Moby 1 Owners - Maintenance, Mods, Tech Tips & Tricks

[Staggrlee]

I own a 2016 Moby1 XTR and feel like there is a lack of information on them here and in general. I've started this thread in the hope that it can be a place to share ideas, experience and know-how. I'm aware that there is a FB Moby1 group but I don't do FB.

If you have a Moby1 and want to post a how-to or a mod idea etc. then please do. If you want to swap horror stories on everything else Moby1, there are a couple threads on here already dedicated to that.

 

[Staggrlee]

So for example, we replaced the Ironman fridge with an ARB Elements fridge which allowed us to add a utensil/cutlery drawer to the recovered space above the fridge.

 

[Staggrlee]

And on a different note, this is currently the issue I'm trying to deal with.

If you look at the picture below, you'll notice that there is a scant 3" of up-travel in the suspension. This is completely dry, sitting level in my driveway. You'll probably also be able to infer that the shock will bottom before the bumpstop is hit, which indeed happens. Even at rest when loaded but with tank still dry. Fitting a 2000lb suspension when trailer is actually 3100lbs dry will do that. Really needs the upper shock mount moved back farther on the frame rail but that's not something I can do.

Really wanted to pull the whole suspension and replace with Timbren axle-less system but can't find anyone local to take that on so I'm trying to beef it up on my own.

The suspension on mine came with ARB OME 2927 springs (med. duty 1.5" lift front coils for a Jeep Liberty diesel) and Fox Smoothbody 2.0 shocks (PN:985-24-002) with 5" travel and 11.3" compressed length. I'm replacing the springs with the heavier Jeep OME 2790 springs and new Fox 2.0 shocks w/remote reservoirs. Same 5" travel shock, but 10.77" compressed length. Also replaced bumpstops with these taller ones.

If I'm still squatting too far, then I have a set of Timbren Honda Odyssey SES bumpstops that I may give a try. I figured the Timbren SES work pretty well on my Land Cruiser so worth a go.

 

[hilbilli]

The problem i had with my 2013 moby xtr was tire alignment. The camber became so bad it started eating tires. I took it to Vorsheer and they installed 5200lb timbren axle less suspension. They are former Moby employees who are committed to building the best go anywhere trailer. I dealt with Steve who did exactly what he said he would do and then some. I was even happy with the price. Ive been doing research on offroad campers for years and have no doubt the Vorsheer trailers are by far the very best for the price. I want one bad !

 

[Staggrlee]

I was ready to lug it down UT to have that done, but after some initial discussions with Steve he stopped responding to emails. After the 3rd non-response I figured I was on my own here. That's OK, they don't owe me service and support and I want to use my trailer.

 

[VORSHEER]

I was ready to lug it down UT to have that done, but after some initial discussions with Steve he stopped responding to emails. After the 3rd non-response I figured I was on my own here. That's OK, they don't owe me service and support and I want to use my trailer.

Hey there, sorry to hear that we lost contact with you. With David now on as our Sales Manager, he’ll make sure things like this don’t happen.

We had an XTR in last week that we did this for. Give us a call tomorrow at 385-685-5037 and we will see what we can work out.

- Davin M.

 

[Staggrlee]

Thanks, Davin. Let me see if I can return the shocks/springs etc. and if so I'll give David a call.

 

[Staggrlee]

We also redid our electric. We purchased the trailer new from the original owner but they had let it sit for over a year with no charger connected. The batteries had sulfated and no longer held a full charge. They also had not opted to add an inverter to their build.

We upgraded to two 150Ah batteries, a 40A charger and added a TruePower 400W sinewave inverter along with some breakers. Also ran a dedicated power cable back to the fridge in a larger gauge to lessen the .2-3V voltage drop we saw with original wiring. The fridge would trip a low voltage protection shut off before the batteries were actually depleted. This also now gives us the ability to turn off everything but the fridge at the forward breaker.

There was a aluminum plate at the back of the battery box with all the accessories bolted to it that had to go (as well as the original battery trays) to install the larger batteries. Also the accessory mount nylocks were trapped between the back of the box and that plate & made any kind of service a PITA. This meant drilling at the front of the battery box and through the back into the cargo pass-through for mounting bolts. Hesitated to do that, but hasn't been a problem.

Note I wouldn't recommend this inverter set up (or at least the location) even if you can still find old stock on the discontinued part. I've twice left the top open overnight and water intrusion has toasted the GFCI outlet both times. 400W is more than adequate for what we need to charge laptops and run the odd appliance, but I think I would (will) use a Magnum combo 1000W inverter/charger next time. It's smaller, has better environmental protection and combines two functions into one. Would also use a Redarc DC-DC charger to provide charging from either vehicle alternator or solar and would add a large gauge Anderson plug at the bumper/trailer for vehicle charging. Again, smaller and dual-function. Maybe LiFePO4 batteries will be more affordable when I get around to it.

 

[Staggrlee]

Thanks for reaching out, Davin. Vorsheer will be installing the 5200lb Timbren setup on our trailer in Sept.

Turns out it was just a classic case of crossed comms, and I should have just phoned. Glad you've brought David on board to handle the customer-facing stuff and let Steve focus more on doing the fun stuff.

I was able to return the parts before I started tearing into the suspension. If I had proceeded, that $800 invested in those would have left me still sitting on 3500lb spindles with 10" brakes and replacing those would have been the next step.

The simplicity of the system certainly looks to be an upgrade, the weight savings a certain positive, and the reviews on road/trail handling I've found on the Timbren suspension have been positive.

All in all -- time/$ for the trip to Utah aside -- this option is only marginally more expensive but a much better one in the long run IMO. Appreciate the support for an owner of one of the red-headed stepchildren.

 

[Staggrlee]

So with that sorted, on to the roof rack...

The aluminum rack that came on the trailer is over-engineered and too bulky/heavy for what we need. It has a huge mount for a Hannibal free-standing awning we don't have, and dimensional stock/design to carry way more weight than we'll ever put up there. We only want to mount an ARB 2.5M awning, some solar panels and the odd accessory.

The stock rack (minus the awning hanger bar) is 72" x 60", and outside of a custom rack, it seems that either FrontRunner or Eezi-Awn's rack are the off-the-shelf options. I think we've settled on the Eezi-Awn K9 rack. It's a solid pre-assembled platform vs. the bolt-together FrontRunner.

The K9 slats run the length of the rack (FrontRunner has lateral slats) but have T-tracks using the same bolt size as FrontRunner. Meaning the accessory options should be mostly interchangeable. The crossbar supports of the 71" x 59" rack seem to line up almost perfectly with the F/R rain gutter tracks (55" on-center spacing vs 56" of the gutters) and we can always span the two center cross bars with addt'l T-track if we find we need to add a center foot pair.

Going to use height-adjustable gutter rack mounts from Trail-Tailor to have the option to run higher for storage under the rack, or lower for clearance. As a bonus, Equipt Expedition Outfitters, located in Salt Lake is the sole US distributor for Eezi-Awn so we can kill two birds with one stone.

 

[TravelsWithRalph]

Great thread. Thanks.

 

[VORSHEER]

Here are a couple of pictures of our work upgrading a Moby1 trailer to Timbren axles.

If you notice that your tires are wearing out faster on one side, for Moby1 trailers it might happen on the inside edge of the tire (negative camber), you may want to swap out your suspension with Timbren axles rated at 5,200 lbs. The Moby1 tends to have limited alignment capabilities so switching to the Timbren axle will give you much more control on alignment. As these trailers are meant for off road use, you definitely need axles that can be aligned from time to time.

If you need the upgraded suspension, we’ll want 2 weeks of advance notice so we can make sure the Timbren axles are available and are being shipped to our shop. Also plan on having your Moby1 at our shop for 2 to 7 days. Every Moby1 is different so we’ll only be able to give you an estimate until the trailer is here for inspection.

We love what we do and happy to answer any questions you have. Call or text: 385-685-5037







- David R.

 

[Teardropper]

trailer is actually 3100lbs dry

Good grief.

T

 

[Staggrlee]

Oh, and these. A little bit ghetto but they work and I like them.

Lid strut


Magnets


Hood props on tailgate struts. We have an awning mounted on the hatch and when it gets wet the struts won't hold open.


They also serve as a good reminder to close the cabinets before closing the hatch and dinging the roof plywood...

 

[Staggrlee]

So @VORSHEER installed the Timbren 5200lb suspension on our trailer this week and we're very happy with how it turned out. Threw them a bit of a curve ball with the Toyota 17"steel rims we have on it and the backspacing on them required fitting wheel spacers which hung things up for a couple days while those were ordered.

Drove almost 1000 miles on it back to Seattle which included some rough roads and high winds and it handled that with ease. Will be nice to no longer be continually worried about the under-sized suspension that Moby put on it.

Great to meet Steve, Davin and Don and get to visit their shop. They were about to put the body on a new XOC and got to see all the improvements they've made to the design. The frame optimization is something most people won't see, but that combined with the Timbren suspension etc. means these are probably rolling out the door fully optioned at ~ 2500lbs would be my guess.