Leaderboard

I took a group of Airstream owners on an Off the Grid and Base Camp caravan into western Wyoming. If you take the Teton/Jackson Hole/Idaho State Line area and go East to Cody for the top and south to Alpine on the west side and Farson on the east side... this large square... sorta. Ten days. Five campsites. From 6000 feet to 9,000 feet elevation. National Forest and Bureau of Land Management sites. Eleven started and Five finished the ten days in the Wyoming 'wilderness'. The 'Adventure' was for myself to guide everyone TO the five locations, explain over a period of one year on a website what to expect and had a detailed Itinerary of where we were going and WHAT they could do... if they wanted in these areas. - Some had a mental vision of Boondocking as a catered event with flushing toilets, showers and a camp staff available for touring the area. - Some had a mental vision of Boondocking as a tour guide taking a large group to visit specific sites and entertainment at night. - The 'Five Survivors' as I call them understood what a Boondocking Adventure was and made the best of the trip. Mind you... this was at NO CHARGE, I provided maps, designated campsites I was familiar over a period of ten years as the Best and provided Hospital information, Dump Stations and National Forest Service offices for local maps... if needed. FREE. Yet... some expected the top two options. HERE is your assignment. There are no trick questions. We want to find where we agree and disagree as to the definitions of the next FOUR camping options: 1- Boondocking: 2- Base Camping: 3- Off the Grid: 4- Boondocking Adventure Off the Grid / Base Camping: Olivers are 100%+ capable of doing all of the above. This is not RV Parks, pay to camp with a picnic table and pit toilet, Walmart parking over night (as this can be as good as a RV Park), and catered events you pay $150 a day and get someone with a banjo sing to your for an hour each evening. What are your definitions of the above four camping options? There are no wrong answers... or even right answers. This is a 'learning exercise' at my expense of tent camping and now hauling a 25 foot trailer behind my pickup truck. What would you expect on each option? Where are you in the spectrum of using your Oliver... as of this moment? Have you taken your Oliver out and camped #'s 1 thru 4? IF the brave step forward and make this a Thread worthy of discussion... I will also post a series of photographs of WHAT each of these kinds of sites that fit MY definition. This is for FUN. There is no Final Exam. There are no Quizzes. We cannot have 'mountainborn' do all of the work here. Some of you need to step up and get Oliver's out there where they belong... ANYwhere and EVERYwhere.

Stan... you have great taste in reading material! I will use your reference to pull up some of my favorite topics that Airstream owners find important. Airstream owners have several major topics they consistently bring up: Typical Question: Toilet Paper clogging up their Black Tank, what should I do? Answer: Put all toilet paper used into the trash can next to the stool. No paper down the hatch, you do not have to get your arm into the Black Tank to find the problem. Typical Question: My Marathon trailer tires keep coming apart, wear irregular or have blow outs. Answer: Buy an Oliver. It has 16" Michelins. E Rated. Or replace your D Rated 15" with 16" wheels and 16" Michelin LTX M/S2 tires... like Olivers. Typical Question: Should I have my propane refrigerator operate while pumping gasoline? Could I cause an explosion? Answer: More people die from Food Poisoning. Not from exploding refrigerators near a gasoline pump. Your trailer's refrigerator ignition system is 20 feet or more from your vehicle's fuel tank entry. Maybe you should stay home and worry about meteorites impacting your swimming pool. Typical Question: My tow vehicle is a converted riding lawn mower. Do I need a license plate on my riding lawn mower while towing my 30 foot trailer? Answer: No. You do not need to put plates on your riding lawn mower while towing your trailer. What you do require is an AM/FM radio while you are towing and I include a photograph of my tow vehicle. This is what Ethanol can do to your paint job, while pumping gasoline. ... and please. Detach your trailer when mowing your yard. Been there. Done it. Of course, some of these Q&A's are spoofs... some are not. Let you serious Boondockers figure it out. And Stan... this is our secret. OK?

Reading through the posts this evening I see that jacks need to be lubed periodically. I know that wheel bearings also need annual repacking. What else? It would be nice if there was some kind of list of periodic preventive maintenance items that need to be taken care of. I don't see one in the owners manual. As an old Army guy with lots of motor pool time, I'm all about preventive maintenance. Any thoughts? Mike

I've been working on a maintenance list. The format won't be very pretty, but here it is. It's a work in progress! - EZ Flex: - grease ever 3,000 miles or every 3 months. - Greased following Colorado/Utah trip in June, 2016 at 3400 miles. - Greased again before trip to Grand Tetons on July 28, 2016. - Grease the leaf springs as well - Jack up the trailer so tires are off the ground to grease—to relieve pressure. - Channels under the windows - Clean channels under the windows after every trip - - Sanitize Fresh Water System (pp. 46-47) - - Do it every spring before use. - - Do it after extended periods of non-use - - Bathroom - - Use a mild household foam cleaner periodically to remove soap film. - - Leave door open after shower. - - Leave door open during storage. - - Exterior - - Wax at least once per year. - - Wash the aluminum frame after road use. - - Wheel bearings - - Repack every 6,000 miles and every 6 months. - Torque lug nuts to 95 - - Dinette table - - Store in bed position. - Barker Jacks - Here’s the link for the Barker VIP Power jack owners manual: - https://www.barkermfg.com/uploads/5/4/9/4/54943161/vip_3000_all_pages.pdf Here’s maintenance recommendations from the above owners manual PDF file: “MAINTENANCE: Once a year, the powerhead should be removed and a liberal amount of grease (preferably a grease with high melting point) applied directly to the coupling on which the drive pin rests. DO NOT POUR OIL into top of the jack post. Once a year, the housing cover should be removed and the gears inspected for proper lubrication. Remove 4 screws and tap around edge of housing to free cover. DO NOT insert screw driver blade! (This may damage mating surfaces.) Before replacing cover, clean mating surfaces. If lubrication is needed, use Mobil 460 grease or equivalent.”