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We were at the Bristlecone Pines campground in CA at about 8,500 ft. Got all set up late in the day and I got a campfire going. Then it started to snow. Beautiful. I sat outside in the snow and just marveled at the quiet and the beauty. Poking at the fire and moving closer to stay warm. A libation offered some distraction from the gathering cold and darkness. Liye decided to move inside. Eventually, I moved in too. But looked out the window at the orange glow and fog of snowflakes. Again, totally quiet and we were the only ones there. Miles from anywhere and anyone. The heater clicked on and off during the night and as I noticed it, I also noticed how snug we were. Snow makes the dark forest even quieter. Morning brought the chance to see how much snow we got and start a new adventure going on up to the 10,000 ft level to marvel at the 5,000 year old trees. Bristlecone Pines. One of my favorite places. Through coring and other tree ring methods we can look back 12,000 years with a recorded history. All of this from trees growing in a dolomite soil that was previously a sea bottom. Now, that ancient "sea bottom" is at 10,000 ft elevation. Such are the wonders of the Sierra Nevada Range and plate tectonics. Fun to ponder on a quiet night, camped in the snow with a warm fire crackling. The idea is to lean into it, experience it, marvel at what it is. Try to grasp the enormous amount of time that has passed to form this scene. Living trees that I can reach out and touch, that were alive when the pyramids were being built. But more than that, soil that formed as a sea bed and is now here! Without our beautiful little trailer, we could never come here and have a comfortable winter visit.

Carole, I did send my controller back to Ryan for repair. He had a very quick turn around time to get it back. The big red knob shuts off power coming from the solar array to the controller so with it positioned to OFF that kills incoming power. The other red cable coming out of the controller has an inline circuit breaker at the other end of the cable. It has a little lever that when moved to its other position breaks the circuit and shuts off power going to the batteries and the battery power from reverse feeding the controller. The 2 black cables are for the ground path of the circuit and I think the one coming from battery side has a circuit breaker too that can be opened. (That part is from memory of when I did it last Spring). Take a look at your installation and see if what I have said is similar to what you see. I can take pictures tomorrow and post them if you would like further clarification. The 2 "hot" wires are the red ones. George

We recently got this. works great. Heininger 4040 HitchMate TireStep https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002Z9KE0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_qWD.zbS1XC7CC -Angela

Carole, As outlined above, the simplest way to disconnect is to turn the red knob to off and "trip" (the little yellow flag should pop out) those two circuit breakers. However, if you are still concerned, disconnecting the batteries is not difficult. Open the battery compartment on the outside and slide out the battery tray. Since you have the solar option, I assume that you have four batteries in that compartment. On the front left battery you should see a rather large black cable attached to the front left terminal on that battery. Simply take that cable off the battery but make sure that it does NOT touch any other terminal or anything metal inside the battery compartment. When reattaching this cable you might hear or see a small spark - do not worry about this. Just make sure that the connection is tight and all wires are back into the same position they were in prior to disconnect (helps to take a picture so that you don't have to remember). Bill edit: When re-attaching the cable I'd do the re-attachment before resetting the circuit breakers and turning the red knob back to "on".

Having "missed" one of those little steps on stepping out of a truck several years ago, I can attest to the bigger is better thing. Broken ribs are not a bunch of fun. In my defense - it was dark, rainy and I was in a hurry, but, that didn't make the ribs feel any better. Bill

So long as you only want it to get you over the closed tailgate, that one will work well. But as John points out, the corner steps allow you to use it when the gate is open. Most trucks were made with mounting points so that you should be able to do a no drill installation, that is my criteria for anything, I hate doing holes in original equipment.

I haven’t personally used one, but you need to look for a large grippy platform and a mounting system that eliminates flopping back and forth, and ideally it should work with the gate up or down. These are pricy but they are much better, WAY better, than what you posted. AMP makes top grade accessories like the power retractible side steps you see on lifted trucks.... https://www.pickupspecialties.com/Power_Step/truck_bed_step_bedstep.htm Keep in mind that you will be using it in the dark, when rainy or muddy, and you need to be sure you won’t slip off. That would ruin your day.... there are a whole lot of unsafe, poorly made truck accessories - a step is something that you don’t want to skimp on quality. John Davies Spokane WA

Mine is like in the video. Maybe someone with a newer trailer can help - must be in there somewhere.

Carole, whenever I would remove the controller from the box everything worked. I may have been able to just bend the connectors 90 degrees and reinstalled it, but went with Ryan’s recommendation to send it to him for testing and repair. Once I turned the knob off and popped the two breakers I did cover each connector with tape as I disconnected them. I didn’t try to completely disconnect the batteries from the trailer. Mike

Hi Carole, Sorry to hear of your controller issue but not surprised. Our Olivers were too close in the factory process for ours to have an installation problem and yours not have it. Dang it! Anyway, I agree with what Mike has said and from looking at your pictures you have the same condition that our unit had. Ryan will have you bend the connectors 90 degrees to relieve the stress condition that is put on the controller with the connectors straight. The good news is that once you go through this exercise you should have a functional system that does a great job keeping your batteries charged. We have been quite pleased with our Blue Sky system and AGM batteries since we resolved the controller cables issue. If you have a multimeter you can use it to check for voltage at the connectors before connecting or disconnecting wires. The big red switch/knob and circuit breakers, once depowered, can remain that way until you get the controller reinstalled. Ryan can probably talk you through the power up sequence. It is not instantaneous, and takes a bit of time for the controller to sort out battery state, solar input, etc. Let us know how it all works out. George

Carole, we had the same problem. The way the controller was installed bent the four big cables enough that there was too much pressure on the circuit board. Read through the thread at the bottom. To disconnect the controller from power turn the big red knob to off and pop the two circuit breakers. Buzzy explains where they are in his video on the thread. I had mine back in about a week. Then, bend the connectors 90 degrees like in the photos before reinstalling. Our solar works like a champ now. Mike Read through this thread: http://olivertraveltrailers.com/topic/solar-charger-not-working-hull-178-blue-sky-system/

Whoa.....????

Sorry to come so late to this discussion, but here are my 2 cents worth: Consider the composting toilet. We are happy with ours. Consider the water saved and no need to find a safe and legal place to dump the black water. We too pull with a Tundra and found the Anderson hitch unnecessary. I did install the electronic Sway Master for added safety and am happy with its performance thus far. (I would guess that Oliver would install it--for a price--if asked.) I also installed a tire pressure monitoring system and am very happy with it, knowing that my tires are properly inflated at all times. I think that Oliver should have this as an option--like the rear-view camera and monitor, which we have and appreciate. --Jeff

Spike and Randy - If you are REALLY into fireflys then you have just got to see the blue ones. Yes, blue instead of the normal green/yellow. Google it. Bill

John - down the drain with the grey. Never had a problem, but, as Sherry points out, I've never had below freezing temps for days on end either. Sherry - Since I put the water container on the toilet seat, I've not used them directly in the on-board toilet. I would have thought that the plastic bags were too deep but, of course, one could always simply fold the excess top of the bag over the top of the toilet. And, since Reed has actually done it this way without problems, it obviously works. Perhaps now I'll have to find a new place for my water container (or simply move it when nature calls). Note that these bags are not cheap, but, if used more than once they provide an easy way to take care of things while still leaving the camper protected. I also use these in the Summer while fishing out West. When boondocking I set up my shower tent for my solar shower and (like Reed) to keep the black tank from getting "over loaded" by simply using my "seat" and these bags in the shower tent. Bill

The aluminum frame is a new idea on a new trailer brand. No history of what might be a problem and no clear guidelines from the manufacturer. They have even made design changes over the model years and are probably just winging it. The front section seems incredibly strong and well thought out, while the rear is minimal. If there is a devil in the details, it's the welding. I want to lean toward less modifications and holes in the frame. It seems really well built, but I have wondered about the welds, and the frame does a lot of flexing. It's also interesting that the frame acts in a different manner than any other trailer frame I've seen. It supports a relatively stiff structure (the trailer body) and transfers the towing strain from the tow vehicle to the steel suspension subframe that the whole system is sitting on. This system is more like a boat on a boat trailer than a conventional travel trailer frame. One of the reasons I did not want to install a propane quick disconnect somewhere other than in the front, was my aversion to drilling holes in the frame. The only way I can conclude that the frame has no weak points is to give it lots of time and see no cracks. But I'll never say "go ahead and drill where you want, no problem". It's impossible to determine the margin of safety at any given point. Please be careful and I understand your concern.

John When I purchased my Ollie, I wanted outriggers on my trailer. I needed brackets installed for the outriggers. I was told by Oliver sales that modifications such as I requested may void the warranty. You may want to contact Oliver to make sure there is no adverse impact regarding warranty, service issue, etc.

I did it in my Casita once, but it doesn't get that cold here, maybe mid 20°s for a week some years. It's not that hard to rewinterize, go camp in style, use the Suburban floor heater to keep the pipes from freezing if you're in that low of temps. You can save the antifreeze and re-use it if needed. We are not winterizing, we're going South :) Reed

I've not had the chance (yet) to do a bunch of cold weather camping in Twist. However, the one trip that I did do last year, I left the Oliver winterized, heated water on the stove for bathing duties. I do not have a composting toilet, but I do have a collapsible "seat" that holds plastic bags. I purchased a product (https://www.amazon.com/Reliance-Products-Double-Doodie-Toilet/dp/B0024O0W94/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1509663133&sr=8-11&keywords=camping+toilet ) at either WalMart and/or Amazon that absorbs moisture and reduces odor. My Mr. Buddy heater takes care of just keeping the chill off when I don't want to run the full furnace. Finally, I use 8 gallon plastic water containers that I got from WalMart. I keep one in the bed of the truck 3/4 full and the other I keep inside the Oliver (on the toilet seat). Bill

Thanks Angela. Yes there is a story. Our mom passed away in December 2014 (at 80). She had always dreamed of traveling in an RV after retirement but that never worked out for her. She had a thing for ladybugs (and moose). This is our way of bringing her along on our travels. One thing I have learned (as a breast cancer survivor) is you have to live your dreams while you can. My sister is retiring in May and our longer travels will start then. But in the meantime we will learn the Ladybug's systems and camp on the weekends all around the Atlanta area. Hope to see you on the road. Robin