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What I just posted in John's Facebook group for Oliver Owners. This does not require a lot of discussion. WARNING: Fake Facebook groups cropping up everywhere! Folks, we have a growing disturbing problem with Facebook (FB) groups, especially, because you are reading this, in regards to owning an Oliver. You may have noticed at least one or two new Oliver-related FB groups crop up lately. From the very first picture posted, from the Oliver group that has the word "Community" in it, there are suspicious postings & members. Now the more legit people who join these fake groups will make the group look more and more legit itself. Our information is being collected, I promise you. I'm not usually an overly suspicious person, but as an active Information Technology (IT) guy who also supports cyber security, I'm seeing more obvious signs of trouble. Even a dumb monkey like me can start to see the issues. Now, I just left that "Oliver Community" group just last night after I had seen enough AI generated material and started to smell bad actors. You can ask any AI out there this question and read for yourself why and how and why this is happening. Just ask it something like this: Are there fake facebook groups being created to collect information on us? I usually have not cared about what is collected on me, as big American businesses are notorious about collecting info. These fake groups are not maintained by American businesses, I promise you that. I have no stake, nor real loyalty, to this group we are in right now. I am not an admin, and frankly, I was once kicked out of the group for a misunderstanding on my part. I was later asked to rejoin due to my loyalty to the OTT owners in general. That's it. I'm sure this will be received like politics. We will be split down the middle 50/50 or at least split 33/33/33. Just be VERY safe out there in this mucky world of social media we have created. This group is managed by real good people. We may not always understand why they do what they do, but that is because you are not trying to keep bad actors out of a private group. It's a fulltime job these days. Some forums of the world have to block entire countries due to the issues developing now. Be safe and "you do you", but you've been warned.

Last year my original box shorted-out due to loose connection screws. The loose connections caused melted wire coating, melted part of the housing and could have started a fire. The new box has much better connections. Based on my experience, the price of the new box is cheap insurance. The issue with screws loosening is well documented within this forum. At minimum, you should check screw tightens regularly. best of luck

"The Mayor of Prescott" 😊

Here's another picture of Granite Mountain Wilderness Area from Thumb Butte Road, where Adam camped last week. You can hike for years just around town and never do all the trails. Also, 100s of OHV and bike trails. Local hiking and nature orgs created a 54 mile trail that circles Prescott! 😎 https://www.yavapai-trails.org/prescott-circle-trail/

Thanks Mike! Yavapai Campground at the Granite Mountain Wilderness Area is a nice spot to visit Prescott. No hairy roads like driving up Thumb Butte Rd last week. It's paved all the way in. There are 21 FS campsites, and only $9/night with the old-fart pass! Sorry @John Dorrer, I'm being the Prescott "Resident Chamber of Commerce" person again! 🤣 Though where is everybody else? There should be a Where's Ollie post, or two, every day of the year! We're in site 16, which is one of two FF sites. It was easy for us to grab this spot, since the park reopened on April 1 and we got there at 9AM (just 20 min from home). Nice to camp for the week and only use a 1/4 tank of diesel with these prices today! Second pic is a view of Granite Mountain from the entry road. Adam and I hiked to the top 10 years ago and I hope to do it one more time before it get's too late for me! 😂

I just picked up another new PD5110010Q to keep on-hand in parts list. I know I’ll come across another old style soon enough. It’s a quick change-out.

Our original PD ATS went out last year, a burnt wire or two. I decided to bypass the ATS. One cable now goes from the side 30A receptacle to the PI EMS and then to our Victron MP2 inverter and finally to the 120VAC breaker panel. We never use the 30A inlet up front, since we never use a generator. So no need for an ATS! We’ve had 3 RVs and the PD 5100 had failed in all three. If you must have an ATS, it’s time to upgrade to a better product!

Hello to the Oliver being towed by a black GMC that was behind us on I-81 South in northern Tennessee today! Beautiful travel day.

My original was subbed out by PD as a warranty claim. Now the second one has the issue with the Neutral leads both in the box and from the street side. I'll be buying a new version of this box PD5110010Q.

Exactly, me too and same down here!

Yep, this is exactly why I have learned to do all maintenance myself on our Oliver. Local shops around here charge $300 per hour too and have months wait to time get in. Not an option.

The idea was great, but the implementation by the suits of Howenwald leaves a lot to be desired. I had work done at the Salem, Oregon "Oliver Dealer." they eventually did a good job, but I did have to do TWO round trips between Salem and Whidbey Island, Washington to get it done right. They stood behind their work, and all ended well (But TWO trips through Seattle traffic!) Turns out that NO ONE from their service department had been to Howenwald for training, nor had anyone from Howenwald been to Salem. Qualified for Oliver service? I think not.

Here is a photo of the axle tag from one of the axles installed on our trailer last summer by the Alcan folks. Our trailer is hull number 208; 2017 vintage.

In addition to your awing decision. We would strongly recommend NOT TO INSTALL THE RAIN GUTTER ADHESIVE STRIP under the awing. We found its primary function is to capture debris that makes a big mess on your roof. We removed our gutters several years ago and let the water drain down the side of the trailer with no issues. If you wish, you can install gutters over the windows. We live in a rainy climate on the pacific coast and are much happier without any gutters. Without gutters, you will find it much easier to keep your trailer clean. And congratulation on your purchase. We hope you enjoy your Oliver as much as we have.

Not all Oliver TTs use the same axle. Our older hull was fitted with a 50" bracket length and most others have 50.5" (note the 50.00 marking on my labels). Since the axles on our Oliver were unique, Alcan took a picture of my original axle label for the custom order, copied all the specs except went from D35 to D52 for 5200 LB axles. They only make Nev-R Adjust and Nev-R Lube axles now, so the rest is the same. So, the part numbers for our hull will NOT be what you need. Likely if a Forum member that upgraded recently with 50.50" axles posted a picture of their label, it would be what you need. But to be certain, take a picture of your axle label and then call Dexter Customer Service. They are not bad to talk to and they will give you a proper part number for your D52 upgraded axles. I'd want to be certain spending $2K plus shipping! HF stands for Hub Face, the measurement between hub faces. SC or Spring Center is the distance between leaf spring centers. These numbers must remain the same for the new D52 axles. Our before & after axle labels to follow:

Just to emphasize another point, your receiver hitch may not be rated to carry the tongue weight without a WDH. I don’t know about 2016 Dodge RAM 1500, but in the case of newer Ford F150’s, the max tongue weight without a WHD is 500#, which is lower than your Oliver’s tongue weight if you’ve got it loaded properly. Sure, it works fine, but if you are ever in a crash, you may be exposed to liability regardless of who’s at fault. See snip from Ford Towing Guide that Galway Girl attached.

I believe you are correct Chris, and in my situation with an F250 it tows very well without an Andersen hitch. One point I’d like to make on the term “Sway Controller”. I understand you are referring to a simple mechanical friction system such as the Andersen hitch system. You are probably aware, modern trucks are fitted with electronic Trailer Sway Control systems. Just distinguishing between types so there is no confusion. See Ford video with details. https://youtu.be/6MRZ50cOVaw?si=RXUWESNdq99zIM2q

Agreed I also like Mortons videos too. Smart guy for sure. The idea of a truck camper has never had any appeal to me however. Its my understanding they have now transitioned to an towable RV.

Excellent, appropriate response to the subject @topgun2 . I would like to add my thoughts along those lines. Likewise I have traveled some really rough roads, backcountry gravel and dirt without a scratch so far. By no means am I stupid enough to take the Oliver down serious overland roads made most famous in the desert southwest, ie White Rim Trail, The Maze and so forth and so on. There are other rigs better suited to this endeavor such as MDC from Australia, Escapod, Bean Teardrops, Pause, and especially the Emperial Outdoors made in WI. I've seen and been in those and there is nothing like them made in this country I am aware of. Like the Olivers they are expensive, even more so, but built to the extreme made to go anywhere and are a true 4 season camper. Many RV's claim 4 Season, they are not in most cases. Regarding hitches and suspensions there is one reason why we still have leaf sprung suspensions and traditional ball hitch mounts on travel trailers. They are inexpensive for the manufactures to produce. While it may make sense to put leaf sprung suspensions on trucks due to their ability to carry very heavy loads installing them on a travel trailer makes no sense at all other than cheap manufacturing cost. Same goes for the traditional ball hitches. From a safety standpoint this was the inspiration for the invention of the Hitch-Ezy due to the designers wife having rolled over completely with her trailer and TV. I've lost count of the number of YouTube videos I've seen of trailers rolling over and taking the TV with it. With a fully articulating hitch this would not happen. While I don't have any personal experience using an articulating hitch it is my understanding the implementation allows for easier maneuvering, backup, and safer towing and traversing even mildly rough terrain. I don't know what the flex angles are on a typical ball hitch but on more than one occasion I've avoided going into backcountry BLM/USFS due to some very steep angles of approach. The BLM Overlook campground west of Grand Junction is a classic example where 99% of the jeep trail is easy to navigate with an Oliver until the final drop off which is quite steep. I would not be comfortable taking the Oliver through this. Otherwise a fabulous campground for tenters, vans, and small RV's with more accommodating hitches and suspensions. Leaf spring suspensions are rough, stiff and harsh period. Again they might make sense for utility trailers carrying very loads such as horses, construction equipment and supplies but for RV's it's simple and cheap to manufacture. There really is no other compelling reason to build an RV this way. There is a reason the automotive industry went to 4 wheel independent suspensions decades ago, it's safer, more comfortable allowing for greater dexterity while driving. I know of no one who has transitioned to an independent RV suspension with a desire to return to leaf springs and same could be said for the articulating hitch. For me, I would love to be able to go a little deeper and bit further off the beaten path safely without being an extreme overlander thus the interesting in different hitches and suspensions. As a final note on the leaf springs, just recently came across the Road Master mod kits for leaf springs and by all accounts appears to be far superior to the Dexter Easy Flex and other such flex kits made by Lippert and Morryde both apparently better than the Dexter version.

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 in 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 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, 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 so 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 suspect one of the other owner's will jump in. GJ