DanielBoondock

Well I was originally making the point that WD only comes from properly tensioned chains. My question is why do OTT techs install and recommend taut chains. At any rate there are also new options in trucks. My Sierra EV is interesting, despite the very heavy battery giving a total truck weight of 9k (which is a benefit as the truck weighs more than the trailer), but it still has a tongue max of 1k, and a payload capacity of over 1700 lbs. GM requires a WD hitch over 7k lbs and recommends it below that. So technically I don’t need WD, and as the truck has 785 HP and 885 ft-lb of electric torque it has full towing authority. On the leaf springs, we were discussing this on another thread. In my first 4k of towing I didn’t see an ounce of roll bounce, and little porpoising. Perhaps that’ll change as they age, or maybe not, but I’m still curious about these differences.

Yes it’s D52 rated at 3500 Agree with the idea of a better constructed spring since the Dexters can fail, just wondering about changing the stiffness. A suspension is a frequency damper, shocks for lowband (to sub hertz) and springs plus ez flex puck maybe midband and higher. Pushing stiffness (higher weight rating) would increase the low cut off frequency, thus losing damping Again this isn’t my field but I think this is what we have. The other factor is tire pressure, seems like people here tend to ride low for a less bump. Indeed here, that lowers the cutoff frequency. I prefer running at spec for efficiency and I have a hard time ignoring ratings. Possibly people having more issues are running softer pressures? Just a thought

I have a new 2026 with the D35 3” axels, EZ everything and the 072-042 1750 springs. Considering whether going for a heavier spring makes sense now for these reasons. In 4k of towing so far I sensed no issues, no roll at all, no porpoising except on bad roads where you can’t avoid it, and a smooth tow. I previously had researched Bigfoots quite a bit before settling on Oliver. Over there an owner was looking to upgrade to a heavier suspension but was advised against it by the Bigfoot company owner (forget his name now). Reason being “that axel would beat the hell out of the trailer”. This makes sense and jives with the experience above. A higher rating will necessarily be a stiffer suspension. This will have a comparable narrow band frequency response to vibrations, relative to a less stiff system I play as an engineer by day and while the natural tendency is to over engineer, when it comes to mechanical design that’s often not a good idea, but I’m not an expert in suspensions. Anyhow I’m wondering whether the stiffer springs are a good idea here. Older Oliver’s it might be good, but not so sure now.

Sorry those are tired old myths. You know ICE engines lose efficiency as they age? Everything loses efficiency, including us meat engines 😅The source of the myth comes from the old Leaf batteries. They just air cooled those things. So you'd drive on the freeway (heat the battery), stop for a charge (no airflow), and fast charge (heat the battery). It hammered them, and they aged very quickly. All modern EV's have HVAC water cooled systems that carefully manage the temps, and the batteries last forever. So much in fact they have second lives, when people are done with their cars in ten years they repurpose the batteries for grid use. Same thing with solar panels. Also these generally don't use LiFePO4 chemistries, they're several generations beyond now and have greater durability and resilience. Point being, yes they do lose some performance but so the heck what? Look if a 10% or even 20% performance loss is a problem, well better batteries/trucks/panels are now available. And for panels, the cost is almost all in the labor - sound familiar? That was the lions share of the bill, maybe you've seen this if you ever worked with an electrician. If I ever wanted to replace my panels it would be a simple rooftop swap and wouldn't cost much. And that all obscures the fact that even if I decided to replace these panels after 20 years of free power generation, well I still got X years of printing money.

Sorry not sure what you're saying, out West the charging is an issue? I live in California, it's the EV capital of the US and the highest density of charging. The one and only exception is Hwy 1 North of SF, but as my truck loves the windy coastal 'highway' and range isn't an issue. There's plenty of Level 1 charging but no DC until you get to the bigger towns up north. Yes it does actually. I did a full accounting including the time value of money, of course the upfront costs and other factors, it paid for itself very quickly. It's due to a couple of factors, one is electricity cost is ruinously expensive in California like everything else. Two is the generous NEM1 policy which lets me use the grid as a battery. True up is once a year where I pay something around zero, or get a small check in return. Three is peak shaving, where they really get you is between 4PM-9PM (the 'duck curve'), so I had my grid designed to take advantage of that time, and we 'power down'. So I earn at peak rates, and use at off peak rates - make sense? Finally you have to look at the bigger picture. We each have an energy budget, NG, electricity and transportation. ICE drivers are forced to have those three buckets, but I have one bucket. I converted my house to electric (e.g. induction cooktop). So now with one energy bucket that I can be an energy provider for, the economics seriously changes. How much do you pay for gas on a yearly basis? For me that's bundled in to that single bucket. Further with free charging, that also feeds into my energy bucket. I'm fortunate to have a DC fast charger at work for free. So I pull in some 160 kWh about on a bi-weekly basis. Since this is fungible, meaning free charging is the same as generating it via solar, that drives the cost down. And free charging is everywhere, half the time we charged at campgrounds, or public service charging elsewhere (e.g. rest stops). Technical discussion but no, absolutely I can show you the data that indeed my system is paid off.

A little confusing but they have two numbers for the 22oz spray versus gallon. Here's the current products and numbers They had these for sale at the factory service as mentioned, Here's a factory tour where he talks about Durawax (time stamped) Was at the trailer yesterday and checked the instructions on the Fast Clean and Shine (921/923). This is meant to clean a previously treated surface without removing the treatment. So I think the idea is to wax it, then clean up using this so as to not remove the wax base layer. That's an interesting idea, combine the wax plus the cleaner. There's a bunch of products that take this kind of approach of a simple one step clean & wax. I like futzing so I think I'll do a wax, then use the FC for cleaning thereafter. Being interior it shouldn't need much reapplication of the wax.

The sway control comes from the resistance from the inner plastic hub that the ball rides in. So as long as the chains are 'engaged', meaning little play (not slack), than if the trailer fishtails that resistance will mitigate it I believe. So I do think the sway is always active. For my rig I think it's a non issue. The truck weighs more than the trailer, has rear steering (the rear wheels steer for a fantastically tight turning circle) and sway control. That means they'll use that rear steering to counteract any sway. But the Ollie doesn't serve up any sway I can tell so it's all moot AFAIK. The tension rod systems provide WD because the bars are always tensioned. But without tensioned chains, no WD. It's a two axis system - yaw control is provided by the ball insert friction. WD is provided by a negative pitch force which is nonexistant here, if you know what I mean.

I found towing and the setup easy. With the Anderson for me simply adjusting via the bolts to slack or tighten the chains far easier and faster than the 'lift the truck' method. The only puzzling thing is weight distribution. I don't see how this is providing any. The Oliver techs put 5 threads on it and recommended that the chains be slightly slack with a bit of play. This isn't distributing any weight, at that point it's just a receiver on the ball with sway control. If the truck inclines up relative to the trailer then that should add some tension and WD, but otherwise no. What's the thinking here?

Never been to Mississippi before, it was an experience. Coming into the Davis campground the surrounding woods were smoking from a fire that just came through. We've suffered some wildfires at home - think leaving your house at midnight because you can see a fire line approaching - so my wife has some PTSD. So that was a little disconcerting shall we say. Anyhow talked to the camp host (who had lived in the Bay Area so we swapped some stories), he said the Forest Service told him the night before they were doing a controlled burn. He was like "but I've got campers here!" 😅But the wind always seemed to blow from the lake so they managed it well such that it just came up to the border and cleared out the brush. Unfortunately around here it's not that easy so the dead wood accumulates. The Natchez was a great drive, wanted to do it for a long time and was happy to find that Oliver is 15 minutes from a campground on the parkway.

In one of the factory tour videos on YT from years ago I caught that the tour guide recommended using Duragloss products for fiberglass care. Specifically 501 exterior wax (unless you SiO2 coat obviously), and 923 and 952 interior. When I was at the factory I noticed that in service they were selling the 923 wipe down, and they also had the Duragloss black streak remover, which I picked up. My review ... Duragloss FC (Fast Clean & Shine) Quick detailer. Seems fine, I recommend gloves. Leaves a scent which dissipates. Mild spray soap - or water, would probably clean as well but I suppose this is doing some kind of surface care. Marine & RV Black Streak Eliminator 581 I had noticed from videos that people will get marks on the fiberglass from stainless items rattling around. I'm a little fussy about this trailer and didn't want that, but on our inagural trip it wasn't set up fully so I got a few, so I tried this. It actually works! Spray on (careful of runs), let sit 15 seconds, than wipe off, and wipe with straight water. Repeat, and it does remove light marks. Deeper scratches (I have a few) are harder, but keep at it. Question Anybody tried Aquawax (951) on the interior?

No actually it's the opposite. I just came up the Eastern Sierra, 5k ft to 8.2k, dropped 10% on the battery and gained back 8% on the other side. Regeneration which ICE vehicles don't enjoy. It's even greater with a trailer since you reduce the gain down, I put it at 0.5, so the brakes get used very little (just feathering to smooth out stops). I'll admit even I was a little surprised, I wasn't expecting it but these EV's love that kind of backcountry road travel. On the freeway they suck energy just like ICE, especially when driving into the wind. Well I'll tell you anyhow 😅That exact same scenario with an (Silverado or Sierra) EV adds 25 minutes. But in compensation, at home you never have to drive to the gas station and fill up since you charge off the house. Free in my case since I have solar. Over the course of the year I think it comes out ahead, time wise. When traveling I'm happy to get a longer break personally, but to each his own. Things have changed quickly, as they do with technology. My truck has 500 mile range not towing freeway driving, 375 miles freeway towing, depending on conditions of course. If you like off grid camping, with an EV you get essentially unlimited silent power. I charged up the house batteries off the truck while everybody else ran noisy generators. As for charging being undependable and scarce, that's no longer an issue. Last and this year especially the networks have been throwing it in at a ferocious pace. We just drove 6k miles to pick up the trailer without a single charging issue, or a single problem finding it. Even in the deep south, hey even little Hohenwald has fast chargers! But public fast charger infrastructure is in the knee of the 'S curve' of technology adoption. Just as happened with gas stations in the early 20th century. Anyhow on the Pebble OP, IMO it's solving a problem that has already been solved. On another forum a member bought one, they're getting 1.7 mi/kWh with the Pebble. But I get 1.3 mi/kWh with the Oliver - so it's a lot of expense, complication for little benefit. Oliver isn't kidding when they say it's an aerodynamic trailer, in ideal conditions it's a 35% loss which compares favorably with the usual 50% loss you'll see with other trailers.

Hey @shhQuiet just wanted to let you know your videos were a major source of inspiration in my purchase over the last couple years. I'm nearing retirement, but as seems to happen things have been getting more intense at work (micromanaging), and lets just say I was having a pretty hard time of it leading into everything coming together and picking up my trailer at the factory last month. Your camping style is similar to mine and the low key non scripted videos of you just doing your thing was a mental salve. Not only that, since we're in California with no dealers we needed to make a 6k+ trip out to Tennessee and camp back, which was a bit of a big deal since we hadn't done this type of camping before (I used to backcountry hike and car camp on fishing trips with my dad). I used your videos to help the initial planning, we stayed at Meriweather, then went on to Davis Lake near Tupolo. My wife was pretty skeptical, shall we say, of this whole adventure. I showed her your videos of these campgrounds to smooth over the concerns. Anyhow looking forward to continuing to follow along, thanks for sharing.

Nice, congratulations on the new 2026! I just picked up mine at the factory as there's no dealers nearby.

On communication issues my experience buying a new trailer was similar. Our bank operates differently from what they're used to, they wanted to talk directly with Oliver and get some information. I had communicated that many times months previously but it just didn't register. I forwarded emails from the bank requesting information, three different people saw this email but same problem. I discovered all this when I arrived, it was pretty frustrating. I'll say the Oliver people I worked with were all great, we got it sorted out, but in the end we had to do all the work with the bank that should have done earlier. We spent three nights at the Oliver campground doing this, but no worries, we needed the time anyhow and I had built in a buffer to our trip so no problems. Later at home I found a second issue going over the paperwork with the charges, service had charged for work that was already paid for on the main invoice, almost $1k worth. I caught it, when I alerted them they were great at getting it corrected. But yes, advice is absolutely triple check everything. The people are great, super nice, do top notch work, but communication is an area that can be improved.

With a 7k trailer, if it was held only by the jacks (or if one jack lifted the tires) they'd be at 2,333 lbs each and the 2026 Barker 3000 VIP jack is rated to 3k lbs. So the limiting factor is the rear jack mounting. It's not nearly the same as the the front jack I think, but without looking (I'm not at the trailer) I think it might be attached to the frame? Oliver tends to over engineer at any rate which I approve of. Also unknown long term effects. Anyhow that's a crazy nifty solution, nuts to have that level of automation in a small trailer like this, but I think its great. What I like even better is that water valve panel, as beautifully done as it is the under bed solution is a PITA.

Update. We got the Sierra EV last August, and picked up the Oliver at the factory in March. You can read a trip report here of our 6k mile trip https://www.fiberglassrv.com/threads/meet-sparky-the-electric-oliver.2190937/ There were some sharp opinions here about EV's, you can read the details over there that it far exceeded my expectations. Zero problems. We drove for hours through wilderness with no infrastructure and boondocked - not an issue (somebody here had some weird theory about that). Even I had trouble believing how well it worked in these conditions, in fact it liked the (slower speed) backcountry better than, say I40 in a windstorm. It's the regen you see, but surprisingly it regenerated (captured) more energy than I'm used too - all that trailer energy too, backcountry across the Sierras, it just gained so much energy on the way down from the peaks. It just drove, and drove and drove ... not to mention, while the 'generator symphony' would start up in some campgrounds, we silently topped off from the truck. I've towed plenty with ICE, and between Supercruise, the torque, the power, the spare campground power, the silence, I'll say EV towing is now better than ICE towing. That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it, but to each his own. But enough of the drive train - who really cares? Pick your poison. The trouble was all with the Ollie. Us getting used to it that is. The composting toilet took getting the hang of (you can read the details over there). The Xantrex was a bit of a learning curve, because there's so many generations. The present generation can't be reset if you put a bad setting in. But the tech support at Xantrex was great, it was easily fixed by simply plugging into shore power. Oliver owners are indeed very friendly in person, but Steve if you're out there, sorry we couldn't chat but ya gotta appreciate, it was getting dark and the we just got the thing and needed to set up! 😅 Mark and Sandy - enjoyed talking to you, hope you're making good use of the carrier. Finally, of interest to this group; I have precise information about the Oliver aerodynamics. It isn't marketing fluff! In good conditions (no wind etc) I get a 35% towing loss @60 mph, this is phenomenal. And reminder; towing loss has NOTHING to do with the drive train. It's exactly the same for EV versus ICE. So you piston pounders are also getting this same loss. Otherwise, we love our Ollie. Even my skeptical family. Sure bigger would be great, but that's a slippery slope.

Actually jd I never insulted you. FYI I’m a retiring engineer in the automotive industry, I’ve designed test equipment for SDV’s for 30 years, so knowing real world how vehicles perform in the real world is literally my business. And also why I don’t have the heart for a food fight on this versus that, too much like work. I’ll just suggest that your information is out of date and leave it there. But thanks for the kind note at the end.

Jd you’re very passionate about cutting down EV’s - I get that - though apparently you’ve never driven one, or have researched them much? I’m only calling you out directly because you keep calling out my name with an assertion that it’s somehow impossible to boondock with an EV. Just one thing I’ll point out which is you’re clearly not aware of the GM EV’s - Silverado, Sierra and Hummer, which have double stack 800V 225 kWh packs? Point being that the truck will charge 100 miles in 10 minutes (verified in the real world), and done with a full charge before you’ve had lunch. One noontime charge in a full day of driving, people are doing this now, getting 250+ miles on a single charge including buffers at either end (10%-80%). You like diesel with a big tank, so only fill up every couple days - that’s fine. I’d rather not deal with the noise, DEF, exhaust, torque, HP, maintenance, transmission/engine and break pad heat concerns. But that’s your gig, I’m not criticizing, maybe you can return the courtesy and kindly let other people have their choices without making a stink about it? Just a thought, anyhow I had hoped this forum would be mature enough to be cool with EV’s, I thought we were past that generally but my mistake, I make one small mention here and people are jumping all over me. Forget it was brought up and peace - Dan

No. Haha right back at ya No, Tesla sucks IMO. I’ve been driving GM EV’s for seven, eight years. Full stop. I’ll put it out there - I’m done trying to discuss EV’s with people who haven’t driven them, don’t know anything about them, and refuse to entertain them, but just want to reinforce their beliefs. I don’t know where you are on this - not trying to paint you one way or another - but FYI I’ll answer any reasonable questions but that’s it On this one? I think you’re responding here to another thread? If there’s anything here about EV’s I must have missed it. There’s another thread where it came up but I haven’t been following that one, life is short … I’m wondering how you can believe that it’s not possible to charge across the country, with the tens of thousands of DCFC that are going in? It’s clear you’re not aware of the Ionna consortium which is going to have more charging than Tesla in a few years, they’re blasting them in at a furious rate as we speak. Or every single Pilot/Flying-J will have them with another GM effort - how many are there of those? You ever gassed up at a Flying-J? Not to mention the existing Tesla, EA, EVgo and others. Maybe you’re not aware that wherever people go, there is electricity? Everything you said there is incorrect, people are making real world trips of 200+ miles before needing a charge, towing, today, with the latest GM EV’s. You can use V2V to charge in extremis, or just a generator or portable DCFC. And nobody ever is in that situation, charging is ubiquitous. Actually it was a mistake for me to ever mention EV’s on this forum, sorry folks my fault, I changed my sig, please ignore …

Thanks for the kind words of encouragement! Just what I needed … I’m at that stage of ‘having trouble’ shall we say, with doing the last few years. Fact is my theoretical date is early next year, which would be 59.5 same as my Dad and brother, why not … but I’m tacking on a few years to earn guilt free extra dollars to pay for this rig and this and that. Oliver jacked up the price like crazy last few years and EV trucks aren’t cheap yet as they’re just releasing. Meanwhile there’s various factors I’m waiting to settle out - interest rates, production start for MY2026 on both the truck and the trailer, anyhow now that I finally settled it’s a bit of being impatient. Good news is, maybe I can pull this all together this year and be camping in the new year. That should make the final couple years fly by as I’ll practically be retired, just with that pesky day job to attend to still 😅 Dan

tl/dr, the physics is galvanic corrosion, which are ‘phantom’ currents caused by having two connected dissimilar metals. It’s the valance electrons - just the electrons in the outer shell, which leads to a potential difference, so they’ll flow back and forth from high potential to low potential, and eating away at the metal in the process. I believe accelerated when in a high ionic environment like salt water (ocean water, or salted roads). As SeaDawg mentioned you have a less noble metal which sacrifices itself … I suppose because it’s at a lower potential so ‘pulls’ the currents it’s way. In this application though I’d expect little to no corrosion for most people which is why they use such small zincs. Makes me wonder why Oliver has a galvanized axel subframe, maybe just Dexter recommendation, but they’d still have the issue anyhow with the steel axels. The other type of corrosion you’ll get is filiform on the aluminum frame.

Unnecessary with the Anderson as the Ball & Ball-pin rotates together in turns, as intended with the anti-sway friction provided by the pin sleeve. Anderson expressly says not to grease the ball, and since there’s no movement except vertical it’s hardly necessary anyhow. As for me my truck has rear steer with built in anti-sway; the rear of the truck wiggles if the trailer waggels. So don’t really need hitch provided in anti sway but OK.

Just for fun and my own sake, tl/dr all the positives Tongue Weight: Lowest in class, Bigfoot is as high as 1k, I have tongue and payload limits I’m working with GVWR: A touch on the heavy side for it’s size but well within my limits Size: True 25’ like the Escape 23’, but the Ollie is a 7’ compared to the 8’ of the Escape. The Bigfoot with front storage is a 28’ Fiberglass: Best in class with the custom honeycomb and mat patches in strategic locations Lighting: Best in class, tri-level interior and bi-level exterior Options: Best in class. Escape famously is configurable but mostly with low level ones (who needs a second exterior shower?), you can’t option out the stuff you’d want control over like batteries/solar. Bigfoot likewise has no power options and only options things like skylights (which are a bad solution to a dark interior) Build Quality: Best in class, I mentioned fiberglass above but the frame is equally boss Decor: Subjective but best in class IMO. Bigfoot is old school, Escape is, sorry just cheap looking. Ollie is classic will never go out of style Fixtures: Best in class marine quality Outside presentation: Best in class. Frames are ugly, only the Oliver hides it, and with fiberglass body no less Usability: Four season, Escape is three, Bigfoot is four Towing: Probably best of the three by a small margin, aero, lack of external gubbins. Bigfoot has a good front, good bottom but poor top and back, the Escape has a poor shape and bottom Water carry: Don’t know about the others (but probably average), but the Oliver is expressly designed for fresh water carry. Important for Boondocking and I want to bring water with me just in case the campground water is having issues Repair: As far as I can tell the Oliver is the most well designed for repair. As mentioned above, even in the unlikely event of a tank issue you can even swap those without too much trouble …

Weight rating? The hitch will handle a lot, question is the bumper itself. The stock one is rated at 100 lbs which won’t work for me as my Kuat Piston Pro is 63 lbs by itself and I have heavy eBikes. Ultiumately not a problem, I’ll keep the bikes in the truck bed and swap the bike rack for the rear shelf storage. Wouldn’t hurt to have the option though.

North of San Francisco. No worries actually, speaking of research this has been an obsession for about five years as I’m rounding into retirement, I’ve run through everything and there’s no other choice, seeing one won’t change my mind to be honest. We don’t need to see one actually, too much bother 😅 I mean we all know this is a balancing of compromises, so you have to pick your poison. Listing out my unmet wants just for my own sake .. Want: Bigger twins Downside: Would be a bigger trailer, but I like the narrowbody 25 actual foot size for towing and campsite availability Solution: If it really bothers - probably won’t - but if it does we can rig it into a queen size Want: Bigger dinette Downside: Same issue Solution: Make more use of the beds and outside Want: More storage so the trailer can always be ready to go Downside: Same issue, also I like the exterior beauty of the Oliver with only a few doors Solution: Outside front/rear 3rd party storage, that rear bumper with the dual rails that can be configured bike hitch or storage tray is brilliant Want: Bigger fridge Downside: Could have been done - the Bigfoot fridge is awesome - but it would rob that upper cabinet Solution: Just get an electric cooler Want: More thermal insulation, not just radiant Downside: I’m overthinking this one 😅 Solution: Kick back and have a beer That’s it. Everything else is pretty much exactly as I would do it myself. There’s a hundred other positives I haven’t mentioned like offroadbility, boondocking, composting as a standard option … Did I mention I’m a ambient light freak? Oliver even did three level lightning which is optimal. Upper, midlevel and down pointing floor level. Nobody does that, they usually just do the awful overhead interrogation light style 😅 Oh and if that’s not enough, they did bi-level lightning outside, the uppers and the lowers, it’s just too much.