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Geo keg, my theory on sewage smell in the trailer involves the p trap in the plumbing. You have the same basic system in your home, i’ve found that if I leave open the shower backup valve or the bathroom sink and kitchen sink stoppers when I dump my waste tanks the water in the p traps sometimes gets sucked out. So now when I dump, or travel down the road, all the valves and drains are closed. Steve

Aftermarket rear airbags..... the only thing reducing the load rating on the PW is the soft springs. With air assist you can level the truck and carry a much heavier load safely, though technically this would not be legal. This is what the Raptor guys do. But I would feel much safer carrying more than the rated payload in a 7000 pound HD truck than a 5600 pound light duty one, since it has such a beefy frame and drivetrain. BTW, the PW comes factory equipped with a stout steel front bumper, 12k winch, heavy skid plates, lift, big AT tires, front and rear differential lockers, swaybar disconnect, etc, and those parts are figured into the payload number, and they have a full factory warranty. So if you bought a regular Ram Bighorn, for example, and then did all the same stuff to it, you would have to subtract off the weight of all that gear from the usable load, probably about 400 or 500 pounds. And it would cost about double. If this sort of truck is what you want, you really can’t match it for the $8000 cost of the Power Wagon package. You can, this year, order a stripped Tradesman with that package, if you wanted a great offroad, no-frills pickup truck, for about $50k MSRP. John Davies Spokane WA

All excellent points John, thanks! Especially the shower drain drying out, we never use it ?‍♂️. That one really makes sense and is most likely my source of the aroma.

If everything is closed up tight and the tank is full, it will not dump very well. There has to be a big opening for outside air to enter to prevent a vacuum from forming. Some air will go back up through your stinky hose if it isn’t blocked by a drooping section full of water, but that isn’t reliable.... Just always pull the isolation valve forward (opens the vent) and don’t worry about plugging the sinks. The air will come down from the roof. You can always run the faucets for a second afterwards, if you want to make sure there is some water in the traps, and that is the time you can add a few ounces of tank deodorizer. Don’t forget the shower trap, if you don’t use the shower that one may dry out through simple evaporation. John Davies Spokane WA

Thanks guys, I love this forum! I will get a grey tank deoderizer and give it a try. The situation has been intermittent but I think John has it nailed with his theory. We had 2 trips over Steven’s Pass on I-90, on hot days. About 3,300 feet of elevation change plus density altitude effects. When my ears were popping the grey tank was burping. My grey tank was about 50% full so the p traps had to have water in them. But, I will try Steve’s idea for dumping with valves closed to maybe avoid sucking the p traps dry. I probably should plug both sinks when I drain the grey tank for insurance of that. Thanks again for your inputs! George

You are smelling gas from the grey water tank. There are four ways for that tank to vent ... through the sink or shower traps, or through the 2” pipe roof vent. (The black tank is always vented through the roof, and through the toilet bowl.) The galley traps and roof vent are closed off when towing because of the grey tank isolation valve. That leaves just the galley sink. If you travel on steep mountains passes or maybe when the weather gets really hot, the tank pressure increases and it may burp stinky gases past the water in the trap and into the galley. The tank needs to have a second OUTSIDE vent in back to prevent this while towing. It is a design flaw and I just don’t understand why they build them this way. All you can do is treat the grey water so it smells like lemon instead of swamp gas. As a test, close your isolation valve, fill the galley sink full and then remove the drain. The water flows out fast then slows way down. Open the isolation valve and the water disappears fast because the trapped air in the tank can now escape out the roof vent. Complain to Oliver. If enough people do, maybe they will correct the defective vent system. I started a thread a couple of years ago suggesting a second vent and most people responding did not feel it is a problem and felt that we should just live with it. But would you tolerate this in your home? John Davies Spokane WA

On the rare occasion that I've had this issue I've used a grey tank deodorant that has taken care of the issue. https://www.amazon.com/Grey-Water-Odor-Control-Treatment/dp/B0006H92QU/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=grey+tank+deodorant&qid=1559393244&s=gateway&sr=8-1 Bill

Ok, everyone. I am going to buy Ken's truck and I finally put a down payment on the Oliver II yesterday. I want to thank everyone for all of your advice over the last few months. This is a big step for me. Nan Wallace

A small Western Oliver Rally, Santa Fe NM.

This is a resolved issue - Thanks for reporting everyone! /CLOSED

Here’s a tip - so long as you buy at least one solar panel the same year as you buy the batteries, you can claim the 30% solar tax credit on the batteries, using your trailer as a second home.

People with more mechanical experience than me may already know this, but I learned the hard way. When you use a grease gun to grease all of the zerks--and there are a lot of them (number and location covered in other posts--Buzzy's, I think), you'll have a lot of trouble unless you use the rear jacks to raise the tires off the ground. This relieves the pressure and allows you to attach and detach the grease gun to the zerks much easier and makes the process of getting the grease into the fittings much easier.