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Well, well, we survived Glacier unscathed. Closest we got to a grizzly was on one of the trails off Going to the Sun Rd. A smallish female (if any griz is small), she was about 75 feet away rooting in the ground for something. We camped in the park with no hookups at all. The solar array performed admirably, despite one day of mostly clouds and late afternoon storms. We are in Saskatchewan tonight, turning the corner South tomorrow. Not sure where we are going, but will start with the Dakotas.

There is just over 3000 miles on my trailer. Today I lubed the shackle bolts, readjusted the wheel bearing nuts (all were very slightly loose), retorqued the shackle and ubolts (most ubolt nuts were slightly loose, two were _really_ loose), and cleaned and waxed both sides of the wheels. I was planning on rotating my spare along with the four main tires, but the wheel is different. Mains are 16x6, ten holes. Spare is 16x7, twelve holes. The back sides are machined differently, tho that doesn't really matter. Has anyone encountered this? Is this an Elite wheel? I have emailed Jason, asking for a replacement.... I will update what happens. Thanks. John Davies Spokane WA

I just mentioned to a prospective Oliver buyer today that you had given me a 15-30 adapter and that it was the first time in 20 years that I had run into the problem. Moral of the story - either make sure that you have it on hand OR make sure that you are in the company of a very nice and generous person that will give you one. Thanks one more time for coming to my rescue. Bill

Oops, I was wrong, it's the round holes by the red caps :) So that's why they weren't turning black :) Looks like your round holes are black like mine. The video shows it about 2 minutes in. I thought they showed the square holes in the PDF... Reed

I went over to the storage yard this morning and took a couple of pictures of the installed vent cover. Hopefully this gives a better idea of what the finished product looks like. Bill

Since I'm not a home decorator nor have I ever had a choice in where things like outlets were placed, I found the whole process of making all these decisions the hardest part of getting my Oliver. I kept telling myself that most of these items could be added later if necessary, but, the perfectionist in me wanted it done right the first time. In the end it all came out well, but, there are still new options or new mods that someone smarter than me has thought of that makes me want to keep working on Twist. Perhaps, for me, that is all part of the experience and makes the whole deal even more fun. I'm excited for both of you - keep us posted on your progress. Bill

Thanks! A description is worth a thousand pictures/words. I'm always looking for things that will simplify jobs and/or automatically keep me from having to remember something. Now I will not have to remember to replace that cover since it will be attached. Bill

Mike, Looks like a great trip!!!!!!! Like the photos, too! If you pass through eastern WY, visiting Devils Tower is nice to see. When we visited South Dakota, camped at Custer State Park. Visited Mount Rushmore, Sylvan Lake, and Badlands. Visited while camping at Custer SP SD: Sylvan Lake SD: Badlands SD:

Not sure what I could 'zoom' in on. Basically on the inside of the cover is a little nub sticking up, with a star shaped hole in it. That hole is designed to take a screw. We used a SS screw so it wouldn't rust. We made the, as you called it, leash out of some paracord (it was actually a piece of what looks like thin camping clothes line). We cut it on an angle and fed that through the crimp on electrical connector. We fed it through until there was a quarter inch sticking out the other end. We crimp a connector on both ends and then light (or melt) the cord so it doesn't pull out. One end goes on the cover, the other over a screw holding the port on. Another locking nut holds it on. The screw and nut are a little loose so that the connector can swivel. I can take a picture if you like, just what to focus on?

Reed & Karen - I've got the T105's and Hydrolink, but, you must have an "improved" version in that mine does not have either of the "indicators" that you mention. In the year and a half that I've owned Twist I've added approximately 1/3 gallon of distilled water and that includes the minor "waste" on each fill from the supply tube. I only popped the cap of one battery one time and the fill was acceptable and the performance of the batteries/solar system has been all that I could ask for. I'll be over at the storage yard tomorrow or Monday and take another specific look just to make absolutely sure of the indicators - you know how us old guys sometimes don't get it right the first time - and let you know if there is any change to my story. Bill

Some good thoughts Chixter. One comment though...just because you buy the AS doesn't mean you will stop visiting this Forum. I know I haven't. Oliver is such a small family, and the members are such educated, free spirited folks you just don't find this anywhere else. I have some good friends and mentors here and I value the relationships even though my egg is silver. All the best. Beware of filiform corrosion.

Mike - if it is legal to do so WalMart just might have the bear spray at a price that is lower than an outfitter. Also, there are some Parks and/or places just outside the Parks that actually "rent" bear spray. Note that most sprays have a three years "life" to them and all that I've purchased over the years have an expiration date on them. So, be sure that you get spray that is "fresh". Bill

Thanks for the suggestion on Bear Spray. I will look for some at the outfitter. It occurs to me that it might prove to be a good non lethal defense weapon at the Ollie door some night We are relaxed now using wifi for likely the last time in several days. We have 3 nights at Glacier then hope to move up into Alberta, turn right to Sach, then right again into the Dakotas. Will post comments and pics as I can.

I think we are talking about two issues here. 1---How to drain the tanks at the dump station quickly and efficiently. Answer: Raise the nose. The more lift, the faster the gray tank will drain. 2---How to maximize the fresh water you have access to. Answer: Raise the nose a little bit above level should do it. (unless your water pump pick-up point is wrong, as may be the case in #200)

There are a number of issues that have been discussed in this thread. 1) Quality Control during the trailer build, especially as Oliver has ramped up production. 2) Communication problems between the sales office and the factory. 3) Potential design flaws in the tanks. 1) Quality Control. We found only a couple of problems in our unit. One of these is a mis-aligned bathroom door latch. We returned to the factory the next day, and they spent an hour trying to fix it quickly, but were not successful. Their solution would be to dismantle and reassemble the door and frame, which they estimated would be four hours. We elected to live with it, as we had camping reservations in Missouri that night, and we needed to return home to Utah for our full time jobs. The Lesson, as several people have advised here, is to plan to spend several days nearby. We did not, and I wish we had. We discovered several other problems after we returned home. Each time Oliver shipped us parts, and for one of the items, offered to pay a local RV shop to perform the installation. That offer shows commitment to the customer and the product. As it turned out, I was able to install things myself. 2) Communication problems. Canoe12 mentioned the problem of the awning that was the wrong color after they made a change order. We had similar issues, where we made several changes subsequent to our initial build order. These changes were listed on the revised excel order sheet the sales office emailed me, but they failed to communicate these changes to the factory. This is a Systems problem, one which I hope Oliver will address. The Lesson for buyers is to specifically ask the sales office staff to communicate these changes to the factory. 3) Potential design flaws in the tanks. I don’t think the tank design has changed between my 2016 unit and the Lukens’ 2017 unit. Grey and black tanks. We have had no problems draining the grey and black tanks, once we learned to raise the nose of the trailer when draining. I did post about the monitor calibration for the grey tank, and how it was not really linear. My solution is to post my graph of Monitor Reading vs Percent Full on the inside of the pantry door, so I can infer a true reading. I did enough research on tank monitors before we decided on the Oliver to know that the See Level Monitor is the best in the industry. Fresh water tank. We have not had the problems that the Lukens describe with the fresh water tank. The problem the Lukens describe will only be apparent when boondocking, and not when using hookups. On our last boondocking trip, we drained our tank to a monitor reading of probably 15-20% capacity, when we went to get more water and pumped it into the tank. I think the Lukens are describing a problem unique to their unit, and I hope it is an easy fix. Thus, in my opinion, this is not a systematic problem or a design flaw. David

Just a thought, but have you actually checked to see how much water was left in the tank when the pump started sucking air? Gauges are known to be defective, if you drain the tank at that point and see how much water is actually left you can determine how accurate the gauge is. I would do that before performing surgery.