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In June we had our Dexter OEM axles upgraded to 5200's. Our replacement 2400 pound rated Dexters were retained. No reason to replace them after just a couple of seasons. What I did learn of interest follows: As of that time, Alcan has replace abut 300 sets of OEII springs at their shop. They have also sent to other Oliver owners about 450 sets of springs. Both 4 and 5 leaf. They have also sent a bunch of 5 leaf springs to Oliver for use in the new Heavy Duty suspension, and sent four leaf springs for the other 90% of their customers. I specifically discussed with Alcan the repair method for spun spline bolts. He stated that the Hex Head Washer approach IS the best solution. He also stated that the second best solution is to weld a spacer washer and try to create a new splins. I asked if it was his trailer which he wouldl do: He stated the Hex Head Washer approach if how he would do it. I asked what he thought about the Dexter 1750 rated springs: He stated they are too light for a 6K trailer full time loaded. I am glad to hear that OTT has gone with the suggestions made about 30 pages ago..... GJ

Good day all! Wanted to share my hull number and the selected name of my Apex 23 that I’ll be picking up Oct 7th at the Mothership if all goes according to plans. In honor of the hull number I’m choosing a name taken from the writings of Thomas Jefferson (who was born in 1743) along with a “tongue in cheek” nod to part of military career as an Infantry Officer. His “Cannons of Conduct” contain 12 wonderful recommendations about how we should live our lives that I wholeheartedly agree with. So hopefully all will welcome myself, my pups and “Cannon Fodder” to the group. Cheers! Douglas

Hi Oliver Family.. It’s been quite a while since I last posted around here, but I just finished a quick little mod for the exterior shower station on the ILOVHER. I do use and absolutely love my wet bath inside the trailer! But before the forum gray-water police sound the sirens: having managed a National Forest campground for five years, I promise I know the rules about gray water and where it belongs. I know there are plenty of places out West that actually permit surface gray-water disposal (and, funny enough, with the wildfire season we're having, the ground could probably use every stray drop). For this upcoming trip, I'll be boondocking in a private field for 12 days, and the owner doesn't mind me showering outside. I'll be using organic, biodegradable shampoo, and with no dump station for miles, keeping gray tank fill to an absolute minimum is the primary mission here. I considered one of the standard pop-up privacy tents, but having used a bicycle tent for camping, I could already envision the poles, stakes, folding/unfolding and general tent wrestling that would be involved. I was looking for something much simpler — something I could put up in a couple of minutes and take down just as quickly. I also wanted to avoid the usual problem of routing the shower hose into a privacy tent. You either have to run the wand through the main zipper opening, which can make the entrance/exit awkward, or start modifying the tent itself. Then I stumbled across these ratchet-style suction arms, and I immediately started thinking, "Oh, I can do something with these!" They reminded me of the SeaSucker-style mounting systems, and the Oliver's smooth, gelcoat fiberglass seemed like the perfect surface for them. I was so excited about the idea that I put the whole thing together and actually showered in my driveway last night just to test it out. 😂 And honestly, I think these are going to work perfectly! The Setup: Ratchet-style suction arms: I found these folding rack arms on Temu. Say what you will about ordering direct from China, but the mechanical ratchet suction on these things locks onto the fiberglass extremely well. They’re designed to hold weight and, so far, they’ve been remarkably solid. DM me if you want the link to the product. Curtains & rings: I used standard shower rings through the cutouts and repurposed heavy shower curtains I already had from a previous project and the bar that goes between the mounts is a simple tomato stake zip-tied tight to the ends. (I may reconfigure that at a later date with tool clips) No modifications to the Oliver: Nothing is drilled, screwed, glued or permanently attached to the trailer. The whole thing takes less than two minutes to set up, packs down flat, provides total privacy (other than wind, LOL) and gives me direct access to the Oliver’s outdoor shower faucets without having to wrestle with a tent or poles. I even have a suction mount for the shower wand. Please note that I have replaced the original ss shower hose with one that is 120" on my ILOVHER. Attached are the suction arms mounted to the Oliver and the full enclosure deployed. I’m pretty pleased with how simple this turned out!

This is always a difficult question to answer as an "adequate" towing experience means different things to different people. Your 4Runner will be on the edge of safe towing in my opinion. You will be always having to worry about payload (895+ pounds?) Count on your tongue weight for a fully loaded Elite 1 being at least 400 lbs. Then add passenger weight, hitch weight, cargo weight, and any other add ons. Next, the 4Runner has a relatively short wheelbase which hinders stability, especially in wind. Braking on long mountainous descents will be harder and much scarier as the small displacement turbo gas engine in the 4Runner will not be able to deliver much vacuum braking (not like compression braking in a diesel) and you will be on your brakes a lot more. In fact, I've read turbo gas engines produce less vacuum braking than naturally aspirated gas engines due to their comparitively smaller displacement and lower compression ratios. The Oliver1 is a small trailer, but heavy for its size. You can try it and see how it goes, but every person I know who started out with a light TV eventually got at least a 1/2 ton truck/SUV or more. I tow my Elite 1 with a 3/4 ton truck and just love it. No drama, just a peaceful driving experience. You also need to consider how your TV would handle an emergency like a flat tire, or an animal running out in front of you, not to mention all the jack wagon drivers on the road these days. The Inter-Mountain West you describe as your target area is great country, but can be challenging for towing. One last item that comes to mind is that your range will be pretty limited with only a 19 gallon gas tank. Some things to ponder.... It's a great vehicle, but you'll be running it at its limit. My 2 cents! Good luck! Dave

Thought some might get a kick out of this video clip my wife shot in our back yard and set to music last rutting season. 4 bucks.mp4

@Snackchaser Hey, I just came across this solution! Thanks for putting us out there. IFIXIFI is me and my family's small, American family business. And, yes, we own OLE2 Hull 231, "Olly'all".

I've been chatting with another Oliver owner who had the exact same error yesterday. My understanding is that it's some sort of "E"lectrical error with the "H"eater. That could mean: loss of signal between heater and the display (loose wire?) loss of power to the unit (different loose wire?) loss of power to the igniter or something else I think that's where the suggestions of resetting the various power supplies comes from. I've been told that listening the heater start up may narrow the investigation. e.g. If you hear the fan, the heater has power? If you hear the igniter clicking, it's got power? If you hear nothing, power is not getting to the unit? etc. Alas, I have no answers. But, if they report back a solution, I will let you know. If you find it first, please report back. Thanks, Dennis

I'm sure it's been mentioned here too, but the Alcan wet bolts and shackles are heavier duty than that of Dexters. If keeping the Dexters, you may want to have a spare pair of shackles and bolt(s) if doing really long trips across the country. Updated: I don't want to reused stressed out Chinese parts with lots of miles on them. I'll start with all new heavy-duty parts from Alcan. You're asking for trouble re-using old parts. Why? To save a few bucks now, only to spend way more on the side of the road? No thanks. I even carry some old ones in case I run into some who again breaks a Dexter shackle or wet bolt. We've seen both. In regards to 4 or 5 leafs, I don't think anyone here really could tell a difference between the counts, in the long wrong. I have 5-leaf, but considered 4. Oh well - Horse is dead, but both will work fantastic for our light weight rigs. Just get the upgrade and go enjoy life.