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This morning I realized that if I combined the total of people that perished on this day 20 years ago with those that have fought and died in the Middle East over the past 20 years, it would total approximately the same number of people that currently live in the small town where I presently live. It is simply difficult to imagine all these people just not being here. I worked in the investment business and had numerous occasions when I visited both towers of the World Trade Center and knew a number of people that worked there every day. Certainly I can not and will not forget and encourage every citizen to at least remember everyone touched by this tragedy. Bill

Another great week camping at Mountain River Family CG. We really enjoy this CG for the great location and the TLC the owners provide. They are campers and know what campers enjoy. It’s very clean, neat and just well run. The CG is bordered by the North Toe River which usually has plenty of trout fishing and tubing. The sites are a really a decent size and you don’t feel cramped. We booked again for next year and really are looking forward to our stay. A little venison sausage! From woods to table! A little quiet time fishing in the North Toe River..

Spending our first night at the new Oliver campground in our amazing Elite II. Last September we toured the factory and made the decision that this was the RV we really wanted once we had retired this summer. The forum has been a great source of learning all about the Oliver Elite II. We are looking forward to many adventures and meeting new friends. So very excited!

Everyone knows storage space is a premium. This is a simple mod to add a shelf under your dinette. The shelf rest on the lip that holds the counter when it's in sleep mode.

We just learned today that our "Lil' Tow" will be hull# 924. Delivery is in about 6 weeks. Ordered in February. It has been a long time coming but delivery is now in sight. The patience and anticipation is now turning to true excitement, ...along with some anxiety. This will open a whole new chapter in our lives but we are looking forward to transition from car camping to more comfortable travel experiences seeing all the beauty this country of ours has to offer. We hope to see many of you out there on the road. Carl

I've boondocked at the Lower Sunshine Reservoir just outside Meeteetse, WY for a number of years. Given that the camping area consists of basically a sagebrush "meadow" overlooking the reservoir, there is no shade other than what the Ollie provides either early in the morning or later in the day. Virtually every time I've been there I've set up my small (four sided) Clam screen shelter not necessarily to shield me from bugs but more to give me an additional place to relax after a hard day of fishing. When setting up my Clam I virtually always not only stake the four corners down but I also use the three ties that come off the side center hubs and stake them. This is to protect the Clam from any sudden winds that just might come up and it has worked very well withstanding some fair strong winds - until this year. I was in bed at about 11:30pm when the Ollie started rocking. After about 5 minutes of this I got up to look out the rear window to see how the Clam was fairing - not well. So not well that it wasn't even there. Just to make sure or, perhaps, get the Clam before it was swept into the reservoir I jumped into a pair of shorts, donned a head lamp and ventured into that wind. Yep - not there! In fact, no sign that it had ever even been there! Barely being able to stand I turned to get back into the camper and a light colored square object caught my eye about 150 yards away. Could it be? Yes it was. The four sides of the Clam had collapsed but the roof remained fully open. I managed to get over to it, I collapsed the roof, carted it back to the truck and did not inspect to see what was the extent of the damage to it until yesterday. Other than being lucky that the entire thing wasn't lost in the reservoir, I was reasonably certain that the screening or the nylon material or the fiberglass poles or the hubs that hold most of it together would be broken. Perhaps I could salvage something from it for potential repairs to the new Clam that certainly was in my future. Well, all of the screening didn't have a scratch on it and the poles and hubs were fully intact. The roof does have two tears and three abrasions as well as each of the four nylon webbing tabs that are used for staking down the tent had been completely torn from where they were sewed. The abrasions can easily be fixed with dabbing on a little "E6000" and the two tears (one at about 1/4 inch and the other at about 1 1/2 inches) can be repaired with "Gear Aid" repair tape. Of course I also sewed the four tabs back on. I'm not sure if the Clam was purposefully designed so that these tabs would "release" rather than tearing the tent apart, but, it worked that way in this case. Finally, I should note that I found the four tabs the next morning after the wind storm, still staked to the ground as I had originally placed them. And, one of the three ropes used to tie down the sides was broken. I use short bungees that have metal hooks at the ends and place the metal hooks around the ground stakes. All three metal hooks were straightened! I've always liked my Clam but now I'm a true believer. Bill

Ollie in the Wild - Hull #634 spent several days at Mountain River CG located in Ingalls, NC. A gorgeous CG and we already booked another week for this August. Excellent trout fishing on the North Toe River, tubing, and one of the most well run beautiful campgrounds we have ever stayed at. The owners are just super nice people and they are campers and know what campers like. Excellent clean immaclate modern bath houses and beautiful landscaping. A total keeper for us. We even had an opportunity to show our Ollie to (3) couples. Fun times! Happy Camping! Ollie window view of a great trout stream.

One of my hoses split unexpectedly near the sewer outlet when dumping, fortunately it was just grey water, I would not have enjoyed that if there were black solids spilling out into the rear bumper cavity and onto the ground! I bought a spare set of two hoses at Walmart and tossed the bad section. I decided to carry the second one always as a spare. Ten feet will compress to less than two! I wrapped around it in a circular manner, added two full lengthwise wraps to make sure it couldn't pop open, followed by more circular wraps. The wrap is common mover's wrap, it is super expensive at Staples or even Walmart, but this is a great source for less than $6. It is an on-the-shelf item in every store. I use this for all kinds of temporary securing in my garage and while camping. My trailer was delivered with Camco hoses, yours may vary but they should stow the same. John Davies Spokane WA

I like the TeleSteps Climbing Latter Type 1, Model 1600E, OSHA Compliant. They make two models of the 1600 ladder. One is 250 pound rated, and the other is 300 pound rated. If you are over 200 pounds dressed, I would get the 300 pound version. It's about $40 more. I store it in the front closet on the front facing wall. It is padded with extra towels that we carry, but rarely use. The Pool Noodle is a good idea. It would need to be removeable to adjust for different locations on the trailer and varying ground levels. For storage putting the noodle on top as a cushion would be logical. PS: the cloths on the rod sort of hold the ladder foreword when traveling. I have had zero issues with this ladder in the past four seasons covering over 21,000 Oliver trailer miles. There are cheaper ones out there, but the vast majority are not OSHA rated. So be sure to compare them well.

Last week before we picked up it was suggested that a "Where's Ollie" thread might be good for folks to post pictures of where they've been, maybe with a few comments about the location. I'll get it going.... This is Hillman Ferry State Park in KY at Land Between the Lakes. Nice campground, with lots of lake water activities. You can get a site right on the lake to fish from!

Have put deposit down. Just not sure if the 11k unit will be enough.

Thanks for the Mover's Wrap tip; what a great suggestion!

Yes, I do. These are what I use and are available on Amazon. Oliver may be stocking some locking devices now, you could check with Jason.

Try the search term in the picture below. Mossey

John - There are numerous ways to "lock" the hitch of the Oliver - both while moving and while parked. I always use a "locking pin" such as shown in the photo below to prevent anyone from simply lifting the bulldog latch. At delivery, Oliver does supply a "pin" to keep this latch closed but it does not lock. Since this locking pin is reasonably easy to defeat - think crowbar or stout hammer - I will take other theft prevention measures when leaving my Oliver in questionable places. This "locking pin" is available at most Walmarts and/or search coupler lock on Amazon - there are numerous styles to choose from. Also you can use this Forum's search function - try hitch locks or just locks - since this subject has been discussed numerous times. Bill

Very nice mod that reminded me of this previous post. Mossey

We picked up hull 836 LE2 on June 30. We received a paper copy of the Owners manual and a paper copy of the components manual. Pam

In researching weather data for Meeteetse, WY for July 15, 2021, Weather Underground shows a wind gust of 51 miles per hour. Certainly I wouldn't call it a gust when the wind maintained its speed for about 15 minutes. However, since the area I was camped is devoid of trees, buildings and even hills that could help block the wind, I suspect that the real wind speed was somewhat higher than this reported gust. Another possible reason for the four stake tabs becoming detached from the body could be that the thread used to sew them had become "tired". While I have used this shelter for 6 years, it has never been put away wet nor has it been abused. But, as I mentioned above, Clam just might have engineered these so that they would "release" during this kind of event. In any case, I would suggest that anyone who owns a Clam should take a look at the area where these tabs are sewn to the tent just to make sure that all is OK. Bill

@Trainman Interesting you both got the RAD bikes. This is the model I have been looking at as well. The ST model seems small for my wife and I. I am 6'1" with an inseam of 32" and she is 5'6" with an inseam of 30 inches. According to their chart the RadMini ST can be small once you break 28 inch inseam. I like the ST through as it has a spot for a water bottle where the RadMini 4 does not. @Mike and Carol As for class I have two really popular trails up by me and only allows class I and the other class II (Hiawatha Trail and Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes respectfully). So it is really case by case. But the laws really differ by state as well. Here are some resources to help. I am still trying to get this all figured out in my head as well so figured the research may help others. https://ebikegeneration.com/pages/e-bike-laws-in-the-usa-by-state https://www.peopleforbikes.org/electric-bikes/state-laws https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_bicycle_laws#United_States https://quietkat.com/blogs/articles/the-best-e-bike-trails-in-the-united-states

Bill, that must have been quite a wind storm! We have the larger 5 sided Clam. I use heavy duty cargo tie-down straps on the sides with 12” re-bar stakes to attach them too. Not sure that would be enough to withstand the wind you experienced. It’s been through some pretty bad storms but the worst that has happened is that the top collapsed. Not sure what else you could do! Mike

We’re two meal a day as well. One at around 11am and one at around 5pm. Some call it intermittent fasting, we call it normal. When camping the grill is king so we do a meat and a vegetable for dinner and then call it a day. Weight gain isn’t an issue! Mike

That's good news. We try to only eat two meals a day when we travel. We tend to have a late breakfast or "brunch" and then dinner. Keeping busy each day with activities will keep us away from the fridge and the snacks, ...at least that is the plan. So far so good.

Looks just like mine did.

Yes, this was my concern as well when considering replacement. You'd have to be diligent in remembering to remove them for travel and stand in the rain to install. Not ideal but maybe a good enough replacement when my Maxxair ones brittle-out! I've got hairline cracks and have repaired them with clear flexseal tape. All of my screws are cushioned as well with rubber washers and NOT torqued too tight. As far as cleaning, I'm thrilled with being able to open the windows in my Oliver and clean from the inside! Makes it so much easier than when I had to take them off of my Casita due to lack of non opening windows!

Here is a RAD video on the Mini,

We have the Rad Mini's Step Thru's, great e-bikes and very please with RAD and from there service per the internet, great customer satisfaction. We have had them for two years and no problems to date. We carry them in the back of the RAM with no problem, these are the folding models, but we find it easier not to fold them for loading and unloading is easier for us. Watch videos on YouTube there are plenty on this 20" model to see and checkout, the 20" model is also good for off road riding on dirt trails, don't let the size fool you, they are easy to ride. We are in our 70's and the e-bikes work well for us. RAD is the largest seller on online e-bikes, I personally went to a bike shop and rode one of there bikes, the price was way too high and the bike we rode was no way close to what we got with the RAD. We will be taking them camping next and I will take some photos of then in the RAM to see how we carry them. Here are a few pics of our RAD'S. trainman

Another milestone, though I missed the click. We are now over 6000 members and 60,000 posts. Thank you, everyone, for making our forum a fun, interesting, and congenial community.

I was forced into installing a Furrion a few years ago. The night before we were to leave on a trip someone broke into my truck and stole the monitor to the old Voyager that Oliver was installing at the time. FWIW while we used that device I also hated its gangly mess of wires and terrible picture quality and bulky size. The only available cameras locally were the Furriions so I bought that as a replacement and installed. Sorry I don't recall the model name or number so it may or may not be the Vision S. It is marginally better than the original Voyager but comes in a much smaller package which I appreciate.However the monitor itself is not very bright which is a problem when wearing shades while driving, its quite dim. The connection seems to be better however than the Voyager and can't recall too many times where the signal was lost but it can be jittery on occasions. Installation while not too difficult does take a bit of time, syncing was easy. Cutting to the chase if I had it to do over I would have purchased something different and may still do at some time in the future. There is another brand, sorry I don't recall the name that receives a much better review than either the Furrion or Voyager. My recommendation is do your homework before jumping in. Not sure this helps much.

I’m interested in options too. It might be a good safety upgrade. I’ve never had a back up camera on our trailer since I never camp alone and Carol is a highly proficient backer-upper guide for me. Mike

A pair of running shoes, running shorts, and a resistance tube. Takes up little space and (generally) can be used anywhere. However, I must admit that after fishing all day or hiking all day I am usually only interested in an adult beverage and a chair (or bed).

We went with the Rad E-Bikes. We picked the RadMini for my husband and the RadMini Step-Thru for myself. The bikes have the fat tires for off road or sand plus they fold. We carry them in our truck bed under a Leer Topper with only the handles folded down. When not camping we tend to buzz around in our Jeep and both will fit in the back with the seat folded down. They are mid-priced, not the cheapest bike offered and certainly not even close to the most expensive. They work great for us. They are a little heavier than some of the more expensive brands so we team lift to load them. My husband can load them by himself but it's easier with two people lifting them into the back of a 4WD truck. radpowerbikes.com Cindy RV travels with plenty of room for our Blackstone Adventure Grill, Aluminum Table, Gas Firepit, Outdoor rug, 2 chairs, storage box with helmets, life vests for kayaks and more photos of Jeep travel.

It’s a 12 volt electric heater element that replaces the filter on the Truma. It allows you to travel through freezing temps using the tow vehicle’s power to keep the small water tank in the heater from freezing. Same for at night, using battery power. There’s a setting for it already on the remote panel - the icon with the snowflake and lightning bolt I think. Installing it is easy - just release the drain, pop out the filter, stick in the new one and then plug it in to an existing port next to the other wires. The exhaust plug that I mentioned comes with a little clip that screws into the inside of the door for storage. It’s nicely designed with a little tab that pokes out of the door to hopefully remind you to remove it before trying to run the unit.

We do KOA’s on occasion. Usually when it’s the best choice for the location we want to visit. Last one was the KOA on South Padre Island. We just wanted a relaxing week on the shore and the KOA was a good choice. Mike

FYI a replacement Nev-R-Lube bearing assembly itself is extraordinarily expensive and it may require a hydraulic press to install it. So in the event of a failure you will need a tow and a professional automotive or machine shop to fix it - unlike a regular bearing design that can be replaced by a skilled owner with hand tools. A tow will be covered by your roadside assistance insurance, but down time and mental anguish will be high and the shop will charge maybe $100 for labor. You can buy a mechanical puller and do it if you feel capable. Most owners would not be…. http://www.dexterpartsonline.com/files/2036913/uploaded/Nev-R-Lube Bearings.pdf If the failure is catastrophic, it will trash your brake and perhaps your axle. If you camp in the West in remote areas, the NevR Lube bearings are a huge liability. Some RV shops won’t work on them. They DO fail. If you get this kind of axle, buy and carry a spare bearing, because the parts are not commonly found everywhere. The only way I would want this setup is with disk brakes that have slip on rotors. That way you can carry a complete spare hub assembly and change it yourself in half an hour, and then get the failed bearing replaced at your leisure. Google “Nev-R-Lube bearing failure”. PS, don’t overload your axles. Do use a TPMS so you will get a heat warning in time. John Davies Spokane WA

Think a smaller unit would be more efficient, more quiet (important), and more than enough to cool an Oliver. A unit running longer and slower will remove more moisture, as it cools. Being cool, and with lower moisture, it should also be longer between operating cycles.

Thanks. Not much shade out here. Friend here has 13.5k as well and it is sufficient. Just wanted to see if anyone had experience with smaller unit.

I found that when replacing my Bulldog coupler with the 2 5/16" model, that the bolts as installed from Oliver had bottomed out in the nuts before clamping sufficiently. This meant that almost all of the torque was going into twisting the bolt, rather than tensioning it. With insufficient clamping force, the holes in the Bulldog coupler had begun to elongate. A couple of grade 8 washers added to each bolt,fixed that problem. Lubing the bolt thread with either grease or anti-seize increases the tension on the bolt with any given torque value on the nut. In the case of engine head studs, for instance, the bolts are clamping the head to the engine, and bolt stretch is the best way of arriving at the design clamping force. Nut torque is just an easy way to get there without special tools, but not exact. In the case of the bulldog coupler, we need bolt tension and we need shear strength. The shear is more determined by the bolt hardness and diameter, while the tension is determined by the nut torque. In a perfect world, we'd get the bolt stretch specs and go for that by adjusting the nut torque. But in the real world, we use nut torque. It never is clear how much we should reduce the torque based on the affect of the thread lubrication. But it is clear that lubing the threads increases the tension. It may be that John had a defective bolt. It may also be that any problem with the bolt was made more obvious by lubing the threads, which increased the tension while torquing. It may also be that there was an unfair percentage of torque going into twisting the bolt because of the threads bottoming, or nearing the end of the threaded section. Since those bolts are not designed to be removed frequently, and since they are plated for corrosion, and since they may have been defective, I'd replace them and install them with no lube, while making sure the threads are not bottoming. We want the unthreaded shank to carry the shear load, so get bolts that have a long enough unthreaded length. Then add grade 8 flat washers to make sure the nut does not bottom before reaching full torque. If you have two torque wrenches, work them against each other on a nut and bolt, to see if they agree on their torque values. If not, get the best one calibrated or replace one of them. But really, the torque should not have to be very precise to work properly in this case. If the bolt is near it's full capacity, upsize it. It seems grade 8 is a good choice for the bolts because they are primarily in shear, but I'm not an expert on the differences between grade 5 and grade 8 in that regard. The torque is just a way to keep things from moving around while under load.

Taking a look at your thread on replacing your coupler, I see that you used anti seize on the bolts. I’ve always been told that when you do that you have to lower your torque setting by 20%. So that’s possibly the answer.

We needed a place for our collections of road and nature guide books. We did something similar in our Casita. In our LE2, we used adhesive Velcro to attach a shelf in the rear of the dinette, under the table. We used 2 sizes of refrigerator boxes, also secured with adhesive Velcro. One holds trade sized paperbacks, the other accommodates larger formats and the various handouts one gets from campgrounds. It’s road-tested, and very secure, and doesn’t get in the way of our legs Dave and Ruth Hull 316

This is at Table Rock Lake State Park just outside of Branson, MO. This is a great campground and just minutes from Branson and all the shows and activities. We had a good visit to Silver Dollar City during their BBQ and Bluegrass week. The park is right on Table Rock Lake for those who like water activities.