mountainoliver

We’re in Grand Junction this morning with the guys at Alcan installing new 5200 pound axles and new springs! I also noticed that heavier bronze bushings are used in the Alcan springs. The Dexter bushings are sintered bronze AKA Oilite bearings. These thin wall type bearings are the wrong application for use in a rough bore because they are so brittle. Typically they should be pressed into a finished bore then final reamed to correct final diameter. Anyway, the Alcan bushings are machined from bronze bar stock and are the correct application.

Similar to “moochdocking” but in your own driveway.

I actually carry two jacks along with various 2X10’s and 6X6’s and three sets of plastic stacking blocks. The two jacks, one is a 3 ton hydraulic jack and the other is a several ton (don't remember the exact capacity but it’s very ample!) surplus scissor jack/kit designed for the Hummer. Probably designed for a fully loaded Hummer, anyway very ample. Not to mention the screw jack that came with my 2500 truck. So technically I carry three jacks. Oh and not to mention the three screw jacks that came mounted to the trailer. So yet again, technically I carry six jacks!

Here’s a screen shot directly from the Tosot website:

It also looks like the elbow in your picture is loose as well. Just as a suggestion go through every fitting that you can possibly get to and check them for tightness. They are just hand tightened. I go through mine periodically and I always find one or more a little loose.

Another Oliver pulled in River Bend rv park in Montrose Colorado yesterday. The staff said that they have seen four or five Olivers since May! Apparently a popular Oliver campground!

I’m glad that there’s disc brakes now available for the 3500 pound axles. To be honest I’ve never researched that. In the 8 years and around 75,00 miles we’ve traveled I’ve never had any issues with the drum brakes adequately stopping the trailer so have not searched for something better.

Someone correct me if I’m wrong but I think that disk brake upgrades are not available for 3500 pound rated axles. It is my understanding that the 5200 pound rated axles have several options available for wheels and brakes. The larger axles do (naturally) have the same bolt pattern as smaller axles. In fact I believe that I was told that a five bolt pattern was standard for the smaller axles and that Oliver did some sort of a mix and match with Dexter to create the six bolt pattern. In my case I’m switching to the higher capacity axles because I feel that the 3500 pound axles are just too close to their limit for our trailers as evidenced by the many bearing issues that have occurred over the years. I guess bottom line is personal preference.

Enjoying our mid morning coffee and cool weather in Montrose, Colorado at River Bend RV Park. Still meandering westward. A couple of days ago we visited The Garden of the Gods outside of Colorado Springs and saw an Oliver from Florida in the parking lot. After our park visit we waited but unfortunately we didn’t get to see the owners. River Bend in Montrose, CO

We were visiting Garden of the Gods just outside of Colorado Springs today and an Oliver from Florida pulled in to the parking lot. After we finished exploring we waited in our truck for about a half an hour and had to leave. Hope you’re having a great trip!

Also John if you tow either nose down or nose up (instead of level as possible) you will transfer extra weight to either the front or rear axle. Most of the time when I unhitch at home, the trailer will remain in that position until I reconnect. That puts extra weight on the rear axle for however long. I now level the trailer after unhitching. Of course while camping typically the nose is up a little to aid waste tank draining. I’m not totally sure but it does seem like there are a lot of broken springs on rear axles. We are actually on our (slow meandering) way to Grand Junction to replace the (humble opinion) undersized axles and the weak springs. Two less things to worry about. “On our way home” we’re stopping in Elkhart Indiana to have an Atmos 4.4 installed. There are bearing noises that I don’t like on occasion and I have to climb on the roof to oil the fan motor. Had to do that in 100+ deg heat last summer at Gilbert Ray campground. Not fond of doing that and the frequency is increasing. Time for a change. Okay three less things to worry about.

DunnYet please check your private messages. I provided some general compressor fridge information and troubleshooting information as well. I had some electrical damage to the compressor inverter drive on my NovaKool fridge and had to replace the inverter. This was one example of the surge protector not being a good thing. We were at a campground that was having serious voltage issues and we were running the fridge on shore power. We were not at camp for most of this but caught some of the instances and shut everything down but a little too late for the fridge. The voltage would spike to about 190 volts then just as quickly drop back to 120. The spikes would occur in rapid succession so the surge protector would disconnect and reconnect just as rapidly. My fridge inverter was one that could run on dc or ac so would switch back and forth between ac and dc rapidly which damaged it. It probably would have operated just fine if left alone with no surge protector. It is capable of running on 120 to 240 volts ac 50-60 HZ or 12-24 volts dc and switches seamlessly between the two. With the voltage spiking to 190 I don’t think it would have even cared. Anyway you may just have a bad compressor inverter and yes the dc only ones are around $200 and the ac/dc ones are around $300. They are easily replaced being a simple one plug connection. If the Freon charge has not been lost (which is seldom the case) then the inverter is really the only thing that can go bad. I hope this helps some.

Just pulling into Abilene, KS, going through town saw an LEII parked in a driveway. We’re hear for two nights on our way to Colorado, Utah, Wyoming.

When you order the new black gasket material you will have some left over after installation. Keep this leftover material and when the gasket shrinks just cut a piece of the extra and splice it in at the top. Not really noticeable if all of the ends are cut squarely and the splice is at the top and even if it’s not perfectly tight it will still keep excess junk and insects out of the tracks.

John, Chris congratulations on your anniversary! MK and I also really enjoy traveling together and love spending months at a time in our Oliver.

Both of my drain valves were extremely difficult to open and close as well. I used some silicone plumbers grease (the same stuff that I use on the toilet flush valve) and coated the metal rod that the cable connects to. The valves now operate very easily. Probably better than when new.

John, three words tell the story “made in china”! I used to have a giant pack of T&B wire ties. They had a stainless steel ratchet piece molded in. Once you pulled them tight you could not get them to loosen. They even lasted forever outside. It’s a different world now.

Nothing like good ol’ rich two cycle smoke. It keeps the bugs away. Maybe you were referring to something like this?

There was an earlier question about removing the old fridge. I had quite a bit of trouble with the original fridge (as many on the forums can testify to) so was extremely happy to get rid of it but still was very careful about it’s removal. 🤪

My Dometic came out through the door but I had to remove the cooling unit from the back of the fridge and reassemble it outside. For the new fridge I had to take the screen door off its hinges and remove the fridge door and the hinges. There was 1/4 inch clearance moving the new fridge in. The new fridge has quite a bit more room than the Dometic fridge because it is so deep.

During the day I can’t hear it, at night there’s a slight hum. Like a household fridge but much less. I mainly hear the 5 inch computer fan that’s installed on the fridge.

Wow! Great job and good looking installation. I know that you will really like the new fridge. Glad to have been able to be of assistance. We never have to even think about the fridge, it just does its thing without worrying about outside temperature or if it’s level or bugs/dust getting into the camper through outside vents. You absolutely will never regret the changeover!

Bill, yes there are. The farm manager said that there’s so many that you hardly need bait!

While on our way west for three months we’re volunteering at Stratford Ecological farm outside of Columbus Ohio. This is our campsite for the next week.