Oliver Lift

[dkeen]

Hull 1703 2026 LEII

Has anyone raised their Oliver 2"?  I have a steep driveway and the approach angle from the road to the driveway is approximately 12%.  To back the Oliver up the driveway I currently have to back up until the trailer is just about to hit and then place boards under the tires until we are started up the driveway and then we are fine.  Raising the height by 2" should solve my problem. 

[jd1923]

I have not read here that anybody has done so to date, but John E Davies who was active years ago wrote some about modifying the Oliver suspension from an Under- to Over-slung suspension.

I tow in the NF and BLM of Arizona often, descending steep and deep washes and have so far never scraped the rear. This suspension change would give you a 5+" lift (diameter of axle plus height of leaf springs), and this comes with negatives. Mainly just climbing into the cabin would be a pain, reason why I tow with a 2WD truck, vs. a 4WD truck with a lift! No, I'm done with trucks or trailers where I'd need to climb up like that! 🤣

I'm not seeing a 2" lift option and only 2" may not answer your needs.

I've got neighbors with driveways like yours, wow! I'd suggest leave the Oliver alone and fix your driveway. You'd appreciate it when driving your grocery-getter too. Talk to a concrete contractor or build a proper set of ramps specifically for this purpose.

Please let us know and post here with pics and comments if you do convert your Oliver to an Over-slung suspension! 😎 

[Steph and Dud B]

Haven't done it to our Oliver but we "flipped" the axles on a previous trailer to gain approximately 2" for the same reason. If your Oliver axles sit on top of the springs you can have a spring/suspension shop "flip" them to put the axle tubes underneath the springs. You basically gain the diameter of the axle tubes. (Note that this could slightly affect handling since it raises the trailer's center of gravity, but we didn't notice it on our other trailer.)

[Ronbrink]

I have seen videos where skid rollers are mounted at the rear of a travel trailer to keep the bumper/under carriage from scraping on steep driveways or road grades; check out etrailer.com for such products. I welded some on a skid plate that’s mounted on the front of my TV to protect the expensive ebike rack, works great! 

Edited 1 hour ago by Ronbrink

[Steph and Dud B]

1 hour ago, Ronbrink said:

I have seen videos where skid rollers are mounted at the rear of a travel trailer to keep the bumper/under carriage from scraping on steep driveways or road grades

The problem with this is that it puts a reverse stressor on the trailer frame. Instead of bearing a load (trailer body) pressing down from above, when the rollers are dragged on the pavement they push up on the rear frame of the trailer and carry part of the load usually carried by the axles. This can bend a trailer frame and cause damage to the body (although I would think a molded fiberglass body is stronger then other RVs).