All Activity

Ball was greased. I used a grease remover and cleaned it completely up to a nice shiney chrome finish. I took a number of photos and sent them to a tech at B & W and he didn't see anything use on the ball.🙃

If this company does what they say they are going to do then I predict that they will soon need a much bigger service building. Good luck to them. Bill

Love you both...Wen and John :)

Boudicca: JD is a outstanding standup guy. Comes across some times a bit gruff (Don't we all?), but is pure of heart and giving to a fault. And Chris can sure cook up a wonderfull mountain of pasta as well. I went thru the same process as you, but had the tools and past knowledge to get to the bottom of it. For grins I would suggest you purchase a new seven pin plug for spare parts or use with JD. More than a few ownes like this one if your are going to run the cable back to the J-box as John Davies suggested. If you have a spare few inches in your existing you could just get the 7-pin end. I had those inches and did just the end. Next time I'll have to get the full cable shown below. Amazon.com or Tractor Supply are both good sources for a lot of what we need. The cable connections are easy, getting the "Right" wire into the proper peg of the cord is complex. Having the same color to color at the box makes life a lot easier. Good luck. GJ

Man this is a real mystery. So glad it ended well and that you and yours are safe! I have been reading all the posts trying to make sense of how this could happen, especially to a Bulldog hitch. If the hitch lever was indeed pinned in place and didn't pop open when you hit that bump, then the options become limited. Some thoughts about this: You didn't show the ball in your pics, but I would have a close look at it for clues, including the possibility that it was out of spec and not the correct size. Or that from lack of lubrication, it was "ground down" to be out of round. This is unlikely but worth checking. If the ball doesn't give up any clues, I would check the pin on the Bulldog that creates the hinge that holds the two clamping pieces together. Do the two halve come together as they should? Did the pin somehow get bent increasing the closed opening of the hitch around the ball? It's just hard to imagine a Bulldog letting go of the ball like that if all was in spec. I assume your hitch setup with your TV is nice and flat, not nose up or down. Just throwing out these ideas to try and figure this out. Hope you will let us know what you find out. Definitely take JD's advice and get a new hitch! Sizing up would be good as you would get a new ball as well. Again, glad everyone is OK, and kudos to you for keeping control of your rig. Cheers, Dave

Okay, thanks. I still can’t imagine the Bulldog popping off of a correctly sized ball. Mine is sort of close fitting. I’d still check the diameter accurately just in case and at least settle that question. Anyway I hope you can figure out what actually happened.

B & W Stow and Go with marked 2" & 2-5/16" on the top of each ball

John, if the hitch was closed and locked closed…..maybe a dumb question but are you sure that your hitch ball is in fact 2 inches and not 1 7/8? Accurately measure with calipers.

high prices, over-charging, service calendars booked months out, shoddy work, all they care about is new RV sales! 🤣 Just hear-say though, since I have no real experience in this area. Years ago, with a Class-C, I called to make an appointment and I replied no-thank-you after hearing they were taking appointments 3+ months out and you'd have to leave it there for a few weeks! They'll "work you in." We have a new business that opened recently in town. It's a great concept! They do not sell RVs, but only service HD trucks and RVs. If you need service, look for a place like this in your neighborhood. Get your TV and TT serviced with one company at the same time! Southwest Truck and RV | Gas or Diesel vehicle repairs | RV Repair

June 7th went by and our Oliver has been parked for a few weeks on the corner of our property. The A/C running, set at 80F on battery (😎) since it's getting hot again. We've had a most beautiful Spring that has literally lasted for months. Clear skies every day until some clouds blew in. Just heard some thunder, always hoping for rain. Maybe a monsoon or two will come early this year... I forgot all about her on our third anniversary! We're not traveling again until Labor Day which starts our new travel season and there's nothing big scheduled in mods like our last two summers. She looks and performs a whole lot better than she did 3 years ago! 🤣 The 7th is also Chris' birthday! I certainly did not forget that nor our 32nd wedding anniversary on the 1st! Charley turned 12 yesterday. He got a summer cut and a bone! He loves traveling in our tow vehicle and camping in the Oliver! (see pic above) Thankful to have our Oliver! It's improved our lifestyle, with the ability to leave on moment's notice and glamp (never really liked that word but how true it is). Looking forward to another great year with our Oliver. Even giving some thought to that Rally...

Yes, but... RV dealers are notorious for not wanting to service RVs they didn't sell. I imagine they'll still do warranty work but I'll bet they won't be interested in non-warranty service of a brand they no longer carry. Time will tell.

Depends on how busy they are. We all got nervous when Oliver attempted to pull service.

@John Dorrer glad you're OK! Reed used to post here. He made a video about operating a Bulldog hitch, for those that would like to learn more about the Bulldog:

We all do this and I'm sure you've done it correctly 100s of times. Don't we all also eyeball all hitch connections 2-3 times before we leave and every time we stop? If it was not connected correctly, it would have fallen off in the first few miles while still towing at low speed. Wondering how much OTT will quote? Pretty good price in the link I supplied above for the same Bulldog part. Here are my before & after pics! The only hard part with this installation is marking the correct positions for the drill holes on the new Bulldog. The larger ball helps and with the 12.5K rating you will have a 2x safety margin, given most Olivers loaded are a little over 6K LBS.

Even if the collar did slide back somehow, how did the spring-loaded coupler gate manage to re-close so the collar could slide back into place? I can't see it. Either the ball doesn't fit the coupler properly (coupler socket or ball damaged or wrong size), one of the springs is broken, the ball was never in the coupler to start with, or the coupler wasn't latched. Now I'm wondering if Oliver taught us to use the Bulldog incorrectly when we took delivery. He had us lower the coupler onto the ball with the coupler latch handle in the *down* position, then use a foot or rubber mallet to close the coupler around the ball. At that point the collar snaps closed and we put the pin in. Now I see there's another (better?) way to do it.

Don't be so hard on yourself. You have been dealt a bad hand and have done more on your own that most people are able or willing to do! This should not be the case on a 2022 Oliver and 2023 HD truck! Good thing you have a modern diesel truck. I imagine you are running the exhaust brake to compensate for the trailer brakes. Taking another look at this photo, I don't see the large black cable coming from the hitch, but I do see all the wire colors associated with a trailer wiring harness. You can have an issue there, but there is no movement there like at the hitch or at the wheels. Wago connectors covered with electrical tape, good work OTT! Wagos are not reliable. It makes sense the black is fused for the +12V (accessory or charge wire). This should be disconnected anyway. The blue is for brakes. If you have a butt connector and crimp tool where you can reach in there, I would replace the Wago connector. I'd replace them all but not while on the road. So all trailer lights, turn signal lights, etc work except the blue wire? Again low likelyhood. Intermittent loss is more likely either the electronics going bad in the truck brake controller, a loose connection at the 7-blade connector or a wire shorting on-n-off at the wheels. The U-Haul rental is a pain but will give you a truck vs. trailer diagnosis. You may do this and find no error and then think you wasted more time, already thinking it was something wrong in the Oliver. If you are able to test for amperage on the brake lines and found an error this would be easier with tool and testing knowledge. Problem with this option is it can test good when sitting/testing and then a bad wire can touch when moving, hence your intermittent issue. Nothing worse than intermittent issues. I bought a truck NEW once in my life, the other 10 were all purchased USED. It had a bad trans, the torque converter would slip intermittently when hot. I took it to 3 different Dodge dealers for warranty repair. It always worked fine when at the dealer, at least that's what they said! Sound familiar to your experience? It lasted until it was out of warranty and then it failed on an AZ to TX trip. I was lucky to limp along on the final stretch, just barely getting to our Georgetown home. You could stop at Harbor Freight in Little Rock and purchase a clamp-on ammeter. Test for amperage like in the picture I shared above. I've got another idea. Forget about it for a while, use your exhaust brake and enjoy your trip. After you get to New Mexico drive another day to Prescott Arizona. I have an Oliver parking spot with a 30A hookup, good mountain water, free dump station down the street. I have the next 3 weeks off work and would work a couple days on your Oliver! We can tow my Oliver with your truck to see if we get the same error message. I will wire a new 7-blade connecter, new brake wiring at the axles or whatever is needed. I'm not kidding! I enjoy repair work and it's a genuine offer to help you. PM me if you want. If your issue is with the Oliver, I can and will fix it. Best wishes, JD

It's good that you got that taken care of. New or used the factory springs on these trailers are a significant worry. We have a 2023 trailer and one of our springs snapped on our last trip.

I seem to recall that in the video Jason says that they will continue to act as service for Oliver's. Bill

I wonder how interested the ex-dealers will be in continuing to service Olivers they sold.

Probably stock ordered before the decision was made.

The first picture is a different view from topgun2's. The second picture is of the aluminum support tubes I installed for my Nova Kool refrigerator. The aluminum tubes span the trough noted in the first picture. And if you really have a need to know in order to proceed with your installation, you can follow @jd1923's suggestion above. Or you can remove the drawers below the sink and cut a hole in the cabinet floor and have a look around, like I did. Mossey

Monarch Pass, June 2023. A week later it was sunny and warm!

Since you had the latch pinned, I would assume that the issue was caused by the wire part that connected from the latch to the collar. I don't see how that collar can slide back allowing the coupler to open without some type of deformation to, or disconnection of, that wire. Let us know what Bulldog tells you.

Yes it is! Great fishing if you are so inclined. And not far away there are some sights to see. https://www.visitutah.com/articles/dinosaur-national-monument-flaming-gorge

Reset 2.0 (Hull 1364) just spent its first night (with us) in Utah. The Flaming Gorge area is absolutely beautiful. This trips pass list so far includes: Raton Pass (NM) 7,834 ft Monarch Pass (CO) 11,312 ft Douglas Pass (CO) 8,205 ft