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For those interested in the 140 x 140 Clam Shelter, my CamelCamelCamel account just notified me that the the price has been reduced to $186 on Amazon. It had been priced at $250-270. (If you want to follow the price of an item over time check out https://camelcamelcamel.com, where you can also set up alerts for price drops.) [attachment file=Screen Shot 2018-11-11 at 8.46.32 PM.png]

Expo was a mud pit, as usual. I don't see how the sponsors put up with it. A few interesting things here and there but not much new. We got a Friday day pass and the only reason we went is because we had planned a week in the Smokies and it was right nearby. I doubt we'll go again, at least not for some time. I really wanted to spend some time looking at the Earth Cruisers, Earth Roamers, etc. in detail to see how they did things - ideas for future mods and upgrades - but tbh there wasn't anything obvious that would be practical to copy. The Black Series seem well built enough. It's hard with that sort of construction, both in and out, to tell how well it's put together without really spending some time. But everything felt solid. They told me that they just finished their US production line so they'll all be made here. The story I was told was that a Chinese investor bought the rights to produce and sell them in the US. They're selling direct right now, but I have no idea what their plans are. The factory is in California - the rep told me that they wanted to keep clear of Elkhart, which is a good sign. All the units they had at the Expo had the heavy duty XO jacks.

Sanitizing the fresh water system is part of the standard Maintenance routine. Got this checklist from Warren Parlee a while ago. Good Luck, Scotty Sanitizing the Fresh Water System 1 Frequency: Twice per year. 2 Materials: Bleach, 3 ft. hose, Gallon size pail, Vinegar. · Prepare the bleach mixture by multiplying the tank capacity (32.5 gallons for Elite II) by 0.13. The resulting value of 4.2 ounces of bleach is added to one gallon of water. · Using the 3 ft. hose, add the bleach mixture to the fresh water tank via the (EZ) Winterizing System. · Finish filling the tank with water. · Run each of the faucets (including the outside shower) until you can smell bleach. · Let the water stand in the system for 4 hours. (Double the formula for one-hour standing time.) · Drain using the drain petcock on the bottom of the fresh water tank. (See Ollie owner manual.) · Refill the fresh water tank using one quart of vinegar to five gallons of water. Add vinegar via the (EZ) Winterizing System. · Run the vinegar mixture through the system. (Caution: Do not let the water pump run dry!) · Fill the tank with water and flush the water out again. · Refill with clean water. · That’s it! Warren Parlee 07/18/2016

Steve & Kelly - Welcome! Glad that you are here and ask away. Yes, you are on the right track. All but the fresh tank is taken care of by simply hooking the RV to a fresh water supply (house or campground faucet) and running water through those lines. Every so often I tend to forget about flushing out the line to the outside shower, but that is easily taken care of when the time comes. As far as the fresh water tank goes it is also easy. First you flush it with fresh water in a similar manner to the rest of the water lines. Then, particularly if you intend to drink water from this tank, you should sanitize that tank. A number of videos on YouTube will lead you to the proper amount of bleach and methods of letting that solution sit in the tank prior to flushing. That's it. Bill

Bill, I weighed the Ollie I with full water and supplies for a multi month excursion and came up with 3900 pounds. It was pulled 111,000 miles with a 2008 Tacoma Prerunner which had a V6 4.0L engine. Although it was not a 4x4, I put an Eaton Industries limited slip differential in and it was great on steep gravel roads when needed. I allowed the rig to slow down a bit going up the mountains so the engine wouldn't be screaming, and enjoyed being able to manually shift into lower gears while heading down the backside. The truck now has 240,000 miles on it and is running perfectly. But . . . it pulled the Ollie from Florida to Washington and California to Newfoundland and has earned its retirement to become a local driver and eventually go to a grandkid. I decided to go with an F150 FX4, for a bit more storage space and better mountain performance. It maintained the posted speed limit effortlessly while going uphill on this year's trip to Alaska. The bells and whistles are pretty cool, as well. My trailer's fresh water tank is usually full, to lower the center of gravity and give me more options of where to stop for camping. One other reason I swapped from Toyota to Ford, was the new Tacomas have a smaller displacement engine, a 3.5L, and has more torque than my 2008 4.0L. Because I tend to keep my vehicles a very long time, I wasn't sure how the smaller engine would do with the very large towing requirement I would be putting on it. The F150 5.0L suits my needs very well and it got the same, or slightly better mileage than the Taco on this year's trip. Pete

Not sure of the answer to that. But... I just looked at the new pictures of the LE2 on the website and it looks like they made an improvement to the trim. Our 2016 had very thin plastic trim. It started to crack after the first year. I pulled it off and just left it bare for a while but then the fiberglass started to rub so I knew I had to make this upgrade. For new owners... if you are in the ordering stage... I would not worry about this. If Oliver beefed up the trim and that works for you .. fine. If not... it's an easy cheap upgrade. Either way it will be all good. Scotty

My Suburban heater has the hidden electric element switch ... not really hidden, but really hard to see since it is buried up and out of sight, unless you squat down low. The normal convention for all Single Pole switches (in this country) is for UP to be ON. The Suburban switches are backwards. It is important to leave the outside heater switch turned OFF when you have drained the tank, so that somebody cannot inadvertently close the inside circuit breaker (where ON is UP) and burn out the element when you are hooked to shore power. Without water in the tank, the element will burn out in a minute less than no time, as Mr Rodgers said. [attachment file=HWH label annotated.jpg] [attachment file=HWH Switch location.jpg] This way I can feel with my finger and verify it is switched off. A replacement element is less than $20 so it isn't a disaster if you do screw up. Just frustrating. It would be nice if this switch was visible and oriented correctly. I suppose you could rotate it 180 degrees, but that would cause problems if you took it to a shop and they were used to the wrong "normal" orientation. I got this following tip from another member: color the door latch! Switch turned OFF: [attachment file=HWH Switch OFF.jpg] Switch turned ON: [attachment file=HWH Switch ON.jpg] I used a black Sharpie instead of red. I figured the red would turn pink quickly. Interesting side note. I found this comment on an electrical forum about switch orientation (in a circuit breaker panel): "The reason that "down for off" is correct is for when you are being electrocuted whilst working on the fusebox, you can pull down on the switch by so doing cut the power as you slide down the wall..." LOL. John Davies Spokane WA

I have a number of owners who have asked me to craft shower mats for them therefore, I going to open this up for everyone. My shower mats are made from Honduran mahogany in a crosshatch pattern. Designed and assembled using over 40 precision shiplap joints with brass screws and no glue, making them lightweight and very strong. They fit your Oliver shower floor perfectly, stay put during travel and will last for year to come. The crosshatch pattern drains away water quickly and keeps you from standing in water. Their rubber feet protect your shower pan and provide a non-slip grip. Cost $185 plus UPS charges to ship to your address. If you would like one, please contact me at cell 516 635-5656 or email 48ocean@gmail.com Please note: These are wood and as such will need a little care from time to time. After each shower, simply tilt the mat up toward your closet wall and let it dry. Every few months scrub them with a soft bristle brush let dry complete and apply a light coat of mineral oil.