Mods of The Outlaw Oliver

[John E Davies]

This topic is of interest to me. I’ll be converting to disc down the road as well.

 

Why not just stick with a Dexter system?

Any body have experience and pros/cons with their offering?

Mark:

 

Cost and features. They are over three times the price for the hub/ brake components, and they only offer one coating, which is basically the same as the low end Kodiak coating. They come with Never Lube sealed  bearings, which suck and are expensive to replace when they fail on the road. Even at half off, they are costly (this is for ONE brake, not a pair!):

 

https://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Brakes/Dexter-Axle/K71-647-00.html

 

Compare to a higher end Kodiak:

 

https://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Brakes/Kodiak/K2HR526D.html

 

The Dexter actuators are decent, but they take up a lot of floor space compared to a HydraBoost which is only 3 inches wide and marine rated (and unvented, no moisture or dust entry).

 

Kodiak has been doing this forever and they have a stellar reputation in the marine industry (especially salt water trailers). Dexter owns them now, I think, and just recently spun of their own brand.

 

Plus Dexter does not have a kit to fit our trailers.

 

I am no fan of Dexter, I think they publish artificially high MSRPs, price gouge with their component parts, and heavily discount assemblies, so you are forced to replace entire units and no retail stores or RV shops are willing to carry any of the small parts.

 

Example: $15 for a 10x2.25 brake shoe adjuster, when you can buy the entire (not Nev-R-Adjust) brake and backing plate unit for less than $30!

 

Example: an entire 10x2.25 brake with Parking Brake (an extended cam shaft and a lever on the back of the plate) is $200 and (it used to be) nobody discounts them (special order only). Now Etrailer.com carries them for $70. They are selling the brake for over 60% off! Price gouging on Dexter's part.

 

John Davies

Spokane WA

[ScubaRx]

As most of you have figured out, the Outlaw Oliver’s axles are the larger 5200 lb. I suppose Oliver chose the six bolt pattern so that all wheels would fit either size trailer. Just a guess.

[Rumline]

So it sounds like our choices are to either switch the hubs and wheels to 5 bolt and keep the 3500 lb axles or get heavier axles and keep the wheels. I like the latter for simplicity but Overland makes a good point about unsprung weight.

[John E Davies]

Had a thought.... it is so simple, it scares me because it probably won’t work.

 

Install these 3500 idler hubs onto the OEM axles.

 

 

https://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Hubs-and-Drums/Dexter-Axle/84655UC1.html

 

Buy this kit. .... https://www.kodiaktrailer.com/product/2rcm-10-dac/

 

 

Have a machine shop redrill the hole pattern to 6 on 5.5”, and rebalance the rotors if needed. This shop near me (Portland OR) charges $45 for two rotors. ....https://dutchmanaxles.com/services.html ... but I bet any good local shop could do it.

 

Install the parts and have a lightweight 3500 disc setup that retains the OEM wheels.

 

Any reason this will not work? Will the 10 inch rotors physically fit over those idler hub flanges? It might be necessary to reduce the outside flange diameter, I don’t know.... I emailed Kodiak (and also Etrailer.com) asking if this was even possible, and if they could offer custom drilled rotors for us unfortunate Oliver owners to get us out of this dilemma. It would be a cost effective, very painless solution, one that the Ollie factory might want to get involved with, to be able to offer a good disc option.

 

Five idler hubs would cost $288, which is way less than an axle swap, and a much better solution. I still like the idea of idler hubs since they are so darned easy to change in the event of a bearing failure, IF you carry a spare one. As inexpensive as they are, it makes sense.

 

EDIT: if you wanted to save $100 you could buy five of these No Name hubs.... https://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Hubs-and-Drums/etrailer/AKIHUB-655-35-K.html

 

Looking at the Kodiak scematic, it looks as if there is plenty of  hub flange clearance. .... https://www.kodiaktrailer.com/pdf/RCM-10-SECTION.pdf

 

Comments?

 

John Davies

 

Spokane WA

[JMSpoff]

John,

 

Not trying to hijack this thread, but I think might be somewhat related to the topic as it is axle related. You'd started or participated in a thread about wanting to convert your axles from over the spring to under the spring. I'm wondering if you've looked any further into that and if so what did you learn? I'm interested in both these upgrades (raising the axle and the disk brake electric over hydraulic upgrade) but you're doing far more research into the topic than I have the time or skillset for so I'm awaiting what you figure out before pulling the trigger.

 

Thanks,

 

John

 

[Rumline]

You can go to page 2 of this thread to see Oliver's attempt and associated discussion:

http://olivertraveltrailers.com/topic/spring-over-axle-lift/page/2/

[JMSpoff]

Thank you, I appreciate the pointer, looks like spring under axle will not work...Ah well, I'll keep paying attention to the brake upgrades. :)

[JMSpoff]

Is something like the attached just a really bad idea?

[John E Davies]

Is something like the attached just a really bad idea?

 

They are used on 4wds (Wanglers etc) and usually they install different wheels with a high offset, because the spacers are a couple of inches thick. If you used them on an Ollie with the stock wheels, they would stick out far past the fenders, and you would probably rip them right off the hull. Plus the added leverage puts a huge stress on wheel bearings (and ball joints on a truck). While they can work, there are usually better, but more costly, solutions.

 

Bad idea, yes....

 

John Davies

 

Spokane WA

 

 

[scubasteve]

Steve,

 

Great modification to your tank cover and tank holding plate to construct the added storage area!  I'm interested in the doors you added to your tank cover from Ollie and how you modified them into your lower tank cover.  Please share when you get the time.

 

Thank you for your time and attention to this matter.

 

V/R,

 

Steve

[ScubaRx]

Steve

 

As you probably know those are the same one that Oliver uses on the cabinet in the bathroom of the Elite II. This is where I first talked about them. There no modifications to the doors themselves. The holes were simply cut into the sides of the propane housing and the doors were glued in place. They have traveled 30 or 40 thousand miles with no issues.

 

To cut the holes, I made a pattern of paper and taped it onto the sides. Using a hole saw, I drilled 4 holes for the corners. I don't recall the exact size for the hole saw, but I will be happy to look at them and let you know if you need that info. I drew lines along the edges of the 4 corner holes to connected them into a vertical rectangle. I then used a jigsaw to cut along the lines.

 

If you need additional info, please feel free to ask.

 

Interesting about your screen name, I once had a personalized license plate that was SCUBAS. All my technicians at work called me Scubasteve.

[Mainiac]

I have an unused pair of the doors (hatches). I was going to install myself and modify the compartment. By the time my unit was finished, the factory had modified how the compartment was laid out and had changed the wiring harness in there. They had added a 2 1/2" deep electrical box for the stabilizer jacks. This did not allow the tanks to move forward easily enough to justify the process. Also they had upgraded from a male/female umbilical plug from the tug. It was replaced by a heavier duty cable that would have to be moved. Maybe I will tackle the project someday, but I see diminished returns for effort at the moment...

[Fran]

I chuckled when I saw this because when you need something you just have to make it. I made a trike carrier out of one of those harbor freight carriers...worked great..

[Ray and Susan Huff]

On 1/15/2017 at 11:56 AM, ScubaRx said:

Our solution for chair carrying chairs

One more thing: when do you guys find time to camp/travel?