routlaw

Final update on the EZ Flex install and how it works. Just took our Oliver back out to storage but took the scenic route adding quite a few miles on some skinny back roads full of patches, ripples from frost heave and various other whoopty do's on the road bed. No question about it the towing and ride are much smoother and more compliant with this suspension upgrade and again quiet as a church mouse. In fact I'll go so far as to say the ride out with the trailer in tow was smoother than the ride back unencumbered. Decided to take the same route on the return leg. Granted not a 100% exact comparison but close enough for this purpose. It will be interesting to see if Steve's response and assessment coincide with mine. Good luck with the project. Be glad to answer any questions anyone has.

Thanks Buzzy, but given that I got drug into this kicking and screaming due to an excessively noisy suspension not sure I deserve any altruistic awards. Regardless its great others are finding some useful information on the subject and that you have found it helpful. In the short term other than the annoyance of putting up with the noise its unlikely there was any immediate danger to the Oliver, but left unchecked I have no doubt the rust could have become a much bigger issue later, possibly requiring more parts and labor, and perhaps some handling issues on the road. It is worth pointing out too, if an individual does not want to incur the entire cost of the EZ-Flex kit + installation fees, they could just replace the existing bolts (8 per side) with zerk bolts and probably new bushings as well (though that may not be mandatory) and at least they would have a serviceable suspension for lubing once or twice a year. Better than standard issue, but for another nickel and a tad more effort they could have the entire enchilada and far better suspension. Once you're in this deep, another $300 ± or so is chump change given the piece of mind and serviceability.

Quick followup, just picked up our Oliver from Toms Alignment here in the Bozone. They did check for alignment but said it was dead nuts perfect. The EZ Flex suspension system is now installed and it is quiet as a church mouse either going over bumps on the road or leveling the trailer. Its only a short drive from our house to the repair shop so I haven't put it to the test for ride quality but from what I could tell the towing did seem somewhat smoother and more compliant, a good thing. The guys working on it thought the kit was awesome. Inspecting the old parts, the following is what we observed. Some plastic bushings in fairly rough condition but not as bad as I would have imagined, but rust and lots of it everywhere, inside and outside of the bushings as well as the bolts and races the bushings fit into. If there ever was any grease in these areas, and I doubt it, that grease had long left the building. Some bushings did have cracks and splits along the length while others still inside their through holes or races had some flaking. Will try and do a test ride later today or tomorrow and report back on the ride and towing improvement if any. Hope this helps.

Agreed entirely, but for those who are looking for something smaller and towable with a much smaller vehicle they might fit the bill. The guy who designed these things however brought to the industry what should have been here long ago, very innovative, creative and forward thinking. In perfect world Robert Johans (think I got that right) would have been able to go forward with this thing himself. Still no match for an Oliver though.

Buzzy, no not at all, but agree with your analysis. When they first brought it up I was a bit taken back. Could be once they get under the thing and see how its built they might have a different opinion. And as stated before the thing tracks incredibly well even without a WD hitch, sway bars etc.

Don you could have this done at any auto undercarriage shop too, i.e. shocks, brakes, alignment that sort of thing. I just took our Oliver down to what is considered to be the best sort of shop for this type of work in our town this morning. Had hoped to do it myself but the weather just isn't cooperating lately with not much end in sight either and with a big project coming up. Since Dexter supposedly has a two year warranty on their axles I'm hoping to get some relief for doing this but am not holding my breath. Oddly enough these guys were talking about aligning the axles too, said most of them do not come with any camber or toe etc etc and they have a hydraulic tool that can set the axle correct. My response was do nothing until we discuss it further. Apparently they have done this to thousands of campers/trailers. Had me a bit skeptical though given how well the Oliver tows as it is. Hope this helps.

I have no doubt you will do well with this mod, but do keep us informed on how it goes. Likewise I will do the same. Regarding deliveries, yep we usually get our shipments in via the 20 Mule Team Borax crew but thats only a recent new advancement for these parts, still had the pony express when I moved up here in the mid 70's. So we're moving pretty quick now days. The views aren't too bad though, long as those mules don't get in the way.

LOL, yeah its haul back into Chaco for sure. Been there many times and have seen that road in all sorts of conditions from relatively smooth for a dirt road to bone rattling washboards. Still worth the effort every time though. You've picked some great locations. The only one I haven't been to is Cedar Breaks for some odd reason but have spent quite a bit of time in Grand Staircase-Escalante, Zion, Arches, Mesa Verde and of course Canyonlands. Expect large crowds for Zion and Arches this time of year, not sure about Escalante. We were in Mesa Verde a couple years ago in May and it was not too crowded, easy to get a campground there. If you have't been to Hovenweep thats another place I would also recommend. They have some great ruins there but the gnats this time of year might eat you alive. If you have not been to Escalante yet by comparison its huge and you will have to work a bit harder for your rewards there unless its been developed a lot since our last visit. Highlights would include Devils Garden, Calf Creek Falls, Long Canyon, and Coyote Gulch which has 3 slot canyons alone, and if you can find it Phipps Arch. Don't overlook some of the BLM areas though and as long as you're doing this honestly I would include Natural Bridges National Monument on your short list. Its small and you will not get your Oliver into the campground but I promise you will not regret the visit or the hikes. Sounds like you have some interest in the ruins and petroglyphs and pictographs so again don't overlook visiting some of the surrounding BLM areas that can be chock full of this stuff and with hikes every bit as dramatic and gorgeous as the parks. By all means feel free to call be glad to talk discuss. Don't get too worried about getting lost but do keep a GPS device with you or download one of the mobile apps to do the same. I like Gaia for my iPhone, works as good if not better than my Garmin and a hell of lot easier to use. The parks will lay everything out for you on a silver platter so you probably wouldn't need one in those places. But if and when you start to venture off into the BLM lands such as Cedar Mesa, or Comb Ridge as the saying goes don't leave the campground without one (GPS).

Just wanted to do a quick update on this kit. Received my parts kit on Wed but have not had the time to install yet, but if all else fails I do have an appt at our local expert shop to have it done albeit for a chunk of change. Had another forum member contact me about one aspect of the install and wanted to share what I have learned regarding this issue. Apparently there has been some internet chatter on other forums where the resident "experts" claim the zerk bolt hole should be not only mounted on the horizontal plane which is correct, but also depending on its location, i.e. which spring eyelet the bolt goes into, that the lube hole should face either toward the front or the back of the camper. So addressing this in the install and owners manual there is nothing that implies either a forward or aft facing install, only that the hole should be on a horizontal plane. Not being quite content I decided to call tech support at Dexter to get their take on it. Jim, told me in no uncertain terms that the engineers only require the horizontal plane, direction matters not so long as the lube hole does not face down or up. Now that out of the way I would be remiss if not including the following info. This kit is massive heavy duty makes the standard shackles, equalizer parts look like a cheap toy. Also worth noting many of the zerk bolts and their brass/bronze bushings come already installed and pressed into place reducing the amount of work needed for the complete install. Its heavy over 30 lbs for both sides. Good luck for those who decide to make the installation themselves. For approximately $200 just for parts this will be money well spent.

Thanks Don. My website is sorely in need of updating and completion. Was working it on it but got interrupted by some work and a group art show and haven't been back to the task. Let me know if you need more specifics. Love discussing and visiting this area.

Pete, all good points but to that I will add water in these holding tanks, pure and filtered or not simply taste terrible to us. There is something about the plastic tanks that seems to leech into the water if left sitting for more than a day or so. Like you we've tried the same sanitizing methods though we have not installed an inline water filter but have used a Brita and the stuff still taste terrible. We gave up on trying to drink from our tanks. Had the same problem with our small 5 gal tank in our T@b too, never could get used to drinking water from that thing no matter how many times we washed and sanitized it. At the end of the day we figured it was just easier to carry our own water or get fresh supplies at the camping location filling our 5 gal BPA free bottles. The difference in taste is night and day. Have said it before but its worth repeating, this issue is not unique to Olivers, the entire industry has the same problem IMO due to the plastic holding tanks. If we were going to do some long term backcountry camping or trips to Mexico I think JrBirdmans solution is a very good one but for a week or two or three at a time seems way more trouble than it would be worth given the usual good water supplies we have in this country. Hope this helps

Don, yes we are familiar with most of these campgrounds except Dewey Bridge and Hittle Bottom which are much further up 128 and well past Castle Valley. However we have camped at Goose Island and Hal Canyon but not Big Bend though we have been through it and are familiar with it. Goose Island fills up the quickest because its so close to Moab and the other areas to venture into. Hal Canyon is small but you should be able to fit into about half the campsites there with your Oliver. Big Bend is quite a bit larger but also much further out. Most of the side canyons along this part of the CO river corridor are used for mountain biking, there may be some hikers but not many compared to the cyclist. One campground you did not mention and our favorite along the CO river corridor is Williams Bottom along Potash road to the south of Highway 191. Turn right almost at the same junction for the entry into Arches. We prefer it over all the rest but your preferences maybe be different. There are also some excellent hikes near by, one within easy walking distance of the campground and some amazing rock art in this area, huge prolific panels. Further down this road and at the end there is another BLM campground but can't remember its name and it is quite large and more open than Williams Bottom which has more shade. The north corridor road (128) will receive quite a bit more traffic during the night than Potash Road which quiets down at night. Also there are some campgrounds on the opposite side of the river, what is referred to as Kane Creek but with the exception of one of them they are not as appealing, however there are some of the nicest tent campgrounds along this area I've ever seen. Lots of ATV's, dirt bikes and other motorized backcountry vehicles in this area as well as mountain bikes but still there are some good and quiet hikes too. You didn't mention Fisher Towers which is up past Castle Valley and off 128 but that campground is way too small for anything but tents and truck campers. The day we went up there on this last trip it was pouring rain, otherwise a fairly popular hike. Some other interesting areas to explore but further to the west are Goblin Valley, San Rafael Swell, and a very small extremely isolated part of Canyonlands NP referred to as Horseshoe Canyon. Don't attempt The Maze in your own vehicle, either rent a jeep in Moab or better yet hire a guide. You can camp at the large parking lot at Horseshoe and there is normally room for an Oliver, but there is also well over 30 miles of backcountry gravel, sand rough road to get there. I wouldn't degrade it to a jeep trail, but its also not something I would want to attempt in a passenger car, high clearance and preferably 4WD are better and if its wet don't do it. The road can be quite narrow at times, but otherwise you shouldn't have any trouble doing it with the Oliver but all the campers we saw there were either truck campers or tents so proceed at your own risk. And don't overlook going into the Needles District, very nice campground there (fills up fast during peak season) and dispersed BLM just outside the park. Arches will be so crowded this time of the year its hardly worth the effort. We were there a few years ago in about this same time of year and some people were having to park literally 1-2 miles away from the trail head it was so congested. I'm not making this up. We felt like we were in a heard of marching ants on most of the hikes until you start heading deeper. Hope this helps.

Speaking of dumps, there is a good one in Moab at the local Ranch Feed and Seed supply on Main Street (not too far from the City Market by far the best grocery store in the area) at the south edge of town. $5 dumps + water refills too. I understand the Maverick gas station sort of across the street also has a dump station but don't know their setup or fees. To the best of my knowledge Blanding, Bluff and Monticello do not have dump stations, though there are a couple of small RV Parks in Bluff and one large one in Blanding. Never stayed at either but they might also allow a dump for a fee. BTW if you boondock near the Bluff area, the Comb Ridge Wash to the north might be a better area than the Butler Wash area albeit no shade and relentless sun on the southern end. On the northern end of the Comb Ridge Wash off Highway 95 you will find a fair of amount of shaded dispersed areas to dry camp or boondock. There is also some good camping on Cottonwood Wash further to the east and on NF land. I would be somewhat reluctant to tow an Oliver much more than the first mile ± of Butler Wash from the south end off Highway 191. Great canyons and hiking, as well as ruins and rock art if this interest you. However none of it is marked so do your homework before venturing into this area. Also forgot to mention if you have the geezer pass BLM camping in this area is only $7.50 per night. Sand Island Campground was filling up most every night but if you get there by noon or early afternoon you should be ok. This is a major launch place to float the San Juan River. Windwhistle also usually fills up each night, both are small campgrounds with SI being the larger and roomier of the two. Don't even think about staying at Natural Bridges National Monument in your Oliver, very doubtful you could fit in their with tiny campsites and only about 13 of them I think. There are other BLM campgrounds on the same mesa as Windwhistle as well as a fair amount of dispersed campsites though most of them would be a bit sketchy to get an Oliver into then back out. But if you can negotiate one there are some awesome views along the west south west rim overlooking the Needles district of Canyonlands. Let me know if you have questions or my descriptions aren't clear.

Don we just returned from a two week trip in SW UT. While we didn't boondock this time around, staying in BLM designated campgrounds the entire time but were off the grid for the entire two weeks. Obtaining water is easier than you might think. There is a nice BLM campground just outside Bluff called Sand Island that has water, also you can get water at the visitors center in Arches, as well as Windwhistle BLM near the Needles Overlook area. There are a number of BLM campgrounds along the CO River corridor both north and south of Highway 191 but none of those have water, but you can get all you need also at the Lions Park at the junction of Highway 191 and the road that takes you up to Castle Valley. Sorry can't recall the number of that one. Those are the only BLM campgrounds I've seen that do not have running water in SW UT. We do not drink or cook with water from our fresh water holding tanks but carry two 5 gal BPA free water jugs with us, plus another 1 gal jug inside the truck on day outings. It took us the entire two weeks to go through the 10 gals of drinking/cooking water we brought along but understand too it was unseasonably cool during most of our stay and rained for a few days so need were not as severe as they normally would have been. Had the days been as sunny and hot as normal our intake could have been twice this amount. I would figure 1 gal a day person to be on the save side in normal summer weather. Hopefully this helps.

Not a pest, actually its a good subject to discuss and consider. I like the setup on the video you link in regards to the bed. Effectively this is what Ed and Marsha did only with their setup being permanent. I think you could implement something very similar to whats shown in the video and perhaps better on the Oliver. Something I have considered as well. I assume the reason you would want to do this is to expand your seating area? I will add for the most part we don't feel cramped using just the small side dinette for seating and on occasions will just crawl into the bed area with cushions for support for other more laid back casual seating. Not sure this helps.

Had to go out and look, there are no AC outlets under the king bed on ours. Wouldn't matter cause we never camp, well seldom if ever camp, where AC is available. I've probably plugged our Oliver into an AC outlet maybe 2 or 3 times max, not sure why I did it then. It probably wouldn't be too difficult to install an AC outlet in this area though or below the control panels under the pantry area would be more accessible.

We went with the standard king configuration and never change it to the dinette, finding the small one more than adequate for our needs. No complaints at all. Like Ed and Marsh we use the bed in line with the camper, the back being the head board. Easy to get in and out of during the night too. The twin configuration is a nice idea but they are also considerably narrower than a real twin bed.

Sorry Matt just now saw this. I'm on a Mac Pro running OS 10.9.5 with Safari.

Update on the Dexter EZ Flex kit, just ordered from Nicks Truck supplies so with cost of kit and shipping I'm in for $211 so far. For those wanting to retrofit these were the least expensive I found on the net. Also checked with the go to guys here in town that do the best undercarriage work on vehicles, i.e. alignment etc. This part is painful. To do the complete install and taking out all the old stuff it could be as high as $700 depending on whether or not an alignment is needed after the installation. But probably $500 bare minimum. Ouch! The moral of the story is, if you are planning to order an Oliver or have one in the works you're foolish for not including this kit installed for $270 bucks, otherwise its classic case of stepping over dollars to pick up pennies. Hope this helps.

As luck would have it, it appears I will need to install one of these kits on my one year old Oliver. During our last trip to Utah which we've just returned from a week or so ago our suspension has developed an obnoxious set of noises when leveling the trailer and from all I can determine the issue is with the bushings in the shackles. Keep in mind we have towed this trailer less than 8000 miles and they need to be replaced. So to anyone ordering a new Oliver my recommendation is to spring for the additional heavy duty suspension kit. I do want to point out though the kit linked above is the wrong one. You will need K71-653 not 652 for the entire enchilada, or K71-655 if you choose the abbreviated kit with just the equalizer only. Link below for the correct full kit. http://www.dexteraxle.com/inc/sdetail/18096/18100

Didn't have any issues uploading images to my profile, but lets see if this works within the forum using Safari. Yep, looks like it worked

Good points. Regarding the bubble, you are correct in that it seems to change over time. For that matter if you push on the bubble as often as not it will not return to the exact same position even after adjusting. Early on I also tried the two foot level across the floor also but found ours was not exactly flat and even and so abandoned that solution. Plus it really is more efficient to have access to the bubble while adjusting the stabilizers. Its interesting there is such a disparity between your fresh tank and ours regarding the volume of water inside though. Strange.

Hi Dave Interesting comment, thanks for starting. We've had our Oliver for just over a year also picked up on March 3rd 2015. We've encountered a similar issue albeit a bit different. First the measurement output of all of our tanks, fresh, gray, black are in 6% increments, interesting yours measures in 3% increments. That said we do not encounter the problem you bring up until we reach 13% though at 19% performance of the pump and pressure do start to diminish. We overcome this by adding more fresh water via the winterizing inlet and valves in bypass mode. I haven't measured the distance from the bottom of the tank to the outlet tube, but 1.5" seems high based upon a visual inspection. All that aside we discovered something interesting about the leveling of the Oliver on our last trip. You can't necessarily trust the bubble level at the tongue because its adjustable via the 3 set screws which are spring loaded from the back side of the bubble. During this recent trip I kept thinking the camper felt a bit tilted to one side and not level from front to back. So we made some crude adjustments until we returned home, it helped. Once home I got my Bosch laser level out mounted onto a tripod and set a beam across the belly band. Sure enough bumper to hitch was still out quiet a ways. Next step was to measure the back side for street to curb level and it was also off. Effectively I leveled the camper using the belly band as the reference with the laser level, then adjusted the bubble to coincide with that adjustment. I would suggest you try something similar to determine that your bubble is accurate and if not make adjustments. However if we need to drain the fresh water tank completely the front needs to be raised by several degrees to accommodate this. We also do this while hitched when dumping gray water, makes it go much quicker.

Hmm… I really like the Ram Truck too, our son in law owns one, very nice rig! But, gas trucks on long uphill hauls being hated. Lets take a look at this video and see if it that holds up to scrutiny, albeit the sideline whoop di la is a bit over the top. http://www.ford.com/trucks/f150/gallery/videos-and-demos/all/uphill-towing-battle/FMFS8536000/ FWIW, I've never, not once suffered the upload slug with our gas truck (3.5 Eco Boost), in fact we tend to pass quite a few other rigs on the long grades in high altitude. Just finished a two week trip in the SW for the second time with mesa grades from 5-10%, nary a problem. Its a zippity do da affair over the hill. Regardless Jaquelyn for sure should hang onto her existing rig, it will be more than adequate for the task. Hope this helps.

Pete, thats a really good method, but… the back up camera as its referred to is much more than that. Think of it as a rear view camera, its on full time and what this allows is theoretically is an almost 360º view of your travel surroundings, i.e. whats behind you, whats coming around you on the blind side and so. In this regard I have found it as much if not more beneficial than its backup vision. In fact on more than one occasion I've backed into a spot while forgetting to look at the rear view monitor. So in essence I think it offers an additional level of safety while traveling and some help while backing up if needed. But I do like your parking method assuming you have plenty of time to accomplish this. It would never work getting the Oliver into our driveway which is located in the historical area of town with a narrow and fairly busy street. Suffice it to say I have to have my ducks in a row when doing this, and it usually needs to be expedient. The camera does come in handy in this situation.