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Camped just outside of Grand Junction awaiting our Tuesday appointment with Alcan for an axle upgrade. Already did the 5200# spring upgrade as we were treated to the sight of a broken spring last fall. As these things generally go, our breakdown was nearly 40 miles off the nearest highway. The tow, springs, labor and expenses related to this adventure reached well over $4000, of which $1800 was thankfully covered by insurance. When one of these cheap 3500# spring breaks in the usual spot, the trailer will not be able to be moved to any serious degree as the remaining spring will contact the wheel well if a bump of any consequence is experienced and the fibreglass wheelwell will be badly damaged. This would not be an easy or cheap fix. My advice to any considering an axle and spring upgrade is to do it and sleep easy.

Thank you Chris! You have gone above and beyond on this task. For those that haven’t tried it, the Oliver forum search tool is a tremendous help.

A couple folks asked for a more generic, multi-forum search tool. This is what I came up with, it's not Oliver Pretty, but works great. Now you can add or remove specific forums which meet all your camping forum needs. As a starting point, I added Oliver, a trucks forum, motor cycles, and to pay for all your retirement toys, an investors forum. LOL Change as you wish and reset back to defaults when needed. Or edit the HTML file yourself and tinker with it. Simply download zip file, extract HMTL file, and open in your favorite browser. Should just work. Have not figured out yet how to get it to play nice on an iPad. FYI: @Hokieman @Ollie-Haus forums-search-tool-v1.1.html.zip

Thanks, Geoff. This would be a good Forum project if a number of members are interested. I'm going to see how the PVC drain cover pictured above will look. I already have the parts and I ordered some Gorilla Clear Grip that @Hokieman suggested, arriving here on Monday.

Thanks Chris & John. I plan to crawl under my Oliver soon and check the wiring. I may pull it out of the D35 axles to inspect. John Davies had significantly undersized brake wiring in his 2017 Oliver. https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/2685-how-to-brake-wiring-is-undersized-some-answers-and-partial-solution/

I’m considering replacing my suspension, still have some teardown and inspection of brakes and drums to do first. I don’t have any problems, my trailer tows great with my F250, no WDH, doesn’t porpoise or wallow, not top heavy. I plan to travel to Colorado in June to camp for a month, so I called Alcan and discussed a quote with Tim. I advised him I was interested in the 4 leaf springs rated at 2250 lbs, D52 axles. I recently weighed my trailer at a Cat scale, it was 5940 lbs fully loaded, water tank full, gray tank empty. I can appreciate why many feel best with 5 leaf springs, but 9k spring capacity with a 6k trailer allows for significant overcapacity, which I feel safe with. Alcan 4 leaf spring leafs also extend well past the weak point on the Dexter OEM springs. Attached is the quote if interested. I had a few technical questions for Tim based on legitimate concerns raised by Geronimo John earlier in this thread. 1) Why does Alcan supply splined wet bolts, but the shackles are smooth bore? It seems this would allow the grease ports to rotate out of the optimal position. Tim explained the bolts are an interference fit, so once tightened up, they shouldn’t rotate. 2) Why does Alcan use 9/16” straight shank wet bolts, as compared to Dexter 9/16” shank stepped down to 1/2” threads? Tim explained they have seen many Dexter bolts sheared off at the shoulder (likely due to over-torquing). Dexter wet bolts should be torqued to 30 ft-lbs min, 50 ft-lbs max (see Dexter instructions attached). As Geronimo John explained, the Dexter wet bolt shoulder is designed to allow the proper clearance between the hanger tabs and the spring bushing. If Alcan straight shank wet bolts are over-tightened, there may not be adequate clearance between the hanger tabs, resulting in abnormal wear and possible difficulty getting grease to purge. Alcan provides a torque spec of 65 ft-lbs, but regardless, clearance should be checked, and torque modified as needed. Hence the reason Alcan use Nylock nuts. So, Alcan takes a different approach to this application than Dexter. Lessons we’ve learned from each other are to use caution torquing your wet bolts (either Dexter or Alcan), and be mindful not to strip the splines. I recommend strongly securing the bolt head while torquing the nut. Sent from my iPad 059-867-00_ez_flex_complete.pdf

I believe Chris is correct regarding these wire gauges. Certainly the hitch wiring on the BLUE wire is 10 AWG. Given each individual trailer brake pulls 3A, then 14 AWG is sufficient, too bad they do not run wire, internal to the axles, with heavy rubberized insulation! You can see in my photo, the junction under the front dinette seat where the trailer wiring harness is split. It appears it connects 10 to 10 AWG on the Blue wire with a yellow/10 AWG butt connector. OTT also uses a yellow 3M ScotchLok connecting a green wire. I'm guessing the green wire powers the Oliver brake lights. They must split the 10 AWG blue wire again just inside the streetside wheel-well where there are two wires to power the brakes of each axle. My guess is they would use 12 AWG there, then connecting to the 14 AWG Dexter axle wiring going to each of 4 wheels. 😎

Asking a ridiculous amount means they didn’t want the job either. I’ve seen folks do that before.

Always fun. We haven't seen one yet, a month in Texas. Last year we had multiple sightings on all our trips🙃

Most of those who I contacted didn't want the job at all. The ones that did wanted a ridiculous amount.

I've got an old set of D52 axles and they have 14 AWG inside the axles. Fed with 10 AWG from the trailer connector, though.

🎉 Introducing: Oliversary Stories! We've just added a brand-new section to the forum, and we couldn't be more excited to share it with you. Oliversary Stories is a dedicated space for celebrating the adventures of Oliver owners — real journeys, favorite destinations, and the memories that make life on the road so special. Whether it's a cross-country haul, a hidden gem campsite, or a trip that changed everything, these are the stories that remind us why we love this community. Here's how it works: our team will reach out to owners to gather highlights and share them here, so every story you read comes straight from someone in the Oliver family. This forum has always been built on the experiences of real owners, and Oliversary Stories is our way of putting those experiences front and center. We can't wait to start sharing — and we have a feeling you'll find plenty of inspiration for your next adventure. Interested in sharing your story? We'd love to hear from you! Reach out to us at media@olivertraveltrailers.com and let's make your adventure part of the Oliver family story. Stay tuned. More stories are coming. 🛖✨ https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/37-oliversary-stories/

This topic has been locked as this original user and both posts have been AI-generated. Senior Moderators have been notified for further action.

Do you recall the wire size Dexter used internally on your new D52 axles? 12 AWG?

Greetings to the two Olivers we saw on i-95 South today, one near Savannah, one near the Florida Georgia line.

Maybe? Love our Tesla stock! I bought a bunch when the paid-protester crazies were fire-bombing the dealerships and the stock dropped down to near $200. I’ve never been one for sound investing, yet we sure won on this one, monies doubled! BTW, after our last trip, I forgot to pause our account, from the $50 to the $5 standby plan. Got the email re monthly renewal charges, but it was too late to change plans (even though it was the day before the new billing month). I entered a CS ticket. It took 3 days and after a second request, then Starlink CS wrote back. They wrote the next month is still live on the $50 plan, but they apologized for the inconvenience and put a $50 credit in our account for future charges. In our family, we Love Elon, his genius and ALL of his great companies!!! 😎

@topgun2 Yes, you sent me the files. I just can't find anyone to make one plaque at a reasonable price. Hopefully one of the other plaque-less owners has found someone. Tony

I’ve always wondered if Starlink pricing is tied to the Tesla stock price. Chris and Cherie, the Technomadia/Mobile Internet Resource Center folks moved from a Tab trailer to an Oliver LE in 2008 and sold it in 2011. Mossey

Tony - Sorry but I simply do not remember, but, did you send me a PM asking me for the digital information I received from Matt Duncan? Bill

Reviving an old thread. Has anyone found a vendor of metal business cards that can produce the hull number plaques? I'm looking for a business card plaque as close to original as I can find. After several inquires, I've found one Etsy vendor who can make a not very close to original looking plaque. Has anyone had more success? Thanks, Tony

A local shop that Dexter recommended handled the installation for $400. The axles were $883 each with 2200 pound springs and EZ Lube hubs and I supplied new lug nuts. Mossey

MANY of us have upgraded our Olivers in off-grid capabilities. I'm one of two here with 900 Ah Epoch LiFePO4 batteries (many have 400-600 Ah) and I'm also one of two who carry an extra 35-gal of fresh water in the tow vehicle. Off-grid is not only about battery SOC but fresh and waste water is most important! Also one of a few who upgraded manual water valves to motorized ball valves (sure helps in using the extra water). Suspension upgrades may also be important to you. Some add a solar suitcase and DC-2-DC charging is the most efficient means to recharging when you move around a lot! 😎 Search for keywords Epoch, LiTime, Renogy, Victron, MP2, DC-2-DC, etc. or just browse through the Ollie Modifications section!

Here’s the latest as of this week. Probably gonna change any day again… BTW, these guys are a wealth of information, and owned an Oliver several years ago.

I rewired my D35 due to intermittent brake disconnects. I know of one other owner who did the same (and first told me of the solution). When I pulled the wires there were several spots where the insulation was gone. There was about 3 or 4 feet of excess wire and my theory is that it was bunched up causing it to rub inside the axle. Once a new wire was zip tied to the outside of the axle my intermittent disconnect disappeared. It’s obviously not a common problem and I wouldn’t change anything or rerun the wires if there were no issues. I’ve now got the D52 axles and they are wired however the factory wired them. Mike

OUCH!