Leaderboard

As our Oliver was one of the first off the line, we did not have the opportunity to order most of the options that are now available. Early on, I bought a Progressive Industries EMS-HW30C Hardwired 30 Amp RV Surge Protector and installed it into our trailer. It has worked flawlessly and has proved to be a useful addition as it has caught several "problems" in other people's wiring. Its one failing feature was the butt ugly remote display that came with it. First, it is designed to be surface mounted and it does stick out almost an inch. You could possible overcome that obstacle but the connecting cable from the suppressor is plugged into the bottom rather than the back. So you're sorta stuck with a surface mount. Second, the display remains on all the time and is constantly rotating through several different values. This may not bother some folks but we have so many idiot lights that are always glowing, that it's not possible to achieve a really dark interior at night without covering them all with tape or something. That's not feasible for us. As far as brightness goes this display is far and away the worst of the bunch. I do agree that the display should be easily visible without jumping thru too many hoops. Some have suggested that it be mounted outside so that it is able to be seen as you are plugging in. There's nothing wrong with that idea but the way the suppressor works we did not find that necessary. If there is a fault outside the trailer, the nanosecond you plug in, the electricity is stopped at the suppressor BEFORE it can reach anything in the trailer and do any harm. The readout will give the error code and you can take it from there. You have the ability to turn off the suppressor and bypass it if you need to (probably not the best idea in most cases.) We chose to mount our display inside the cupboard, cabinet, pantry (whatever name you've assigned to it) centered right under the upper shelf. Our reasoning was: it is out of sight, it is easily viewed at any time, it is usually not covered regardless of how much you put into the cabinet and wiring was a snap with only one hole to drill.

My solution to this potential problem will be to test the electricity before hooking up. There is a great web site that explains RV electricity: http://www.myrv.us/electric/ They describe a simple device to test both the circuit and the voltage here: http://www.myrv.us/electric/Pg/tester_30amp.htm I ordered all the parts for this device from Amazon for $27. https://www.amazon.com/Camco-55233-Electrical-PowerGrip-Adapter/dp/B00192QB3I https://www.amazon.com/Globe-Electric-46505-Single-Tap-Grounded/dp/B007XQORTO https://www.amazon.com/Prime-Products-12-4055-Voltage-Meter/dp/B002P48KLK https://www.amazon.com/Sperry-Instruments-GFI6302-Outlet-Tester/dp/B000RUL2UU I plan to use this simple tester before I hook my future Oliver up to shore power. David

So long as we're talking bout the existing tanks, located toward the center, I think you're correct. But if you add weight towards the ends of the trailer, regardless of how high its placed, then you really will alter the stability of the trailer. Here's a good demonstration of that... I actually find trailer dynamics to be pretty interesting. The fact that you're towing the trailer from a hitch rather than like a fifth wheel changes the game entirely, since you've created a double pendulum. And the dynamics of a double pendulum are chaotic; so when towing, you're essentially just trying to keep everything within the tipping point of it all going haywire. Fun! The key is in keeping the energy of the pendulum lower than the tipping point, which of course means controlling its inertia through speed, mass and distribution of mass. If you're interested, here are some good pages on trailer dynamics... http://caravanandmotorhomebooks.com/caravan-dynamics/ https://caravanchronicles.com/guides/understanding-the-dynamics-of-towing/ It's amazing how complex it is. One of the really interesting things about a high yaw inertia is that though it's dangerous once in motion, so long as it's under control it makes the trailer feel very stable, because of course the weight actually resists sway. Once you get it going, though... That makes me a little nervous when people talk about how stable Olivers are, lol. But in truth, I think even the Legacy II is compact enough that it can't possibly have the same yaw inertia as the big boys. If I start to get nervous about it, I just look at this photo and I'm back in my happy place...

Oliver has agreed to install this upgrade on a new build for $270. I don't know what the cost would be for a retrofit, but it would be a little more since there would be disassembly of the old parts involved. The $270 includes credit for the unused original parts. I think this is perhaps a little high since wholesale cost on the parts is probably well below $100 and there is minimal extra labor involved when building up a new suspension. The only extra work would be tearing out the old plastic bushings in the spring eyes and pressing in the new bronze ones. And then greasing all the zerk fittings afterwards. Whatever.... You can find the kit for less than half MSRP (Dexter parts have a huge markup), so a local shop should be able to do this affordably or you can attempt it at home if you are handy, have the jacks and muscles.And your joints don't hurt too badly. You will also need a heavy duty ball joint press, but you can borrow one from Autozone or many parts houses. Here's a video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6hXCegZNxE&app=desktop John Davies Spokane WA