Leaderboard

That would be me and it was about 8 months: Check your frame, any damage? Welds good? - Mechanical & Technical Tips - Oliver Owner Forums (olivertraveltrailers.com) Something I found just after we purchased our used hull. I would not think to bolt this. Just find a welder that can work aluminum. We had two frame braces broken on the curbside. I found a local guy who runs a metal salvage yard and does metal artwork. He charged me $75 and I gave him $100 cash. Doesn't look as pretty as the original, but they have held. Make sure your trailer tires are below 50 PSI!

Mine had the two failures, yet every other weld was perfect, no other cracks at all. The purpose of my previous past was as the title suggests... "Check your frame, any damage? Welds good?" All OTT Owners should make this an annual check. I spend a lot of time crawling under cars, trucks and trailers. Generally, I find something that needs maintenance or repair, more often than not.

Good question, John. Due to prior commitments, the process is still underway, worked on it for a couple hours yesterday, plan to finish it up this morning. After speaking with Mike/Alcan, here's a high-level List of Instructions for the leaf spring R&R. 1. Break loose the wheel lug nuts on all wheels; 2. With the OTT connected to the the TV, raise enough that wheels are just high enough to spin and that 4 jack stands can be placed in front and to the rear of the running gear on the OTT frame; 3. Lower OTT onto the jack stands - wheels must still be able to spin; 4. Remove wheels; 5. Pick a side to start. Place a jack stand under front axle about 2 feet inboard of wheel assy. - use a floor jack under the spring plate to raise the axle just enough to adjust the jack stand under the axle, then lower the floor jack so the axle rests on the floor jack. There should be very little tension on the suspension at this point; 6. Remove the lower shock absorber nut and push the shock up and out of the mounting hole on the spring plate, use safety wire to hold lower shock outboard and away from spring plate - helps with aligning the spring plate later on; 7. Remove the 4 U-bolt nuts/washers; 8. Remove the spring plate (at this point - we wire brushed the plate, cleaned with acetone and rattle-canned it with RustOleum, set aside to dry for later); 9. Remove the forward wet bolt from the frame mount - this allows the spring pack to drop; 10. From the Dexter center shackle, remove the corresponding Dexter shackle nuts and the outboard connecting plate - the inboard connecting plate will be removed with the wet-bolts still "press fitted" into the plate. Keep as is and ChemKlean the shackle plates, wet bolts and nuts for later assembly; 11. Throw away the cheap-ass Chinese made spring pack. (OBTW: Our's weighed 10lbs even as compared to the Alcan 5-leaf spring pack of USA steel at 18lbs! We still have the fourth spring to replace today - but the three removed so far were definitely starting to flatten.) 12. Check the centering bolt head on the Alcan spring pack so it fits into the corresponding centering hole in the spring plate. We had to file the corners on a couple of the bolts to get the correct fitment. 13. Insert the "now cleaned" shackle components to the Dexter center shackle assy. Connect Alcan spring pack (this would be the rear-most spring pack bushing for the front axle), bolt on the outboard connecting plate. 14. Check the forward wet bolt after cleaning by connecting your Lock'nLube and squeezing grease through the journal (be sure to do this with all wet-bolts). Thoroughly grease the spring pack brass bushing and wet bolt. Ensure the wet bolt can fit through the brass bushing - tap in gently using a socket over the grease nipple. 15. Lift the forward end of the spring pack and place a floor jack under at mid-point (where the spring plate will be placed in a later step). Lift the Alcan spring pack up to the forward spring mount on the frame. Ensure the centering pin on top of the Alcan spring aligns with the centering hole on the axle's spring pad. 16. Insert the forward wet-bolt by raising/lowering the floor jack and tapping the center shackle fore/aft until the bushing aligns with the mounting holes. This is a step that takes some patience. We had to use an alignment bolt from the outboard side of the mount to get the wet-bolt through from the inboard side. (NOTE: The wet-bolts have splines near the head to keep them from spinning once tightened in the shackle plate - we oriented them so the grease hole on the wet-bolt faced "UP"). 17. Place your U-bolts in place over the axle (we painted ours just to keep the rust down to a minimum - plus it looks way cooler). Place the cleaned and freshly painted spring plate in place. Install new U-bolt washers and nuts - using an "X" pattern, tighten the U-bolt nuts slowly pulling the spring plate up and into position. Use a flashlight to check that the Alcan spring centering bolt is aligning with the centering hole in the spring plate. We tied the lower shock outboard and away to a wheel lug with safety wire to make this alignment easier. 18. Install lower shock to spring plate; 19. Torque all nuts to specs. 20. Move to same side rear assy. and repeat. 21. Move to opposite side and repeat front and rear like steps 1 thru 20 above. There's probably a few extra things I did (removed, inspected, and re-packed wheel bearing, for example) but these are the key steps. Very satisfying procedure. It's worth the peace of mind knowing your running gear is in order! More to report later after complete and test driven. Cheers!

jd1923, yes I just went back and found your original post and was getting ready to post a screenshot of it. Okay then that makes two issues. Check your frames.

Battery replacement is not unique to Oliver travel trailers. Although it would be best if listed Oliver dealers were actually ready to service Olivers, dealer service (including service provided by Oliver in Hohenwald) is usually much more expensive than independent service. For "generic" RV issues, like batteries, it is not necessary to find dealer service. I would advise Paul Polk to find a Batteries Plus location in LA and ask them to replace his AGM batteries. Batteries Plus does installation.

Good advice! I also spend a lot of time under the trailer and my vehicles just looking around. Often find issues that are very minor but if let alone…..

I just checked and we are still having the issues with uploading pictures this morning. I'm sure that Jason W. will work on the problem as soon as he is able and I will let everyone know when its fixed. Sorry for the delay. Bill p.s. Apparently Rideandfly found a way around the uploading problem by using a program called "Smugmug".

We may be talking about cameras that have two entirely different capabilities. I had a “backup camera” mounted on the rear of each of our Oliver’s. They simply provided a wide angle camera view of what was behind me. I ordered the camera I’m referring to here when I ordered the Silverado. Once installed and plugged into its port on the back of the truck, it is incorporated into the multi camera system built into the truck. Utilizing it and the other eight cameras will allow you to see up to fifteen different views of the truck and trailer. It’s much more than a simple backup camera.

We almost always leave home with a full fresh tank. Our Oliver weighs in slightly over 6K LBS with the fresh tank full. It would take another 100 gallons of water to get up to GTWR. I also do not believe highway vs dirt roads matter, except that if your tires are overinflated the washboard dirt road can be damaging, but not at correct pressure. When we bought ours used, the tires were at 80 PSI. My bet is tire pressure. These days when I read pressure, if I can get all 4 even anywhere between 42 to 46 PSI, without backing into my driveway for the air compressor, I do that.

Art: Excellent write up. Will greatly ease the worry factor by those who have not messed with springs before. Couple of thoughts/questions: Step 10: "Dexter Center Shackle": Are these the EZ Flex spring shackle connections? Step 16: "We oriented them so th grease ole on the wet-bolt faced "UP". In the forum "Remove Wet Bolt", GAP replied " After talking to Dexter, my conclusion is that the nut had been installed incorrectly. The little hole that the grease comes out is supposed to be at 3:00 or 9:00 and, turned facing say 6:00 or 12:00, will not dispense grease. Step 19: "Torque all nuts to Specs". What are the spec's? I for sure will be using your procedure! Many many thanks! GJ

Thanks for the pics! I assume that the tank was full - or nearly full? What kind of roads were you on? In either case - this should not have happened. Bill

https://www.roboutlawphotography.com/oliver#1 Hey folks thanks for all the help and interest, try clicking on the link above which should provide two thumbnails you can use either your cursor keys or click on each image to view the next. Anyway this should give you a better idea of my cracked frame, it's not terrible at this point but bad enough.

I once worked for a large international computer/ATM/point-of-sale company as a field engineer (service tech). Our company decided to take on service contracts for a competitor's equipment. This happened very quickly. Our techs in Texas got trained and started servicing the equipment in their state first, for a month or two. Next, I was selected to attend a train-the-trainer program, representing Connecticut. After watching some training videos they sent me to Texas for a week or two where I worked on the new equipment alongside a Texas tech. Finally, I returned to CT, did presentations to our guys, and went with them on their service calls as they came up to speed. The entire nationwide transition to this new contract probably took 3-4 months and we were able to support those new customers. Maybe that's what Oliver is doing now: "As our service team will be working with the dealer's service departments on location, we feel it is prudent to discontinue most service work here at our location in Tennessee." Are they sending Oliver techs out to train the dealer techs? That would be smart. But OTT probably doesn't have enough techs to do that and keep the factory service center open at the same time. Therefore, shutting down factory service while their techs are out doing training makes sense (although it leaves people who need service right now in a bad spot, as seen above). But I can't see why they can't reopen factory service once they've completed training of the dealer techs. Maybe that's the plan and it hasn't been communicated well? Also, why do this in the spring, right at the start of camping season? Why didn't they gear up over the winter so the dealers would be ready for the big spring season? Whatever is going on, I suspect it hasn't been handled as well as it might have been.

Lots of false stories re the economy, the data shows the economy is not good. Four years ago, gas at $2 +/-, then it was $5-7 depending on location, so are we are supposed to be happy at $4? Not! Our bills are 30-50% higher, in every category, than 4 years ago! Reason why I now have a long wish list for 2025, and if stuff gets worse, then I will repair what's absolutely necessary, meaning Oliver mods willl have to wait! 🙃

I see that many owners think that Oliver Travel Trailers is a big money maker or at least a profitable venture. OTT is only a small slice of the parent company, Oliver Technologies Inc. There are at least nine more divisions besides OTT. They also make the Safe-Step walk-in tubs. They make a whole line of items for the mobile home industry. These are the parts that most people see in Hohenwald and know about. They also have other manufacturing facilities around the country making a multitude of other products. Some of these are owned by the company and some are ventures fully owned by individual family members. As far as houses go, the family has different residences all across the US and I'm sure if any of them want a house in Bermuda they can get it. I knew Jim Oliver personally and he was proud of the Oliver name and everything he put it on. He instilled in his family that same desire to produce a quality product that could last longer than a lifetime. I'm going to say that the company is going to be fine and they are not planning to sell.

It’s been a few years and I may not be remembering the specifics exactly but, when we were looking for a camper I took an entire week of vacation and spent the week in Elkhart, Indiana. We toured just about all of the manufacturers. It seems like they all had service facilities and several free campsites available. All of these manufacturers have multiple dealerships as well. I’m hoping that once the dust settles, Oliver will be able to justify reopening their service center. I’m sure that they are scrambling right now trying to figure it all out. We’ve only owned our LEII for seven years and known the Olivers for seven years as well. We have also spent time with the service team early on. In my experience the Olivers and every team member that I have ever had the opportunity to meet have always had the highest integrity and I’m sure that they will get it all sorted.

Apparently we are having "issues" with the ability to upload photos at the moment. Jason W. (the person at Oliver who helps us with Forum platform issues and other stuff) has been notified. But given the holiday weekend this just might take a bit of time to correct. Sorry for the problem! Bill

Ever since getting my Oliver I have loved modifying different aspects of it. I have done a bunch of stuff to the electrical system such as going mostly Victron for all components except for the inverter. Here is my latest mod which consisted of building an aluminum rack and adding 3 200 watt Newpowa solar panels for a total of 600 watts onboard. They will feed into a Victron 100/50 SCC. Just got the panels installed today and will be working on the connections tomorrow. I also need to fabricate a bracket for the front panel for a little more security but overall it is very solid. 😛

Made it to Stillwell Store at Big Bend. Headed into the Park on 385 and an Ollie going the other way at around 10:45. Hello out there!

Hey @Geronimo John; Just wrapped up installing the Alcan spring packs.... Here's some clarification for you and those interested in this mod: YES. Dexter calls these "EZ-Flex Equalizers" for double-eye leaf springs. Good Catch, John! - I will need to re-orient my wet-bolts to the 3 or 9 position - no biggie. My thought process was that the 12 position would have the least pressure from the suspension on it. They're all flowing now, but the OTT is still "up in the air", I'll get them changed out tomorrow. This is a great example of how cool these forums are for OTT owners! I got this from Dexter: "Install the plain shackle links onto the bolt ends that protrude through the springs and equalizers. Install the flanged lock nuts onto the bolts and tighten to 30-50 Ft. Lbs." The torque values for the U-bolts will be either 45 or 65 pound-feet depending on the size of your axles/U-bolts. Easy peasy! Cheers, All...

Such a wonderfully drive with our truck camper for just one night. I had no idea what I was getting into. The views of Square Top, including on morning fog, made it worth it.

I will get to that next time we have the rack on the trailer. Might be a while. Thanks Tim

Today my ARES team met up at a local park to test ourselves with some basic activities. I'm pleased as punch that my *new* home-brew (home-made) 9:1 UNUN Antenna -- AKA "a wire hung in the trees", as one of the team members called it -- performed beautifully. Within minutes I was speaking with operators in Hungary, Lithuania, Russia and Ireland (they were busy contesting on 10 meters). (I will add a couple of photos, once the photo upload issue is resolved.) I love this hobby! EDIT: With help from my friend and mentor, this project was built, tried and tested in a single afternoon. Two days later I had it strung up in a local park and I was talking to hams around the world. I highly recommend amateur radio to anyone who is interested in fun science projects. 73 9 turns around a powdered iron toroid core for this End Fed 6 - 40 Meter Multi-band HF Antenna Modifying the box (my mentor has tools) Testing the unit before closing up the box Some assembly was required :) In the park -- the antenna wire has pink flags on it to increase visibility The coax is run to the radio (at 90 degrees to the antenna wire)

When I installed suspension wet pins and bronze bushings on another forum member's Legacy Elite a few years ago, found several welds cracked, not broken. He took his Ollie back to Oliver and they welded the cracked areas without any additional problems to my knowledge.

Thanks for the photos!

Must be a little adlib going on here, but I could not agree more. 🤣 I don't think the guys at "Forged in Fire" would touch this stuff while spring steel should make a good blade.

The change sucks, BUT… At this point the quality of the trailer hasn’t changed, so buying another brand just because of this doesn’t make sense. Basically you have to factor in mediocre warranty service support, but for serious stuff they are still there. The nuance is that even at a vested dealer, RV tech turnover is high and they are dealing with all brands. Lack of systems expertise and scheduling will be the major issues. So component issues are probably readily addressed, but resolution of any electrical or plumbing issues are going to be dependent on the guy on the floor. I’d love to see them do an Oliver Certification for all the small RV repair shops many of us have found. And every dealer and their service manager should be at the rally.

Here was @hobo "2HOBOS" Paul Polk's experience on the subject, from the Facebook forum yesterday: "I have to say, as a longtime Oliver owner, I am EXTREMELY disappointed in the announcement. Here's an example of why: I am currently on travel around the US and have suddenly (but not altogether surprisingly) starting to have some issues with my old, AGM batteries. Knowing our next stop is near a new Oliver dealer in LA, I called them this morning to see about possibly having my four batteries replaced while there. Here's what I got: "I understand you're an Oliver trailer dealer", (the receptionist didn't know anything about that). "Who makes the Oliver?" I said "Oliver TT." ME "Let me speak to service please". SERVICE: The service tech knew nothing about them being an Oliver trailer (what is that?) dealer and service center. She said she'd talk to someone and call me back. That was over an hour ago. This is NOT going well. So at best, if they actually agree to take me in, they know ZERO, NADA, NOTHING about my trailer. Not real confidence inspiring. OK, finally got in touch with some who is willing to assist although they hadn't heard of Oliver trailers either. Will report back later."

Pete - If you are talking about the "open" storage tray sold by Oliver, then a call or email to Oliver Service will get you the answer you seek. However, if you are talking about a "closed" storage box (i.e. something with a lid, then note that Oliver has never (that I know of) sold such a thing. Closed boxes can be found in a number of places and there are many examples here on the Forum. With reference to your "low pressure" issue - there has recently been a fairly involved thread here on the Forum about this very issue. This thread can be found HERE - (simply left click on the word Here and it will take you to that thread). Bill

Yes - there is one for the F-150. While it is not the Ford system, I do have a camera mounted just above the license plate. When mounting a camera in this location you should note that the tire cover is not perpendicular to the road - it is at a 6 degree angle (tilted in at the bottom. I partially compensated for this by using a piece of Delran and imbedded the camera into it. In turn, the camera sends its signal via WiFi to a tablet or phone in the cab of the truck. Note that there are a couple of "issues" with this mounting location - 1. because of the relatively low angle, you can not see much past the vehicle that is directly behind you while traveling down the road. 2. when it rains, the camera is subject to so much road spray that it becomes virtually useless. However, on the positive side - this camera location is great for those tight campsites you need to back into. Bill

As someone who has been active on this forum for years and has been aspiring to own an Oliver, it's disheartening to hear the recent news. This forum has been a source of great learning, and through it, I feel connected to the Oliver community and the company itself. We've been looking forward to joining the ranks of owners. Yet, with the ongoing changes and the rising prices of new models, I'm hesitant to invest in a new Oliver, and these changes don't make it any easier to leave the sidelines. The general consensus is that the dealer sales and service experience is subpar for most. While some dealers manage to do it right, it's worrisome that Oliver is considering outsourcing a significant part of their identity and culture. I hope they can engage with dealers that can do it right. I remain hopeful but cautious about their success. Being far from Hohenwald, the prospect of a local sales/service center infused with Oliver's culture is appealing. However, for the time being, we plan to observe from the sidelines and see whether Oliver succumbs to the typical sales and service model. We're rooting for a positive outcome that will compel us to join the community. Until then, we'll keep watching, hoping, and supporting from afar. At the Oliver price point, we're not sure we want to be the guinea pig for such a fundamental shift. May we be proven wrong and be compelled to switch to a wonderful TT like this.

Spent the last two nights in South Llano River State Park. Found an Oliver there! I think Denise and Dennis. At about 3:00 in the afternoon 3 buses showed up with 104 middle schoolers! Yes, they spent the night- right next to us. Climbing trees, hollering, meeting our puppies. So many spoke French! Turns out they were from an International school in H town (Houston). Very fun and gone at 6:00 am.

No, but I’m really interested.

Was just thinking... Maybe a textured fabric-backed vinyl wallpaper would work even better than formica would? Much easier to fit to the door and might even look original if you could find a similar texture.

@MAX Burner what was your installation procedure? Was the tension released as soon as you lifted the frame? Does it matter which bolt you pull first? Thanks

Bummer! One of the reasons I sold our Escape and bought an E2 (pickup April) was for the service. I hope that our new E2 doesn't require any warranty work which I have to VISIT a dealer! I'm not too fond of Auto or RV Dealers. I was very happy with the warranty service we received from our 21' Escape. Every issue was addressed and resolved quickly. Since Escape is located in Canada, there are no US service centers. You call, they give u an authorization, u get it repaired, they reimburse. A few times I had parts sent to my house and I replaced. Plus, they even paid for a Mobile Tech to fix an issue while traveling.

Just doing a back of the envelope calculation that puts Oliver Trailer worth about $50 million. I wonder if building the dealer channel is to enhance the salability of the company. That would buy a few nice houses in Bermuda.

In 2023, there were 152 trailers produced.

Sounds great, but we realized that we could run out of time. Started south to Orange Beach, then a night in Crosby Texas, tonight and tomorrow night we are in South Llano River State park. Need to be in Ft Collin’s CO on the 4th. I backed into the site in good fashion for the first time!

Congratulations! Nothing like a baby, as my mother in law always said. Enjoy your new family miracle!

The beginning of the end. One of the reasons I chose an Oliver - no dealers. Before I bought my Oliver I owned three Airstreams. I still have nightmares about every Dealer and service experience with them. Who better to fix them than the one that builds them?

Just received from OTT in email (partial text): "As our service team will be working with the dealer's service departments on location, we feel it is prudent to discontinue most service work here at our location in Tennessee. However, we will continue doing major repairs, including fiberglass and aluminum, at our Plant Facility." Having needed to have a Forest River trailer serviced at the their factory once because of the inability/unwillingness of the selling dealer to address the issue, and knowing the willingness of other top brands like Grand Design and Airstream to do factory service on a wide range of issues, this makes me uncomfortable. Yes, we would probably go to the local service center anyway, but it was nice to have the factory service as a backup.

Roads were a mixed bag from Interstate to backcountry gravel roads none were terrible though and nothing compared to the road up to Green River Lakes in the Wind River Range. Fresh water was nearly full most of the recent trip.

RV Miles YouTube’s RV news today reported the the nationwide average for RV repairs with in stock parts is now 60 days. The average wait time for service is 45 days. The perfect time for Oliver to discontinue their service center… https://youtu.be/W7ukKfZ15M0?si=Naunin475btnCWOH

There was a forum posting a month or so ago concerning the exact same issue along with very similar photos. I copied and saved the photos but not who posted them. I’m assuming that this is a different owner/situation? If this is a new issue then yikes another epidemic to lookout for like springs!

Actually, those neck nodes are for something else entirely. I’ll show you at the rally.