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Hi all, Im sure this has been discussed elsewhere, but nothing I could find seemed to answer my questions. I removed the window shade assembly from the rear/emergency exit window to hang a cat perch in the frame: Not a great photo due to backlighting - but should be visible. I figure that the window shades that came with our trailer from the factory were not necessarily meant to be paired with this model of window. If it were, there wouldn’t be a need for spacers behind the clips that hold it in place. Im curious if there is a faceplate, bezel, escutcheon, etc that goes with these windows to cover the unsightly screws that show if you pull the shade off. As others have mentioned how far the shades project into the interior, often getting bumper by shoulders or heads - I figure there must be a lower-profile option to both cover the frame and to attach window treatments to. Any thoughts? I don’t know if we’re going to keep this cat bed. The cats don’t seem thrilled, the bed needs work to make it support our lardass 16# cat, and unless I can add curtains - we have no shade/privacy anymore. I don’t think I want to mess with removing and reinstalling the rear window shade every time we move camp or decide the neighbors are too close or nosey. Has anybody done away with the problematic shades and opted for curtains or other window treatments?

Those of you who use a lock in the lever as a method of securing your hitch should consider the Collar Lock. The wire bail between the lever and the sliding collar that secures the clam shell is easily removed without tools and the sliding collar can be pulled back by hand. Bill

We’re in Starbuck, MN - Glacial Lakes SP. The bathrooms are just OK - a bit dated. 5 miles from the town of Starbuck. (There’s no Starbucks in Starbuck.) Bigger town of Glenwood a 20 drive - more stores and restaurants. Alexandria about a half hour away. (This is where the Starbucks is) Nice lake here. Also near Lake Minnewaska. Some hiking. Quiet during mid-week. Typically full weekends. Electric-only sites - no water at sites. There is a place to fill and a dump station. Also primitive sites. Flies and mosquitoes ARE all here. (“Minnesota - Land of 10,000 lakes - and 10,000,000,000 mosquitoes.”) Pretty much halfway between Fargo and Sioux Falls. We’re campground hosts until end of July. Our second year. This was our attempt at “cooler weather during the summer” - we didn’t go far enough North!

Thanks for all the info.

Thanks, Rob! Your local upholstery shop should be able to produce something equivalent when using quality materials and attention to detail. Our shop used high-density upholstery foam and Sunbrella fabric. This brand is designed for outdoor furniture and comes in dozens of colors!

Bill has provided a lot of good advice here! Agreed, the worst thing you can do is the campground slow drain-as-using routine. Always drain tanks as near full as possible. And it's better to dump after towing, for a cleaning action to break down the solids. Thinking in this way, we often dump when we arrive at a campsite vs. as we're leaving (no long lines at the dump station either). Our Black Tank mostly empties in about 20 seconds and the Grey in a minute or two max. We always camp with the nose up about 3/4" on the LevelMatePRO to help out the water pump. We always dump tanks with the nose up 2-3" and the curbside leveler up 1-2". If you fail to raise the curbside, you can think the grey is empty and it's still partially full (see Bill's picture above). IMHO SeeLevel readings are next to useless. They say these are more accurate than other brands, but they all show bad readings. We've learned from experience how many days the fresh tank will last (depending on showers taken), and when the Black and Grey waste tanks will fill (for battery SOC get a shunt with Bluetooth). Think about your usage and learn. I stopped looking at our SeeLevel display long ago. We put some TP in our Oliver toilet which does not cause an issue when draining tanks properly. Of course, you don't want TP nor solids sitting on the bottom of an empty tank, so always add at least 1 gallon of fresh water prior to toilet use and have the bowl half-full when using. We used to add cleaners but stopped doing that except for an occasional cleaning as-needed. If ours were ever to drain slowly at the dump station, after dumping I would refill both waste tanks about 3/4 full, add some low-suds laundry detergent in both tanks. Then tow onto our next destination to use the road for cleaning action, dump on arrival at the next campsite. To fill the black or grey 3/4 full, I use a gallon counter on the hose. The black tank has a hose connection, and I put the hose right down the kitchen sink drain to fill the grey. After cleaning, refill both tanks and drain again until the water looks clear. If you do not have one already, your drain hose should have a clear section or elbow where you can see the liquids while draining. In storage have a couple gallons of water in all 3 tanks (don't worry, nothing bad will happen if a tank 10% full freezes).

I did look at those Brooklyn Bedding mattresses but ended up for now doing the ones at Costco. Like I told my wife if they don't work out after a trip or they will be easy to sale on craigslist. Agreed on the existing cushions. The foam in those are pretty bad. We need to at least replace that if nothing else. Your new cushions look great.

Hopefully they will restructure like many companies do. Only time will tell.

I purchased my Oliver in 2022 with the upgraded Bulldog 2 5/16 coupler and have no regrets. I also use this collar with a slightly different ABUS lock. EDIT: I will also say that I use this coupler lock when I am hitched (visiting somewhere, for instance) as security. AND on top of that, as I like to boondock, I use the Fort Knox Locks box when I am not hitched, along with the collar lock. It might seem like a lot, but I worry a lot less with this setup. https://ftknoxlocks.com/shop/ols/products/bulldog-lock I'm sorry to hear about the issues with Bulldog. Hopefully they will straighten out and pull through.

We do not have the king setup, but we did replace EVERY cushion in our Oliver! Also hated a king topper we had at home years ago. We'd sink into the foam making us sleep HOT! We now use Brooklyn Bedding at home and the Oliver. They manufacture in the Phoenix West Valley and have every RV mattress size imaginable. They roll up and box their mattresses and ship everywhere. If you're ever down here, they have several store locations across The Valley. RV Mattresses by Brooklyn Bedding They have new models this year, with hybrid (foam/coil) models in RV sizes. We purchased two 30x75" foam beds 2 1/2 years ago for our twin bed setup. We went with 12" mattresses based on the fact that the taller the mattress the softer the feel (you can see that in their charts). The 12" mattresses are heavy, but Chris is able to lift them/stand them sideways to work the sheets. I'd prefer a shorter/lighter mattress for the Oliver, but they might be too firm. Time to take care of our older bodies! We had to replace the dinette cushions too. The original cushions were 4" and we made ours 5" tall. We had these custom upholstered at a local shop with higher quality foam for $500 OTD. Boy, the OEM ones were ugly, and my bony butt doesn't hit the hard fiberglass right through the cushions anymore! 😎

We have used this coupler security and ABUS lock combo since we took delivery in June of 2020. Since it only takes less than 5 minutes to remove the BD coupler via the two bolts off the trailer tongue it’s a good deterent and better than nothing. Also when on the road it makes for an easy eye check during a walk around of our rig. This combo continue to serve us well 6 years in. Both have strong reviews. I will use this collar and lock on the new 2 5/16 coupler. Another plus with the S/S collar, you cannot secure the collar on the coupler locking mechanism if the coupler is not properly locked down on the hitch ball. A nice little extra built in secondary safety feature. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HL2NM0K?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title ABUS Stainless lock made in Germany- https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009S5Y6ZS?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1

In September, my friend and I are going to be camping in Theodore Roosevelt NP (the North Unit) and Badlands NP & Rapid City SD environs. After that, we are heading east and looking at spending a day near Fargo ND, and then a few days in the Sioux Falls SD area, to explore museums and local sights. West of Sioux Falls, we plan to go to the World's Only Corn Palace, in Mitchell SD. We prefer not to camp in the urban area. The closest federal camping I see is Cottonwood Recreation Area campground near Yankton SD (1.5 hours) and Left Tailrace near Thompson SD (2.5 hours). I've camped at Cottonwood and it was nice. But we would like to be closer to Sioux Falls. Any suggestions for the Fargo area and the Sioux Falls area would be appreciated.

Look under street side bunk. Make sure valve is open all of the way when handle is pulled. Also if you’re going to fill it lay a water hose in the shower pan (but watch it REAL close) and really raise the nose so you are washing the bottom of the tank. Fill tank until water stops draining in shower pan. Be sure to quickly turn water off. Open the valve and let it rush out. Do it a few times. Watch what comes out if you can. You know that white snot that grows in HVAC condensate pans and lines? I think similar stuff grows in gray tanks. I think #1455 has sat unused and you have a build up in your tank. I think people set these trailers up level, hook up to the sewer and open the drain and let the water out as it is filled. This lets solids settle on the tank floors. We were told to keep the drains closed and only dump when the tanks were filled so that solids could be flushed out. We always dump black first. Then we use the flush inlet and fill and drain the black tank 3,4,5 times until I don’t see anymore floaters (we don’t put paper in our black tank) in the clear elbow at the sewer connection. Then I open the gray tank and let it drain while I do something else. After a few minutes the gray tank level is 0. Since I got that gunk out of my gray tank I haven’t had any problems. It will still drain slow but I eventually get to 0%.

We use a long shank Brinks padlock in the 2" Bulldog coupler. It fits snugly without drilling and hang the chains on the emergency brake cable snap-hook: Tried a short shank Brinks padlock in the new 2 5/16" Bulldog and it fits, too. After making holes in the new Bulldog, will sand and spray paint with aluminum finish for contrast.

My gray tank was draining really slow one time. I filled it then drove around and went home and backed it down a slope and dumped. The water came out with force and brought out a nasty looking slime. Since then we have added dawn dish washing soap and traveled with some water in the gray tank. I try to dump the gray soon after getting home while backed down a slope so as to get really good flow. It still drains slow due to the size and layout of the tank but it was much better after I got the algae (?) out of it.

I did raise the front put it still seams to take a long time to drain , not of water flow. Im used to a large flow when I pull the handle , very very slow stream.

Hello Aidan. The gray tank will drain quicker if the front of the trailer is raised a little. Raising the curb side a little near the end of the process also helps. The gray tank is long, narrow, and thin and the drain valve is on the left side rear corner of the tank. The gray tank level sensor on hull 313 is located where the yellow blotch is shown on the picture below. My tank level could show 0% and still have water in the rear of the tank if the nose is too high. Bill

Hi , I'm new to the Oliver scene. We had a 5th wheel and are getting use to the Oliver Elite 11 . I have one question , why does the gray tank drain very slowly. The black tank drains quickly. Has anyone had or have the same issue? Thanks Aidan 1455

Exactly. The newer models, certainly not ours, have many of those electric controls out of the basement. Some Oliver owners have also installed remote valves for the water/plumbing side. Good idea I just hate fiddling with plumbing. It really is a far easier to deal with sheet changing with two twin mattresses and piece of cake to lift them for access below. We should've done this years ago. No regrets so far.

I try not to in there too often - but not the usual reason people avoid basements. Winterizing/un-winterizing, and to the other side to manually trip and reset the main DC breaker when storing and recommissioning. It certainly is a pain when you have the original cushions, condensation mats underneath, topper and bedclothes on top…

You have a real flair for understatement!

I have two sets of Flag Pole Buddy suction cup mounts; one with black cups for the flagpole, one with white cups for the SLM pole. Neither leave a lasting mark on the Oliver’s gelcoat once removed and surface wiped clean. Could be that they use synthetic rubber compounds specially formulated for a non-marring grip on RV fiberglass surfaces; unlike the typical natural rubber that does leave a mark (think black streak issues we all battle)! Been using 303 Aerospace Protectant for years on a skiff and many suggest this conditioner be applied to keep rubber cups soft and pliable for a better seal and UV protection.

For years we used a Temperpedic 3 inch memory foam topper. It works, was heavy and also a pain to deal with while trying access the basement. So earlier in the year while doing some repairs and other mods we decided to eliminate the cushions altogether and replace with two twin mattress we bought at Costco. Since neither of us are tall sleeping in line with the trailer works just fine for us and we have never used the main dinette anyway. The smaller dinette at the kitchen works great for the two of us. This method is far easier to access the basement too with only one thing per side to lift. So far so good. I would recommend this method as a possibility.

Yep

Happy 250th Birthday to our great United States!