DanielBoondock

Speaking of agree/disagree, I initially disagreed with Alcan but came over 100% eventually. On tire pressures it was opposite, I started as receptive but have concluded the opposite. Here's why with I think a reasonably accurate technical assessment of road vibration absorption in the suspension You can think of the vibration in frequency bands, low/mid/high. In the clip above you can see mainly low. Little hard but there's a few places with a gentle change in the road and there's a corresponding response in the leaf springs of something under a 1/2hertz say. It bounces basically. This is all in the 1-20 Hz range according to research I've read. The leaf springs job is to absorb this, and from watching I can see they're doing the job. Up from there it's mostly short impulse bumps like a pothole. I'll try to upload a video of that. This comes from transit time over a pothole, say 1' wide hole (big 'un) @ 50 mph. The two edges of the hole are approximately at an 80 Hz low band frequency from the tire transit time over the hole. This is probably the highest frequency you'll see on the road. So we're talking 0-100 Hz (rounding up) frequency band that the suspension needs to manage. Note this 1' pothole is an extreme example to find the boundary, going 50mph over one would not be fun. Consulting research on tire under inflation performance and getting an AI summary of the research. The point of this is that So the point is but going with lower inflation's you're simply shifting the frequency response around, at the cost of higher wear, lower mileage and greater tire stress. A higher inflation damps 50+ Hz (e.g. potholes), lower inflation's shifts it 50- which is exactly what the leaf springs and Ez-Flex are for. From watching on my trip I saw the Ez-Flex only engage on serious potholes, so that system is designed for the higher band. But what about the highest frequencies? Clearly the suspension isn't going to help with 50Hz up, what does it? A higher inflation tire. In summary ... Consulting sources then here's our lineup 0-10 Hz Leaf springs 10-50 Hz Dexter Ez-Flex (per their spec) 30-100 Hz 40 PSI trailer tire (various internet sources and AI summary) 50-250 Hz 65 PSI trailer tire (note a healthy high frequency band not covered elsewhere) So that's all I'll say on it. My position is that going with a lower inflation level of say 40 Hz is simply giving your Ez-Flex a break. I run at the factory 60-65 psi you can see above, and that inflation level shifts the frequency absorption to a region not covered by the rest of the suspension. In addition to the wear/mileage/stress, a lower pressure is counterproductive and leaving the higher frequencies free to transmit to the trailer, exactly what you don't want. I went down this trail to find out what I was seeing, which was at my 65 psi I saw little to no vibration in the trailer and the suspension system handling it all. Again I'll try to provide some clips to illustrate this. No need to go over what's been said before as I've studied those threads, but I'd love to hear a counterargument

For fun here's a clip of the suspension. Unsteady cam as I was hand holding while driving. Most of the trip was like this, pretty uneventful. Like I mentioned it took a good hour of keeping my eye on it for a pattern to emerge, which is the suspension is doing it's job, but it looks undersprung. Also when there is a pothole it just rattles the heck out of the suspension and over all there appears to be very little making it to the trailer. Not seeing any flex or vibrations in the panels. Taking my last trip with the Dexter this week before I install the Alcan. I have a mount setup I think and will try to catch some 'money shots' 😅 SuspensionClip.mp4

Finished the coating, looks great! In the long tradition of 'you learn how to do it when you finish' the bottom half is the best job. The mistakes were all in applying the coating. You have to be really careful applying this, constantly rechecking for any high spots that didn't get rubbed out. Looking from different angles for reflections is the only way. And don't underestimate the flashing off period, its hard to wipe off good coating that hasn't cured but the longer you wait the harder it becomes. The problem is this stage is at the end when you're the most tired. I've got a number of mistakes on the top half. I also was super braindead on the street side bottom and just compounded with Cutmax 06 04 and a microfiber pad, instead of EX 04 06 and a foam pad. The numbers refer to cutting power (e.g. Cutmax 06 XX) and polishing (Cutmax XX 04). Microfiber pads are more aggressive. Anyhow that evening I realized my goof, boy was that upsetting but you know what? You can't tell. They're sending these out now with mirror finishes and the polishing stage doesn't visibly add much of anything to the compounding. I'd still do it as its an easier step, but fortunately with this combo it doesn't matter so fuggit about it! So fixing those coating mistakes on the upper half, today I'll work on that. Gemini recommends using the Sonax EX 04 06 on those, alcohol wipe and reapply. Nobody else will notice or care but I'd like to do the best job I can so will work on that today. And upside is now I'm experienced enough to do my truck. Fiberglass is really forgiving so that was a good platform to learn. I'm saving $10k probably doing it myself for truck/trailer, and I'm doing more than any shop (all the extra bits), so time well spent. Good muscle workout and I enjoy being out with the trailer as it's a lovely storage lot next to State Park.

I love meeting people who disagree with me 😄Chance to learn something new, happy to find I got something wrong or just see another perspective Sorry not following ikr 🙂 Actually its interesting, we get a fair number of automotive engineers in my field (we sell into the 'software defined vehicle' space). Talked to one about the computers in ICE and EV; they're always awake. Can't have them boot everytime you jump in. But for safety they do need to quietly reboot to ensure some random bits didn't flip from a cosmic ray. So they have to do fancy stuff to make sure they reboot when you're unlikely to use the vehicle, like 3AM .. Just got rid of my last ICE vehicle, a 2000 era mommy van. Gave it to my BIL. Owned a number of ICE trucks in the past too, midsize, this is my first full sized. Actually my love affair with EV's started as a teenager, I tried fixing up a Triumph Spitfire, those carbs are something to behold (not in a good way lol). I studied internal combustion, and was blown away at what a mess it is 😅 You waste half of this incredible energy source, and have complicated mechanical breakdown-prone systems just to take all that unused energy away. Anyhow I've been waiting ever since for electric to mature and now here we are finally 😇 Sorry 😅 Tesla term for the storage under the hood. "Front Trunk". GM calls it an 'eTrunk'. I usually call it a trunk but used frunk thinking that was pretty well known by now lol .. but when you don't have a big engine there's the possibility of having front storage space Anyhow this thing has two electric motors, one per axel. Ford - with their Lightning truck, squeezed the motors and associated stuff low enough to have a ginormous storage space which established the standard for EV trucks. Here's what I've got in mine under the front hood. The side panel covering the battery/fuses has been taken off, the rest of it is tools and tire changing gear Love to! I'm expecting we'll meet one of these days. My wife however is shall we say, 'easing into this lifestyle'? I'm the outdoorsy type of the family, so I think Quartzite will be a while, not quite civilized enough. Anyhow I'm retiring the following March and saving vacation to get paid out (I'm maxed out), so won't happen this year at any rate.

That’s just the fuse box for my truck in in the frunk. Basically the high power ones including a 30A for the trailer 12V Don’t know what they had before, just assumed this was standard but sounds like not. In the ‘26’s (mine) my understanding is the 12V truck power is only used to charge the Brightway controller unit. It’s a closed circuit, so there’s three power systems in the truck, this, the 12V and 120V. One of the electrical mounting panels has lettering for a DC to DC controller, so presumably the ‘27’s will offer an upgrade for that to charge the house batteries off the truck (don’t want/care about myself) So there’s no battery in your breakaway unit? Interesting … oh! OK, I think this was done in preparation for the DC-DC upgrade. You can’t have the house battery feed back to the brake controller, so they put in the independently powered unit above, and then they can tap off with a DC to DC converter too. Good thing; safer, in the rare case that the house batteries are offline or dead. Bad thing potentially; I need to make sure that battery is taken care of. And already I’ve got a short. So for ‘26’s and on, a potential failure is if your trailer isn’t towed for a couple months, these batteries might die. I get the impression that Oliver might not have thought of this. No starter battery in an EV, it’s a very small 12V SLA to power the computers and act as a buffer from the internal inverter. But that’s not important, if I understand you yes the ‘26’s have isolated circuits, but sounds like yours the breakaway is powered off the house batteries.

Update on the breakaway unit. The 12V is dead and won’t take a charge, supposition is the 12V is internally shorted. Under warranty Brightway is sending out a new unit as they can’t break out the battery separately. Which brings up a DIY project … I have a Honda 7000is generator which has a similar small 12V SLA. Got it long ago before the EV came along which now powers the house in an outage. Early on I found that the starter battery dies after a couple months of not being used, pretty much like any lead acid. With a battery minder on it doing the conditioning its fine. What about the breakaway battery? If these trailers sit for a couple months off seasons I’d expect those to become very unhappy. When’s the last time you checked your breakaway battery, is it still viable? I think what I’ll do is make up a 7 pin socket to 12V port and make sure it’s plugged in at least once a month to top off. Ideally later with a more permanent solution.

Yeah that's a boundary condition. If you were a painter that would be the picture frame you're working in, so you don't think of it much (or at least us lab rats don't, the marketing guys do 😅) Like, a 100 ft canvas is off the table, but the market will support a 4' portrait, so figure out how to make a picture within that frame. Which is why govt jobs go off the rails so easily if they're not fixed price contracts 🙃 tl/dr The Oliver is pretty fascinating from a project standpoint. Never ceases to amaze me how the way you set up a project determines where it ends up. The Oliver brothers put 'The Big Idea' as it's called as "Highest quality". So nothing was spared. I marvel at the complex shape they have for this body. They actually molded in a 'glass skirt to hide the frame! But wait, it does more, it also acts as a water basin if any leaks occur. I've gotten a few big one setting up a filter unit. No shorts, the water just collected and drain, no damage at all. Hold on, what else? Those provide inner body channels to run piping and hoses. Finally it so happens to also provide wire run channel under the trailer, for propane and two exterior cameras I installed! Utterly protected and a snap to install. That's some genius design in one feature, just because they're not afraid of doing fiberglass and went the extra distance on the body shape. I'm a weirdo, I'll sit outside my trailer and just admire the fiberglass all day 😂🥰

I hear ya, but unfortunately I’m corrupted by spending the last 32 years continually discussing what ‘good design’ is 😅 There’s many different types, ‘design for test, design for mfg, design for repair, design for usability … ‘ What you really mean is it has poor accessibility design. Agreed, or at least it’s not optimal. However it has excellent manufacturing, repair, and simplicity design. Also my post above points out it has excellent usability - once you get in the cabinets its easy to use, don’t need the documentation (diagram) most of the time. And it has the best aesthetic design. The layout is beautiful, and it doesn’t intrude into the cabin with ugly gubbins. So just back of the envelope, it wins in five categories and loses in one (accessibility). Hey, if you can get that kind of hit rate than yes it’s a good design! Design for repair, and design for repair documentation. You’re complaining about the latter. Basically nobody worries about that, it’s what repair manuals (or support lines) are for. I mean seriously, those fuses aren’t hard to find, I did it in my first trip when the composting fan went out. That fuse is in the same spot, I was glad it was so accessible. Turned out it just needed reseating. Anyhow I’ll stick up for Oliver here. One of the things I appreciate about this trailer is how well designed it is. Because they’re not changing the basic design every year! They have one body and frame - that’s been perfected within the form factor, and they just keep refining the interior components and layout. It’s always massive compromise and I love working on this thing, they’ve balanced it all so well after all these years. I absolutely love how neat and tidy it is, with automotive channel wrap on all the wires. Work of art … Ah sorry, been too long at the farm 😅

Yeah pain to get to the valves for sure. In the ‘26 layout its well thought out at least. I think they designed it to easily switch between regular use (either city or pump) and boondocking mode (pull water from jugs into the tank). The two modes are reversals of the other, just switch all the valves to the other setting, don’t need the graphic. Winterizing/sanitizing are the oddballs but that doesn’t happen a lot They could do a Nautilus panel but it would involve a lot of extra plumbing which is more places for problems. I think it’s a fine solution, the bed is light.

189 here 😅 If you have an Apple watch there’s an app that puts it up as a widget (complication?) At this point fun to watch it count down, very soothing …

I’ve got dual awnings and am happy with the built in gutter system. This 8.5’ ladder is small and easy to work with, and is the perfect height for the Oliver. No problem to keep the gutters relatively clean, only bother is getting a pressure washer up there occasionally for the dirt. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BJF4PXM2 But the gutters do mean I get brown trails at the four edges. It took a bit of work to buff those out before clear coating, and I hope the oxide will make it a non issue now. Regardless I’ve been thinking if there was a way to have a kind of downspout on the edges. Maybe there’s a 3D part that could be put there while it’s stored. Probably over thinking it

The few times so far when I had no connection was a blessing I have to admit 😅

Aw thanks, good to hear. I was wondering if anybody is listening Yeah definitely I'd pay somebody, but let me tell you how expeeeeensive it is around here to do anything. Remember that $1500 Alcan install quote I got? It's wine country, Bay Area money and generally rich people around here which makes you a DIY. I called around on coating my truck and couldn't even get anybody willing to do it 🙄 Anyhow unfortunately the front has more minor coating defects, but only from the right angle in the light. Sides/back/top is perfect, but on the front I was really tired and let the coating dry for too long before attempting to buff off. I did find later that you can reapply and the new will liquefy the old, if you don't wait too long. Oh well, nobody will notice except me, and it'll abrade off eventually and I'll do it better next time in X years. In other news I found my breakaway battery was dead. Put in a ticket, diagnosed no 12V AUX off the seven pin. Chased down a burned out 30A fuse in the frunk/eTrunk fuse box I should say an expensive $8 30A fuse. Hard to find too ... did various investigations, unfortunately the SLA in the controller is dead, they don't take getting run down for long, so that'll need replacing. Everything looked fine, maybe it blew on an adapter I use for the lights on my bike rack and ... no. It blew again. I have one fuse left, tried it without the trailer hooked and it's fine, so it's not the truck. So will need to figure this one out ... the wires deadhead into the front bulkhead through the propane. There's probably junction there I'll need to get to by taking the small towel hanger off the bathroom cabinet. Or, maybe the controller is just bad. Don't know what Oliver did in the past but now if it's any component they send you off to the manufacturer.

Glamping, who said glamping? 😄 My camper is stuffed, explaining the 700 lb tongue, because I want it 'always ready' to go. Partly because if we get a wildfire or other emergency we can leave in 10 minutes. Also so that I don't have to bother packing for each trip, so we've got cold weather, hot, mountains, coastal, desert gear. Anyhow there's definately no room for an icemaker, though when I took my ice trays out I did toy with the idea 😄 The one appliance I did compromise on is this Both a toaster and a small oven, gotta have toast. Fits in the electrical cabinet above the stove, on the side don't have to take it out. Unfortunately not available anymore ..

Oh that’s a good idea, don’t know why I didn’t think of it. The one thing I miss about the freezer is having ice cubes, I’ll keep ‘em in the cooler. I need a bigger buffer battery, the small Jackery runs out overnight. I can tell the truck to stay on and power it for however long but its overkill I got a small dedicated drink cooler behind the drivers seat with soft drinks for the road, but my full sized Montague folding bike has been going there now. We eat a lot of veg and good stuff isn’t always available. Four of these store in the fridge part of the cooler, two in the Oliver and eight of the smaller ones also in the Oliver. They have little packets that capture - I think it’s C02, which wilts vegetables. Cut cabbage for example will literally keep for weeks without wilting or browning, its amazing. Anyhow great way to organize the veg https://www.amazon.com/OXO-Grips-GreenSaver-Produce-Keeper/dp/B00TO8X0BA

I posted elsewhere about my debate of Cal-Mark cover versus Graphene coating. Coating all the way is what I determined. A cover traps moisture when its wet, and turns the trailer into a greenhouse when it’s sunny. On a cool day I had just a plastic tarp on the roof and couldn’t believe how much heat that ceiling radiated inside. Plus you need/want the trailer to be clean before putting the cover on. Whereas coating protects on and off the road, eliminates UV damage, makes it trivial to wash off and the trailer looks spiffy out and about. Covers are more meant for conventional trailers which have leaky seams, the Oliver doesn’t need it, storage conditions depending

He works by himself? How long did he take to do it, what coating did he use (Glidecoat?), and did he double coat? Also did he do all the externals too like the awnings, plastics etc. Just curious to compare notes

Do you actually use a freezer compartment? The Dometic they're installing now (or the '26's at least) have a removable one, and its much better as now I have room for taller stuff. Annoying that jams, pasta sauce and the like doesn't fit anywhere except on their side otherwise. I also have a Dometic CFX5 75 in the truck for when we need more stuff. The compartments are individually settable via Bluetooth or front panel, to freezer/fridge. Being an EV there's lots of power in the bed, I have a portable battery plugged into that which tops off when we drive, and powers the cooler otherwise. I got this on sale but there's equivalent cheaper ones Anyhow the other advantage is no more ice buildup since its just a fridge now. On the downside, their design is for moisture to collect on the top area (former freezer) and it drips down which is annoying. This is actually their design ... anyhow easy to 3D print a collection tray and funnel it to the drain hose which I'll do at some point. I believe (can check if you're interested) a Dometic NRX 130C with dark stainless front. Freezer compartment is removeable as mentioned, it has a latch which props it open when unpowered to keep airflow going through it. Really a nice fridge I like it

Forgot to add, in 4k miles the only non superficial damage I found is the lower half street has three pin pricks in the lower part. On the curb side there's a single bigger rock strike near the propane housing, again in the lower 1/4 section. Even with the graphene I'll put a wrap on it for the bigger ones. I don't want to go with mud guards because one, it'll disrupt the underbody airflow and two, there's no way to attach them. The whole underbody is one smooth surface for aerodynamics. Applying it is easy, just use a little soapy water to position, main problem is cutting it to lay over the area well. Exaggerated but I think this would work. If anybody has any ideas on this one ...

Pretty rare out here on the West Coast, I'm the only one (registered) North of SF. Though I did see this rare bird in nearby camping hotspot while mine was being built last year. I bought sight unseen and was really impressed with how beautiful it looks on the road. I took it as a good omen

Congrats! Pics or it isn't real 😄

Agree, I need to retire so I have the time to keep up on the forum 😅 I've been debating whether to ceramic coat the plastic bits - this tells me yes definitely worth it. Even if you don't coat the trailer, the smaller parts are super easy. Glidecoat is multi-surface, you can do fiberglass, metal, glass, plastic, and for these parts you don't need much. Just clean, you can do some light compounding/polishing with a microfiber towel if you want, or just don't bother, and apply two coats. Just get a small bottle of Glidecoat which isn't expensive, there's a 15% Labor Day sale going on. Anyhow if anybody wants to do this feel free to ping me for help

Top half is done (plus the roof from the previous week). That was brutal, don't attempt unless you're fit. Once you start coating it goes fast on a schedule, ideally you'd have two people working it, but I pulled it off. Just three mistakes, small spots where the coating wasn't properly wiped off, I'll adjust those later. I'd recommend the following approach, do the roof in one go, the top half including the midline belt, then the bottom half in either two steps (e.g. curb/street) or all at once. Splitting at the midline belt is an ideal seam. The top half should be done at once ideally - tough but its the most visible and takes a lot of wear. So you want to apply the coating and second coat overlapping before it's cured so it can form a seamless matrix. The bottom half has a natural split with the spare and propane housing so can be done in two parts, I'll do that next weekend. So the worst is behind me ... We get coastal fog rolling in and keeping morning dew off the first 24 hours at least is really important. Fortunately with our trailers its easy, I got a 20'x10' tarp which covers it and overlaps the side by about a foot. stitch each side with some good hold down rope, and I tied microfiber cloths at the grommets to prevent wear if there's any breeze. The AC/solar/etc and awnings act as standoffs, ideally you also have the streetside. With this you don't need to have a garage to cure, as long as you can work in the shade with little wind. Fortunately my parking spot at the lot fits the bill. Anyhow, I bought the 30' new RV kit but the 25' or 20' would have worked, I'll have at least a full bottle left over to do the truck. I'll also do the works on this trailer, awnings, solar, AC, frame and underbody, why not? btw ... this graphene coating is like having armor. It's unbelievable stuff, I tried buffing a mistake out and it was not easy. It creates this incredibly hard and smooth coating, it ain't foolin around ...

Yeah I have a Sherline scale, ordered direct so I could get 0-1k instead of the standard 0-2k for better accuracy, it's near dead on 700 lbs. I carry a lot of gear including a full heavy stage piano 😅GVWR is just under max with spare for full fresh tank. Yeah agree its not strictly necessary but if it gives a better towing experience I'll keep it. Heck I've been towing without WD for the last 4k miles, but I've had an annoying tail feeling about it. Would be nice to get rid of that sway as its not needed and just a hassle. Yeah this beastie has better torque/power than any ICE but mediocre 1500 payload at 1700 lbs, kind of a different world. Even with it being low slung with the battery floor, I've found it gets a bit boaty with carrying lots of payload, so possible I'm more susceptible to it even with Alcan, I'll have to see. Edit; for example, the truck doesn't support fifth wheel or bed campers. Fifth wheels have greater tongue so you'd quickly bottom out there. Bed campers, even a lightweight one, would have really poor handling I think. So yeah it's just a different thing that doesn't slot into the ICE lineup I'll stick with the Anderson for now, upgrade those springs in a couple weeks and maybe in the next year or two ditch the hitch. Hey so you are going bare nekkid on the hitch - what do you use? Did you change the ball or stay 2"?

Yeah I had read that before picking up the trailer, but with the tsunami of getting used to the rig it got lost until a search jogged it loose again Not exactly following your reasoning, seems to be that Alcan kills the porpoising (yay!) so WD not really necessary? What I found putting the WD tension on is that the truck went from feeling a little 'butt heavy with a tail trying to wag the dog' to basically driving no differently from normal. Meaning the trailer wasn't attempting to push the truck around. I'd opine that its the greater lever arm. Now, the hitch, instead of just being a dead 700 lbs down on the ball, is instead a lever arm extending up to the front wheels, taking much of the burden off it all coming in at the hitch. Even with no squat that just results in a smoother 'we're working together' feeling between the two. Hold on let's check my idea ... yes! God I love AI's, been working in the field for decades and we're finally here ... So you're saying perhaps that despite this, with Alcan dampens porpoising so dramatically so as to make no difference and you can eliminate the hassle. That's a fair assertion, I'll test both and see.