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Hi Everyone, Thought I'd pass along kudos for a couple of service outlets in western Arizona. We pulled our Ollie (Hull 294) out of storage last week near Lake Havasu City, AZ. I had made arrangements for SHADOW TRAILERS in the town to handle the Dexter axle recall. Both Shanna (front desk) and Jeremy (service tech) were as nice and customer service oriented as they could be. I highly recommend this place if you find yourself near Lake Havasu City and in need of service. Nikki at Dexter was also very pleasant to work with. BTW, I did do the visual check and found one missing nut. Jeremy also found two others that were out of torq spec. All is good now. Incidentally, ours wasn't the first Ollie to receive the recall work there. Apparently, just the day before, another Ollie rolled in for the same work. Also, if you are ever near Parker, AZ, and are looking for service, we had a great experience dealing with Jason (no, not THAT Jason) at Accurate RV & Marine. We had both a fridge and a furnace problem, and he took care of both very efficiently. He's been there 30 years and really knows his stuff. Stay safe on the road.....

New Zealand has excellent healthcare and educational systems at any time. I am sure they are taking wonderful precautions for their citizens and visitors alike. I hope they both have a glorious time!!

Use the hitch, at least for first few trips. Then you can disconnect the chains and see how it feels without them. I bet you and your passengers will like it a whole lot better with the Andersen hooked up, especially on deteriorating, choppy freeways. https://auto.howstuffworks.com/auto-parts/towing/equipment/hitches/towing-weight-distribution-systems.htm FYI: Your 2016 GC has a 115 " wheelbase. The shortest 2016 F150 Supercab or Crew model is 145", and they go up to over 160". My heavy body-on-frame Land Cruiser is even shorter than your Jeep at 112" Even with a super light tongue weight, there is no way I would feel safe towing without the Andersen. Short wheelbase vehicles are inherently way less stable and controllable when used for towing substantially more than their own weight Enjoy your Ollie, do you have some pics you can share? John Davies Spokane WA

We went with the WiFi Ranger and cell booster. I think I turned the cell booster on once. We use the WiFi ranger with the LTE upgrade module installed. So basically we have a roof-mounted LTE hotspot. It's able to get signal when phone inside have limited or even no data. We run the Millenicom $70/mo plan and we stream all our TV shows over that or campground wifi -- usually the Millenicom plan is faster than campground WiFi. I also work from the road over the connection and it's pretty solid for that.

John, That link was extremely helpful for someone like me who is new to weight distribution hitches. Thank you for posting, David

Check to make sure you don't violate the: Tow Rating TV Gross Vehicle Weight Rating TV Gross Rear Axle Weight Rating TV dead hitch rating Our Lincoln Navigator L (aka Expedition MAX) was OK on all 4 when I shifted weights around enough. It still felt MUCH better with the Anderson on and I didn't have to worry as much about how precisely I was at 10% on the tongue weight.

I can confirm overlands comment on the tax deductibility of the factory installation of the solar package, battery upgrade and the inverter for the tax year 2017, didn’t try including the generator. On a side note, “my” theory on the change of battery suppliers is related to the failure rate of the Trojan agm batteries, mine included, I have since switched to Trojan t105’s ( wet cells).

When I switched from my previous 1/2 ton GMC to my 2500 GMC I used the Anderson a few times - mainly for comparison with/without. About the only difference with it - was the rig felt a little more steady, solid at speed, but not much. The 1/2 ton got a lot of benefit with the WDH, and I would have used it religiously. For anyone needing a WDH, I'll let mine go - cheap. I do not have a use for it with the larger truck. RB

My personal feeling is anything under a 3/4 ton pickup needs a WDH for towing the Oliver. There are many vehicles that people are using for tow vehicles and not using a WDH, will they work, yes on paper they say they will work, but good towing sense says, get the WDH and add a good safety margin above and beyond the factory specs that are for your vehicle. trainman

And Lastly - I got a response from RDV bearings the Amazon seller - they stated " these are 100% GENUINE TIMKEN BEARINGS MADE IN USA" Timken has asked me to send a few pics of the bearings and packaging - which are very similar to those John D posted, but with the additional QR stamp. I am thinking the bearings are as advertised. All have a great day, go camping, which will help one stay away from crowds. Sounds good. RB

Hey, folks. Just a quick tip about a situation I ran into this week. Symptoms were: - no working AC power outlets and oven down when disconnected from shore power despite the inverter LED being green when enabled - working AC power when connected to shore power - no error codes on the inverter LED in the attic (status "E 0") I checked the GFCI in the dinette area, toggled all of the breakers in the fuse box under the dinette, and checked the fuses + fuse block with multimeter, and then called Oliver Service. Solution: It turns out the inverter (street side, under the bed, and mounted against the wall of the walkway) has a built-in GFCI which had tripped. Simple matter of resetting it. I read through the manuals and never noticed any mention of this GFCI but its possible I overlooked it in my haste. Big thanks to Jason @ Oliver Service for his help!

Just guessing here, but I would think the 5 core ply would have a flatter appearance. Less deflection, and easier to attach hooks and towel racks in the bathroom, hooks in the main cabin, and a door and trim pieces. The core I cut out looked at least like cabinet grade, and hopefully a marine equivalent glue. The Oliver family of companies appears well versed in the use of fiberglass and it's possible limitations...

All good stuff, -- John - you make a good point - is this really all that important - probably not as much as it is made out to be. I have wondered about the position Dexter takes with their supplier - and considering the shear number of components they sell, they must have done due diligence on the quality and reliability of the bearings in their components. I'll continue to monitor the wheel at each stop, and use the pressure/temp system to monitor while moving. Perhaps I will catch a catastrophic failure before it happens. However, the frustration we feel when trying to verify authenticity is real - and unfortunately permeates every facet of the consumer driven society. I may keep on this journey - just to find out the answer. It pisses me off that somewhat (or better) intelligent folks..... have such a hard time trying to find out this answer. Thanks too all for the comments. RB

I can see something being fairly viable in the near future, Just don't think I'll be in the first adopter group. I would like a smaller SUV electric if we were to stay in one general area. To be 20 again, my these would have been a good option. RB

Hi everyone, Searched the forum for this subject and did not find anything on it thus far. Recently purchased the Honda EU 22001 and its companion for some boondocking we'll be doing this weekend. Owner's manual says not to use the eco-throttle for 'high energy using appliances'. Not sure what that means - and/or how to qualify. Best I can tell, I should be able to hook the two units together, turn the eco-throttle to 'on' on both units, and be good to go. When the AC powers up [we do have the soft start and solar set up]...the gens do their thing and we're good to do. Any reason to be concerned with this that you know of? Your expertise is much appreciated. Thanks!

Have pretty much decided on the Honda EU2200i generator for our Ollie but was at an outdoor show yesterday and was talking to the vendor and he said I should purchase the EU2200i first and then purchase the EU2200i Companion later if I needed the additional power. I questioned why I wouldn't purchase the "companion" model first as it already has the 30 AMP female built into to it. He tried to tell me why using the 30 AMP plug would only give me half of the rated power and that I could use an adaptor on the standard model to use a 30 AMP cord. I said "OK" but when I do that, doesn't the "standard"model also only the deliver half the rated power?? He admitted "yes". Then I said, "then why wouldn't I purchase the model that has the female receptacle built-in vice purchasing the one that I would have to use an adaptor?" He was perplexed since I had taken him out of his comfort zone since I was taking him off of his rehearsed script. Now having said that, I did note that the standard model does have a 12V DC charging port which the Companion model does not. In my mind, that would be the only compelling reason to purchase that one first. I'm new to all of this; can someone tell me which way to go and why? BTW: The "Show" price for the standard was $899. The Companion price was $999. This is the lowest I've ever seen for these units. Does anyone else know of a source for these at this price? I would have to drive 2 hours each way to go back and purchase. Thanks, Hobo