Geronimo John

Are you going with a disk brake version with electric over hydraulic? GJ

Our solar power port is similar to the Z-Amp one. I chose to mount it on the battery compartment door itself. Ran wires to the litho's and shunt with a fuse in line. Rationale is keeping the run as short as possible and not drilling another hole in the fiberglass wall of Ollie. GJ

Yep they do work on the spares. Researched and then called the MFG and they confirmed my faulty memory. Have re-written my above post accordingly. The transmitter sends a milli-second burst of the ID number, pressure and temperature data whenever there is air pressure from the tire to the monitor. It will be read on the monitor IF: It is within it's range Has a good battery AND it is not shielded from the monitor (Such as under the vehicle was for my Toyota Sequoia For my Sequoia the tire sensor was shielded well and did not work. I'll be re-installing the sensors on my spares this summer! GJ PS: For winter storage, recommend the Egg Carton storage suggestion with removal of the batteries from the sensors to protect from potential battery generated corrosion.

That's interesting. I'm running a 2018 EEZTire TPMS as well. I purchased six sensors plus a spare so i could monitor Ollie and 2 spare tires. I'll go find my info and advise why I pulled them off my spare tires. Will be good to know for sure. More to follow.... GJ

Nope. Most TP sensor systems are designed so that when the tire is sitting, the sensor shuts off. So you'll never know if it gets flat. Yep they do work on the spares. Researched and then called the MFG and they confirmed my faulty memory. The transmitter sends a milli-second burst of the ID number, pressure and temperature data when ever there is air pressure from the tire to the monitor. So long as the sensor has a good battery AND it is not shielded from the monitor (Such as under the vehicle was for my Toyota Sequoia and possibly my F-150).... it is sending that data. For my Sequoia the tire sensor was shielded well and did not work. I'll be re-installing the sensors on my spares this summer! GJ

Ditto. I highly agree as we all learn best by doing the task in ideal conditions. When it happens on the road they are able to do what they need to do safely and with confidence. I would also add giving them a learning experience with: Battery corrosion removal Oil change Windshield wiper replacements Engine air filter cleaning and change when needed Each was a great confidence builder for them, and results in far less worry for Dad when they head down the road. Even more grins for Dad was watching the next older train the next younger on the process. By the time my youngest (daughter) got to do them, she had watched it before and was on autopilot. Took Dad three days to lose the Perma-Grin. GJ

Mine is 4 years old and used often. Highly recommend it with a 5aH litho battery. Roger: Highly recommend you bring down your OE2 tire pressure to 50 or even less especially if running ALCONS. GJ

Use a wood toothpick and a bit of Tightbond glue in the hole. Don't over tighten it. Replace the other screw and they will match.

Thank you Bill for the miraculous recovery. The universal karma is again restored. Now that I'm back in the saddle..... In those conversations by chance did Mr. Weldon indicate that they have a more suitable spring solution that is in the 2,000 pound range? I suspect several owners would like to know this answer. If so, there would seem to be justification for ALCON to do the right thing via restitution to those early adopters. GJ

Would somebody please bring my horse back alive? GJ

All of a sudden, the Dexter 2400 pounders don't seem so radical after all. If proven to be the case, then maybe a rethink of running your tires at 40 or 50 PSI is in order. Likely maybe 28 PSI???? But the great news is that those ALCAN's are great springs and will certainly last ten life times. Maybe 100 life times! Steve, please tell us that your post was just a joke! Please. My condolences to those "early adopters". GJ

Like your scaffold idea. I personally would need several pool noodles on the trailer side though. GJ

I don't recall ever seeing a 12 page forum post. Is this a record?

I have had one of these Rupes LHR15ES Random Action Buffer on board and have not needed it. The Meguires Flagship Marine wax and their boat wash have done such a good job it's not been necessary. It has over 25,000 road miles on it... in a box... in the basement.

JD: I agree. It's a granite rock pile at that if working it alone. I'll bring my buffer and I bet you, Art and I could polish and wax your rig in about 3 hours as a team. Would be a great day two activity (After bouncing around in the Ollies testing springs). But you would need to bring the beer, suitable to Art's very high standards of course! 🙂 PS: For those not in the know, Art is a Brewmaster of the highest order.

Here is some iceing on the cake. GJ GOOGLE: What is the difference between 4 and 5 leaf springs? Four leaf springs are generally softer for a better ride, where as five leaf springs are stiffer for better handling.

Ditto! Out west we generally have stronger winds and storms during the summer are common. Best not to leave an awning unsupervised..... We leave, I roll-er-up. If we are boondocking somewhere for an extended period of time I pull my milk crates (One in Basement storing parts, one in the basket that holds our "blocks"), and our Anderson reciever to sit next to our awning poles. I have yet to be at a camp site where rocks are not plentiful. They provide ballast for the milk crates. Three pre-cut and looped sets of 550 milspec para cord tie downs and we are good to go for moderate winds. A recent upgrade was to add three carabiners so I could unconnect quickly and "roll-er-up" in a hurry. End of stay and the rocks go onto the access road in a low spot/washout. Nothing basically to buy. No added space taken. No added weight to be carried. = 3 wins!

Harbor Freight solid wheel chocks! Bullet proof.... litterally!

Sorry JD! I'll edit the above accordingl Guess we'll ask to compare Art's and my trailers as test "beds". GJ

The way springs are rated does not appear to be consistent between all manufacturers. Especially those of another country. So it makes theoretical cross-manufacturer comparisons of their performance of non-like specified products a SWAG at best. I think it logical that a 5 leaf spring and a 4 leaf spring by the same manufacture, both having the same rating, will have different performance attributes. Add in using different makers and designs it gets complicated. And that is the problem we have with the Dexter 4 leaf. It's rating method is (sadly) not the same as the US custom made ones are rated. So stating as fact certain % increases for different springs made by different firms in different countries using different rating systems is another SWAG. I agree that the 2400# spring made to the ALCON rating standard would be insanely stiff on our OE2. We also can agree that the rating of the Dexter PR4B rating is under designed for our OE2's as they are failing. So, we likely the 2400# PB4 spring rating, of the same family by the same Chinese firm.... will also be ........exaggerated. Fortunately Mountainman 198 consulted with recognized experts on the topic. With their recommendation, and also field testing mostly from Art, the ALCAN 2,000 spring appears to be the rating we need. So, per ALCAN: The 1750# spring is 250 pounds under rated for our use. % Under Rated = (2,000 - 1750)/2000 = 12.5%, So, the 2400# spring is likely as well. So the ALCAN rating for this spring would be: 2400 less 12.5% = 2100 pounds. When we travel, the F/G/B tanks weight can easily be somewhere in a 300 to 600# range. When compared to the net delta between the ALCAN vs. Dexter China rating of the two springs of just 100 pounds... it's seems to me to be somewhat of a moot discussion for spring ratings. I have more than once stated that I believe that the Alcan is a better spring... at a steep price. If I were 20 years younger, my perspective may be different. But at my vintage I do not believe the PB4 Dexter's will fail in my lifetime. If they do, I will roger up on our post! So when we get to meet (hopefully this summer), we can ask Art to drag is around and we can A/B the two springs both on the road and off. My gut says the fake 2400's will be better on road and the real Alcan's 2000's will be better off road. And that has to do with spring rates. Which we can defer if you like. When we are done, I'm buying the beer! And it has to meet Art's standards! GJ Does iPhone have a vertical acceleration app?

I have spoken to three Dexter Tech's in the past month. One of them at great length. I have relayed that we have documented 17 incident cases where our Dexter PR4B 1750 double eye springs on our 6,000 pound OTT LE2 appear to have failed prematurely. One of their Tech's gave me a from the heart an honest (I believe) response. The Tech stated that Configuration 6339056 springs are under specification for a 6,000# RV trailer that is always loaded and being used as we do ours. The Tech said we need a heavier spring. This is exactly what ALCAN and others have stated as well. It did not take the Tech but a few minutes to confirm that their 2400 lb 4 leaf PR4 spring is a much better choice for our application. The PR4B springs weigh 11 #. The PR4' springs weigh 17#. Dimensionally they are the same lengths, but the PR4's are bit thicker due to the thicker metal used. For installation purposes, they are a Dexter exact match. Not including taxes and shipping, the costs for an OE2 tandem axle set of springs, U-bolts, nuts and bronze bushings from the two sources we now can choose from are: ALCAN $671.20 (From MaxBurner) (Custom HD, 5 Leaf 18# Springs) Dexter $360.52 (Dexter Quote) (BP4 Leaf, 17#, 2400 # Rating Springs) I am hoping that other owners will consult their alternate spring sources and advise accordingly. More options is good for all of us. My digestion of all 12 pages of this thread include: I am of the opinion that use of the PRB4 springs for our trailers was a mistake. I encourage OTT to advise us of what their findings were on this topic. That the ALCAN products are clearly superior to the Dexter Chinese products. But when I consider that I have run well over a dozen Dexter axles in my 50 years of towing, many of which have Chinese springs, and never with a failure, maybe just maybe they all are not "crap" as some of us first suggested. But rather in this case, they were under specified in the first place. If you buy that analysis, then the logical conclusion is that depending on how your use your trailer, your axle springs are at risk of failure. But then, everything in life is as well. For me, it's Just a matter of risk/benefit/cost analysis at this point. For my case, I'm going with the Dexter PR4 replacements. GJ

Art: Did you intend on saying "Including Shipping". John

Attached is a DIY - Dexter EZ-Flex Center Bolt Spline Repair document mentioned above: DIY - Dexter EZ-Flex Center Bolt Spline Repair (20 APR 2024).docx

The key issue is: With the splines worn off, OTT will certainly know the parts. But they do not have an "Official" solution to fix the spun splines problem. Lots of forum discussion of this topic. The root cause is likely some one tried to torque the bolts from the head end or it could have been done when manufactured. BUT, if it had been done when made, you would have seen the EZ flex Center Bolt Failure (As in walking out of it's hole) in the first season of use.... like mine did. The EZ flex bolt spline solution took me three years to figure out. And it has worked fine. Below is my EZ flex solution I posted several years ago. I'll find my DIY process summary and post it tomorrow. GJ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++ EZ-Flex Kit: Oliver uses the K71-653-00 Dexter EZ Flex kit. (8,500 Capacity Version installed) EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO CHECK: If OTT was not using EZ flex devices on the vintage of your trailer, there is a possibility that your "Center Bolt" does not have splines on the nut end. Another possible is that if it did have splines, that they were damaged by tightening the bolt/nut from the bolt side. This will spin out those splines. The splines are absolutely essential for "Fixing" (As in prevention of rotation) of the bolt head. IF this is the case, it is essential that you "FIX" your bolt head. This is a life safety issue that has scared the XXX out of myself twice and two other owners that have been documented. There are a few ways to fix the bolt. Using one of these is one of those solutions. Search the forum for other solutions if you like. I did for the better part of three years, and did not find any alternatives that met my safety and effectiveness concerns. GJ Center Bolt Capture Washer Source: Barnes 4WD (828) 551-7616

If it hold water, then their design would have challenges. My concern with this one... Is that it has a lot of moving parts and pieces = high maintenance starting the day after the warranty expires..... I'm still holding out on the flexible direct adhered panels... except for the heat issue on fiberglass. GJ