jd1923

Convenient @AlbertNTerri for you living nearby! When you get yours done, please post the part # for the MORryde Equalizer they install. Thanks

Have loved bicycles, ever since hoping for one for Christmas 60 years ago! I have road bikes since then and in most places we lived. My 20-year-old Trek hybrid, made in the USA, has been hanging from ceiling hooks in our garage, ever since we moved back to AZ, 6 years ago! It's extremely difficult to ride a bicycle here, since every local road is a very STEEP uphill climb, and then you're flying down the road, way too fast! We do have every kind of dirt bike, quad, side-by-side... I need fuel to climb elevation, gears to regulate speed, and disc brakes on decent. I almost didn't click after reading your post title, though very glad I did. Excellent fab work here, and WHAT in the world is that dirt bike? We could use that here around town and in our travels! It must be an electric, seeing no exhaust pipe. Hope it's not China made (uhg, most are). If it's made "anywhere but..." I'm going to check it out! This will certainly be easier for you. Off and on in a heartbeat. You'll be happy and great project!

I'm reading here the D52 code means 5200 LB axle and the 3500 LB means total leaf spring capacity. Wish mine were the 5200 axles for 12" brakes vs the 10" mounted on the lighter axles. This is good news for you! If you still want to check the backside of one of your wheels, just look right where the axle connects, closest to the wheel, to the brake backing plate. In a circle close to and around the axle, you should see 5 bolts in a pentagon shape (given yours are 5200 LB) or 4 bolts in a small square pattern for the 3500s. Or post a pic here if you want a dozen more opinions! 🤣

It's easier to just look at the back of the trailer wheel. If it has 4 bolts to the brake backing plate, it's a 3500 LB axle, 5 bolts then it's a 5200 LB axle!

All those with 5200 LB axles (5-bolt axles), adding the 2000 LB rated Alcan springs will practically have a new GTWR (Gross Trailer Weight Rating) of 8000 LBS. I used the term "practically" since legally the GTWR is still 7000 LB. The brakes on these are also larger diameter for better braking. One could argue, can the OTT frame carry more than 7K LBS and I would think so. Most of us will still be under 7K LBS regardless. Those with 3500 LB axles (4-bolt axles) the GTWR will still be 7000 since the axle will be the limiting factor. Regardless of axle type, all other factors being equal, 8K is 14% stiffer than 7K. Anybody into a suspension performance improvement, would look to go 10-20% stiffer. Of course, Mike at Alcan would state the 4-leaf design is minimal. Keep your tires down to the proper PSI for your tire size and load and these springs should be what any of us want for a reliable upgrade.

OMG, I've seen a lot of automotive failures, but NEVER one of this kind! The Bulldog ("think Bulldog" means strength) should be an extremely strong hardened steel connection. I've towed 30 some trailers in my lifetime and NEVER would I contemplate this kind if occurrence! 🤕 Trailer hitches have issues, but NEVER of this kind! I'm a Mechanical Engineer with over 45 years of automotive restoration experience. This of course, is NOT, not right. This pisses me off! It appears that somehow you came out of this OK... Thank God, and God bless you and yours! You purchased a relatively new OTT, and tG your OTT did not break away and end up upside down in a ditch! You have a strong liability claims again OTT, Bulldog, and perhaps other parties. Not only should you not move, for a replacement, for a welder, or absolutley anything else. You have already good pics here but take another 100 pics at every possible angle. If your Oliver is insured, file a claim asap. And if so, don't touch ANYTHING. From our family to yours, God Bless you and yours! You must have good Charma, because without it... you would not be writing about this but instead living the reality of this disaster.

Yep, 35 PSI is the minimum, according to the Michelin spec e the tires on most of our trailers. Being a doubting engineer, I never go with min or max. So not 35 and certainly not 80!!! The next step up is 40, since these tables generally have 5 PSI increments. 40 PSI is a VERY GOOD number, per the spec, and would be the lowest I would run. Me and GJ are going with our friend's 42 PSI recommendation. Go with 40 PSI, go with 45, 50 will not do damage, but greater than these numbers will, I promise! BTW, we in the know hope our friend is doing well. He has not checked into the OTT Forum for a while. God Bless @John E Davies

Thank you for posing this question. I had a similar thought the other day, that perhaps I need a "Battery Tender" designed for AGM, to perform a final charge. Maybe I could plug it in once a week... The many chargers I have now are all old-school automotive chargers for lead-acid. Walmart sells this as an automotive starting battery, meaning to be charged by automotive alternators. I didn't think it was enough of a concern, since by alternator there will still be more voltage than a lead-acid. They claim their AGM will have twice the life of the LA made by the same S. Korea manufacturer. I will look for a technical support number and see what specs they have. I will post here later with whatever I learn and also my experiences as these batteries get more used. Thanks again!

Did a thorough cleaning when we purchased the truck (it is 23 years old). The engine compartment picture shows the old battery. Look how bad the terminals were in contrast. Thank you @ScubaRx and @MAX Burner! 😂

I also purchased new battery terminals, crimped new lugs on all cables and new battery hold-downs, since they were all pretty crusty (see pics). The new batteries did not fit the OEM hold-downs (new Dorman hardware), so if you look closely, you'll see I had to rig some inserts to hold them tight. I went with Military style terminals. First experience with these, and I love them! I purchased this item but would make another choice next time. Great terminals, the rubber covers are decent, but the lugs and heat shrink were not of best quality. Dodge Cummins Military Dual Battery Terminals, Lugs & Boots | eBay These terminals have a 3/8" bolt end, so use 3/8" lugs on all your cables. The other side has a 5/16" bolt to tighten the terminal on the battery post. The beauty and simplicity here is that you can keep the 3/8" cable end held tight, and merely loosen the 5/16" nut to remove it from the battery. I've been fighting cables on dozens of vehicles since the70's! I purchased another couple of sets to use on our other old cars and trucks in the future, to be installed each time we need a new battery. The other thing about Group 27 vs. these H7 AGMs is the posts are in reverse orientation. In making all new connections I had the change the +/- location of all cables. The main + cable, connecting the two batteries, mounted over the radiator core had to be shifted about a foot over. I had to make a new cable from the LH battery to the power distribution box, but most other cables had room to move 10" left or right. I think it came out pretty good. The AGMs should last much longer. Every time I park the truck voltage is 13.1V or better, where LA is usually 12.6V at best. Let it park for a few days (and I have a cellular router running, rid-rat devices and more) and it's still at 12.9V. Love the AGMs! What do you think?

I've asked about this several times over the last several years. Asked the owner of our local Batteries Plus, are AGM batteries better for our trucks? The answer in the past and since is "Yes, better but not worth twice the money!" I've had AGM batteries in my motorcycles over 10 years now. The Dodge Ram Cummins always had two (2) Group 27 LA batteries. The last Dodge Cummins I had for 18 years had the same setup and twice I purchased the very reasonable Walmart EverStart batteries. Could have done the same this time for $150 ea. I searched for other batteries and the Odessey AGM came up $384 ea. Wow, like I said more $$$. In this case, should I pay $325 total with tax or $832. Go figure. Then I found a new style EverStart AGM from Walmart, however they did not have the Group 27 size in this model. I found the H7 size to be very close to the Group 27, about 1/4" longer and wider, yet a full inch shorter in height. I purchased two of these modern AGM batteries: EverStart Platinum AGM Automotive Battery, Group Size H7 / LN4 / 94R 12 Volt, 800 CCA 140 RC - Walmart.com They're made in South Korea, like that much better than China. South Korea manufacturing started earlier than China and is more mature in quality practices. Total OTD with tax $390 for two HD AGM truck batteries nice!

Nice! Please explain why the solar charge is reading at 52V? Are the panels 12V or greater, wired in series?

Our family too, newest vehicle on the lot, besides a 2016 Oliver, is our restored 2008 GX470. I drove a '67 Wildcat for a decade (1985-1994), a 1975 Alfa Romeo Spyder, for two decades (1977-1998). Bought my first 1984 Goldwing standard new in 1986, sold it in 2004, missed the bike and bought a second one same model in 2008, still in the garage, picture above. Our son will inherit our Oliver and the other many classics on the property, and he helps regularly with the maintenance of all. A 1958 TR3, wow and nice. I had a British Racing Green 1967 TR4a for a short while! I'm learning that most of us here are true "Classics!"

RVing is a lot about making these kinds of mistakes, as we all have, and learning from them. OMG, I forgot... (100 things thru the years). It does trouble me when I make the same mistake a second time and many of us have been there, done that! Just as long as it's just a little water, a little this or that...

Love to meet you one day, get around the campfire and play some guitar! Sounds Great! I usually travel with one, and always on longer trips.😂

This video is exactly the reason the shop only offers 90 days. The idea behind the 30- or 90-day warranty is for replacement of something not right upon delivery. You would be nuts to own a small business and have guys who drive like this come back after near 5 years of abuse! 🤣 Stop for a minute and try to think from their point of view. Want to spend another $325 ($995-670=$325) for warranty insurance on a $600 leaf spring purchase? Hmmm, WOW not me, are you crazy!?! You can for sure contact an extended warranty company and they will take your $$$ in a heartbeat! Why would you pay 54% MORE than your purchase for such coverage? OMG, just spend another $300 instead and buy another full set of leaf springs. The warranty WILL NOT HELP YOU broken down in Alaska or even 20 miles from home! Please think about what you are saying. This may be a very good supplier for our forum OTT owners. Lot of negativity expressed here (last half dozen posts) re the warranty, and @Mountainman198 and likely all, yes, I bet all of the other OTT owners that have had failed springs have NOT used the warranty they already have. So, if one of these springs fail on you, are you going to file for warranty? Or are you going to do what you need to do, to get back on the road. Uh, the latter. Let's PLEASE get off this trivial subject. BUY the spring or DON'T, it's a free marketplace. I'm happy to see they already have 10+ orders for servicing our OTT Community, and I will certainly buy a set as @MAX Burner did today within the next year (already put $6K into our money-pit OTT in the 8 months since we took possession).

Like I suggested, how important is the warranty? Just buy what you need.

Not fair to compare a small custom shop to Dexter. The $670 total for 4 custom leaf springs and required hardware is extremely fair. They could charge $995 and provide for a warranty. They are likely a small family-owned business and cannot have 5-years of future liability. Your choice 1) Alcan, 2) find another supplier, or 3) buy Dexter springs with 5-year coverage for China junk, that has a high likelihood of failure. Have any of you filed warranty claims on your broken springs? I prefer the promise of craftsmen, and the product looks great in the pics, more HD in all aspects. I'd rather go better quality, less cost and forfeit the warranty. But that's me; one who NEVER pays for extended warranties (a hugely profitable industry). If they are not right, you'll know in 90 days. And from what has been written here re their exceptional CS, they would likely work with you if their work was determined to be at fault.

Hey Scuba, your Olivers (yes, plural case) are so, soooooo old! Weren't they just made better, back in the day! (you have always had a special connection to OTT to make yours one of the BEST). Most of us who have endured a long hard lifetime, working hard every day. That has made us better! I have found that our older Hull #113 has very few of the problems cited at length in this forum. Older is better IMHO, reason why I have an older OTT and an older TV too! I can see why @SeaDawg has relished hers, for what now 16 years? My street bike is a 1984 GL1200, just hit it's 40th anniversary! I know y'all are biased, thinking nothing prettier than a kept Oliver, right? This old classic looks pretty good for 40, right! I'd say older, mo' better! The main thing I enjoy (relish) re this forum, is us like-minded individuals. Those of us wanting to work hard to make this very important OTT investment, better and better!

This has been answered theoretically, but sure we all want to know what @Mountainman198 and @hobo experience. The 5200 LB axle makes no difference, except to be very happy they ran out of 3500 stock, and you got better bearings and brakes. 2000 LB rated 5-leaf springs vs. 1750 LB, like I wrote before is 14% stiffer, maybe a little more bang on occasion and less up and down.

Is this what's OEM on our Elite II trailers? 4-Leaf Double-Eye Spring for 5,000-lb Trailer Axles - 25-1/4" Long etrailer Trailer Leaf Springs e44SR I could measure myself and/or search the forum, but if one of you know... Our OTT has 4 very straight leaf spring assemblies. I just worked the brakes, replaced the bearings with Timken... If this is a direct replacement, I should just buy one and put it first in the bottom of my truck toolbox.

I had ours out upon a deep clean when we first purchased our older used hull. Sprayed them with a hose, fine mist setting thoroughly. Then I used compressed air mainly in the corners. Let them sit in the sun (think sunny day task) and later just snapped them in place. They are as clean as could be!

OEM springs only need to be rated at 1750 LBS (7000/4). Most lightweight dual-axle trailers (i.e. not HD non-commercial) are rated for 7000 LBS. I have a 12 FT flatbed trailer on our property. We haul dirt bikes & quads or our side-by-side, used to pull it with our Class-C). It has the same Dexter axles (and the leaf springs still look good too, tG). Leaf springs at 2000 LBS are 14% stiffer. This is a very good number! They appear to be correct in their 5-leaf design. I will buy a set next fallor next year. Thank you.

In the fine print, they always state to run at the minimum when under the min, and of course do not exceed the maximum. Given you actually keep your Oliver at 6000 LBS, you can run 35 PSI. I would not suggest subtracting tongue weight, since when running at highway speeds the hitch is bouncing up and down and half the time ALL weight is on the trailer wheels. This is why for years, yes YEARS @John E Davies ran his Oliver at 42 PSI, and suggested we all do the same. I've been at 46 PSI last two outings. Those of you still running 50, 60, even 80 PSI, STOP doing that. According to Michelin, 40 PSI is a good number for the Elite II, and when we leave to Casa Grande next week, I'm going with exactly 42 PSI to honor our good friend John E. I wonder if there is some correlation between spring failure and those running the 80 PSI printed on the tire? Or, have these springs failed mainly on those pushing the GTRW? Perhaps, but again the broken cross-section looked like cr@p and some of these leaf springs were not hardened properly. When not hardened properly, steel will bend. These springs should not bend as in the picture above. They should break if over-stressed (over the GTWR), but not bend.

I thought there would be a run on these as soon as ALCAN contact info was posted! Great to hear they are going to rush one for you. Smart to have your mechanic scheduled too! I'll get a set at some point. I'm fully convinced on the 5-leaf 2000 LB rating now. If mine looked like they were starting to sag, I would have ordered yesterday too. But considering after tax and shipping these would be, what about a $900 outlay? I need to do this later since we can. We're not heading to Alaska anytime soon! To do this right, it may make sense to buy 5200 LB axles, with the best hub/bearing/brake set possible and mount new axles on these springs, given our hull is now 8 years old. Likely be close to $2K total on this idea. Should not have spent $200 on new Timken bearings just 6 months ago, if I knew then what I know now!