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Your shackles aren’t flipped. All of your photos show the shackles in the correct normal orientation.

My hope is that OTT can utilize the experience of existing Oliver owners to narrow down their selection -- if they choose to go this route. And I will say that it probably would have benefitted me to have an Oliver-allied service experience while I'm so far from OTT Mothership and from my home. Also (my last comment as well) -- not everyone has room for the tools to do all the maintenance. Nor the place. I live in a TINY condo, without a garage and very minimal storage space. (Makes it easy to live in my Oliver for months, because I'm used to the small spaces). So I hope to have my maintenance mostly done by Oliver, unless it's something that requires minimal tools (like the Zerk greasing -- easy peasy and minimal tools, plus needs to be done often when you are on the road for a long time). Thanks to all the great folks at Oliver, including moderators, who help us stay informed and better equipped.

When I picked up my trailer from Service last Friday I was watching as they pulled it out. I heard a huge bang and wondered what broke. Jason saw me look and said that was normal. When then lift them for maintenance they'll often flip and going over the dip exiting the service bay they flip back...loudly. 😉

John - There is a thread on this subject of lug nuts . In the final analysis it all winds up HERE. Bill

I used painters tape with a note to remind me that the Truma WH is in bypass mode — and another that signals the open valve in bathroom (taped over my rear camera power toggle, so I don’t forget to close it prior to travel.) Thank you for the diagram — it’s helpful!

More often than we care to admit....

A couple of screen captures: There is an animated diagram at the following link if you want to see this in action: https://mechanicalelements.com/suspension-equalizer-link-action/ You do not have to completely understand the engineering of all the parts of your Ollie! It is OK to use a Sharpie to add a note on the frame: “Up is normal”. I added a note in the bath for the grey tank vent (isolation) valve: “Push in for travel”. I also added labels and arrows showing water flow direction for the fresh water valves. More information is always better than less. Most of the mature Ollie owners sooner or later have senior moments. 😉 John Davies Spokane WA

I’ll let Oliver management know that you disagree with their decision.

I'd be replacing 2017 shocks, anyway. They're likely due. Much of what I see in photos is relatively light "surface rust". That can be removed with heavy duty scotchbrites, and some likely very uncomfortable time under the trailer. However, I see some pitting, possibly deep, that I'd want to explore, further. Blistered pock marks make me very nervous. The heavy coatings of even surface rust make me wonder about even minimal care and maintenance, heretofore. Give some serious thought into how much time you want to devote to correcting deferred care and maintenance. Interior systems may have been neglected, also. Some folks can't/don't know how important it is to/ clean chemicals and salt off trailers/cars/ plants.

Boerne RV. Boerne TX is just north of San Antonio. Ron is the owner and his wife runs the office. He usually has a couple of techs working with him. Mike

Obviously, most purchase decisions come down to what does one get for the price being paid. Given the amount of work it would take to get this Ollie back to where it should be I would expect a fair discount from what might be considered an "average" price for a similarly equipped 2017. Of course this discount would also have to include a bit for those items that just might not be so apparent. If the rust is deep then the discount should include the actual replacement of those parts. Any way you slice it - there should be a heavy price paid for not keeping your equipment in reasonable condition. Perhaps a contact with the guys in Oliver Service might help you to actually determine what they think the costs might be. Good luck no matter which way you decide to go. Bill

No, but, I'm presently seriously considering it. ScubaRx found the ones referenced by me and they are solid stainless. Bill

HERE is some neat chain/cable covering that helps keep both the tow and Andersen chain looking good. Installation is simple using black zip ties at each end. Bill p.s. Credit for the chain covering goes to Foy. p.p.s. Nice anti rattle hitch vise too. See it HERE. Mossemi put me onto this one.

I did not remove the wheels, and I only stuck my head under as far as necessary to get a look — watching Jason’s video gives you great views of the central zerks. The other tool that is VERY handy is a small mirror on a swivel stick — I bought one at the Tractor Supply in the sale bin for $3. I used it to check the new grease after pumping. I did the central ones last, and by that time I had a good sense for what it felt like for the gun tip to be engaged with the zerk — so I did it blindly.

What kind of weird hobby do we have where there are fan boys of cables vs chains... 🙂

He needs to be on Oliver's short list for service sites.

Its possible that the diameter is slightly less (I'm sure that these things are made in China and probably not to the highest quality control standards), but, when brand new they do have a light coating of something on the pin. Once that coating wears off the "easier" tends to go away. To help with this - I give mine a light coat of dry lube and try to keep it clean. Bill

@Cort: Definitely take heed to John's earlier comments... "It's what you don't see that will bite you in the you-know-what." If you decide to buy this trailer be certain to use the apparent lack of preventive maintenance in your negotiation strategy and learn to spell, "Elbow Grease." Good luck!

Saw him live in '78 at San Diego State - great concert. We've been trying to see him at his regularly scheduled concert in Frisco, TX - but sadly, never was able to pull it off. We visited the FloraBama yesterday and had a round of Margaritas in his honor - he's played there many times over the years. They had a nice impromptu memorial for him there. Sad day for sure.

FWIW, I bought the Tractor Supply pin way back when. Managed to bend the handle on a tight turn, but it still worked...though the pin seemed really snug. While having my AC replaced with a Truma I spotted a similar pin on the accessories shelf in Service, but it didn't have as big a handle and I think the diameter may be a hair less than the Tractor Supply model...seemed to make hooking up a bit easier. Very happy with it.

Just had retrofit done......love the lack of an AC impersonating jet engines in the Oliver. I can't imagine not getting the Truma in a new trailer, for resale value alone.

I would agree with JD, " caustic mag chloride & brine deicers", add to that being close to the ocean for that "Salt" moisture drift. Others that live close to costal salt water may want to chime in. B~Out Remember, "Rust Never Sleeps" Neil Young w/Crazy Horse 1979

I personally would steer VERY clear of any trailer that looks like that, there has to be all sorts of hidden corrosion that you don’t know about, until later. A lot of Pacific Coast beaches are very toxic for all vehicles due to sea fog, the wide flat sandy beaches dry out at low tide and the prevailing westerly winds blow it across everything in its path on the shore. I was at Tillium Beach OR, there were a couple of days like that, there were dried salt crystals on the truck and trailer, and the ebike rusted badly in a couple of areas. There are plenty of other Ollies to choose from that won’t make you wince when you look underneath. Here is Hull 218, I just sold it a couple of months ago. 25,000 miles towing, stored indoors always. Look for one that hasn’t been towed in winter, the caustic mag chloride and brine deicers are nasty indeed. Don’t worry about u bolt rust, they all do that within a month, they are raw steel. Just spray penetrating oil on the threads every other year. John Davies Spokane WA

Sad day, my wife and are huge Buffet fans - the only live music concert I have ever attended was one of his in Nashville about 1979 with my soon bride to be. I am so glad that he lived a long productive life. His voice went away in his later years, but in the video above this post it is still very sweet and pure. He had great eyes and a great smile. very charismatic, especially at a live venue. This news ruined my day…. John Davies Spokane WA

THAT, is a sweet set up! As a recovering engineer, I really like it!

Yep, it's quick & easy hook up & disconnect on Ollie with chains, plan to keep them, too. Edit: Here's a video showing another 2015 Ollie hitch & chains in the first part of the video. Our 2015 frame is different from current Ollie frames, too.

Our 2015 LE2 came from Oliver with chains, never had any issues with them!

The dehumidify function is only available on the remote. Slide the slider down and press the raindrop button. Make sure the “command” is registered with the AC unit, a blue led light on the street side of the AC should light up…I think twice. The dehumidify function works very well for us.

Let’s hope not!

Got an issue of Food and Wine magazine the other day. Though we've traveled into Canda through Osoyoos, we haven't spent a lot of time there. (Did laundry in Osoyoos. Got gas and groceries in Kelowna at the Costco, many years ago.) As I was looking up the wineries, I was devastated by the fire reports everywhere along 97. (We don't hear a lot about it in Florida. ) Hoping folks are OK. I know it's a beautiful region. But, I also know, it's a dangerous fire field, with many fires. We do hear about the Yellowknife evacuations. Hope to revisit, another year. They must have ordered the ad a year ago.

As I remember the aluminum frame looks fine. It does have the EZ flex suspension. I will check on the zerk lubrication. The owner did have it to Oliver for maintenance a couple of times. It's been a couple of years but she said no one said anything about the rust. Then again, it's been at the beach since then. I will try to find out if the zerks have been lubed and how often. I think they should be lubed fairly frequently. It has about 20K on it. Did not try to scrape the rust off - I guess that's next. Thanks!

My point, exactly. A good RV repair guy can work on an Oliver. The trick is finding a good RV repair guy! We’re fortunate to have one close by. I will say that after a lot of years and many miles we’ve learned to do a lot of repair work ourselves. Mike

Today is my Zerk Greasing Day! I'm taking a lunch break after finishing half (the easy half) -- 1.5 hr so far, but that includes reading instructions on the grease gun... Thought I'd read through this thread again and post some comments and questions. Be aware that the video at top of this thread states "14 total" but Oliver YouTube video shows "16 total" for the Elite 2, because there are actually 2 fittings in the middle top on each side. I'm inserting a screenshot from Jason's video here with the diagram (Thank you Jason! These videos are so helpful): photo attached In the SOB video at top of thread, the guy is stopping just as the grease begins to come out of the fitting. Sometimes it's only coming out on one side. QUESTION 1: Is that enough? I thought (from watching Jason's video) that the idea was to see clean grease come out on both ends of each fitting -- or is that overkill? photo attached I'm probably wasting grease, but wasn't sure about this. I do have one (so far) that resists accepting grease. I'm going to try to take some weight off that side as suggested in the thread, and hopefully that will resolve. QUESTION 2: When I went through the process of cleaning all the zerks before beginning, I found one of them LOOSE this morning. It could be turned easily in hand. None of the others seem loose. When I look at the photo, it looks like it's been gripped with something (not the right tool) -- do I need to try to replace this fitting? Or is it okay just to tighten it down? photo attached QUESTION 3: Also while cleaning and sticking my head under there, I noticed that these .... rubber fittings .... (not sure what to call them) look really DRIED OUT. What are they called, and should I be worried about them? I do have between 3,000 and 4,000 miles before I reach OTT for a service appointment. photo attached Many thanks to all the great forum participants helping out here! EDIT : UPDATE For the 2 center top fittings, I switched to the LockNLube 90 degree Adapter -- that helped for 3 of them but the 4th was easier with the original hose coupler. QUESTION 4: (Related to Question 1 above) In Jason's video it shows quite a bit of grease coming out those central fittings; is that necessary? I had some but not nearly as much coming out. Do I need to add more? see screenshot of Jason's video here: And finally, I took weight off the streetside and that cured my one resistant fitting, and it took grease. The loose fitting was tightened by hand and it also took grease and seems fine. Assuming I'm okay on the amount of grease that I applied (questions 1 & 4 above) I'm done. My total job time was around 4 hours including cleaning off the dirty fittings, re-watching Jason's video, and reading the manual on using the grease gun. Well worth the time and tools. Thanks to everyone.

This is an easy fix. If you don't already own a rivet gun, drill out the rivets, take the light down, tighten the backing nut (Loctite here?) and put it back up with some one inch #6 screws. You may not even have to un-wire it. The wiring can be accessed from inside the cabinet above. Just lift the rubber mat in the bottom.

No experience with "X-chocks" but have been told that if you are sensitive to trailer movement these help. like SeaDawg I'm a fan of he Harbor Freight rubber chocks like THESE.

@ScubaRx Thank you for the link. Ordered. https://www.ebay.com/itm/144965685434 Patriot🇺🇸

Thanks Frank. I did not stress that in my video but I should have. I think I know more about lug nuts than I expected, and much more to learn for sure. Such a simple part, but one which keeps the foundation of a vehicle connected properly. Forum contributors are the best.

Just a reminder for anyone buying replacement lug nuts. Make sure you buy the “Bulge Acorn” type for aluminum wheels. I’ve seen a few owners referencing “Acorn” type as replacements, but the acorn type are for steel wheels and have a smaller conical seating surface compared to the bulge acorn type. Aluminum wheels are softer metal than steel wheels and the larger bulge acorn type lug nuts provide a greater seating surface to prevent deformation of the aluminum wheel and loosening.

Hey folks, I did a "quick'ish" video regarding upgrading our lug nuts to solid chrome versions. I hope it's helpful to someone. I try to make fun of myself and any mistakes I made. Hopefully others will learn from them. LOL. I'm till learning how I should present. Much more to learn. Please let me know if I said anything too terribly wrong!

I found a good selection at Summit Racing - THESE look really nice and they are $10 for a set of 4 so you would need 6 packs of them to complete your trailer. Brian

When I replaced the ones that were rusting on my Ollie I went with stainless steel like THESE. However, even though there has been no problem with the ones I bought, if I replace them again I would most likely purchase solid stainless steel nuts, Bill

@PatriotI already replaced most of them. I didn't realized until I started putting them on that I only ordered a 20 piece set, but needed 24 nuts. I'll get more a my local auto store tomorrow. Shop around for some better quality than I got, but here is the size. 24 count 1.38 inch Chrome 1/2-20 Closed End Bulge Acorn Lug Nuts - Cone Seat - 19mm Hex Wheel Lug Nut How about these: https://www.amazon.com/Chrome-Closed-Bulge-Acorn-Wheel/dp/B07SLDRL14

This is good to know! I’ve never heard of it. Thank you for sharing it.

We winterized yesterday being risk adverse. I think it took maybe 25 minutes to winterize taking our time. The Truma makes winterizing really easy. In the fall we pack and carry our winterization hose and pump with us along with a few gallons of anti freeze should we take off to a much warmer costal climate.

In San Antonio we get into the 20s for a few days several times a year. I’ve never winterized. On those occasions I turn on the hot water tank, set the furnace at 55, open all the hull openings and turn on our electric space heater. No problems coming up on our 7th winter. We’re currently at Cumberland Mountain State Park outside of Crossville and the temps are supposed to get into the mid to low 20s at night starting Monday. All I need to do is disconnect the water hose and we’ll be fine. Mike

Thanks guys! I'm 5 hours into my trip and lug nuts are staying tight at 90# Checked at 50 miles and 100.

You should be good as long as the thread grip length doesn't bottom out, i.e. too short a nut depth engaging the lug. My LE's lugs don't extend very far out of the wheel (can't recall the exact measurement). Make sure the nuts are long enough to get a good grip with the socket you use for torquing too! One of the stock nut's covers stripped out on me during the maiden flight from the"Oliver Birthing Facility." Just the doing a routine torque check. See attached photo with my replacement.

One of the retaining ears broke on my curly cables, I ordered a new set from Amazon; Jason in Service told me he could not supply me an OEM type, since they no longer install them. He did say that he personally prefers the cables….😀 These are the correct rating and general dimensions, but the hook opening is slightly smaller. They are a little fussy to get clipped into the two holes, on my LC200 hitch, which is perfect IMHO. The old ones had larger hooks, and the one with the busted retainer could fall off. These might not work at all on your TV. Tie Down Engineering 36” safety cables I am keeping the one serviceable old cable as an emergency spare. Normally I like chains, but on my Ollie I prefer the cables, they stay neatly up and out of the way above the Stone Stomper fabric . Chains would dangle down and interfere more. John Davies Spokane WA

I know of several owners that have replaced their curly cues with chains. No reason not to. I’ve thought of doing it myself. Mike

[postquote quote=176298][/postquote] John, I just got a photo of the spare bearing kit that comes with the HQ19. It uses standard SKF explorer bearings from Germany. These are the bearings used on the Dexter 5200 and 6000 lb axles. A standard bearing set available easily. So, refering to the Dexter manual, they recommend the standard 12 month/12,000 miles service. As has been said, that seems excessive. But it is the recommendation. I'm very pleased that they use the heavy duty size, and a very common, off-the-shelf, part number. A good quality set form Germany. Our Ollies, as you know, use the 3500 lb bearings, and the Elites use the 5200 lb bearings on its single axle. I've also been looking at the hand brake system on the HQ19. This is a very simple setup available on standard brake backing plates. It simply has a cable that runs into the brake, that cams the shoes out against the drums. It has a simple cable that runs through guides, up to the tongue where a ratcheting hand bake lever pulls it on and holds it. Then releases it with a button on the handle. Standard hand brake design. This might be a very nice modification to an Oliver. Just drive into your spot and level the trailer. Set the hand brake and disconnect. Any chocks would be for redundant safety. And if it ever started to roll while disconnecting, just pull the brake. The Black trailers have jocky wheels on the forward jack, unlike our Olivers. This is nice for maneuvering on concrete, but also aids in recovery, as the trailer can be towed out of sand or mud, with a winch, or turned around on a tight dead end road, while disconnected from the tow vehicle, and attaching a rope to the tongue. I can see myself turning this thing around, in a tight spot, while keeping it under control with the hand brake. Unlikely, but easily done if needed.