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I'm installing a 2-5/16" Bulldog on Thursday. My B & W Stow and Go has both a 2" and 2-5/16" ball. Y Plan is to inspect the 2" Bulldog, and if it looks good, ai will paint it gray and keep it as a back-up.

FREE! I got this when we got our Oliver from the original owners. Never used it, it is very robust! Located in Minnesota. Just the homemade bike rack, not the Oliver receiver rack.

Welcome to the family. As you wait our Blog has lots of info on various gear, upgrades, solar, and campgrounds visited . The link is at the bottom of our signature below. https://4-ever-hitched.com/trips-overview

Did you keep the original 2” ball size or upgrade that, as well?

Same here! My pantry shelf mod involved extending it out to make it even with the adjacent twin bed with heavy duty Velcro for securement. The additional length provides more counter space/staging area. I also extended the dinette table an additional 7” for an equivalent bump out; making its utility for dining much better. I previously installed sliding Lagun tables for each of the twin beds and used the original Lagun tabletop for the pantry extension, likewise the original pantry shelf for the dinette table extension. We’ve been very pleased with these mods. Here’s a pic of the two Lagun tables, a much more challenging mod I must say! For those that have the Lagun option, you know the nightstand drawer is restricted when this table is in use. In my year model the nightstand tabletop can be lifted off, allowing access to the drawer content from atop; which was acceptable, since I preferred the leave the Lagun mounted for daily use and stowing it was a PITA. By design, I can now open the drawer even with both Laguns permanently mounted; and the wifey is now happy to have her own bed table, being I tended to ‘hog’ the original one for self use! There have been a few mods featured in this forum on relocating the Lagun mount to the side of the nightstand to enable front drawer access and my mod, as well.

Oh thanks for asking? I was okay not thinking about the price of it. It’s over $760 for the 14K, but I think many move up to the 20K. I will not use the capacity of the 20K. I only own one trailer. I also ordered their locking pins for $63. They are the highest quality pins I’ve ever seen. I’m truly amazed. All three are keyed the same for convenience.

Where did you move from? We lived in IL, VA, AZ, TX, FL and back to Arizona. We know Texas, lived in Georgetown/Austin area for 9 years. We spent a weekend in almost every corner of the state, our son playing USTA tennis tournaments. But back then we stayed in hotels. Arizona is 51% public lands between FS and BLM, 31% Indian territory and only 18% private land! To get more public lands you must visit Alaska. It's a boondocking paradise out here, camp almost anywhere you want. 😎 So, you have the desire and the need, but is the solar awning worthwhile at that price point? $5K is a lot of money. For about the same money in parts cost, I installed a complete Victron MP2 3KW inverter-charger, 50A DC-DC charger, MPPT SC and 400W suitcase solar and 900 Ah Epoch LiFePO4, OMG! The Renogy 400W suitcase, with Victron 30A MPPT SC, wired it to an external port, internal wiring and external cabling and connectors for about $600 total parts costs (no labor). We hardly use it! I find solar panels are a pain to setup, they charge slowly and you have to be at one campsite long enough to need it and take advantage of it. Ease of use in a solar awning would be great! Just push the button, But what if the sun is on the other side? Are you going to spend $10K to equip both sides? Don't think you can always park in the direction facing the sun. When parking I'm worried about being level, being out of the afternoon sun and wind direction too! If your at Port Aransas nicely park with the curbside of your Oliver facing the sun as it rises from the east over the gulf and you want to be there for a couple weeks, the solar awning might the right choice. We have a simple manual awning, no solar and we used it 4 times in 180 overnights. Everybody has different needs in an Oliver. For us, we don't camp anywhere for longer than a week, most of our stays are 2-5 nights. our 900 Ah will last that long running the A/C for half the week along with all other electrical needs. Solar charging is more beneficial for those that stay put for a few weeks, because if you move more often DC-DC charging is much more efficient. We added a Victron Orion 50A DC-DC charger, total parts cost today with say 80 ft of expensive 4 AWG wire should be about $800 plus labor and any TV alternator upgrade when necessary. Please do not ask OTT to install this as they want $2K just to install the charger and wire the Oliver side, and the truck side wiring is left up to you. We love this mod and connect it every time we hitch up. Our Orion XS 50A DC-DC charger on average produces 40 Ah for every hour towing! Drive an easy day, engine running for 5 hours and you will have 200 Ah added to battery SOC. You've been at a campsite 3-5 days and your battery SOC% is low, it's time to move on to your next location, charging as you tow to your next campsite. This is our favorite and most effective electrical upgrade by far (besides the Victron Mulptiplus II). I'm the tech/installation guy, though my wife Chris loves this mod! She's checking the Victron Connect app, while I'm towing, checking as our SOC% keeps growing! Not that I have one, but my vote would be NO on the $5K awning, but of course you need to weigh your options for the camping life you desire. I knew very little of our needs 3 years ago when we purchased our Oliver. If I had better understood the value of the DC-DC charger, for our on-the-move travel style, and I did that upgrade ahead of the suitcase solar addition, I may not have added the suitcase. We do appreciate our rooftop solar, no fuss no muss, keeps the batteries charged when parked, runs the fridge while towing, etc. You can always hold off for now and upgrade later. (Some of the mods I mentioned are in the links below.) Best wishes to you and your new Oliver! JD

It's plastic, not pvc...by water pump, accumulator and shower. You should have it also since you have a 2022 model :) John

We live less than 10 miles from Guadalupe River SP. Mike

I suggest using Riv-Nuts and bolt them down if you are having such a problem. GJ

Yes you are correct, and that is for the VAST majority of trailers/TV's that use the Anderson. But.... The vast majority of OEII's just don't sway, even under extreme circumstances. Properly loaded they just don't sway. For that reason, many of us have no need for that great feature of the Anderson "system". Starting with John Davies, we lube the ball to reduce the wear. I am not suggesting that all new owners assume the same is for their setup. Get some experience and then decide how your rig handles under extreme conditions. If after a few years you figure it out, then join the "Don't lube your balls" team. LOL GJ

B & W stow and go, 2" and 2-5/16". I just got a new Bulldog 2-5/16" that I will be installing this week. I don't think I will ever know whether I didn't have the ball fully captured, or whether this was the perfect storm, bad bridge joint and new Alcan 5-leaf springs. That new hitch is interesting. What is the cost of the Shocker Hitch?

@John Dorrer did I miss this info in the thread? What type of hitch do you use on the truck? I just upgraded my hitch on my new truck to a Shocker hitch, but I only have two long test drives under its belt. I was just wondering if a shocker-like hitch could reduce any excessive bouncing when hitting bridges or other repetitive oscillations on the rig.

I’ve only had one window leak, my fault all it needed was a go cleaning of the track.. I use old shoe laces in the the weep holes there work great..No more leaks.. just cut them about 2 - 3 inches and a slight tilt to the rear of the camper.. Try to stay cool out there..

Also in hill country is Guadalupe River sp. Place is an absolute little jewel. Hill country also has a LOT of Army Corps of Engineers reservoir campgrounds that often have nice views. Strongly echo all the callouts for Mustang Island. If you want to boondock, the national sea shore south/west of Mustang Island permits it and is beautiful.

Yeah, 100% on our short term radar, just not today 🙂 There's more than you would think, between National Parks (Big Bend for instance, you can't "boondock" but there are a number of park-interior primitive campsites you can bring a trailer to), state parks on the gulf shore, and National Wildlide Refuges! The difference in public lands was definelty something that took getting used to, moving down here though. Our primary immediate use is going to be gulf shore off grid camping. The awning is pretty mind-bogglingly expensive at 5k though, and the x23 has 400 on the roof. Back of napkin says a 400w folder + the roof solar should be sufficient. Per dc to dc, that's good to hear --- I like that it's off the shelf with the new trim (it's not really a new model, imho.) Long way of saying I think we're going to opt out of the awning for our build. Thank you for the info and thoughts!

Agree, started participating in this thread almost 10 years ago. At home working on Ollie, it’s raining, so cannot finish everything today. Hopefully will be on the Blue Ridge Parkway camping soon, will take some “Where’s Ollie” photos, too!

Look at using King StarBoard for a better waterproof mounting board. It can be cut and shaped using regular woodworking tools. I get mine from McMaster Carr but there are less expensive places to get it. A shipment from McMaster Carr usually arrives the next day depending on where you are. I think I have ordered some from TAP Plastics https://www.tapplastics.com/product/plastics/cut_to_size_plastic/king_starboard/526?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21137328659&gbraid=0AAAAAD_hg_I8XrL-S3Ima0ZSWbIsffsZk&gclid=CjwKCAjwmdLSBhANEiwAkREMN3hswfK8uVUE38-cgCmjAoCwEzeXRTPZLhht1xFJJ1A8-NIIMHzIkhoC2_gQAvD_BwE I don’t know why that link has to have so much gibberish in it. Bill

Same Obeaming as Ronbrink for over a year; we like them alot and so much better than O original junk. Used high quality double tape with no problems and easy.

Never thought it would last this long! Since we’re not able to travel for a while it’s inspiring to see everyone else contribute with really interesting places to keep it going. I had our Oliver in the driveway last weekend for some maintenance and at one point I just sat at the dinette and thought we’ve got to get on the road soon! Mike

Where's Ollie is my favorite thread and it's 10 years old! Thanks @Mike and Carol for getting it started!

Last year I found the same issue with the screws coming out of the pvc mounting boards. Service had no suggestions to offer except to replace the pvc mounting board. I don't think the pvc material is the right thing to use for this mounting board, but that's what they use. My brother and I discussed this issue and came up with a simple solution. On my Oliver (and others might vary) there is enough space below the pvc board to place a narrow strip of thin plywood -- just long and wide enough to use to sit below those locations and to reinstall some longer screws through those clamps. I keep checking the existing clamps, and have tried adding some superglue in with the screws, and that has worked on two of them, for now. I don't want to have to take everything out to fix this issue. I don't have the tools to cut this piece of wood, but that is my plan. @Galileo on an Elite II Twin Bed model, it's below the curb side bed close to the stove location, where the plumbing equipment is mounted.

Not near enough yet. I towed ours one hour with a Lexus GX470, around town on flat highways, got home and would never do that again. The GX is closer to a half ton truck than a Tacoma. After that, I would only tow with a 3/4 ton truck. Trade in your Tacoma for Tundra 5.7 at least! 🤣 Not enough information here to help you. Haven't boondocked before but is it something you really want to do. Not much boondocking it Texas at 98% private lands. Boondocking opportunities west, but then there's mountains! There are Oliver owners that say they boondock, but they also book 1-2 months at campground/RV Parks, so they really don't camp much without plugging in. How much money is the solar awning upgrade option? Cost is always a criteria for consideration. We have 320W rooftop solar and a 400W suitcase which we rarely use. The awning PV would be of very little use to us since we have only used our awning 4 times. With solar up there, maybe I would use it more, or would have to for solar. And when camping a campground site might be the wrong direction for the awning. I park when boondocking to find level ground and for wind considerations which might not afford sun on the awning side. We have a 50A DC-DC charger that we use much more since we don't stay at one campsite more than a few days. In 180 Oliver overnights, a week is the longest we've stayed in one spot. Solar is better for sitting in the BLM for the 14 day limit. DC-D charging is better for those who break camp every few days. The Victron Orion XS 50A is our favorite electrical upgrade. Explain more about your future use plans so we could better advise.

So heard back from Oliver. There will be an external access port, and you'll just route your own cable back to the ecoflow itself. If you opt out of the awning, there will be one of three ports open. Maybe this is the same grommet they provide for stuff like starlink cables now? Importantly, no external charge controller is needed because that's integrated into the EcoFlow (which vibes with their published info.)

When I first tried to get one of my track liners out with a small screw driver it also started to crack. I was extremely paranoid to continue on. I tried other things to clean the tracks. Then I final gave it another shot. when I loosen the sides with the picks I do at least 6-8" ahead. Then using the 90 degree pick I place it under the bottom side of the where I am trying to pry that side out. Since I get it out far enough to grab with my fingers I pull it up a little then continue to work it with the picks while slowly rotating the side side out. I still had one side start to crack. I have no idea if those track liners can be purchased to replace the old ones. I did get daring on one window a slide the track liner one way be a few inches. It was snug so I stopped not wanting to any more damage to the fragile track liners. I do agree, these windows suck! What happens when these windows fail completely? Is there a way to salvage this expensive shell to make it back into a usable camper??? I know that components in the camper are going to fail. There are things that will be hard to replace, Like the bathroom door/ handle, the fridge, all of the windows. I know that many Camper Trailers with 22K miles and 6 years old would have started to fall apart already. But these are not a cheap A-- Trailers. I bought Oliver for the quality and longevity and not an Airstream. Sorry for the rant.