jd1923

Excellent idea Tom! Great install location and repeater location for a good signal when towing. 😎

Sorry for not posting this sooner. An Oliver friend was at Harbor Freight today asking me the same question, so I went out to my garage and measured. The large snap ring has holes 0.11" ID and they are 1 1/4" apart. The snap-ring pliers I used for this has pins 0.07" OD and has a reach of about 1 1/2". The very small snap ring has holes about 0.05" and are only 1/4" apart. The snap-ring pliers I used for this has pins 0.04" OD. These are the tools I used. Zoom in to see tool part numbers.

If you have rubber, make sure to install high-quality STEEL valve stems first. Buy from Summit or local auto parts store, NOT Amazon China-made. Tire companies do not carry them. https://www.summitracing.com/search?SortBy=BestKeywordMatch&SortOrder=Ascending&keyword=steel valve stems There are also TPMS sensors that can be installed inside of the wheel integral to the stem. More expensive and work required in removing the tires/rebalancing but it is the way the industry is going now that all modern vehicles have TPMS built-in. https://www.discounttire.com/accessories/tpms-catalog Best to have wheels balanced after TPMS sensors are installed.

Thank you very much, Chris & Stacie! You sold me without trying! 🤣 You linked the silver model and yesterday I purchased the black model Amazon used "Like New" model at a very good price. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KSNTSVR/?th=1 Most of us have LP grills too but the induction hotplate has a different purpose (e.g. boil water quickly). When you have 600 Ah you need to use it! We traveled with the Weber Q for 8 years, shown by @Patriot and @Mike and Carol above. The Q is a nice small grill but a single burner design does not allow for indirect cooking (can kill a baked potato quickly)! if you cook smaller, meals for two, the Weber Q is the way to go. The Napoleon is about 5 inches longer and 7 pounds heavier. Our old Weber Q1200 is cleaned up and I gave it our son for his camping trips. https://www.amazon.com/Weber-51190001-Liquid-Propane-Orange/dp/B00RFXRZ9Y/?th=1 For $50 more, we strongly recommend the Napoleon! We use these items and vouch for them: https://www.amazon.com/Napoleon-PRO285-BK-Portable-Propane-Grill/dp/B00J4576FE/?th=1 https://www.amazon.com/Reversible-PRO285X-BK-PRO285-BK-TQ285X-BL-Accessories/dp/B0BJDM93QD/?th=1 https://www.amazon.com/Napoleon-Grills-61286-Premium-Grill/dp/B077SLW6L4/

@Michael A Are you original owners? The cigarette lighter plug and 110V adapter in your picture look like aftermarket cables somebody just put there, not something OTT installed. You certainly want to take the advice from Mossey. Both adapters pictured are disconnected, but what is at the other end of the cables? What is disconnected? My guess is nothing and you could toss these out! The panel comes out simply held by two bolts along the bottom (3/8" or maybe 10mm). We had some items like this in our attic when we purchased used. I removed everything from prior owners, wiring not OEM. I also refuse to power anything with a cigarette lighter connection when they can be reliably hardwired behind the "wall panel" (attic left cover plate).

@Townesw I just purchased a new roll of butyl, even though I have some left in an older roll. It's hard to keep butyl, glues and tapes fresh in our very dry Arizona climate. I'm rebuilding the rear stabilizer jacks on our hull which includes removal of the jack post assemblies. They were caulked at both interior and exterior hulls. I'm thinking butyl wrapped in a circle will be easier and cleaner to apply than caulk from a tube. I just received this product today. it looks fresh, of good quality and the roll is huge! This might be worth your consideration and for others reading. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001FCB4JS/?th=1

Rob is absolutely correct! Use your onboard Stabilizer Jacks! It's the easiest and safest way to change a tire. Using the labeled "Jack Points" and the trailer weight shifts and then you have other issues. OTT got legal (not engineering) advice on not using the stabilizer jacks. I have posted before what Oliver wrote in the 2017 User Manual, where they detail the tire change procedure using these jacks. I also carry a bottle jack and jack stand, for more major repairs. Hard to imagine any of this on a 3-year-old hull. I expect and have never seen tires self-destruct in less than 7 years, except for China-made ST tires. If you are original owners, I would think about what may have caused or led to these failures (two tires). The steel cable must be the cable from the blown radial tire The shock bushings look awful. Remove one shock to see if it has compression along the full length. My guess is you need 4 new shocks and if I were you, I would be buying four (4) brand new top-of-the-line LT tires, mounted and balanced at a reputable shop. I'd like to ask again re your tire make-model and running tire pressure. Use your TPMS and "see something, hear something, say something!" When you hear any odd noise, get out immediately and inspect all 8 tires, leaf springs, shocks, etc. Look under to see if you're dragging some road debris, then look again. 😎

It's odd their only interior picture is actually an Oliver interior picture! They also site OTT as a Canadian company. Hard to tell how much of the dark surfaces are actually windows.

Good call Steve! I found the spec on this unit at 1760 watts. We run our 1500W Emeril Air Fryer all the time (installed in place of the OEM microwave). With a 3KW inverter and ample LiFePO4 SOC you're good. @Dennis and Melissa My only issue with cookers like this is storage space. At 17" L x 14" W x 11" H it will take up the entire space under the front dinette seat or more room in your TV once you store it in a case. Chris keeps a pressure cooker under the front dinette seat. A wonderful device, pot roast in a half hour, yet only about 8" dia and 10" tall. She also keeps dog food down there and several other cooking accessories.

Lake picture?

I would do this. Take a length of the butyl. Roll it and stretch it like using Play-Doh when we were kids! If you can roll it up in a ball and stretch it out again and all the original lines disappear, you have good butyl.

Not sure about the term "breaker rating" but if you decrease the "charge rate" it may help. When you're connected to shore power overnight you do not need a high charge rate to get back to 100% SOC. @dewdev I believe the max charge on your model is 150A. If it is set at this rate, it will produce a bit of noise and for example it would top off 600 LiFePO4 batteries down to 50% SOC in just 2 hours! You could set the rate down to 50A and instead 50% will take 6 hours. Our Victron Multiplus II is rather quiet, though I sleep directly over our inverter-charger. I have our charger set at 100A so it can regain amp-hours quickly. Because of this, the charger kicks in when we first connect at a campsite in the afternoon. By bedtime SOC is normally at 100% and unit stops charging. There has been 2-3 times when it is still charging that time of night (e.g. when running our oven and other 120VAC during evening hours). When this occurs, lying in bed I open the Victron app, turn it off to go to sleep. I turn it back on first thing, and by the time we break camp we are back to 100%! Make sure all your battery settings are correct for your Xantrex. I don't believe this should occur with LiFePO4 batteries.

Is that a thing?! 🤣 Thanks, Bill. I thought about at least pressure-washing when she was up in the air, with old parts off! There is a slight chance of some shiny gelcoat down under!

Front of TV makes the most sense! Why put more weight on the rear of the Oliver, when Olivers are already tongue light? There's a lot of bounce back there too! We don't carry bikes now, but I've thought some on bringing my dirt bike (240 lbs plus rack weight). A 1-up very light bike and rack, back of the trailer is OK. Going with something heavier, front of TV helps with the balance and both TT and TV! You have to get used to seeing it up there, but it's better than wondering about the rear or watching a camera instead of eyes on the road.

A couple 30 mile test drives so far. I've torqued everything 3-4 times now. 90 ft-lbs on the U-bolts, 80 lbs on end spring bolts, 65 on the shackle bolts. After 30 miles with very little trailer brakes, I manually tightened the self-adjusters the the point it was difficult to turn the drums by hand. Next test drive my brakes were 4x better. When any of you are going to Alcan for this service and return there to re-torque, I'd also ask them to tighten the shoes. Don't leave Grand Junction and tow any steep mountain declines until the shoes are properly seated. One of the rear stabilizer jacks started to slip with all the ups and downs doing this work. However, I maintain/strongly recommend using the onboard jacks for service and tire changes vs. the risk of damage using some aftermarket jack. My next Oliver project is restoration of all 3 Barker VIP 3000 jacks! 😎 With Nev-R Lube bearings and ALL new suspension parts, it's relatively carefree. Check the bearings/brakes every couple years. We don't tow as many miles as many of you do. I left the center caps off for now to check bearing and drum temps. I'm not carrying a spare set of leaf springs anymore. Since I have a drum/hub with bearing off the first axle set, I'll put it in my toolbox. It should just sit there in case. If I sell the other axles, I'll buy 2 Nev-R Lube bearings and I already have correct bearing press and tested its use. It's a good feeling towing a reliable trailer down the road and no worries about the next rocky Forest Service road either! Hull #113 doesn't waddle like a duck anymore when entering a service station driveway or crossing RR tracks on an angle, she's tight, she's done! 🤣

The Alcan springs are an obvious upgrade and the Dexter D52 axles as well. Tim at Alcan got Dexter to refund my shipping cost for the inconvenience of the damaged axles and another 2-week wait. I thought $200 to ship two axles freight was very fair, but I'll take free shipping in a heartbeat - thank you Alcan and Dexter! FedEx Freight contacted me re the 2nd shipment more quickly than I would have thought. I asked the rep, "Is this the return order?" She said she did not know of a return. Turns out Dexter did not want them back! So I have all the spare parts I need, 4 drums with Nev-R Lube bearings, 4 backing plate brake assemblies... Or perhaps I should replace the damaged brake assembly and this set would be good for another Oliver with 50" axles. There are only a few Olivers out there with the 1/2" shorter axles. The 12" brake drums are certainly more substantial, though my side-by-side photo does not do them justice since I made them the same size as the 10". Another photo shows the internals of the 12" Self-Adjust and Nev-R Lube setup.

Next step is to build the new suspension. I made a mistake in assembly, then contacted Lew at Alcan and he got me straight in a minute! Notice the first picture, suspension jacked up, wheels removed, axles hanging. I thought I could mount the new leaf springs in the same manner, not true! Remember reading posts here about having to flip a shackle, after lifting the Oliver to change a tire or something? On the OEM, old weak and lose suspension, a shackle could drop down and you could drive over a curb and the shackle would flip back up. Not with the HD Alcan leaf springs. They must be mounted shackles up to start, as they are NOT going to flip! 🤣 This also means that when changing a tire after your Alcan upgrade you will not have to worry about the shackle falling, they will certainly stay up! Pic1 shows the original suspension, pic2 how I first installed it, pic3 shows the suspension corrected shackles up. It was not fun, nor easy to remove the wet-bolts to flip these shackles. You must have the Oliver jacked up evenly, front-to-back and side-to-side otherwise there is stress on these bolts keeping them tight. On our driveway, slanted downhill it took me a couple of hours on each side to get the leaf springs aligned to make this correction. BTW, if you want to change the equalizer by itself, that job would not be fun either. Replace the equalizer when you replace your leaf springs.

Thanks Rob! It is a bit of work replacing the Oliver suspension. I will add though, when I completely restored the suspension on our tow vehicle it took much more work and knowledge of mechanics. The Oliver suspension replacement is basically bolt-on! 🤣

I thought I should mount the leaf springs to the axles on my garage floor and then roll the entire assembly into place for installation. I wanted the leaf springs and U-bolts as square (perpendicular) as possible. I noted each leaf was basically 4" from the brake backing plates, so I found a 4" spacer to use for assembly. Also, the U-bolt tops should be 2 1/8" apart and I had a socket this size to gauge. Not sure how the pros do this. Do they just lose-bolt everything together and torque down after mounting? That would certainly be quicker (likely). Turns out i had to loosen the U-bolts on one wheel to get the hanger bolt to align and push it through. Then It took me an hour to realign the U-bolts to get them square again! You need to reuse the custom U-bolt ties, the lower plates with the shock mounts. I cleaned and painted them. The centering hole had to be drilled out some for the larger bolt on the new springs. I mounted each spring so that the Alcan label and Made-in-USA flag would be facing outwards. The left side of the axle is the side with the brake wiring. When torquing the U-bolts to 90 ft-lbs, I used a caliper to ensure thread lengths on either side of the U-bolts were close. I re-torqued them the next day prior to installing since it's easy while sitting on the floor. Several reasons why when you do this work for yourself it does take longer! When remounting these tie plates, I switched them left-to-right. This allowed me to mount the shocks to the bolt-hole on the other side that had not been previously used. You may be able to see in the picture that the bolt-holes used over the last 10 years were somewhat oval-ed from use. Nice, eh? 🤣

Most of us have the Dexter EZ Flex upgrade which includes bronze bushings, wet bolts, HD shackles, etc. You want to check on the condition of these parts during this installation. Going to Alcan for service? I suggest you bring new EZ Flex equalizers with you to have installed with your new leaf springs! I purchased new wet bolts and HD shackles from Alcan since the new leaf springs have new bronze bushings and I wanted new on new. It was suggested to reuse the center equalizer of the EZ Flex. Turns out ours, installed by OTT in 2018 had seen better days! You cannot truly inspect these parts without removing them and better yet is to fully disassemble them. I've read these parts are not serviceable but you can see here that they could be, yet Dexter does not sell bushing kits for these. I had to buy new equalizers and mounting bolts, another $316 at eTrailer. They can be disassembled by prying the two levers apart. To put them back together you need a LARGE Channellock (or vise), one with jaw opening greater than 4", squeeze square and slip the center sleeve back into the bushings on each equalizer lever. Notice the cock-eyed bolt alignment in the second picture. I believe the dual lever design creates the off-angle wear over time. Keep up on wet-bolt torque settings (65 lb-ft per Alcan) including the center equalizer mount bolt and this should help keep the center bushing square. As I disassembled the original suspension, I noted every wet-bolt was too lose! I'll do better going forward now that we're starting from new! Re-torque annually after the frequent adjustments required during break-in.

Next step was disassembly and removal of the original suspension. This took about two hours on a first afternoon. The Oliver should be connected to the tow vehicle when doing this, so given our short driveway the truck had to be in the garage with garage door half-open for a few days (TG no Pack Rats in the garage)! I used the rear stabilizer jacks to lift wheels off the ground and then placed jack stands at the front edge of the steel subframe, and lowered the rears to balance the weight of the hull front to back. Thinking this through a few days prior, I realized a pair of wheel dollies would allow me to do this work without a helper to carry axles. Picked up a pair on Amazon for a little over $50. It was great to roll out the old and later roll the new axles into position! Since I've done this work at home and replaced an entire working suspension in relatively good shape (no flat spots in the OEM leaf springs), I have the original suspension listed on Craigs, hoping to get $800 on the entire setup. There are a lot of guys in Arizona that build homemade ATV trailers and this would be perfect for that use vs. spending $3K for new. Wish me luck! 🤣

Agreed, it seems to fit this way.

If anybody would like to buy an OEM 2” receiver, at a reasonable cost, I have one removed from ours. Shipping would not be reasonable, so keep it in mind for anybody visiting AZ, going to Quartzsite this winter, etc.

2+ years for me and still haven't yet gotten to your #4. I've done all the others except been waiting on A/C since we try to be 3-season campers, stay home during summer. Hoping this new year a great new inverter-compressor A/C model hits the market! If we needed A/C today, I would purchase the Turbro Greenland, still on sale for $1,200. Go Greenland if you want to run A/C off batteries/inverter, go Tosot if you want super-quite and if you can afford Truma, many here vouch for it, but must be dealer installed. https://www.turbro.com/products/greenland-13500-btu-inverter-rv-air-conditioner-with-heat-pump Cave Creek - cool, we're neighbors! We often stay at the Maricopa County Regional Parks during Jan-Feb just for a quick get-away warmer weather. Been to Cave Creek Regional Park a couple times, will get up to the Horny Toad for some fried chicken and it's close to everything in Scottsdale and the NE Valley. Maybe we could meet up this winter. Many Oliver owners go to Quartzsite during Jan-Feb too! We should revisit this year to meet up with Oliver friends!

Day one, first trailer, you first thought was the “suspension overhaul would be a good start!” We all have made good and bad decisions with our RVs and trailers! Your first action is profound! Go man, great start, do it, and ask away with your questions! 🤣