John and Debbie
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Days Won
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Posts posted by John and Debbie
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22 minutes ago, Gliddenwoods said:
John
You also have a 2022 Oliver yet tou installed new springs. Others suggested replacement not necessary on 2022. Yours thoughts would be great. Thanks.
I just didn't want to risk them failing. It might be overkill, but after talking to Lew at Alcan Springs, he said the four leaf springs are designed to break. Three inches out from the eye is the sheer point he explained. In looking at what we have and what he makes, it reassured me that we made the right decision. If the roads we travel never had potholes and we were always on great roads, then I might have chosen to not replace them.
John
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3 hours ago, Gliddenwoods said:
Thanks. Any guess on the cost to have Alcan install the Alcan 5500 lb leaf springs? I plan to be in Colorado in September. Any advice as to what to include in my conversation when I call them to order the service?
If memory serves me, our Alcan springs were about $1700 for the five leaf springs, new shackles, wet bolts and labor. Lew at Alcan Springs can give you a quote very quickly as he has done about 100 Oliver's so far. When we talked to him he wanted about six weeks to build the sets and put us on the schedule.
John
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1 hour ago, shhQuiet said:
Wow, I can't imagine a bike journey like that! Congrats to you for such a great accomplishment! I only rode about 70-80 miles per day in "flat" Iowa.
That's a big accomplishment. I always said that the people who say it's flat are vehicle drivers.
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12 hours ago, Boudicca908 said:
I've towed my Oliver 5,800 miles so far this year and I've only seen two other Olivers on the road.
We saw one in 4000 miles of towing from Portland, Oregon to Denver, Colorado.
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2 hours ago, Galileo said:
After upgrading my grease gun to a “LockNLube Professional Series”, I discovered I couldn’t sneak the coupler behind the tires to get to some of the fittings, so I figured it was time to pull the wheels off to get to them. While I was at it, I intended to try the “unloading the suspension” to get some of the Zerk fitting unwilling to accept grease to submit. Then again, taking the wheels off without unloading the suspension would be more fun than I was up for.
Anyway, a lot of realizations in what should have been a fairly straightforward operation:
First off, getting a floor jack under the best lifting points on the axles isn’t very easy. That’s something an owner would have to do just to change a tire. What kind of jacks are people out there using?
Related to the above, the marked lifting points on the frame require a jack that has pretty high lifting ability. So again, best kind of jack?
(I currently have an AC “Racing Jack” - which is fine for most vehicle, easier than a hydraulic bottle jack, and a lot less effort than the mechanical jack that comes with your average TV.)
I decided to rotate the tires - front to rear only - since I was gonna have them off. Seemed prudent.
I had been naively been trusting the 120 foot-pound torque specs from the Oliver owners manual. I’d been re-torquing them periodically as advised by the manual. No issues until now.
This was the first time I had a wheel off. So it’s the first time I’ve actually tightened a lug nut that wasn’t already tight.
On the right side - aside from struggling to jack the beast up - everything went fine.
However - on the left side - when trying to torque the lug nuts, I found that a couple of them didn’t seem to tighten. They didn’t feel stripped, just wouldn’t tighten.
My wild guess is that the studs are pressed in, but don’t have splines to keep them from spinning - which would be unlike every other wheel stud I’ve replaced. (I had even snapped a couple off back in the old days when I tried to remove a lug nut on a ‘64 Dodge that had left hand threads on one side of the vehicle.)
Once I searched here and found that 120ft/lbs is likely too high, I tried again at 100ft/lbs and I was able to torque them to that spec. (Kinda like that 80psi on the tires….)
So does anyone know if the studs are not splined?
Im sure I’ll have more questions as time goes by…
I use the 90° LockNLube attachment for those Zerk fittings that won't take a straight on attachment. Be very careful with attaching the 90° to the Zerk and also unattaching so you don't loosen too much and lose the three small pieces. I did that and had to buy a new 90°. I torqued my wheel lug nuts to 90ft pounds. I thought I read that somewhere. I use the rear stabilizer jack and a bottle jack with chocking the opposite tires. Attaching to the tow vehicle sounds good too. I have done that before and chocked the TV also along with the trailer wheels.
John
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1 hour ago, shhQuiet said:
I rode my bike across Iowa in RAGBRAI... It may net out to flat, but those rolling hills are a killer!
I rode my bicycle twice from the Pacific Coast to the Atlantic Coast. Sea level to sea level, but the equivalent of about eight or nine Mt. Everest's between. I have heard that RAGBRAI is a tough one. Congratulations.
John
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2 hours ago, Gliddenwoods said:
Having read so much about broken springs and the potential benefit of installing better(?) ALCAN springs I have decided to "consider" such an upgrade to my Oliver. However the garage I built for year-round storage of the Oliver has very limited door clearance when backing in; just two inches.
Question. After having the ALCAN springs installed with the additional spring does the overall height of the Oliver increase? If so, how much? I have revised my building three times now since having purchased three different trailers until the Oliver and I can not revise the door clearance any more so this is a critical question.
Thanks.
I don't notice any difference in ground clearance. I think someone said there was a 1/2 inch difference, but that's just going on memory, so not sure.
John
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15 hours ago, John Dorrer said:
I should have added, that the decision to go from 3500 axels to 5200 axels is a personal choice. Some owners have found out from Oliver that switch can't be made.
While the springs breaking have mostly been on older trailers, 2021 and older, I'm sure the 4-leaf spring will continue to have issues.
Dexter supplies most of the RV industry with their suspension system. Oliver could instruct Dexter to install 5-leaf springs. This would be a better option than the 4-leaf, but not close to the Alcan 5-leaf springs.
I have our springs and shocks checked professionally, every 3,000 miles, when my Zerks are greased.
With our 2022, am I playing Russian Roulette? That is a really good question. Many of you might say yes, but I think I'm watching things carefully.
At some point, I will make the switch to Alcan, and schedule a day to get it done in Grand junction.
Switching to Alcan, or other choices, are personal choices we all have to make.
John, when I was in Grand Junction, Lew had a display board with our original 4 leaf springs and his. He went over what his are like. It's a far superior spring with much better bushings and wet bolts too. He said the 4 leaf design is built to break at that single 3 inch from the eye leaf. The trailer isn't as affected by passing semis as before the switch to Alcan Springs. I am glad we did it. We also had Bulldog shocks installed.
John
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13 hours ago, Mountainman198 said:
I replaced two springs on the same axle at a campground after one broke and the other was failing. Took 4 hrs using the onboard rear “stabilizers” and a bottle jack. Found a pair of springs at a local rv shop. Once I made it home I replaced all four with Alcan 5-leafs and never looked back. 10,000+ trouble-free miles on the Alcans. It can be done if you have the tools.
PM me and I am happy to talk you thru the process.
Lew has a display now that shows our original leaf springs and his together on a display. Everything about his springs are far superior. I believe he said you were the first Oliver in his shop. Even his wet bolts are better designed. We got our trailer done there in May. He said he's seen about a hundred Olivers so far.
John
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15 hours ago, Mike and Carol said:
We’ve done the long meandering trips and also the destination specific trips. Plus’s and minus’s for both. We’ve found that many overnight stops in a row can get tiring, so when we’re headed somewhere specific we try to find a spot where we can stay two nights and a day to rest up. Plus, we do enjoy staying at a target destination for a week or more. We’re getting ready to go to the PNW in August and September, 7 National Parks and the OR and WA coast. I’m sure we’ll be tired when we get home, but we’ll fill in OR and WA on our map! Mike
We live in Beaverton, Oregon. Your timeframe for visiting the PNW will show you our best weather. The Olympic Peninsula in Washington has the rain forest with lots of moss hanging from the trees. They get about 140 inches of rain yearly, but the summers are dry. Enjoy your trip.
John
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6 hours ago, Geronimo John said:
Hitch Rattle:
As stated above, the noise is the receiver slop at this connection. I do not notice it with our rig and the Anderson in play.
However I like it as when I am using my front jack to hook up/take off the Anderson chains, I use the front jack to raise the back the truck a bit. I observe as the Anderson receiver moves up in the stationary TV hitch. When this angle stops changing, this tells me that I have "erased" the tongue weight off the TV, and I am now lifting the truck. Not something I want to do too much; as at some point I would damage the Jack.
So, I consider the sloppy fit as a visual safety warning for my jack's long life.
GJ
I do the same thing.
John
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On 5/26/2025 at 11:41 AM, jd1923 said:
I like the OEM equipped sliders! Though until I added the fan, we had not used the rear slider and it’s very difficult to slide.
Laying in bed, it’s a simple one-handed slide to open and to close when it gets colder late at night. Can’t do that with an awning, lock bolts on each side, requiring you to stand up, lean over using both hands. I’ll keep our sliders and with new external rubber they are in great shape considering 10 years of age.
Now we could wish for blinds 3/4” thick vs. these clumsy things that stick out 3” into our living space, my big body or arms hitting them every night, and you can't fully lean back sideways at the dinette table. We don’t, though some have issues with them falling off on bumpy roads.
I like the sliders on our 2022 LE2. We have a little over 500 miles on the new Alcan springs and I had a couple times that the shade frame loosened up on the bottom and one time where the dinette frame popped off completely on Colorado roads. Another owner who got the Alcan springs said they settled in after 500 miles. That was my experience too. We had some doozies of bumps today from Utah to Oregon and no issues with the shade frames. Another thing that I noticed is that when a semi passed us, the trailer isn't as affected by it as before. We had some intense wind guests today and it tracked great.
John
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1 hour ago, rich.dev said:
I see there’s a bit of a gap between the window frame and inside wall (black arrow), when you have the shade removed check to see if the screws that secure the window frame (red arrow) to the main window are not lose, but pay attention not to over tighten them, they strip easily.
All looked good. I was able to snap the window shade back in after checking that the connection points were secure. Thanks for the help.
John
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28 minutes ago, rich.dev said:
The red arrow is not the window frame, it’s the window shade. Here is an Oliver video that shows how the window shade is removed/secured.
Thanks Rich, it looks easy to fix. I see that I used the wrong term. I meant the window shade. Thanks again for finding that video.
John
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It's the window frame, the red arrow in your picture.
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2 hours ago, mossemi said:
Just so I have a clear understanding of this issue, is it the frame of the window shade or the actual window?
Mossey
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Colorado roads are some of the worst. We were on I-70 from Grand Junction to Denver today. When we got here I noticed the bottom of the window frame by the dinette is loose. We did get Alcan springs on Tuesday, but we had some good sized dips on the freeway!! Is that an easy fix to get that frame tight again?
John
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2 hours ago, Patriot said:
@John and Debbie
Pro tip 😊- A cheap HF moving blanket is nice to have to lay on while under the belly of the beast while greasing zerks or torquing running gear fasteners. I always carry one for this purpose. I carry several others to lay over my truck in the event of a hail storm. These blankets came in handy when we had rain and small hail at the last Oliver Rally.
Here- https://www.harborfreight.com/search?q=furniture moving blankets
I carry this also, my knees a grateful - https://www.harborfreight.com/foam-kneeling-pad-56572.html
Thanks. There's a HF here in Grand Junction too. I did bring the same foam kneeling pad. I never leave home without it. The moving blankets look like a great idea.
John
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22 minutes ago, CRM said:
The campground might have a webpage that must be accessed first to accept terms before entering the network key. I had this happen once before and I just ended up streaming from my phone to the TV instead.
How do you stream from your phone? I am not tech savvy. Any easy steps to take?
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Hi all, we have a Visio TV that works at home by the garage hooking up to the Wi-Fi at home. The Grand Junction, Colorado KOA shows strong Wi-Fi but when I try to access it and I choose GrandJunctionKOA it says,"no internet" and doesn't progress to the next step of putting in the code. Any idea how to solve this? Thanks
John
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11 minutes ago, Mountainman198 said:
Try here. When doing my initial research for US made springs, they said they could re-create the 1,750 lb 4 leafs using US steel.
Saintloiusspring.com
Hi Mountain Man, we just got the Alcan Springs in Tuesday. Lee said he has no competition in the USA. He said you were the first to get them, but he's done about 100 Oliver's since yours. How much stiffer are these 5 leaf springs versus the 4 leaf ones? We have about 10 miles on them so will be going under the trailer in 40 and 90 more miles. I have a big piece of cardboard to use when I torque them.
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On 5/12/2025 at 2:20 PM, Patriot said:
Here you go and it’s even on sale! 👍🏻
This looks exactly like the screen I installed.
Patriot🇺🇸
My cover is 62053 but has the correct dimensions. The link you sent was for 620505. I can't find a screen that goes with my number. The upper outer grill looks the same. Does your plastic grill have the number 62053?
John
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Hi all, we have the Norcold three way refrigerator that has a large vent on the bottom with three air intake slats and a smaller one on top with I believe five slats. I installed three metal screens on the lower one to keep bugs out. It's designed for that purpose so should work well. Does anyone do anything on the upper vent? If I was a smart bug I would just enter through the top uncovered vent. I don't want to go too crazy and impede the exhaust air unless it's ok.
Thanks, John
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On 8/5/2024 at 6:56 AM, Geronimo John said:
At 24,000 miles on our OE2 I chose to replace the Monroe shocks when doing springs.. All four were still functioning with no leaks or adverse signs of wear. I would consider that 5 seasons or 24K miles would be a reasonable "end of life" goal.
GJ:
Crazy Horse adds: "Yea on the goal, but maybe early just for highway use. But for sure not for the boondocker five-leafer herd".
CH
I have the Bulldog shocks with me so that Alcan can replace the Monroe shocks that are on now when they put the five leaf springs on in two weeks in Grand Junction.
John
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Made in USA leaf springs
in Mechanical & Technical Tips
Posted
You were the first to get the Alcan springs. Lew also said his wet bolts are specially made and have more space for the grease with no taper inside. Something like that.
John