John E Davies

With a front receiver the maneuvering will be vastly improved, especially for a long wheel base truck. I wouldn't get rid of a truck I really liked until I knew for certain that it just wasn't going to work. There are a number of front receivers available; my favorite is the excellent and very strong Warn Trans4mer (original model) grill guard, which is a modular system with an available 2inch receiver bar. This one fits your truck.... http://www.amazon.com/WARN-68162-Trans4mer-Grille-Guard/dp/B000BQN20S The latest version for the newer trucks does not offer a receiver, which is a shame. I am going to get one of these for my 2006 Ram. This is another great choice, lots cheaper and it is more stealthy .... Whatever brand you pick, make sure it does not hang really low and destroy your approach angle. Many like the Curt are a disaster in this respect. John Davies Spokane WA

What a pretty frame. Looking at the axles, I have to say that it is a shame that Oliver does not install the Dexter heavy duty greaseable shackle kit on every single trailer they build. The undersized shackle bolts and fragile plastic bushings are a seriously weak link in the standard suspension. It will be on mine, eventually, if I ever get into a financial state where I can order one. ;( If owners insist, I suspect they could one day be standard. John Davies Spokane WA

Unless you plan on towing often in the Rockies in 100 degree temps, you will have NO worries with that truck, as long as everything is in good shape (drivetrain, steering, shocks and brakes). There are plenty of Oliver owners happily towing with lesser vehicles. Your body on frame truck is a good choice. The only limiting factor might be the short wheelbase, by I doubt that you will have any issues. If you do get a new tow vehicle consider a longer wheel base SUV or pickup., something like a Ram 1500 Ecodiesel would be dandy. John Davies Spokane WA

Here is the full article.... https://www.trailerlife.com/rv-trailer-news/olivers-twist/ John Davies Spokane WA

A macerator can be a wonderful thing when the dump station is too far away/ closed for the season/ too crowded/ too expensive/ too much of a PITA to hook up for. But it is not as good as a cassette system ... but you can't get one in an Ollie, so a Macerator is as good as it gets. It still requires handling a stinky fecal hose. It's just smaller and it will pump uphill. John Davies Spokane WA USA

So, by the lack of comments, my guess is that either nobody tows in thick dust, or the Ollie is reasonably well sealed. Any opinions? John Davies Spokane WA USA

This sub-forum just received 48 spam posts in Chinese (?) from member jnrtan8196. I notified a moderator, but I have to ask how the forum filters allow a brand new member to post so much junk in a non-English language. Maybe some changes to settings are in order. I think a "Flag as Spam" button should be available for every post so we can take quick action. John Davies Spokane WA USA

I think if it were me, I'd have installed a mounting channel across the frame first and then mounted the stabilizers to that. That way, I wouldn't be limited by the width of the frame member in how I attached the stabilizer, and I'd also have more options in where to drill into the frame. Using just two bolts per stabilizer seems like it would allow for a lot of flex, and I'd think I'd want to drill as close to the center of the frame as possible, rather than near the corner. I agree entirely. A stabilizer jack can experience severe side loads on uneven ground and the upper mount needs to be considerably stronger than yours to be safe. I am sure that simple repetitive jarring from rough pavement and potholes will cause failure eventually. Do you want your frame to bend or break? IMHO you need a stout crossmember with welded on 1/4" plates at each jack that allow for through bolting of at least four stainless bolts per jack, with locknuts and heavy flat washers on the back side. Self tapping bolts in aluminum are ENTIRELY inappropriate for this application. The strength of the cut threads is marginal and the act of installing the bolts induces stresses in the holes which will cause radial cracks to form. A proper bracket will have a reinforcing gusset or support welded on each end. A flat plate that is unsupported on the ends, that is allowed to flex repeatedly, will eventually fail. Aluminum is a great material for trailers but you need to take great care in how you distribute the stresses, or it will fail. Getting a cracked or broken aluminum frame repaired correctly in a small town might be next to impossible, compared to steel, which any hitch shop can put back together.... Aluminum trailers have a poor street reputation because poorly designed and fabricated ones will crack, eventually. But well built ones do not have these issues. Hopefully this includes Oliver, but time and many towing miles will tell... Read the first couple of pages here.... http://www.adhocmarinedesigns.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/ProBoat-June-July-2012-Aluminum-Welds.pdf While your jacks work great, that is unfortunately not a good design in terms of the the engineering. If you have any doubts about my advice or that of Overland, talk to Oliver or any A&P mechanic that does aircraft sheet metal work. BTW that was me for about 20 years.... John Davies Spokane WA USA

Wow, those guys build some beautiful equipment. Check out their video. https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=tbMkFIpo4lc Any welder can stick aluminum parts together but it takes an artist to do this kind of fabrication. The welds are flawless. I would love an alloy roof rack for my Ram, something like this, to be able to carry a Hobie Tandem Island. I wonder how many gazillion dollars it would cost. http://ryderracks.com/kayak-rack-2/custom-aluminum-kayak-rack-for-a-chevy-truck/ John Davies Spokane WA USA

How about liquid winter chemical road deicers? Here in Washington State they eat aluminum like you would not believe. It is very difficult to find a way to immediately rinse a vehicle after contact with deicers in the winter..... The only real solution is to park the rig in a sheltered spot until the streets are clear and dry. I have owned an all-aluminum utility trailer for many years and I try very hard to keep it off the streets in winter. This is a little dated but very scary to read..... http://www.oaevt.org/Corrosion.pdf Do any of you Oliver owners travel in the Rust Belt in winter, and what are the results? Can you still see your reflection in the rear bumper? I'm guessing not. John Davies Spokane WA USA

I hope it works for you, I know that it can be a real pain to wire any vehicle that doesn't have a plug and play connector under the dash. I just installed a P3 into my Ram and it took me about ten minutes using the Tekonsha adapter harness. I admit that I would be more than a little concerned to have something as critical as your trailer brakes relying on an RF signal. Are there steps you can take to ensure that it stays working, other than the obvious ones like cleaning the pins on the seven pin connectors (both sets)? In case you have not got it yet, here is the Owners Manual. https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/G/01/HARDLINES/usermanual/04_5_15/B001P0ZA86._V305895774_.pdf Good luck and please post updates on this controller. BTW what is the current build time for an Ollie? John Davies Spokane WA USA

Here you go http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f71/oliver-has-two-23-for-sale-ready-to-go-72922.html http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f51/i-will-always-miss-our-oliver-elite-ii-73089-3.html#post568060 However, Ollies really keep their value and you won't save a ton of money buying used, so you may want to consider ordering new. John Davies Spokane WA

Can an Ollie owner comment? Do you find any significant dust leakage into the cabin or under floor compartments, or the outside ones? The forest roads in nearby Idaho can get incredibly dusty, with a very fine powder everywhere..... Not nearly as horrible as this bull dust, but pretty bad late in the season when it is tinder dry and there has been a whole Summer's worth of traffic grinding down the gravel. Any tricks or tips? I started a thread here that might be of interest, but not knowing how big an issue dust entry is, that may be moot. http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/153642-Fabricating-a-powered-dust-filtration-system Thanks for any comments. John Davies Spokane WA

If you have it done yourself, at least you could do the upgraded EZ Flex then and maybe save some money on the install. I'd take the opportunity to strengthen the spring mounts as well. But that obviously means re-galvanizing. They did agree to install the EZ Flex, see my separate thread about that. When (if) I got around to ordering, I was going to talk to Oliver about them offering an upgraded suspension package sourced from someone like AL-KO ( http://www.alko.com.au/al-ko-enduro/ ). They be more willing to do something like that, since it is engineered and off the shelf, and could perhaps be bought as a complete subframe that installs the same as what they have now. I believe they just merged with Dexter, so they might even be able to get it through them. Who knows what the cost would be, though. Might be worth asking. It would certainly help my decision if I knew that were an option. Unfortunately, I don't think as a consumer you can buy directly from them.. I had to run to the shower to cool off when I read that part. I would love to see that sort of true off road suspension under an Ollie, but it will never happen. They have a solid steady market among older wealthier folks, many of them retired, who really don't go far from services. The risk of wrecking your trailer is huge when you start dragging it among boulders, under low branches and through streams. I for one would never risk it. OTH I would love to be able to drive at moderate speed on dirt roads and not worry that the axle was going to break if I hit an unseen dip. Adventure Trailers in Prescott AZ at one time announced that they would sell their wonderful single independent airbag suspension as a kit to install on any trailer, for $3000 per "axle", but they decided not to. The Al-KO one would be a great choice but it is not as advanced a design. If you want to see a wonderf setup, look under a Moby1 Offroad teardrop.... Honestly, I think with a lift and the EZ Flex upgrade it will be dandy. Just keeping the moving parts well greased does wonders for ride quality and suspension compliance. No nasty noises, either (creaks, pops, bangs and groans, waking everybody as you try to sneak out of the campground at the crack of dawn). I do worry about pranging the body into an obstacle. I have thought about how easy it would be for a race car or 4x4 fabrication shop to build a stout perimeter frame from DOM tubing that would give excellent body protection all around. You could incorporate a lift and a complete subframe to mount your AL-KO axles to. But that would be a mult-thousand $ mod and I am not sure I would ever attempt it. If wishes were fishes, we would all cast nets. John Davies Spokane WA

Oliver has agreed to install this upgrade on a new build for $270. I don't know what the cost would be for a retrofit, but it would be a little more since there would be disassembly of the old parts involved. The $270 includes credit for the unused original parts. I think this is perhaps a little high since wholesale cost on the parts is probably well below $100 and there is minimal extra labor involved when building up a new suspension. The only extra work would be tearing out the old plastic bushings in the spring eyes and pressing in the new bronze ones. And then greasing all the zerk fittings afterwards. Whatever.... You can find the kit for less than half MSRP (Dexter parts have a huge markup), so a local shop should be able to do this affordably or you can attempt it at home if you are handy, have the jacks and muscles.And your joints don't hurt too badly. You will also need a heavy duty ball joint press, but you can borrow one from Autozone or many parts houses. Here's a video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6hXCegZNxE&app=desktop John Davies Spokane WA

I asked Oliver if they could do a spring over axle mod during a new build and they refused due to liability reasons. Did they used to offer a lift as a factory option? I even offered to sign a liability release. Maybe this is due to the larger 16 inch wheels and tires already lifting it some, and they do not want it any higher? I wanted to have the very high build quality of a factory mod rather than a risky aftermarket job through some local trailer shop, plus it would save me a lot of money and labor and hassles. I do not want to worry about relocating and rewelding the upper shock mounts. I am concerned about burning off the galvanizing of the brackets,and damaging the steel to aluminum joint. Ideally the entire upper suspension brackets should be off the trailer for welding, then have them regalvanized and reinstall them with fresh sealer. Anyway, it looks as if I will have to get it done locally. Or do it myself and haul the axles and upper mounts down to a shop for welding. Any suggestions for dealing with the upper shock mounts? Rather than relocate them, could I use them with longer automotive shocks and add separate mounting plates at the bottom of the axle? In other words, lift the frame but keep the shock locations as they were. The problem with that is the angles would change and the upper mounts would not be aligned. See REMOUNT THE SHOCK ABSORBERS half way down this page .... http://www.doityourselfrv.com/axle-flipping-guide-flip-axles-trailer-ground-clearance-better-boondocking/ Regardless of how I get this accomplished, I suspect my frame warranty is going to be affected. That's why I wanted Oliver to do the work. Thanks for any comments. John Davies Spokane WA

or something like this? http://www.pplmotorhomes.com/parts/towing/accessories/rock-guards/kargard-rock-deflector.htm Or, maybe a group of us need to go on Shark Tank with the idea... made specifically for travel trailers That guard is a poor design. Any vertical wall will send rocks zinging straight back at the tow vehicle, risking a broken rear glass. Snowmobile trailers, and offroad campers in OZ use angled deflectors that send the stones down and to the side. BTW, those of you with Rock Tamers. ... They are supposed to be adjusted so that they fly at an angle to the road, say 30 to 45 degrees, NOT straight down. The idea is that rocks hit the rubber flap and shoot downward. If the flaps are vertical, the rocks bounce back onto the tow vehicle. The 2 inch gap between the bars and bumper is where they come through. I built barrier strips to help seal those gaps, but the rocks still get everywhere during a long trip on gravel. This is how they should look at rest, not vertical like in all the ads. They are also too long, those will drag in dips or ruts and kick up huge amounts of debris. They should have at least four or five inches of road clearance. I wish Oliver would offer a fabric guard as an option. John Davies Spokane WA .

I found out that Stone Stomper will ship a gravel shield to the USA for about US$580. Bugeyedriver has told me by PM that he will be ordering one, so I will leave it to Pete to give us the Full Monty about the Stone Stomper. John Davies Spokane WA

John, Something like that would be fantastic. I'd give up my Rock Tamers in a heartbeat for one of those. Pete Check your Private Messages please. John

In regards to the 3M film, read these reviews then forget about this product. It is just too easy to screw up the application. http://www.amazon.com/3M-90000-Paint-Defender-Spray/product-reviews/B00BSKYM82/ref=cm_cr_pr_hist_1?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&sortBy=recent&filterByStar=one_star&pageNumber=1#R1M2JCO0EEHPKK I notice that Amazon says it is Currently Unavailable and it no longer appears on the 3M website. I wonder why? Regular 3M films are wonderful for cars but very expensive and hard for an owner to apply correctly. Pro shops can do it right. I think that they would be problematic on a trailer since they are continually bombarded by road debris. The film is just not intended for that kind of continuous attack. A thick truck bedliner job would work better, but I still believe that stopping the gravel from ever reaching the trailer is the ideal solution. John Davies Spokane WA USA

Anybody use this? The stock Dexter suspension is pretty much garbage, the plastic bushings and thin shackles wear out in no time. This system isolates road vibration and is much stouter, and can be greased every few thousand miles for quiet reliable operation. There are no negative reviews for this system, it makes a huge difference in trailer ride quality. https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/21609645.cfm It's inexpensive but the labor will use up a few hours. http://www.nickstruckparts.com/k71-652-00.html I wonder if I can order axles through Oliver with this stuff pre-installed...? Comments? Have any high mileage Ollie's had suspension issues? Have you looked at your bushings _lately_? LOL, I am not trying to scare people, but the reality is that the standard parts are not intended for prolonged use or exposure to harsh environments like dust. They just don't last. BTW the picture above is wrong, the grease zerks should be installed facing inboard so you don't have to remove the wheels to lube them! John Davies Spokane WA

I've used Rock Tamers while towing my little utility trailer and they are certainly a solid first line of defense, but they let an awful lot of debris past them, and they can drag on the road surface if you hit a dip, and that will kick up a huge rooster tail for a moment. Depending on your tire tread, you might significantly reduce thrown rocks by trying mud tire with large voids. They don't grab and release stones the way All Terrain and street tires do. The very best solution isn't sold in the USA and I don't know if they will ship here. I intend to email and ask. The material protects not only the front of the trailer cabin, but the entire A-frame and everything attached to it. It also keeps road muck like tar off the trailer, including the sides. It is tested and proven in the Outback. I think you could make a clone from the pictures if they won't ship here or it costs too much. At Australian $600 shipped within that country, it is a major investment. Considering the cost of the Oliver and its beauty, I think it would be a great piece of equipment. http://www.stonestomper.com.au I travel a lot of unpaved roads. Places like southern Idaho offer choices such as, take paved county roads and make a huge detour, 225 miles and five hrs driving, or take the direct route via gravel, 125 miles and as fast as you dare. I travel 50 mph on smooth straight gravel towing my little trailer. I know I can't drive like a maniac with an Ollie in tow, but I sure am not going to drive 25.... I would never get anywhere. EDIT: I just checked the exchange rate and the Australian dollar is quite low now - US$0.70. So the cost of the guard is US$420 in Australia. I dunno how much shipping would cost to get one here.... John Davies Spokane WA USA

Would a couple of stacked Rotopax work on top of the rear bumper beside the spare tire without blocking any lights? Perhaps mounted sideways? How much room is there on each side of the tire cover, could an Ollie owner please measure? http://rotopax.com/L-Bracket.html Just thinking about some mods, once I get one..... I am not interested in carrying fuel inside the truck or trailer, or in front of the trailer where it would get blasted. The back porch of the Ollie looks as if it is crying out for some added equipment. Thanks. John Davies Spokane WA USA

Thanks for the informative post. You left out one crucial fact .... The name of the unit you bought! Can you post a link? FYI the SPOT is a very nifty device, but the website interface where you store your profile and and emergency info and text messages is very clunky and not at all user friendly. The device itself is simple and can run 12 hrs per day in Tracking Mode up to two weeks on a set of lithium batteries. It has no external power connection, and you cannot use cheap AA batteries, so it would get costly for long term trailer security. Also, all the features are manually operated, you cannot set up any sort of automatic transmissions. Because it has no external antenna connection, it must be placed with the SPOT logo facing the sky. Ideally at a window location facing south, but in a fiberglass enclosure just about anywhere would work, just not directly under a piece of dense equipment like the A/C unit. It is also unreliable under dense tree cover or in steep terrain, it requires a decent view of the heavens. If you use it for hiking and want the tracking to work, it should be carried high up on a backpack facing the sky. Here is an article I wrote when this was brand new technology.... http://www.spokanister.net/ktm_SPOT.html I've used a Gen 1 SPOT for many years and recommend the optional emergency rescue (SAR) insurance, which could save you tens of thousands of dollars in the event you actually have an emergency in the boonies. Even if you don't use it for trailer security, I recommend a SPOT for anyone who travels away from _reliable_ cell coverage. John Davies Spokane WA USA

A few weeks ago I drove three hours to Walla Walla WA from Spokane with my wife to look at Dave Gibson's super clean Elite II. He showed us all the features and answered all our questions. What a sweet trailer! It's a gem inside, outside and underneath. It's also the perfect size for us with tons of storage, yet a compact shape that will be easy to drag along forest roads... We especially love the light airy feel of the interior. We just returned today from the Spokane RV Show and we both agree that everything there is just crap. Can I say that here? The Oliver has spoiled us for every mainstream brand RV, they simply do not compare. The only ones that are as good are the super duper XP Camper and some of the high end expedition motor homes like Earth Cruiser and of course the incomparable Earth Roamer. But at the Oliver's price point nothing equals it! We've been worrying about truck camper vs trailer for a couple of years now, but the Oliver visit has finally convinced us. So it looks as if we are going to order one when we have sold our home and gotten our finances stabilized. Hopefully that will be within a few months. How long is a typical build time, from order to delivery day? How many per month are they building now? John Davies Spokane WA