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I appreciate your sentiment. I simply cannot repair or have the mental acuity I had when I was 80 year of age. I purchase those repairs and maintenance until they will no longer fit my budget. Then I must no longer enjoy the Oliver and the joy it brings to my quality of life. I had to make the same decision when I no longer could sail as a result of manual dexterity. Thank God I have the where-with-all to cover maintenance and other costs associated with my Oliver..

As for the original hub bearing manufacture my SWAG would be made in China bearings like the rest of the Dexter bearings. And yes, you would need to carry a spare hub. At the time I had our 3500# axles swapped out according to Jason at Oliver there were more than 200+ Olivers running the never lubes with zero failures reported to Oliver by owners. And so far no reported failures on here or the FB forum. My local Dexter dealer said they have never seen a reported failure on this particular hub. Not saying that you won’t ever have a failure as anything certainly is possible. They are never lube, not never fail. I could easily carry a spare hub but choose not to as these are available from Dexter and most shops. These 5200# axles are admittedly IMHO overkill for an OLE2, so I just don’t get overly concerned about a bearing failure. I really like the noticeable stopping power of the 12” drums on level roads. That said, with my diesel engine brake I rarely use truck or trailer brakes on long descents like Teton Pass or some of the higher passes in Colorado and areas out west or even here in the Blue Ridge Mountains. There are trade offs for sure. If it’s within an owners budget, I say have at it.

Where’s Ollie? She’s in the snow! Not a biggie for many of you, but our first snowfall of this very dry season. Got 4” overnight but already half melted with temps near 40F now. Would be gone already if the sun had come out today!

Alaska Suggestions: The Stone Stompers help for sure. After our 30 days in Alaska, I wish I had also installed the "Yoga Mats" as one very wise owner posted several years ago. Looked dorky, but if I had it to do again.... I would be Mr. Dorky for Alaska. Beware of puddles in the road. I saw where one had broke the back of a well made camper. Have a good spare, air compressor and a plug kit too. Have industrial strength bear spray for each adult. Get Tek Campground reservation/pass six months ahead. Don't sweat boondocking as the opportunities abound. Get the Mile Post Long sleeve, long pants and boots.... YEP! New springs, shocks and serviced bearings. GJ

Not yet, but buds are coming on! A lighter crop this year as we had to prune way back last year. We don’t do ladders and many of our bushes were 10’ high. So it goes! Enjoy the music rally!

If I recall my conversation with Oliver and Dexter we have the updated axel, 052:3500. If I remember it is the 4-leaf spring which gets the 3500, so when you get the 5-lead springs you will meet the 5200 axel. Again you would need to verify this. You shouldn't need to change out your axels.

I was wondering same, we have a 2023 with the D52 axles. @John and Debbie check the label on your axles, if you see D52 you have the 5200 lbs axles, the 3500lbs on the label refers to the springs (2 x 1750lbs), NOT the axles. See pic.

We had Alcan put the 5000# neverlubes on last month so not much experience with them (no problems so far). You can get the axles without the neverlube option. Per Lew, the bearing inserts (on the neverlubes) can be replaced down the road without replacing the axle if one does go bad. We full time so our weight is maxxed out at all times when disconnected from the TV. Peace of mind for us. As David mentions...stay true to Lew's torque directions, and then some. I was still torquing at 1000+ miles. Best of luck, John

@John and Debbie I had Oliver Service swap out my 3500# axles to the never lube 5200# axles. I had no issues with my 3500# axles, but just prefer having the never lube bearings and larger axle and 10” drum brakes. On our trip out west last fall, I made an appt with Lew at Alcan Spring and had his team install the Alcan 5 leaf pack, HD Shackles, and HD wet bolts. This took about 2.5 hrs for his team to install. Based on my experience at Alcan, I would not have any reservations what so ever about having Lew’s team do an axle swap along with the 5 leaf pack. Lew’s guys did a great job on the install and I am very happy with my new running gear. I highly recommend traveling with a torque wrench if you have this work done. You will need to torque your new leaf pack Ubolts and wheel lug nuts if you opt for the upgraded 5200# never lube axles. Lew will provide you with the mileage interval and torque specs for the Ubolts. PM me if you have questions.

My suggestion is that you join a Ford F150 forum to ask this question where there is specific towing expertise for your truck. That’s what I do for my TV. I’m a member of the Cummins Forum and the wealth of their experience is amazing. On a Ford truck forum you can certainly read the experiences of many F150 owners that have installed and used all of the aftermarket suspension helpers that you are considering. Best wishes an hope this helps!

@Tideline77, to paste a link into a post: copy the link, then in the compose box look at the icons at the top. You will see what looks like some chain links in the second group after the B I U S. Click it and then paste the link into the top box named URL. The box under that (link text) gives you the option to provide a description instead of the URL, like what Bill did in his post. He typed in THIS in the link text box which takes you to the URL he pasted. Hope this helps. Mike

🥶 You've had more snow in one day than we have had all winter (so far).

True that grease not touching is not helping at the time. But if you merely grease the gears, open air around them, with use the gears will push the grease out of where it is needed and very soon become dry, metal on metal! Which will be what you see when you open yours. The only way to ensure grease will persist is to fill the area so that it cannot escape, new surrounding grease pulled into the gears. Or you can do what they suggest. Open it up annually and "a little dab will do ya." Not, it's just not as good and I'm not doing this every year, no way. If y'all are around when my front jack is 5 years in use after this maintenance, I'll open it up only to prove the point! (And not because it would need maintenance.)

The three set screws on our tongue jack removed themselves the first time. An entertaining experience if you’re not expecting it. (Head spins around.) I tightened them up after that. I suppose I’d better go back and apply the Never-Seize so that they ARE removable when the time comes.

Thought I would reach out to the group to get opinions Planning to add Firestone, Airlift or RAS to our F150 to decrease squat and improve ride quality/ driving experience I was dialed in on the Air Lift air bags until I read about the RAS Roadactive suspension that doesn’t use air bags and is lower cost for some odd reason I cannot paste the web pages for the 3 products and the search function drives me to drinking any feedback is appreciated

This long awaited swap-mod is now checked off my to-do list! Like many, I tolerated the noisy Dometic Penguin ll long enough; so glad I was finally able to take decisive action with this install. After a couple years of mulling over the various replacement models being marketed, a unit emerged that caught my attention; the newly available Atmos 4.4 seemingly met all of my expectations. I will forego the removal of the Dometic, here is how I proceeded forward: First and foremost, all AC and DC power sources were turned OFF! Scaffolding and equipment/supplies were then staged for Dometic ‘liftoff’ and subsequent Atmos ‘lunar landing’ (only appropriate since I live a couple miles from the NASA Mission Control Center in Houston). Roof area in need of cleaning. Notice the raised fiberglass landing on my year model and that the former condensate drain tube was simply disconnected rather than cutoff. Roof area throughly cleaned and prepped. I decided to adhere the square self-adhesive foam roof seal directly onto the fiberglass and then apply non-leveling Dicor around the cutout perimeter to further ensure the best seal possible. In positioning the foam seal, care was taken to center it as evenly possible, thereby allowing about 1/4-3/8” of exposed fiberglass to lay a bead of the Dicor and finger smooth to finish. Interior view of the Atmos being positioned over the roof cutout. Note the use of the mounting bolts as a guide, as recommended by SDG. Because the ‘rough cut’ edges of the layers of fiberglass (inner and outer hulls, and spacial filler) were inconsistent, I used the foam seal as a reference to accurately center and align the unit; distances measured to each respective bolt. Initially, installation instructions were followed by adhering the supplied straight piece of self-adhesive foam onto the bottom of the unit as a rear support, but it did not make contact with the roof due to relief of the aforementioned fiberglass landing. Alternatively, the foam piece was cut in half and each adhered onto the fiberglass, in like manner as the square seal, along the outer edges of said landing. This adaptation proved very effective in application and purpose, as the last of the next three pics demonstrates. Now that the exterior unit is properly positioned and supported, it’s back inside to further installation. As a side note, I made use of a portable a/c to buffer the heat and humidity of the day! Although my son helped with the heavy lifting and positioning, I cut him loose and completed the remaining tasks solo. Before proceeding, I used foil tape to treat the end of the aforementioned condensate drain tube and secure it to the side. Next the installation of the fabric air plate duct subassembly was started (provided Dreiha Atmos 4.4 Manual details the process). Note I used foil tape on both the upper (at Atmos bottom) and lower (at mounting frame) duct plates, even though most installs viewed applied to the mounting frame plate only. Between the upper and lower duct plate installs, the ceiling assembly mounting frame was bolted in place and hand torqued using a screwdriver only (torque specified in Manual). The AC power connection was very straightforward. The ceiling assembly’s junction box cover was removed, a strain relief fitting installed at one end (the other end had a preinstalled protector) and respective wires routed inside. I reused the Wago Lever-Nuts from the Dometic install, but first tinned the stranded wires of the Atmos lead for optimum assurance in application; electrical tape was used to further secure the Wago connectors. Ground wires were secured per the Manual. The junction box cover was then replaced, DC thermostat wire bundle loom wrapped and tucked away for future use, and ceiling grille fastened in place. . I’m very pleased with this mod, quality of the Atmos and ease of installation! I should mention that SDG preinstalled a SoftStartRV. I will provide an update once the furnace wiring and thermostat mount is completed. A special shoutout to @rideadeuce for forging the way with his install of an Atmos!

Yup, I just saw a previous post by @John and Debbie stating he saw the 3500lbs on the label and assumed that was for the axle.

They have #1290, late 2022 or more likely a 2023 trailer. Our #1045 is a 2022. He needs to look at the label more closely, as it should say 052 capacity, rated 3500 (Due to 4-leaf springs).

Steve: So I better understand: Does your Xantrax 12A limit apply to the shore power into your trailer? If so, why do you choose not to use a setting of or approaching 16 amps that a 20 amp circuit is rated to carry continuously?? Thanks GJ

Interesting distinction with regard to the Truma A/C. I am used to seeing a MFG posting a maximum current and sometimes a circuit breaker recommendation. But not a amp rating that is qualified at just one set of interior/exterior run temperatures. I can understand from a liability basis why they would do so. But it really makes their info a lot less reliable for our real world operating conditions.

Yeah that too! 😄 thanks John!

052 is the axel capacity, and the rating is 3500 due to the 4-leaf springs.

Maybe this post will provide you with some answers.

You should have the updated axel. +2 Rich.Dev. Our 2022 has the updated axel. Verify with Oliver.

A couple of years ago a friend of mine had a bearing fail on his work trailer with the never lube axles. He was able to get a new Timken bearing through Summit for around $50 which is far less than Dexter charges for their Chinese bearings. He said they use these same bearings on some production cars.

I believe the 2022's have the higher rated axel. Check the label on the axel. The 2022's have the Never-Lube.

I wore my arms slap out the first couple of times on the 90ftlb nuts. The 65 pounders weren't so bad. Glad I didn't wait for this mod 5 years from now! Hi from us both!!! Going to a music rally this week (Dogwood). Safe travels my friend. Are the blueberries in bloom yet? John

John, You keep that torquing up and you will have arms 💪🏻 like Popeye! 😄 Hello to Wendy from Kathy and I, Mod On Brother!

I installed an Air Lift system on both my former Chevy Silverado 1500 4x4 and current GMC Savana 2500 TVs for the primary purpose of reducing squat when fully loaded and trailering. The system will also compensate for uneven weight distribution in the TV cargo bay from side-to-side. The remote control for the onboard air pump is a great feature for ease of adjustment, based on situational needs; in general, 25psi for daily driving and 35psi when trailering with the Silverado. I will determine like settings for the newer Savana with more use. The trailering psi provides for the optimum ball height specified by Oliver, 23.5” as I recall. It is important to wire these systems to operate only in the keyed ignition ON position, since pressures are affected by temperature variances and minor seepage overtime; otherwise the starter battery could be compromised! As a bonus to this system, when dumping the waste tanks the front of the Oliver can be lifted to speedup the process and ensure a complete dump. There have been times when this is necessary due to poorly designed dump stations or an awkward approach. It is a fact that airbags will not increase vehicle load or tow capacities, but based on my experiences they do improve overall handling, especially when towing. That said, I never felt the need for the Anderson WDH. You can pan below to view my post titled ‘2019 GMC Savana 2500 Cargo Van’ and dated October 24, 2024, wherein there is some discussion on the Air Lift install.

There have been lots of owners to swap to the (now standard) 5200 pound axles. It makes good sense if you’re installing the HD springs. Plus, you avoid the hassle of having to service the bearings.

Was it fire rated for the purpose? Good point. Also, if the leak in in the front tank area, then the heavier than air propane will flow to the ground through the security wire floor and hopfully (Pun) dissipate and not cause any harm. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Hey who loaned Crazy Horse the rabbit suit? I hope he and Emu are not going to hook-up and go for the Allstate Car Insurance commercials! That could be real mayhem!

This F150 product I was asking for input from the mass mind of the Oliver herd From everything I read and researched about this product it helps reduces suspension sway and squat along with improving traction

What’s outside in open air is not monitored. Had a Class A and C, both had Onans. They are frame mounted in a cavity that has no openings to the interior, exhaust piped out a few inches. If you have an external LP leak in your Oliver, your monitor will not sense it. Those of us who have had a leak knows, the nose knows! 🤣 Ours had a leak when a rear Alum weld broke on the frame where the LP line is connected.

Good question. As chairperson and founder of the Oliver Rabbit Hole Society, I think you may in time have the experiences and qualifications to be a member. 🙂 GJ

Bought my Stihl 026 winter of 1995 (wow, now the 30th anniversary)! It SCREAMS LOUD, still working like new. Tuned it up last year and installed a new carb and fuel lines, filters, etc. I always wear ear protection along with other safety apparel. Never tried watching TV while clearing pine and scrub oak from the acreage! 🤣

I don’t think it’s so much “tight” as it is some kind of galvanic corrosion from dissimilar metals. They basically “weld” themselves into place. Very true! In my stint in maintenance management, I learned a new term: “maintenance induced failure”. Whether that’s from improper maintenance procedures that cause damage (think AA191) or a situation like JD mentions above. If you’re not going to clean out ALL the dirt - including the dirt opening the gearbox likely introduces into the unit - then you’re mostly just going through the motions.

Thankful we've not had these issues with our Dometic and do not want a replacement. We're not going to a compressor fridge until somebody designs one with a decent-sized freezer. Our freezer is full width of the unit, holds two short trays of ice front-to-back in one corner, will fit 2 steaks, 2 large chops, an lb of bacon, even a qt of ice cream which is keeps cold for days and more stuff at times! Why do the new fridges have freezers with about 40% of this capacity? I also do not want 6 SF of our truck bed taken up with an external fridge/freezer. We use that for a water tank for boondocking. We start our fridge the day before leaving. Most food should be put in cold or frozen but we make a new tray of large ice cubes overnight NP. Least two weeks out our Ruuvi most often read 1F in the freezer and 34F in the fridge. Full length drip tray works as it should, seeing the drip-drip-drip under the hull. We have the Beech Lane external fan but did not need it on these trips which got to a dry 80F in the afternoons and always below 50F overnight. We set ours on #4 of the 5 cold settings. Chris is a great cook too and we fill the fridge to capacity at each grocery stop on the road. It runs using 8AH on 12VDC on average, a little more when very hot out. We do not use LP while driving but have found that the Dometic runs best, stays coldest on LP. We would miss AC/DC/LP alternatives. Usually our rooftop solar runs the fridge with near zero net loss of battery SOC. All is good, knock on wood we get another 10 years! 🤣 Now that Dometic Penguin II A/C, loud as a 2-stroke chainsaw, is an awful piece of JUNK! Blows too loud even on low fan. It cools slowly and is an inefficient power drain! We have NEVER run it overnight since I could not sleep and TG out west it cools down at night. You can't even run it while watching TV except if using noise-cancelling headphones for your audio connection. We've found the interior of the Oliver to be extremely quiet with windows closed alone, nothing running inside. I like quiet, and I'm not somebody that believes in producing "white noise." We're making a long trip to Minnesota and points between during June (don't fool yourself thinking the northern Midwest is always cool during the summer). Sure, cooler than most summer days in the SE, NOLA or Texas, but for example one Memorial Day holiday in Chicago it was a high of 62F on the Thursday before and 98F and HUMID all day on Saturday! We're hoping to have the Atmos A/C installed prior to this trip. Whisper quiet per what @Ronbrink showed us at the Texas Rally and very efficient. Can't wait to see how long we can run it using 50% SOC of our 600AH LiFePO4! I figure almost twice as long as the Dometic which is not even practical on inverted AC power.

I'm sorry Steve, maybe I'm wrong re Truma, but remember somebody writing a 15A number on this forum. It's hard to say with your setup plugged in. How many amps are being supplied by shore power and is it being supplemented by your Xantrex? Have you ever run it inverter/LiFePO4 only and measured amps from start-up to cool on a hot day? Just looked and Truma advertises 12A on high with an asterisk which states 95F external temp and 80F thermostat setting. This likely means 12A to maintain 80F with fan high. It's not like turning the air on one afternoon when it's 98F outside, 92F inside and you want to get it down to 76F. How many amps when full on compressor, high fan in harsh conditions? I did this test on our Dometic P2 and at started at 15A, then 16A and closer to 17A an hour later when the unit got hot from working hard. Truma is not a viable option for me and many owners who want to replace the Dometic Penguin II. They do not sell to the aftermarket, so given OEM installation, time and travel expenses puts total costs far out of reach for me and many others.

You keep repeating this, but I have no idea where you're getting this information. I don't watch my Amp draw constantly, but every time I have looked, the whole trailer has never shown more than 8-10 Amps, and that includes anything else that is running. I don't have a 30A receptacle at home, and need to run my trailer on a 20A circuit breaker though a 50 foot 10 gauge extension cord. So I typically set the grid draw on the Xantrax to 12A when at home, and have had zero problems. Truma's rated load on the compressor is 8.8A, and the fan at 2.9A, so that maximum is should ever pull is 11.7

Yikes! I read that whole thread and my head is spinning about 3,000rpm. We have the NOISY Dometic unit from the factory that pretty much everybody loves to hate. We heard that OTT offered to replace it with a Truma for too much $$$. Heard that others thought Houghton was superior (quieter). Had planned to go that way once I’m someplace I can work on the trailer. After reading the above, not sure which way to go. Our short term plan - from now until “summer” is to camp where we won’t need the A/C that much (July-August in Minnesota), and then the trailer goes back to the Bus Barn (the real company name) until Christmas. On one of the (many) threads lamenting the sound level of the Dometic and plans to replace it, someone mentioned yet another brand of A/C that they implied was even -better- than the Houghton. Between condensate drains, fans running all the time, thermisters, humidity, and all the rest - my big concern is still the “shim” or support to assure -whatever- unit replaces the Dometic is solidly supported and doesn’t tear up the roof of the trailer. I guess I’ll be scouring the forum to find the name of that other A/C and doing research until I’m ready to pull the trigger. THANKS to all of the contributors in the above thread! You’ve literally overwhelmed me!

Yeah, I don’t disagree for most people it is not necessary. May not be for me, but I do plan on doing more 4 season camping. The PNW and Canada are definitely on the radar. I, also, go to CO in late fall/early spring often. It is just peace of mind and redundancy… backup. Granted I do have a penchant for “personalizing” things. For me, that is half the fun of ownership along with planning, contingencies and logistics. Ha! Saying that: Aluminum tanks and mount are steel free. So no more Rust or annual maintenance. C The old ones were coming up on expiration soon and one had a sticky valve… always a pain to fill Safer in that they have an OPD valve Lighter, picking 17 vs 25 lbs does make a difference, especially when full New mount is easier to seat the tanks 8 gallons vs 7 gallons Some cons, would be the cost of tanks, custom mount needed (none available for purchase yet), wireless Mopeka propane tank monitor needs extra adhesive mount since tanks are not magnetic and decreased puncture resistance. Get out there! Mike

Yes, for sure. This would not work out west where you would want to boondock often! We don't camp summers nor harsh winters but the rest of the year is great in the SW and we would only leave the SW at the right times of year. Last week camping, day temps were upwards to 85. The first night I had not turned on the furnace and woke up at 5AM to find the cabin at 54F when I switched on the furnace set to 65F. Florida is the land of sweat and air conditioning 24x7 (we lived in WPB for 4 years). I could no longer stand to feel and hear A/C 365 days a year. Yes, there you need hook-ups. Although with 720W in solar, a 3KVA Victron Inverter, a 50A DC-DC charger, 600AH in LiFePO4 (can easily add another 300AH or more when needed) and coming very soon an Atmos A/C that cools well using <10A, we don't need no stinkin' hook-ups! It's such a great care-free feeling to do without. Often I ask for and sometimes get a half-priced stay paying cash without hook-ups.

We’ve been using bottled water as well - but it’s frightening how many bottles you can go through. I bought a stand-alone R/O system to refill liter size water bottles. At least that way, I could claim a little of that “saving the planet” karma. Yes, R/O does pretty much remove everything from your water (not PFAS perhaps…) but I figure there’s more potentially bad stuff in water these days than good stuff anyway. As for R/O “waste” water - if you shower in campground “city” water, or local water that you fill your FWT with, then R/O waste water likely only has 20-25% more “bad” stuff than the water you’d normally be bathing or dishwashing with. (Figuring 4 gallons for every gallon of R/O water produced.)

Guess it just depends where you (like to) travel. Cold weather isn’t our thing. That said, our “escape” to Florida was less than optimal as the record cold weather and rain followed us. We rarely use the cooktop. I got an inexpensive induction “hot plate” that I can use outside or inside. We’re stingy with hot water, and I’ve only run the furnace a dozen ”cycles” in two months (Jan-Feb). I contemplated the 30# upgrade when we bought, but didn’t think it was critical for us. That, and we seem to be near enough to places to refill propane that we can refill one as soon as it goes empty and gave several weeks (at least) leeway before we’re even close to using the second. I guess if we boondocked more (or at all really) it would be an issue. Seems we’re almost always near or passing through a town with a hardware store that sells propane. That without even stopping to do a short-filled “Blue Rhino” tank. (Only 15# of propane in that 20# tank!) For us, being without electricity is a bigger deal - but not to the point we opted for Lithium or Solar.

Nice mod and great installation work as usual Mike! @rideadeuce Love our 30# tanks and would upgrade if we purchased an Oliver with only 20s. I don't see the need for aluminum tanks with years left on our tanks that were upgraded by a previous owner. It's only a 16LB savings, the weight of 2 gallons of drinking water. I do like 8 vs. 6.8 gallons capacity but this is a lot of money. We traveled twice this February, 7 nights to Q and back and 5 nights to the Santa Catalinas near Tucson. Twelve nights out camping, cooking on the Weber Q grill and the stovetop, limited furnace use give the reasonable temps and we only used the fire ring on two nights! Our first 30# tank is now at 22% and the second is still full. If we had two 20s we would be into the second tank already! What if we lived or traveled north? Would you as well use enough, someday? I love that we can and have gone for 4 weeks and only fill tanks when we return home. 😂

(And yes - I’m demanding! Otherwise I would have opted for the $12,000.00 “Coleman” trailer instead of the $70,000.00 Oliver!) 😋

@rideandfly@MAX Burner When the time comes for our shocks to be replaced I will consider a set of these for the new shocks. They are likely to last a lot longer than the cheap rubber bushings - https://www.summitracing.com/parts/ens-9-8101r?seid=srese1&gclid=CjwKCAjwrdmhBhBBEiwA4Hx5g1EmNbsDrEQeAq0_LONOYG_UhdlvY6ePhChw2orxOwCvV5eUD0qi7hoCoC0QAvD_BwE Patriot🇺🇸

GJ - Thanks for posting this. I have never had any issues to include "rattles" with either of the two 3.5 Ford's I've owned. I presently have my third 3.5 on order and will be shortly selling my 2017 that only has 44,000 miles on the clock. I am consistently amazed with this engine. Bill