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Showing content with the highest reputation on 01/18/2021 in all areas

  1. I will be checking the logs and server to see what's going on first thing in the morning. Thanks for letting me know!
    4 points
  2. FYI boondocking (and hunting, backpacking and other outdoor activities) is always a whole lot easier when you are located near Federal lands - BLM, Forest Service, BOR, COE, etc etc.. and to a much lesser degree, State lands. Unfortunately that does not include Texas; when it became a state in 1845 the government began selling off almost all of the 200,000,000 acres of public lands to pay for expenses, like a new Capital building. So most of those blank areas on the map, with the exception of designated parks, are privately owned. https://www.adventure-journal.com/2016/04/texas-as-model-for-public-lands-think-again/ For true boondocking meccas, you need to shift further west and north. I am not putting Texas down as a destination, but you will have fairly limited camping choices compared to the very red states. BTW, do you have a Federal Senior (aka Geezer) Pass? I will not ask your age, but if you are 62+, that will save you a TON of money, with free admission to National Parks, and half off camping rates at almost all Federal campgrounds, like the most excellent COE ones. Around here those are typically $18 per night, no hookups, and the rate drops to $9 off season, and you only pay half of that. A great bargain! https://www.nps.gov/planyourvisit/passes.htm John Davies Spokane WA
    2 points
  3. A moving mast will not work well with a directional antenna. Think of a flashlight - the radio signal is focused. The width of the radio beam depends upon the design of the antenna. An omnidirectional antenna is less problematic on a moving mast, and will probably work fine. The radio wave pattern is dependent upon the installation and antenna design, also. An omnidirectional antenna sends the signal out in a 360 degree pattern, or at least that's the theory, but again dependent upon installation factors. The radio signal won't be as "intense" as with a directional antenna, but with a directional antenna you need to know where the cell tower/weefee antenna is located. If you know that, then the window mount mimo directional antenna might be adequate. Still, it depends upon so much more, such as is the physical terrain open, trees, campsite in a valley, boondocking, in a park with a known internet connection and cell tower, etc. I play ham radio, at the frequency ranges of weefee and cell phone at times. I regularly put up 20' antenna masts for a few hours. I use both directional and omnidirectional antennas, depending upon what i want to do. Even directional antennas have a variety of radio wave pattern, which controls the effective gain of the antenna.
    2 points
  4. Here are few pix of my stainless counter top. It was upgraded after this pic with a barrier on the right side to prevent spills and a nicer faucet. The microwave cabinet was a very successful upgrade. It gave more counter space, a place for knives and utensils, a wine rack and a secure microwave that could not fall out of the cabinet. The microwave that came in my Ollie, tried to jump out of the cabinet twice.
    2 points
  5. Oliver Owners, We picked up our new trailer (Legacy Elite I #664) on Sept 16, 2020 and have been using it on/off since this date. Overall, our experience has been wonderful and the quality of the trailer has been much better than what we have read about other manufacturers. In an attempt to help others with our recent learnings, I am listing some of the items were have learned about, fixed, and/or submitted a tickets for: Initial Pickup: - The bathroom interior window frame was bent due to being over tightened - Jason and the person showing us the trailer located a new frame and installed. - Window shade over the rear driver's side window had damage to the felt liner at the bottom of the night shade. - Orientation team replaced. First Night Camp @ Davy Crockett State Park: - Noticed that the propane alarm was not on. - Contacted Jason via telephone and he walked me through installing the 1A fuse that was included in the box of spare fuses provided. The fuse holder is located under the dinette seat and is somewhat hard to find as it is black and not easy to see. - Upon opening the rear compartment door, the bracket where the wire attaches to keep the door from swinging down came unglued. - Contacted Jason to let him know and he said they would send me some epoxy to fix. Ended up purchasing some a few weeks after getting back home as it never arrived. I let Jason know we no longer needed as I had fixed per his recommendation of Gorilla 2 part epoxy. - Shower floor squeaks a lot - Contacted Oliver Service and have a ticket for them to repair when we take the trailer back to TN for its annual checkup. According to Jason, the squeak is most likely from the shower tub not being cut correctly or the padding under it not installed correctly. No biggie for now as we have learned to live with it knowing that it will get fixed. If your spouse decides to use the bathroom at night, It will wake you up. No liquids right before bedtime. 🙁 First Long Drive from TN to AR: - Had someone flag us down and let us know that the rear compartment door had come open during travel. Upon pulling over and inspecting, we noticed that the screws had come loose on the latch and allowed the door to open with the latch locked close. I was lucky enough to have some blue lock-tight with me to use on the screws when retightening. No further issues experienced. We let Oliver know that this happened and they indicated that lock-tight should have been added to the screws at the factory. I am confident they put new procedures in place to keep this from happening again. First Time Back Home: - Spent time learning about the solar system, inverter, appliances, etc.... - Realized that both the Solar Controller and the Inverter were both set to flooded batteries vs. the AGMs we had installed. Changed both to AGM. No issues noted so not sure if it really mattered. Texas State Park Close to Home: - Noticed a small gap at the top of the external door window frame. - Contacted Oliver and was told that the frames are designed to click together but requires special plastic keys to take the frame off to inspect. From my reading this is a common thing from the door factories with the tabs getting broken. We tried several time to get the internal frame to snap together with the external frame. No luck. Contacted Oliver again and Jason said he would have a new frame (and plastic keys) sent to us so we can repair/replace. The suppliers are backed up, so it has now been two months with the door window frame and glass loose. I was successful in learning that there is a supplier zarcor.com that has the window frames (Lippert) in stock and can be purchased/delivered within a couple of days. We will most likely end up just ordering and replacing as they also offer a clear tinted glass and window shutter for the door. There is another post in this forum with pictures if you are interested. Being that this repair is taking a long time to get resolved, I would recommend anyone picking up their trailer inspect this and have it repaired before taking delivery. Arkansas State Park (Crater of Diamonds): - Upon arrival at the State Park we noticed that the trailer was squeaking loudly with every small bump in the park. Upon inspection, I did not notice any lose bolts, nuts, fittings on the suspension. We contacted Jason at Oliver and he had not heard of anyone having this problem before. We ducked our heads down and slowly made it to our campsite without disturbing the other campers throughout the park. We did get some stares tho with the squeaks. Once setup, I made a quick trip to the local hardware store to purchase a small grease gun/grease, 90-degree zerk fitting as the zerks are not accessible without having the pull the tire off, and some dry lube spray. Utilized to the stabilizers to take some weight off the trailer and utilized the grease gun. Fun fact - the top zerk fitting (wet bolt) that attaches to the frame bracket actually serves no purpose as the bolt is not contained within a bushing (Only on the single axle trailers). I would not recommend you go to town putting grease in this wet bolt as the grease will just exit the bolt and make a nice stream of grease falling on the lower spring eye. Not sure why dexter/oliver designed it with a wet bolt in this location. Sad part is that, the squeak we had was between the shackle and the trailer frame bracket and without the trailer bracket having a bushing there is no real way to get grease between the two. Only option at this point was to use the dry lube spray. Happy to say that this resolved most of the squeak until we could get back home (~400 miles). Upon getting home, I used a spray can of Fluid Film to spray down the area between the shackle and trailer bracket. No more annoying squeak! I have some pictures on another computer that I can attach at a later time if you are curious. Other trips - Nothing new to report beyond what has already been said above. Improvements - As recommended by others on this forum, we did go ahead and install the black window seals available on pellandent.com due to some of the white window seals had stains on them from the factory and were cut about 1" too short. I must say that the black seals look much better and should eliminate an excess amount of water needing to travel through the window drains due to them now being long enough. If you do a search on this forum for pellandent you will see some pictures posted by others. Once again, the point of this post is to inform others of our experience and to share some of the things we have learned. As with anything, enjoying life comes with opportunities to improve oneself and help others on their journey. Mark
    1 point
  6. This, I like - I never cared much for Oliver's sink and faucet choices and I'd actually planned to supply them a sink and faucet to get installed on the line. Unfortunately the one I wanted wouldn't work and I was having trouble getting the proper dimensions from Oliver, so I just let it go and figured I'd replace it later. Well, that was a good idea until I realized that the cutout Oliver made for the sink was way too big for any of the bar sized sinks that I could find. And all of the full sized kitchen sinks were too big to fit. But finally I stumbled across this oversized bar sink from Franke. It's the 17" Franke Vector. Overall, it's the same width as the existing sink, but the lip is narrower, so the bowl itself is a bit wider. Mainly the sink is much longer and deeper. In overall volume, it's over twice as large as the original sink, but takes up no more counter space. Can't beat that. And because it's farther forward and 3" deeper, it doesn't splash all over the place like the original. In fact, I can even turn the faucet up all the way without it splashing over the front of the sink, which is novel. I like the Franke sinks in that they have the straight sides and look of a modern zero radius sink, but they do add a slight radius to the corners so that you can actually keep them clean. Installation wasn't too hard. I'd rate it 7/10. The difficulty was that I had to modify the base cabinet for it to fit. There's a wood brace running across the top front that is screwed to the fiberglass beneath the drawer trim, which had to be cut out, and also a portion of the left side of the cabinet. That sounds like a lot of structural support to remove, but the cabinets are mainly tied in at the bottom and I ran it past Jason beforehand to make sure I wasn't looking at it wrong. I have to say that the cabinets are stoutly built, and I'm not at all worried about it. The second problem I ran into was that my countertop wasn't perfectly flat. It bowed down in the middle slightly which wasn't apparent until I installed the sink. But I was able to temporarily shim the counter against the top of the cabinet while the silicone seal dried and then I glued PVC blocks around the perimeter of the sink to both hold it in place and to level the counter. The Franke sinks have an odd installation clip that wasn't designed with hollow core fiberglass in mind, so the blocks were necessary anyway. It's not going anywhere now. Of course I lost use of the flip out drawer but I hated that thing anyway. I glued a few ½" blocks to the front of the sink and then fixed the drawer front to the blocks with heavy duty velcro, just in case I ever need to remove it for some reason. The sink depth worked out perfectly with the existing cutout on the back of the middle drawer to clear the drain. I thought I was going to have to get a Hepvo trap to make it all clear but Oliver actually places the trap behind the cabinet, so no problem. I did have to get the narrowest profile elbow I could find to attach to the drain basket, so I had to go with cheap plastic rather than PVC, but such is life. At the end of the day, however, I decided to use a different drain basket that was a bit deeper, so I had to make the drawer cutout about a half inch deeper after all. The faucet is a Grohe that I found on sale at Home Depot for about half price, so that was a nice find. It has a really nice feel to it and unlike the sink, was a cinch to install. Grohe has a trick installation method that allows you to work from above so that one person can do it without crawling under the counter a hundred times. Oliver's hot and cold lines are convenient to get to and there's an access panel in the back of the cabinet that can be removed if you need more room to work. The only issue I ran into was that the counterweight for the sprayer was getting caught up on everything that's packed in the back of the cabinet. To fix it, I made a tube from some flexible plastic sheeting that I had lying around and just slid that over the sprayer hose. Now the hose slides easily inside the tube and as a benefit, the weight won't bang around inside the cabinet while traveling. So that's about it. I've learned that I don't have the patience or foresight to take progress pictures Like John does, so my description will have to do. But I'm happy to answer any questions.
    1 point
  7. I have a roughly 6 inch by 2 foot area of Gelcoat under my dinette seat that is dull. It's not easy to see without the right light angles, but you can make it out in the photo, especially where the reflection of the space heater is interrupted. According to OTT Service, it was likely an area that was missed or not completed when being built - not a big deal to repair. When it comes to buffing Gelcoat, there are tons of choices and some are better than others on white, so I asked OTT Service what they currently use in-house. They use a product called Buff Magic (https://www.amazon.com/Shurhold-Yacht-Brite-YBP-0101-Magic/dp/B001HBQDO8). I'm going to give it a try. As a bonus it also cleans and shines metals.
    1 point
  8. This is reply is not state park related, but if you are not familiar with Texas you should know that we have a chain of gas stations here called Bucees. IMO they set the benchmark for all other gas stations that I have visited. You might keep their locations in mind when planning your routes in Texas. They have started expanding outside of Texas too. Mike
    1 point
  9. Lol - yes, it's a mod, but actually a rather easy one. Mike explained it pretty well - just add hinges to one of the pantry counters. When we bought ours, Oliver gave you a choice for the cooktop orientation. I may be wrong, but I think ours is the original orientation, then people started asking for it to be turned so that the glass acted as a barrier to the beds, and then eventually the option became the standard. Here's the original thread on it. FWIW, it's easily one of my favorite mods. That little bit of extra counter space makes a huge difference.
    1 point
  10. We stayed at Monahans Sand Dunes State Park. It’s just off the freeway (I-20). Some of the sites were hard to get into and there is a lot of sand, everywhere! It was good for an overnight. We’ve not stayed at Lake Colorado. The annual pass is a good idea.
    1 point
  11. He made it. The Elite II does not come with this. If you take the surface piece under the pantry, add some hinges and attach it to the side of the kitchen you’ve got it. I think you can buy an extra one from Oliver. I’ll leave the rest to Overland on his mod. Mike
    1 point
  12. Our 2020 Elite II does not have this. The stove is also oriented differently so that the splash guard opens up to "protect" the bed from grease splashes. This must be an older feature - or more likely something Overland added to make us all jealous. 🙂
    1 point
  13. Yes Geezer Passed! Just barely, I will add. Heh. I don't act like a geezer though. Not that anyone asked. This is great info, and I have so much bookmarked and have bought passes and memberships so I can be "prepared." The problem is with everything else I have to do to go FT, I have not had time to read much of anything. This forum is the main place I check. Because, fellow Ollie owners and just a great forum. I am "domiciling" only in TX (you have to pick a state when you're FT, and tax considerations etc. factored in). Once I know what I'm doing with the trailer/RVing and being FT and have domiciled (that should be done by mid Feb), I will definitely be heading north to check out the types of places you posted about.
    1 point
  14. Bill, I don't mind AT ALL! I hope you get some good replies, as I am interested in all areas that even sort of meet my main wishlist (must: dog ok) criteria, but also any OTHER TX places that people personally stayed at and loved. I joined the TX State Parks membership thing, on their website, annual pass. Also have a few other memberships. There are so many apps and sites it's unreal. But I wanted to ask Ollie owners in particular (obviously) or I would not have posted here. :-) Sheri
    1 point
  15. SherMica, Hope you don't mind me asking questions about camping in some TX State Parks, too. We're planning to camp in SW Texas during the next month. Does anyone have additional information on the following Texas State Parks? Monahans SP TX & Lake Colorado SP TX Thanks,
    1 point
  16. Texas is large and diverse. West Texas has dry arid areas plus mountains - Davis Mountains, Guadalupe Mountains, Franklin Mountains. Up near Amarillo you have Palo Duro Canyon (second largest in US behind Grand Canyon) and Caprock Canyons. You have beaches and saltwater coast starting at Houston going across to Corpus Christi and on down to South Padre Island. Pine woods are in east Texas near Arkansas and Louisiana. Texas Hill Country is where we live, between San Antonio, Austin and Fredericksburg. We’ve stayed mostly in Texas State Parks, probably about 25 so far. Some have FHU, some W/E and some nothing. Some are close to civilization and some in the middle of nowhere. It depends on how you define civilization. Texas State Parks are reasonable, the highest you’ll pay for a FHU site is $30. We stayed at Franklin Mountain State Park for $7/night (no hookups). There are a bunch in between. Caddo Lake State Park in east Texas, near Uncertain, has huge pine trees and lots of water. Davis Mountain State Park is just north of Big Bend National Park and is near Marfa. We liked Palo Duro State Park and Caprock Canyon State Park. It all depends what you are looking for. There are state parks around Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, El Paso, Amarillo, etc.
    1 point
  17. Wooooo.... Texas is a big state. Tip to tip (E-W, W-E) about 40+ times in the last several decades. Lots of piney woods - if that's your thing, _ East Texas - Lake of the Pines has few places, All the way down the LA/TX border, just too many to mention. Some cool places around Big Bend. It would be much simpler to know which part of the Lone star state you will be exploring. Other than a few places in West TX - Verizon is everywhere - can't remember last time I lost a signal - perhaps - Big Bend I think. I love the term civilization - one persons sample is another's desolate wasteland. One area I have on my list to explore -NW corner of the panhandle - above Amarillo. And one winter down on the SW coastal areas. You asked for specifics I know - One can spend many months there and still have much to explore. I once lost a Winnebago MH in Houston - long story - but we found it later that night - right where we left it. Ha Ha it involved Rugby and - well you can imagine. RB
    1 point
  18. I have no personal knowledge of either, they appear to be very similar, I think the Ramp Cleat version I am looking at has wider ridges and narrow slots. The Fine Rib you are looking at has evenly spaced narrow ridges and slots. I suspect that the latter would be softer and more flexible, great for lining drawers for light objects, but maybe not so good as the other for supporting really heavy equipment like a generator (or my batteries). I suspect that the Ramp Cleat is pretty sturdy. Mainly I want to protect the paint of the battery tray, yet allow a small amount of air circulation to prevent moisture from being trapped there. Order both, send back the one you like they least. Post your review here.... 😬😬😬 John Davies Spokane WA
    1 point
  19. Thank you for your service to our country! You will learn lots here on the forum and FB page. I read yesterday on the forum or FB page that there were only 5 build dates left for the 2021 models! 30 days and counting down for our pick up.
    1 point
  20. 120v so shore power or inverter. Model D24H-G2 Smart TV, 24" and not HD (720p). Specs indicate 45W draw; <0.5 on standby. It plugs into an outlet in the attic, so you can unplug it to eliminate parasitic draw. There is a USB port for thumb drive (to view pictures) and a stereo jack for headphones. Specs say it has 2 HDMI inputs, but there's only 1 shown in the manual (on the back panel); perhaps the other is connected to the Furrion entertainment system (not Blu-ray). It also has basic manual controls - Power, volume, input - on the back (should you lose your remote or it dies). And wireless connectivity, but no Ethernet plug, so you can stream video.
    1 point
  21. Susan, all kidding aside, this is what we carry our Honda EU2000i inside of when we take it our SUV. It will also fit in the tongue box. Mossey
    1 point
  22. To answer the first part of your question, we don't carry any caulk or sealants with us, on a regular basis. Many of the better ones are fairly expensive and only have a year or two shelf life, even unopened. Open, some need to be used as soon as opened, or maybe get a month or two with resealing and cool storage. Storing them in a hot truck would accelerate the decline, and I'm not giving up fridge space for something we can buy at any marine store, or in some cases, a building supply, if we actually have a need. We do carry a roll or two of duct tape, which can be used in an emergency to seal a leak, or seal off a suspected leak. Clear is nice for that. Doesn't stand out so much.
    1 point
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