routlaw

Timely topic, just went through this on both my TV (F150) and the Elite II. Had Les Schwab install the Vredestein LT Pinza AT's on both units but here's the odd part. They insisted on keeping the PSI on truck the same as the door sticker which was 35 front and rear but a week later when they installed the same tire on our Oliver they ran them at 80 PSI. WTF, go figure. I am currently running the truck at 45 PSI and Oliver also at 45 PSI. There just isn't enough load within the Oliver to run them at a higher PSI IMO. Also worth pointing out, after getting both sets of tires installed I also ordered a TPMS. Initially installed them on the truck, took a 60 + mile drive on the interstate and while it was a mild day 70's for temps at no time did the PSI increase more than 5 points. Consistently the tires on the side that faced the sun ran 1-2 PSI higher than the shady side. Granted I was not carrying a load and it was not hot temps but thought it to be a fairly good indicator of adequate PSI for the truck. For those who would like to delve into this more can't recommend the following link enough: https://tirepressure.com Lots of excellent information, calculators etc on this website regarding tire pressure for all vehicles and types of tires.

We had it here back in May for a week or 10 days ± but it's been clear and raining off and on for the last couple of weeks providing fresh clean air quality. But I also know it's only time before we are inundated with smoke again. I am fortunate in that I do not have any respiratory system that is overly affected by smoke but still its rude and not enjoyable. Had hoped Canada had received some of the much needed rain we have had lately, apparently not.

I just had a set of LT tires installed on my LE2 this past month at Les Swab. We do not have a Discount Tire store in the state as far as I know. Tire Rama will also install LT tires on trailers. FYI, I went with the Vredistein Pinza AT due to their top of the line reviews on Tire Rack. Also the last time I checked Costco WILL NOT do trailer tires. As for ST vs LT, every time I have read the specs for ST tires they are rated at 65 miles per hour and I cannot tell you how many times I have seen Travel Trailers blow these things completely to smithereens. Just saw this the other other day on I-90, and last year as we were heading up to the Flathead Valley here in Montana a 5th wheel blew out tires literally right in from of us as we were passing going the opposite direction. Coming back from that trip we watched yet another trailer blow its tires on I-90. You will not ever see me putting a set of ST tires on our Oliver.

Ours also came off, same place, or rather was mostly off and I completed the task. Personally I don't care for the aesthetics of the chrome trim anyway but have not decided what to install in its place, so for now I have simply left it off with the seam and drilled holes showing. FWIW there was very little glue left and only at the two corners.

@rideandfly yeah I tried it both ways with weight initially off the wheel, then lowered and tried again all to no avail. The pin points out straight or horizontally though. To the best of my recollection it took grease when new and installed. Thanks. I suppose anther option would be to disassemble that joint, lube and reinstall.

Living in SW Montana summer fires have become a major issue here and it's not always the fires within our state. As often as not it has been fires from as far away as CA, OR, WA, NV & ID. Typically the prevailing winds are southwest to northeast this time of year but it can also change to dead west but this past week or so we had AQI's of over 150 on most days due to the fires in Canada especially Alberta. Unusual jet stream for this time of the year. Our valley is surrounded by mountains yet we could not see any of them due to the smoke, well maybe the Bridgers were slightly detectable on a few days in the mornings. And it's only May! This was a first in almost half a century of living here. Every single county within the state was on air quality alerts, and this is the 4th largest state just behind CA in size. Had planned on going out for a short night or two this past week but what was the point? Nothing to see out there. So yes fires do change when and where we camp. The sad part is there seems to be no end in sight looking into the distant future. It is worth noting today was much better with AQI of mid 40's with all mountain ranges visible. How long this clear spell last is anyone's guess. In conclusion I really feel for the folks who travel long distances to see the beauty of the west only to be met with smoke filled skies and no hope of even seeing these majestic landscapes. Safe travels.

Speaking of zerks, just went through the process of lubing all of mine this past few days, well all but one. Both wheels were off the ground for that side but no amount of pressure from the grease gun would push grease into the zerk. Took the zerk out, cleaned it and made sure the pin was not frozen and able to recede but even this made no difference. Anyone ever run into this situation? If so how did you finally get it to take grease? Thought about shooting some Fastbreak into the seams of the bushing thinking the grease in that area had dried hard. Thanks

I am of the persuasion one can never have enough tow vehicle, (within reason) so with that in mind and as others have suggested I would not use an Ascent to tow the Elite 1. I like Subarus just not for towing. Trucks or heavier duty SUV would be a far better choice. Hope this helps.

We have camped at Monte Sano State Park many times in years past but it is a really nice park for sure. It also has just enough elevation to be cooler in the hot and sultry summer months vs being down in the TN River Valley area. Lots of great hiking, not strenuous at all as well as off road mountain biking. Watch out for the gigantic spiders and their webs on some of the trails though. Creepy doesn't even begin to describe it.

Watching this video reminds me of how much I detest these windows, my biggest Oliver complaint by far. Just went through this on my own windows yesterday but rain kept me from doing the last one. Maybe later today. I do want to reiterate what Steve stated above, it is very easy to remove those rubble glides from the tracks. What I have always done is to pull the window while pulling the rubber glide simultaneously which only takes a couple of strokes to remover it completely. I also take the top part out in order to thoroughly wash and clean the rubber glide. Normally the sliding window should remove easily after that though it may take a bit of maneuvering up and down to release from the tracks. The screen also needs to come out as well, just push down against the springs (bottom of screen) then the top should release from the upper track. This allows for a much easier and thorough cleaning of all parts, rubber glides, track and windows. Figure about an hour for each window doing it this way. In conclusion I also spray each of those rubber tracks with silicone lubricant both sides and doing this allows for very easy installation using the same method as removal. Just get the rubber glide started a few inches then push both window and glide together, pull the window back while keeping the glide in place. Repeat as often as needed until the glide clearly is past the window on opposite side from the feed at which point you can grab the rubber glide and pull it to its destination. Great idea using the wand for flushing!

You will be ok without the metal valve stems unless you want to inflate to max PSI of 80, for pressures in the 40's-50's those rubber should be fine. Agreed though with longer rubber ones they tend to flex too much.

Correction on Zion. I called them earlier in the year and the ranger on the phone said they have not implemented this RSVP system for this year. Regardless it is a very crowded park and it is my understanding visitors have to take the shuttle bus up the Virgin River Canyon beyond the turn off to Carmel Junction although I do not know what the cutoff dates for this are. Most likely available on the nps website though. The unfortunate and sad part is we are loving the national parks to death. There may be some relief coming though based upon the plummeting sales of new RV's this year. Winnebago and Thor Industries stock had taken a dive earlier in the year due to this very issue. One would assume this is a barometer of the over all industry with two major manufacturers with very diminished sales and demand. My goals this year are to explore and reach out to far lesser known or visited wilderness places.

It's all good, for now I have that wheel put back together for the time being. Just need to order new bearing parts for the heavier duty axles now and start over.

Yep, sure enough

Thanks for following up with this info. I will order a set of those for my 5200 lb axles. Big weekend surprise on this one.

This sounds like a good upgrade, and not too expensive, thanks for posting this.

So far I have come up with the following on the bearing/race: 15245/15123 & 25520/25580, not sure about the seal # and have not found Set values similar to the 17 & 4 for the 35 Lb axles. For those who have been through this would appreciate verifying I have the correct part #'s. Thanks as always. Rob

Well here it is, indeed 5200 lb axles. Just crawled underneath found the Dexter label and lo and behold! How on earth did this not get mentioned at delivery. Does anyone know what the bearing kit parts are for the correct Timken seals, races and bearings are for this set of axles? Thanks in advance if you do

Well unfortunately the entire thing is put back together so if I understand what you refer to as axle flange I would have to start all over by taking the entire enchilada apart again. Didn't pay much attention to that part just too busy dealing with other things. Trying to do a search for the correct beating parts but man is this a deep dive. Thanks

Yesterday turned out to be an unmitigated disaster, but thanks for the feedback. Decided to just jump into it after making the post, easy to determine my spindle castle nut to be 1.5 inches. Hub assembly came off easily, all good so far. Got the seal, bearings and races out no problem. As it turns out on the first wheel bearings and races looked brand new even after 25K + miles. Next up new bearings, but whoa they are far too small, seal, races and bearings, all of them. WTH! Part numbers looked good on the boxes. Turns out I must have oddball drums either that or 6000 lb axels. If you look at the Dexter website there are no 5000 lb axels listed. Cutting to the chase the seal that came out of the first drum is 3 3/8ths diameter and of course the bearings are huge by comparison to the Set 17 bearings. At this point I had no other choice but to repack existing bearings, re-install old races and try to track down a new seal. Luckily I was able to find one and one only within the entire town. Installation went fine with old set and new seal, just before it started raining, whew! But now what? Neither my wife or I recall anyone saying anything about installing the larger axles at delivery, but that was over 8 years ago. Weird to say the least. Oh well, back to the drawing board.

Agree with the others, spare is a different size, and would not rotate into the mix. Leave it for an emergency road trip to the nearest tire store.

It's probably been covered or mentioned before but I can't seem to find the size of the bearing nut for the 3500lb Dexter Axles. An online search seems to return everything from 1 inch to 1 1/2 inch nut but all 14 thread. Would like to know before delving into the bearing change assuming it doesn't start raining. Thanks

Good info regarding the type of TPMS and batteries @MAX Burner well noted. What are brands worthy of consideration then?

From my experience I have never had any issues 8 years running with the factory tires set between 45-50 so you should be just fine. At this point I am definitely going to invest in a TMPS system though. Had I lived in the SW where road and air temps can really soar I would have done it long ago. Still experimenting with the truck however. Honestly I think I could easily get by with 45 front and 40 rear driving without load or towing. I plan to do the chalk test over the weekend to see what that determines. Good luck.

Tires and their specs are certainly an interesting topic. Over the last couple of weeks I've put new tires on both my tow vehicle and Oliver using the same tire for both which in this case is the Vredestein Pinza AT. Had never heard of this brand until recently while researching replacements on Tire Rack.com but they seem to receive great praise topping out on the list of possible replacements. Vredestein is in the Netherlands. Link below for Oliver if interested. https://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireSearchResults.jsp?zip-code=59715&width=225/&ratio=75&diameter=16&rearWidth=275/&rearRatio=65&rearDiameter=18&performance=ALL Thus far I like them a lot. What is most interesting is how the shop had dealt with the two different applications. Install on the F150 kept the tire pressure the exact same of 35 PSI on all 4 as though they were P-metric rather than the recommended 50 PSI for a 10 ply LT tire. At this size LT275/65/18 the load rating is (123) or 3417 lbs per tire. However using the same tire in a smaller size to fit the Oliver (LT225/75/16) results in a load rating of (115) or 2679 lbs while the tire store not only installed heavy duty solid metal valve stems they also went with 80 PSI the max amount for the tire. Needless to say I came home and reduced the pressure to mid 40's on the Oliver. Seriously 80 PSI for a small trailer with about 1500 lbs ± on each wheel! The odd part at least to me, when I questioned the tire store in this case Les Schwab Tires about the 35 PSI setting for the truck the response was quiet emphatic this is the correct setting for that tire and vehicle. As many of you know this will reduce the load carrying capacity of the vehicle using this tire at 35 PSI. Granted I am still trying to wrap my head around the fact a heavier duty tire actually has less load capacity than an equivalent P rated tire at the same PSI setting but it's the reality of the situation. I could keep the F150 at 35 PSI and just live with the reduced load capacity with no idea of how tread wear plays out for LT tires at this setting. Just curious anyone else wrestled with this situation? Thanks