Body flex

[John C Marsh Jr]

I have noticed a fair amount of flex and movement while set up, when moving around in the Oliver.  Rear stabilizers are down, tires not lifted off the ground, but the frame is lifted about 6 inches.   The front flexes more than the rear, but both front and rear flex is fairly significant.   
 

is this normal?

 

#828

[AndrewK]

John,

More movement in the front of the trailer, when you are moving around, is normal.  It really isn't caused by frame flex as much as the front of the trailer is only supported by one jack on the tongue and it is almost in the center.  The jack itself flexes some that causes movement. 

There are a few things you can do to minimize the movement, if it bothers you.  

1. Make sure the all of the jacks have a firm base to sit on. We use the Andersen Jack Blocks.  Amazon.com: Andersen Hitches Trailer Jack Block with Magnets, 1 in Pack: Automotive  They create a very solid base for the jacks to sit on and the jacks don't have to extend as far.

2. Extend the jacks a little as possible.  The less they are extended, the more rigid they are. 

3. Use and X-Caulk or what we use a Fast-way One Step wheel caulk, to stabilize the tires and reduce forward and backward movement. Amazon.com: Fastway ONESTEP Wheel Chock Double Pack for Tandem Axle Trailers and RVs-16 Inches to 24 Inches Long-Qty 2: Automotive

4. Get some sort of portable stabilizers, to place under the frame, near the front of the trailer, on both sides.

I hope this helps you.

Andrew

[Galway Girl]

Good tips above.

We use these EAZ LIFT 48860 Telescopic Jack stabilizers if we feel the need up front.

 

Sometimes we don't need them, a lot depends upon the specific campsite.

They are shown on the Oliver Trailer Outfitters list on Amazon: 

https://amzn.to/2mAAgPO

Craig - Hull 505

[Townesw]

I use these if we’re going to be set up for more than a few days. Just snugged up so as to reduce movement not to support the weight of the trailer. 

 

[Jim_Oker]

Good thread - I've been  thinking I should try some stabilizers  on the front portion of the frame after noticing how much movement up at that  end, particularly going up or down the steps, will rock the trailer. So it's helpful to hear from folks who are doing this regularly.

[1Lessworker]

Thanks for the ideas, Townesw & Galway Girl. 

[Townesw]

I’ve noticed that the body does flex. Sometime when you think you are set up firmly watch the body in the area around the rear wheel well and the adjacent rear stabilizer and have someone move around inside the trailer. You’ll notice that the body moves more than the frame. 

[LongStride]

5 hours ago, John M said:

 Rear stabilizers are down, tires not lifted off the ground, but the frame is lifted about 6 inches.   The front flexes more than the rear, but both front and rear flex is fairly significant.   

My interpretation of the owners manual is that you are to lower the stabilizers just enough to prevent movement of the trailer after leveling it with blocks or leveling kits.  After I get mine leveled out, I lower the stabilizers just enough to see movement in the tires as the stabilizers begin to take the load and then I stop.  It would sure be nice to use the stabilizers for port/starboard leveling but it does not appear that they are made for that.  I wish they were.  I would never use them to raise the frame 6".

Am I being over cautious?

I would love to hear more on this subject from some of the seasoned Ollie veterans on the forum.

[rideandfly]

3 hours ago, LongStride said:

My interpretation of the owners manual is that you are to lower the stabilizers just enough to prevent movement of the trailer after leveling it with blocks or leveling kits.  After I get mine leveled out, I lower the stabilizers just enough to see movement in the tires as the stabilizers begin to take the load and then I stop.  It would sure be nice to use the stabilizers for port/starboard leveling but it does not appear that they are made for that.  I wish they were.  I would never use them to raise the frame 6".

Am I being over cautious?

I would love to hear more on this subject from some of the seasoned Ollie veterans on the forum.

 

We level Ollie with Camco leveling wedges under wheels first, put TV in neutral and center on Camco Blocks, next disconnect from TV,  level with front jack, and last let rear jacks down to stabilize Ollie.

 

[Overland]

58 minutes ago, LongStride said:

Am I being over cautious?

It's been a much debated subject over the years.  Originally, Oliver called them jacks and they were fine with owners lifting the tires off the ground if needed.  (I've done that many times.). But there was a bit of a design issue with the earlier trailers in that the bracket to carry the jack was made of welded aluminum plates.  A few brackets failed at the welds, which is obviously potentially pretty dangerous.  They changed the bracket design to a steel angle, but also changed their tune on using the jacks as jacks.  They became stabilizers and the tires stay on the ground.  Except for a dwindling number of us rebels who throw caution to the wind.  For me, I'm good with one set of tires off the ground, provided the slope of the site isn't crazy.  But never both sets, since the jacks aren't really designed for lateral loads.  

[AndrewK]

28 minutes ago, LongStride said:

My interpretation of the owners manual is that you are to lower the stabilizers just enough to prevent movement of the trailer after leveling it with blocks or leveling kits.  After I get mine leveled out, I lower the stabilizers just enough to see movement in the tires as the stabilizers begin to take the load and then I stop.  It would sure be nice to use the stabilizers for port/starboard leveling but it does not appear that they are made for that.  I wish they were.  I would never use them to raise the frame 6".

Am I being over cautious?

I would love to hear more on this subject from some of the seasoned Ollie veterans on the forum.

LongStride,

If we are off an inch or two side to side, I use the rear jacks to level the trailer with the Andersen Jack Blocks under each jack.

I also use them to raise the wheels off the ground to remove the tires.  I raise the tires off of the ground, place jack stands under the frame where Oliver identifies the jack points and lower the frame onto the jack stands.

Andrew 

[Fargoman]

Andrew, are the feet on  the Oliver jacks large enough in diameter to contact the magnets on the Andersen jack blocks?

[ScubaRx]

1 hour ago, Fargoman said:

Andrew, are the feet on  the Oliver jacks large enough in diameter to contact the magnets on the Andersen jack blocks?

The round foot plate is 6 inches in diameter.

 

[Galway Girl]

Fargoman,

The round feet on the Oliver will contact the magnets on the Anderson Tubs and that's a useful feature.
We know that because we used them in the first year, but we then switched over to having rubber feet from RV Snap-pad on the pads.

You can see our install video here in our blog:

https://4-ever-hitched.com/ggs-blog/f/new-shoes-for-galway-girls-feet

 

[AndrewK]

3 hours ago, Fargoman said:

Andrew, are the feet on  the Oliver jacks large enough in diameter to contact the magnets on the Andersen jack blocks?

Fargoman,

They just catch the magnets if you center the jack foot on the block.  When we raise the jacks, the jack blocks stay connected about 50% of the time.

Andrew

[Fargoman]

Thanks for the replies to my question. As usual, now I have more!

The Snap-Pads look interesting - I can see how they slightly reduce the need to extend the stabilizers, as the pads are not very thick, but you still need some block system  to minimize the extension of the stabilizers.

One advantage of the Snap-Pads that I can think of is that, being made of rubber, they provide much more lateral friction on hard surfaces, such as asphalt or concrete, and would grip better on plastic jack pads. I'm not sure if that's an issue with the steel feet of the stabilizers in the real world though.

Galway Girl, do you see an issue with the Snap-Pads collecting water, which might lead to rusting of the steel stabilizer feet?

[AndrewK]

Frogman,

I really think you could go either way.  It all depends what you prioritize.  We prioritized a greater stability and reduced battery drain, over convenience .

I can easily see prioritizing convenience of not having to carry two or three Andersen Jack Block around and placing them each time.  They aren't small or light.

If I did anything else, I would go with the Snap-Pads like Galway Girl, as in most circumstances, there wouldn't be an need for any other blocking.  A big plus.

Andrew