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Mark, The EZ Flex became standard about a year ago after some of us had been discussing it. I forgot who it was that Oliver awarded for promoting it. As John pointed out, it is much better than the standard utility trailer suspension that has light duty shackles and nylon bushings. But the rubber bushing part really does nothing on Olivers because it is designed for a stiff suspension with lots of shock loads. The alternative to the EZ Flex is the Heavy Duty Kit from Dexter. This gives you the larger shackles and pins, greaseable bronze bushings, and a heavy duty equalizer, but deletes the rubber bumper. Plus it costs about $100. less than the EZ Flex. Either one does nothing to increase travel. The red swing arm suspension John posted pictures of, is the system used on a lot of Australian off road caravans. Specifically, the Black Series HQ19. We've been discussing ways to improve the Oliver suspension, which is fine for highway and around town, but not for off-road. Two options are possible. One is the drop axle with spring over, that I suggested to John. And the other is to get a Black Series HQ19. I have opted to get a Black Series so that I can confidently go off road to places like Death Valley. My favorite spot is over 50 miles in on a gravel road that is rough and sometimes washed out. Then six miles across the desert with no road. The Oliver is really good compared to many normal trailers with it's additional ground clearance and no hanging down sewer pipes. This has allowed us to go many places we could not have gone otherwise. I love my Ollie, but don't want to take into Death Valley and overdo it. A simple and affective suspension upgrade, that should be done if you don't have it, is to simply install the Heavy Duty kit from Dexter. I'll give you the part number if you'd like, I'll have to look in my records to find it. This gives you a long term system that can be maintained and not get loose with worn parts. A good time to do it would be when you grease the bearings next time.

Nothing goes in our sink drain that would cause a clog. Dishes are scraped and wiped clean, and we use a strainer on the drain to catch anything else. Something in our plumbing is defying the laws of physics.

These are pictures of the "new" versus the "old" Andersen whaletails. First the "old" Now the "new" Note that the "ball housing" is also a bit different from "old" to "new", but, the differences do not show up in a photo very well. Bill

I know I have told this story before, but here goes. Years ago, we had hail the size of steely marbles at our camping property in North Carolina. We were at a friend's house having dinner, an hour away, and no hail there. The Ollie, and its solar panels, were undamaged when we returned, though the ground was still covered with hail and shredded leaves. I imagine the truck would have had some dimples if we'd been there. Sherry

Attached you will find some of the documents from the Rally last month. You can download the following PowerPoint Presentations from Google Drive. Camping for Dummies: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rxnkwYLQUtrpQ58Ikc-kfI1aRTCrEK8G/view?usp=sharing History of Molded Fiberglass by Ian Giles: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LvezYWimCBAZIQDAFEIT7_dOqr-9flV7/view?usp=sharing 2019-OTTOR-Anodes-Workshop-Handout.pdf Truma-Cheat-Sheet.pdf Truma_Decalcification_Full-100-color.pdf Truma_Maintenance-and-Winterization-100-color.pdf Truma-AquaGo-Comfort-and-Comfort-Plus-Control-Panel.pdf Medical-History-Forms.pdf End-of-Life-Workshops.pdf

Overland, You've nailed it as far as what a more off-road suspension might really offer. Speed is not really the issue and rock crawling is out of the question anyway. I've walked my Ollie along in 4 lo until the truck was near it's limit and Ollie dutifully followed along and never touched bottom. It's extended tongue is one of it's best features and allows sharp turns, at those walking speeds, the suspension is adequate and possibly even desirable. The seven foot Oliver width is an advantage too. Every trip I remind myself how important that is when towing. The HQ19 is 7.5', so I've made a compromise of 6" there. Airstreams, with their 8' width, and extremely delicate body, are out of the question for me (besides the many other issues that take them out of contention). Ollie's wheel track is about 3" narrower than my Ram, so it tracks in almost the exact same lines. The HQ is 6" wider overall and may be an exact match on wheel track. This is nice on the highway, but narrower is better while turning on dirt tracks. The HQ is about 14" taller than an Ollie and I'm hoping it is a very stable platform. A friction style sway damper might be a good option after testing. I'm going to a McHitch 6 ton fully articulating hitch too. This is a better hitch than the HQ comes with and will allow a WDH if needed. I'll resist using one of those and my 3500 Ram has plenty of capacity. I'm expecting a drop of about 1 mpg, with the HQ, and possibly a slightly slower cruise speed. It will net about 1,000 lbs more, all geared up, and is less streamlined. But power is never a concern with my Cummins. Traveling along on dirt roads at a moderate speed, of 20 MPH or so. Not pushing it, but just cruising, I've had a hard time finding a sweet spot that Ollie likes. We live out here in the vast West and the wilds of Northern Nevada. I've tried airing down to various levels too. But invariably, when we stop after a few miles, the interior has suffered. This was the situation where my microwave tried repeatedly to escape and lead to my microwave cabinet conversion. Things actually turned out more secure and more useful in that area. But the window coverings fall off, the cushions are on the floor in spite of being set sideways to lock them in, and a few of the overhead cabinets are open. I've shimmed the cabinet catches and pretty much solved that problem too. Somehow, the damping, limited compression travel, natural harmonics and vibration are working against us and the trailer. We hit a big bump at a concrete ford area on a paved road at Little Sahara. The truck handled it better than I expected. We found the coffee pot had jumped out of the sink and a glass, one quart bottle, in the pantry, had jumped up and turned upside down. I was glad the shower door survived. The spring U bolts had contacted the steel frame truck hard enough to make little dents in the steel. My previous Thor toy hauler was about the same size and weight of our Ollie. It had identical suspension. I figured it would be fine in Death Valley, but it wasn't. Screws kept backing out of the floor and all indications were that it would destroy itself in a few trips. It was a poorly made and poorly designed sticky. So I decided it was time to get an Oliver. The streamlined Oliver, with it's very stable highway towing has really opened up a new world and we've crossed the country twice, as well as made a number of shorter trips to Oregon, Yosemite and around the Eastern Sierra. The recent heavy winds and rain/hail in the Texas Panhandle were just part of the fun. We are toying with the idea of taking off for a number of months at a time. This might be far and it might be not so far, where we simply spend a lot of time exploring a place. We'll find ourselves living in the trailer as though it's an apartment. Studying, reading, writing and being at home. And possibly taking on projects where we spend time at certain locations for a week or a month. I'm seeing Ollie as better for traveling and the HQ as better, for us, for living. I see these monster, fifth wheel stickies everywhere and I can't imagine taking one of those anywhere. In my view, Airstreams are bulbous, delicate, fair weather apartments, for weekends. Again, the HQ fills the gap. It's a durable luxury apartment on a heavy duty frame with off-road capable suspension. More water with a interesting dual tank fresh water system and triple filtering system, solar, an outdoor kitchen, queen bed, excellent shower/bath, oven, washing machine (!). A bit more room, without being ridiculous and a very durable exterior. While it's size can limit some situations, it invites exploring and staying out there. One of the things we do too, is simply stop for the night at truck stops and rest areas. I like to just pull in and crash for the night. Being stealth is important in those cases, because we may stay for 18 hours if the place is nice and we are in no hurry. No slide outs, pop ups, no generators and nothing to indicate we are doing anything more than just parking for a short time. Arkansas, Texas and New Mexico have some of the best places to stop and we've never been questioned. Big Piney Rest Stop in Arkansas is so nice is comical. A beautiful park. The picnic area about 20 miles north of Big Bend is a place to plan to stop. A gorgeous mountain top with views forever, nobody around, picnic tables and wifi. We spent some time there and were treated to a powerful thunderstorm. I only stopped giggling long enough to shake my head in wonder. Ollie is in pristine condition and even improved in a number of ways. Getting so much as a scratch on it would be devastating. HQ is ready to kick-ass and take names. While being a longer term home, if asked to. Luxury and tough at the same time. Ha! As far as the Oliver rally is concerned, we've had a wonderful time there twice! Making great new friends and using the trip as an opportunity to see much more of the country. Here's the plan. Shhhhh. (as I glance both ways to make sure nobody is listening). We have already named the new trailer "Ollie". We're planning to attend the next Oliver Rally and not mention the change. Maybe nobody will even notice! Or, maybe we'll be politely asked to leave! What if we win an accessory at the big dinner drawing and it is designed for an Oliver? Will Scott Oliver slam the door as we approach the dining hall, giving us a disgusted glance? I can hardly wait to find out! "It's heresy, I tell you!" or, just one more friend attending the party, as it was at the two Casita rallies we went to in Oregon. I don't see having the right brand of trailer as part of the price of admission. We're starting to get serious about getting Ollie emptied, photographed and in the classifieds. The next chapter begins. And I hope to cross paths with the new owner at various places over time. We'll be at Quartzsite in January, for instance, and the Oliver rally next year. I fully intend to be lurking here too, and jumping in with my two cents now and then. John

Great comments. I disagree that the rubber EX Flex equalizers don’t work. I think they offer extra dampening of high speed vibrations. I have had a couple of big tandem trailers with the heavy duty (non rubber) shackle kits and they were not as soft riding as my 6000 pound Ollie. The rubber ones do offer four extra failure points, and the rubber pads should be inspected regularly for deterioration. If I stored the trailer long term in full sunlight I would probably figure out some sort of sun guard for the side that gets blasted by UV rays.... I have no plans to tow at 50 mph on unpaved roads, as I have in the past with a little offroad utility trailer, but I need something to cope with those unseen potholes and dips that appear out of nowhere, when you can’t slow down or evade. I ran over a really nasty hole at 45 mph because it was unmarked and there was a vehicle in the oncoming lane. I really thought I had broken something..... it scared me. John Davies Spokane WA

We scrape dishes clean and have a strainer. I agree with Overland that something in our plumbing is defying the laws of physics, or at least gravity. There is a long horizontal traverse in the under sink plumbing that I think is the culprit. I don't think this is a "clog" in the usual sense, but an air or vacuum bubble in the pipe, maybe where it connects to the vertical vent pipe. I hope someone with more knowledge will chime in.

We have been using stainless steel drain screens in our sinks from day 1. It has prevented various detritus from entering the grey tank system and have never had a clog. Available everywhere. Glad you fixed it. Cheers.

I have had this happen several times, where the kitchen sink is clogged, but the bathroom sink and shower are both able to drain. The first time I figured something was clogged in the trap, so I pulled out the galley drawers and disassembled the under sink plumbing. I put it all back together and that solved the problem, but what a mess! So I bought a mini plunger to carry with us. I have had to use it twice since then when the kitchen sink clogged, and each time it worked quickly and easily in clearing the kitchen sink! I store the plunger in the curbside front under bed compartment, where the water pump lives. I also store my pex / sharkbite repair supplies in that compartment. An ounce of prevention.... BTW, I bought the mini plunger from a hardware store, but the photo is from Amazon.

They are residential quality, they are darned tough. If you are in a storm bad enough to break these panels, you will have more important things to worry about. Besides, your insurance would cover replacement cost. OTH, if I were in a bad storm and solid shelter was available, I would certainly use it.... if it were limited, I would stick my truck and occupants under it and leave the Ollie sticking out. John Davies Spokane WA

Mark, I don’t know of any Ollie that has a different type suspension..... the EZ Flex was an option for a while, but it is way superior to the standard junk trailer shackles and plastic bushings, so now it is standard equipment. Yay! The problem is that there is no travel, you have maybe THREE inches total, and only 1.5 inches up travel, before the ubolts slam hard into the steel subframe. That is fine for well maintained asphalt, but a single deep pothole, or a rough dirt road, soon demonstrates how poor this is. Wham bam, thank you mam, the trailer will get really beat up and it can wreck tires and wheels unless you slow way down. A fancy independent off road a-arm suspension (like the Black Series trailers) with coil springs or airbags is way superior when the road turns bad, but it is also prohibitively expensive since most buyers won’t pay the big premium for a niche feature. It also can be tippy on the highway if it doesn’t have anti-roll bars...plus it does not have “load equalizing” between axles so you need really stout tires and wheels. A compromise that has been discussed (and which IMHO should be STANDARD ON ALL OLLIES) is to switch to a spring over axle configuration, which gets you a ton of room between the frame and axle, but that will get the trailer way too high off the ground, it looks dumb and it would very unstable. So you change the axles to a 4” (or 2”) drop version, which has a dogleg that positions the axle stub above the tube, effectively lowering the frame back down. [attachment file=A9BE9506-0D50-46D1-B2B2-655AC563E315.jpeg] Now you have a stock height (or 2 inch lifted height) trailer, with a bunch of room so you can install rubber bump stops to prevent the springs from over traveling, which can break them, but just as importantly, to provide a gentle, progressive slowing of the upward motion. No more banging. Easy peasy, it would be much more refined, and would only cost a few dollars more for the four bump stops..... spring over axle assemblies can be ordered from the supplier, no welding or reworking needed.... John Davies Spokane WA

Guess what happen! Shower was holding water. It was full so i dumped it!! Now I know not to let it get to that point again. Thank you

If the grey tank has filled to the top AND the travel (isolation) valve is OPEN, the soapy water will back up into the shower pan where you can see it. You can tell when this happens in the dark because your socks get soaked followed by lots of swearing... ;( Conversely, if the valve is closed, there is no way for the water (or air) to get into the shower, so then the kitchen sink will back up. There is no other place for the water to go.... Pull the handle forward if you haven’t already, but be prepared for the shower pan to partially fill as the kitchen sink empties. If you are not at a place where you can empty the tank(s), you can dump a few gallons of grey water into a five gallon bucket or jerry can, and carry it to a waste water disposal drain or even a toilet, though the latter is frowned upon in most places. Even primitive campsites often have a place you can dump your “dish water”, but not an entire tank. If you haven’t learned how to do this yet, add it to your “Honey Teach Me How” list.... Where are you staying? Some western primitive sites “may” allow disposal of grey water by letting it trickle out overnight through a garden hose run under a nearby bush. Always check! John Davies Spokane WA

Bathroom sink is several feet of pipe above the kitchen. Yes, it's possible that your grey tank is full. The guages aren't totally accurate, nor are they in any rv we've ever owned. Are you in a place where you can dump? Full hookups? Sherry

Is your trailer fairly level front to back and side to side? Is the bathroom sink and shower drain valve open (the one beside the toilet - is the handle pulled out)? Those tank level indicators are not real reliable. The level is greatly affected by the attitude of the trailer.

[postquote quote=175387][/postquote] Trainman: All the Anderson WDH videos are associated with the older style of the "whale tail"; I agree that you could not move the "whale tail" by hand on the older style of the "whale tail". In 2018 Anderson offered a new upgraded unit due to the noise and a few other issues users was having, for a small amount. This offer came from Sage Teichert via the Oliver Forum. I purchased the replacement unit. After I installed the upgraded Anderson WDH, I discovered that you could move the "whale tail" by hand when the trailer was NOT connected to the trailer ball. I sent Sage Teichert an email about being able to move the "whale tail" by hand when the trailer was not connected to the trailer ball. Below is the email reply from Sage Teichert with Anderson WDH about being able to move the trailer ball by hand: That is not unusual, the upgrade that you got has a little different geometry inside. The housing where the ball is, is much easier to turn by hand when the trailer is unhooked. It is quite easy to bump the bottom of the ball up a little with a block of wood or raise it with the tongue jack to release some of the pressure so it can be turned by hand. When the weight is put back on the ball the friction material does it's job and starts grabbing again. So far Anderson has not upgraded their videos to reflect the new "whale tail". Contact Sage Teichert with Anderson WDH, and check for yourself.

Hi Sherry, Steve, and Pete. Good to hear from members of the"Original 47." Time flew by and now both granddaughters have graduated from high school. They wanted to go camping before they leave for college. Such wonderful memories camping with the grandkids and Revilo. I am most fortunate to "still" camp in the driveway. Everytime I go outside to leave in my truck to go wherever I am going, I pass by Revilo. I am always going inside and enjoying sitting there. It brings me such joy to pretend to be camping, and dreaming of the next opportunity to take Revilo out for an adventure. How much fun it would be if we could all be at the same camping grounds at the same time. I am glad others now have the opportunity to enjoy the Oliver experience. More importantly, I am glad that others are just going camping and enjoying life. I have told the grandkids forever that I hope they enjoy the journey of life and don't rush to get to the final destination. I wish the same to all. Wonderful to hear from yall.

UPDATE: Called Oliver on Monday morning, they called me back in about and hour and asked me to send pictures and measurements. I did that this AM and by 10 am had a call from Matt in the service department. They said they were sending me a new table this week. Not sure how much better service one could expect from a manufacturer.

This size seems like it would fit on both sides up top. The feet are even made for curved roofs. There is even an extra plug-in on the factory roof install for the solar panels. It would be super easy if you could get an SEA splitter cable and just plug them in, then you would just have to mount the feet. Just wondering if anyone has done anything like this. The whole parallel vs series and panel compatibility is beyond my expertise. Though it would be nice to have a 500W system. https://www.zampsolar.com/90watt-long-expansion https://www.zampsolar.com/y-connector 30-AD-90L-InstallGuide.pdf

The people at AmSolar have been very nice and helpful. Ended up purchasing everything through them. Plan to do the install when we get back from the Smoky’s. Pulled this from their website... “ Roof Attachment Fiberglass roofs – We have been using a type of 3M double-sided tape on our mounts since the mid 1990’s, and we have never lost a panel. As long as the tape is properly installed on a clean surface at the correct temperature, it will hold. As an added level of protection, we use a layer of Dicor self-leveling sealant around the entire perimeter of the mount, and cover the screw holes/heads as well. The sealant protects the tape and any potential roof penetrations from water intrusion and decay.” So I am going to give it a try and will post pics later. Thanks for everyone’s input.

The 4200 is plenty strong for using with big self tapping screws, it is an extremely tenacious adhesive. But it is NOT a caulk, it is designed as a bedding compound, with a full layer underneath the entire bracket foot. Just using it around the perimeter of a dry mounted bracket would have little strength. I would caution to not use rivnuts in fiberglass, it is not a very good method unless there is a metal backing plate. A rivnut relies on the friction between the “teeth” on the swelled part and the material it is connected to, to keep it from turning. Fiberglass is not strong enough to resist that twisting effect. If you over-tighten the screw, the rivnut may spin, and then YOU are screwed. You have to drill off the head, rip the rivnut out, and then patch the nasty hole.... These fasteners would probably be a good choice.... https://www.pointsunknown.com/blog/2016/10/lessons-learned-rivnuts-vs-plusnuts/ I think the panel would shear off from the brackets if you ran into a tree branch, regardless of how you have the feet attached. But that is something I would not like to experience. Soooooo, how does Oliver mount theirs? Does anybody know? They can’t use nuts on the back side since you could never reach them. They must have an aluminum plate under there. John Davies Spokane WA

Hi Mark, I agree with all the above statements on your need for an Anderson hitch, the elite 2 is a very well balanced trailer and under most circumstances will not sway, however, “any” trailer can be induced to sway. Most weight distribution hitches have sway control built in, that’s a proactive system designed to prevent sway from occurring and you really shouldn’t need it with a 3/4 ton truck and either Oliver. The other approach to address sway is reactive, it uses the application of your trailer brakes to control the sway, that is achieved by manually applying “only”your trailer brakes with the switch on your brake controller, there are systems out there that do that automatically, the Hayes sway master is one of those, and some new pickups have built in sway control, but i’m not familiar with how they work. While I haven’t experienced any sway with my elite 2, I went with the Hayes swaymaster, Just for the added safety factor, and for approximately 2 years and 26,000 miles i’m very happy with its performance. Steve

Welcome to the forum! Yep, I agree 100% with all the comments. All you need is a cheap ball mount with the correct amount of rise and a 7500 pound rated 2” ball. Maybe add a set of big gravel guards (Rock Tamers or similar) if you venture off pavement. This is a light, cheap, simple setup that is perfect for towing either Ollie behind your HD truck. I have never heard of a single owner having sway problems. It might possibly happen if you had the trailer’s butt overloaded with bikes and no weight on the tongue, if you had a marginal short wheel base light duty tow vehicle. With your big heavy LWB truck, you would have absolutely zero problems. Hook up and go, no worries. This setup was on my ‘06 Ram 3500 Quad Cab 4wd. BTW I like the long shank ball that is intended for mounting directly through some factory bumpers. You can add Grade 8 washers and shift them around if needed to fine tune the height. John Davies Spokane WA

Agree with what’s been said. The Andersen is a good piece of kit for half ton or smaller trucks. Doesn’t limit maneuverability and helps level the load and provide sway control. But for a 3500 I would think it is unnecessary. I’m thinking of upgrading to a 3/4 ton next year and will tow without my Andersen. Mike

Dave - I really do like the "unswayed" part! MarkC - Dave is correct about your tow vehicle - the Andersen would not be required. However, to specifically answer your question: from a practical point of view the answer is no, it would not limit your turning radius. From a theoretical point of view I would think the answer would be yes it would limit turning radius. But, by the time you got to that point you would already be in relatively dire straights. Does this help you? Bill

Greetings Mark, With a 3500 truck (or a 2500 for that matter), there is no need at all for the Anderson WDH setup. Save your money and simplify your setup. Your truck will be a very capable TV for the Ollie all by itself. Folks that do have the Anderson WDH will be able to answer your specific questions about turning radius and all if you are unswayed! Dave