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Sorry I checked my quote from Alcan and part # not there either. We ended up sticking with our original 3.5k’s as we had just put in new brakes and bearings. I suggest you ask Alcan when you order your springs as they’ll have that p/n for sure and it will need to match for the spring order. They also know the axles lead time by heart! Craig

Apparently the answer is a "qualified" - yes. However, I've never actually observed an Oliver is what I term "really rough terrain". Perhaps there just might be some "definition" issues of what is really meant by really rough terrain but when things get to the point of possibly damaging my Oliver - I simply bail out and refuse to proceed. I do not take these situations as a challenge to be overcome. I'd rather park the Ollie and then take the truck with its 4 wheel drive out into the more "interesting" stuff. Having said this - I do believe that there have been a handful of owners that have tested the limits of our Ollies. I'd guess that at least a few of these owners then decided that they agree with your statement about not having a "off-road suspension" and/or other accoutrements of trailers actually designed for the serious off-road crowd and swapped the Oliver for something they thought to be better suited for what they wanted to do. Bottom line for me is that the Oliver is robust enough to get me to all of the places I've ever wanted to go and sure does beat any other RV I've ever owned in this regard. I really do not enjoy traveling at speeds of between 2 an 5 miles an hour (I can just about walk that pace) while at the same time being concerned about what is going on inside Twist, worrying about a rock putting a nice gouge in its side, etc.. But, if that kind of activity is what "floats someone else's boat" and they have the coin to fix whatever damage occurs because of it then I say have at it - but - be careful. Bill

I agree 100%. I posted about our trip to Harquahala Mountain and a forum member wrote they wouldn’t tow through those washes. I also have the 2 5/16” Bulldog and Alcan Springs, so good enough for us. If one was to travel in rough terrain to truly need an articulating hitch, they would likely need to change axle orientation from underslung to overslung for greater ground clearance!

The Morton's almost lured me into going the truck camper route with their "Go North" series and Lance truck camper back during the pandemic. Then I came to my senses and realized that the Elite II was by far a better solution for our needs rather than lugging all of that weight on a truck chassis. But yes, I love watching their travels/videos. I think they are some of the best on the topic.

This is interesting discussion, but I don't really consider the Elite II to be a TT with an off-road suspension where something like this would be needed. I do have the hitch for 2 -5/16 ball since that is what I normally have on my truck anyway and provides a bit more security. Sure, I take the Ollie down gravel roads and even some dirt roads, but I never have had the trailer in such a condition where this kind of articulation would be needed. Do others do overlanding or really rough terrain with their Ollie?

Good info above. One caution with your set-up. Your 1/2 ton is designed for on-road use at the maximum payload (Trailer Tongue Weight, Pax, and everything else you put into the truck. These numbers add up fast. IF you: Contineously only stay on paved roads, your vehicle can last a long time. If you go off road on gravel, you need to be very cautious and dead slow to prevent jousting of the loads and overstressing your shocks, springs and axles. Not doing so will shorten the life of your truck somewhat. But any serious back country gymnastics running with max payload and you WILL have problems. Under this scenario your light duty 1/2 ton frame also becomes a concern. Basically upgrading the 1/2 ton with stiffer springs and 100 PSI airbags does improve the driveability, but does not increase the legal payload. It does give you the feeling that you can haul more weight, but it from a mechanical engineering perspective it brings significant risks to manage. Then there are the issues if you are involved in an accident. The investigators/insurance will easily see you modified the vehicle. They say your doing impacted your ability to have avoided the accident. Sad for you, as it puts you at risk for a much higher percent liability. Or worse, for full liability. Recommendation: Be careful..... +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Many of the half ton Ford owners have also benefited from changing the rear shocks to Bilstein 5100's. Don't know about the 1/2 ton Dodge trucks, but I suspece one of the other owner's will jump in. GJ

I have tried to run through all xxx-hundred posts on this subject at least twice. I still cannot find reference to the actual Dexter part number of the correct D52 axle for my E2. My Olly (615) unfortunately has the old 3500 axles and cheap CCP springs. I intend to have the work done locally. I have ordered the correct ez-flex and shoulder bolts from e-trailer, will order the 5 leaf springs and U-bolts from Alcan. I want to have the local shop order the correct complete axle assemblies directly from Dexter. Would someone please chime-in with the correct part number for the Dexter Axle? Pretty please with a shot of single malt... Bill

For sure!

@Wandering Sagebrush did you ever try one of these? Just ran across this hitch this morning and find them an excellent alternative but not sure the installation bolts that come with the kit would suffice with our Olivers.

I watch a good bit of Will's content these days. He pretty much sticks with the same tests. However, over the years he has added to his tool chest with better and better diagnostic equipment. Creators trying to educate, do not usually make it to 1.1 million subscribers. Compared to where he came from, pretty much homeless, it's very impressive, especially for young folks these days. I used to watch Will when he was full-timing in a beat up trailer teaching himself his craft. Many years ago... nine years, I just checked. Here's the first video I remember watching from him.

OK, so I'm not reading all that AI cr@p in the preceding post. We can all do our own AI searches to read the same regurgitated content! 🤣 That being said, I truly commend your effort, as it is a whole lot of work, stretching and neck craning to work this extensive installation - bravo! For us, the furnace with extra vents in closet and bathroom is enough, but we don't live and have yet to even travel up your way. This makes very good sense based on your location and travels. We are planning a trip to ID-MT soon, but would travel during the shoulder seasons, not the dead of winter! 😎

Mike Sokol will do his own test and that should be a good comparison with Will Prowse. We shall see.

I would like to Will Prowse do this strenuous testing with intact battery to other manufacturers like Epoch, Lithonics and then cut them open after the ridged testing. Then we could really compare. Maybe he has, I just haven't taken the time to look. I agree I think the BB interview was a PR stunt. Lithium batteries are still semi new technology and still evolving. Just because they meet an industry standard does not mean they are well built. It is like high jumping and setting the bar at one foot. As long as you jump over the bar you're good to go. Also Will could take a brand new BB battery and cut it apart to see if he really caused the internal problems he showed. But I highly doubt that kind of melting happened just from cutting the tops off. I understand this takes some financial backing to do these types of test. I don't mean to dish Will, but is he completely impartial in this. There are a lot of variables.

When using the Andersen Ball and NOT using the boomerang, what Andersen calls the Anti-Sway Plate, PLEASE connect the hitch pin to the bottom of the ball, the pin that connects this plate. If not, the Andersen ball is only held down by a large circlip underneath. It's not likely the ball would come out, since it would have to break that clip and come up several inches, but having the bolt (hitch pin) below is a good measure of safety. Once connected, it can just be there without having to take it on and off.

I hesitate to even jump in on this topic, but would like some constructive opinions. I have a ½ ton Dodge truck with ¾ ton springs and 100 PSI airbags. I have never used the Anderson WDH items since right after the first 1,000 trailer miles. I do like the Anderson Bulldog connection system as I can massively lock the trailer onto the truck ball. I am still using the Anderson ball assembly as I saw no reason to change to a different system. The Olly is uber stable. I have done some more than a little crazy lane changes at speed to avoid accidents. They went well, with probably a 20 degree initial trailer sway with instant recovery. Am is missing something here? (BTW, those lane changes involved a full half turn of the steering wheel in each direction. NO brakes.)

FYI - This years Ford Towing guide has a ton of useful general info as well. 2026-Ford-RV-&-Trailer-Towing-Guide_r7_fnl-Mar19.pdf

Confirmed. I do not use sway control and appreciate the ease and speed of hookup in a variety of conditions. Have not once felt the need for sway control with the Elite II and 3/4 ton truck. This one of several advantages of having a truck somewhat more than what you actually need for the Elite II.

I have never heard of any Oliver Travel Trailer "swaying". In fact, shortly after I purchased my Elite II I took it out on the local interstate and tried to make it sway. Certainly I didn't get crazy during this attempt but I wanted to know how it handled in order to know what to expect in the event of a future "situation". Obviously, weight distribution is another "kettle of fish". Bill

Towed our LE2 with three different 1/2 ton tow vehicles. Installed either Timbren rear suspension system or Firestone Airbags to get rid of rear end sag on those trucks. We purchased a 2024 F-350, we don't need a WDH or rear suspension modification. The F-350 with 6.8 Minizilla handles Ollie great and this truck has over 4,000 pounds of payload capacity, too.

I upgraded from a F150 to a F350. It was wonderful getting rid of the Anderson hitch and the F350 doesn't need sway control. However, the best part is driving down mountains is so much less stressful. That all by itself makes the bigger truck worth it.

Thank You. I have time to decide. Our 2022 LE2 has the 5,200 lb. axle. I can do 4-leaf and add the 5th leaf later, or have the 4-5 leafs in the basement when we decide to sell.

We recently upgraded to the 5200 lb Dexter axles, purchased thru Alcan, and chose to use the 4 leaf Alcan springs to match the weight of the trailer. We also purchased the Dexter EZ flex and wet bolt kit from etrailer, replicating the stock setup, since we preferred to use step bolts. In addition, we replaced all four shocks with new factory style Monroe shock absorbers. We performed the installation ourselves. Our tire pressures are set at 45:psi which we monitor with our TST tire pressure monitor. We’ve had excellent results, the springs are noticeably firmer, both when towing and when set up for camping. We find that the ride is not unduly harsh and we haven’t had any issue with items coming loose or things falling off. Time will tell if the Monroe shocks will work well long term. We are very happy with the setup and our interactions with Alcan Spring.

Responding to Wayfinder...wow, I thought I was geeky about solar vs loads... We went down the path of traditional resistance heaters and decided that the furnace was just more efficient at moving the heat around the basement than one single heater...especially 150 watt. Thus at first we added ducts to the street side weaving the ducts toward the shower and forcing air to the bath. This was a great improvement for when we are on propane. But when not, we are trying heat tracing.... The trick is to attach tracing to EVERY water line since tracing is poor at heating the air but great on contact. Tracing was attached with reflective metal tape every 10 inches to assure direct contact. One electrical outlet was added under the dinette seat nearest the bath to power two runs of tracing ; one to the bath and one to the rear. Access under the bath sink was required to wrap tracing around pipes in the bath. I also added insulation on the outer wall being careful not to obstruct the air flow between the hulls. Two other runs were powered from the ac outlet above the bed on the kitchen side by using a white extension cord neatly adhered to the wall to under the bed. Kitchen drawers were removed to access the water lines there. I found that there was an advantage to the four separate runs vs one or two longer runs as it enabled better coverage of the out side shower lines, the water pump area, and the water intake lines. The water tanks are not protected so it could be argued that this might not be fail safe in super cold temps. I have 3 Bluetooth thermometers that continuously record temps in the hull to help monitor. For context, the trailer homes in eastern WA and travels in Feb through Montana or Nevada where we encounter sub freezing temps... Also, a ball valve shut off was placed in the line ( under the sink) to the toilet as we do not use it with our composting toilet.

Great question. Such focus on weight alone makes NO allowance for the quality of the steel nor the quality of the heat tempering.

When we first bought our EII we had a F150 with a hitch rating that required load levelers and sway control for any tongue wt above 500lbs. So we bought the Anderson and used it for 2 years...but then we upgraded trucks. We now have an F350 Diesel 1 Ton Short Bed with a 3" receiver which has a dead weight rating of 2120lbs. We use a B&W Tow N Stow hitch and that's it. We've not had any sway or issues and it's dead simple to adjust if needed and hookup/unhook much easier than using either the Anderson Antisway (with Chains) or the types that have WDH Bars and Sway Bars. We don't need sway control as our truck also has braking sway control built in that states in the user manual that manual sway controls shouldn't be used. CS