Leaderboard

Come on, this is easy! As JD stated, go find a decent used truck, 3/4 ton, gas/diesel, and get on with it. worried about a lemon, have it inspected by a mechanic you trust (if your not capable), and go enjoy, the WWW is full of information on resale values, driving costs, etc. When your ready for the new TV, sell or trade in the former TV. Leasing or rental is dollars thrown away for sure. With the former, one has a shot at recouping some of the $$$. You are just way over thinking this. RB

A couple of comments: First, if you eventually go with LFP batteries, like the Battleborns, it's going to be extremely tight in your battery box with all of that cabling. And connections to those batteries are awkward, to say the least. You might consider moving your shunt into the hull space and maybe adding a bus bar or combiner post for your positives. That would limit your connections in the box to a single positive and negative, plus temp and voltage sensors for your monitor and multi, which can be wrapped together, so just 3 cables total. That's what I've got, and it's still tight enough that I have to guide the cables in place when I move the batteries to make sure that they don't bind or kink. Second, I worry that your solar charge controller is going to run hot in that space. It's a small area with no circulation and you've got a hot stereo in there as well. You're also going to get a good bit of heat from the sun on the hull in there. Minimum, I think I'd get a remote temp sensor, since otherwise your charge controller is going to assume that the temperature in that compartment is the temperature of your batteries and so is going to miscalculate its compensation by a good bit. (I'm actually surprised that AM Solar didn't include that in the package - it's a $40 add on that's a no brainer, imo, for the Smart Solar series). I know that's where Oliver puts theirs, but that doesn't make it right, plus you've got more solar now and so a much bigger/hotter, not to mention smarter, controller. Then finally, wherever you end up with your controller, I'd add some strain relief to those cables, and generally tidy up, wrap, and tie everything down as best you can. I think one of the biggest potential dangers in any trailer, especially for those of us who are on gravel roads a lot, is fire from a positive cable that's come loose and starts to spark on something, or wears off its insulation from constant rubbing. By the way, I didn't realize it when we were talking about it earlier, but Victron does make a plate for both the CCGX and for the CCGX and BMV combined.

Saw these and thought they looked pretty useful. At a 9000lb breaking strength, I might just velcro my trailer to the bumper, lol. https://jeri-rigg.com

That's fine, but then Coy is selling the trackers, so it's his job to educate his customers, not Oliver's. If Oliver gets a cut and wants to do the same, sure. But don't say that they're misrepresenting anything now, because they just aren't. If Oliver were to downgrade their advertised wattage by whatever random number, then that would be misrepresentation. Because then someone sells his trailer and tells the buyer it's a 180W or whatever system and then that guy decides to upgrade, tells AM Solar he has 180W of panels, they send him the wrong wires and charge controller, and his trailer burns up. It's no different from HP or torque numbers on your truck. You'll never see those numbers, but that's just how you measure output. It's not GM's job to say that actually that's just theoretical, but if you buy this other guy's intake system and exhaust, you'll get closer to those numbers.

The first thing that came to my mind that can cause this symptom is that your brake controller is set too high. Brake controllers are not a set and forget proposition, and need to be adjusted for the terrain and road conditions you are driving in. If the voltage is set too high the trailer will not brake in sync with your TV and cause some lurching. That said, all the other ideas presented here are valid and worth looking into. The old suspension shackles had nylon bushings, were not greaseable, and generally not up to the job. New suspension kits use bronze bushings and much heavier duty components: https://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Leaf-Spring-Suspension/Dexter-Axle/K71-359-00.html One other possibility to check, even though your trailer is a 2016 would be to make sure your trailer is properly grounded to the TV as per this Oliver TSB: https://olivertraveltrailers.com/topic/7pin-ground/ Sub- optimal grounding would affect your braking also causing a rougher ride. I feel your pain about trying to get the trailer and TV in plane with each other. There are ball mounts, however, that have drops in 1/2" increments out there. What is your current drop? Good Luck!! Dave

you're 100% right, but overthinking things is also how I earn my money and 99% of the reason I ended up with an Oliver :)

Brakes

This thread could easily morph in to a whole new thread about safety chains or cables.... But to answer the OP's original question about clevis hook orientation, I would say it is always better to have the hook enter from the top of the receiver hitch if possible. This is how I was taught by the heavy equipment operators where I volunteer. In the event of a separation, the force of the drop will be directed to a thicker and stronger section of the hook. Also, if there is a malfunction of the safety latch, gravity will be more in your favor if the hook opening is facing down. Of course, if the hook won't fit in that position, then do it the other way! Or, better yet, follow Raspy's advice and get an appropriate hook with a larger throat opening, or get a suitable quick link to make hookup easier. My Oliver came with Grade 70, 1/4" chain and hooks. The laws regarding the connection and strength of the chains vary State to State, as RnA posted above. BUT, the very strange thing about all these laws is that the chain strength requirement is not based on the WLL of the chain directly, but the Minimum Breaking Strength of the chain. Grade 70 chain has a Design Factor of 4. This means its Minimum Breaking Strength (MBS) is 3150 (WLL) x 4= 12,600 lbs. When I was looking in to all of this some time ago, I'm pretty sure I read that it is best practice for each of the two chain assemblies to be sized to independently carry the load in a separation event. With a MBS of 12,600 lbs however, each of the supplied 1/4" Grade 70 chain and hooks easily accomplish this for both Olivers. Trainman, I don't like cables either, for a whole host of reasons worthy of a different thread. The main one being they are not adjustable for length. If you google safety chain length you will understand why. Dave

Jason, I, for one, am thankful that you take the time and resources to try to maintain the forum website and wish to applaud your efforts. A little anticipated down time for maintenance is not only acceptable in my mind, but actually mandatory in order to avoid bigger issues down the road which could have much more considerable impact on the forum members. What do they say, "A stitch in time....". During the downtime I can do other things like catch the news, weather or even prepare a cup of coffee or pour a glass of wine for my wife. All good uses of my time. Thanks again for all you and everyone else at Oliver does for us. I continue to be a Happy Camper. Hobo

Yep. You could get the credit on both. When we did ours, we took the credit for all our panels, batteries, charger, charge controller, inverter, monitors, wiring, etc. Saved us a ton of money. Most don’t realize that you can take the credit on the factory solar option and battery upgrades when you buy new.