Leveling And Lifting

[GAP]

Picking up my brandy new E2 in December.  Total novice to camper camping so go easy on me.  I appreciate the following may be a rediculous query but hre goes:

-  I see wedge or comma shaped items to drive up on to level or change a tire.  Anderson, etc...    Given enough height assist from leveling buckets or wood blocks, do the power stabalizers have enough muscle to get the job done?  Is it neccessary to have support under the wheels themselves?

-  I'm going to be super boondocky.  Also want to avoid dragging my back end on terra firma if plaing on very uneven surface.  Have read a bit here in the forum about some of you folks adding a lift kit to your Olivers.  I'm assuming that is an after market endeavor.  Where did you source yours and was it neccessary to have them shop installed?

Thanks very much,

GAP

[Overland]

Oliver used to say it was fine to lift the trailer with the jacks; now they don't.  On some of the older trailers, the bracket that holds the rear jacks was welded up from aluminum, and they had one or two fail.  Now they use steel angle, which is much stronger and not nearly as likely to fail, but still recommend that they be used for stabilization only.  

Despite Oliver's recommendation, many still use the jacks to level, while many don't.  You'll get the full range of opinions on whether you should or shouldn't.  For me, I'm comfortable using the jacks for leveling, but with only one side ever off the ground, not both.  Of course, there's very few situations where you'd want both sides off the ground, most likely in your driveway while doing maintenance, which isn't too safe - kind of like working under your car while it's on a jack.  If I needed to, I could see doing that for the brief moment before placing jack stands under the trailer, but that's all. 

I did once camp on a site that was steep enough front to back that I had to rest the tongue on the ground to get the trailer level.  If it had been any steeper, then I would have needed a ramp for the tires, or I suppose I could have lifted the rear on the jacks.  But honestly, I was somewhat concerned about the trailer slipping downhill or rolling over the chocks as it was.  I kept the safety chains hooked up to the truck that night.  I don't think I'd feel comfortable at all on a slope like that with the wheels sitting on a slippery plastic ramp, nor up on stilts. 

Edited October 8, 2020 by Overland

[John E Davies]

1 hour ago, GAP said:

Picking up my brandy new E2 in December.  Total novice to camper camping so go easy on me.  I appreciate the following 

-  I'm going to be super boondocky.  Also want to avoid dragging my back end on terra firma if plaing on very uneven surface.  Have read a bit here in the forum about some of you folks adding a lift kit to your Olivers.  I'm assuming that is an after market endeavor.  Where did you source yours and was it neccessary to have them shop installed?

I don’t know of anyone who has lifted an LE2. It has been much discussed. Overland had the factory test a spring-over-axle mod before he took delivery and it did not work out well, and it looked pretty silly. Maybe he could post a picture of his test mule.

I would love to do something, given enough spare funds. I lean towards the Timbren independent system, for ease of installation and low maintenance, that should give around 4 inches of travel, which is a great improvement over the Dexter axles. But more importantly, it will give a progressive soft bump stop instead of a hard steel on steel CRASH. But I don’t want to do the R and D, and risk screwing up my trailer big time, or making it unsafe on the highway. If you will do all this, and post a How To thread, I will be happy to follow in your footsteps.....

https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/4265-timbren-independent-rubber-suspension/?tab=comments#comment-42548

I lift “Mouse” all the time with just the onboard jacks, not enough to get all the tires off the ground normally. OTH I do remove all four wheels with it supported by them, to rotate tires for example. BUT I won’t go under the frame without adding additional safety jack stands under the axles. That is just common sense.

John Davies

Spokane WA

Edited October 8, 2020 by John E Davies

[SeaDawg]

Back in the day, (2008 ) , Oliver "lifted" the Elite I,  the smaller trailer. It was basically an axle flip. The original Ollies were built lower,  on smaller tires. Newer models already have more clearance. 

This isn't done anymore.

Sherry

 

 

[bhncb]

Regarding using the rear levelers for jacking the trailer, I noticed someplace that Oliver has recently reduced their published specification for the Barker 3000 to 2500#. This puts further emphasis on their recommendations against using them for this purpose.

[sailorashore]

I have been reluctant to take my Ollie to a shop for wheel bearing and brake service.  Don’t lift under the axles, don’t lift under the aluminum frame, the guidance says.  How does one ensure a shop tech doesn’t do one of these bad things when you aren’t there to observe?   Any practical experience with this?  Am I being overly concerned?  Advice appreciated.
 Thanks,
John Shkor
SailorsAshore

[bhncb]

36 minutes ago, sailorashore said:

How does one ensure a shop tech doesn’t do one of these bad things when you aren’t there to observe?   Any practical experience with this?  Am I being overly concerned?  

You can only trust that a service shop either knows or has enough intelligence to realize the correct methods, and has enough integrity to not cut corners. With an atypical frame layout like the Olivers, a responsible owner should point out any uniquenesses of their trailer and obtain concurrence and assurances in advance. Beyond this, you're totally at their mercy.

I would suggest to Oliver that they provide all current owners with the Jack Point labels being applied to newer models. A future enhancement should be to weld a jack pad bung on the subframe to make the proper point obvious and hard to ignore.

[GAP]

To circle back on a couple of points:

-  John, it sounds like the stabalizers MAY be able to lift the wheels clear of ground in optimal circumstance but not to be trusted for much beyond tire rotationchange per you and bhncb.  My take away is I really need to properly level tires than use the stabilizers to fine tune and, you know, stabalize.

- Sherry, if I undertand correctly, you are saying that folks are no longer adding lift kits to Olivers as, effectively, the factory has already done so.  Is that right?  My interest in a lift kit was primarily out of caution for the rough backcountry "roads" I can see in my future.

-  A thought on lifting points:  I would bet you can find (or have made, for that matter) Jack Point or Lift Here stickers.

 

[Mike and Carol]

5 hours ago, sailorashore said:

I have been reluctant to take my Ollie to a shop for wheel bearing and brake service.  Don’t lift under the axles, don’t lift under the aluminum frame, the guidance says.  How does one ensure a shop tech doesn’t do one of these bad things when you aren’t there to observe?   Any practical experience with this?  Am I being overly concerned?  Advice appreciated.
 Thanks,
John Shkor
SailorsAshore

When we started looking at Olivers in 2015 we were told that the back jacks could be used to raise the trailer for tire changing.  They have since changed that guidance and don’t recommend using the back jacks for that.   I can understand the liability issues.

When I added the TST TPMS to my wheels I went in to my local tire shop to have metal stems installed and to have the tires rebalanced with the TPMS sensors.  I got out my legos and 8” blocks and used the back jacks to raise the trailer, one side at a time to remove and balance the wheels.  On our last trip, a grease cap came off one wheel and was rattling around inside the chrome hub cover.  I used the jack to raise the trailer, remove the wheel and put things back in order.  

I’m not going to use those jacks to raise the trailer off the ground at a campsite for leveling.  They are used for fine tuning only.  But, for occasional jacking for wheel/tire work I will use the back jacks.  Mike

[Mainiac]

6 hours ago, sailorashore said:

have been reluctant to take my Ollie to a shop for wheel bearing and brake service.  Don’t lift under the axles, don’t lift under the aluminum frame, the guidance says.  How does one ensure a shop tech doesn’t do one of these bad things when you aren’t there to observe?   Any practical experience with this?  Am I being overly concerned?  Advice appreciated.
 Thanks,

I requested from Service some of the stickers that the are putting on the new units. Jason told me where to place them. Basically they point to the metal frame for lifting points. Basically I think the placement would depend on the unit and year model. A quick check with Service would confirm placement. A great item that might save the frame if you weren't present during a lift?

[SeaDawg]

3 hours ago, GAP said:

Sherry, if I undertand correctly, you are saying that folks are no longer adding lift kits to Olivers as, effectively, the factory has already done so.  Is that right?  My interest in a lift kit was primarily out of caution for the rough backcountry "roads" I can see in my future.

I'm of the opinion that our trailers have plenty of clearance,  for most people. 

They are not Aussie outback trailers. They also don't carry that 110k plus price tag of the Bruder. 

We have camped for 13 seasons, in some crazy places, without issue. We use common sense, take it easy, and live with our choices.

There are some here who would like different features, different suspension.

I'm not one of them. I love the comfort of my trailer. The sturdiness. The feeling of home .

But then, we  don't want to go rock crawling, intentionally.  We did it a few times, unintentionally.  I'm too old for that. We don't avoid unpaved roads, but we don't take our trailer down narrow, rocky  essentially atv trails, either. 

For coe, nfs, state and provincial  parks, etc, where we have camped  in our 100,000 miles through the US and Canada,  we feel like our 2008 unit has been golden. We boondock (camp without hookups) 99 per cent of the time  And, we're not as heavily tech laden, like a lot of others. 

Sometimes,  I  compare it to cooking.  I typically travel with one skillet, one pot, a tea kettle, a roll of aluminum foil,  and three good knives.  All of which I really know how to use, to good effect. I could carry a lot more,  but I  don't need to.

Good equipment,  and a really good trailer, make life easier. Knowing how to use them is key. And, understanding your personal limitations,  as well. (Stretching those limits is fun, too.😁)

I'd put our 2008 Ollie and 2008 ram up against any of the sticky rvs we have delivered to Alaska over the last six years. Hands down.

 

 

[GAP]

Awesome contextualization Sherry.  I certainly don't want to start off this adventure assuming that our trailers is somehow lacking without giving it a full on shakedown period to strut it's stuff.  Like (too) many of us guys, I have a perpensity to want everything wayyy overbuilt and overengineerd.  Think I'll take your sage advice and see how it goes.

[SeaDawg]

I wouldn't call it sage. Just my experience. 

Other folks , talented drivers like @Overland, have shown the Ollie can strut itself in much more extreme conditions than I like.

I  just think it's important to recognize that most folks really don't want to go down unmarked boulder strewn paths. We just want sturdy trailers for off pavement/gravel, at reasonable speed. 

That's me.

Edited October 11, 2020 by SeaDawg

[Overland]

19 hours ago, SeaDawg said:

talented

Is overconfidence a talent?

[SeaDawg]

30 minutes ago, Overland said:

Is overconfidence a talent?

😄 well, Dad always said, if you don't believe in yourself, nobody else will.

 

[Ray and Susan Huff]

On 10/10/2020 at 5:04 PM, SeaDawg said:

I wouldn't call it sage. Just my experience. 

Other folks , talented drivers like @Overland, have shown the Ollie can strut itself in much more extreme conditions than I like.

I  just think it's important to recognize that most folks really don't want to go down unmarked boulder strewn paths. We just want sturdy trailers for off pavement/gravel, at reasonable speed. 

That's me.

Same for us . . . . . but we will certainly appreciate the extra bit of cushion the cold weather tolerance, even if it's just while it is sleeping in its carport during a spell of cold PNW weather while we are cozied up to the fire with a good book and a cup of hot chocolate, or other beverage 😁