Geronimo John

Good questions. Roger on doing the springs and shocks. I did so myself as they were 6 seasons used. That said, none of them were blown. Amazingly considering other owners experience with them. Why change the EZ Flex? I had several motivators. A. First, our first season with our OE2, the center bolt walked 95% out of the flange. Only explanation that made sense for a brand new trailer was that during the assembly of the frame process, the center bolt of the EZ Flex had been spun from the head. This caused some wear on the supporting arm bolt bores. B. So there certainly was debris in the lubricated channel. Casting doubt. C. Over time, the seals on the unit leaked grease and when doing so cast further doubt about what condition the bearing surfaces. Especially with heavy use and and lots of miles each summer. D. So, the last thing I wanted to have was a road side break down from the EZ Flex when I could have done it with the shocks and springs. E. Especially when it was so convenient to do so. GJ

PS to the above "Reminders": Follow your spring MFG requirements on torques of the hardware. Especially for the U-bolts. For the U-bolts, they typically are to re-torque three times at specific mileage as they stretch out. Here is a sample of one MFG's requirements: Always re-torque the newly installed U-bolts after 50 miles of driving. Then recheck after another 50 miles. Then again after 500 miles. I checked mine again at 1500 miles and they were still good on torque. It is my opinion that after the initial and then four more torque checks (Initial, 50, 50, 500 and 1500 miles), I am done with it. I prefer not to adjust the U-bolt torques further as the bolts/nuts will have corroded a bit. Breaking that connection in my minds eye would not be useful or needed. GJ

Roadside Spring Failure: If I were in your shoes, I would make sure I had a jack and three each 2" X 6" X 11 inch blocks of wood. Elevate the broken spring and slip the lumber between it and the frame. Lower and maybe use a couple of band clamps or at least stout zip ties to secure. Then travel carefully to a recommended shop. At least one owner just drove there carefully. That could be risky to your fiberglass wheel well area. Hence my insurance blocks suggestion. Local Garage: It is an easy job with the right tools. But not one that you would want to do on the side of the road or at a rest stop. To your question, YES, a local garage will have floor jacks, hydraulic jack, jack stands, dead fall hammer and other tools to make it just a simple spring change. It took me a couple of days working alone. What to Buy: You will need four springs. Be sure to also order out BRASS shackle bushings and "U" bolts with the springs. For other owners with older trailers like our 2018 OE2, when doing the springs I also changed out the EZ Flex. Two Reminders: Your suspension has bolts that have splines on the shank on the bolt head end. Make sure that these bolts are "backed-up" (as in fixed in place with a wrench) on the head end, and only then loosened from the nut end. If you turn the bolt head you'll spin off the splines. That has resulted in several owners experiencing the suspension bolts actually walking their bolts nuts off. This is especially imperative for the EZ Center Bolt. Also, the Wet Bolts (Ones with a Zerk on them), have two grease discharge holes near the bolt's shank center. This is where the zerked grease comes out of the bolt to lubricate the suspension. These two holes are recommended to be at 9AM and 3PM. This allows for easier greasing. Be sure to back up these zerked bolt heads when tightening as mentioned above. GJ

A very easy swap is to just use the PR4 Dexters. They are 2400 pound rated. Perfect fit replacement for the PR4B the lighter 1750 rated ones.

It does save fuel! Suspect that the 3.5 EB's have it as well. GJ

Good news. Did the same testing on the ole Dometic Hammer Mill A/C and a Honda 2200. With soft start it did well. That said, when you Inverter dies, you should consider getting a 3,000 watt one. I did and glad I did. No longer worry too much if my love wants to heat up her tea when I have the A/C on generator....... GJ

Bill: You hit the nail square on the head. I found it a PITA to install, and will find a cutting torch or cut-off grinder to remove them if I ever need to. Problem is getting the shackle on something under the truck, in a way to allow for pounding a moving target to install the pin, especially if doing this solo. Would be a PITA for sure. Like you, mine stay on our TV 24/7.

Warning: This post boarders on becoming a rabbit hole discussion! OIL PRESSURE: Most modern engines are designed with the crank shaft providing the power to pump oil. This can be by direct connection, a belt or by gears. So generally speaking if the motor is turning it's getting oil from the sump. However, some 1.0, 2.7 and 5.0 Fords are among exceptions, so check out yours to be sure. My 3.5 EB oil pump is crank driven. So my concern is not with long down-hill runs and the engine not getting lube oil. It is with the auto start stop system, especially when towing. Powering up mountains with Ollie puts a LOT of heat into the engine block and especially the turbo's. If you shut off cooling water and oil, you will "bake your turbo's" and other parts as well. It is nearly always wise when towing, or off roading, or any other high power activities to let your vehicle engine run for a period of time before shutting it off. This is necessary to allow that latent heat to be transferred to the atmosphere. Some say that the period of time is when the aux fans turn off. This may be the right answer for their vehicles. I try to let mine run at least 7 - 10 minute after a long hot run. And don't ask what I think about the auto on/off systems......... ENGINE SMOKE WHEN DE-ACCELERATING: Carbureted Engines Not knowing which Audi engine is in play limit's my thoughts to "glitter generalities": Carbureted engines when cycled between high power and coast settings OFTEN cause the crankcase pressure to spike downward. If you have an ole fashioned crankcase manifold gauge you would see it go to a very high vacuum setting. True statement that confuses many. Said in simpler English the air pressure in the engine at full throttle for a non-turbo/super charged engines is just a bit lower that STP conditions. But when those big 4-bbl carburetors slam closed (Coasting), the air moving through the intake system gets sucked into the intakes. and it can't get much from the intake system to replace it as the carbs are closed down. So your vacuum gauge reading goes down in PSI towards zero. (For the Pro's: I'm not even going to try to discuss absolute vacuum concepts here.) So if the intake head is approaching a near perfect vacuum (Like not much air there because it is all sucked out with no intake air, THEN the crankcase below the pistons gets oil vapor sucked up past the pistons and into the combustion chamber... where it gets pushed out the tail pipe. This problem was generally ameliorated by a simple throttle return spring/cam. If the carb can't slam shut quickly, the intake can't go way low pressure mode and little oil vapor gets sucked past the rings and out. ENGINE SMOKE WHEN DE-ACCELERATING: NPN-Carbureted Engines For the Ford Ecoboost, and many other engines with turbo's, they pressurize the air intake system. The air pressure is modulated by a wastegate and throttle body. Unlike most carbureted engines, they have a PCM that manages the process and a key element of that process is the fuel injection system. For the Eco Boost with 10 speed transmissions, downhill pretty much is a walk in the park. Virtually all of us use our tranny to spin up the Ecoboost vs. glazing our brakes going down hill. I just ensure that the I keep the RPM's down to about 4500 or below. Ford says 5,000. For more info on this here is a good thread: https://www.thehulltruth.com/trucks-trailers/964289-eco-boost-10-speed-iengine-brakingn-tow-mode.html GJ

What did you smell when you circled the Audi after overheating the brakes? If is was an oil smell, then Audi Tech is likely right. Did he inspect the tail pipe for black oily soot? Another easy test to narrow down the culprit. But if you smelled burnt brake dust, then the brake pads have glazed and the brake peddle force increases substantially to get any more braking. If you brake peddle force was significantly higher than normal, then most likely your brake pads should be replaced. Did the Audi Tech inspect the brake calipers? Were they crazed, cracked or burnt? The Audi Q7 can have a 4, 6 or 8 cylinder engine. Also many different transmissions too. What does your TV have? Makes a huge difference when going up/down serious grades. GJ

Sewer gas smell I suspect. She had quite a time and covered a lot of possibilities on that one. I hope it is as sometimes I have the same problem... with my Ollie gas, not my personal effluence.

This was a JD discussion several years ago. Below are what was recommended for our OE2's. It is not likely, but should these bit the dust I would get the 12,000 pounders vs. the 7100's. It sure solved the getting under the TV on our F-150.

For those into DiY guides, here is my preliminary one for Trailer Braking Performance Test and IR Sensor. It also includes the Klein IR meter at a far more reasonable cost than I had anticipated. One of the two is a Most Sold and the other the Amazon Choice. I would be interested in getting IR reading suggestions from others for TV Disk brakes and OTT LE2 Drum brakes. What do you consider OK, Warning, and Danger temperatures? I'll be sure to use them in my update down the road. DIY - Trailer Braking Performance Test and IR Sensor.docx Also to be added is the de-rate (Decreasing) controller settings for gravel roads and increasing controller settings for steep descents concepts. GJ

Wow. Glad you are a safe and experienced driver. As others have mentioned, I too adjust my controller settings when on the fly. This is even more important for the many owners using well equipped half ton trucks. This demands that we be even more cautious of velocity under tow and how hard we are working our brakes. This past summer we were way back in the Custer Mountain State Park and I sensed that my brakes were being overworked despite my using gears 1 and 2 of our ten speed tranny. I pulled over and my IR sensor indicated 350 to 400 on the TV and only 125 on the trailer tires. I bumped up the Ford OEM brake controller to 9 of 10 while on the steep parts of that afternoon. In retrospect, for our rig, our truck and Ollie both are just shy of 6,000 pounds. I have for years use a seat of my pants check of controller setting. It requires two tests: TEST A: On a safe lightly traveled road, get up to say 45 MPH. With the trailer brake controller set to zero (OFF) and your trailer connected, apply your truck brakes for a firm stop. Sense the travel distance and de-acceleration your truck brakes provided. TEST B: Repeat the above test, this time with your brake controller set at it's normal reading. Now manually apply the trailer brakes using only your lever on the brake controller. Sense the travel distance and de-accelerating your trailer brakes provide. The truck brakes generally will provide superior stopping power than the trailer brakes. However you should definitely feel the power of just the trailer brakes as they try to stop a 12,000 pound load. If not, adjust to a higher controller setting and repeat the process after everything has cooled down. I highly recommend and have used for 3 years the JD suggested thermal sensor pictured below. Cost was appreciably a bit less than the far superior Kline suggested above. But it gets the job done just fine. When doing the above tests, if you have an IR Gun, your readings should be about the same for the axle being tested. I.E. the disk brakes on our truck temp's should be in the same ball park. The drum brakes on our trailer should be as well. If you see a significant lower temperature on one brake as compared to its peers, it likely is not performing well and needs further investigation. Finally when really working your brakes on a long downhill run, it is a great idea to pull over at a safety stop and check temp's. Look for outlier readings. GJ

Bill: Once again sage advice regardless of which product to be used. I tend to latch on to good recommendations and "immortalize" them into a Do-It-Yourself guides. Attached are two of mine that I intend on using in the Summer 2025 voyage around the US. As always, many much smarter owner's work has shamefully been copied for these guides. GJDIY - Ollie EZ Gutters From John D's Post.docxDIY - Trim Lock Drip Rail (Oct 2024).docx

Said differently: The goal of the AC is to cool and dehumidify. For dehumidification you want to be getting humidity out of the system as fast as possible. For the Gen 2 Houghton it is by dumping it over the side. If the supply air fan is turned off with the compressor, most of the around 23 ounces of liquid on the coil remains on the coil. Upon start up you very quickly are kicking condensate over the side . If the supply air fan contineues to run, most of the condensate will be moved back into the cabin. Sort of like two steps forward and one step back thing. Hope this helps GJ

There is no "Supposedly". It does as reported, tested, documented and videoed on several sites. For non-believers here is a simple demonstration procedure of the amount of moisture that their Set 2 units generate: Run the stock not modified Houghton on auto cool with the T-stat set to lowest setting. The unit will run and as it approaches set temp, the fan speed will work its way down to low. Run for a few minutes longer. The evaporator coil will be "Loaded" with condensate and you should be seeing signs of excess condensate running over the side of your trailer. Now cycle off the unit. THen turn it on to heat pump and set the temp to max temp to cause the heat pump to start. You will now feel and sense the huge amount of moisture being evaporated off the supply air coil and being dumped into the cabin as the warm heat pump air dries out the supply air coil. BTW, you can do this with any heat pump air conditioner. I estimated the amount of moisture retained in the fins of our unit to be ab0ut 25 ounces. If the fan is not cycled with the compressor, as the vast majority of ac units are designed, you can expect to see this problem. It can be amelerated somewhat by design by changing the coil face temperature and by special coatings on the coil fins and piping. But the results still will be unsatisfactory for most US mainland conditions. Hence this is one of the two problems with stock Set 2 Houghtons. My hope is that Houghton later units will be redesigned to cycle the supply air fan with the compressor, and also come with a remote thermostat. Those two changes would make the Houghton a class leader in quality and performance. GJ

Very excellent post. I am sure many OTT owners will follow your lead. I especially like your mounting concept. When being used, it is secure and out of the way. Since your picture shows it feeding water to the fresh water tank, I suspect that when the tank is full, you secure the system elsewhere. One possible alternative to the "Black Water Area" of the OTT trailers would be to use you exact set-up, but drill the holes into the Basement Storage area lid. (Using flat stock on the inside for reinforcement). This alternative mounting location would get it away from potential contamination of the OTT sewer outlet leakage and Black/Gray tank dump process. Additionally benefit is it would be higher and easier to use for some of us RoF's. 🙂 Other than that I think you have hit a home run! GJ

Smart! Many 1500 watt heaters do not have robust cords. Upgrading to a 12 AWG provides typically better insulation coverage that also reduces the potential for heating from older likely crimped cords.

GG Thanks for the post and procedure. I share the thoughts of Kantanga and JD on not taking the fan speed down too low. One safety thought from your procedure which states: "Regarding electrical safety, none of this work should be performed without 1) first flipping the A/C breaker located in the panel under the dining table, 2) assuring the Oliver is disconnected from shore power and 3) assuring the solar system’s inverter is turned o (if your Oliver is equipped with a solar system)." Most OTT's have inverters. Yes you have well killed relavant breaker and power sources to the A/C unit. But if the inverter is left on and the wrong breaker is turned off, (As it is easy to do looking at it upside down in the dark on most of our trailers), then you could be in for an "enlightening experience". For safety sake I suggest you also list turning OFF the Inverter. Again, great post! Safety John (AKA GJ)

Like you, we prefer not to heat with our Heat Pump and Suburban furnace for over night sleeping. If we return to a cold Ollie, we use either the Heat Pump or Suburban to get Ollie up to a confortable temperature if circumstances allow. But like to use electric heat from a quiet source if possible and needed. For a replacement electric space heater I prefer smaller, lighter and safer as important considerations. But if smaller, it still needs to get the job done as well for our sleeping time when temps are in the 40's. I have heard good things about the Vornado. My old school 750/1500 watt unit does not have the safety features yours does and is larger than I would hope. We are not camping in winter and frankly if it is 43 degrees we likely will very rarely see that temperature as well. So your post really is helpful in my space heater quest. I'm thinking of the smaller Vornado Heater that has only the low and medium (750 Watt) settings and all the safety features of it's big brother (That also has a 1500 watt setting). What setting is needed to keep Ollie confortable in 43 degrees for overnight sleeping? Knowing what you know now, would you recommend the smaller Vornado for those not camping in the sub 40 degree conditions who occasionally need a sleeping time electric heater? Thanks GJ

I actually looked into the bump stop idea, but the clearance is so small I did no find any would fit and still be progressive in nature. IF one has overhead clearance when in storage, flipping the axle would give the clearance for a bump stop. I don't have any spare clearance so I stood down on the idea. GJ

Which one did you get? GJ

Jon: Wow, not seen total structural failure of shocks like the above picture in a long time. Your initial post stated "but had oil that had leaked from the top of the shock" would lead me to believe the failure was during compression of the shock and then when the trailer came back down and bounced off the highway/road, the shock would be extending with extreme force. Likely the structural failure occurred as the bottom separated from the top of the shock. "after traversing some pretty rough roads across Louisiana": Could it have happened on these roads? GJ .

Is that on one set of tires? JD: It would not surprise me at all if it was. JohnW's and mine came off the line within a week or so. Both have these tires: My 2018 Ollie Michelin's now have 42,000 miles on them with no cracking and about 2/3 of the tread left. Close inspection by Discount Tire cleared them for a couple more years. But I changed out the springs and shocks ten thousand miles ago. I thank Scott Oliver on a regular basis for these tires on ours. Down the road, regardless of what springs our OE2 owners choose to use, it is my strong recommendation that if you have over 30,000 miles and you have the Dexter 1750# rated ones, it is time to change them when it is easy for you to do so. I strongly recommend doing so where you like, and not being forced to do so on the highway somewhere out in the boondocks. ESPECIALLY if you are considering Alaska and don't live there. 🙂 GJ

I think Tucker is right, but only with the assumption that the shocks have the dampening capability to do so. More detail follows: The dampers job is not only to control the rate of energy transfer to the spring, but also the rate at which it is released. The process takes the movement (Up and Down) and converts it to heat. Generally speaking stiffer springs require stronger damping to deal with the heat being generated by the stiffer springs. You can see this in many Asian suspension systems that use stiffer springs and are tuned with stiffer damping. Spring rates and damping are definitely connected. An increase in spring rate will require an increase in rebound damping to control it. This principle is in my opinion why I think that the Monroe shocks we are using do not have sufficient dampening capacity when used with the Alcon's. The net result I believe is that the Monroe's are being damaged by the heat generated by the Alcon's. For those wanting a deeper dive, here is a great web site to guide you through the math to do so: https://www.shimrestackor.com/Code/Sample_Applications/Spring_Change/spring-change.htm Just be aware that you'll get into some deep math pretty quickly. LOL! GJ GJ