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At the eclipse meet up I was asked about tightening the stabilizer rear jacks. i use blue threadlocker to help with bolt retention. Spec: 3/4” Leveling Jack flange bolt nuts (43 ft-lbs). Bolt locations shown for rear. inside : outside:

Don't know how many of y'all ever rode in the OTT under tow, but I've done it a few times just to check what needs attending to. I try to convince my bride to keep the speed down -- with little success...😜 FWIW, I rode in the back for the last several miles yesterday on our way back from the eclipse adventure.... From a qualitative perspective, the ride was interestingly noisy, solid/stiff - but not like a buckboard.... It was not appreciably different than the ride I took before changing out the springs. Don't think it would comfortable for more than a few miles, IMO. I checked the torque settings for each of the U-bolt nuts after logging 1,895 miles on the new springs over the last 9 days - all good, no more stretch. Probably a good idea to keep doing so every 5k miles or at least annually. Not to highjack this thread, but: Regarding frame cross member welds - visually inspected all yesterday and photographed each weld to set a baseline for our records. All good. I'm suspecting that the broken welds reported in a parallel thread could be caused by an inexperienced welder at the factory and not a design flaw. I also suspect that Oliver engineers designed the frame to withstand "normal" usage (that may be difficult to define, however). Like other owners, we routinely, yet carefully, travel over unpaved and unimproved roads with a full fresh (empty black/gray) tank without issue - I believe this practice is within the design limitations of the trailer. We'll definitely keep inspecting the cross members after such trips... Thoughts?

I don't know about "consensus" but basically the article in your link reflects old Boy Scout advice from long ago. In the over eight years since I bought Twist I have only left it once due to lightening/storm. Every situation is different, terrain, trees, likely direction of the storm, availability of studier shelter, potential protection for the Ollie and my truck, etc. Certainly one thing in the article that is very important (IMO) is one or two sources of "automatic" weather warning information. I use and app on my "burner" cell phone called "Severe Weather Alerts" and I always carry a NOAA Weather Alert Radio - both have automatic alert features. One additional point - if it is possible and you have a good sense of where/what direction the potential storm may be coming from - point the Ollie with either its front or back towards the storm. Since many of these severe storms also have high winds, the Ollie's aero will help if placed in this orientation. Bill

@Geronimo John look inside the rear bumper. There is a rubber seal around the sewer pipe where it goes into the lower left rear of the trailer that will become dislocated and permit dust intrusion. Reposition the seal and place a clamp around the sewer pipe to keep the seal from slipping back out of the hole. I used a Stainless steel Banjo TC-331 just snug. Not tight.

Just by way of an "UPDATE": We pulled into a nice Harvest Host location yesterday afternoon at the "BAR-Z Winery" in Canyon, TX about 20 miles south of Amarillo near Palo Verde SP. We've logged just over 1,400 miles since R&R efforts of the AxleTek and ALCAN spring packs. A prior-to-departure torque inspection revealed no more "U-bolt stretch" as the nuts met target torque specs. For us, at least, our higher level of confidence in the running gear and general peace of mind knowing we've got 2k#-rated 5-spring leaf packs under our 3.5k# axles was worth the $'s, time, and effort in this upgrade, FYI. Cheers from a couple "Happier Campers"!

As far as mounting the panels, the combiner box and, the interconnect wiring…. I paid Oliver service to do that. I bought the Zamp panels from Oliver and since they know exactly where the aluminum plates are located in the outer roof, they mounted the panels as well. All other wiring and solar controls ScubaRx and I installed. I had to look the other way and bite down on a broken arrow when the first hole was drilled into my new camper but have since gotten over that trauma.

I think Oliver uses a material that is used by the boating industry called starboard. Others may have the correct name if this isn’t correct. I have used vinyl trim board readily available at Lowe’s and Home Depot in various widths and thickness. I also use an epoxy by Permatex that is very high solvent content and actually melts into both the vinyl board and the fiberglass surface and is much like fiberglass resin. 

For years our MaxxFan 7000K has made a high pitched chirping noise at lower speeds. I had been told that it was due to pulse width modulation speed control so I didn’t try to fix it. My wife can’t hear the noise but it really annoys me. I finally googled and found this video. I cleaned the brush dust out of the motor and now the fan is pretty quiet. Be aware that black dust will come out of the motor when it is disassembled so you might have someone hold something under the motor as you pull it apart.

Packed to the gills. I felt like a German mechanic changing a water pump connecting batteries but I am happy with the result. No maintenance and they have remote monitoring and shut offs so they shouldn’t need to come out.

And did Oliver account for an opposite force when we take our trailers to the southern hemisphere. A lot of us want to explore Australia with our trailers and we need to know how Oliver designed the frame. 😂🤣 John

Removed: Old Xantrex inverter, transfer switch including ac legs IN/OUT, charger from PD4000, Trojan batteries, Battery tray Mods: Wired Outlet and microwave circuit directly to breaker, mounted pos and neg bus bars using Star board (heavy), Pulled all wires from battery compartment except 4/0 pos and neg, ran wires for Epoch battery remote battery on/off switch and external battery level indicator, COM port from battery to MP2, Re-used all electrical wire (Used some new lugs and heat shrink), removed 10/3 main shore AC from EMS to PD4000Installed: POS and Neg bus bar, (2) Epoch 460 ah batteries, battery wire zip tie holders Waiting on MP2 stand to give lateral support since it will be mounted horizontally. May still bond starboard to fiberglass wall to fixate MP2 but it weighs 49lbs so I want the extra support from stand. We shall see if it fits with some modified aluminum support for feet.

Go to the Oliver University - From the Oliver Website hit "Home", Resources", "Oliver University". "Travel Trailer Owners Manuals", scroll down to 2022 models, and, then click on "View Manual"(located on the right side of the screen. Next scroll down to page 60 and start reading about water system information. Note that your water valve configuration(s) can be found on page 62. If your accumulator fails then all you should notice is that your water pump will run more often and you might see some "pulsating" of water as it comes out of the faucet. However, unless something has clogged the accumulator there should be no other issues with it. Bill

It’s a rite of passage for a lot of owners!

Our storage is under cover, so the only time we’re exposed to the sun is while camping. When CGI did our trailer they noted that it was not oxidized very much for a 7 year old (at the time) trailer. Covering definitely helps. Mike

@rideandfly Bill, A pretty neat video which contains useful polishing steps by the fellas at CGI. I may add another larger buffer to my arsenal. Nothing like a clean and polished up Ollie!

GJ - Just remember to add 'Air-Down' to your step-by-step before leaving the 'Barn', if you do 'air-up' once in. I'm following this thread, with great interest and maybe I should have joined the discussion about 9 pages ago. Our (2) rear leaves broke on the 'eye leaf' at the point where the leaf below the eye ended. I believe I saw some similar break points on other pics posted above. We were in the NWT/TUK area so resources were limited. We cobbled together 2 new but different LS's to get us back down to Whitehorse, YT. Image a horse with two worn shoes in fronts, with a loafer & tennis shoe on the rears... But it tracked & pulled straight. OKAY, maybe not that bad, we can smile but not yet laugh about it now. We had all 4 LS's replaced by 'Jacob Industries' (HIGHLY RECOMMEND IF YOU NEED WORK DONE...) the go-to suspension business in Whitehorse YT, last summer to get us home. So we'll probably not be replacing LS's unless we break another on our return adventure to AK this summer. And yes, we now carry 2 (the fronts) LS with new brass bushings if we needed. Our new LS's had some differences in length from what we had from the build, they are rated at 1830 lbs. The ride home from Whitehorse was slow and not 'stiff' at all, but by this time we were on pavement. There is a lot more that ScubaRX & I found out about LS's that are compatible with the the LE2, in research & discussion. Starting with 'where does Oliver source them from' to that sources part numbers & spec's. Even on some of the supposed same universal PN's from different suppliers sometimes there are slight/negligible differences in the A B C D measurements that make it less that totally consistent by supposedly the 'same industry PN' across suppliers. And that was just the 4 leaver's. I have spreadsheets, but this thread is way beyond that point, by going with ALCAN. I actually like the idea of going with 5 leaves, not for load increase (which we will not do), but the fact that the first leaf below the eye, extends to the eye. Snow maybe Wed, after the melt we'll pull SNYSDUP out of the nesting box, and start loading him up, Cause "WE ARE GOING CAMPING". B-Out,

Summary: Check under your kitchen sink I walked up to an Oliver at a campground one time to introduce myself. I noticed water running down the curb side rear stabilizer. After exchanging greetings I brought the leak to the attention of the owner. After looking under the curb side bunk and finding nothing I suggested that he look under the kitchen sink for the source of the leak. Upon removal of the drawers he found water soaked plywood caused by a loose coupling on the kitchen sink drain trap. Since then I have tried to check mine occasionally to ensure that it is tight and to look around for any other problems. Today I found that the quarter turn stop on the hot water was not completely open. It had probably been like that since we took delivery. Anyway, I opened it and improved the hot water flow at the sink. Occasionally remove your (kitchen) drawers and check on stuff down there -tightness of the drain coupling -quarter turn stops fully open -refrigerator plug plugged in -hose weight located between back of drawers and rear of cabinet carcass -hose not twisted -any sign of moisture -anything rubbing against something -and especially that blue clip on the faucet hose assembly. There was an owner that heard water running underneath her sink when she turned the faucet on. Turns out that blue clip was missing and the hose had completely separated. We have a 2018 OEII, hull 313. Some of this stuff has probably changed. The round port was added after production to access a loose clamp on the exit end of the fresh tank overflow hose. It sure is useful for checking below the cabinets. There is a plumbing vent under the back right corner of the range. It is supposed to let air in and not let grey tank smells out. If you are smelling something foul (grey tank odors, not black tank odors) and you can’t locate a leak you might have a bad plumbing vent.

Yes, the new Olivers do come with a 2” receiver.

Staying 2nights at Gulpha Gorge CG in Hot Springs NP. Site 12 is a FHU site and good size but with a large downward pitch and sideways roll. Other smaller sites without hookups back onto the creek.

We worked with both Mike and Lew at Alcan in ordering our 5 spring-packs. Great guys and very helpful. FYI: We decide to reuse our wet bolts as the brass bushings in the spring eyes (albeit very thin) were still intact which left the steel bolts totally serviceable. IMO: The 2k#-rated Alcan spring-packs (or similar 5-spring packs) pair better with the 3.5k# Dexters than the OEM 4 spring-packs...

You have mighty fine taste Art! 👍🏻 Looks like a custom Sargent seat too. This is my 3rd BMW Adventure over the years. I previously owned an 07 and a 15 YM. At 6’3 the ergos of this bike allow for a really comfy day in the saddle. I recently took delivery of this bike March 1st. I ride where the Buffalo still roam here in the Blue Ridge Mtn and foothills. My 15 ADV -riding the devils whip aka route 80 in the Blue Ridge Mtns.

Steve: Again you are providing a gold mine if great info. THANK YOU! So, with twin cast in place conduit runs, am I correct in thinking that as shown in the above "N9" picture: The left conduit (Street side) is provided for the pre-wired solar system feeds to the attic. The right one,(Curb Side) that runs from the front closet area to the attic feeds attic area miscellaneous electrical needs. I will for sure be up top this summer looking for that dimple. I seem to recall seeing it and wonder "What's dat for?" If so, it marks the "X" on the spot for buried treasure. Made my day! GJ

I'd bet that the guys from CGI will be at the Rally again this year. I'd also bet that they would be more than happy to bring their gloss meter to your Ollie and give you some gloss readings. Bill

As early as April, 2015 they were molding wire chases into the upper inside hull to run the wiring down between the hulls to the rear attic space. I shot these photos on 04-29-2015. The above shot shows the rear of the hull. The upper attic door will be cut here. This photo shows where the wires would go through the outer hull and into the wiring chase toward the front of the trailer This photo shows where the wire chase starts. This photo is looking from the front towards the rear of the trailer. I don't know if these will help. At one time there were some little dimples in the top of the outer hull to show where that wire chase terminated. X marked the spot on the inner hull in photos #2 and #3.

X2 a best practice! That gray tank provides a nice soapy rinse.

Same for us. We have found we do not need to dump the gray tank more often than every 2 days or so, even with showers, so it takes little time away from our camping adventures. We usually dump the black tank first regardless of its level, then flush with the gray tank contents.

I like to keep the grey tank closed so when I am ready to dump the black tank, I can use the grey water to flush the hose. I like to have about 75% grey when I dump black. If you have a composting toilet, this method does not apply. Mossey

If your drawers now open without trouble, it’s a good time to practice taking them out. Before you begin, a word of caution is needed! The edges of the metal portion of the drawer slides are very sharp, so be careful. Also take the time and unload the drawer you want to remove, it will make everything that follows easier to complete. Only 5 of our drawers come out, the exception being the one under the sink. So pick any of the other drawers and slide it all the out until it stops. Now put your thumbs inside the drawer on each side close to the front of the drawer and your fingers outside with the tips of your fingers under the bottom of the drawer. Now you should be able to feel the release for the drawer slide and squeeze the tips of your fingers to the outside of the drawer on both sides and slide the drawer out of the drawer slides. Dang if that paragraph doesn't have a lot of drawers in it! Or just get on the floor and slide a drawer out and you will see the orange handles that you will squeeze to remove the drawer. Good luck, Mossey

I like the Nova Kool R5810. Has a larger freezer and other benefits. Ken (Mountain Oliver) installed one and I put together with his ideas and edits the attached DYI guide for install. There is a good amount of info here in the forum threads as well. GJ Nova Kool R5810 Installation (7 MARCH 2023 Version).docx NOTE:: I edited the attachment to correct several typos and some minor clarifications. No significant changes otherwise.

I like to use t-nuts and machine screws with my initial installation of equipment. Mossey

Here's an earlier thread on same topic.

We got the Anderson to work first Try this time. 30 seconds. No sweat. :-)

(Copied and pasted from the leaf spring thread): Regarding frame cross member welds - visually inspected all yesterday and photographed each weld to set a baseline for our records. All good. I'm suspecting that the broken welds reported could be caused by an inexperienced welder at the factory - an anomaly and not a design flaw. I also suspect that Oliver engineers designed the frame to withstand "normal" usage (that may be difficult to define, however). Like other owners, we routinely, yet carefully, travel over unpaved and unimproved roads with a full fresh (empty black/gray) tank without issue - I believe this practice is within the design limitations of the trailer. We'll definitely keep inspecting the cross members after such trips, however... Thoughts?

John, Hate to be a Monday morning Quarterback, but did you add Coriolis Force?

It was the first LE2 sold to the public and the last one sold before the shutdown. The only 2010 titled Ollie too.

Only if there is still an option to still have the fan run continuously. None of you have heard Deb snore! (Well, maybe some of you within four or five sites of us at last year's rally...)

I am not a metallurgist, but it seems to me that less flexibility should=less stress on the welds, not more. And, intuitively, doubling the crossmember material should strengthen the entire assembly, reducing stress on the welds.

Here’s an interesting article on what to do in a lightning storm. They say metal RV’s are safer than all fiberglass RV’s. They also give some other advice. I’d be interested in what the consensus is on what everyone does during storms. Mike Lightning Storm Precautions

Initially it looked complicated, but after working on the first shade, it was not. Like Mike said, be patient. 🙂

And - here we are on April 16th, 2024! The good news is that I've now (finally) got the shade back together (for about the 10th time) and the BIG exception as compared to the other 9 times is that it now works! I never thought that I'd have to be concerned with "string theory". But in the case of these shades there are a couple of VERY important things that one should pay attention to. The reason why it took me 10 times to get it correct was that my intent was to only replace the string that broke. I did this according to the diagram(s) that I found in this thread. I paid careful attention to the route that this string took in those diagrams, but, in each instance once the shade was put back together and the spring tension set, I would quickly see that the string would not stay taught on one side or the other. Long story - but this problem got me to thinking - where does the string go when I raise the blind? About the same time I retrieved another shade from the Ollie hoping that it might give me some idea of were I was going wrong. In looking at the shade I knew was functioning properly and I (finally) noticed that the string routing on the side that was not broken was different than either the night shade and/or the properly functioning shade from the Ollie. This is when I (finally) realized exactly how these shade manage the string - one side takes up the string while the other side basically pushes it out and the spring simply helps smooth out that process. In the diagram from the factory - if you follow it closely - it can been seen that the string goes from the spring, through the corner frame piece, through the lower pull bar (the bar that is used for raise and lower the night shade) and into the upper pull bar (the bar used to raise and lower the screen). But instead of going through this bar, the string takes a turn and travels through the bar under the bottom part of the shade where the shade is held by this bar. I pulled the string down this bar until it came to a grommet that passes through the bottom of the screen, and is then threaded upwards through the holes in the screen fabric. Once this is complete the threading continues through the top of the screen and into the area just above the point where the screen is held in a track at the bottom of the frame itself. Once again, the string then turns and travels back to the original side of the shade where there is a second grommet. Passing through that grommet and then the holes in the screen fabric until coming back to the bar that is used to raise and lower the screen. Back into the narrow track on the bottom side of this bar that holds the screen it is just a short distance (a couple of inches) back to the end piece of the bar where the string feeds over a small metal "roller" and then takes a 90 degree turn back towards the area where the original spring is located. Again, paying close attention to the drawing and to the opposite side to make sure that the routing was the same on both sides I finally got back to the spring. In tying the string back to the spring I had to use a pick in order to get some stretch in the spring. It took more stretch than I would have thought but I needed to take up all of the slack in the string plus make the string taught such that the screen would not "flap" in the breeze. The whole "issue" was that the original stringing from the shade factory was NOT the same as the stringing shown in the drawing above. Instead of passing the string through that second bar (the one used to raise and lower the screen) and then threaded UP through the screening, the string continued up into the top frame piece and down into the screening (i.e. the reverse direction). While I don't think that there is anything "wrong" with this, the problem is that BOTH sides must be strung in the same manner (i.e. in the same direction). Of course I could have avoided a bunch of work and worry if I had simply paid attention to how the broken string side was routed in the first place. But, of course, I simply pulled out the broken string - mistake! Hopefully the above makes some sense and you avoid the issues I encountered. I'd be happy to do a "show & tell" at the Rally for anyone that really wants to see what I'm talking about - just let me know and we'll work on a time and place to do a one on one. Bill

fYI, justed looked at my axle , i have 6 leaf spring on my 5033 lb. Axle. LEI. July 2022.. just thought i would it out there for LEI owners.. ( very few of us,😁).. All my welds look good also.

I'd just sandwich the cross member with a larger secondary backing plate in between and below with proper hole spacing for the hitch and throuth bolt the whole thing. It would be stronger than the above arraignment and solve the problem of the mis-aligned holes.

Same here. We keep it closed until dump time. Mike

Found the orange handles AND decoded the dance steps 🤣 TYVM. Works perfectly.

Another good Andersen day. Took two tries. I'm calling that a win. In other news: 1) After yesterday's spectacular hike on the cliff trail, I drove 10 miles through Del Water Gap with my tailgate down. But NOTHING fell out. This is the first plus from our dramatic overpacking. Things are so crammed in there I don't even need the tailgate! 😏 2) We got a drawer stuck. I was able to slide a ladle in, push down on the offending dish, and get it to open. But this is the second time I wish I knew how to remove the drawers. Now that we have wifi, I'll go take a peek in Oliver U. 3) 4 days in Worthington State Park with no hookups, we used half our fresh water, half our grey tank (of course), maybe 1/3 a tank of propane, and left with 50% charge in our batteries (it was cloudy almost the whole time). That confirms my suspicion that fresh water is what will limit anything we do that approaches boondocking. (And I was using the campground shower. DW, refused cuz it was stinky.) And I now know that our major electric draws (beside the AC) are: jacks, microwave, hair drier, water pump. TV, radio, fridge and lights are almost nothing by comparison.

Hey Art, Nothing wrong with hanging out in a cow pasture shooting the bull. 😄

This is what I used with the DC-DC converter setup. Expanded PVC Foam Board, White, 3/4" (0.75", 19MM) Thick, 12" W x 36" L https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09K2YR21N/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1 I used the 3/4" thick instead of 1/2" thick so I could have a few more threads on the screws holding things.

There have been threads on this forum discussing the weight limitations of racks (bike, cargo, etc.) on the back of an Oliver. As I recall, the limitations result from the increased dynamic load exerted by anything cantilevered off the back of the trailer, far aft of the rear axle. These limitations, in turn, prompted Oliver to limit the bike rack mount to 1-1/4". I recommend you carefully consider what you want to carry behind the trailer, and how that will impact the longevity of the aluminum frame.

I believe once you have torqued the nuts 2-3 times and get to "no more stretch" you should trust the installation that they're good and you're done. The U-bolts need to be well seated, but they are not a maintenance item and once set will stay put for years, decades even.

I agree Max all great points, Comparing visually just a few early model weld photos to my welds on XPLOR there is a vast difference in the appearance of the skill level of the welder and his craft. I really don’t see this being an issue with later model Oliver’s. I have not heard or read about any cracked welds on the newer Olivers. Oliver TT clearly recognized the need for higher quality welds early on and improved on this with a much better weld. Good on Oliver! All this said it is imperative that owners inspect and maintain ALL areas of their Oliver. Olivers are extremely well engineered and well built in my owner experience. Oliver has continued and will continue to make improvements through the years. If I ever end up with a cracked weld I will simply have it fixed. I know I still own the best TT made in the USA. 🇺🇸 With so few trailers impacted, I am not sure how much more we can beat this dead horse. 😄 Happy Camping!!