ScubaRx

Back in 2018, Anita had called me and wanted to know if I'd show our trailer to a couple from Tupelo. Johnny, his wife Juanita and their daughter came to visit us the next day. After talking with them for a couple of hours, Johnny stated that when he retires he's going to buy an Oliver. Today, six years later ... Tali called me and exclaimed that "...there's a brand new Oliver parked at a house right around the corner from us..." So naturally, I went to investigate. Today was his last day of work. A few days ago while visiting with his daughter (who is now a Nurse Practitioner that lives and works near Atlanta), he realized that about 2 miles from her house was Southland RV in Norcross, GA, one of the new Oliver dealers. They apparently took a ride, went in, fulfilled their six year old dream and are now the proud owners of Hull # 1525. I could not be happier for them. Welcome to the club @josmith68, Johnny and Juanita Smith.

This was Hull # 025

Keep the stories and pics coming Buddy.

The bathroom sink, black tank and grey tank all share the same vent pipe, part of which is actually used as the drain pipe for the sink and shower drain. Your odor could be due to grey tank fumes coming up thru the shower or sink drains if the back flow preventer slide valve is open. Also check the tightness of the steel bands on the fernco connectors in that area.

Another option might be to simply drill four new holes in places that allow you to use the existing plate and move it up the amount needed and still have round holes instead of slots. That way there would be no chance of the mount being able to slip back down.

I was asked to post some pictures of the rack I built to hold our BlackStone when we travel.

We are currently on the road to the Maine Rally. I will be there in a few days and will get some pictures when we set up there.

We’ve had a half dozen different grills since we acquired our first Oliver back in 2008. From a SS ceramic brick grill to a Weber Q. All were more trouble than they were worth for one reason or another. Some were always too hot, some not hot enough, some were messy to clean and all were impossible to pack into the vehicle efficiently. Until we bought a Black Stone. It easily breaks down into two almost equally sized pieces. I built a rack attached to the bed slide in the Silverado to specifically hold them. I also bought this folding table to set it on. This is the best system, by far, that we’ve ever had.

Just be aware that the batteries you want are Lithium Iron Phosphate not Lithium Ion.

The factory has apparently done a 180 on silicone. That is the product they are using and recommending for all sealing purposes.

These are what I use for any holes larger than 1/2”.

I’ve successfully use fiberglass body filler and Bondo for all the reasons outlined here.

There a tons on the Oliver Trailer Owners FB page, posted by dozens of owners.

Some zerks are 1/4-28 UNF tapered thread, but they fit a straight 1/4-28 tapped hole. Others I've seen lately are metric M6. Do not drive the bolts from the shackle straps that have two pressed in. If you do, you will have to remove the zerks and place the bolts back into the shackle straps and drive them in with a large sledgehammer until the knurls under the head completely seat. Do not attempt to pull them home with the wet bolt nuts. You will ruin both the wet bolt and the nut.

The others were Chris Scarff, Rhonda Friedberg, Steve Johnson plus Donna and Scott Gerould.

That’s exactly what I see in my mind when someone mentions a Tesla truck, just butt-ugly. I believe that this particular one runs on 450,000 Triple-A batteries though. There is a lever on the side that releases them all when they need replacing.

Or nothing at all. We don’t use any chemicals. No odors, we don’t put anything in the black tank other than poop and pee. You should never put tissue, wipes, feminine hygiene products or cigarette butts into the toilet system. When dumping, we flush the black tank 2-3 times until the water runs clear. Ten years in and never an issue.

The in-hull anchor plates were still there, but since they're now using a completely different panel, the plates are in the wrong spots. The old panels are too short to easily use them where the old mounts were installed.

If'n that crick comes up much more, yo're liable to get yer feathers wet.

For anyone desiring the quality and design of the Alcan branded springs, be aware that they do NOT make a spring rated at only 2400 pounds for either a 3500 pound or a 5200 pound axle. Their only spring is a 2750 pound rated pack. Every spring that I have seen broken has been the fifth leaf at the point where the fourth leaf ends. The best design feature of the Alcan's is that the fourth leaf extends out to where the spring eye starts to form at the end of the fifth leaf. This dramatically increases the strength of the fifth leaf and virtually negates the possibility of a break occurring at the tradition failure point. This one attribute convinced me that these are the best designed springs available. I was not interested in a lighter duty 2000 or 2400 pound spring pack, so the 2750 rating was perfect. The spring pictured here has the same potential for breakage as the OEMs and would not be my choice.

The original U-Bolts on my 2014 EII were 1/2" in diameter with a round top bend for a 3" axle. These were for my original Dexter five-leaf spring packs and 5200 pound axles. The U-Bolts you will receive will be 9/16". They would not fit through my mounting plate as it was originally drilled. I drilled out the holes to 19/32" and they fit perfectly.

OK, we can agree to disagree. All I can say is our 2014 trailer is the first EII sold after the 5 year hiatus. Fully loaded and ready to camp it has always weighed more than 7000 pounds. It has been on the road for over 100,000 miles most of it on tires set at 80psi. It has had five-leaf 5200 pound spring packs and 5200 pound axles since it was built over 10 years ago. A year or so into its life I switched to twelve inch disk brakes. Admittedly, nobody rides back there so I can't attest to what it might feel like. But, during the past decade the trailer has never complained and I've not seen any evidence of all this devastation that is predicted to happen. No broken drawers, no blinds constantly falling off while under way, no cabinet doors coming open, nothing. Apparently, in my case at least, Jim Oliver was correct when he recommended the heavier duty suspension for our trailer. I have been preaching that the four-leaf OEM springs are way under rated for these trailers for years and have had more than one discussion with Oliver about it. They did move forward and make the 5200 pound axles standard, but I think that was just to be able to give folks the Nev-R-Lube (not Nev-R-Fail) hubs that many had asked for. Whether they follow with an upgrade to the springs, only time will tell. Whether owners decide to upgrade their springs is up to them. I predict no slow down in the number of springs that will eventually fail. And, I promise when it happens, it will never be in a convenient place. At least buy some cheap springs to carry as spares against the possibility. In the past week we have gotten new springs, shocks, and tires. I'm happy with my decisions. And, by the way, only a fool would pick a suit of armor to fall three stories in. Seriously though, I see the point you were trying to make.

Looks the same in Mississippi...

I was thrilled with the news that they were actually rated at 2750 pounds. I had abandoned the idea of buying them if they were only rated at 2000-2400 pounds. I will continue to run 50 psi in my tires. With a rating of only 10.4K pounds the axles are now the weakest link in our entire suspension/wheel/tire system.

The Outlaw Oliver now has 4 new five leaf Alcan Springs, 4 new Monroe 555001 Shocks and 4 new Hercules H-901 Commercial Light Truck tires. Tali and I installed the springs and shocks earlier this week and the new tires went on yesterday. Our next trip will likely be 10K miles over the next three months or so. I believe we are good to go now. We will leave Monday for the Rally in AL, then on to the Rally in ME and from there to CO for a few weeks. We hope to hit a few more National Park Units. As of December 2023, there are 429 official units of the National Park System, We've visited almost 300 so far.