thompsonkd

We also recently had Alcan upgrade our leaf springs and axles. Having a 2018 trailer we had the old 3000 lb axles and of course the 4 pack leaf springs installed by Oliver. It took us a while to decide to have the work done, but it was becoming obvious that we were due for a broken leaf spring or two without an upgrade. Upgrading the axles was an easy decision since the new axles provide better brakes and (hopefully) less maintenance. It’s a relatively quick process to have Alcan do the work; it takes about 2 hours. Lew told us his wife had worried about people driving to town to purchase a torque wrench and socket pulling a trailer so he now sells a decent torque wrench and the necessary socket to perform the required torquing for $50 dollars. He also provides a sheet with all the torque specs and is available for any questions. Tucker the technician who performed the work for us was available as well to answer any questions that we had. We did notice that the new running gear is much stiffer. We aired down our tires, and have done the preliminary torques. We would definitely recommend Alcan. Seems easier to have them do the work but as has been detailed by others, Alcan will ship so folks can do the work themselves or have a shop close to them do the work.Lew told us he is doing about 1 Oliver a week now, plus providing gear for the new Oliver Apex. I guess 38 pages of forum information pays off, for anyone who has the patience to read it all! Alcan suggested we go to Randy’s South Side Diner in Grand Junction while the work was being done. Decent local restaurant for breakfast!

Funny! Moderation with AH is the key! 🌋🔥 David

Thank you JD. I am hoping that @Patriotwill weigh in with a photo. However, it might indeed be easier to lube the zerks with the 45 degree bend. So with the angled zerks, you wouldn’t have to remove the tire unless you wanted to? I am sure Alcan would put the angled zerks on if I went that route. David

Thank you Mountainoliver. There is the cost differential from the 3X 105 to two X 300 AH batteries versus, but two 300 AH would allow for future upgrades and it’s good to know that the existing wiring on my system would be adequate. Thanks again. David

We are planning on having Alcan replace our axles and springs this summer. Several people have mentioned having Alcan position the zerks so as to make greasing easier. Can someone who has done this please post a picture of their zerks? This chore has always been difficult, and making it easier sounds appealing. Thanks. David

Mountainoliver, thanks for the clear writeup of your battery issue. I was wondering if you could elaborate on your choice of two 300 AH batteries versus 3 or 4 of the 105 AH, of course besides the increased AH! Your trailer is similar to ours in age-have you changed any of the wiring as to gauge to accommodate the increased AH? What is a general rundown on your electrical system? Again, appreciate your writeup. David

Thank you Rideandfly (Bill); do you use Visible as your discount provider?

Somewhat off topic, and this is an old tread, however I was hoping to get some input from fellow Ollie owners. We have had Verizon for years as our cell carrier, and service has been decent when traveling with our Oliver. However, it is a pricey carrier, and Spectrum has moved into our area recently with some aggressive pricing options for cell service. I was wondering if folks have had Spectrum for cell service and what their experiences were, especially in more remote areas and out in the western states. Thanks is advance. David

Yes, that is the same brand we used, but brush on as opposed to spray. Be careful to tape what you don’t want protected or you’ll ruin your circuit board!

Hello. Yes we have had the same issue with our fan. The fan began to open and close on its own, or not open at all. Friends who have a van conversion told us this is a know issue with MaxxAir fans. The fix is to replace the circuit board but first applying a specialized silicon used for electronics to the board. There are lots of YouTube videos detailing how to do this. The caveat is to be careful in taping off the parts of the board that should not have the silicon applied. We used a spray can of the silicon, our friends used the kind that is brushed on-probably doesn’t matter which kind is used. Regardless, the silicon is fairly expensive. We did that and it has worked so far. We also had the lift mechanism shatter, and we replaced that. Finally, the remote quit working and we replaced that as well. We use the fan all the time; it’s a great fan, just requires a fair amount of maintenance.

We were trying to decalcify our system the other day and put the valves into the Winterization configuration, but when we turned on the pump to draw up vinegar from the rear boondocking port, suction would not develop and we were unable to get vinegar into the lines. We were able to draw water into the lines from the fresh water tank after switching the valves to the Normal configuration. Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions regarding this? Thanks in advance.

Thanks Jonwen, appreciate your response. Look forward to hearing what you say about the shocks after a bit of time.

Wondering if you or anyone else has recommendations for a brand of shocks. Sounds like you still like Monroe, despite the issues you have had; I have heard people also recommend Bulldog shocks but had trouble getting them? I think most Oliver’s come stock with Monroe. We are planning on replacing our shocks as well as the springs in the next few months.

I ran the generator and batteries topped off at 13.3 before I had to shut off the generator because of where we are camped. We have 3 Battleborn 100 amp lithium. While the generator was running, converter was working (fan was running) charging the batteries. Normally I would run the generator until the surge protector readout went to 2 amps indicating that batteries were fully topped off, but couldn’t, so will do that this evening. The Zamp Solar controller seems to indicate incoming solar at this point. I checked the 12 volt fuse under the street side bed and it had not tripped. I tripped and reset it to see if that helped. You indicated a 40 amp circuit breaker? -where would that be? I will check the battery cables next. Thank you very much for your help. This forum and the people that contribute to it is invaluable!

We plugged Oliver into our generator and everything works-Zamp controller, Progressive converter, all 12 volt systems came on with the generator. Last night the Victron battery app indicated 77%; around 3 o’clock every thing went dead-all 12 volt systems were down. The only large draw was the fridge, but it was on propane. We are going to fully charge the batteries and see what happens. Any ideas?

We are currently Boondocking-last night the entire 12 volt system quit. This morning, when the sun came up, the Zamp controller came on with an error code of 601. We have 3 100 amp Battleborn. Yesterday, it seemed that we were not charging well with solar, but I assumed it was shade. Regardless, last night, Victron battery app showed 77% battery capacity. I am going to run our generator to see what happens. Any ideas about troubleshooting?

We live outside of Asheville, about 35 miles. Total devastation in our county. Services have been knocked out; power, water, phone and internet. Trees down everywhere. Lots of bridges out. Many roads are simply closed. Topgun and Scotty live in Western NC; not sure how they are doing. We have been lucky-house okay.

Mossemi; realized I misspelled your name! I am going to try and post a picture of what our basement structure looks like. We are traveling and visiting family so it’ll be a few days. I appreciate your help. David

Missed, and others; basic question: I tried to access the pipes and valves in the basement-there’s a wood panel-what’s the easiest way to get that out? I took the screws on the bottom of the panel out, but the floor doesn’t easily come up! Do I just pry away? Thanks in advance!

Thank you Mossemi. Perfect, just what I needed.

Thanks for everyone’s suggestions. I tightened up the fittings again under the curbside bed and the pump quit running after pressurizing the system. Eventually I’ll check under the kitchen sink, and if necessary, the bathroom sink. I wanted to check the inlet pipes and fittings for the fresh and city water inlets, and the winterization port; what is the easiest way to access these fittings? Thanks again. David

For some reason our water pump keeps running instead of shutting off, suggesting a leak or loose fitting somewhere. I tightened all the obvious fixtures under the curb side bed and the problem has continued. I am not seeing water come out of the scupper holes, and I don’t see any moisture under the bed. My question is where else should I look for a leak, cracked fitting, or some other issue? Maybe a water pump issue? Thanking in advance for any suggestions! David

I am not confident that these pictures will show our lights…We have the older style switched puck lights in our Oliver. Road vibration caused the rim to come loose from the main body of the light. Nothing seems broken, and all the tabs on the rim seem to be intact. However, we can’t get the two parts to snap back together. Has anyone had experience with this? Or, does anyone know what brand Oliver used for this style light? I can’t find it online. Thanks in advance. David

Previously, Topgun has mentioned that his remote switch for the Xantrex 2000 had quit working; he mentioned several fixes-snapping the connection to the remote switch in and out (accessible via the port hole in the pantry, cleaning the connections…Or replacing the switch. We tried all the trouble shooting and the remote continued to work for a while. Eventually, the switch quit and I replaced it. The new switch worked for a while, less than six months before requiring the troubleshooting techniques. Wondering if anyone else has had this situation with the remote failing so quickly. We need to use the inverter currently, so we just turned it on under the bed. A second question is are there any issues with simply leaving the inverter on for prolonged periods. Typically we turn it on only when it’s in use. Thanks in advance for any feedback. David

Galway Girl (Craig); thank you for posting this and very kind of you to offer assistance at the eclipse meet up regarding this. I had asked Craig about this at the rally and he crawled under my trailer to show me where the bolts were. And now he posts pictures with torque specs and all! Thank you. David