Blown Shock

[csevel]

After reading the thread on the misaligned placement of the bracket and bushings for the Oliver's shocks, I went out to look and of course, I also have one blown shock! The shocks don't look terribly expensive but can you guys tell me how difficult it is to replace?  Tools needed?  I'm going to have to tackle this myself but don't want to rely on just Youtube videos as every application looks different.

I have to say, I'm really starting to get aggravated as this trailer was barely used.  The previous owners (hull #184) went twice to the rally in Alabama and a few times to their local state park before becoming very ill.  The trailer sat for over a year and a half.  I'm finding all these annoying issues that shouldn't be there and could have been dealt with under warranty had the owners known or noticed.  Everything from the fresh water pick up, to faulty blinds, water intrusion at the upper tail light and front closet, over torqued screw heads, bad regulator, lifting flooring and a leaking fogged bathroom window...and now a blown shock, ugh!  I realize other things are regular maintenance as I'm used to those but this is a bit much.  😞   

[LongStride]

The rear tail light leak is a known issue caused by failure of the exterior caulking. it is likely that the leak in the front closet is due to the same thing.  Exterior caulk inspection and maintenance is a normal task for any RV or travel trailer.  Caulking issues are by no means an indication that you have a "lemon", and it is no surprise that the caulk needs a little TLC on a four year old trailer.

Faulty blinds, bad regulator, leaking window, and blown shocks are all components manufactured by others and installed by Oliver.  Unfortunately the overall quality of many RV components available in the USA market is not the caliber that Oliver would like to see.  I was told by an Oliver employee that they have voiced complaints to vendors and were pretty much told to "take it or leave it".

The onus is on Oliver for the fresh water pick up tube, as well as for lifting flooring and over-torqued fasteners.  

Take a look on the forums of SOB's and see what woes they experience on four year old travel trailers and you will be grateful that you purchased an Oliver. 

Good luck with your shock replacement!

[John E Davies]

Be aware that a water leak in an Ollie does not have the severe consequences of one in a wood framed trailer with household insulation, that means ripping open the ceiling and walls, to stop rot, mold and mildew. In an Ollie you see a puddle forming on the ground or on the inside, say, “Drat, a leak!” You reseal the source of entry and go get a beer. Water coming in won’t hurt anything, unless it happens to be a sink leak in the galley, then it could affect the wood cabinet. You do not have to worry about ANY structural or mold issues. Even so called “premium” brands like Airstream suffer from rotten floors.

Without a doubt, the fresh water pickup location on the early hulls is a complete disaster, what were they thinking, it leaves about 12 gallons unusable unless you raise the tongue high, which is very bad for the fridge... Oliver will fix it for free if you visit the factory. To the best of my knowledge they will not pay for it to be done locally, since it requires special router tools and skills, to spin weld a new threaded fitting on the top of the tank. You could open a Service Ticket and ask them if this policy has changed. IMHO they should issue a Technical Bulletin and just fix all the ones in the field, at no charge to the owners. Instead they just changed the technical specs from “32 gallons” to “32 gallons design capacity”. LOL…. How lame is that?

I did my own modification, but it requires a certain amount of fabrication skills. You might want to read the beginning of this thread before you contact Oliver.

https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/2261-how-to-fresh-water-tank-suction-tube-mod-no-spin-welding-required/

John Davies

Spokane WA

[csevel]

Oliver is charging $400 for the FW pickup fix.  I've been a fiberglass trailer owner for ten years and understand the difference in design and maintenance, especially in detecting and easily stopping leaks.  I'm not suggesting there should never be issues, just at this price point I was hoping for a tad better.  I have a lot of empathy for owners of stickies.  I ran a NF campground for four years and chatted at length with people who had serious issues with brand new RVs, some of which didn't get to use their trailers for months for warranty work.  Im still a huge fan of fiberglass and hope this is my last RV but I am just a girl who wants to get my camping on and being only on my fifth month of ownership, I'm getting frustrated.  I would be thrilled if i had your knowledge JD and skill but I don't.  Maybe you could start a LHC for Ollies?

Just want to know what I'm in for shock replacement.  Totally not an Oliver but a Monroe issue..I understand.

Edited October 31, 2021 by csevel