OBI Dweller Review and Discussion

[BruderMaximus]

Welcome to the thread..... so, so many thoughts.

The original batteries are absolute trash. It's hard to diagnose anything electrical with those still in the system. A few people have had success with them long term, but they're in the minority. Regarding your loss of function on the 12v panel, you need to figure out where you're losing voltage. Start at the appliance and work your way backwards to the source.

Regarding your towing..... you're using a load leveler on an F250? I don't understand why. I also tow with an F250 and have aftermarket, squishy soft leaf springs and don't use a load leveling hitch. Do you have any pictures of your setup?

So, I fixed it, not sure what I did. But apparently I did the right thing. pulled all fuses, pulled every breaker, turned it all off. left the AC off and the Inverter off. one by one started adding fuses back. Some marked spare or unused, are running stuff fyi. Goal was to get panel energized with minimal fuses plugged in to survey to isolate a bad circuit (assuming that was it and not the batteries) so, initially, no change half panel dead. worked through installing fuses and poof, panel cage back and volts was accurate and not floating around. slowly added all fuses while watching volts to see if one was the culprit and....... nothing. they all went in, volts stable. everything is running like day 1 new. I did replace all the fuses with expensive lighted fuses. and i pulled and reset all the relays (and tapped them) I did replace the 50 amp main fuses on the panel with new. none were bad, all the relays ohmed the same 80-82ohms. No idea. My best guess, 4 hours of sacrificing blood to the mosquito gods ... best guess.

Im thinking there is some sort of relays/control box??? in between the bus bar under the bed, and the 12v fuse panel and instrument panel?? sure wish we could get a good wiring diagram

 

[Josh00333]

Weights, not seen any actual weights in 112 pages sooo.

Trailer loaded with all my camping stuff; linen, towels, grill, generator, full propane full water (both tanks), cooking stuff, chairs etc. everything but food and my bag of clothes.

Truck full of fuel ready for the road with all my recovery gear etc.

Truck is 5420

Trailer 5700


Truck 5420 - gcvwr truck and trailer 11120 = 5700
Truck 5420 - front axle 2620 - rear axle - 3480 = 680 tongue weight
Trailer 5700 - trailer scale 5020 = 680 tongue verified.

Truck capacity;
Front awr 3100
Rear awr 3750
Tow capacity 7650
Tongue weight 765
Gvwr 6250
Gcvwr 12800

Trailer gvwr 5732

My tongue may be heavier than most with a 75 pound generator and 2x 33pound propane bottles, but I don’t carry a ton of tools etc in the front bin.

I suspect most don’t know or realize there actual tongue weight (especially on light trucks), and gvwr, payload.

My Jeep is a Max Tow with the highest payload of the automatics, lifted, steel bumpers, winch, etc.

As a general rule I won’t travel with the rear tank full so that’s apx -250 pounds off the trailer.

So lots of numbers, long story short I’m under all capacity measures.
Getting there on payload and tongue but still under tongue by -11%.

Truck drives well and handles well!

 

[BruderMaximus]

I'm a dweller 15 owner, It's all about balance you can accomplish the exact same thing that Shane did in this video by filling the front water tank i.e. adding weight to the front of the trailer I'm curious the first dweller that Shane tested did it even have propane tanks upfront? Was it a brand-new dweller right off the lot with no weight in it whatsoever? I did upgrade my shocks to Monro heavy-duty. I like to tow with water in my tanks. I don't drive at 80 miles an hour but I've definitely been very comfortable on the interstate slightly over 65 mph. It all depends on the road conditions. I do like the looks of the trailer without the spare tires hanging out the back. Can't imagine what this upgrade costs. Just my two cents.

I'm new so going through posts and replying occasionally. Having towed a new 15 from Indiana to Texas empty and watching this video I have some relevant thoughts. After filing and towing 'full' - some before after thoughts.

F250 6.7 tow vehicle

dealer threw in a load leveling hitch fyi, but not with the stabilizers that can be added.

- Towing empty, Ind-Texas with the 6" drop hitch the dealer provided and load levelers connected. NAIL BITTING ! Everything in the ROA video and then some. 18 wheelers passing threw the trailer into fits of ever increasing sway. Im sure if I hadn't CONTINUALLY intervened by dragging the trailer brakes with the trucks brake controller WHILE adding light acceleration.... One of those 18 wheelers passing on a downgrade would have left me a statistic. It was constant ' working' the load. terrible experience.

Changes made - then 2nd towing Austin to Dallas:
+ Pulled the spare tire on the passenger side (side my 3 100ah AGM batteries are on). And put in garage. Who needs 2 spares (unless your extreme overlanding - when I ever do that, I'll carry the 2nd spare in the truck bed, and install it in the back at the 'trailhead'
+ did some measuring. 6" drop hitch from dealer left trailer angled high at the hitch, about 4 " high. I think this was a substantial contributor to my sway. swapped for a 10" drop hitch (my truck has the factory snowplow 2" lift and air bags so it's.., tail high) this got the tongue almost perfectly level, maybe a smidge high. maybe i'll try an 11" drop hitch if i ever find one and am bored.
+ filled the front tank full, rear tank half full.

I have a tongue weight scale, was sitting about 600lbs tongue weight

WAY better pull. But I wasn't on the highway so can't compare getting passed like I was on 70. bumps and ruts didn't upset it as much.

did get some left right sway going that took longer to stabilize than i would like.

next mod will be the Monroe 66440 magnum shocks. Just ordered them. And I may try rear tank empty

I wouldn't opt to take all the spares off the back, soon as you do that you'll back into something.

If i'm bored I may have the spare wheel holder made out of aluminum tubing or something to shed some weight. (ranting, i'll never take the time to actually do that)

level it - proper shank height e
stabilize it - better shocks
put a curt stabilizer on it if need be. I have one, may try it.
don't tow at 80
fill that front tank
check your tongue weight (buy a scale, they are on amazon)

 

[BruderMaximus]

Weights, not seen any actual weights in 112 pages sooo.

Trailer loaded with all my camping stuff; linen, towels, grill, generator, full propane full water (both tanks), cooking stuff, chairs etc. everything but food and my bag of clothes.

Truck full of fuel ready for the road with all my recovery gear etc.

Truck is 5420

Trailer 5700


Truck 5420 - gcvwr truck and trailer 11120 = 5700
Truck 5420 - front axle 2620 - rear axle - 3480 = 680 tongue weight
Trailer 5700 - trailer scale 5020 = 680 tongue verified.

Truck capacity;
Front awr 3100
Rear awr 3750
Tow capacity 7650
Tongue weight 765
Gvwr 6250
Gcvwr 12800

Trailer gvwr 5732

My tongue may be heavier than most with a 75 pound generator and 2x 33pound propane bottles, but I don’t carry a ton of tools etc in the front bin.

I suspect most don’t know or realize there actual tongue weight (especially on light trucks), and gvwr, payload.

My Jeep is a Max Tow with the highest payload of the automatics, lifted, steel bumpers, winch, etc.

As a general rule I won’t travel with the rear tank full so that’s apx -250 pounds off the trailer.

So lots of numbers, long story short I’m under all capacity measures.
Getting there on payload and tongue but still under tongue by -11%.

Truck drives well and handles well!

great idea, I have a CAT scale i took pulling it home from the dealer. I'll get one next time fully loaded and post both

 

[Dweller Feller]

So, I fixed it, not sure what I did. But apparently I did the right thing. pulled all fuses, pulled every breaker, turned it all off. left the AC off and the Inverter off. one by one started adding fuses back. Some marked spare or unused, are running stuff fyi. Goal was to get panel energized with minimal fuses plugged in to survey to isolate a bad circuit (assuming that was it and not the batteries) so, initially, no change half panel dead. worked through installing fuses and poof, panel cage back and volts was accurate and not floating around. slowly added all fuses while watching volts to see if one was the culprit and....... nothing. they all went in, volts stable. everything is running like day 1 new. I did replace all the fuses with expensive lighted fuses. and i pulled and reset all the relays (and tapped them) I did replace the 50 amp main fuses on the panel with new. none were bad, all the relays ohmed the same 80-82ohms. No idea. My best guess, 4 hours of sacrificing blood to the mosquito gods ... best guess.

Im thinking there is some sort of relays/control box??? in between the bus bar under the bed, and the 12v fuse panel and instrument panel?? sure wish we could get a good wiring diagram

I have asked OBI for months for a wiring diagram. “ok it’s on it way” like usual, nothing .

 

[CowboyKyle]

Weights, not seen any actual weights in 112 pages sooo.

Trailer loaded with all my camping stuff; linen, towels, grill, generator, full propane full water (both tanks), cooking stuff, chairs etc. everything but food and my bag of clothes.

Truck full of fuel ready for the road with all my recovery gear etc.

Truck is 5420

Trailer 5700


Truck 5420 - gcvwr truck and trailer 11120 = 5700
Truck 5420 - front axle 2620 - rear axle - 3480 = 680 tongue weight
Trailer 5700 - trailer scale 5020 = 680 tongue verified.

Truck capacity;
Front awr 3100
Rear awr 3750
Tow capacity 7650
Tongue weight 765
Gvwr 6250
Gcvwr 12800

Trailer gvwr 5732

My tongue may be heavier than most with a 75 pound generator and 2x 33pound propane bottles, but I don’t carry a ton of tools etc in the front bin.

I suspect most don’t know or realize there actual tongue weight (especially on light trucks), and gvwr, payload.

My Jeep is a Max Tow with the highest payload of the automatics, lifted, steel bumpers, winch, etc.

As a general rule I won’t travel with the rear tank full so that’s apx -250 pounds off the trailer.

So lots of numbers, long story short I’m under all capacity measures.
Getting there on payload and tongue but still under tongue by -11%.

Truck drives well and handles well!

What's your payload on your Jeep? (yellow/white sticker on the driver door jam.

 

[CowboyKyle]

I'm new so going through posts and replying occasionally. Having towed a new 15 from Indiana to Texas empty and watching this video I have some relevant thoughts. After filing and towing 'full' - some before after thoughts.

F250 6.7 tow vehicle

dealer threw in a load leveling hitch fyi, but not with the stabilizers that can be added.

- Towing empty, Ind-Texas with the 6" drop hitch the dealer provided and load levelers connected. NAIL BITTING ! Everything in the ROA video and then some. 18 wheelers passing threw the trailer into fits of ever increasing sway. Im sure if I hadn't CONTINUALLY intervened by dragging the trailer brakes with the trucks brake controller WHILE adding light acceleration.... One of those 18 wheelers passing on a downgrade would have left me a statistic. It was constant ' working' the load. terrible experience.

Changes made - then 2nd towing Austin to Dallas:
+ Pulled the spare tire on the passenger side (side my 3 100ah AGM batteries are on). And put in garage. Who needs 2 spares (unless your extreme overlanding - when I ever do that, I'll carry the 2nd spare in the truck bed, and install it in the back at the 'trailhead'
+ did some measuring. 6" drop hitch from dealer left trailer angled high at the hitch, about 4 " high. I think this was a substantial contributor to my sway. swapped for a 10" drop hitch (my truck has the factory snowplow 2" lift and air bags so it's.., tail high) this got the tongue almost perfectly level, maybe a smidge high. maybe i'll try an 11" drop hitch if i ever find one and am bored.
+ filled the front tank full, rear tank half full.

I have a tongue weight scale, was sitting about 600lbs tongue weight

WAY better pull. But I wasn't on the highway so can't compare getting passed like I was on 70. bumps and ruts didn't upset it as much.

did get some left right sway going that took longer to stabilize than i would like.

next mod will be the Monroe 66440 magnum shocks. Just ordered them. And I may try rear tank empty

I wouldn't opt to take all the spares off the back, soon as you do that you'll back into something.

If i'm bored I may have the spare wheel holder made out of aluminum tubing or something to shed some weight. (ranting, i'll never take the time to actually do that)

level it - proper shank height e
stabilize it - better shocks
put a curt stabilizer on it if need be. I have one, may try it.
don't tow at 80
fill that front tank
check your tongue weight (buy a scale, they are on amazon)

Do you have a 17-19? Are your bags aired up?

 

[Josh00333]

Gvwr 6250

What's your payload on your Jeep? (yellow/white sticker on the driver door jam.

 

[BruderMaximus]

Do you have a 17-19? Are your bags aired up?

19, I keep the air bags at 6psi daily driving. i tried various psi while towing. Problem is, anything over 20psi with the trailer attached starts lifting the back end. and with 0 psi and my 10" drop shank on the hitch i'm still a smidge above level at the tongue ( about an inch is guess). And i've come to the conclusion this trailer cannot be pulled stable if the tongue is high. really needs to be a bit down. So until I get a 12" drop hitch and play around (and see if i get acceptable clearance) in going to pull with the bags at 21psi

 

[Suns_PSD]

BruderMaximus, if your Superduty lifted?

I have an F150 with 2.5" front/ .75" rear leveling kit plus 34.5" tires and by my measurements, My current hitch height with no drop at all is basically perfect for the Opus and MDC (not D15 exactly) I measured locally.

The plan is to have a good WDH in place before I pick up my trailer, but want to buy the correct thing as it's a substantial investment.

 

[BruderMaximus]

BruderMaximus, if your Superduty lifted?

I have an F150 with 2.5" front/ .75" rear leveling kit plus 34.5" tires and by my measurements, My current hitch height with no drop at all is basically perfect for the Opus and MDC (not D15 exactly) I measured locally.

The plan is to have a good WDH in place before I pick up my trailer, but want to buy the correct thing as it's a substantial investment.

I'm not the expert FYI. But here are my thoughts.
My truck came with the Ford Factory 2" Snow plow kit lift. I'm running 35" wheels. I have the 2.5" hitch.

How I came to replace the 6" shank the dealer in indiana gave me on pickup, with a 10" drop hitch was to set the camper to level. I measured ground to center of my McHitch pin. Then from top of truck hitch shank opening to the ground, and subtracted. And came up with 7 or 8" as I recall. (but given the way the McHitch uses 2 bolts, and the non standard McHitch receiver, my 10" drop shank only provided 7-8" at the center of the McHitch receiver. Ill find a pic of my hitch.

ok attached pic, notice that while that shank is a 6" drop the Mc hitch ends up maybe 1" below center of my hitch. Hence having to go with a 10" drop to achieve ab effective 7"

That's a static measurement.... but, from a practical viewpoint, I connected the two on level ground, set it up loaded water tanks, my air bags (i get I don't need them but the airbags stop A lot of "bounce") filled the bags till the back of the truck just started to raise up, backed off a bit and .... i'm still a smidge tongue high. But with the 6" drop shank they gave me the trailer was waaay high on the front (don't recall measuring but maybe 4-5" higher front than rear. And it was so over the road towing.

My suggestion is, watch some videos. That technique I got off a good instructional on how to pick the right trailer shank.

The photos are from towing home from dealer. Hard to tell the pitch up in these photos. Those are OEM 33" stock wheels. When I got back, I put the 35" I use back on.

Anyway, I think the point is, in preparation. Ask the dealer to tell you what the measurement is from ground to center of McHitch (if that's what they are using) and then you measure from ground to top of hitch opening. subtract and there is your drop/rise amount for the shank.

Please anyone with better ideas chime in..,

 

[CowboyKyle]

Gvwr 6250

What about the yellow/white sticker? It'll be close by in the area of that silver one.

 

[CowboyKyle]

19, I keep the air bags at 6psi daily driving. i tried various psi while towing. Problem is, anything over 20psi with the trailer attached starts lifting the back end. and with 0 psi and my 10" drop shank on the hitch i'm still a smidge above level at the tongue ( about an inch is guess). And i've come to the conclusion this trailer cannot be pulled stable if the tongue is high. really needs to be a bit down. So until I get a 12" drop hitch and play around (and see if i get acceptable clearance) in going to pull with the bags at 21psi

Are you lifted a lot? Also, your air bags use cradles? Or still bolted to the axle?

edit: you're not lifted. 12" drop seems..... wild to me. I need to go back and look at your weights/% on tongue.

 

[Suns_PSD]

I'm not the expert FYI. But here are my thoughts.
My truck came with the Ford Factory 2" Snow plow kit lift. I'm running 35" wheels. I have the 2.5" hitch.

How I came to replace the 6" shank the dealer in indiana gave me on pickup, with a 10" drop hitch was to set the camper to level. I measured ground to center of my McHitch pin. Then from top of truck hitch shank opening to the ground, and subtracted. And came up with 7 or 8" as I recall. (but given the way the McHitch uses 2 bolts, and the non standard McHitch receiver, my 10" drop shank only provided 7-8" at the center of the McHitch receiver. Ill find a pic of my hitch.

ok attached pic, notice that while that shank is a 6" drop the Mc hitch ends up maybe 1" below center of my hitch. Hence having to go with a 10" drop to achieve ab effective 7"

That's a static measurement.... but, from a practical viewpoint, I connected the two on level ground, set it up loaded water tanks, my air bags (i get I don't need them but the airbags stop A lot of "bounce") filled the bags till the back of the truck just started to raise up, backed off a bit and .... i'm still a smidge tongue high. But with the 6" drop shank they gave me the trailer was waaay high on the front (don't recall measuring but maybe 4-5" higher front than rear. And it was so over the road towing.

My suggestion is, watch some videos. That technique I got off a good instructional on how to pick the right trailer shank.

The photos are from towing home from dealer. Hard to tell the pitch up in these photos. Those are OEM 33" stock wheels. When I got back, I put the 35" I use back on.

Anyway, I think the point is, in preparation. Ask the dealer to tell you what the measurement is from ground to center of McHitch (if that's what they are using) and then you measure from ground to top of hitch opening. subtract and there is your drop/rise amount for the shank.

Please anyone with better ideas chime in..,

I think if you got your trailer with the front .5-1" lower than the rear it would calm a lot of your sway.

My understanding (warning: internet expert here, little real-world experience!) is that when you have a single rear axle and the trailer is sort of 'balancing' on that one axle, and then you have the wind hitting the front of the trailer, that the trailer tries to tilt back more, that while going down the road you are getting a very light hitch weight while driving at highway speeds and that this leads to instability and sway. The easiest quick fix would likely have been to remove your spares and placed them in your caravan toolboxes.

Other points worth noting:
1) The McHitch is GOING to move more. It's literally designed to articulate and flex and it's going to do exactly that when on the highway. Which is why I think stabilizer bars for the highway portion of your trip are important for optimum towing performance. Hopefully they offer quick removal for the off-road portions.
2) Those 2 spare wheels and the rear bumper are no joke, that's some serious weight in the worst place possible. When you hang weight off the back not only are you adding that weight to the rear, but you are also subtracting it off the front, effectively doubling the effect. That said, I don't want my families vacation wrecked by a careless driver rear ending me while heading out, so I personally want to keep something back there.

 

[Suns_PSD]

Are you lifted a lot? Also, your air bags use cradles? Or still bolted to the axle?

edit: you're not lifted. 12" drop seems..... wild to me. I need to go back and look at your weights/% on tongue.

The way that McHitch attaches, it ends up several inches higher. Just looking at it.

Also, a stock F250 is the same height as my leveled F150, plus he has the snowplow kit (2") plus gains another 1" in radius going from 33" to 35" tires.

I really prefer the hitch that is used on the Opus trailers. Same idea, different execution.