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Our manual lock has been reliable, not fancy but it works!

@Nick and Linda Stratigakis We had the Truma retro fit done by Oliver Service a few years ago and really like how quiet and efficient our Truma Aventa is. To my knowledge, Oliver Service is the only place the Truma retro fit can be done due to the installation of the fiberglass base that the Truma is mounted on. The mounting foot print of the Truma is different than the “Demonic” deafening jet engine and requires this fiberglass work for the Truma to be mounted properly. The added fiberglass base Oliver installs is exactly like the same required fiberglass base used on a brand new Truma Aventa equipped Oliver. Oliver Service did a stellar job on our Truma install. I highly recommend the optional Truma Aventa control panel for anyone considering this mod. This panel controls both the Aqua go on demand hot water heater and serves as a back up to the AC remote should the remote ever fail. The Truma Aventa also uses the existing internal OEM condensate line which I preferred vs condensate water running off the roof of our Oliver. The Truma also has a night mode which also allows it to run really quiet while outside the camper. A quick call to Oliver service will get you an emailed quote if you go this route. Happy super quiet Truma owners here!

It was exactly 2 weeks as promised and the replacement axles were here. This time they were mounted on a custom pallet 100" long! Two steel straps holding one to the other and two nylon straps to the skid, and no furniture wrap! 🤣 It's time for the work to begin. I'll walk through the process but enough for today. It's been fun working on this, first axles install ever for me! There will be several points to consider in having this work done, that I will discuss later. Not too many of us would do this work ourselves. Going to Alcan Spring is a great excuse to visit SW Colorado! 😂

Some of the after market accessories I added and Murphy’s Law applies especially on the first trip with any new vehicle. Everything is working well! 🙂 Thanks,

WOW! That Ford 350 should handle the Ollie easily. What's to shake down? Nice! Bill

We opted for the manual door lock in our 2022 Elite II based on reports on this forum of folks getting locked in or out of their Olivers by failed RV Lock units. No issues with key duplication. We keep a spare Oliver door key in a compartment in our tow vehicle. Low tech, but so far, no issues.

Our OEM suspension was still in good shape. I had worked a full brake service, including the Timken bearing upgrade, two years ago just after we purchased our Oliver June of 2023. Our OEM leaf springs were still properly arced and no rust given life in the SW, never an issue. Until the “Made in USA leaf springs” forum post came up, I had not worried about it, nor ever concerned that the Oliver suspension might be undersized in some way. I headed the warning, but not at first wanting to pay for this extensive upgrade, so I purchased a spare pair of 1750 LB leaf springs and U-bolts to have on hand in case of possible failure on the road. We were on our 5-week June trip to Minnesota, and on the way back we took the northern route. I wasn’t at all thinking about a suspension upgrade! I’m in regular communication with our friend Ken @mountainoliver and realized they were camping in Colorado and perhaps we could meet up. They were there waiting for their scheduled appointment at Alcan Spring in Grand Junction CO. At the time, we were camped in North Dakota on the great Missouri River! But were soon cross Colorado from the NE to the SW on the way back home. Given we could see our friends and the many mentions of Alcan on the Forum, I thought we should visit Alcan Spring to at observe their operation. I called and talked to Tim and made an appointment to visit, not a service appointment. "Every picture tells the story" don't it! The first pic is much later in the process as a preview and the second one was only two years ago after working a complete brake/bearing maintenance. I believed we were good! 🤣

Mike, Alcan is a great company to work with. The downtown area is very nice for looking at their art, having breakfast and poking around in a shop or two. John

We’re making our way to Grand Junction for our axle replacement on Friday. Currently camping near Park City in Utah.

Met up with Ken and Mary Kay in Montrose and we had a great time together! They had dinner ready for our for first night at Riverbend RV Park, considering our long day. Our second night we went to dinner at Ted Nelson’s Steakhouse! A couple days later we had another evening together at our next campsite, Basecamp550 between Ridgway and Ouray. We headed home slowly, other good camps along the way. They stayed another few days at Riverbend until their scheduled Alcan Service appointment.

Seeing is believing! I’ve worked manufacturing a few times in my career, like the ol’-school RAM Golf Club manufacturing back in the early 70s in Melrose Park IL. Later I spent a decade, the 90s in Motorola manufacturing! My immediate first impression, observing a relatively small manufacturing facility which I truly appreciated! I realized a team of good people, working hard with little to no BS, and as busy as they were they took time with me, helped me answering all of my questions. If they could have serviced me that day, or that week, I would have stayed and had the work done. I knew from the start that I would not upgrade springs without upgrading to D52 axles. I’m one of the unlucky few who not only got the inferior D35 axles, but also in a half dozen hulls where OTT installed the 1/2" shorter 50” axles (what the, why?)! Alcan had a skid full of the 50.5” axles from all their Oliver business of late, but replacement of the rare 50” axles must be special ordered! So I’m talking/texting with Ken, when he said, “Don’t let them sell you my springs! 🤣 Ken had a service appointment scheduled for the very next week. I purchased Alcan Springs on this day. When Tim said, they could special order for me the correct 50” axles for our hull and charge me the same going price Oliver owners were paying for the 50.5” axles which they had purchased in bulk. This read like a very good one-time good offer, from a helpful, fully knowledgeable company rep! This is TRUE Customer Service! 😂 All I could say is “let’s do it!” Renee wrote up the order. Tanner assembled the leaf spring parts they manufacture in house, and then he went through their installation instructions and torque specs and later loaded the spring parts in my truck. I wrote Renee a check for half+ down and an hour later we were back on our trip! What was accomplished in an hour was spectacular! Lunch and a fuel stop in Grand Junction and we’re headed out of town…

LOL. If it doesn’t, I am in serious trouble 🤣

Stone Mountain SP NC, tow vehicle shake down trip. It handles Ollie easily. Added a couple old photos of Stone Mountain from the meadow and from the top.

Our Oliver came with the Lippert chrome manual lock. We also read here regarding many failures to the touch pad and batteries loosing charge at just the wrong time. $220+ for keyless entry, sorry no thank you. Our hull being 10 years old, the door lock is still working as designed but gear mechanisms and striker parts do wear out over time. I found this on Amazon and at the time it was only $50, same lock in a nice white powder coat. It's for when we need it or when we may upgrade our entrance door. And yes, extra keys are easy to have on hand too! Just match the code on your key to your order. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00S2IELG6?ref=fed_asin_title https://www.amazon.com/Pair-Keys-Global-Link-Precut/dp/B0BQWVR6YP/?th=1

We also own a 2022 Elite II, Hull #1291. Having read too many posts on this forum about the Demonic AC unit sounding like a jet taking off, and that Oliver was making the much quieter Truma AC unit available on 2023 models, we opted to postpone our delivery from September to November of 2022 to get a Truma. We paid a premium for the upgrade, but we have not regretted our choice. Although expensive, in your shoes, I would schedule an appointment with the closest Oliver dealer to swap the Demonic for a Truma. If you have strong handyman skills, you can consider a DIY install. with one of the brands referenced in jd1923's post above. There are informative threads on this forum with detailed "how to" instructions. And, please update your footer to include your Hull #, tow vehicle and other important data, like you see on the above posts.

Last night in East Glacier. We saw 2 other Ollies (including ADKcamper) 4 Casitas, 2 Scamps and 2 Escapes. A veritable fiberglass convention 😃

Important Update: Customer Support & Service/Parts Department Changes Dear Oliver Travel Trailer Family, As we continue to grow, we are making important changes to better serve you. Beginning September 5th, our Customer Support Department will be relocated to our production facility and will now be managed by our Plant Operations Team This change allows us to dedicate resources more effectively, ensuring you receive the specialized support you deserve. What’s Changing Customer Support Managed by our Plant Operations Team Primary Contact: Brett Johnson Handles phone support, warranty questions or warranty parts requests Additional team members will be added to strengthen support capacity Phone: 888-526-3978 (select Option #2 - Technical Support) Email: support@olivertraveltrailers.com o Hours of Operation for Phone Support Monday - Thursday: 7:00 am - 4:30pm CST Friday: 7:00am - 11:00am CST Closed Saturday & Sunday Service & Parts Remains at our Sales & Service facility Primary Contact: Mike Sharpe Handles service scheduling and parts purchases Phone: 888-526-3978 (select Option #3 – Parts & Service) Email: service@olivertraveltrailers.com Hours of Operation for Inside Service remains Monday - Friday 8am - 5pm CST Important Notes Starting September 5th, the Phone Support Department and Service & Parts Department will be completely separated. Mike will not be taking phone support calls, and Brett will not be scheduling service. Emailing either department will automatically create a ticket in their system. However, tickets are not shared between departments. Why the Change? As Oliver Travel Trailers continues to grow, we want to provide a better experience by having team members focused on specific tasks rather than managing multiple roles. This separation ensures that your questions and needs are addressed by the right people more efficiently. We appreciate your understanding and support as we take this step forward. Thank you for being a valued part of the Oliver Travel Trailers family.

We have the Calmark as well. It is pricey but works well with great service and fits well. We looked at other generic ones, but just ended up not trusting the fit or the quality enough.

So while I was waiting for the new shipment, I thought why not check out the inner workings of the Dexter Nev-R Lube bearing? In seemed a reasonable use while these damaged axles were hogging up space on my garage floor!

After cleaning and burnishing I was told by Jason to cut a light criss cross pattern in the block and mounting point as well ( I used a vibrating saw with metal cutting blade) . Light cuts not too deep. Then I cleaned again & let dry. its held tight for 3 years so far.

Same here. I haven't found anything better than the Calmark cover for all season protection.

I prepped both surfaces by sanding then cleaning with alcohol, used two-part epoxy and has stayed put for 3yrs and 30k miles

Doesn't she look pretty?! 🤣 We ran two 30 mile test runs, U-bolts torqued now 3 times. Before the test drive today, I manually pushed the little self-adjuster gears on all 4 wheels. She was braking quite well today, so very nice after so little mileage. New D52 axles, new HD leaf springs, new EZ Flex equalizers, new wet bolts and HD shackles, totally new suspension! 😂

Finally done! Worked on this every-other-day this week. Looks great, doesn't she?! Alternate days are for Pickleball. My body can only take one kind of daily trauma! 🤣 Days on the court cannot be combined with hours climbing under truck or trailer! How many times did I get down on the driveway, sitting on a milk crate, craning my neck to fit under the Oliver fenders. or lying down on the ground, and then climbing back up? Way too many times, no matter how well I plan having parts and tools required! UPS came early yesterday allowing me to finish with new E-Z Flex equalizers from eTrailer (2-day ship only $6.50 extra, adding another $316 to the grand total)! You should check your equalizers. Some may have upgraded leaf springs without the equalizers being removed and cleaned up for inspection (it's the right time to do it). Details on this and other concerns soon. Look for a new thread on this subject. All that's left now is to torque and grease the wet bolts (our son Adam will power the torque wrench under the trailer and the DeWalt power grease gun makes this easy). Mount wheels & tires and test drive. I'll tow some miles on local highways and hilly/winding roads, then retorque the U-bolts upon return. Park the Oliver to free up my driveway again. Another trip to Southwestern Colorado is just 3 weeks away!

This tape really worked...it left NO residue after 9 weeks of being on the road holding on the yoga mats. This carpet protection film that I had from a remodel was put on top of the the yoga mat and made it more waterproof. If we hadn't covered the yoga mat it would have absorbed a ton of water and likely fallen off.

Dexter estimated 3-4 weeks to manufacture the new D52 axles, and it was just 4 weeks when they were delivered to our home. The bad news was that Dexter did such poor job packaging they came to me a basket case. What a waste! They used a single nylon strap (and a whole lot of stretch wrap) to secure the two heavy axles to a standard sized skid. But trailer axles are longer than a skid! They had slipped off to one side! FedEx Freight propped up their packaging on another skid but the damaged had been done. The one drum hanging lowest took a bad bang bending the brake backing plate, to the point that the drum could not turn at all. These could have been repaired, but soon enough I decided to refuse the shipment. Why should I pay over $2K for this mess?! On the weekend, I emailed Tim at Alcan Spring to report the damage, several pics included. When Tim called me first thing Monday morning, he already had contacted Dexter re the shipping damage and got them to place a rush replacement order, with promised delivery in 2 weeks. I accepted their offer.