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Look for a truck service place. We have one 5 minutes away They grease our zerks, inspect the suspension, etc. I will have a discussion about switching out the springs, when we pick up the trailer and stop to get the zerks greased for our trip. I pay $52 for greasing the zerks.

WOW! We have been sidelined this summer since the aborted eclipse trip and have been attending to other more important issues... So, no camping for us. But now we are looking at a short trip in October, so I thought it would be a good time to freshen up on recent issues. And WOW! What a thread. Yes.... I read it all. So, THANK YOU to the brain trust. It's nice having talented, knowledgeable, articulate, and kind owners to collaborate with. Really... you guys are awesome. So, I figured I should get my butt under the trailer for a look see. First spring looks good... no flattening. Same for second and third. Fourth looks good too...... Wait a minute.... The second longest leaf is shorter than it's supposed to be. Better take a closer look. See the picture. The second leaf broke about a half inch shorter than the third leaf. Guess it's time for a call to ALCAN. (Sorry GJ) Thanks to you all I have almost all the info I need. Except for someone to do the work after I get the springs from Alcan. We live just north of Asheville NC. Bumgarner in Lenoir NC is an Oliver dealer about 91 miles out. Camping World in Hendersonville is 35 miles out. I would like to minimize my travel and risk of breakage on the road. Are there any other type of shops that could do this work? Any personal recommendations to be made? Thanks again for all the help. Scotty

I can only state ‘what I did’! Started off with a Renogy 20A DC-DC charger and the 50’ WndyNation 4 AWG wire set @rideadeuce mentions. The larger than necessary gauge wire was installed to accommodate any future upgrade in charger size, which eventually came into play. The charger was installed in the rear dinette seat hatch, mounted vertically on the interior wall, in like manner as the Xantrex, but on the opposite side just forward of the above battery box/pantry. This position allowed for the shortest cable run to the battery bank, being four 6V Trojan T-105s at the time, and this charger was the alternative of choice since my OTT did not have solar. However in short order, I ungraded to LFPs to be able to run the a/c via the inverter, and subsequently upgraded to a Renogy 40A DC-DC to further offset draw on the battery bank when running the a/c while underway or during brief stops with the TV at idle. This practice proved to be too stressful on the aging stock alternator and thus a high output alternator was installed. I convey all of this knowing that you are fully aware, but there may be some that read this and find it helpful information. I simply choose Renogy as a cost saving measure, half that of a Victron, and have been very pleased. A Victron SmartShunt was also installed at time of the lithium upgrade and the Renogy’s output can be monitored via the VictronConnect app.

Look for an old-school trailer shop. Not a company that sells RVs and pretends to service them. Not a truck service center that works more on repairs and high-end, high $$$ truck accessories. Just a trailer service co, that has a dozen cargo trailers and another dozen simple flatbed trailers on their lot. Unless you want to be r@ped in service costs and get a B- or C+ installation m. Hey Scotty, if you live west stop by with your Oliver and new parts and we’ll get er done together! If you live east, go see our OTT Elder, our most knowable forum member @ScubaRx, either way it’w be great! Best wishes, JD

I have been away from my trailer since this post but just returned and the first thing I did was inspect the shackles both to measure as well as inspect the gap between the second leaf of the Alcan springs and the dexter equalizer arms. Here is what I found: -Hull #898 came stock with 2.25” shackles (see pic) -there was plenty of space between the equalizer arm and the second leaf of the springs (see pic) -there were no witness marks on the equalizer arms where the springs had made contact My experience does not mean that every trailer has 2.25” shackles (it appears that at least one E2 had 2” shackles)

As you are the fourth owner, that may well be the case. I have pictures of yours and another being built for Jim Oliver in 2009. Jim was adamant about there being no such thing as overkill and I know he put 5200 pound axles and the larger five leaf springs under his. Being as all the current models were Elites (at that time) and the only axles and springs they would have had on hand would have been the HD's, I just assumed that yours were too. Jim named that trailer "The Beast" and it had full extension drawers mounted under the hull between the steps and the front axle. Edit: @CRM has located a photo of the underside of Jim's "The Beast." It had four leaf spring packs rather than five so now I wonder if the axles were 5200 pounds when originally built.

Just FYI, my Tundra install with placing the Orion in rear bay took around 60 ft of 4 awg red/black. Had some left over but I bought 50ft foot originally and had to wait on finishing the install to place a separate order. WIndynation.com also has good wire kits priced well that come with your choice of lugs and quality heat shrink tubing. https://www.windynation.com/products/4-gauge-welding-battery-cable-kit-includes-5-pieces-of-3-8-5-pieces-of-5-16-tinned-copper-cable-lugs-and-3-feet-black-heat-shrink-tubing?variant=43802376143070 Cheers, Mike

The EZ Flex kit I installed on LE2 #75 has 2.25" shackles. Assume that's a typo beside the photo saying 2" since you said 2.25" earlier.

That's why (IMHO) it's best to install the EPO/EMS right before your breaker box. If not, you can have a wiring issue between the pedestal and the breakers causing a voltage drop that won't be seen by the EPO if installed at the pedestal.

The Hughes Watchdog EMS/EPO will shut down with low or high, so according Mike Sokol nothing should get past the wired EMS to the appliances to cause damage. Most of this stuff is way above my knowledge base.

Yes I was referring to the u shaped metal that is welded to the frame. The spring fits in it and the bolt goes through it. Really appreciate your help! Hal Hull # 790

@jd1923 said, Guess when I work this, I'll have to bite the bullet for the $400 Orion XS and likely another $200 for cables and connectors. I placed a bid of $280 for a Orion XS couple of days ago that was listed on eBay @$328.10. At $280 it was still over $300 to my house. I received a counter offer of $308.10 which I declined because I'm really not ready for that job, a refrigerator repair/replacement has top priority. Mossey

Thanks @Patriot!! Yes good point we will try the hair dryer, and maybe some soap water and wax after that.

I find this helpful when selecting wire: https://mgispeedware.com/wire-size-chart/ I also prefer using marine grade wire.

No question in my mind… except the non-isolated vs isolated aspect. I still have not had the time to replace my alternator to a high output because I am not getting near the capacity with current setup. I used 4 awg wire from TV battery to Orion XS via Anderson connectors.

@jd1923 I recently used AWG 6 ferrules when installing the Victron 30A charger in my Oliver, very handy tool and end terminals to have!

Just a couple options for you to consider... 1. Install a 12v - 12v DC charger. This device will connect between your TV alternator and your Oliver batteries ensuring they are topped off after towing after a few hours (depending upon its output, 30amp and 50amp output units are available). 2. Modify your SL kit to run directly off DC power. Inverters are inherently inefficient as they "invert" DC power from your battery bank into AC electrical power - maybe 70 - 80% efficient, if you're lucky. Your OEM SL system will operate from an AC power outlet right out of the box from Star Link - then it converts that AC power to approx 40vDC in the dishy. So, essentially, using a 400W inverter from your Oliver battery box to your SL router, then the SL converts the AC power back to DC power, thus, you're increasing the inefficiency "twice". By converting the SL to 12vDC you can avoid these inefficiencies when boondocking and conserving your Oliver battery DC power storage at the same time. There are multiple threads on making this SL modification in these forums, FYI.... Cheers!

One issue with installing an EMS/EPO at the pedestal is that you're not picking up the voltage drop between the pedestal and the equipment/appliances in your TT. Might not be an issue, but also might be... I like a sacrificial surge protector at the pedestal and then an autoformer, and then an EMS/EPO unit before the breaker box. Maybe overkill, but I like overkill when it comes to electricity.

Looks like both Billdog and Monroe "Made in China" (So sad)

That's for sure! We lived in Georgetown and Lakeway, TX over a 9-year period when we still owned our AZ home, going back and forth 2-3 times a year. I drove it straight through once, pulling a cargo trailer, Prescott to Lakeway, 5AM to near 2AM. In our 20 roundtrips, AZ to central TX, we rarely drove the exact same route twice. I can't stand driving I-10 unless it's January and snowing up north. Sometimes we would leave a Friday afternoon after work and drive I-10, stay at a lovely (just kidding) 3-star hotel in Van Horn, TX (pretty area NW of the Davis Mountains). Make it the next day, home in Prescott. We will camp at the Davis Mountains SP this year returning from the Texas Rally. Most of the time we would head out of Austin area NW on state highways. Driving through Llano, Mason, Brady, San Angelo, Big Spring and often an overnight in Roswell NM. The next day we would head west through Lincoln County NM to Socorro and then take US Hwy 60 into Arizona. This route is an hour or two longer, but NO interstates. This is basically the route we will drive the opposite direction heading to the Texas Rally this October, 3 nights camping on the Mongollon Rim (Rim Rd east of Payson, AZ) and Greer AZ, one night somewhere in-between, then 3 nights in Ruidoso, NM. All that will be boondocking, but we will need a campsite or RV park somewhere around Big Spring TX as a layover to Inks Lake. Living an hour from Sedona, there are so many stops I mentioned here that we much prefer. Now that I am semi-retired, having periods 2-3 times a year with 3-4 weeks off, I like to plan easy trips where we drive only 2 to 4 hours max per day.