Vibrations

[Landrover]

I have noticed reading some of the posts that some of the problems that occur with the Ollie are from vibrations, loose wires,  water lines etc.  I know some travel gravel and unpaved roads,  some of the vibration. I noticed at the factory tour that the wheels installed aren't spun balanced with weights. I maybe wrong, but wouldn't it be a good idea since they are light truck tires. An unbalanced wheel will  cause vibration.

[Geronimo John]

If you have any noticeable vibration, it would be wise to balance your trailer tires.

 

 

[John E Davies]

ALWAYS balance all five tires. This is just common practice for all vehicles except trailers. I have never seen a balanced trailer tire as delivered. I had mine balanced the day after delivery.

 

Excessive tire pressure is worse and can even blow out shocks. If you are running more than needed, the sidewalls cannot flex and absorb road impacts and those get sent into the frame. The factory sends Elite II trailers out the door with almost twice the recommended pressure. I have never understood why.

 

John Davies

 

Spokane WA

[Overland]

I guess the first thing to say is that I don't think vibration is any more of an issue for Olivers than it is for any other trailer.  In fact, our trailers are probably considerably less prone to vibration damage thanks to the solidness of the construction and a far better than average suspension.  That said, it's inevitable that if something breaks on a moving vehicle, vibration will at the very least have been a factor in the failure; and so that's why it's mentioned here so often.  I think we should count ourselves lucky that we can place vibration high on our list of issues, vs leaks, rot, instability, etc.  One of the primary reasons my wife and I chose Oliver is because of the inner hull and that fact that most of the 'furnishings' of the trailer are integral to the structure.  I've read too many stories of other trailer *cough*airstream*cough* owners arriving at their campsites to find that their trailers' interiors had disassembled themselves along the way.

 

Like John said, the most effective means you have of controlling vibration is through tire pressure (I set mine at 45, vs the 70+ they were set to at the factory).  I honestly don't know if wheel balance is an issue or not.  Couldn't hurt to rebalance them - how about that?  For more adventurous travelers, there are suspension add-ons from Lippert and Mor-Ryde that should significantly help, though I don't know of anyone who's gone that far.  Yet.  Apart from those things, you can do what I do, which is whenever I'm working on anything in the trailer I try to take a moment to see if there's anything adjacent to what I'm working on that can be secured more solidly.

 

As to whether Oliver could improve with respect to vibration - of course they could, and it's input from us that would drive them to do so.  But saying they can improve is different than saying it's an issue.  You'll find that many of us on the forum are relentless about stuff like that.  We're the sort that the moment we improve something, we're thinking of how to improve upon that, and we tend to apply those standards to Oliver.

[Maverick]

What tire pressure does most people use?  When I picked up the trailer three years ago the pressure was set by the factory to almost 80 psi; I adjusted the pressure to 55 psi and after getting the trailer home I installed a TPMS plus had the tires balanced.  We have had no issues with our trailer running at 55 psi.

[Overland]

I don't know what most people use, but here are two resources for you: the first is Michelin's inflation tables for their LT tires, which unfortunately no longer shows the older model tires that many of us have.  John Davies, however, preserved the info for older tires in this post.

 

I ran across some early discussion on tire pressures here, and that shows the thinking on why our tires come from the factory at their maximum inflation pressure.  Keeping your tires at the maximum rated pressure seems really odd to me, but apparently it's a fairly widespread practice so I guess it's up to each owner to decide for themselves which way to go.  Keep in mind that's an older thread talking exclusively about the Elite I.

[John E Davies]

http://olivertraveltrailers.com/topic/how-to-tire-pressure-placard/

 

Depending on the load 40 to 45 is appropriate. I am now running 45 with no issues. I keep lowering it, I may try 40 this year. LOL.... If I end up on a really choppy forest or ranch road for many miles I will drop them to 30 psi and re-air when back to normal roads. I believe that a TPMS is mandatory if you run at these pressures, since you will have way less time to react to a slow leak than if you are running at higher pressure.

 

I don’t know if this info was ever added to the Owners Manual. Mine has pages of boiler plate legal messages, pictures and warnings but zero actual recommendation for the proper pressure. Can somebody with a new trailer please check that section and see if this info was ever added? Thanks.

 

I hope this helps.

 

John Davies

 

Spokane WA

[John E Davies]

I don’t know what most people use, but here are two resources for you: the first is Michelin’s inflation tables for their LT tires, which unfortunately no longer shows the older model tires that many of us have. John Davies, however, preserved the info for older tires in this post.

 

I ran across some early discussion on tire pressures here, and that shows the thinking on why our tires come from the factory at their maximum inflation pressure. Keeping your tires at the maximum rated pressure seems really odd to me, but apparently it’s a fairly widespread practice so I guess it’s up to each owner to decide for themselves which way to go. Keep in mind that’s an older thread talking exclusively about the Elite I.

 

You beat me to it. Thanks for posting those links.

 

Note that an Elite weighs 5000 pounds with a single 5000 pound axle, so the tire pressure for that trailer must be higher, in the 55 to 65 psi range. But 80 is still too darned high. At the factory they don’t know which type of trailer a wheel set will end up on, so they keep them all pumped up hard. But it sure would be nice of them to let some air out when they bolt them up to an Elite II.

 

BTW in 2009 when that other thread originated, very few people used TPMS on trailers. So running all the tires rock hard made at least some sense.

 

John Davies

 

Spokane WA

[Mike and Carol]

Our trailer was pre-Michelin and pre-Dexter EZ Flex. We left the factory at 80psi in our BF Goodrich tires. Our first year we experienced overhead doors opening, wires coming off the water pump and electrical connections loosening. I aired down to 60psi and installed the Dexter and we’ve had no problems since. I may try going down to 55psi, but 60psi has been working well. I keep an eye on tire temperature on the TPMS and haven’t noticed much difference at the lower pressure. Mike

[Maverick]

Our trailer was pre-Michelin and pre-Dexter EZ Flex. We left the factory at 80psi in our BF Goodrich tires. Our first year we experienced overhead doors opening, wires coming off the water pump and electrical connections loosening. I aired down to 60psi and installed the Dexter and we’ve had no problems since. I may try going down to 55psi, but 60psi has been working well. I keep an eye on tire temperature on the TPMS and haven’t noticed much difference at the lower pressure. Mike

 

Our tires are BF Goodrich also and we have had the factory install the Dexter EZ Flex and no issues before the EZ Flex or after.  When we picked up the trailer before it was moved by us, we checked and adjusted the air pressure to 55 psi and no issues so far.

[rideandfly]

John Davies started a thread couple years ago about wheels. Checked our LE2's ION wheels that have 60PSI maximum air pressure. Could not find load/inflation tables for the BFG LT tires, so started using the Michelin inflation table. Run Ollie's LT tyres :) at 50PSI. Installed Dexter EZ flex couple years ago. Not having vibration issues.

 

Edit: Here's the thread, looks like a few older Ollie's including ours have ION wheels with lower maximum wheel air pressure, 60PSI Max.

 

http://olivertraveltrailers.com/topic/wheels-model-warranty-care/

[mountainoliver]

Took a photo of the information cast into the back of my hull number 208 LEII wheels. 110 psi is listed as a maximum. I run 60 psi in all four tires. I could be wrong but,  I would think that it is harder on the bearings/tires when making a tight turn with really low inflation pressures.

[Overland]

Could definitely be the case, if you remember this thread.  For what it's worth, they don't seem to be getting any worse, though we've only put maybe 1,500 miles additional on them since then.  But again, I've no idea if that damage was from my first 5,000 miles with the pressures at 70, or the second, with them at 45 - or if it's not related to pressures at all.

[Landrover]

I agree with all the posts and thanks. I tend to go overboard on these and other items, always checking tire pressure and balance anything to make live on the road easier. Another key point on my purchase of the Ott was the wheel tire combo. You don't find this set up on travel trailers, most are all fitted with the China bombs. A/S. Yes a tire monitor system is on the buy list.

[KountryKamper]

I have been running 60 psi since pick up. We now have a little over 10,000 miles and most of them have been very long trips. Never had a problem with tire vibration but I did rebalanced all the tires when I installed the Dill TPMS shortly after delivery.

 

60 PSI has felt good to me except in the New England area where the roads are full of potholes. I thought about lowering the pressure on that trip but figured it would be harder on the sidewalls so just slowed down and played pothole dodge. Pennsylvania, NY, and Massachusetts have the worst roads we have ever been on and I will take the long way around through Vermont if we ever go that way again to avoid them.

 

I may try 55 psi this year and see if the tires run any hotter on my TPMS.

[John E Davies]

The picture of the older wheel that shows maximum 60 psi was interpreted wrong, I added a comment and picture here at the end of that thread.

 

http://olivertraveltrailers.com/topic/wheels-model-warranty-care/http://olivertraveltrailers.com/topic/wheels-model-warranty-care/

 

Here is the picture, enhanced for better clarity. It says 80 psi.

 

Oops.

 

 

John Davies

 

Spokane WA

 

 

[rideandfly]

John,

 

Yep, Randy’s wheels are maximum 80PSI.

 

Edit:

 

Raspy replaced his ION wheels maximum 60PSI.

 

Here's one of my Ollie's ION wheels, maximum 60PSI