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I added a valve in the bumper so I could keep my drain hoses connected and not have anything leak into the bumper area when done emptying. Well, I forgot I did that. And did not open the valve in the bumper. And when I went to empty my black tank first it went from 50% to 10% full. Then I went to empty my gray tank and noticed it wasn’t emptying. That’s when I realized my mistake in not opening the valve in the bumper. So I shut both valves, opened the valve in the bumper, then opened the black drain valve. The black tank went down to 5%. Then I shut the black tank valve and opened the gray tank valve and it worked as it should and went down to about 40%. What I am afraid of now is that my black water backed up into my gray water tank when I had the valve in the bumper closed. Hopefully I explained this well enough. Does anybody have any thoughts?

Sorry I did not notice this a month ago... I and others would have read your post sooner if it was listed under Campers and Ollie Modifications. Houghton and Honeywell being mods. Also, many would not know the answer. Thermostat cables generally have 5-6 wires, and each one has a designation. I have a whole spool of 6-wire thermostat cable. One colored wire is for fan, furnace, A/C, heat strip, etc. You need to find the wiring diagrams for both products, the Houghton and then the Honeywell.

Thanks for sharing. Please let us know how the ride is after you have some miles on them. I believe you will be the first to test the 2,400lb springs as a full set of four. Always good to have proven alternatives.

We have Brooklyn Bedding of Phoenix AZ, at home. It's a Cali-king in our MBR and their high-end unit that cannot be rolled and shipped. It's the best bed we've ever owned. We bought a queen from them for a Bigfoot Class-C, it was excellent! Last year we bought these single mattresses for our Oliver, just last fall: Dreamfoam Essential - RV (rvmattress.com) We tossed out the "OTT upgraded mattress" (OMG terrible) gave one away on Craigs FREE Stuff and the other my son keeps for his buds that stay the night. They are rectangular (no radius end), but they fit as-is, only being a little tight on the outside corner. A summer project for me is to use an insulation knife to cut a radius into one corner, but I may just leave it alone, TBD. We went with the 10" mattress since it was the first level that has 3 different layers of foam, from hard at the base to soft at the body. A 10" mattress does make the bed are high, if you have the need to sit there. They have 6" to 14", take your pick. For less than $1K you get two amazing mattresses ship to your location, in two boxes. 😂

We will miss you and Wendy! But understand we all can’t be everywhere. 👍🏻

Since 2008, we use the cushions, plus a topper. Latest version is linenspa, from Amazon. I liked it so much, i ordered it for the second guest room. Everyone has different comfort levels.

OK, still not able to get the Honeywell Pro 1000 to turn on the heat, but the Houghton AC and heater strip are working just fine. It is so much quieter.

There is not a lot of in depth information on the 555025 shocks, but here is a link for the 555025 https://www.shockwarehouse.com/products/monroe-555025-gasmagnum In my searching I found someone that had replaced the 555001 with a Bilsteins 24-064194, B6 series shock. The following link talks about the installation, and problems that were overcome. It is an interesting read. I searched for the 24-064194 and it appears that Bilstein no longer makes this shock, no one seems to have them available. The down side if you can find them they are very pricey https://heartlandowners.org/threads/bighorn-3260el-shocks.59777/

Have FUN!!!

Sure - but that means that you only have to do 1/2 as much stuff in order to still have a great Ollie!😇 Bil

We rolled into LGSP this afternoon and got XPLOR set up. We have never seen this place so packed wowzer! The weather is perfect and we are looking forward to seeing everyone. Safe Travels All!

Inks Lake State Park has a big campground, there shouldn’t be a problem reserving a site during the week in October. It’s a popular park and is difficult to get a spot during the summer and on weekends.

I see you first booked sites 41-57 and those are reserved by 16 Oliver Owners in your original group. Was there a reason you selected those sites, or is it what the park allowed at an earlier date? Wow, the park map shows over 300 sites! It also shows lots of availability in the period two weeks before which is a good sign. This park likely has every site booked for Labor Day! October less popular. Hard to tell what a good site # to book. Should we try to get a site number close to your group? Is any part of the park suggested, or not suggested? Any advice would be helpful as May 21 is coming up very soon. Thank you for your time and for arranging this meet. 😂

I been following this topic and it got me to look at my springs and sure enough 1,750 pound four leaf springs were failing. I was leaning to ALCAN five leaf for replacement but when Geromimo John came up with the Dexter 2400 pound rated 4-leaf I decided that would be a better fit. My thinking is keep the ride as soft as I can but have springs strong enough not to distort them from the load that the Oliver puts on them. So this bumps the 7000 pound rating to 9600 pound rating and I think this should be sufficient for them to carry the load with out distorting the springs. I included a pic of the 2400# spring next to the worst 1750# spring. This is the differences in thickness of the leafs. The individual leafs are longer. I didn't think to measure the height before I started the job but when I had one side installed I measured from side to side and there was 1-1/2 inches difference at the wheel wells.

Even my wife's blow-dryer does not cause interference like that (though I installed a high-end Samsung monitor). If it only happens with the hearing aids, and no other device, then they are the cause. Just a bad product? Defective unit, then get a warranty replacement. I would not wear them until you know more.

I just had 100% latex mattresses made to match exactly what we sleep on at home. $$ but good sleep is worth it.

I forgot about the custom axle length. That does complicate matters. What you’re doing could be me next year. An OTT visit tied in with the 2025 Rally, get my FWT fixed too like you. Are you doing the CGI Detailing too? I’m getting rather jealous of Casablanca #226. You know that’s 2x hull #113!

Updated: Two trailers moved sites, and added Bill's location 2024 Oliver Rally Attendees as of May 11.pdf

Of course. Murphy's Law rules. Yes we can add him to the long list of us that have previously come to that conclusion. Including two Dexter Tech's. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The distinction that many are making is thinking that 4 pack spring sets are by definition always bad, and the 5 packs are good. Also that everything made in China is bad and everything made in USA is always good. Hopefully we can also agree that these logic lines are full of holes. What we do KNOW is that the spring sets rated at 1,750 pound rating of the OTT OEM OE2 fleet for many years are failing as a result of the spring not being sufficiently rated to the use. Not that it is always crap because it was made in China or that it is a 4-leaf spring. Now some of them may well have been. But Dexter has used those springs in thousands of applications just fine. But for our OE2's, they are failing because they are under rated 1,750 pound springs. Not because they are Chinese or 4 leaf. I think that the vast majority of respondents to this topic agree that a stronger spring is needed for the OE2 fleet. And that the path to take for their OE2's can be very owner specific. I believe that a higher rated more compliant 4 pack may work just fine for our and likely for the fleet use. As such, I chose to purchase the Dexter 2400 pound rated 4-leaf. But what I think, and what other specific owners think is best for their specific use is only relevant to the specific use. But that does not necessarily make it suitable for general fleet use in my opinion. But OTT as the OEM of future OE2's will be looking at the issue from a fleet perspective. It will be interesting to see what they feel is best for overall fleet operations. I think we can agree that it likely will not be the 1,750 pound rated 4 leaf spring set. But will it be a 2750 pound 5 leaf? I do not think it will be. So, I will wager a beer to any of the above owners that have gone with the ALCON spring set that that choice will not be what OTT goes with for the future fleet as the standard spring set. Want to take my wager, list you names below in the next 48 hours. GJ

Me thinks your sales agent was not informed on the Houghton sound levels. We run ours on low fan speed the vast majority of the time. It is ULTRA quiet. I believe that the FreshJet is Competitor A. This is from their web site: That said, until Houghton series we purchased has some specific disadvantages to some others: No internal drainage system. Fan runs continuously with adverse humidity control. The thermostat is not remotely located so it also contributes to cycling/humidity issues. Granted, a handy DIY owner can: Add a relay to fix the fan issue fairly easily if electrically inclined Reroute the thermostat function by getting a longer thermistor. Installation is tedious for an Oliver. After a couple of years effort, I and others have not posted a fix for the drain issue. So the condensate drains overboard the roof. There is some indication that this may be resolved by a remote electric condensate pump, but I have not found any info on it yet. So, from a sound perspective the Houghton appears to be a quieter unit. But without having to rework the Houghton, I would not recommend it to owners that are not DIY inclined. On the other hand, the above problems are well known to Houghton and when they have provided the American market with an internal condensate capability, remote T-stat and fan off when compressor is off program it will be a blockbuster unit. As a DIYer, yes I would purchase a Houghton in a heart beat. But may owners would not want the hassle of having to update/mod a brand new unit. Hopefully another reader will have updates to my dated info. GJ

Absolutely, makes total sense, JD! Had we not planned to attend the owner's rally, we probably would have lived with the 3.5k#-ers for a while. But here's a consideration - the D52 Dexters (or the older D44's of that matter) are custom cut to OTT width specifications (they're only approx. 62.5" flange-to-flange). I suppose one could order an OTT spec'd set of axles from Dexter in Sparta, TN but that could be costly for a single run off. We have not contacted Dexter to learn what the one-off cost/time schedule/shipping costs would be - maybe another owner could do that. Since headed eastbound from NM anyway, we decided to contact OTT directly, and coordinated with Jason Essary to acquire our axle kit. Timing was just right with the rally scheduled for next week. Our approach to the running gear upgrade became a phased approach instead of "all at one time in our shop" primarily due to logistics and cost. Alcan springs first, 5.2k# axles, then shocks (only by happenstance, not planning) - & the Cooper Discoverers only have about 15-16k on them. As far as labor costs, my time is free for me... We ate the cost of travel to Hohenwald because we planned on attending the owner's rally anyway - the entire running gear upgrade worked out well for us. HA!

Steve if you update the list, we have moved to site E30, as someone canceled. F44 is now available See you, Mark and Claudia

The height of the trailer after new spring pack installed was approx 5/8" higher. The hull and frame assy doesn't squat down as much with the heavier springs. The length of the 3/4" longer shocks wouldn't make any difference regardless of what spring packs are installed. They need to be fully compressed to get into the mountings anyway - just adjust the nose up/down to get the correct clearance. JFTR: Finished up with the "in situ" shock R&R drill at Primitive Campsite #8 at the Mousetail SP on the TN River just now -- and Casablanca is back to that "yellow" looking running gear. The only mod to the drill was using fresh nylocs instead of the nuts provided (a bit of overkill, but D's idea - "happy wife....): New axles, springs, fresh shocks, newer Cooper tires - isn't it a good feeling? Or an obsession??? Thoughts?

@John Dorrer I would certainly call tech support for your hearing aide co. You have considerable electrical interference, and it may not be safe to have those in your ears.

Yeah, price-point $3k vs. one, would not be in our budget! I wonder why so many want 12v appliances? Perhaps there is something I do not understand on this. We use our inverter whenever needed and alone it only takes an amp, maybe 1.5A.