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Yeah I started just after they retired I think, 90-91. Then we split off, I was part of the ‘original’ HP (Test and Measurement) so missed the fun thereafter. Carley was what killed it
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I know 😅 Doesn’t bother me and I like a good technical food fight 💪 Actually first heard of it when at the factory after picking it up. Really nice couple, Rod and Sandy dropped theirs off for repair, he mentioned reading this on the forum and was thinking about going even lower to the 20’s or something. Filed it away and read up on it here .. Yes have seen this chart, also aware of the early 80 setting by Oliver. Last first, just because Oliver had a high - perhaps too high - setting originally does not mean that their present setting is a poor choice. And the tire OEM charts are a starting point. Been doing this for decades, parts suppliers have their data sheets but final spec is always set by the final OEM. Customers of course are free to do what they wish. Point being none of this is convincing evidence. Let’s take it from a different angle, what are we trying to optimize? Milage (maximize) Tire stress (minimize) Suspension performance (optimize) A range of pressures is possible so the question is what is optimal? We don’t know Oliver’s reasoning on 65, so let’s examine what we have here. Putting the hearsay aside, as I mentioned AFAIK the forums argument is the chart above or variations. These are not tires that were designed for Oliver’s - they are generic trailer tires. The Big Three routinely gets Goodyear/etc to make a custom tire - mine has them. I’ve got 36” Goodyear Territories like you’d find on any offroader, but these have a twist to make them more efficient for EV’s. GM pressure spec is 61 PSI, clearly that overrides anything Goodyear might have to say. The 61 is set for handling, offroad performance and EV efficiency. But here its just an off the shelf tire. So this isn’t convincing, we have a generic tire OEM chart and a specific recommendation from Oliver, it’s not enough to conclude that we need to go much lower. Now I have a technical argument on first principles. It’s based on rough assumptions as to frequency band filtering (except on the Ez-Flex), but the basis is sound. Here’s the thing, one thing I’ve learned in 40 years is we’re all more often wrong than right and you rarely know. So what you do is a heuristic, counting up the +/- from various arguments. All I see from the former is a starting point - a generic chart, and a magic leap to a conclusion. With the argument I laid out here there’s many plusses. Better milage, better wear and handling performance, aligns with the OEM’s recommendation, and a technical discussion as to why this may be the best setting 🤷♂️ … its the Emperor has no Clothes here IMO, there are more negatives than positives to the ‘tire chart’ proposal. PSA Absolutely not trying to score points, prove anybody wrong, or otherwise make a stink, just a good old fashioned ‘let’s try and find the best answer’. Thanks for indulging me 😅
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Dan, perhaps you're the one and only one unconvinced on our Forum today! The subject has been brought up at least annually for the last 10 years! Using Chris' @Wayfinder's search tool, I searched for TIRE PRESSURE, lot's of hits. Give this a try and read some of the many articles: https://www.google.com/search?q=TIRE+PRESSURE&as_sitesearch=olivertraveltrailers.com%2Fforums All tire manufactures have load/pressure tables. I use this table for the tires installed on our hull. OTT stated the 80 PSI recommendation on the DOT label on early hulls, mine included. Later it was 65 PSI and we can read in these threads, some owners were told 55 PSI by OTT Staff when they took delivery. Ask an older retiree from what was Firestone corporation, "Who was right about inflation pressure for the Ford Explorer?" In this case the auto manufacture Ford recommended LOWER pressure than the tire manufacture's printed standard. They basically aired a 1/2-ton truck to 26 PSI which "killed 238 people and injured around 500 others in the United States alone; more died in other countries." I figure tire manufactures know tires and OTT knows fiberglass! Except for Steve, and maybe soon enough you too Dan, most Olivers are closer to 6K vs. 7K LBS. Ours was weighed once at 6,400, but let's apply the full 7K to the load/pressure table. Keep in mind, 7K on the trailer axles plus tongue weight, means at least a 7,600 LB trailer (very hard to carry that much)! 7,000 / 4 = 1,750. This table recommends 40 PSI. 65 PSI will carry 10,480 on 4 tires, 80 PSI 12,340 LBS. As I wrote above, I agree with Bob's numbers. For 3 years, 20K miles, I've set pressure somewhere in the 45-52 range. 45 PSI for summer travels, and a little higher during winters. Some go with 55 PSI. OTT recommending 80 PSI for years caused a lot of interior damage; screws on drawer slides coming lose, plumbing fittings cracking, electrical connections failing, LEAF SPRINGS FAILING, etc. OTT recommending 65 PSI; now you have 10K in tire/wheel carrying capacity, on 10K axles, on 10K in Alcan springs, besides your piano, you can add enough equipment for a 4-piece band, if you can find the room! 🤣
- Today
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2025 Ford lariat F150Having the same intermittent warning pop up on my dash. Legacy elite two 2021 hull 707. Brakes look like they had some mileage exchanged with four new Dexter backing plate brake combo. Worked fine. All the slow drives. I did around neighborhood to test. First trip up through George started getting warnings and brakes would basically shut off. Checked all my connections 23 times when sitting still operated fine about 3 A at each break 14 A when tested at the breakaway switch finally saw the threads about the wire in the axle pulled the front one out. There was a few rubbed spots. eventually would’ve failed but found about the middle of the wire in the axle. looked like somebody had set a hot welding rod a piece of hot metaldown on the wire in a couple places. Didn’t have any wire yet so cut the bad section sliced back together taped it to the axle. Seems to be working fine a couple hundred miles. Ordered some new marine grade Wire and some “solder butt connectors” comes with small heat gun. shrink wraps, and solders at the same time. Will attach the wire to the outside of the axle.
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StarLink mini with StarLink router mini.
Steve Morris replied to 2008RN's topic in Mechanical & Technical Tips
They hinge this opening from the factory now? If so, that's an interesting change. Mine from early 2023 is screwed in. I added an AC outlet in the panel, plugged into that same outlet. And a DC outlet wired and fused to the fringe power. There's very little gap behind the table when folded down and latched, so I had to recess the outlets. Sue was a handy addition. -
J-Rhett started following Air Head Tejo - Out with the Flush and Bathroom waterlines plugged
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I searched a lot of content and couldn't find anything like this. Do I have a plugged water line? Kitchen faucet and outside shower work great on fresh water and on city water. But the bathroom sink and toilet have barely a dribble. Before we went out to camp the water system was ok. After traveling just 20 miles or so the bathroom water doesn't work. I found plastic shavings a couple of years ago in the toilet inlet filter. I haven't checked it but that wouldn't plug the sink too. The plastic came from when they post drilled the tank a few year ago I think. I really don't want to make a trip to Hohenwald and back as it's about 760 miles round trip and diesel is hehehe. I know not much about how to clean water lines inside the double hull. How do I attack this problem? Hints? I won't be camping anymore this year anyway. Rhett & Dory Hull #186 2017
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Ya, I remember those days. Never meet Bill, but I met and talked with Dave a couple of times when he came out to Colorado. Really down to earth person. Dave would fly into the local little airport. Some low level person would drive out and pick him up. Dave would then take one of the Fleet Ford Taurus to drive around. Many places in HP treated people like family with a common goal. Many employees would sacrifice their time with their family to help out HP in a crunch. I remember in the 80s when financial times where tough and no one was laid off, We all worked one less day every 2 weeks. Compared to Carly Fiorino that showed up with a bullet proof Limo and body guard entourage, with all meeting being locked down.
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A day late posting but HELLO to the Oliver LEII parked at Ewen Pines Roadside Park on the UP on 9/17/2026. We were the Oliver blowing the horn. Saw you wave back! If you’re headed up the Keweenaw Peninsula check out Four Suns Fish & Chips across from the Quincy Mine. https://www.facebook.com/share/1D4iw9PFR9/?mibextid=wwXIfr Bill 313
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StarLink mini with StarLink router mini.
DanielBoondock replied to 2008RN's topic in Mechanical & Technical Tips
I’ve been kicking around doing Starlink. Next year after retirement from job 1 it can be a business expense for job 2, but I’m not really wanting to do it. Only if it makes life easier. Various long term Ytuber users have mentioned the hardware doesn’t last long, so my first concern is long term reliability - what’s your experience? Second is convenience, ideally I don’t want to fuss with poles and whatnot. DC fridge Olivers have the outdoor table and this nifty solution from the factory, and they dropped the coax connectors that could have been converted to ethernet or whatever the mini needs (oh I guess the mini now just needs power, cool) Back there to the left is an outlet for the induction, so I can plug the power into that. I can run an ethernet cable potentially through the walls up to my main router. The opening is 12”x7” so if I’m lucky I might be able to store the mini in there too. So I’m wondering whats the best way to mount this? I have a fold up ladder I like to bring along, maybe just a suction cup roof mount is the way to go, how well would that work with tree cover? Thoughts/ideas welcome … -
Complete change-over to Victron equipment
DanielBoondock replied to ScubaRx's topic in Ollie Modifications
The all wood is stunning, one day I’d like to do that. -
StarLink mini with StarLink router mini.
Wayfinder replied to 2008RN's topic in Mechanical & Technical Tips
I’ve held many work-related video calls on the Gen 3 without issues… with an open sky. One could likely play an online game too, such as World of Warcraft, but maybe not a first person shooter (FPS). The latency requirements are high and one would be getting killed a lot in the FPS game. -
Good, because I never took Statics! 😅 My story kind of similar to yours from a different direction - Physics PhD then also went to HP back in the good old days (when Bill and Dave were still around) doing CS/EE. Jack of all trades master of none basically. Anyhow the only fundamental basis I could see for airing down was based on an old chart that Goodyear doesn’t appear publish anymore, probably because of this reason that it’s the OEM’s business to set a spec. But I think a sound approach is to approach it as tuned frequency bands. Engineering hand waving - but that’s what we do half the time anyways, but my intuition tells me you’re losing more than you gain by airing down. But I’m convinced that the Wisdom of the Crowd prevailed with Alcan.
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Sorry, I didn't remember this in Statics 101. But Then I am not an Engineer. I moved to CS after my first year. I figured working at Hewlett Packard I was better off with a CS. Which worked with my time at HP and IBM. I still love looking at bridges and building structures.. You are correct that this is YOUR thread and as such I respect that. Also the other thread is extremely long. I will remember this in any further post.
- Yesterday
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Yellowstone Shuts Showers at newly revamped Fishing Bridge:
We’ve had a reservation in Yellowstone for 9 months. They just sent a notice of no working showers today.
We will be fine but I sent the GM a 50% refund request … at $125 a night, showers and bathrooms must work.I’ve grown weary of company execs who are clueless and don’t care for the customers they are supposed to serve.
The "Amenity" Loophole: Because your reservation at Fishing Bridge RV Parkprovides you with a physical campsite, water, and electrical hookups, Xanterra classifies the public shower facility as a "complimentary amenity" or a separate service rather than a guaranteed part of your nightly site fee. Their terms dictate that the closure of a single amenity does not qualify a guest for a partial refund on the campsite itself. [1]
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My personal opinion is that you are absolutely correct. These "vendors" don't put nearly enough back into our National Parks and as a result, trash bins overflow, the lodges we all paid for are in sad need of maintenance as are the kind of facilities you mention. Yes, we are loving these Parks to death but I don't see where the vendors are doing anything but "taking" with precious little "giving.
Bill
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We had the a similar issue camping at Skidaway Island State Park, they had a water main break. We had no city water connection for the duration of our stay; no discount or refund.
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dmorningcall joined the community
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I have to work on the road and the dinette is taken over by a piano keyboard. Most of my work on the iPad but I need to use a laptop which is on the bed, but cable and peripheral management is a pain, but I found a small mod, hide the electronics under the bed with a Froli system street side bed Turns out typical power supplies and smaller electronics like SSD’s and a Thunderbolt hub you see here fit perfectly under the Froli springs. Add in the anti-dew matting and there’s plenty of airflow, plus it keeps your bed warm 😅 The Froli’s lift the bed up a good amount, it was so low before as to be somewhat claustrophobic. With the matting it doesn’t add much except oddly makes it a bit firmer, which is good with these overly squishy mattresses IMO. Anyhow in the lower right is a small power strip, so all that emerges is a plug to the nearby socket. Two cables (power and thunderbolt) tuck next to the mattress, add in a lap table and it can instantly be setup to work. I was hiding this stuff in the battery cubby but its was messy with cables snaking out.
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I need to work on the road, the dinette is too small and is taken over by a piano anyhow Sorry for the late reply missed this … The OEM recommendations (Oliver in this case) always override the tire manufacturer, Oliver’s spec is 65. We can argue if that’s a good spec on first principles but I don’t think we can or should use a generic recommendation from Goodyear Yes absolutely, but it’s different systems working together. The suspension will do its job and ideally filter a different band than what the tire filters - that’s my point. If they overlap then you’ve got suckouts in your coverage, whats the point of that? Excellent! I was wondering if somebody would catch this. Well since we don’t have data its all handwaving, but my expectation is that a properly sprung Alcan would have a higher frequency extension, which would make the case for higher PSI. Basically Statics 101 tells you that undersprung == lower natural frequency Yeah its pretty clogged up. This is kind of my blog and I treat it as such so 🤷♂️
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I don't *think* the 2022 models had the Victron charge controller yet. Our early 2023 was supposedly the first year they became standard equipment, but some 2022 models had 2023 components early. When I was first investigating upgrades, I considered moving the external solar port wires over to the inbuilt charge controller. Then run the two solar arrays in parallel. The first obstacle, was of course the amperage/voltage limitations of the charge controller. I'd need to swap to a larger model to get what I wanted. But more importantly, and something I was not aware of, is that the 2023 rooftop panels are 400W at a rated 24V DC, not 12V. And when I checked Victron's site for information, I learned that mixing panel voltages causes the charge controller to default to the lower voltage. So the 24V 400W panels would be operating at 12V 400W instead. As have many others here, I elected to temporarily build a portable box with an appropriately sized Victron charge controller, fuse, etc., and plug that into the external solar port. My intention is to eventually replace the SAE type port with an Anderson plug, and run a second internal charge controller, allowing me to use the full output of my 400W 24V DC rooftop panels, and my three 200W 12V DC portable panels.
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rideandfly started following Auxiliary solar
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Our original Furrion solar port was rated for 10 amps. It was OK with one 100W panel, but did not have enough rated capacity to handle two 100W solar suitcases. Decided to modify the original Furrion 10A solar port to handle 20 amps by installing a Zamp 20 amp port in the existing Furrion port. Should have used the Zamp port to start with. Modified Furrion solar port 20 amps:
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I saw that mentioned in another post. Seems I will need to schedule time to drive down to see this new Oliver. Lower price - seems counter to today's world. If I were to design a small Ollie, based upon my owner experience, I doubt it would be cheaper.
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This is correct in that you will need an additional solar charger. It is not recommended to have one controller for panels of different makes and wattage and adding 400W is just too much for your OEM controller. We run the Renogy 400W suitcase and added a Victron 30A MPPT SC. The new SC should be very close to your batteries, connected with heavy gauge wire. We used 8 AWG 1-2 foot length to the +/- buses. Wire from your suitcase to the SC can be light. 12 AWG is required for 400W. I used 10 AWG since Lowes had a crazy sale on some at the time. Wire costs a lot today, but labor hours are worse when hiring a solar installer. It's not a difficult installation. I made my own cables for cost savings, but you can buy any kind of cable with custom premade terminals here: https://powerwerx.com/wire-cable
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You TEASE YOU!.... seriously.. you need to stop that.
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Water Pump Switch in Bathroom
jd1923 replied to David and Gail's topic in Mechanical & Technical Tips
Just came off a 10-day trip to Colorado. Thank goodness our issue started on the last night. The green LED showing 12V+ to the water pump went off by itself and the water pump stopped working. Checked the fuse in the panel and it was good. The issue was intermittent. Throwing the switch under the pantry an hour later, the green light appeared again so Chris quickly washed the dinner dishes! 🤣 Later that night we got nothing again, but just in time for morning bathroom use it worked, yay! (We had planned to wash and flush manually refilling gallon water jugs. We always have extra water in the fresh water tank in the truck bed.) So we're home a couple days so it's time to fix this. I remembered Geoff's explanation above, found it and studied it again. Actually the schematic he drew in his 4-way switch post really got me to fully understand the 3-way switch (study his picture without the the 4-way switch added, travelers connecting left to right). I had remembered his key phrase "No ground wires are involved in these switches." So my first thought is I need a ground for testing. Can't check voltage with a multimeter without a ground. So I cut a 12 ft length of wire, stripped one end and connected it to the ground bus under the dinette seat. I crimped a butt connector on the other end for the negative pin on the multimeter. With this test wire I have a ground source anywhere I need inside the cabin. While I was at it, I quickly tested all the fuses in the panel. I decided to leave this test wire connected for future testing when needed (pic1 notice the yellow/red-striped wire now coiled up under the rear dinette). Later I tucked it underneath in the empty corner below. I found 13.2V at both 3-way switches. Then I used my trusty spade jumper to first check for continuity between the travelers which tested positive (pic2). Then I used the same jumper to connect the Common wire to a Traveler wire (not pictured, think the common/purple wire jumped to either traveler). This pulls that 3-way switch out of the equation. The jumper creates a closed circuit, an ON condition for this side of the 3-way switch. As soon as I did so the water pump was back to working. This shows the issue is in the 3-way switch in the bathroom, or its connections, as suggested by this thread. Notice, I'm connected to the 3 spade terminals on the left (pic3). The bathroom switch has 6 spade connections but you only need 3 in line. I moved the wires to connect on the other 3 on the left. The RH spade terminals had gotten a little crusty in 10 years of use and notice the top-right spade is bent, in fact the female connector on that traveler was very lose. The switch works fine now. The connections were lose but now the left side connections are snug. I added some electrical tape to hold all 3 wires as a unit and then duct tape to hold the wires down. This simple addition will take the weight of the wires and vibration while towing off the switch (pic4). This should keep the connections tight longer. Going forward, look at the bathroom switch first. Not fun when something happens while camping. Thank you @David and Gail, you learned this a year ago and I had somewhere to look for help! 😎 -
Attached article on building a solar add on for the Olivef with specific instructions on the zamp connection polarity. https://4-ever-hitched.com/blog-articles/f/here-comes-the-sun?blogcategory=Electrical+Upgrades
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We stayed a few days at Wallowa Lake SP, OR on our way back from our PNW trip last year. Quite peaceful and scenic!! Mike
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Thanks for the input guys! I will likely reach out to a solar installer to see about upgrading the wiring on the zamp port and potentially installing a charge controller inside the camper for that system. As mentioned here the ability to track the sun at a better angle allows those 400 watt panels to pull 50-100 more watts than the roof mounted solar on the camper. 2 days ago I used it with my anker f2600 solar generator and was able to pull up to 325 watts for quite a while in morning sun.
