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Recently, we stopped by a local RV dealer to get some supplies. As usual, there was a salesman out front and asked if he could show us something. I said, no, we are just here for supplies then I pointed and said you should sell those. He said tractors? And I said, no, Oliver Travel Trailers. He said, I have never seen one, heard they were really expensive and they only sell direct. I replied, I can confirm two of those! I then commented about the tractor. I have never seen one of these before but heard they were very expensive and hard to find. He agreed. Brian

I had somewhat the same problem on our last campout at a state park. The surge protector started kicking on an off, checking the voltage from the state park showed a voltage drop at the parks service pole, low amp output with the voltage meter test. What was funny is that the A/C and the water heater could not work at the same time, they drew too many amps and would kick out the system. So I switched the hot water to gas and all worked as it should, when I got home I plugged the trailer in and both worked as they should. I do not have the battery backup system on out trailer, just wouldn't use it as we don't Boondock. I will say that owning a travel trailer requires you be a plumber, electrician, and general knowledge of repairs and be able to solve problems, I do feel bad for those who don't have any of these skills as camping can become pretty much an unpleasant experience at times. trainman

I wish it was mine. This picture was on my brother’s back deck, he found it at an antique shop somewhere. I think I’ll convince him to give it up eventually then maybe I’ll attach it to the front of my trailer! Mike

We are not much for “attractions” so we look for quirky. While you are there, look up Bush’s Baked Beans (Made-in-TN) and take the factory tour. It is very interesting and hard to imagine all the different varieties. You can actually trailer there and keep going on that road and it will put you back on I-40. This by-passes some of the major congestion up near Kodak. I you are looking for something to do un-hitched, go up to Sevierville and visit Smokey Mountain Knife (SMKW) and Gun works. Biggest store of its kind and if that’s not your thing, Lodge (the cast iron people) is right next door. Lodge is a Made-in-Tennessee product also. Hope that helps you and others looking to visit the Great Smokey Mountain NP area. Brian

I found part of one!

As Cajun cook Justin Wilson used to say, "I am what dey call a Safety Engineer. I wear a belt wit my suspenders." This is similar to what I do with surge protectors...I use Southwire Surge Guard (Model 34931) at the power pole and have the standard Progressive Industries Electrical Management System (EMS-HW30C). It's a case of we have it, might was well use it logic. We do not use any autoformer or voltage boosting equipment. The stated low voltage limit for the Southwind is 102 VAC, whereas the limit on the Progressive is 104VAC. A couple of weeks ago, we had our first power problems at a camp site. Highly variable voltage that would drop over time as the air conditioning cycled on. No other sites seemed to be having this issue and the park rangers said they knew of no problems. The problem disappeared until the middle of the night after a storm passed. As pole voltage would drop, the Southwind at the pole would trip off before the Progressive, which I found interesting given their low voltage specs. (Of course, I left my voltmeter at the house so I could not investigate this further.) The Progressive was indicating a low voltage event which makes sense. Strange part was when the Southwind at the pole would trip, the inverter (Xantrex Freedom XC 3000) would not transfer over to battery power. I was concerned about impacts of hard power shut-downs that were occurring. Additionally, when pole power would come back up and the Southwind would turn back on, the Progressive delay function would seem to kick in. So even though power was available, we were waiting for the delay function to help save the A/C compressor from short cycling. We ended up using battery power for the rest of the night. Next morning with low voltage still coming and going, I removed the Southwind at the pole thinking maybe it was having some problems. This left us with just the Progressive Industries surge protector. Now, when the power would drop below 104VAC, the Progressive would trip and the Xantrex would switch over to battery flawlessly even with air conditioning running. I have not spent much time trying to figure this out, but given the different limit voltages, surge protectors in series may be a case of too much of a good thing is not always better? We are going back to the same site this weekend and my voltmeter is already packed! The state park has told us the site is now working perfectly so I may not be able to get more info on this.

I want the rocking when someone comes up the stairs. Look over and if the wife is in her bunk.... Grab the shotgun.

There have been many "issues" with this project over the years. But, I have it on good authority that the "store" will be in operation as early as the end of this year (and possible within a month or so). Bill

I totally agree, it can be a sobering revelation to brand new owners who jumped in feet first without enough research on owner forums. Those RV commercials on tv are so very deceptive, with the happy family gathered around on the meticulously groomed grass beside the lake, with not another camper in sight. I wish I could find that perfect spot 😬, John Davies Spokane WA

I agree, the glossy photos and perfect camp ads are very deceptive! It’s actually overwhelming when you are new. We had a voltage issue right from the get go however we learned a LOT while trying to pin point that issue. The key is having patience, there’s nothing that can’t be learned.

So, @Jim and Frances, you leave your inverter (not just the charger/converter) on when you're hooked up to campground power via the shoreline? The power button on the Xantrex is pushed in?

@Mike and Carol Very nice! I would definitely like something like that for the barn! I’m a John Deere man but I still like it. BL

bbrault, I recently purchased the Honda EU2200i Companion. The actual generator size is 20" x 11.4" as stated correctly on the NorthernTool website. Standard (non-companion) is the exact same size. So you should have no problem fitting it in your Elite I front basket per your stated dimensions. I thought maybe you were looking at dimensions of the packaging box which is good bit bigger. Dave

Normally, you would not even see the apple bits. In working left handed in a sling. (Right dominant hand.) Is what it is.

A little camping truth/humor!

Or throw yours away and install stainless caps over the axle hub nuts: I use this type so I can pop the rubber out to check the condition of the grease. Add a slight skim of clear silicone sealant to each cap before driving it in, so it will not seep oil. Paint the hubs gloss black and it looks fine. This way you can readjust a loose nut without removing the wheel and you can take a more accurate temp reading of the hub... John Davies Spokane WA

Perhaps a nice bottle of wine might help?😁

If the tires are still on the ground it’s not too much.

Have you read the Trojan user manual? Everything is laid out in that. You will have to take them to a location where they can be kept mostly charged. They self discharge with no load at 5 to 15% per month. When they get to 70% state of charge they should be recharged. Can you take them to your home where you can keep an eye on them and charge them routinely? https://www.solaris-shop.com/content/T-105 Users Guide.pdf You can’t abandon them for months at a time, when spring comes they will be dead and if they freeze and split, the sulfuric acid will make a REALLY nasty mess in your battery box, and maybe destroy the trailer frame too... Keep in mind that they vent hydrogen gas when charging, so you can’t have them in a poorly vented storage area, it would be a serious fire hazard. I don’t know of any Trojans that are OK at colder than -20 F, but you should verify that. In your situation, with four year old flooded batteries, I would scrap them now and buy lithiums in Spring. Those are about a third the weight and can be stored off season in your bedroom closet 😬 John Davies Spokane WA

Paul and Santina - we pick up our Ollie II in early January. We live on the West Coast but have a place in Williamsburg. That'll be our base station for exploring the East.

I too had a machine shop remove the insert for our two inch bike rack. It has been rock solid.

Absolutely it helps, thank you and nice setup! Brian

Let me expand on this a bit. 1- The AC will drain your Lithium batteries if used for too long, but it won't do it in an hour. 2- A 1000W generator can output a maximum of just over 8 Amps. If you've used 360 amps out of your batteries running the AC for several hours it will take this generator nearly two days to recharge your batteries. 3- LiFePo batteries can take thousands of cycles.

Brian, I used the stock Oliver receiver and have had zero issues. We had the 1.25 insert removed by a local machine shop. Hope this helps! Patriot

Patriot - did you use the "stock" Oliver receiver or did you take the 1.25" off and replace it with a 2"? Really like this setup and while we normally carry our bikes under the truck topper, this would be a nice option to explore. Thank you for the detailed post. Brian

Here are our recent experiences with this. For reference, we have the larger lithium package (630 Ah) with the soft-start Dometic A/C and an older Honda EU2000i (2000W surge, 1600W continuous): Dry camping. Weather: low-80s, humid. Trailer solar panels in full sun. Thermostat set to 70 degrees. Started generator at 11:30 AM daily and ran the A/C off the generator until 1:30. This also provided a very small charge to the batteries, enough to replace what we had used overnight. (We limited Xantrex setting #28 to 15A.) Shut the generator off at 1:30 and ran the A/C off the battery bank/solar until 4:30. This depleted it to 70-80% SOC. Shut A/C off at 4:30 and restarted generator. Used microwave, etc. for dinner and batteries were fully charged by 6:30. Our reason to use the A/C on batteries was to spare our neighbors the generator noise during midday. (Most people around us were running their generators around lunch and dinner, too.) So, in those conditions we were able to run A/C on batteries for 3 hours and replenish that in 2 hours with the generator. We used approx. 1 gallon of gas daily in this mode. (Because lithiums take a charge so well, the little generator ran full out while recharging). Our little 2000W Honda did fine running the A/C or charging the batteries, so the original poster's Yamaha should do just as well. However, if we wanted to bulk charge our batteries and run the A/C simultaneously we'd probably need a bigger generator. Hope this helps.

I am not using cable to connect my TV to the router. I am using WiFi. My setup is very simple. Starlink provides WiFi access to TV and phones. For Netflix, I am using Netflix app in the TV itself to stream. For anything else, I am using my iPhone and connect it to the existing HDMI port in the back of the TV. This way, I can also get audio out to all speakers if I select "Optical" audio input at the Furrion. Please let me know if you have any questions. Hope this helps.

It sure is getting expensive to haul a couple of bicycles around. I sure do miss my banana seat and goose neck handlebars!

Yes that's the model I have We have been lots of places over all kind of roads. Our bikes are both Schwinn lightweight mine is all aluminum. The wife's is a 24 inch. I put thread lock on the set screw And so far that has stopped it loosening I certainly wouldn't want a heavy bike there. Are trailer is a 2019 hull 564

FYI, this is important, the 1-Up and some other expensive racks like that Yakima Stage 2 have a proprietary locking mechanism to stop play (rocker stopper). The 1-Up rack is made primarily of aluminum, yay, but it uses a steel stinger which has a great big stainless steel ball that cams out and locks to the inside of the female receiver. It is extremely effective! BUT you need a steel receiver, because it will literally destroy an aluminum one, plus there would obviously be dissimilar metal corrosion worries. That rack is used with my Land Cruiser, I don’t have a square receiver my Ollie. I mentioned this part in a different thread, but I will do again here. I would simply bolt on this unit to the top of the factory cross bar, with an insulating pad between the two parts. It would probably be cheaper than having a shop fabricate one from raw steel. And this has a pretty powder coating, the shop would just spray it with some rattle can enamel without bothering to prime it. So you would end up redoing it yourself in a year. 😀 Ultra-Tow Step Bumper Receiver - Class II, 3500-Lb. GTW, 2in. John Davies Spokane WA

I concur on John Davies comments about the 1-UP Bike racks, we have one. All other racks on the market look like toys compared to the 1-Up. There really isn't any comparison IMHO. Very heavy duty and also a bit heavy too but works well, easy to use. Very well engineered.

I looked around at Yakima's website and did not see anything, you should email them to make sure a travel trailer is included in that general RV approval statement. I do know that SOME Yakima products like my Rocket Box are not rated for "off-road' and the warranty terms specifically say that that is anything rougher than a smooth graded gravel road. So potholed forest roads are "off-road". 😉 Reopening that receiver worm can anyway: it makes no sense at all to a normal person to buy an $850 (!!!) bike rack with less than desirable features, as a compromise, simply because it will fit the small Ollie receiver. It makes far more sense to spend less for a wonderful 1-Up Super Duty Double rack ($665 shipped in silver) and simply change the receiver so that it works. It is a far better rack than any Yakima, and debatably better than the other good e-bike rated racks like the Kuat. The 1-Up is designed and sold here in the USA, has individual spare parts available, stellar customer service, and it can be added to with more bike trays or a cargo tray. But only two bike trays for off-road, max 75 pounds per bike. This too small receiver issue is so VERY frustrating, ain't it? It makes you want to storm into the Oliver headquarters and give somebody a good shaking 😉 John Davies Spokane WA

Thank you John. I am not too far from you in Ellensburg. You're right. The tube is wide open at the bottom. There is a plastic cover plate for cable management but I don't use it. I think it's mostly for permanent mounting option.

The Ollie bracket is structural aluminum, probably 6061T6 or similar, the same stuff used in the frame and steps. You can tell by how very thick the plates are and by the welds, they are big and sloppy looking compared to steel welds. Those particular welds are a little nasty, but they are fine in terms of strength. I suspect your Starlink mount is powder coated aluminum. You could email SL to ask. But since you didn’t have to disturb the coating (drill new holes) it should be fine. The shipping weight is 1.4 pounds, it can’t be a steel part: From your pics it appears that you live in a dry climate. If you lived in a wet one, I would recommend sealing the bracket really well. Corrosion can occur even when the materials are similar. I can’t tell from the images, it appears that the tube is wide open at the bottom. If not you need to drill a drain hole. Nice mod, I quite like it. It is clean and highly professional looking. John Davies Spokane WA

I finished the roof mount over the weekend. Luckily, it was super easy than I thought. The 2 holes of the Starlink short wall mount fit perfectly into the existing awning screws on my Girard. I am not very tall, 5'4", and need a ladder or climb the rear bumper to connect/disconnect the dish. I always take the dish downs when towing. Question: should I be worried about galvanic corrosion. I don't know what kind of metal the mount is but the awning bracket looks like a stainless steel? The installation manual, Short_Wall_Mount_Guide_Rectangular.pdf.pdf, doesn't say much about the mount itself.

We've replaced the hose a few times over the last 14 years. We don't wait for a failure. Like tires, 4 or 5 years, change it out. Even the better ones. Our first "stock" hose was replaced within a year or so. Just didn't like the light weight. I have no idea what the stock hose is, these days.

Squared.

I like the idea of leaving the hose connected. I wonder, those of you that are doing that, are you using the stock drain hose that Oliver provides? That whole getting down on your hands and knees isn’t particularly appealing. I’m thinking about bikes in the back of the truck instead of the rear of the trailer. However my wife thinks that the receiver hitch is a good idea and if 46 years of marriage has taught me anything…..

I’m with Steve…. We leave our hose connected all the time. No issues. Mike

I purchased the Oliver bumper, pulled their receiver off and replaced with a modified 2" for the reason mentioned above. The stresses on a hitch bobbing around on a travel trailer was concerning enough that I felt a "travel trailer" approved hitch was prudent. Oliver supplying a 1.25" hitch receiver is crazy making. If I was ordering the trailer again, I'd ask that the supply the bumper without a receiver and no holes drilled. It would be super easy to buy a 2" receiver plate and bolt it down myself.

The only one they approve for towed RV use is the Thule Range, which has a 2" bar. Manufacturers have different standards for motorhome racks vs. trailer racks. Some 1.25" racks are approved for the back of motorhomes but I can't find any 1.25" approved for the back of a trailer or fifth wheel. It's a problem with Oliver's newer rear receivers.

John, I just received my aluminum for the frame, and was going to un-bolt the old receiver rack supports. From what you wrote, I decided to spray the bolts/nuts with penetrating oil and let it set overnight to hopefully advert some of the problems with the stainless bolts seizing. I went out with a couple of 18" breaker bars to get the bolts off. I was already thinking of what steal tubing I had to make a extension for the breaker bars. The first nut I tried virtually had no pressure on it so I dropped back to a ratchet. I had to laugh, I'm guessing that there was less than 25 in/lbs of torque on all of those those nuts. I'm Fortunate that the receiver assembly just didn't fall off.

One other comment, antiseize on stainless threads prevents the nut from welding itself (seizing) to the bolt. I had to remove the big 1/2” bumper main bolts to do a mod, one nut was seized solid and I had to literally snap the bolt with a 3/4” breaker bar. John Davies Spokane WA

That's why we have the clamshell drains, underbody. Water, even condensate, has to have a way out. Occasionally, in humid, rainy spring weather, I see drips from the clams. I know they are doing the job. As far as the step, I'm not (yet) worried about drain holes. In use, no issues. Tucked away, folded up, i get some leaf debris , but easy to clear away . Even if I had drain holes, the leaves would stick. John e Davies is correct. Separate aluminum and stainless with a good washer/barrier/product. Stainless bolts are weaker (long run) than steel, but less corrosive with aluminum. Stainless is less likely to react with aluminum than mild steel. Aluminum fasteners are too weak, so forget that choice, imo Always watch for signs.

Stainless hardware and aluminum can cause issues, especially if you tow with corrosive deicers on the road 😳. I use aluminum antiseize liberally wherever stainless and aluminum touch, and it does help. While not ideal, SS fasteners are used everywhere on Ollies and mine seem to hold up OK. But I never tow in winter. Permatex Anti-Seize Lubricant I would not worry about different alloys, unless you plan to join them by welding. In that case they should match. I just had a major repair done on my rear cargo rack, which suffered cracks when I ran it into the decorative stonework of my house….. I added 1/4” reinforcements, and I just now reinstalled it to the cross beam with antiseize. There was no sign of corrosion at all when I removed the stainless hardware, after about three years. Note to self, do not back into buildings again. $50 for structural aluminum materials, six hours of my labor, $150 welding labor, plus a $30 tip. …. I still haven’t addressed the stonework that got knocked off the house😤. SeaDawg is correct, drain holes are needed everywhere, they don’t have to be large. even your entry steps need them, they trap water when stowed, it is unsightly and dumps on your sneakers when you open them. Trapped water for months and months OTH is really really bad news, road spray especially causes much worse problems, you must ensure it can’t happen. Have you contacted Oliver about your water? They might want to issue a service bulletin for drain holes. You might find this amusing. …”Hmmmmmm, that is quite a lotta wattah!” How to drain water from Touareg rockers John Davies Spokane WA

18-8 is a good choice for that environment, and any anti-seize or thread-locker will help to interrupt the conductive path that causes the galvanic reaction. You mentioned lanolin, and like every other subject on the internet, you can find pro and con arguments about lanolin as a anti-seize/corrosion inhibitor. Here's an example from the sailorsolutions.com website, for anti-seize products. One brand (teflon based) of course mentions that the use of lanolin in a competitor product is not ideal: "Tef-Gel® is a US Navy specified non-lanolin synthetic formulation. Lanolin, (an extract of wool) used as the base for the popular anti-seize product can absorb small amounts of moisture which will allow for corrosions and seize your stainless steel to aluminum joint after a few years. The paint will blister in the surrounding area.' But lanolin has a lot of history to back up its use, and the marine world is a good example to follow with the Oliver. The Ollie is built more like a boat than a typical sticks and staples SOB trailer.

Good point on the bedding compound. Masts, booms, whisker poles & other common high-load components in sailboats typically use 6061 T-6 alloy. Fasteners used to attach hardware is typically 18-8 stainless. An anti-sieze compound such as lanolin applied to the threads can go a long way toward keeping bolts free and preventing snapping off of fastener heads ... a stainless fastener can become extremely difficult to impossible to remove if installed dry into aluminum with no anti-sieze.

I'll have to dig a little deeper but most of the galvanic charts just lump all "aluminum alloys" together, so 6061 probably isn't much different, close to steel and zinc. The use of a stainless screw threaded directly into the aluminum frame could be a long term issue if towing on salted roads in the winter.

Where would aluminum 6061T6 fall on that chart? I think this could be a real problem if you tow in winter over salt or mag chloride treated roads. Oliver uses plenty of 304 stainless fasteners like self tapping screws all over the frame and I have never seen any issues. I also haven’t seen any degradation of the anodes. OTH I neither tow on wet roads (except when it is unavoidable) nor in winter. I think it would be a good topic for long term monitoring from those owners who use their rigs year round, for skiing especially. But IMHO those units will be suffering from far more extensive damage to the frame, running gear and exterior steel fittings than a little localized dissimilar metal corrosion. I have only seen underneath one such (admittedly neglected) Ollie, and frankly it was a disgusting mess. I don’t think the factory would offer a five year frame warranty if they felt it was not durable, but maybe they would consider prolonged caustic chemical exposure to be abuse... John Davies Spokane WA

I haven’t seen any issues with the Andersen steel frame brackets or with the Oliver galvanized steel subframe for the suspension causing any problems with the Oliver aluminum frame (yet). Steel, zinc and aluminum are all pretty close to each other on the galvanic series chart, which means minimal galvanic reaction (but not zero). This is from my good old metals handbook. The farther apart two metals are on the chart, the greater the galvanic corrosion reaction. This is seawater exposure so pretty much a worst case, but road salt & moisture would be just as bad. The order can change a little depending on the exact environment. As an example, 316 stainless against aluminum is very bad. And the lower number metal becomes the sacrificial material in the pair. It’s why zinc is used as a sacrificial anode in a lot of systems with dissimilar metals and water, like boats and water heaters. A dielectric material barrier between the metals helps, even a layer of paint. And if the aluminum is anodized, that helps as well.