Frank C

Thanks John. I did get genuine Timken seals for repacking the bearings, plus an extra full set of Timken bearings (SET4 and SET17) to have for emergency on the road just in case, from an authorized Timken distributor, and verified as genuine with the WBA app as well. And yes, the motorcycle fork and bearing seals I’ve worked with have all been rubber coated.

In the Dexter video for bearing repacking, the voice over mentions that when replacing the seal, a Permatex high temp red RTV silicone gasket should be applied to the outer diameter of the seal before application, starting around the 5:00 minute mark of the video. But it looks like just red grease being applied. Has anyone actually installed the seals with RTV silicone gasket sealant? Seems like it would make seal removal the next time a real pain. Other bearing seals I’ve replaced on motorcycles, etc have never said to use an RTV silicone gasket when installing.

Yeah, apparently making shock bushings that don’t degrade & split is an unknown science that seems to elude most companies. 🙄 Here’s a pic of the shock bushings on my 2 year old F-250.

Oliver purchases the galvanized steel suspension sub-frame. I believe it is from Dexter or some other third party. But it still may be Oliver’s problem if the subframe is being built by the third party to Oliver’s specs. Oliver manufactures the main aluminum frame in-house.

That configuration is definitely wrong. The emergency breakaway cable should go directly from the breakaway switch on the trailer to the tow vehicle, usually attached to one of the slots or metal loops on the hitch receiver on the tow vehicle. As yours is currently configured that would likely do absolutely nothing to activate the trailer brakes if the trailer came unhitched.

Is the circuit breaker at the campground AC electrical connection turned on? Campgrounds usually have circuit breakers in the electrical box that you plug into. And it’s recommended best practice to turn the breaker off when plugging in or disconnecting, and then turn the circuit breaker on after you are connected. Turning the breaker off when connecting or disconnecting your AC shore power cable prevents electrical arcing that can damage your plug. More than a few people have overlooked checking this one simple thing.

I carry 30 feet total (3 ten foot sections) and so far that’s always been enough.

To clarify a few things: The inverter is not used when connected to campground shore power. The campground shore power provides AC power directly to the AC outlets, microwave, etc. in the Ollie. The inverter is not used when using a generator. The inverter is used when boondocking for using the onboard batteries to provide power to the AC outlets. The inverter converts the battery DC voltage to AC voltage. Your generator may be putting out 120volts but that doesn’t mean it can supply enough wattage to run the microwave and whatever else you may be running at the same time. What is the continuous wattage output rating of your generator?

On yours, does the frame bracket have a hole that the threaded shock mount passes through? Or is it an open slot all the way to the edge of the bracket? I’m just surprised that the threaded rod of the shock is that close to the outer edge of the bracket in the photo that Fritz showed. The brackets on mine have just a round hole so the shock can’t get that close to the edge of the bracket.

On mine, the bushings do NOT appear over-torqued/excessively squeezed, but they are still cracked. Looks like the bushings that come with these standard shocks are just a really crappy low quality material that degrades quickly.

Same rumor was floating around last year because of some people connecting it to the hand sanitizer demand during the pandemic. But there never was any actual shortage of RV antifreeze. Different chemicals are used for hand sanitizer. Local Walmarts and auto stores here all have plenty of RV antifreeze on the shelves right now. And 3 to 4 gallons is about what is needed for winterizing. I always end up using about 4 gallons or so by the time I winterize every part of the Ollie water system.

If at all possible, stay locally at a campground around Hohenwald for a few days after you pick up your trailer so you can make sure everything is working as it should, or for any additional training on things that you might have not fully understood during the delivery orientation. Judging from the questions and replies here on this forum and on the Oliver Facebook page, probably half the issues that new owners (and even some older owners) have are user error. There are a few campgrounds around there that Oliver can recommend.

Doing some underside inspection on our Ollie Elite II (2019 Hull #461) and I noticed the rubber shock bushings on the original shocks are showing signs of cracking. We are done with our travels for this year so I’ll probably be replacing the shocks in the spring. Anyone have recommendation for a good aftermarket shock? Found some on Amazon from Lippert but I’d prefer something a bit higher quality.

I was having an issue with reduced water flow at the outside shower head. Thinking it might be the usual mineral buildup or plastic shavings issue in the hose or shower head, I decided to disassemble things starting with the shower head and working upstream. No mineral buildup or plastic shavings found, but when I removed the flex hose from the valve assembly, I did discover that the rubber washer that seals the flex hose to the valve assembly was swollen to the point that it was almost completely restricting the flow of water from the anti-siphon check valve inside the valve assembly. I’ve only used the normal chemicals in the water system for cleaning, disinfection, and winterizing (vinegar, bleach, and RV anti-freeze). But the seal obviously didn’t like one or some combination of those chemicals. I replaced the seal with one from my plumbing parts stash and now the flow is back to normal. Just something else to check for anyone noticing reduced water flow. Just be careful when removing the flex hose. There are several small parts to the little check valve inside

This is the one I have on our Elite II.

I’m taking the same approach. I’m keeping the knock-off Timken sets and some grease in my spares/tool kit as an emergency set to use on the road if ever needed. I’ll use genuine Tinkens from an authorized distributor when all the bearings eventually do need replaced.

As an inexpensive experiment I purchased “Timken” Set4 & Set17 bearings, and the 473336 seal, all on Amazon. They arrived today. They certainly look like Timken bearings with nice packaging and even have the Timken microprinting hidden in the longitude and latitude lines on the globe logo. But the WBA bearing app scan of the bar codes on the bearing packaging says the bearings are likely counterfeit. The seal checks out as ok. The seal was stocked and shipped by Amazon. The bearings were from a third party supplier. I do have an authorized Timken dealer not far away, so I do plan to get actual Timken bearings to use, but it was a cheap experiment, lesson learned. The two bearing sets were only about $25 total for both. I’ve had a lot of experience with Chinese suppliers in my career, but I am still amazed at the effort they will put into counterfeiting a product.

I did a search but didn’t find anything on this topic. I’ve noticed a strong black tank odor when the bathroom exhaust fan is on, and the odor seems to be coming from where the toilet (standard flush toilet) meets the floor. Seems that the exhaust fan is pulling odors up from the black tank somehow. There’s water in the toilet bowl so I don’t think the odor is coming up from the black tank through the bowl itself. I think there may be an issue with the seal between the toilet and black tank. Before I pull the toilet up, for anyone who has taken out the toilet for maintenance, do you have any photos of the seal that is used between the toilet and the black tank? Just so I have an idea of what to expect it should look like? Is it a standard toilet flange and wax ring? Thanks in advance.

Sorry to see you had this problem, but thank you for highlighting the issue so the rest of us know to check this. Because of your post, I just looked at my supports and thankfully the bolts, washers and nuts are there and tight, but it’s still one of those things that I normally would have never inspected.

I’m planning to purchase extra bearing sets and seals to have for when the time comes to replace them. I’m skeptical of the “genuine Timken” bearings on Amazon based on previous discussions about counterfeit bearings. The low price always seems suspect, below Timken’s pricing. Set4 example shown. $12.45 on Amazon. $27.29 from the authorized distributor. Fortunately I have an authorized Timken distributor not far away.

We did not get the street side awning and we’ve never missed it. We stay at full hookup campgrounds most of the time, and the street side of the sites at campgrounds isn’t a place you want to be sitting. Usually not much space on the street side of your site at a campground. Your street side is your left side neighbor’s curb side, so they get priority for space on that side. And that’s the side with your sewer, water and electric hookups and you’ll also be looking right at your neighbor on that side who is sitting out under his curbside awning. We just close the street side windows if it’s raining. And I’m not a fan of leaving even the curbside awning out if it’s raining anyway. Too many stories of Ollie owners having the awning blown off in sudden wind gusts (the auto retract feature works slowly). More expense and more weight that we wanted to avoid so we skipped the street side awning. Seems like a very expensive rain gutter.

Even with a “1/2 ton” pickup, make sure you understand and pay close attention to ALL the relevant ratings. There are specs for towing capacity, tongue weight (different capabilities with and without a weight distribution hitch), payload capacity (also called cargo capacity), GCWR (gross combined weight rating), etc. Even two of the same model trucks like an F-150 can have significantly different towing capabilities depending how it’s equipped. I have an F-250 which is generally classified as a “3/4 ton” truck, but mine as equipped from Ford is rated for up to 3,334 pounds of cargo, and 12,600 pounds of towing. So I can technically put more than a TON of weight in the pickup bed as cargo and still have payload to spare for tongue weight while towing my Ollie.

I also used the polar white. It’s a good match for the Ollie white. Esssentials UW01004 Polar White 10' EZE RV Gutter https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009IGF1KQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_A09Y32MVEM0YGPJ4SG75?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Can you clarify some details? Are you just seeing water in the window track? Or is water leaking down onto the mattresses, etc.? The window tracks do get some water in them when it rains, but it normally drains out the weep holes and does not overflow the track into the interior of the trailer. That's just an unfortunate effect of the design of the sliding windows. Make sure your seals around the outside of the sliding window are properly in place, and make sure the end of the seal is butted up snuggly against the vertical center bar of the window to minimize the amount of water that can get past the seal. The seal sometimes shifts in the track and creates a gap there. See photo for an example of the gap if the seal is shifted away from the center bar.

We did some car camping with our Cherokees, but never used either of them for any towing because of the limited towing capacity, limited payload weight and cargo volume. Absolutely love the Cherokees as an SUV, especially in the winter with the snow we get here in Pennsylvania, and our two Cherokees are still in the family, handed down to our son (the 2014) and our daughter (the 2019). They’ve been great all around vehicles but because of their size and specs, I wouldn’t tow anything even the size/weight of an Elite I with one. I’m in the camp of folks on this forum that believe you don’t want to be anywhere close to the max specs of your tow vehicle when towing. It’s a big strain on the engine, brakes, suspension, tires, etc., and emergency situations/panic stops do happen pretty regularly when towing because other drivers are morons. I like a nice safety margin.