POLL: Balance your trailer tires.

[topgun2]

FWIW - 

During a meeting back in September (2020), I was advised that Oliver was doing a couple of "new" things on the quality control front.  First was a "tablet" based system that required all quality control issues/items to be inspected and approved at each stage of production along with another "final" inspection being done at the end of production.  This system then allowed management to focus on any repeated "fails" or "exceptions" in a virtual real-time basis and be able to identify exactly where the problem occurred.

Then, partly due to a TN State requirement plus the quality control issues, Oliver was using a system where any new trailer was/is actually "sold" from the production area to the sales area.  Here, the sales area takes the form of the customer and does another inspection prior to "accepting" the product from production.  Then, there is the pre-delivery inspection of the trailer.  While this inspection tends to focus on making sure that the product has the options the customer ordered, it is also used as another inspection.  Finally, there is the inspection that is done at delivery.

This process may or may not be the entire process, but, I would like to believe that even under the most harried circumstances, virtually all faults and flaws will be caught.  However, I like to believe that I'm not totally ignorant and as has been said many times before, as long as humans are involved then something is bound to go wrong at some point.  I know that I was not happy when a couple of quality control type items became evident on my Oliver shortly after delivery.  However, one of the things that has endeared me to this product and company is the way each and every one of these issues was handled.  By far the best of any company I've ever dealt with.  No, this is no excuse for Oliver and the fine folks that work there (particularly for items related to safety), but, I believe that the Open Letter from Oliver (dated June 9, 2017) still stands.

Bill

Edited February 9, 2021 by topgun2
grammer

[SeaDawg]

3 hours ago, BackofBeyond said:

My apologies to the moderators and any Oliver fanboy's 😁😁

No apologies necessary.  Discussions like this one help make the "best" better, imo.

 

[BackofBeyond]

1 hour ago, topgun2 said:

FWIW - 

During a meeting back in September (2020), I was advised that Oliver was doing a couple of "new" things on the quality control front.  First was a "tablet" based system that required all quality control issues/items to be inspected and approved at each stage of production along with another "final" inspection being done at the end of production.  This system then allowed management to focus on any repeated "fails" or "exceptions" in a virtual real-time basis and be able to identify exactly where the problem occurred.

Then, partly due to a TN State requirement plus the quality control issues, Oliver was using a system where any new trailer was/is actually "sold" from the production area to the sales area.  Here, the sales area takes the form of the customer and does another inspection prior to "accepting" the product from production.  Then, there is the pre-delivery inspection of the trailer.  While this inspection tends to focus on making sure that the product has the options the customer ordered, it is also used as another inspection.  Finally, there is the inspection that is done at delivery.

This process may or may not be the entire process, but, I would like to believe that even under the most harried circumstances, virtually all faults and flaws will be caught.  However, I like to believe that I'm not totally ignorant and as has been said many times before, as long as humans are involved then something is bound to go wrong at some point.  I know that I was not happy when a couple of quality control type items became evident on my Oliver shortly after delivery.  However, one of the things that has endeared me to this product and company is the way each and every one of these issues was handled.  By far the best of any company I've ever dealt with.  No, this is no excuse for Oliver and the fine folks that work there (particularly for items related to safety), but, I believe that the Open Letter from Oliver (dated June 9, 2017) still stands.

Bill

Thanks for the reply - the Oliver letter is telling. 

I will not continue to beat a dead horse - If issues continue to make it to the  customer - intentions and new systems are not working. 

Oliver is perhaps the best out there when it comes to service after the sale. 

I fully expect Oliver will continue to evolve, and as they work to improve quality and through put - customers will continue to sing their praises. 

Indeed Humans are not very reliable - that is why we develop systems to keep us on track....

RB

Unabashed Oliver Fandude!

 

 

[Mountainman198]

Can anyone who has a Elite II tell me if their wheels are hub-centric or lug-centric?  I don’t have my trailer yet but am trying to determine if I should be concerned or not if the wheels are or are not balanced at time of delivery (assuming the tires would be balanced as hub-centric?)

Thanks

[Ray Kimsey]

We have a 2020 LE2 picked up in mid-October. No wheel weights were added so I am guessing they are not balanced. The tires are Cooper rather than Michelin so not sure if the new tire supplier made a difference in whether your tires were balanced.

 

[mountainoliver]

Mountainman198, the wheels are lug-centric. There is a bunch of clearance (probably 1/2 inch at least) between the wheel ID and the hub OD and, the lug nuts are matching tapers with the wheels. 

[mossemi]

6 hours ago, BackofBeyond said:

RB

Unabashed Oliver Fandude!

If I am the Fanboy, as some have said and you are now claiming the title of Fandude, I guess you are no longer the "almost Old guy" as you recently posted, but have in fact passed that threshold as the term boy and dude would indicate.  
Or you are just a " The Big Lebowski" fan! 😄

the dude abides,

Mossey

[BackofBeyond]

45 minutes ago, mossemi said:

If I am the Fanboy, as some have said and you are now claiming the title of Fandude, I guess you are no longer the "almost Old guy" as you recently posted, but have in fact passed that threshold as the term boy and dude would indicate.  
Or you are just a " The Big Lebowski" fan! 😄

the dude abides,

Mossey

Sir Mossey,

I am an old guy in training, will be for a long time......as for the Fanboy moniker - it appeared to be taken, Fandude seemed appropriate. Indeed, a  "Dude" may span a few generations - thus I am a practicing - almost old Dude - Oliver fan... but I must admit - a big Lebowski I am not....

Have a great day

Fandude .........😃😃😃

[Ray Kimsey]

On 2/8/2021 at 12:21 PM, NCeagle said:

I'm going to open a ticket and get a response from OTT.  Mine are not balanced so either they just started in 2021 or mine are supposed to be balanced and it was missed.

Did you hear anything from OTT?  We picked ours up October 14 (hull 676) and ours were not balanced either. Are you able to pull your trailer to a tire dealership and have them balanced, or do you need to take the tires off the trailer and carry them to the tire store?

[topgun2]

Ray - 

When I had metal stems and my TPMS installed I simply towed my Ollie over to a local tire shop and they did all the work from there.  If you go this route - just make sure that they jack up your Ollie exactly where you tell them to jack it up and certainly NOT under/right on the axles.

Bill

[John E Davies]

37 minutes ago, Ray Kimsey said:

Did you hear anything from OTT?  We picked ours up October 14 (hull 676) and ours were not balanced either. Are you able to pull your trailer to a tire dealership and have them balanced, or do you need to take the tires off the trailer and carry them to the tire store?

I am probably preaching to the choir, but I will mention it anyway. Be really careful about where you take your trailer, if you haven’t already been there before, use the Google Earth or Maps satellite view to check out the parking. My favorite Discount Tire store is quite old and small, and would be a pure nightmare to pull an Ollie into. It has a very tight dead end parking lot, extra storage in the way of half a dozen 40 foot shipping containers, and the single driveway enters a very busy four lane road. 

John Davies

Spokane WA

[SeaDawg]

My local guy is easy access, and no, I  don't have to remove tires. Only my local Walmart asks me to do that. I'm only willing to do that for boat trailer tires,  when rhe trailer is empty.

Every place is different,  so a good conversation ahead of time is important. And, scout ahead, as John suggested. 

[NCeagle]

4 hours ago, Ray Kimsey said:

Did you hear anything from OTT?  We picked ours up October 14 (hull 676) and ours were not balanced either. Are you able to pull your trailer to a tire dealership and have them balanced, or do you need to take the tires off the trailer and carry them to the tire store?

Hi Ray, I did hear from OTT.  I suggest you open a service ticket and OTT will in all likelihood offer to pay for the tires to be balanced.  I haven't had the time to do it yet but I will when I return from my camping trip next week.  I'll definitely research  and scout ahead as suggested above.

[Patriot]

On 2/20/2021 at 3:19 PM, Ray Kimsey said:

Did you hear anything from OTT?  We picked ours up October 14 (hull 676) and ours were not balanced either. Are you able to pull your trailer to a tire dealership and have them balanced, or do you need to take the tires off the trailer and carry them to the tire store?

Ray, my local discount tire shop will perform the wheel balancing as mentioned in my earlier post for $10.00 a tire. I find it easier to just take Ollie to the tire store, point out where the lift/jack locations are and have it done right there. They hand torque lugs on every wheel they install to wheel or factory specifications. I will likely purchase their insurance plan which allows mounting and balancing for the life of the tire (at any time) and full replacement if they cannot fix the tire if it goes flat. The plan allows for replacement of the tire with no prorate on mileage. I have always had this on our trucks and cars. I will double check, but feel sure it’s offered on trailer tires as long as they sell the tire. 
We have done business with DCT for years and our experience has been excellent. Hope this helps.

I fully subscribe to DCT Core Values -

Edited February 23, 2021 by Patriot

[rideandfly]

3 hours ago, Patriot said:

Ray, my local discount tire shop will perform the wheel balancing as mentioned in my earlier post for $10.00 a tire.
We have done business with DCT for years and our experience has been excellent. Hope this helps.

I fully subscribe to DCT Core Values -

Agree,

Had a set of tires installed on the Tundra at DCT Denver CO during a camping trip and they did a great job! Getting ready to replace & balance all of Ollie's tires and DCT at Denver NC will be doing the work.

[Mike and Carol]

4 minutes ago, rideandfly said:

Agree,

Had a set of tires installed on the Tundra at DCT Denver CO during a camping trip and they did a great job! Getting ready to replace & balance all of Ollie's tires and DCT at Denver NC will be doing the work.

I just replaced all four of my tires at Discount tire.  Had them balanced with TPMS monitors installed.  Side note - I replaced the original BF Goodrich tires with the Cooper Discoverer AT3 and are happy with them.  I might put them on my truck too, they get good recommendations on the Ram HD forum.  Mike

[rideandfly]

3 hours ago, Mike and Carol said:

I just replaced all four of my tires at Discount tire.  Had them balanced with TPMS monitors installed.  Side note - I replaced the original BF Goodrich tires with the Cooper Discoverer AT3 and are happy with them.  I might put them on my truck too, they get good recommendations on the Ram HD forum.  Mike

Yep, Same plan for our Ollie, replacing original BFG Commercial with Cooper Discoverer  AT3 and balancing, too!

Edited February 21, 2021 by rideandfly

[John E Davies]

Cooper AT3s are good, I am a Cooper fan normally, has anyone thought about a different model like the AT3 XLT?

 

https://us.coopertire.com/tires/discoverer-at3-xlt It has more agressive sidewalls and much better stone protection, plus it looks great. It will be my next choice for my 200. I think matching ones on “Mouse” would be nifty. I am transitioning away from mud tires, I just don’t need that ultimate offroad grip much any more.

John Davies

Spokane WA

Edited February 21, 2021 by John E Davies

[Maverick]

1 hour ago, Mike and Carol said:

I just replaced all four of my tires at Discount tire.  Had them balanced with TPMS monitors installed.  Side note - I replaced the original BF Goodrich tires with the Cooper Discoverer AT3 and are happy with them.  I might put them on my truck too, they get good recommendations on the Ram HD forum.  Mike

Did Discount Tire replace the valve steams with metal steams?  I will be replacing our BF Goodrich tires with Cooper Discoverer HHT3 tires; obtained prices from Discount Tire a few days ago.  When I asked about using metal valve steams and wanted to see them, they said it was a special order.

 

[Mike and Carol]

1 minute ago, Maverick said:

Did Discount Tire replace the valve steams with metal steams?  I will be replacing our BF Goodrich tires with Cooper Discoverer HHT3 tires; obtained prices from Discount Tire a few days ago.  When I asked about using metal valve steams and wanted to see them, they said it was a special order.

 

We had the metal stems installed about 4 years ago when we first got the TST TPMS.  It was not at Discount TIre, I had them installed at a local independent  tire dealer.

[Maverick]

Just now, Mike and Carol said:

We had the metal stems installed about 4 years ago when we first got the TST TPMS.  It was not at Discount TIre, I had them installed at a local independent  tire dealer.

I had the metal stems replaced when I installed TPMS; so you did not replace the metal stems when you replaced the tires with new metal stems?

[rideandfly]

4 hours ago, John E Davies said:

Cooper AT3s are good, I am a Cooper fan normally, has anyone thought about a different model like the AT3 XLT?

 

John,

Those would look good on Ollie.  We keep Ollie on pavement 99% of the time.  If we were going camping off pavement more, would seriously consider the AT3 XLT. 

[Mike and Carol]

6 hours ago, Maverick said:

I had the metal stems replaced when I installed TPMS; so you did not replace the metal stems when you replaced the tires with new metal stems?

I kept the same metal stems.  They checked them out to make sure they were good.

[SeaDawg]

Just now, Mike and Carol said:

I kept the same metal stems.  They checked them out to make sure they were good.

We did the same. My local guy is honest. He stocks metal stems, but told me mine were fine to reinstall. 

[Ray Kimsey]

Follow-up on the results of getting my tires balanced:

So I took my Ollie (#676, October 2020 with the Cooper tires) to get the tires balanced this morning.  The outcome was three of the tires were pretty good and only needed about an ounce, but the street-side rear needed a whopping 5 ounces. Probably explains why I was seeing a lot of issues with screws coming loose.