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What I just posted in John's Facebook group for Oliver Owners. This does not require a lot of discussion. WARNING: Fake Facebook groups cropping up everywhere! Folks, we have a growing disturbing problem with Facebook (FB) groups, especially, because you are reading this, in regards to owning an Oliver. You may have noticed at least one or two new Oliver-related FB groups crop up lately. From the very first picture posted, from the Oliver group that has the word "Community" in it, there are suspicious postings & members. Now the more legit people who join these fake groups will make the group look more and more legit itself. Our information is being collected, I promise you. I'm not usually an overly suspicious person, but as an active Information Technology (IT) guy who also supports cyber security, I'm seeing more obvious signs of trouble. Even a dumb monkey like me can start to see the issues. Now, I just left that "Oliver Community" group just last night after I had seen enough AI generated material and started to smell bad actors. You can ask any AI out there this question and read for yourself why and how and why this is happening. Just ask it something like this: Are there fake facebook groups being created to collect information on us? I usually have not cared about what is collected on me, as big American businesses are notorious about collecting info. These fake groups are not maintained by American businesses, I promise you that. I have no stake, nor real loyalty, to this group we are in right now. I am not an admin, and frankly, I was once kicked out of the group for a misunderstanding on my part. I was later asked to rejoin due to my loyalty to the OTT owners in general. That's it. I'm sure this will be received like politics. We will be split down the middle 50/50 or at least split 33/33/33. Just be VERY safe out there in this mucky world of social media we have created. This group is managed by real good people. We may not always understand why they do what they do, but that is because you are not trying to keep bad actors out of a private group. It's a fulltime job these days. Some forums of the world have to block entire countries due to the issues developing now. Be safe and "you do you", but you've been warned.

When my tire pressure is too high and the ride a bit harsh, my mother-in-law starts complaining about the bumpy ride back there making her drop stitches on her knitting, which then upsets my wife, and when momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy. Happy wife, Happy Life! Just set yer tire pressure so your MIL may knit in peace.

If you have Lithionics batteries, you should check their Firmware. Mine was three versions outdated! The latest version of Firmware includes upgrades and corrections to the Battery Management System (BMS) and State Of Charge (SOC) accuracy. The Firmware can be checked and updated with the Lithionics Application. Go to settings and pick “Firmware Update.” Then press the “Flash Firmware” button if you don't have the latest version. Be sure to up-date each battery.

Hull #435: I have had intermittent power issues with my front tongue jack. Many times getting ready to leave a campground and the darn thing just doesn't have power. It always started working again?? It seemed like after manually raising or lowering it all the sudden it was working again. I have checked the fuse, changed the switch, and still kept getting the intermittent issue. I assumed it must be an electrical short issue (which is always hard to find). With some help from my nephew who is an electrician I have finally solved the problem. The whole time it was a poor ground connection. I believe the ground connection was made through the metal tongue jack being bolted to the frame as the ground wire was coming from the top of the motor assembly. I ran a new ground wire and it now works perfectly. In fact the motor runs better than ever and the light is brighter! My last step will be to weather proof the hole I drilled for the wire to keep water out of the motor.

Wife, puppy, and I just bought hull 327, a 2018 LE2, and are bringing her from Arizona to her new home in the Lost Sierras/Lake Davis CA. We’ve owned a coleman pop-up, and a big 5th wheel with slides in our past life… and after TONS of research (including understanding how bomb-proof ocean-crossing fiberglass sailboats are constructed), we couldn’t be more impressed with the quality of the Oliver trailers. Looking forward to seeing ya’ll out there!

Couple comments from your observations. Alcan weight rating (capacity) is 2,750 for 5 leaf and 2,250 for 4 leaf. Weight rating is the designed weight at which a spring pack fails. As the same top four leafs are utilized in both 4 and 5 leaf versions, spring rate (a.k.a. “Ride”) remains largely the same even though weight rating is different. Spring rate is amount of weight required to deflect spring 1” when at ride height. While unable to locate any documentation from Dexter as to “buffer” capacity for their springs I was able to locate documentation from LCI (Lippert) which states that there should be a 20% weight capacity buffer between the total weight capacity of a set of their leaf springs and the curb weight of a fully loaded trailer. Reason stated for maintaining this buffer is to accommodate travel over uneven roads, curbs, potholes, dips and other occurrences which could temporarily increase the actual weight on a spring pack. 7,000x .8= 5,600. My trailer weighs 6,200 ready to travel. I chose the 5 leaf Alcans for my trailer and have been quite happy with their performance. I know a few others have chosen the 4 leaf versions and they seem happy with their choice as well. Either choice is a huge upgrade from the RV industry standard (dexter).

Hi everyone — I previously did an intro in the introductions section, but my wife and I are new (to us) Oliver owners (about 2 months in). We’ve camped twice so far and already have several trips planned over the next several months, including a lot of boondocking in USFS campgrounds. I've had travel trailers of various forms for about 20 years and we are super excited to now be Oliver owners. I just finished a lithium / inverter / portable solar upgrade on our 2019 Legacy Elite II (Hull 514) and put together a detailed project write-up with photos, wiring approach, parts list, and lessons learned (see attached). The trailer came from the factory without an inverter, no roof solar, and no solar connector. It had two AGM batteries when we bought it. The main goal was a clean, reliable, serviceable install that leverages the existing factory AC/DC wiring/routing and keeps the system simple (including an inline inverter/charger pass-through so the trailer’s AC panel works “like stock,” just with inverter capability). I found great info on this forum as I undertook this project and hope to give back just a little by posting this as a practical reference for anyone planning a similar upgrade — happy to answer questions or share any additional photos/details if it helps. Happy camping!! Lithium Inverter Solar Write-Up.pdf

We finally got a window (and the courage to drive through PDX traffic) to visit the Oliver dealer in Salem, Oregon. It took about 30 minutes, and the tech seemed professional. Atta boys for the service team We also took a few minutes to look at the new Olivers that were at the dealership. They’re nice, but I suspect we won’t be buying a new trailer. I did like the compressor fridge and lithium batteries, but I don’t think it will be enough to sway us.

"Me do me" means no Facebook whatsoever - problem solved. I just don't see eye-to-eye with Mr. Zuckerberg's vision. There are other ways to communicate with your friends. Thanks for the heads up and continuing to help me affirm my decision.

The wife refers to it as the “man barn” for my “man toys”!

https://www.elephants.com/

Mr. Jim Oliver told me personally that the frame was engineered to support 3X the GVWR. He stated that it was good to 21,000 pounds. Actually Oliver's GVWR of only 7000 pounds is due to their continued use of the underrated four leaf spring pack (the same ones that are breaking). This causes the otherwise 5200 pound Nev-R-Lube axle to be de-rated to 3500 pounds each.

I’ve seen what happy reviews everyone’s had with CGI, but I’m simply too far away, and cannot schedule to be in the area of the rally easily. As a result I looked locally, because, I’ve had a couple cars coated and they get parked outside…, with great results (11+ years). If you are looking in the Minneapolis, Minnesota area for a detailed/coater I used O.C.Detail and they used Roar AG (the coating Roar does for trucks and agricultural equipment) given the use case. I brought it home today, and think the results look pretty good. https://ocdetailmn.com. Attention to detail seems to have been great (even the fan is sparkling). and Yes a 2025 LE II fits (barely) into their space.

Short Version: Springs because dozens of us have had them FAIL. Axles because a boat load of us have tons of miles on the 3500 Dexters, and the cost of replacement of the brake assemblies is insane, and besides we want the braking power of the 5200's. None of which involve tire pressure. That topic was started by John D, and I got the facts presented to OTT and they have since reduced their recommendations accordingly. GJ

Oh Lord but I love this group. On the way to have my new suspension fitted, I will have my newly programmed iPhone taped to the floor on the way to and from. Will post the data after. (Probably 4 weeks out...)

The TrailerSmith has a video on the Dexter Nev-R-Lube, notes He's only seen these in the case that the bearing cartridge has failed, nobody brings them in for inspection (big surprise) It truly is a zero maintenance drum, you can't perform any maintenance Read the owners manual - you have to inspect it every 12k miles or annually Jack the trailer and check for end play (wiggle the tire and spin, if you can wiggle it that's end play) If there's any end play, the cartridge needs to be replaced Assuming no premature failure (e.g. end play) it should perform just fine for ... It has a five year, 100k warranty Therefore, replace the cartridge and possibly the entire drum before every five years (or 100k) regardless of the end play "I will tell you, if the bearing cartridge keeps its grease and is maintained properly, you will get all your years of service out of it ... pretty much guaranteed" "The problem is, people don't do their service checks, even if you haven't driven it much, maybe some moisture has gotten in there, check it annually" A failure most common with these is with horse trailers which are heavy. If you overuse the brakes the heat transmits through the hub and can boil out the grease. If you see the paint peeling off or heat damaged, pop the cap, if you see grease then you have boiled it out and the cartridge needs replacing Unfortunately OTT doesn't have Dexter manuals in the university, but here's the flyer for Nev-R-Lube where it makes clear the maintenance free (not inspection free!) five year 100k service life. My take: as long as you're doing the regular maintenance (end play check) you should be fine on the road. Bringing along a tool kit is definitely 'belt and suspenders', but instead I'll just do the maintenance checks and replace in five years.

Usually the 1/2 Ton Trucks are limited by the 'dead weight" or weight carrying capability. The receiver unit on the truck you have should have a sticker like this one (from a 2018 F150) either on the actual receiver hitch or on the door frame. Notice that on this unit the max Tongue weight capacity is 500LB. (Weight carrying the case where you don't have a WDH and is essentially the dead weight from the trailer tongue down on the ball.) An Elite II tongue wt when loaded is easily above this 500lbs, and requires a weight distribution hitch to be safe and legal. In this F150 case, once a weight distribution hitch is applied, the F150 can then handle up to 1220 Lbs of direct tongue weight. The towing guides for most vehicles state the method for determining how much adjustment is needed from the WDH. Most have you: 1) Measure the unloaded truck's front wheel well height through the center of the front wheel. 2) Measure the wheel well height after loading the unit and attaching the trailer. In most cases the amount of weight distribution needed is set to bring the front end back down by at least 1/2 of the total difference in those two measured heights. Example: Unloaded measures 37" Loaded measures 41" (4' total rise). Apply enough WDH force to lower that front measurement by least 2" ....or 39" when loaded. Each manufacturers towing guide states specifics by vehicle make and model. CS

On communication issues my experience buying a new trailer was similar. Our bank operates differently from what they're used to, they wanted to talk directly with Oliver and get some information. I had communicated that many times months previously but it just didn't register. I forwarded emails from the bank requesting information, three different people saw this email but same problem. I discovered all this when I arrived, it was pretty frustrating. I'll say the Oliver people I worked with were all great, we got it sorted out, but in the end we had to do all the work with the bank that should have done earlier. We spent three nights at the Oliver campground doing this, but no worries, we needed the time anyhow and I had built in a buffer to our trip so no problems. Later at home I found a second issue going over the paperwork with the charges, service had charged for work that was already paid for on the main invoice, almost $1k worth. I caught it, when I alerted them they were great at getting it corrected. But yes, advice is absolutely triple check everything. The people are great, super nice, do top notch work, but communication is an area that can be improved.

Are they sure it’s kitchen water? Are they adding water to the black tank using the No Fuss Flush fitting? If they are flushing the black tank and have let it get too full and the shower drain valve is closed the water from the black tank can back up in the black tank vent and flow over into the sink drain and rise up through the shower drain and fill the shower pan and could actually overflow the pan and flood the trailer floor. Do not rely on the tank level display when diagnosing water level and drainage problems, or any other time really. I apologize for the “ands” and the run-on sentence. Bill

"The Mayor of Prescott" 😊

Thanks Mike! Yavapai Campground at the Granite Mountain Wilderness Area is a nice spot to visit Prescott. No hairy roads like driving up Thumb Butte Rd last week. It's paved all the way in. There are 21 FS campsites, and only $9/night with the old-fart pass! Sorry @John Dorrer, I'm being the Prescott "Resident Chamber of Commerce" person again! 🤣 Though where is everybody else? There should be a Where's Ollie post, or two, every day of the year! We're in site 16, which is one of two FF sites. It was easy for us to grab this spot, since the park reopened on April 1 and we got there at 9AM (just 20 min from home). Nice to camp for the week and only use a 1/4 tank of diesel with these prices today! Second pic is a view of Granite Mountain from the entry road. Adam and I hiked to the top 10 years ago and I hope to do it one more time before it get's too late for me! 😂

I watch a good bit of Will's content these days. He pretty much sticks with the same tests. However, over the years he has added to his tool chest with better and better diagnostic equipment. Creators trying to educate, do not usually make it to 1.1 million subscribers. Compared to where he came from, pretty much homeless, it's very impressive, especially for young folks these days. I used to watch Will when he was full-timing in a beat up trailer teaching himself his craft. Many years ago... nine years, I just checked. Here's the first video I remember watching from him.

I upgraded from a F150 to a F350. It was wonderful getting rid of the Anderson hitch and the F350 doesn't need sway control. However, the best part is driving down mountains is so much less stressful. That all by itself makes the bigger truck worth it.

We recently upgraded to the 5200 lb Dexter axles, purchased thru Alcan, and chose to use the 4 leaf Alcan springs to match the weight of the trailer. We also purchased the Dexter EZ flex and wet bolt kit from etrailer, replicating the stock setup, since we preferred to use step bolts. In addition, we replaced all four shocks with new factory style Monroe shock absorbers. We performed the installation ourselves. Our tire pressures are set at 45:psi which we monitor with our TST tire pressure monitor. We’ve had excellent results, the springs are noticeably firmer, both when towing and when set up for camping. We find that the ride is not unduly harsh and we haven’t had any issue with items coming loose or things falling off. Time will tell if the Monroe shocks will work well long term. We are very happy with the setup and our interactions with Alcan Spring.

We went 5-leaf since Alcan designed it this way specifically for the Oliver. They installed a few 4-leaf springs only due to Oliver owner requests. I would guess over 95% of us have installed the standard 5-leaf system. I've had to go over a lot of speed bumps lately. My truck suspension, being so tight, bangs hard over speed bumps, but the Oliver suspension glides over them so nicely! Looking through the sideview mirror, you can see each tire articulate up and down without affecting the other axle, while the hull does not budge an inch! I should buy Alcan leaf springs for the rear of our tow vehicle! 😎 We always tow with a dog bowl half full of water. The water stays put, and never had a drawer open. We did have items jostled in the Attic and hanging clothes fall in the closet once in the first few miles. Once I worked the first required torquing of wet and U-bolts, we never had another issue.

My understanding is that it uses Blockchains.

if you’re a serious musician you’ll know my dilemma; ya can’t leave it at home. This is a Doepfer stage piano I used before I got my grand. Weighs a ton and is bulletproof with reasonably weighted keys and has a decent action. I’ve been sweating whether this could work but thankfully it will! Being able to fit a keyboard was a selection criteria. I think neither Escape nor Bigfoot would comfortably accommodate it and Oliver was a maybe or “I hope” Yes it looks silly but OH WELL, your instrument is the girlfriend you can’t ignore Those are Anderson blocks and actually work perfectly. Having it there is pretty fine, that side is awkward anyhow because of the sloping wall, this provides an arm rest so if you don’t have a big butt it works. And best of all the table fits on top so no fooling around setting up. I just need custom cushions and most importantly a good chair that stows. The seat has to be good or it’s too hard to play Anyhow interested in ideas if ya got ‘em

Here's some data that I found interesting. Our Oliver is mostly stock, with only a little extra Reflectix insulation added to the external basement door. I have a remote thermometer in the Oliver belly, near the fresh and city water inlet lines, and another thermometer hanging inside the garage near the Oliver. I collected data from a week from both thermometers. The was no heat running in the Oliver. You can see that the average temperatures were only different by 1.1 degrees. There was a difference of 38.1 degrees from the highest temperature to the lowest temperature recorded in the garage: and only a 16.3 degree difference recorded in the belly of the trailer: I couldn't tell you if that's any better or worse than any other RV would perform, but those are the numbers from an unheated Oliver sitting in an unheated garage.

Not good! We camped Monday and ran the fridge and hot water heater together (-120A) for 30 min, until the water was hot. Then turned on the A/C on all afternoon, not plugged in, all on inverter. Temp on the Victron inverter rose to 90F, in its closed space, well within the 104F warning . I installed a basement exhaust fan, yet rarely use it. The Epoch app had been acting up, so I manually tested voltage with a multimeter. It read 12.9V, certainly a very good number considering the -120A load of the HWH. Battery tops and 4/0 wiring were all cold to the touch. I sealed the vents in our battery bay to keep dirt out. IMHO, call Lithionics, fix the issue vs. venting heat away that should not accumulating!

As far as I can tell, I’ve made the first automatic leveling system for the Oliver’s Barker stabilizing jacks! Maybe even the first 3-jack leveling system on a travel trailer! It’s simple to operate, safe, and works great! I built the leveling system as a novelty for my own entertainment, so I’m only posting it as a interest item not a recommended project. In reality, manually leveling with the electric jacks is already easy, particularly with a LevelMate, so automatic leveling isn’t really needed. There are even warnings that the jacks are stabilizers, not to be used for leveling. However, I believe the warnings are more about liability than capability, as long as the jacks are used within reasonable limits. I'd been thinking about an auto-leveling project for a long time, but was deterred by the thought of modifying the jacks with fiddly proximity sensors or revolution counters as used in conventional leveling systems. I didn't want to alter the jacks for a DIY project that might not even work. But then it dawned on me. The only time I really needed to know the position of the jacks, is when retracting them to their parked position. I wasn’t interested in returning the tongue jack to the truck hitch hight like some systems offer. So this led to a revelation that automatic leveling could be done with nothing more than current sensors mounted in a control box rather than on the jacks themselves. This was only possible because of the Barker jack’s mechanical clutch. When the jack reaches the end of its travel, the clutch activates with a distinct clack-clack sound. It was likely that clutch engagement would produce a unique current signature that could be used to detect when the jack is fully retracted. A plan was developing, but I needed actual amperage values for proof of concept. Fortunately I had a data logging ammeter, and the chart below illustrates the results for one of rear jacks starting from its fully retracted parked position. The jack was extended through free air until it touched ground and began picking up load, maxing out when the wheel lifted off the ground. Then it was retracted to the parked position until the clutch actuated: I didn’t include the tongue jack chart because it's far less dynamic — it's always under load, and the clutch doesn't normally actuate during leveling. The clutch only comes into play after trailer is hooked up to the TV and the tongue is manually retracted. The amperage results confirmed that current sensors could work, and beyond detecting the parked position, they could also be used to distinguish the different leveling phases: rear jack extension until firm ground contact for stabilizing, and then transition to "roll" leveling if needed. Completion of the rear jack phase could then trigger the tongue jack phase to handle "pitch" leveling. The amperage chart became the basis for the circuit and software design. No proximity sensors. No revolution counting. No permanent modifications — just two wires to each jack, a component box, and a control board. Sounds easy, but this was only just the start of a long process to perfect the system. I hope someone finds this interesting! Cheers! Geoff

Part 4, Custom Automatic Leveling — now with a phone app! The automatic leveling system is finally done, and it works fantastic! Although it was convenient and satisfying with just the control board switches, I made it even better with a phone app. The app works with the ESP32 microprocessor’s built-in WiFi, rather than Bluetooth, and the range is excellent. Besides better range, there were advantages of using WiFi over Bluetooth. Primarily for ease of development. An iPhone Bluetooth app must be developed with 3rd party software and managed through the app store. It’s tough for a hobbyist, especially with custom graphics and controls. With a WiFi app, it lives in the ESP32 firmware and it’s fully customizable with AI help, and easily revised. The app consists of 4 tabs, or pages, with the primary controls on the main page. Extra controls and features are in the other 3 pages. The pages are laid out as follows: Control — This page has the main Auto Leveling, Retract, and All Stop buttons. To prevent accidental activation, the buttons must be touched and held for 3/4 of a second (except the All Stop which is instant). The as-left readings (variance from target level) can be viewed in either inches or degrees, and the tolerance can be adjusted on page 3. The jacks motor current is also displayed with the idea that it could indicate jack degradation, but that feature is going away in the next revision because it’s too hard to correlate. Manual — This is an awesome feature on its own! The screen is similar to a LevelMate with graphics of the Olivers back and side, only it has manual jack controls too! The touch and hold buttons will raise and lower the jacks while showing the distance from level. I’ll probably use this feature a lot, especially for uneven terrain or if messing around with leveling blocks. Settings — This page contains settings for fine tuning. Any changes are temporary for the current session, but they can be flashed to the memory. There is also a reset to defaults button with a protective confirmation step: Pitch and Roll Tolerance — when set to 1/2” tolerance, the level usually gets to within 1/4” Ground Contact Detection Threshold — this determines how firmly the jacks are footed on the ground for stabilization. Default is 5 amps which closely matches where I used to set it by ear Retract - Clutch Runout — this shut-off delay determines how many clack-clacks are heard when jacks are parked. It’s set at 1/2 second, which is two clacks Leveling Step Durations — sets the jack’s incremental run time during leveling. It has 2 adjustable steps that decrease as the trailer nears level. This is important for accurate level sampling and coasting. Too little time increases timeout risk, while too much impacts accuracy. Finally there is the trailer width and length setting that’s used in the conversion formula for level degrees to inches. The longer pitch default distance from bumper to ball requires a wider tolerance than the width. Log — A summarized log of the Serial Monitor shows which jacks were activated and the different steps of automation. A Test Tone legend plays examples of tones for successful leveling, retraction, unsuccessful leveling, and calibration, although the tones are obvious and don’t really require a legend. This information has limited value and may get cut in next revision. The most important feature of this page is the calibration button. It has a secondary confirmation to prevent unintentional calibrations. This is used to reset the target level after maintenance, or if the front needs to be higher for tank drainage, etc. This concludes this project and I hope you found it interesting! Cheers! Geoff

Good to know To be fair - says the forum (Disclaimer: see blow). The manufacturer says differently. Handwaving arguments about Oliver having been wrong before, went overboard initially with 80 psi, this and that are not evidence that their recommendation today is wrong. I spent an hour looking for current documentation from Goodyear and couldn’t find it - have a link? There’s an old 2017 pdf, and a couple tables of indeterminant provenance that get reposted. I suspect Goodyear is not posting this information anymore and leaving to OEM’s. So having some tables isn’t convincing to me. I did find a lot of engineering common practice information which warns against too low a pressure for safety reasons, not too high. Low pressures are commonly used for low speed offroad traction use cases. I’m not seeing it done to avoid jounce. Does anybody here lower their TV pressures? Why not? I don’t understand why it’s OK for our trucks to be at specified pressures, but not our trailers. Or our cars. If your wife complained about a bumpy ride would you drop her pressures in half? Think about that for a second, now it becomes a safety issue. But this is me handwaving now. As it happens, today I’m mooch camping for a family thing (poor me writing from my Ollie tonight 😅). I didn’t take measurements because I needed my phone on the way out. One the way back I’ll definately be taking measurements and analyzing. Specifically doing a spectral power density and comparing it to some example charts. This won’t be definitive - nothing is definitive. But it will be a demonstration of how much of the road rumble makes it past the suspension. Little point discussing it more until we have data - that’s for sticking with me *********** Disclaimer: I’m an engineer and for 40 years have been arguing technical points with others as a part of the job, just business as usual and no feelings involved. Take this discussion in that spirit - a search for best practices and not a keyboard warrior food fight. I’m happy when others disagree, I don’t claim to be always right, but through a healthy discussion can perhaps get somewhere. Reality is the final arbiter as my EV 6k trip proved, and I’m planning on doing the same here and will be delighted to find if I’m dead wrong. With the springs discussion for example you saw me switch sides (pending data) ***********

Here’s a photo of the inside of my original 2017 (hull 208) wheels. You can zoom in and see all of the specifications including the 110 psi pressure rating and load rating for the wheel! I took the picture when the trailer was new and filed it for future reference.

First, I very much enjoy reading your posts. Please do keep questioning and pushing the envelope in an effort for you, me, and others to truely understand the "WHY" question. Glad to hear you are ditching the 1750's. Doing so is half the quest. The other half is deciding "What spring best suites our use of our OE2's"? For what I believe is about 10% of owners, clearly the answer is the super strong and reliable Alcan 5-Leaf springs. For the rest of us it is prudent not to "Over-Spring" our suspensions. The obvious choices are either the Dexter 2400 four leaf or the Alcan four leaf. If you are a 10%er that often puts their OE2 into structural gymnastics, great get the 3,000 pound Alcons. If you don't live off-road then the four leaf is your best choice. If you are budget inclined, as I and others are, then the Dexter 2400's is the answer. But if you have the spare cash then why not go to is the Alcan 4-leaf springs. I have to admit that I have never heard someone use the words "Wussie" and "Oliver" in the same sentence. For sure got a LOL out of me on that one. I get your thought line though. Bottom line is that EVERY design has a life span. Air Stream's do in fact pop rivets and have upper cabinet issues when stressed over time. Their owners tend to not be out boondocking on regular basis. Likewise, stress an Ollie suspension enough and one will see the impacts as well. I think Bill summarized the situtation well: So sure we all at times put undue stress on our hulls with no worries. And I think that our hulls are "NEAR" bullet proof. So we can do so for a long time. But it still is smart to go more gentle when we can. Especially for the electronic's, refergerator, glassware, the ton of stuff in our wire shelves in the pantry, not to mention the frame, battery box, ............. etc. Again thanks for your posts! John

Likely due to the low battery cutoff parameter / selection on the Xantrex inverter. The inverter will shut off a bit before the batteries go into safe mode which is not a bad thing. The point at which this happens becomes more significant depending upon how much load the Xantrex is supplying due to the voltage drop in the wiring between the batteries and the Xantrex which varies with load. The Xantrex sees a slightly lower voltage than what actually exists at the battery terminals ( and what the internal battery management system sees). For example if you are running your microwave the voltage indicated, (battery voltage ), on the Xantrex display will be lower than what you would read directly across your battery terminals with a voltmeter. The result being that the Xantrex will hit its low battery cutoff and shut off before the battery will go into safe mode.

Great correction thanks, the post I got that from was misstating it Bingo, I talked about this above but kept it short so the post wouldn't get too confusing. Buffer is what I call margin, and exactly I mentioned that it's there for overloading (which happens) and impulse load (road conditions). As for the relationship between static and dynamic load, AI says (asking for cars as the models will be deeper on that topic, but its obviously the same) This lends me to think that the five spring, which I think Alcan suggests here, is the better choice. That's a 11k static load rating compared to 9k for the four spring. The axles are rated at 10k, but as the brunt of the dynamic force is taken by the sprung suspension, so being a bit overspec there isn't bad. So, five springs here I come ... tl/dr As for the counterargument that it will transmit more road shock and vibration, the true test is measuring it. Before/after vibration tests. Fortunately this is easy using your phone, Vibration Meter stores history and outputs CSV. Test procedure would be to Securely attach the phone to a hard surface in the trailer. 3M Velcro Command Strips to the floor Start measuring and drive Synchronizing before and after should be done ideally. Simplest is probably a 'clapboard marker' by just noting the time you pass a GPS coordinate or landmark Or don't be so precious, simply measure RMS I'll do this test by measuring on the same road(s) before/after

We got tired (pun intended) of sleeping on the stock cushions. We had some custom mattresses made. They are 9.5” thick, and very easy to move around when accessing plumbing/electrical. They are high density foam, so much lighter than latex. These are firm, and amazing. Custom Comfort Mattress in Southern California

Custom Automatic Leveling for the Oliver's Barker Jacks Part 3: I skipped over a lot of detail to keep this project interesting, and it’s probably still too much information. But some might be interested to hear about some of the background work that was involved. After the test board phase was complete, and everything was working well on the bench, the system was installed in the trailer for real-life testing. This was an anxious time because it had only been tested with simulated current, and I had no idea how it would react under real current conditions. Things went south immediately! I started testing with rear jacks because they were easier to wire and much more complex than the tongue jack. I didn’t want to run the tongue jack wires if the whole project could end up in the trash bin! I came up with a test procedure to verify each function in different scenarios of operation, and that required manual jack operation. That’s when the problems started! I was blowing the 30 amp jack fuses and couldn’t figure out why. I first focused on the H-bridge relay wiring as the problem. Then I suspected that the ESP-32 or driver outputs were miss-wired during transition from the test board. They had been soldered together one wire at a time under magnification, and back tracing the bundled wires was a nightmare. I couldn’t find the problem and came close to scrapping the whole project. I was so confident in the design, and overly focused on wiring, that I completely overlooked the obvious. There was a major flaw in the way the auto-leveling system was isolated from the manual jack switches. I had used a high-amperage relay that closed to a common ground only when the H-bridge relays triggered, which broke the short circuit path when the manual switches were used. However, I hadn't considered that the pole-reversing function of the switches created a different ground path through the hot side of the leveling system. The solution required major re-work, replacing the single ground isolation relay with six 30/40 amp relays that isolate the manual switches from both the ground and hot side. Although there were two spare Darlington driver channels capable of handling two relays each, there weren't enough channels for six new relays and a second driver was added. The system now runs 12 relays from 9 driver channels — six H-bridge relays and six isolation relays, two per jack. All the components were installed in a 12” project box that was limited in size by the 3-D printer capacity. So the relays were stacked 2 high on a stepped base to save space, and a elevated terminal block helped with wire congestion. I was able to mount the current sensors directly on the PCB with the ESP-32 and other modules. It’s tight, but nicely compact too! The switches for the leveling system are mounted on a 3-D printed control panel inside the outside storage garage. The panel includes flush to the surface push-buttons to safeguard against accidental activation, one for “Auto Leveling” and the other for “Retraction.” There is a master On/Off switch, status LED, and a Piezo Electric buzzer for the status tones. The entire panel is also recessed to protect it from cargo. The system can be shut down with the On/Off switch, or by re-pressing either momentary switch. The systems parasite draw is near zero when on, but it’s normally off when not in use. The existing freshwater control system was incorporated into the lower part of the control panel due to space constraints. It has a 4-way water pump switch for the outdoor shower, with indicator LED. There is also a 4-position, 6-contact, rotary switch that controls motorized valves for the four freshwater configurations; Normal, Freshwater Tank Drain, Boondocking, and Winterizing. The LED indicators show configurations other than normal. A printed weather proof hood was used for wire penetration into the tongue jack head, and a terminal board was used to splice into the rear jack wiring. This was a useful addition for quick disconnecting and troubleshooting. Those were the only modifications made to the trailer, other than enlargement of the existing switch panel cutout on the garage wall. All the custom components used in this project were designed with a free on-line CAD program called TinkerCad. Some items were 3-D printed from PLA filament, a plant based plastic. Other pieces were printed from ABS plastic for better durability, or TPU — a rubbery filament. Automotive Deutsch style plug-in connectors were used to connect the switch panel and control box, and they allowed me to connect a remote switch box that was used to operate the system from inside the trailer during testing. There is also a panel mount USB cable port for a laptop connection to view the serial monitor or update the software. The system needs a one time calibration that is done with the trailer perfectly level. Both momentary switches are held for 5 seconds until the Status LED quickly flashes three times and the audible calibration tone indicates satisfactory level. The software determines the pitch and roll off-sets from absolute level, and sets them as the new target level +/- 0.2 degrees pitch and 0.3 degrees roll. This equates to about 1/4 to 1/2 inch tolerance. The end result works great! There will probably be more software fine tuning in actual camping conditions, but it will be easier to do that in the future. I’m just finishing up a Bluetooth App for the automatic leveling controls, and it will include setting adjustments for tolerance, ground contact pressure, clutch runout, leveling step durations, and more! If you made it this far, I hope you enjoyed the project! Cheers! Geoff

Custom Automatic Leveling for the Oliver's Barker Jacks — Part 2 Here is some more detail of the automatic leveling project as it transitioned from an idea to a working prototype. The project evolved from concept with safety and trailer protection as core design priorities. Limitations were built into the software including current-based motor cutoffs and maximum leveling offsets to prevent over-stressing jack capacity and minimized frame stress. On the mechanical side, the design incorporates fail-safe circuits, redundant shutdown methods, and four levels of overcurrent protection. A side benefit is the electronic monitoring of jack condition where abnormal current can reveal lubrication issues, mechanical wear, or circuit degradation before they become catastrophic failures. First step was writing a program script with open source Arduino software, and then uploading it to an ESP-32 microprocessor. The ESP-32 is basically a $10 miniature computer with programmable memory and integrated WiFi module (I might develop a Leveling App later). It receives inputs from a Inclinometer and two 50 amp current sensors, and it sends outputs to a status LED, a piezo buzzer for audible tones, and a 8 channel Darlington driver that converts digital inputs to 12 volts for relay coils. Six 30/40 amp Bosch style automotive relays are wired in an H-Bridge configuration to run the jack motors in forward and reverse. With a basic design plan and software, a test board was needed for proof of concept before anything could be installed in the trailer. The test board included potentiometers to simulate jack current, and LEDs to indicate the jack's up and down movement. It had a status LED, an isolation relay LED, a piezo electric buzzer, and a circuit board mounted with the microprocessor, inclinometer, drivers, and power supply. These standalone plug-in modules are wired together with soldered jumpers on a generic printed circuit board. Testing resulted in many design and software changes as the bugs were worked out. During this time it became evident that the tongue only needed the inclinometer for leveling, no current sensor required. I also realized that the jacks should be run in decreasing intervals with a limited number of leveling attempts before timing out. Another improvement was to run the jacks uninterrupted in free air until they were firmly seated on the ground for stabilization — before starting incremental leveling movements as needed. Current values are easily adjusted if more or less stabilizing pressure is desired. Testing found a flaw with the inclinometer. Thankfully they came in three-packs and I replaced them because they wouldn’t stay calibrated. The inclinometers have accelerometer and gyroscope functions, and it turned out that the accelerometer has known drifting issues. After turning off the accelerometer in the software, it worked great! In the end, the Arduino script grew to over 1,000 lines of code. With a lot of trial and error, a sequence of operation was developed: When the Level button is pressed, the rear jacks lower without interruption until they are seated on the ground in a firmly stabilized position (phase 1). If the trailer is level at this point, then there is no further action and an audible “happy tune” indicates successful level was achieved. If the trailer is not level after phase 1, then the left or right jack is cycled in intervals starting at 1.5 seconds (~1/2” travel) depending on how close to level it is. As the trailer gets closer to level, the interval shortens to account for coasting and fine adjustment to within 0.2 degrees of level. During the roll leveling sequence, a pitch limit of 5 degrees prevents the rear jacks from inducing too much pitch. It's a safeguard that temporarily interrupts roll leveling while it moves the tongue jack to bring pitch back within limits. Phase 2 pitch leveling begins, if needed, after roll level is achieved. When roll and pitch are level, the “happy tune” is played. The system allows up to 20 level correction attempts per axis before declaring unsuccessful leveling with a “sad tune.” The operator can stop the leveling at anytime with the On/Off switch or by re-pressing either momentary button. The “Retract” function proved difficult to program because of the mechanical clutch. Originally it was programed to shut off when the mechanical clutch actuated in the parked position, which is 13 amps. This didn’t work because the jacks had a current spike when coming off load, and there were oscillating current spikes during the clack-clack of the clutch that caused shutdown before before a clack was heard. These spikes hadn’t shown up in the time compressed current chart, but they were picked up by the current sensors. This was resolved in the software with a current delay when coming off load, and a longer delay when the clutch actuated so a few reassuring clack-clacks could be heard for audible confirmation that the jacks were fully parked. The leveling system was designed so that the jacks manual switches could remain fully functional. However, the H-Bridge relay configuration reverses the motor polarity for the up or down direction, and that could cause a direct path to ground when using the manual switches. To prevent this, I used a normally open relay to isolate the ground when the leveling system is not being used. I used a single 250 amp generic lawnmower starter relay on a common ground bus for all 3 jacks. It seemed reasonable. .. what could possibly go wrong? Hope this is still interesting…Cheers! Geoff Please excuse poor photos, I just didn't take very many!

Just wanted to check in and let everyone know the Chill Cube with Heat Pump is now available at United RV Parts in Texas. Looks exactly like the Chill Cube (not low profile). I should have mine installed today! I'm following instructions posted by @jd1923 and everything is going well. I was even able to get the old Dometic off the roof by myself by leaning an 8' step ladder against the street side and carefully sliding it down. Having the top of the step ladder near the edge of the roof made it easy to slowly work it off onto the ladder. The gasket on the bottom of the unit also helps to offer some resistance on the way down. I have the Dometic Penguin II (low hours, works perfectly) on FB Marketplace in Central Florida if anyone needs a replacement. Can't wait to get this Chill Cube fired up!

I repack original bearings and replace seals every two years on our Ollie's original 5200lb axles, we don't tow Ollie as many miles as Mike & Carol. Bearing repack gives me the opportunity to inspect brakes, drums, bearings and races. I try not to let trailer hubs get hot while towing by using engine braking towing down mountain grades. Here's two videos by Trailer Smith, Dexter Nev-R Lube and Bearing Buddy VS. EZ Lube-What's The Difference:

In addition to your awing decision. We would strongly recommend NOT TO INSTALL THE RAIN GUTTER ADHESIVE STRIP under the awing. We found its primary function is to capture debris that makes a big mess on your roof. We removed our gutters several years ago and let the water drain down the side of the trailer with no issues. If you wish, you can install gutters over the windows. We live in a rainy climate on the pacific coast and are much happier without any gutters. Without gutters, you will find it much easier to keep your trailer clean. And congratulation on your purchase. We hope you enjoy your Oliver as much as we have.

Not all Oliver TTs use the same axle. Our older hull was fitted with a 50" bracket length and most others have 50.5" (note the 50.00 marking on my labels). Since the axles on our Oliver were unique, Alcan took a picture of my original axle label for the custom order, copied all the specs except went from D35 to D52 for 5200 LB axles. They only make Nev-R Adjust and Nev-R Lube axles now, so the rest is the same. So, the part numbers for our hull will NOT be what you need. Likely if a Forum member that upgraded recently with 50.50" axles posted a picture of their label, it would be what you need. But to be certain, take a picture of your axle label and then call Dexter Customer Service. They are not bad to talk to and they will give you a proper part number for your D52 upgraded axles. I'd want to be certain spending $2K plus shipping! HF stands for Hub Face, the measurement between hub faces. SC or Spring Center is the distance between leaf spring centers. These numbers must remain the same for the new D52 axles. Our before & after axle labels to follow:

Apparently the answer is a "qualified" - yes. However, I've never actually observed an Oliver in what I term "really rough terrain". Perhaps there just might be some "definition" issues of what is really meant by really rough terrain but when things get to the point of possibly damaging my Oliver - I simply bail out and refuse to proceed. I do not take these situations as a challenge to be overcome. I'd rather park the Ollie and then take the truck with its 4 wheel drive out into the more "interesting" stuff. Having said this - I do believe that there have been a handful of owners that have tested the limits of our Ollies. I'd guess that at least a few of these owners then decided that they agree with your statement about not having a "off-road suspension" and/or other accoutrements of trailers actually designed for the serious off-road crowd and swapped the Oliver for something they thought to be better suited for what they wanted to do. Bottom line for me is that the Oliver is robust enough to get me to all of the places I've ever wanted to go and sure does beat any other RV I've ever owned in this regard. I really do not enjoy traveling at speeds of between 2 an 5 miles an hour (I can just about walk that pace) while at the same time being concerned about what is going on inside Twist, worrying about a rock putting a nice gouge in its side, etc.. But, if that kind of activity is what "floats someone else's boat" and they have the coin to fix whatever damage occurs because of it then I say have at it - but - be careful. Bill

I have never heard of any Oliver Travel Trailer "swaying". In fact, shortly after I purchased my Elite II I took it out on the local interstate and tried to make it sway. Certainly I didn't get crazy during this attempt but I wanted to know how it handled in order to know what to expect in the event of a future "situation". Obviously, weight distribution is another "kettle of fish". Bill

Towed our LE2 with three different 1/2 ton tow vehicles. Installed either Timbren rear suspension system or Firestone Airbags to get rid of rear end sag on those trucks. We purchased a 2024 F-350, we don't need a WDH or rear suspension modification. The F-350 with 6.8 Minizilla handles Ollie great and this truck has over 4,000 pounds of payload capacity, too.

We’ve got a 2020 Ram 2500 diesel. Tow on the ball, no sway control. Lots of miles and never an issue. Mike

We have the 3.5K axels I put the 5 leaf springs on the Oli. I have almost 11K miles on them. The first couple of days (750 miles) seemed a little rougher then they mellowed out. I do go on gravel, and some of the 2 lane roads in the nation are as bad or worst than gravel roads. I just got done doing a lub on the wet bolts and checking everything out. All seems fine. The Oli weighs about 6500 pounds when loaded. I haven't notice any problems in the interior, it was worse with the original springs. The trailer stays pretty mellow with movements of an inch or two after uneven pavement. Where it used to bob and weave like a drunken sailor before making it harder to control. After the leafs no control issues. I think you would be fine either way.

We have 3.5K Axles and used 4 leaf Alcan, had them do the install, they gave me the 5th leaf to carry with me if we wanted to install it later. After 5k miles with 4 leaves we're just fine. That said if you have the 5K axles on your trailer, then most folks use the 5 leaf version to match the axle rating.

Please let us know what you did to resolve your issue when it's corrected. Thanks. 😎