DanielBoondock

First re-torque of the D-bolts, surprised at how much they stretched, And looked what I noticed, check the marks on bottom of the frame this isn’t Alcan which has only done 30 and barely moved by the trail cam, it’s Dexter. In only 4k miles that flabby old suspension banged (HARD) against the frame, bottoming out. Might as well hit your trailer with a huge sledge hammer. I suspected it was bottoming out, that seems like they’re practically inverting. No wonder those springs break 🙄

Compared to my last one DeWalt puts in a much stiffer spring so it's a bear getting the pusher in. I've gone all-in on your approach, or will soon. Trying to find where I put those 45 zerks to finish it off. Also have the LockNLube. How well does this work with the Alcan, do you find you need to lift the camper to relieve pressure and get grease in? Unfortunately I'm not super confident that all the grease holes are horizontal, they might have shifted in installation.

By the way some automotive history if you’re not familiar and are interested; none of this is new. EV’s were actually the second type of drivetrain after steam, invented in the 1830’s. They were very popular in New York City in the early 20th century where fashionable (and rich) ladies would take them shopping. Internal combustion came later and the problem was that crank. It was difficult and possibly dangerous to crank the engine. When the electric starter was invented they took off and dominated. And getting gasoline back then was difficult, you had to buy it by the pint at the drug store - the ones that had it 😅 Hybrids too have been around a long time, Leno has a 1916 Owens Magnetic which was quite innovative with an EM drivetrain. He’s got all the historical stuff including steam cars

I took a hint from @jd1923 and got the DeWalt battery powered grease gun and separately had to buy the case. Driving me nuts how dirty and greasy this ones gets, and awkward to bring with you, this should be easier. Only thing is that filling it with a fresh tube was a trick, I’m thinking it would be easier to do it from a bulk container and let the motor do the work. Anybody try this, John?

Good to hear thanks! I’ll forget about it. Yeah if it settles down it’ll be perfect. 😅🤣😂💯💯💯

Alcan suspension first drive! Clear pattern stands out - ‘higher spring constant’. Didn’t know what to expect but the pattern is clear that it’s simply a stiffer spring system. AI summary below nails all the observation of a higher k - shorter displacement, faster oscillations. Suspension/Trail Cam Definitely not going to show a video because theres literally nothing to see. Whereas the stock was very noticeably fat bouncy with large displacements, I could barely see the Alcan doing anything. Simply because it was so fast with a shorter stroke, combined with the camera distance, frame rate and resolution it’s not exciting. This is the same route as before and I can’t easily detect the work its doing. Interestingly this also affects the EZ-Flex, it’s not having to work as hard either. Rear Mirror Eyeball Instead of big, fat hippo roly-poly now its jumpy. There’s still waddle, but instead of a couple (1-2) big wallows it’s something like twice as much (2-4) quickly damped, small waddles. Bounces are smaller and quicker. Seems like its more axial (forward/back) chatter but could just be getting used to it. Overall At first I didn’t like it, it turned from a big fat old dog to a young pup. Is ‘talking to me more’ (motion wise). But I got used to it and can see a steadier ride in the macro, and more bumpy in the micro. But less overall. However, on very bumpy roads, its quite chattery, not sure about that I’ll have to get more experience.

I wouldn’t touch it. Ignore the headlines, RAM doesn’t have the battery production capacity or (as far as I can see) the engineering commitment to this truck. They originally planned on three plants, scaled back to one which is on life support last I checked. “Follow the battery production …” that shows how serious they are. At any rate the REV will probably just get delayed again, if we ever see it. Philosophically @jd1923 nails it. IMO hybrids (of whatever variety) are ‘worst of both best of none’. In addition I’d add that they’re solving a problem that has been solved. You want EV? Buy a Sierra or Silverado EV, I can guarantee you’ll have a wonderful towing experience with no trouble with charging or whatever. You still want ICE? Plenty of choice. There is literally ZERO reason to buy a hybrid at this point. Pick your poison and run with it.

Right but I mention it hoping somebody would notice the difference; TV’s provide traction, TT’s are just rollers. Which gets to the core of what I think here - it doesn’t really matter tire wise. Tire performance is more critical in a traction vehicle, but here you can probably do what you want and the tire won’t care. Yeah that’s more internet FUD. I’ve replaced two Bolt tires in 8 years. In both cases it depends on how you drive - ICE guys who do donuts and track racing wear them out too. While EV’s provide instant torque the pedal algorithms have hysteresis and if you watch EV drivers (plenty of Teslas around) nobody is ripping the line, it’s lost its appeal with this much power/torque. Plus they design EV tires differently to account for this and efficiency. … Anyhow should have suspected you’d air down your TV! 😅 Well at any rate my argument isn’t that airing down the TT tires is bad but that its probably counterproductive. The Ez-Flex, Alcan are doing the heavy lifting on the low end of the frequency band and you want higher pressures on the top band. Haven’t heard any good refutation of this argument so that’s my story and I’m sticking to it! 😅 Good discussion ,..

Got it done. Turned out to be a nothing burger, at these torques the bolt just kind of flows into place. They warn us about the need to re-torque due to bolt stretch after all. Anyhow I’m not going to touch it after this. On torque I was thinking about a conversation I had, how the spring torque wrenches quickly become uncalibrated, 2%-15% in a year apparently just from sitting in your truck getting bumped around. You can get fancy non spring based ones for a rich $500 or something. Or do a simple re-calibration using a weight and a bench vice.

I had to tread carefully on this one 😅 It was all fine probably because I didn’t replace the axels and kept it all aligned. It’s just unexpectedly 1.5 of the outer side U-bolts, with the bit oval hole on the tie plate, that are troublemakers. I’ve got enough to cut the high spots on a few others, but these need another 1/16 taken out or something. Anyhow with all that torque the underside bolt straightened out, this steel stretches, so it just adapted to the environment and certainly the slightly canted U portion won’t move. Anyhow I’m beat! I got an Oliver because I didn’t want to DIY, boy was I wrong 😅 Someone here warned me about that … anyhow we’re going to get a big El Nino this winter and will be traveling a lot right after so I’m in a race to pull it all together, but am at the end of my rope. I practically kissed the phone when he said “Yeah it’s fine …” 😅 I’ve got a couple minor more projects to do, small SiO2 ones and bypass the black washout for direct transfer, but that’ll do it

Final stretch, wrapping up the torquing which is taking a lot of arm strength Now, NSFW, I know my good buddy @jd1923 is not going to be happy with this but you’ve been warned 😅 … I’ve got a couple U-bolts that aren’t straight up aligned. They’re canted out a bit. I need my right angle drill which I don’t have to hog those holes out. Was thinking of various options and called Alcan. They said it’ll be fine if it’s not too much. Later if I want I can remove the plates and make it look pretty, but they didn’t think it critical. I will get this ‘done right’ but for now need to wrap it up so I can drive home (30 miles) Otherwise even with the aligned ones there’s gap to the springs, because the top cradle is slightly wider than the springs. There’s small gaps everywhere, it isn’t precision manufacturing. Anyhow John you’re absolutely right, it is bending the hanger in. Surprised we don’t use washers on these hanger wet bolts.

Yeah the Loveland site is still a major hub for Keysight, servers/IT/support/R&D, We went through some layoffs but wasn’t bad, didn’t touch R&D much. I’d love a Golden Parachute about now but ain’t likely as they’re doing pretty well 😅

Side quest; various cleaners I’ve found useful, probably already well known around here. I like to keep the trailer spotless and good as new, while being lazy so here’s some helpers Microwave and Cooktop Weiman Glass Cooktop and Microwave Wipe One wipe for induction cooktops and microwaves, works really well getting off microwave and stove splatter (hint get a collapsable microwave plate cover too) Tovolo Collapsible Microwave Splatter Cover General inside and out sponge Boat Erasers Just a sponge but made out of melamine, which acts like a super fine polish/sandpaper. Works really well to get stubborn stuff. We’ve got these nice woven placemats that were impossible to clean before using these. Also fantastic for the shower grout. In theory if used too vigorously can dull the gel coat, but Glidecoat sells them too so that might be over blown. Anyhow keep them for the tough stains Low water Dish disinfecting Steramine Sanitizer Tablets Restaurant grade food safe dish/silverware/surface disinfectant. Best part? Tablet form. Just bring along a bottle and you’ll have enough for years to come, pop a tablet into a gallon of water and you’re set, use with a spray bottle, I like these small ones (regular ones are way too big for a trailer) MR.SIGA 16 oz Empty Plastic Spray Bottles for Cleaning Dishes are now a breeze. I use an OXO Good Grips Soap Dispensing Dish Sponge which is super easy with the built in soap dispenser. But these things can harbor germs, so we just scrub off, rinse, spray with disinfectant and let sit a minute than quick rinse or wipe off. Dishes have never been faster or easer. Floors and corners DEWALT 20V Handheld Vacuum Cordless I’ve found the floors need cleaning at least once a day if not more often, plus I’ve got carpets (runners). Tried a bunch of small vacuums, this is the bomb! Hangs from the closet shelf with the included hook, with attachments so that you can even do a great job on carpets. But it was a big step adding cordless to the trailer, but once you’ve got the batteries you need a … DEWALT 20V MAX Blower, 100 CFM Airflow, Variable Speed Switch Really resisted this it being sacrilege (not to mention Glamping in the worst way!) to bring a leaf blower. But this thing is incredible! Tiny, variable speed so you can keep it quiet and soooo useful. Leaves on the roof quickly clog up the gutter drains, this is one step blow them off. Campsite cleanup, I also use it to blow the dust out of the truck.

Not if you’re an EV driver! 😅 It doesn’t matter anymore but it’s part of the culture, 0-60 kind of thing. I’m proud of the 1.3 mi/kWh the Ollie gets (only a 35% range loss EV or ICE). And I’d disagree its irrelevant - with diesel at $6/gallon ($8 here in California) whether your aware of it or not its hitting your bottom line Ah you’re trying to play a trick on us! “Over inflation”, how about “Under inflation”? 😅 Just joshing, yes optimal inflation is what we want which is the discussion. Let me try a different angle; do you run your RAM tires under by 20 PSI or whatever? Why or why not? That’s good. I heard about those sites, I think there might be one here in California but I wasn’t RVing then. The Beer Busts were awesome, they continued into the company splits (Agilent/Keysight). Anyhow that old time culture is very slowly dying out unfortunately. We were proud to have the Bill and Dave culture for many decades but now it’ all about reporting up every day, micromanaging and over working. I was going to stay for a few more years but it’s not fun anymore, time to leave.

Yeah I started just after they retired I think, 90-91. Then we split off, I was part of the ‘original’ HP (Test and Measurement) so missed the fun thereafter. Carley was what killed it

I know 😅 Doesn’t bother me and I like a good technical food fight 💪 Actually first heard of it when at the factory after picking it up. Really nice couple, Rod and Sandy dropped theirs off for repair, he mentioned reading this on the forum and was thinking about going even lower to the 20’s or something. Filed it away and read up on it here .. Yes have seen this chart, also aware of the early 80 setting by Oliver. Last first, just because Oliver had a high - perhaps too high - setting originally does not mean that their present setting is a poor choice. And the tire OEM charts are a starting point. Been doing this for decades, parts suppliers have their data sheets but final spec is always set by the final OEM. Customers of course are free to do what they wish. Point being none of this is convincing evidence. Let’s take it from a different angle, what are we trying to optimize? Milage (maximize) Tire stress (minimize) Suspension performance (optimize) A range of pressures is possible so the question is what is optimal? We don’t know Oliver’s reasoning on 65, so let’s examine what we have here. Putting the hearsay aside, as I mentioned AFAIK the forums argument is the chart above or variations. These are not tires that were designed for Oliver’s - they are generic trailer tires. The Big Three routinely gets Goodyear/etc to make a custom tire - mine has them. I’ve got 36” Goodyear Territories like you’d find on any offroader, but these have a twist to make them more efficient for EV’s. GM pressure spec is 61 PSI, clearly that overrides anything Goodyear might have to say. The 61 is set for handling, offroad performance and EV efficiency. But here its just an off the shelf tire. So this isn’t convincing, we have a generic tire OEM chart and a specific recommendation from Oliver, it’s not enough to conclude that we need to go much lower. Now I have a technical argument on first principles. It’s based on rough assumptions as to frequency band filtering (except on the Ez-Flex), but the basis is sound. Here’s the thing, one thing I’ve learned in 40 years is we’re all more often wrong than right and you rarely know. So what you do is a heuristic, counting up the +/- from various arguments. All I see from the former is a starting point - a generic chart, and a magic leap to a conclusion. With the argument I laid out here there’s many plusses. Better milage, better wear and handling performance, aligns with the OEM’s recommendation, and a technical discussion as to why this may be the best setting 🤷‍♂️ … its the Emperor has no Clothes here IMO, there are more negatives than positives to the ‘tire chart’ proposal. PSA Absolutely not trying to score points, prove anybody wrong, or otherwise make a stink, just a good old fashioned ‘let’s try and find the best answer’. Thanks for indulging me 😅

I’ve been kicking around doing Starlink. Next year after retirement from job 1 it can be a business expense for job 2, but I’m not really wanting to do it. Only if it makes life easier. Various long term Ytuber users have mentioned the hardware doesn’t last long, so my first concern is long term reliability - what’s your experience? Second is convenience, ideally I don’t want to fuss with poles and whatnot. DC fridge Olivers have the outdoor table and this nifty solution from the factory, and they dropped the coax connectors that could have been converted to ethernet or whatever the mini needs (oh I guess the mini now just needs power, cool) Back there to the left is an outlet for the induction, so I can plug the power into that. I can run an ethernet cable potentially through the walls up to my main router. The opening is 12”x7” so if I’m lucky I might be able to store the mini in there too. So I’m wondering whats the best way to mount this? I have a fold up ladder I like to bring along, maybe just a suction cup roof mount is the way to go, how well would that work with tree cover? Thoughts/ideas welcome …

The all wood is stunning, one day I’d like to do that.

Good, because I never took Statics! 😅 My story kind of similar to yours from a different direction - Physics PhD then also went to HP back in the good old days (when Bill and Dave were still around) doing CS/EE. Jack of all trades master of none basically. Anyhow the only fundamental basis I could see for airing down was based on an old chart that Goodyear doesn’t appear publish anymore, probably because of this reason that it’s the OEM’s business to set a spec. But I think a sound approach is to approach it as tuned frequency bands. Engineering hand waving - but that’s what we do half the time anyways, but my intuition tells me you’re losing more than you gain by airing down. But I’m convinced that the Wisdom of the Crowd prevailed with Alcan.

I have to work on the road and the dinette is taken over by a piano keyboard. Most of my work on the iPad but I need to use a laptop which is on the bed, but cable and peripheral management is a pain, but I found a small mod, hide the electronics under the bed with a Froli system street side bed Turns out typical power supplies and smaller electronics like SSD’s and a Thunderbolt hub you see here fit perfectly under the Froli springs. Add in the anti-dew matting and there’s plenty of airflow, plus it keeps your bed warm 😅 The Froli’s lift the bed up a good amount, it was so low before as to be somewhat claustrophobic. With the matting it doesn’t add much except oddly makes it a bit firmer, which is good with these overly squishy mattresses IMO. Anyhow in the lower right is a small power strip, so all that emerges is a plug to the nearby socket. Two cables (power and thunderbolt) tuck next to the mattress, add in a lap table and it can instantly be setup to work. I was hiding this stuff in the battery cubby but its was messy with cables snaking out.

I need to work on the road, the dinette is too small and is taken over by a piano anyhow Sorry for the late reply missed this … The OEM recommendations (Oliver in this case) always override the tire manufacturer, Oliver’s spec is 65. We can argue if that’s a good spec on first principles but I don’t think we can or should use a generic recommendation from Goodyear Yes absolutely, but it’s different systems working together. The suspension will do its job and ideally filter a different band than what the tire filters - that’s my point. If they overlap then you’ve got suckouts in your coverage, whats the point of that? Excellent! I was wondering if somebody would catch this. Well since we don’t have data its all handwaving, but my expectation is that a properly sprung Alcan would have a higher frequency extension, which would make the case for higher PSI. Basically Statics 101 tells you that undersprung == lower natural frequency Yeah its pretty clogged up. This is kind of my blog and I treat it as such so 🤷‍♂️

From a different forum where I posted an estimation of towing costs, for the Oliver of EV versus Diesel, using today’s prices. The Unit Cost is the averaged national average for both, and of course while fuel costs are highly variable, charging base cost doesn’t change, except there are various discounts. For example GM keeps giving me $50 free charging credits, they run sales (Ionna ran a Labor Day sale of something like 20 cents/kWh), but AFAIK fuel never goes on sale. Also this is just for towing trips, when at home of course you’ll charge off whatever your rate it, basically free for me with lots of solar. Metric Diesel Truck Electric Truck Baseline Efficiency (Unladen) ~18.0 MPG ~2.0 miles / kWh Efficiency with 40% Loss 10.8 MPG 1.2 miles / kWh Total Energy Required 370.4 gallons 3,333.3 kWh Assigned Unit Cost $6.00 / gallon $0.40 / kWh Total 4,000-Mile Cost $2,222.22 $1,333.33

The shoulder I was talking about was on the inner side, between the spring and hanger, caused by the inner bronze bearing. Anyhow I checked with Gemini which is pretty good for these kinds of things since it primarily trolls the internet I think we may be onto something - this feels correct and may have already been discussed (apologies if it has). So Dexter is trying to prevent over torquing and binding. Alcan solves it by being a stickler for torque and Nylock. I’ll take Alcan and argue with Dexters approach. Stepping down doesn’t prevent anything, a monkey can still over torque and bind it up. Can’t prevent installation error with that one IMO.

So do you leave them loosened up, or do you loosen and retorque every time you grease? … never mind, I see below you fixed it by using Dexter, makes sense. I can’t imagine being able to do that, these are monster, I’d have to check but at least 1/4 plate. Maybe they changed the brackets in the last 1000 hulls I get that, but any way you cut it it’s mechanically weaker and can’t take as much torque. The only advantage I can see is easier installation which may well be the reason.

No can’t make it unfortunately, I’m way out on the West Coast so it’s a relatively major trip. Yeah have been poring over the threads but not sure what to make of it. Mixing threads a bit sorry but since I’m in a post will put out some thoughts on the wet bolts. This is all eyeball as I don’t have my caliper with me. The spring end bolts with splines have a good <1/4” spacing between the hanging brackets and the spring. So the wet bolts are held in place by torque pressure and (maybe) splines (my splines aren’t doing anything here).On the shackle side there’s no splines but again its a (bit less) torque and nylock holding it together. So that’s it AFAIK, Alcan relies on torque and beefyness. What about end rub? Something I haven’t seen mentioned is that the inner (bronze?) wear bearing at each end of the spring has a protruding shoulder. So, just as it wears against the bolt body, so too on the bold ends with respectively the hanger or the shackle - in both cases greased. I don’t see an issue with this design as it seems eminently sensible. All the wear surfaces are against the bronze bushing both against the bolt and against the hanger or shackle. Torque/nylock keeps it all together. Summarizing Alcan Thick wall radial bronze bushing Prominent protruding bronze rub shoulder against hanger/shackle on all springs Full sized bolts (no step down) Nylock Dexter Thin wall (half size?) radial bushing Inconsistent rub shoulder, from none basically to just a minor extension Step down bolts (why why why size your nut under your bolt? Dunno, I’m new to this stuff but I see nothing but better with Alcan and not seeing anything that bothers me