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WHAT IS HAPPENING?! I was uploading pictures of the "Sasquatch' that we saw the other day, and not only did they NOT UPLOAD or APPEAR, but my original pics seemed to have disappeared too!!! How in the world are ppl going to believe in my sighting if I cannot post my pic's on the Oliver forum??? What is this Oliver World coming too?? Just Kidding... A Happy Easter to ALL-IVER Friends & Family. Bryan, Maggie, Willis (aka Kamper-Kat) as we prep for 'AK 2024'

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!

I spoke to the Sales Manager at the new Indiana Dealer. Decided to wait to talk to service until the Service Department has been trained. In the meantime I started researching mobile RV companies and have reached out to two. While I usually stopped in Hohenwald in late February, there are things I will continue to do myself like winterizing, dewinterizing, and sanitizing. I will also continue to check screws, wires, etc. I have a truck place that does our zerks and will be checking suspension, springs, etc. Having a mobile guy will hopefully provide some piece of mind.

I don't blame you for questioning. But, Oliver has hand picked a group of smaller, family dealers, that have great reputations for setvice. Jason and crew will be training. My guess is, service hiatus after July is to allow training from best if the best. Let's give it a chance.

Apologies for the test image, but I figured out how to link to photos hosted on sites like Smugmug and Flickr. You need to get the “address” of the photo on the host site, usually done by selecting the photo, right clicking on it, then selecting from the drop down menu something that reads like copy image address. At the bottom right corner of the Oliver post dialog box, you’ll see “other media”. Click on it, select Insert “Image From URL”, then paste the photo address into the box. The photo below is one of my yard pets that I posted on Flickr and linked to from here.

Approximately 40 minutes ago I received a message from Jason W. requesting more information on the problem we are having uploading photos to the Forum. Even though I told Jason to enjoy his Easter weekend, I know from past experience that he will be working on this issue. I'll keep everyone updated on the progress if and when it occurs. Thanks for your patience and understanding. Bill

For our OE2 purchase, and I suspect for a lot of other OTT trailer owners, a significant part of the premium price we willingly paid included access to the outstanding benefit of this forum and access to the top Service Team in the country. Should they go the way I have now predicted twice, frankly there will be many owners feeling abandoned by a company we trusted to be there for us. No service team, no forum.... those would have serious implications.

Ya that makes sense, greaseing the wet bolts has been a little bit of a pain on my Oli. I can get most to the wet bolts greased while it is setting on the ground, but a couple of them I had to jack up the trailer to remove pressure in order to get them greased.

Best of luck with your decision, Zodd. We were fortunate enough to have gone through the same decision when service was running strong. Service is what sold us ours...period. We're all hoping for a good outcome concerning Oliver and us both. When the dust settles we'll see and keep hoping until then. We're so happy with our 2022 E2 and have no reservations with our decision. But at $25ooo more for one now and having to get service elsewhere?...I can feel your pain. If this forum goes on, as strong as it is, someone will find a few good repair facilities across the country (some have already shared their experiences here on the forum) that we can all benefit from and help each other on this wonderful forum . I feel so fortunate having the moderators (ya'll don't get paid nearly enough...lol) and membership to draw help from! Hang in there! Blessings, John & Wendy

FYI: We're leaving on Tuesday and plan on visiting our newly minted grandson in Dallas - then arriving mid-day Friday at BellaRose from Dallas.... Looking forward to meeting y'all!

I find the moderators on this forum to be very rational and do a great job of keeping the peace. If the thread concentrated on positive reviews vs negative it would be very beneficial. I don’t see the forum drastically changing anytime soon unless there was a major shakeup at Oliver.

How could Oliver think that anyone is going to spend $100,00.00 for a trailer without a service center in place? How could Oliver think that any Dealer could provide timely, efficient service without a minimal parts inventory, and trained mechanics, in place? When the manufacturing plant, and the service facility are arms length apart, there is never a parts, or technical know how issue. This is the type of transformation that should have been phased in over time, in sections of the country.

I read the above with more than a little bit of anger and sadness. Recall that on Dec 2, 2023 In the "Oliver Dealerships Now Active" thread, I posted the below: QUOTE: For some firms, the logical business next steps are what worry this owner: Likely down side for existing owners is that the next step could be to reduce their Service Team. That would over time impact our access to the Service Team's tremendous amount of institutional knowledge that Jason and his staff have garnered Doing so will reduce the feedback loop that they provide to the firm in general. Just one aspect of this is the warranty and service info requests likely will have to be routed through the "local" dealers. Feedback filters generally are not real productive.. UNQUOTE If an inhouse Service Team is not actively be engaged with one's customers problems is so sad. They certainly will lose their technical edge. Then it is easy to cut them all off the Payroll. GJ

@MAX Burner Fantastic documentation. I know I will be using it in the future. Thanks for all of the hard work.

@MAX BurnerGreat write-up / procedure, very informative; thanks!

No worries, it’s all good. First world problems anyway. But thanks for info

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...

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.

Make sure you camp there a few days upon delivery. Use everything, test everything and they should make all necessary warranty repairs at that time. You will receive a high-quality TT that should only need regular maintenance that can be conducted by any good local mechanic. Most of the work, so many of us do on our Olivers, are mods the factory does not offer. I understand many of you do a regular pilgrimage to OTT, and we would love to too, if it were something we could afford to do in terms of 1000s of travel miles and service costs. When we purchased our used unit last summer, I was happy to see our hull had made two such service visits, through the years, with a lot of good work done. We will all continue to love our Olivers regardless of service location! 🙂

The best part of buying an Oliver has been the Service Department. Will owners still be able to submit service tickets online, and get a response from the team in Hohenwald? I hope the response to service tickets is not: "See your local dealer."

We saw our first Oliver out and about. We got excited! We are sharing Shepard State Park with another Oliver. By all appearances they are from Georgia. https://shepardstatepark.com/ Doing the forum wave to you. Oh, and you better go eat at Bozo's. Great sea food and the perfect ambiance. https://www.mybozos.com/

Access to the expertise of the Service team in Hohenwald is also critically important to me. Perhaps delegating "hands on" service work to dealer techs will free up more time for the excellent Service Team in Hohenwald to provide just the kind of expert help rich.dev describes above to more Oliver owners, as the number of hulls on the road continues to increase?

Take a look at THIS thread. A list of all the annual services can be found here along with the approximate price. The specific post is about 6 down from the top. Bill

@ScubaRx and @SeaDawg. Since you are moderators, you may know more about the end of service at the factory then us other owners. Has OTT explained to you how OTT be training the local dealer's service personne and when? Will OTT explain the services that they offered at the factory during their annual maintenance services?

Strangest looking rabbit I've ever seen! AKA - the Easter buck. 🐰 Our uploading "issues" continue this morning but I know that Jason W. has been working on it. Bill

@John Dorrer yeah love the Winds and that lake. We have been there the last couple of summers love it. Hell of road getting in though.

Working on that problem now - hopefully the upload function will be restored soon - I'll keep everyone advised about this in the related thread. Bill

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!

FYI: Finished up today - tried to upload some random shots of the spring pack R&R, but the system must still be down. Anyhow, we'll service the final wheel bearing in the morning, mount the wheels and take it for a test drive with the GoPro capturing vid of the curb-side forward assy. Stay tuned...

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

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.

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.

With all new changes, and methods, there is definitely a risk. My experience with the Oliver family is that those risks are weighed carefully, and thoroughly. I was not excited, initially, about the new dealer plan, but I see it as a way forward for growth, and extended service, throughout the US, for them, and all of us.

The way I see it, there are 2 reasons to buy a "luxury" RV: the product and the experience. Oliver makes a fine product, one of the best, but there have been some compromises over the years. Early Oliver trailers were custom built units with almost unlimited options available for the customer. As sales rose, OTT scaled up production. To do this they needed to streamline manufacturing. The days of having the factory add an extra outlet to your trailer are over. I'm not saying the newer units are worse, in fact they've continued to upgrade many of the systems over the years, but the product has become less personalized. Oliver trailers are still above the average, but there are others in the market with products of equal, or perhaps better, quality. Bowlus and Pebble come to mind. However, it's not just the product. Oliver also offered a top-tier buying/ownership experience, as good or better than any other manufacturer. Being part of the "Oliver family." Impressive access to the factory and it's experts. I would say, on balance, the value of an Oliver became more in the experience than in the product. There may be "better" trailers to be had, but no better customer experience than we were used to. OTT is now making changes that could diminish that experience: a dealer sales and service network. This has proven to be a more efficient and profitable model for many RV manufacturers. However, for many of those manufacturers, the system tends to be less responsive to individual customer needs. As an owner, I hope Oliver has a handle on this and can make it work better than other manufacturers have. I fear they're drifting into dangerous waters if the experience no longer warrants the price.

Well we got off to a rather late start - forgot I had a 9am PT session for the rotator cuff repair from a few months back. Anyhow, didn't get the shop opened until 1030-ish. Thinking about JD's old-school suggestion using clay - which seems brilliant, I came up with an alternative. Short of buying an accelerometer from Amazon and obtaining objective data of the suspension system - mounting my GoPro to the undercarriage amidship seemed to be a logical path forward costing $0. We do "cheap" and "free" like champions. So, instead of having D drive around the neighborhood with me in the back playing the "rock and roll rider" - went ahead and captured GoPro video of the curb-side forward wheel assembly while trying to hit every pothole in the area. The thought process is that traveling over the same route at the same speed with the 4-pack springs first, then the 5-pack after the install might show a different deflection of the suspension.... Not 100% objective but comparative for sure. Just need to upload two comparative vids of the before and after... Started off by degreasing and painting the new (one-use) U-bolts, nuts, and washers with a healthy coat of RustOleum to keep things tidy underneath. For the most part, this is a straight forward plug-and-play R&R effort. The new springs are several pounds heavier and definitely a bit higher drop than the Chinese-made 4-packs: So, the street-side springs are successfully replaced with the new 5-packs... The curb-side springs go in tomorrow - then we'll follow-up with a short before/after GoPro ride vid. ...but now, its time for a cold one! Cheers, ALL!

I expect it is not realistic to believe that our closest dealer (in Orem, Utah) will employ a Service Manager of as high a caliber as Jason Essary. The only thing constant is change......

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?

Hmmm...Sounds like my appt in September may be nixed. Will have to talk with them tomorrow. This was a surprise. We'll figure something out. A/C cleaning and lubrication of the 3 jacks... I'll need to study up on :) ARGGG! Hopefully the new service centers will be up to Oliver's standards and it will be in for only 1 night as it was with Oliver. Should have ample feedback to tell before the end of the year. John

https://olivertraveltrailers.com/dealers/

Oliver's website now has a Travel Trailers / Find a Dealer page where you enter your address and a search radius.

Found the list of dealers here, under the sales area of the site: https://olivertraveltrailers.com/dealers/

National Forest Campsites are very convenient and in more remote areas, empty. Read the Sign First, maybe Two Times... then Proceed with Caution. Photos: Caribou National Forest, Utah and Gold Panning options in Colorado. Do you have any signs to offer, or ignore them and invite Black Bear into your campsite after Sunset... leaving food on the Forest Service Picnic table? Did you know that in order to cut hanging branches in the National Forest that would drag onto your Travel Trailer sides or roof top, you need to have a Class in Operating a Chain Saw, before using one at any of the National Forest Campsites. Although legally, we have several long handled Trimmers, sharpened at home to make it easier to widen road width and access... for everyone. Many remote roads have become overgrown with brush along the sides of the road. Trees may fall onto the Forest Service Road... locals drive around or over the tree. We stop and pull the downed pine tree Off the Road, so we do not have to drive around half of the road. Sometimes we have to use our imagination... HOW... not having to use our long handle axe in the back of the tow vehicle. We have Two Shovels. A His and Hers. Filling large pot holes in the compact dirt road is a hobby. When full of water... necessary. Camp Host(s) at remote sites in Wyoming get Propane provided for Free to keep an eye of campers coming in and out of the area they are watching. I heard some get some financial incentives and pick the camping site you like the most. You get a sign : Camp Host. You also can post: 'Bears-Secure Food' signs to post. Wyoming and Montana campers may become part of nature's food source if Frying Bacon and not expecting company... sooner than later. Really... There must be some Oliver trailer owners that have pushed the boundaries of Popular Camp Sites with Signs and took the less traveled road gone into areas where Bear Signs are nailed to trees for those who do not carry a Side Arm... to make noise, when needed the most. Yellowstone Park is the ONLY place I have seen Human Beans chasing Grizzly Bear to shoot... photographs with children and flip flops. Spring is coming and you better get ready to scout out some better camping spots in 2024. Before the Signs Appear. 🙂

Turns out he is a Georgia boy living in North Carolina. Super nice folks. He is a long time Ollie owner and active camper. I learned a lot from our short conversation. I suspect that is just a taste of what we might learn at the owners rally.

Or good Texas Vodka!🤩

Coming from a background of over the road trucking (40 yrs) I’ve experienced several spring failures, to all the people upgrading to heavier rated springs just be aware your axle assembly is rated as a complete unit,if you change one thing you need to make sure the other components, spring perch, shackles, axle tube,wet bolts etc.. can handle the extra stress. It’s been my experience most spring breaks happen from a sharp impact ie: deep pothole, curbing the trl, etc.. and to the shop that has never had a spring failure I call b.s. Steve

MAX is correct. The panels are wired in series which allows the voltage to get higher earlier in the morning. (Charges sooner) Only downside to this is if one panel gets shaded then they all take a hit but this is such a small area I don't think it will be a factor. I am actually running 390AH of Lithionics. The 13.6 volts was the current battery voltage. (They weren't fully charged) John

A few spots are open! We have had a few cancellations so if you have a friend or anyone that would like to attend, have them send us an email and if we still have a spot available, we will send them a registration form. Email us at: solareclipse2024bellarose@gmail.com If you're headed to Fredericksburg, now would be the time to cancel there and see if you can get into this one. It's FREE. It's just down the road a bit in Purmela, Texas and is actually a little closer to direct center. She's having food trucks, porta potties and live bluegrass music. All fiberglass, no kids under 18 and you can stay 5 nights. There are several other Oliver owners that will be there and we could have an exclusive Mini-Rally.

That is correct. The switch on the body of the inverter (under the street side bed) must be in the "off" position, which enables you to control the inverter from the remote panel mounted next to the pantry. One of many things new owners must learn to manage a new Oliver !

They already responded. Tripped 300 amp breaker. The flag was hiding behind a wire loom and I did not see it the first time. Now if it will just keep working. Had the inverter itself turn itself off once and now its breaker has tripped once.