Leaderboard

We also recently had Alcan upgrade our leaf springs and axles. Having a 2018 trailer we had the old 3000 lb axles and of course the 4 pack leaf springs installed by Oliver. It took us a while to decide to have the work done, but it was becoming obvious that we were due for a broken leaf spring or two without an upgrade. Upgrading the axles was an easy decision since the new axles provide better brakes and (hopefully) less maintenance. It’s a relatively quick process to have Alcan do the work; it takes about 2 hours. Lew told us his wife had worried about people driving to town to purchase a torque wrench and socket pulling a trailer so he now sells a decent torque wrench and the necessary socket to perform the required torquing for $50 dollars. He also provides a sheet with all the torque specs and is available for any questions. Tucker the technician who performed the work for us was available as well to answer any questions that we had. We did notice that the new running gear is much stiffer. We aired down our tires, and have done the preliminary torques. We would definitely recommend Alcan. Seems easier to have them do the work but as has been detailed by others, Alcan will ship so folks can do the work themselves or have a shop close to them do the work.Lew told us he is doing about 1 Oliver a week now, plus providing gear for the new Oliver Apex. I guess 38 pages of forum information pays off, for anyone who has the patience to read it all! Alcan suggested we go to Randy’s South Side Diner in Grand Junction while the work was being done. Decent local restaurant for breakfast!

Not that we need this much power, but a new Victron Energy MultiPlus-II 12/4k/160-50 120V just came out for $1,105 (no tax or shipping cost with this vendor). It's at a good price, having paid $997 for the 3K model July of 2024. Also, very good customer service with InvertersRUs. They serviced a warranty replacement for me on a small Victron MPPT SC. All I had to do was to email the pic of the Victron Connect app screen. They shipped a new one out immediately with return label. It provides 4KVA (3.4 KW) inverted power and can charge up to 160A. It's 2" longer, the same width and 3/4" taller, plus 7 LBS heavier than the 3K model that several of us have installed, so it will just fit in the streetside basement. With a whole lot of LiFePO4 Ahs, you could use this kind of power, if you're still running an ol' school single-speed compressor A/C and don't want to worry about what else you power up! No Soft/Easy Start needed with this bad-boy and you won't ever get stuck with a Multiplus failing for low voltage cutout. With required input as low as 9.5V your batteries may cutout before the MP2 ever will! Wow, checking my thread above on page 1, it was two years ago to the day, when I finished my installation. We are rarely plugged in and never turn it off, so our MP2 has run 24x7 for a full 2 years now, always providing service without issue. 😎 https://invertersrus.com/product/ve-multiplus-ii-12-4k/

Congrats on the new running gear. Best money we ever spent on labor was having Alcan professionally do the work on our Oliver. Good for you. The torquing is the easy part. Safe Travels!

I recently had the pleasure of working with Alcan Spring in Grand Junction CO for a set of new 5-leaf springs for my Oliver. Alcan is fantastic to work with. My mechanic's name was Tucker, and he was kind enough to take time before and after the install to be sure I understood what is needed in terms of torquing all the various nuts -- there are quite a few to be done, at 50 miles, 100 miles and then at 500 miles post-installation. The torquing isn't difficult, though doing the nuts on the springs is much easier with two people. Note that the requirements vary from the fixed end of the springs to the flex ends, so pay attention. About a week after my install, I spoke to Lew on the phone and he noted that yet another Oliver had just pulled through for new springs. Someone there said that they have installed new springs on at least 250 Olivers. Imagine that! While I was there, Alcan also installed a new set of Dexter Brakes for my Oliver. Thanks to @jd1923 for looking at my brakes and also to @ScubaRx for encouraging me to follow through with a Warranty Claim (I had 25,000 miles so I was within the 5 year, 100,000 mile warranty window.) Dexter was dynamite with their turn-around on the Warranty and shipping the brakes to Alcan, where I was already scheduled for new springs. I truly appreciate both of these businesses -- Dexter and Alcan Spring -- for their efficiency and excellent service.

Welcome to the Family.... Thanks for letting us know that Happy Hour starts at 1730 hours. That's FIVE THIRTY for you non military types. What site will you be in at the rally? Should we bring beer or snacks? And... by using the greeting "Aloha"... I fully expect to see at least one Ukulele at the campsite. Happy Camping! Scotty

Would be pure speculation. When we sold our previous LE I, the new owner got spreadsheets and the handwritten logbook that's like an airplane's log. We didn't receive anything like that, just some vague contradictory statements about how little the trailer had traveled and the distant places that they had visited. Based on several other items (shocks, refrigerator, plumbing) I have my opinions and speculations. I have tried to go through (with the help of the smart people on this forum) each system and bring it up to better than specs. Bulldog shocks, new refregerator, etc. I also try to give back with designs for installing the GasStop units on an LE I and will eventually get around to posting my refrigerator fan design that has a temp sensor to run the exhaust fans when needed. The reason we purchased an Oliver is the community, the bunch of experienced travelers and engineers that will see a panic message on a Saturday afternoon and start throwing out helpful and thougtful troubleshooting tips. Besides the incredible engineering and reliability of our trailers, it's the community that sets our Oliver apart from the Grand Design sitting across from us and the Apex next door. Wow - this response got off topic. Road brain, or possibly the wide open spaces of Wyoming out the window.

In 10 years we’ve had our Oliver serviced by Oliver service folks twice. Every other time has been by a local RV repair shop with no Oliver training. Most RV issues are generic and a qualified RV tech can almost always get resolution. Oliver has covered my warranty issues when addressed at my independent RV repair shop. Even when we temporarily had an authorized Oliver service location at Princess Craft RV up near Austin (2 hour drive) I stayed with my local guy, just 10 minutes away and very competent and trustworthy.