Leaderboard

My wife and I took delivery of our new Oliver Elite I on Sep 26, 2022 and commenced a 15 day "shakedown" camping trip through TN, SC, NC, VA, back through TN, AL, GA, and home to FL without significant issues. We love it! Still learning the details of the electrical system but it is great fun. We bought this particular model because it fits perfectly under our carport and we love the compact size of the trailer itself. Before my wife and I first got married 52 years ago, I purchased a new VW camper (not a pop top). We camped 55 days, 12, 500 miles around the US on our honeymoon in it. All three of our children grew up camping in that VW until we outgrew it 12 years later. Then we tent camped until they all left home. Now we are back in the camping business, albeit, significantly upgraded. 0E6177D3-23D6-4052-9298-13D9126CBD50.heic

Thanks for the welcome friend. You better know me by my handle on the Tremor forum as Redzilla. Looking very much forward to new friends and adventures in our new Ollie when it arrives. Will be gleaning as much as possible here on the Oliver forum.

Try THIS to get a map in your signature. Bill

Whatever torque you chose for your aluminum rims, be sure to re-torque them after 50 miles or so, to make sure a lug has not become loose.

Amen. Last week I again made these very points with Jason in my Service Ticket on OEII Lug torque values and sent him several manufacturers torque specifications for aluminum wheels. After consideration, he replied that my Service Ticket has been sent to upper management. One thing we should be aware of is that some aluminum rims have steel inserts in the lug holes. They can have a different torque specification. Personally I do not like them due to the inevitable galvanic corrosion between the AL and Steel.

Try THIS for making reservations and getting more info on Lake Guntersville State Park. Around $30/night is the camping fee and I believe that there is a $5.00 fee for online reservations - but - you can always call them instead. If I were you - I'd call them and be sure to mention that you are with the Oliver Rally. There are sites that have been reserved for Oliver owners and hopefully all of them are not gone at this point. Another Forum member has one of those F-350's but I believe that his is diesel and a Tremor versus the King Ranch. Certainly more than enough truck to get the job done. Bill

If noticed some members on the forum have colored maps in their signatures. You may be asking yourself "How do you do that?". Start by visiting this website: http://visitedstatesmap.com Select the states you have visited and choose the size you wish and click DRAW MAP. *Please be considerate to others views on the forums by keeping the image around medium size* Next you will be taken to a new page and underneath the map where it says "Copy and Paste Image URL:" Copy the url, for example mine is: http://visitedstatesmap.com/image/xlg.jpg - this is not your map unless you have been to zero states. This is an example. Now go to your forum Signature to edit and put in the url: It should now look like: If you need help please discuss below. Credits: @SeaDawg, @KarenLukens

Wow. Great post Oli. I have dug through your furnace modifications once and, while it will take another peek or two, was super impressed with your approach. The primary difference in my shot at it was that you added heat to the pex runs for the external shower while I have tried to isolate those lines so they can be left filled with antifreeze. Not sure if I have the mechanical chops to do the same as you outlined but it could be the path of least resistance to address that particular problem. Thanks much for the thorough description and photos. Gerry

O MY Heavens!!! topgun2 --- how easy!! The funny thing is that in April my sisters & I went on a 2 week trip to the Utah National Parks. They are all Apple users; I document family activities. We could not easily get their pics into my Google Photos. I see that the Google entry is dated June 2022. I hope this means that this feature was not available earlier this year. 🙂 One sister & I are somewhat computer literate. Regardless --- thank you!!

Mike, how are folks adding the interactive map in their signature lines? I'd like to have that on mine so when the Ollie arrives we can start the process of checking off our travel milestones.

"Well, nough said for now. The bigger connections will take place in person over the next few years." Welcome to the forum. It's a great group that can answer any questions you might have. I have found the members here to be very helpful. John

Didn't want to confuse the folks that have responded to my introduction, here's an update to my introduction. BTW I decided to change my profile name to Ollie-Haus to more personalize the Oliver connection and include a fitting part of our last name. Chris and Stacie (Woods) Neuhaus from Greenfield, Indiana. We've lived in Indiana for all of our 30 years of marriage and I've lived within 50miles of Indianapolis my entire life. Stacie has traveled the world, so to speak, in her pre-married years and I've pretty much kept it state side. We've always dreamed of exploring America together and prefer the back road method of eating local and getting to know the locals at the same time. We love what I would call the national attractions like everybody else, but really do enjoy the lessor known out of the way gems that can be discovered on the back roads. I'm a tradesman by career, I've worked as a certified welder, sheet metal fabricator, Machinist, Draftsman, and general machine repairman for over 40 years, including several years as a front line supervisor. I started out when I was 15 working in a vet clinic and quarter horse farm until I was 24 years old. I've also dabbled extensively in electrical work, auto repair, carpentry and wood working my whole life. Needless to say I am a little handy with stuff and a diehard do-it-yourselfer. Stacie ("WoodsHaus" on the forum) has worked most of her carrier in purchasing/procurement and retired about 5 years ago. Today she's an avid gardener, food preserver and connoisseur of the kitchen. She also is an avid crafter. Our dogs are my passion these days. I guess some of us always need something to nurture and care for. My experience in the vet clinic solidified me as a lover of horses and dogs, the latter being much easier to own and travel with. We have at the time two crazy Border Terriers (profile page background). Smaller dogs with very large hearts and desire to go places. They are very well mannered and don't make too much fuss except when we arrive and they have been at home alone. They love all people and do well out and about in public. We aren't as physically agile as we once were but are doing our best to stay fit and active as we enter into our retirement years. Hopefully traveling and exploring will be conducive to maintaining and strengthening our well being in the process. Well, nough said for now. The bigger connections will take place in person over the next few years.

"As I said before, few people ever get them calibrated. Or you could buy one of these: https://www.protorquetools.com/torque-calibration-systems/cdi-calibration-systems/" Mine looks like the one in this thread with the nut on the end of the handle and the spin dial. It's supposed to be accurate to +/- 4%. That's good enough for me. When you buy that torque wrench calibration machine for $107k let us all know so we can calibrate our wrenches. If it's not too much problem you could bring it to a rally. TIA John

Congrats on your new Oliver and successful trip, I’m sure there will be many more! Mike

Great looking Ollie resting comfortably in its very own bedroom. Nice trip too - glad to hear that there were no major issues. Welcome to the Family! Hope to meet you at the annual owner's rally in May. Bill

I love your story!!❤️

We were boondocking deep in the red rock country south of Sedona several years ago with some other Oliver owners. The morning after the first night, I got up and hit the switch to turn on our Suburban water heater. It went through its regular startup, I heard the igniter clicking, then the whoosh of the burner lighting, it running for a maybe 15-20 seconds and then shutting down. It did this the obligatory 3 times before giving up and not trying again until I re-initiated the startup procedure. Somewhere during all this, I heard our friend's water heater doing exactly the same thing. I went outside and found him pondering why both of them seemed to be having the exact same problem. We discussed this for a minute or two then remembered "something" that was done the night before. (This all happened several years ago and my memory fails me as to WHY this "something" was done...) But, my friend had licked the tip of his forefinger and wiped it across the gas orifice on both of our water heaters. Deciding that action was the only common denominator, each of us removed the orifice from our heaters and carefully ran a tiny copper wire through it. Nothing visible came out but after replacing the orifice's, each heater started right up and ran normally. Admittedly, I did go around the world to say that it literally takes "nothing" to interrupt the proper flow of gas.

We did not receive any pans with the convection microwave. I've baked crackling cornbread in a 9" round metal pie pan....same pan that I use in a dutch oven. It turned out well. (square pans of similar size will hit the microwave sides as the turntable rotates) I also like to use a porcelain bowl for oatmeal....plastic seems to impart the plastic taste.

As this area is caulked and well protected from moisture, I believe you are correct. I've never seen a complaint about this area on the forum anytime in the last 15 years.

The insulation to which you refer was used in all the first 49 trailers. They bought it in gigantic rolls. Robert Partee described it at the time as the same kind of stuff used to sew up insulated coats or vests.

I suppose I'm one of the "few people" as I calibrated my Harbor Freight Torque Wrench about a year ago. It was not hard to do and I saved myself almost $105,607.27 by doing it with this method. Surprisingly, it needed very little tweaking but I thought it was useful to have gone through the motions just to make sure a less than $25 torque wrench was close to being accurate. Oh and, by the way, I start my torquing procedure using several of these and this, then use the torque wrench to reach a final value of 90 pound feet. ** **Torque is usually measured in Newton metres (Nm), or pound feet (lb-ft) – the latter not to be confused with foot pounds (ft-lb), as one ft-lb refers not to a twisting force, but to the amount of energy required to raise a 1lb weight by a distance of 1ft.

You could compare it to several others and sort of average the values, see if yours is close. Take it to a lab that offers calibration services. A professional tester is tens of thousands of dollars. When I was an A&P tech we built a primitive one that worked fine, a steel framework with a shaft in the center (with a 1/2” square drive on one end) on roller bearings, and a long arm on back horizontal to the floor. We could hang weights on the arm at different locations, we used barbell and dumbbell weights because they stack, are cheap and have the numbers easily visible. For example, for 100 ft pounds you might stack one 50 pound weight 2 feet out from the centerline. If your tool reads 95, you make a chart with the “error correction” showing that it reads 5 low at that value, and just dial it to that. Normally you would get five or six different values for one wrench, and have all that on your chart. It is simple physics. As I said before, few people ever get them calibrated. Or you could buy one of these: https://www.protorquetools.com/torque-calibration-systems/cdi-calibration-systems/ John Davies Spokane WA

The Aluminum wheel alloy (356) and steel inserts are so close on the galvanic series that a potential for corrosion is more than offset by the clamping force advantage the inserts provide. Personally, I wouldn't run an alloy wheel on a trailer that did not have steel inserts.😃

Nice work !

Out with the old, in with new… I am about to glue the outside flanges on, and the outside shower box should be completed. I purposely made it a bit larger on the inside and the back is square as opposed to rounded on the original.

Welcome aboard neuhausca! All the best with your decision to consider an Oliver. There is a lot of great information on here and Oliver University. -Patriot 🇺🇸

There is no need to spend $300 (!!!) on a Lithionics charger, any name brand lithium capable one will do, I personally would steer well clear of any $50 no-name Chinese clone. I would pick this Guide: …. Blue Smart Charger John Davies Spokane WA

I've traveled with my little CLAM for the past seven years. It is great for one or two people and can be stored in the closet of the Elite II. Bill

When I trained as an A&P tech, the instructor in the How To Use Tools class demonstrated the need to always use a torque wrench. He had a big plate with a bunch of different sized bolts threaded into it. There was a chart with the recommended torque value. He had each of us tighten them by hand with a breaker bar to what we "thought" was the right amount, followed up by a torque wrench. 75% of the guys failed miserably, a couple were pretty close. NONE out of the 20 guys got them all exactly right. All torque wrenches "should" be calibrated, especially after a hard drop onto concrete. Hardly any are. When we torqued a truly critical fastener like a wing attach bolt, we checked the wrench for accuracy directly before using it. And then a second tech would check your work. If you got caught repeatedly hand tightening, you got fired.... Where I am getting is, if there is a good amount of safety margin, no worries, you can get away with sloppy techniques. If the Oliver recommended value is also the published Dexter maximum for the stud, you are asking for a failure and a possible fatality accident. if one stud snaps, it also over-stresses all the others. imagine your 75 pound wheel and tire bouncing across the median at 60 mph into oncoming traffic, while your brake drum throws sparks on the road surface then shatters. https://www.sentinelandenterprise.com/2020/06/10/woman-airlifted-to-umass-memorial-in-worcester-after-tire-struck-suv-she-was-driving/ https://www.wikihow.com/Calibrate-a-Torque-Wrench John Davies Spokane WA

I don't think I've ever torqued a wheel on any vehicle that I've owned. Yes, I do own a torque wrench, but I've just get the wheel good and tight and then one more bump for good safety. I do use my torque wrench for torqueing nuts that are of smaller size and ones that I could be twisted off with too much pressure. I feel I have the mechanical knowledge and know when something is tight, it's that feeling you have when all is right, I know many don't have it, so you best use a torque wrench. trainman

Here's the wheel on late model Ollies: https://www.lionsheadtireandwheel.com/Jaguar-Aluminum-Wheel Been tightening the original aluminum ION wheel lug nuts on our 2015 LE2 to 95FTLBs and double checking initially after a few hundred miles, no issues after many thousand miles on Ollie. Using 50 PSI for tire inflation pressure.

This is not the first time our foot prints have been on their door step. Recall the 80 PSI tire pressure? I think sending them the Michelin recommended Tire Pressure Guide for our trailers did the trick. This time they now have their MFG recommendation that runs counter to their Owner's Rep I sent it to Jason moments after I posted it here. I also asked him to bump it up to Engineering and QC. GJ

It is nice to be vindicated, thank you. I have been complaining about this here on the forum for six years. Can you please forward this email to Jason with a Service Ticket? They need to stop over-torquing the studs, one day a wheel will come off. There needs to be a recall or at least a Technical Bulletin. If an owner has a cheap or malfunctioning torque wrench, it would be very easy to go WAY over 120. If you use 90, then you have a large amount of built in leeway (safety margin) for an inaccurate tool, or even user error. John Davies Spokane WA

Got a response back from SenDel. It is below. Personally, I'm going to go with 90 ft-lb of torque. Looks like JD was spot on! GJ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ From: Vanessa Allar <vanessa@recstuff.com> Sent: Friday, April 29, 2022 9:02 AM To: John P. Russell, Jr. <jprredhorse@gmail.com> Subject: Re: Offline Message from John Russell: I am asking on behalf of several Oliver Tr We recommend between 90-110 ft-lb torque when mounting these wheels, you are right, 120 is a little too high. You gave me a good laugh with that message, thank you. I hope you have an excellent weekend! Vanessa Allar Customer Service Team Member www.RecStuff.com (321) 872-8473

You were almost there Don, you just needed to remove the "{" "}" squiggly lines in the code. The reason I did that is because if I did not add that the website would pick it up as code and display an image instead of the actual code you need. There is an image below the post with how the code should look :)

I shudder to think why you might need a ladder at the dump station!