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Alcan quoted me $145/hr, 2-3 hrs max for installing entire D52 axle assembly, springs, shocks, equalizer, erc. Lots of folks have stated they were in and out of Alcan around 2 hours, with rave reviews about quality of service. I too am a retired engineer and I plan to do this myself first chance I get, because I don't plan to go to Grand Junction CO for maybe a year or more. Saves money, aggravation, is not difficult, and does not require any special tools. I look on the bright side and consider these tasks kind of fun. I’m just going to do the Alcan 4-leaf springs & Bulldog shocks for now, I’ll replace the axles later when I need brakes. I am re-using my Dexter Shackles and wet bolts, and may keep the EZ Flex too if it’s in good shape. I already replaced bearings with Timken.

Welcome back, Dan! Too bad the fires kept you away from getting to Grand Junction! Wow, labor cost more than the springs themselves! I did the axles too which makes it a different process. Doing one spring at a time should be easy enough. PLEASE don't let anybody here tell you not to use your rear jacks to lift the Oliver! Then use one jack stand on the axle end where you are working. Have the Oliver hitched to your tow vehicle on as level a spot as you have. I know Art @MAX Burner did his, springs only, first but I could not find his post. Best wishes, JD

OK, so I ordered the springs in springtime and made an appointment in July when we’d be in Utah near Grand Junction. But then they got a series of wildfires all throughout that area, my wife has PTSD from us going through them at home, so we cancelled the trip. Alcan wanted steep fees for holding on to them until we could come again next spring, no good (I had already paid for the springs per their requirement when you order). So I paid to have them shipped out figuring a local trailer suspension shop would have no problem with it. Wrong - they won’t install ‘customer supplied parts’. They want to sell you the parts themselves, sigh … OK so then I’m trying my local garage, near where I store the trailer with easy access. Great folks, used them for lots of stuff, but they don’t normally do trailers. Gave them all the information, they thought it looked doable for $1500, but I should check if they’re ballpark. AI search of this forum gave more like 300-500 or so. He said $900/minimum at a upcharge for (again), customer supplied parts and wouldn’t do it for less than four hours @ 250/hr. Grrrrrrr There’s another shop I can try locally, or I could take them BACK to Alcan next year, but I’m getting frustrated and thinking about just installing the damn things myself. I’ll troll the (38 page!) thread for DIY install. Anyhow feeling down at the moment, looking for advice thanks

Hi Oliver Family.. It’s been quite a while since I last posted around here, but I just finished a quick little mod for the exterior shower station on the ILOVHER. I do use and absolutely love my wet bath inside the trailer! But before the forum gray-water police sound the sirens: having managed a National Forest campground for five years, I promise I know the rules about gray water and where it belongs. I know there are plenty of places out West that actually permit surface gray-water disposal (and, funny enough, with the wildfire season we're having, the ground could probably use every stray drop). For this upcoming trip, I'll be boondocking in a private field for 12 days, and the owner doesn't mind me showering outside. I'll be using organic, biodegradable shampoo, and with no dump station for miles, keeping gray tank fill to an absolute minimum is the primary mission here. I considered one of the standard pop-up privacy tents, but having used a bicycle tent for camping, I could already envision the poles, stakes, folding/unfolding and general tent wrestling that would be involved. I was looking for something much simpler — something I could put up in a couple of minutes and take down just as quickly. I also wanted to avoid the usual problem of routing the shower hose into a privacy tent. You either have to run the wand through the main zipper opening, which can make the entrance/exit awkward, or start modifying the tent itself. Then I stumbled across these ratchet-style suction arms, and I immediately started thinking, "Oh, I can do something with these!" They reminded me of the SeaSucker-style mounting systems, and the Oliver's smooth, gelcoat fiberglass seemed like the perfect surface for them. I was so excited about the idea that I put the whole thing together and actually showered in my driveway last night just to test it out. 😂 And honestly, I think these are going to work perfectly! The Setup: Ratchet-style suction arms: I found these folding rack arms on Temu. Say what you will about ordering direct from China, but the mechanical ratchet suction on these things locks onto the fiberglass extremely well. They’re designed to hold weight and, so far, they’ve been remarkably solid. DM me if you want the link to the product. Curtains & rings: I used standard shower rings through the cutouts and repurposed heavy shower curtains I already had from a previous project and the bar that goes between the mounts is a simple tomato stake zip-tied tight to the ends. (I may reconfigure that at a later date with tool clips) No modifications to the Oliver: Nothing is drilled, screwed, glued or permanently attached to the trailer. The whole thing takes less than two minutes to set up, packs down flat, provides total privacy (other than wind, LOL) and gives me direct access to the Oliver’s outdoor shower faucets without having to wrestle with a tent or poles. I even have a suction mount for the shower wand. Please note that I have replaced the original ss shower hose with one that is 120" on my ILOVHER. Attached are the suction arms mounted to the Oliver and the full enclosure deployed. I’m pretty pleased with how simple this turned out!

I remember carefully prying it open. PITA and a poor design.

On second look, the length is certainly different! Epoch 300 Ah L13.77" W7.59" H9.76" and 57 LBS Vatrer 300 Ah L15.12" W7.64" H9.76" and 55 LBS Given the length of the Vatrer and the 14" wide battery tray in our Olivers... Only ONE (1) Vatrer 300 Ah battery will fit in the battery tray, NOT two! This can limit upgrade potential, but you can just barely fit three (3) of these in the battery bay with the tray removed, like I did mine. 900 Ah heated with Bluetooth for $1,800 is an amazing deal GIVEN these prove to be of good quality with long life. I spent $2,817 total for 900 Ah Epoch but list price today is $3,747 plus tax (1,249 each). Epoch used to give 10-15% OFF, these days it's more often 5%. One 300 Ah battery is one thing, and sure beats 200+ LBS of old AGM batteries! Though I'd love to see an Oliver owner mount 3 Vatrer batteries, 900 Ah for only $1,800! Watch this item. When they get popular like Epoch, they won't be $400 OFF anymore!

Girard awning remote battery change-can someone tell me the correct way to remove the battery compartment cover in order to change batteries? I find it extremely difficult.

I have not seen this one on the forums before. I have a ticket out to Oilver support, but I thought I would post here in case someone has the "easy button." I also tried Truma, but they are closed for the weekend. At the very least, as I figure it out, it will be here for others to reference. E8H seems to be either a fuse issue or something off with the gas. I have checked the control panel fuse, and it is fine. I cannot find an inline fuse. I have turned the heater off and back on. I have also turned the gas shut-off switch off and then back on. I have even reset the CP control panel. So, no luck. I have verified that gas is flowing, as the water heater works and the stove does as well. I have also verified that the vent to the outside is not obstructed.

Looks like an Epoch clone from the outside, same casing and handles. But it's what's inside that matters and we won't know until Will Prowse cuts one open for review! 🤣 https://www.vatrerpower.com/products/vatrer-12v-300ah-bluetooth-lifepo4-lithium-battery-with-self-heating-200a-bms-supports-low-temp-charging-4-f-5000-cycles-2560w-power

Let us know how this lithium battery does for that price.. my AGMs are 4 years old now , might want to upgrade soon. Stay safe out there..

@skipster .. i have a Elite 1. Also. I cut a 6 inch opening, installed access hatch. Can get the bypass valve much easier. When i got our Oliver back in 2022 . I told them to move the hole they have back then closer to the valve.. dont know if was ever done. I know the pics i see of the LEII there is more room there, reaching from the top hatch panels under the bed.. i hope you get it fixed..

And I took the King antenna to the OTTO rally and couldn’t find any willing taker’s, dang it! So I brought it back home and recycled it. Mossey

Rifle State Park is nice too. There’s a smaller state park near the falls, looked quiet and peaceful.

I’ve noticed too.

Glad you're getting it fixed. I have trouble reaching/turning the bypass valve, too. Very stiff.

Hey Everyone, I posed some questions about Alternator load with a DC/DC charger to Easton Ford at Inverter Services. Here is the info I got back from him: Q: When you install a DC/DC charger, what considerations should you have on the alternator in the Tow Vehicle? A: What I take into account is how much load you have on the alternator with all of your heavy electrical loads running, then I clamp the alternator wire to see how many amps it is pulling, I then Add 50 amps(DC/DC) and I see if that number is above 75% of the full capacity of the alternator. If its under everything is good. If it is over I would let you know that its over and if you didn’t want to do the DC/Dc I would take it off the ticket. If you still wanted the DC/DC it can be turned down to draw less from the alternator. Q: Can the Victron DC/DC charger be set to draw a certain amount of power. A: Yes, the Victron DC/DC charger can be turned down from 1 to 50 amps Q: My tow vehicle (2024 Nissan Titan XD) currently has a heavy duty 200 amp alternator. For me specifically, what would you recommend? A: For this vehicle I think one DC-DC would be fine no issues. If you want to have two DC-DCs I would want to clamp the alternator wire to make sure that we are not cutting it close. (2 dc/Dcs would equal up to 100Amps but it is highly programable to set it anywhere from 1-100) My plan going forward would be to have the alternator load tested and if it's within parameters, fine... if not, I will ask them to turn down the DC/DC charger to the appropriate number until I can arrange an alternator upgrade. Hope this helps to answer any Alternator questions anyone else may have. Happy Camping, Scotty

In Junei we enjoyed touring St. Elmo, Buena Vista, Leadville then up to Rifle CO. All were amazing. Oddly, the highlight was Rifle CO. For sure worth a few days to hike the Falls Trail and other smaller ones as well. Recommend staying at the Rifle City owned park for a couple of days. Not a bad drive to Grand Junction. Reservations recommend for weekends for sure. During the Monday to Thursday there are occasionally spaces. Primitive but nice camping for sure. It is full weekends by the rock climbers who call the area a meca for their sport. Be sure to hike down trail that follows the river to the Falls below. Explore the below falls areas for bear caves. Amazingly beautiful hike along the river. Takes about 90 minutes tops. GJ

so after consulting my chat ai. i decided fixing it myself would be a big problem for me so i am taking it to bish rv repair in bozeman montana . also having them make it easier for me to access the inline valve for bypassing the tank. I cant get my fingers on it to turn it on and off. very tight. also anther problem is the black tank shut off valve does not close all the way and the dump hose is always full so hope they can repair these issues. so thanks and I appreciate the help and advice

how do I access the fittings on tbe water heater. I can see a leak either the blue or red hose going into the insulated water heater. is there a utube video on how to get to those fittings. I have trouble turning the valve off for water going into water heater and now there is water spraying out of the blue hose connection.. how do I get to it to repair. my hands won't fit anywhere in there. do i take the styrofoam insulation off to get more room so I can repair the fitting. no idea. or should I take it to bish rv repair in bozeman,mt.. and let them repair it

I noticed that Oliver is getting active on X.

Lost Mine trail was our favorite!

I got the Oliver into a tight spot on a rough road in this one...

Problem solved! I took the Oliver to a highly-rated solar installer in our area and he solved our problem. Galway girl was correct, the internal fuses (there were two) in the Xantrex inverter were blown. The service tech had another identical inverter on hand (he had replaced it with a Victron) and used those fuses, since he didn’t have new replacements in stock. We also had him replace our AGM batteries with a Vatrer 12V 300AH Bluetooth LiFePO4 Self Heating battery (only $599) and a shut off switch, so I don’t repeat my reverse-polarity blunder when it goes in storage. Thank you all for your help. Heading up to northern MN for some mountain biking next week.

Haven't bought anything yet, just still in the beginning of the planning stage. And that King antenna was removed within days of buying #45... Ended up bringing it to @mossemiwho also lives here in Tampa. Have to get my son off to college and complete the move to our new place in Floral City Fl, but once that's done, upgrades will be priority #1!

The 3K model is enough, especially with your efficient Turbro inverter A/C (or your new Chill). I hope you bought one of the open box/used MP2s at half price! With the 4K model out, look for deals on the 3K models coming soon! I just looked again at the picture of your beautiful hull #45! Remove that king antenna and mount solar panels sideways. I'll bet today you can get near 800W up there! Install two drive motors so you can pitch the panels up on both left or righthand sides! Would be so cool. Consider my brain picked (just for now)! 😎