a portable ac unit too for summer camping and vent it out a window but we need a solution we can run off the batteries cause 90% of the time We're at primitive spots. (we're going to be upgrading our batteries and having the ac rewired so it can work off of the batteries and not have to be on shore power)
I'm interested to see what other people do and if they have a solution for off grid in 110+ weather!
Also congrats on your new trailer!! Are you apart of the Texas overland group on Facebook?
Thanks
Laura

No, but I will do so. I’m 99% at places with shore power (mainly state parks and the sort) so I’m going to try to figure out the smallest/quietest but most powerful and reliable ac unit I can find. I’m also going to look more at ROA and see what type of rooftop unit they are doing. I have limitations to height for storage reasons. BTW, my name is also Laura. Thanks for the info!

 

[Xid_az]

Thank you!! We finally got it after really pulling it hard. Wondering if we need to put some wd40 on it or something.

Not sure if wd-40 would be good because it might just pick up dirt and jam it up again. Perhaps a dry lube? Maybe someone else can chime in and give advice on what they've used.

 

[tjtx]

Thank you! What jockey wheel did you use when you had the mchitch? I see it's an ark. Also I'm new to the forum and still learning how to post from my phone without making the posts all weird so my apologies!

Jockey Wheel:

https://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Jack/Ark/ARK47FR.html

Also i replaced all 4 stabilizers with:

https://www.etrailer.com/Camper-Jacks/Ark/ARK87FR.html

Etrailer also sells all of the Equalizer stuff you need:

https://www.etrailer.com/Accessories-and-Parts/Equal-i-zer/EQ90-02-4500.html

https://www.etrailer.com/Weight-Distribution-Hitch/Equal-i-zer/EQ37061ET.html

As far as the AC, tbh if you put the fan on high (which is the bottom setting ******) it'll maintain 78-80f in 90-95f with humidity which is OK. We're in Houston and have basically resigned to no camping unless it's tolerable outside anyway. We don't like RV parks a lot, but have hit up a few state parks in the early fall when weather was still awful and did OK. In our driveway with it 99-100 it could manage to get us down to about 82-83 inside. We've also "insulated" the front door (mainly for light) with some bubble/foil stuff that seemed to help some too. Keeping the roof down helps with heat loss a ton, but even with 300ah of lithium and rewiring the AC to run off of the inverter you would get like maybe one night of AC so you'd be stuck with a generator and/or somewhere with power which for us kinda defeats the purpose.

It does tow 100% fine with the Monroe shocks and equalizer up to 85mph without any sway or drama. I wasn't brave enough to try any faster. I also moved to the DO35 because the low rating McHitch they come with isn't really rated for use with WD, the larger sizes are, but the lowest one isn't. The McHitch USA guys were responsive until they just kinda ghosted me when i was looking for an upgrade and another receiver side. Cruise master ships internationally and the Australian dollar exchange rate makes it not so awful.