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We do not bring but a few clothes that need to hang. We felt like we were losing so much storage area. I built shelves to fill the lower area of the closet. That curve is a bugger to work with. Shelves have a 4" lip in the front to help hold the gear. They are not perfect but work well.

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You'll find ScubaRX's disk brake project down on page 2 of this thread, with a April 18, 2017 entry date. Good Luck!

Agreed, I wasn't concerned about the value of my Oliver but rather how this translates into people camping over the next few years as Mountainman implied. My wife and I just returned from a week trip to SW Utah. We noticed one very popular campground that had a few openings still at sunset even with no RSVP tags on the post. Perusing the BLM dispersed areas also return the same results. Now it is important to note the weather down there has been off the charts wet and unseasonably cold. We were bundled up for ever hike we did, 6 years ago same time give or take a week it was all t-shirts and shorts. Cutting to the chase in other forum threads my prediction was many of the people who bought into this during the pandemic will not stick with it. It wouldn't surprise to see a glut on the market wit used RV's for sale soon.

No issues the first 2K miles on Hull #1291. But, bearing issues usually do not appear for at least 10-12K miles. That said, I ordered a Nev-R-Lube bearing cartridge to have on hand as a backup, just in case. In the event of failure, it will save at least a week of down time waiting for shipment of the replacement cartridge.

Original thermostat works fine, though it flashes E5 which is an open circuit code because there is no more AC unity to connect to. Just toggle to thermostat to heat when you turn it on and the heater works as normal. 6 month now using the Houghton and we love it! Its quiet, the Heat pump works great, as long as outside temps are above 40" F. Runs 5-6 hrs so far on the lithium 640 amp Hr batterys. Hull 1144 LEll, FORD F150 2014

We have a Solostove Bonfire and love it. We have had it for years and use it at home as well as when we travel. The wood burns efficiently and once it gets going, the smoke goes straight up. I love camp fires but hate the smoke in my face!

Have you talked to Oliver Service?

Thanks John! They don't offer an inline valve, but I'm sure I can cobble something together. I don't want to end up spending as much as simply replacing my Big Red Campfire, though. I appreciate the input! https://torjik.com For real fires, we use the Pop-Up Firepit. It burns super clean, with very little ash due to great air flow. Plus, you can set it up where *you* want, instead of where the campground wants it. It Folds up into a roll about 4" diameter and 20ish" ling. https://firesideoutdoor.com/?_atid=fxO62CmNHSBrD5RpwMpejcX2IckA0C

Your closet upgrade is fantastic! I'm thinking it's begging for a nice secure wine rack! Ha! Heck -- a few bungie cords over the top of the bottles... Might work?

I recently had my original gas regulator die on Hull 505. I wasn't paying close attention when I ordered the replacement and ended up ordering one with a lower BTU Rating. The original Hull 505 part - GR-9984XF with 345,000 BTU from the Main Service Cylinder is what I should have ordered. The replacement part - GR-9994XF has 262,500 BTU from the Main Service Cylinder is what I have now sitting in a box. Since I learned of my error, I've ordered the original part and left the other new in the original box. I can't return it as the time's expired for exchange. Net Result: I have a NEW in Box GR-9994XF sitting in my garage. I'm wondering if the GR-9994XF would work as a spare for those of you with newer trailers that no longer have the Gas Fridge? If you're interested in the unit...send me a private message and we can work out details. Craig Short

We picked up the tabletop SoloStove Mesa, it'll burn pellets as well as wood. The pellets are pretty easy to bring along. mesa

Thank you Jeff for opening the door on this aspect of our "Clean Energy" asperations. The above comments are interesting and informative. I feel certain that the market will dictate where the Gas/Diesel fuel topic goes. I am more worried about the higher level aspect of where will all our energy to travel comes from. The below are my personal feelings and concerns with our energy infrastructure. Your hope is a good one, and I share it. But sadly I don't think there is any chance of that for many more years. As a country, and a world, we pretty much missed that boat 20 years ago. Why? Coal Power Plants: The EPA emission requirements for coal fired power plants have resulted in significant reduction of these "Cheap" to fuel environmentally dirty power plants. Down the road, it is not likely that they can or will be replaced as the older coal power plants are decommissioned due to age and high cost to meet Clean Air Act requirements. Significant coal investment on a national level died years ago. Nuclear: This for now, and likely 20 or more years, is the only power source that could meet the needs of the zooming EV and other needs. But they take way too long to build, and in some states it will ever happen. Hydro Power Plants: How many new lakes suitable for hydro power production have been built in the last 30 years? Basically none. How has hydro electrical production faired as a result of global weather change? Well down. With the EPA required environmental assessments becoming next to impossible to get approved, I don't anticipate this type of power production to be one to hang our hats on either. Wind/Solar: Yes, we are making huge investments in these technologies. Sadly the vast majority of this equipment is imported. Regardless, for sure in some locations, they will shoulder most of the DAY TIME power needed for the millions of EV's coming towards the market. But Wind/Solar can not be relied upon every day and night without major power storage. To date we just don't have the infrastructure or a technology to do so at a grid level. So back to burning more natural gas to charge all those EV's at night. So basically for the foreseeable future, I believe that Natural Gas will be used to fuel the vast majority of the power for the planned millions of EV's. But again our society has pretty much killed off the initiatives for the energy industry to build the pipelines necessary meet the pending demands of the EV. Worse, the energy industry as a whole does not trust that such billion dollar investments to be profitable to their share holders. Same problem with funding new refineries, pipelines, and drilling new fields as most of our existing fields are beyond their prime. The result is that there is a finite amount of natural gas that can be delivered and used for power production. Existing limitations will cause shortages and you can expect that the cost of power will rise significantly as time passes. Also that weather related problems will result in punishing costs to be incurred as we have not embraced buried utilities as many countries have. I can only hope that reliable battery technologies come on line, and we in the USA get our heads around the need for a comprehensive energy policy that addresses bridge technologies to get us through the next 20 years as we embrace the EV wave heading our direction. In the mean time: The utility companies are closely watching the Hawaii situation where our home and commercial use of solar panels have drastically changed the grid peak times for power production. Peak power production on Oahu used to be afternoons, and is now during late afternoon and evenings after sunset. Now they are moving us to time of NIGHT high power pricing. So if you are needing to replace appliances, recommend you consider ones that you can select when you want it to run. Investigate home solar panels, solar hot water generation, and solar produced power storage investments while there are federal, state and local incentives to do so. Have enough power storage so that you can use your investment when the grids are "temporarily" down. I think that the good news is that the Oil/Gas industry is not going away in our collective life spans. As such, our gas/diesel burning "old school" TV and Ollie will likely love the deserted roads at night when the solar powered EV power stations sit idle with thousands of EV's waiting their turn at the few grid powered Charging Stations. We'll beep beep our horn as they wait for sunup to get some juice into their batteries once again. I keep wondering why we rarely hear anything about addressing the capital costs for the needed electrical production, high voltage power lines and substations needed to feed the 50,000 power stations being built today. GJ

They sure have gone up since 2019 when we purchased ours wowzer! 😕

Just checked and the Outland firebowl on Amazon is back on discount again. Not as cheap as last time but still very much discounted. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KY4S388/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

JD: Great graphic. I intuitively knew what was happening with air pressure and tire contact/drag forces, but had not seen it visually. thanks for sharing. It also makes a great justification for not going over 50 PSI on our OE2's unless it is way loaded. For us in the 6,000 pound group, doing so would appear to be little drag reduction with increased down sides as discussed above. Would be totally cool if OTT could run the OE2 over a glass plate at these pressures to see how close it mimics the Jeep visual. My gut says it would be really close. GJ

Very nice Job. It’s a tough space to organize for sure. We tend to carry different items with the season’s. We will get it figured out one day.

I don’t remember what size the mounting holes were, but I used some small round pads that I found at my local Ace Hardware store. They aren’t plugs, more like the pads you find on the feet of a table top radio or a clock. They aren’t rubber, maybe some space age material with a glue backing, but they are pretty thin and have stayed up almost 4 years. Amazon has a large selection of plastic or nylon hole plugs if you can find the right size. Mossey

Based on my observations from 2.5 months of travel this Winter across NM, AZ and CA, this is already happening. Greater vacancies in campgrounds, BLM land and fewer rigs on the road than the two prior Seasons. It will be interesting to hear the experiences from those who camp and travel during the Summer months and in other States as to whether this trend is greater than just NM, AZ and CA over this past Winter.

That is primarily an illustration of why a Jeep owner “airs down” when going onto loose terrain. Wider footprint, more grip, less spinning and trail damage, at the expense of slightly lower ground clearance... It also shows why the tires’ rolling resistance goes up when you deflate your Ollie from 80 to 40 psi. It’s interesting to see that the footprint doubles in area between 40 and 15, but the change is a whole lot less dramatic above 40 psi.,. My sweet spot is 42, because I do minimal Interstate cruising, but lots of back highways and less that ideal road surfaces, AKA POTHOLES. Hit a 3 or 4 inch deep pothole at 50 mph with rock hard tires and you will think your trailer exploded. This shows a main arterial route here in Spokane, where we get lots of freeze thaw cycles. It also shows why the center stripe paint gets worn off so fast, all those studded tires on cars avoiding the holes BTW one of the local weather reporters calls the arteries “artillery” routes. It’s a hoot. John Davies Spokane WA

John, thanks for the heads up. Just started investigating the switch over to lithium a week or so an ago. I checked out Battle Born last week. I’am minimum of a 17 months out, but I put myself on the mailing list. again thanks

Our original awning (2008) suffered from a bowed arm and saggy fabric. (Yes, we often leave it out when we have a moderate rain.) Oliver hooked us up with a direct replacement, at a reasonable price. I second Bill's suggestion, if you are anywhere near Hohenwald. Or, if you just want to revisit beautiful middle Tennessee. Put in a service ticket.

Well, I LOVE that initial wheel turn in our Ram eHemi when towing. As a past president of the Arizona Energy Assn, everyone needs to chill on electric and let it just happen. Geronimo John has it correct - power production is an issue and the grid is even a bigger issue. Charlie.

Still working on it, 15 seasons in... Every trip is different. We make it work.

They don't kill rattlesnakes in Arizona! Charlie

I wonder when that will translate into fewer RVs on the road/in campsites?

In part the article stated: According to the RV Industry Association, total RV shipments for January fell nearly 62% from a year earlier, marking a reversal for the industry, which saw demand rise during the pandemic. One of the reasons cited for falling demand are rising interest rates for larger loans like those used to purchase RV's. ad

This is probably true for the Stick Built Trailers, or Metal Sticks, but for the fiberglass trailers like, Oliver, Casita, Big Foot, Escape, etc., I wouldn't be too worried about the value going down, just how much are they going to go up. The fiberglass community of campers is a total different group compared to other groups. trainman

Wow! Each to his or her own but for the life of me I have never understood the allure of truck campers in the first place. So here is a RAM 3500 dually that collapses under the weight of its payload, but with a significantly smaller truck and RV trailer not only could an individual have more room but also easier traveling. A few years ago I was up in Glacier NP late May early June, god awful weather too, and the couple across from me had a similar setup but with a Ford F350 dually and FG Bigfoot on the truck bed. He had already blown one setup and now had a new F350 to make the haul at the cost of around $90K if I remember correctly. He was enamored by my relatively lightweight setup and ease of use. Came over every day to inspect the Oliver et al even as I was hitching up solo with relative ease. He was green with envy not only for the additional room but the ease of setup and take down. Oh and he was also pulling a small vehicle in tow, Fiat or Mini Cooper one or the other. Go figure.

Before we picked up our Oliver, I thought we would use a lot more propane, especially during cold weather camping. In reality we use far less propane even during cold weather camping then I thought. We typically leave it on eco mode and then on comfort when we take showers. No problem turning it off when it's not being used but I think it's a good habit to at least put it in eco mode when you don't need hot water. If you forget at night, you will be reminded when it powers up to heat the water. I usually just get up and turn it to eco mode or off in above freezing weather. Sometimes I forget to turn the propane on before turning on the Truma. If you do this and turn the thermostat to eco or comfort mode the amber light on the thermostat will blink. Also the Truma on/off switch green led will blink. Just turn the thermostat off and turn the Truma switch off. Turn the propane on. To be sure the propane is flowing, check it by lighting the stove. If the stove lights then turn the Truma on/off switch to on, then go back inside and turn the thermostat to eco or comfort mode and the amber light should be constant. You will also see the same thing happen if there is not enough fresh water circulating through the pump. I found that out the first time I used the antifreeze kit. I drained the fresh water tank thinking the antifreeze kit would just keep the water in Truma warm. But I soon learned that the pump runs continuously when in antifreeze mode circulating water through the Truma. Fortunately, the Truma has some built in failsafe's allowing the user to make some mistakes without damaging the unit.

Several years ago, I installed a SiriusXM receiver and antenna in the attic. The antenna is between the insulation and the outer hull. I don’t know what size GPS you are working with, but it’s very easy to put it between the insulation and the fiberglass outer hull at the back of the trailer in the attic. If it’s small, it would not be noticeable to someone looking, but you would be able to easily access it. Mike

@Stranded, I think that's a really cool (I mean warm) idea! It would actually address the entire system. Would this take some significant modifications to the plumbing? How would you get the water "flowing" around all of the plumbing in a closed loop? Another option worth considering is 12V self regulating heat cables: https://www.oemheaters.com/. I installed some of these heat cables in the plumbing areas that were most vulnerable (Water inlets, front bathroom and rear storage area water lines) a couple of years ago. I'm pretty convinced that the areas I've protected would never freeze (camping, towing or otherwise) as long as the cables had power. As an example of power requirements, I have 4' of cable installed around the lines and valves that compose the fresh and city water inlets and it takes 1.5 amps at full power (single digit temps and below). Very interested in hearing what you decide to do and your results.

What about just heating the water in the pipes, and not the air? I don’t do that much winter camping, too hard with little kids. But I am planning a trip to Alaska and keeping the pipes warm has been on my mind, as well as eliminating water waste when boondocking. Another lifetime ago, I was an apprentice plumber in Los Angeles. Granted, it never freezes in L.A., but for some wealthier clients, recirculating hot water pipes were popular because it allowed hot water immediately. For clients that didn’t want their drywalls cut up, there was an option to install a pump in the bathroom farthest from the hot water heater. This pump simply ran a line from the hot water pipe, into the pump, and then into the cold water pipe. The pump was either activated by a switch or a temperature setting, pushing the hot water into the cold water line, which then went into the hot water heater, and then return to the pump, creating a loop, and it would remain on until the temperature at the pump reached the set temperature. This eliminated water waste and provided fairly instant hot water. My plan was to do something similar with my Oliver. I don’t need a recirculating pump since the onboard pump will do the work of circulating water whenever there is a loss of pressure. I intend to install around 3 or 4 electronically controlled 12 volt valves. I plan to install ½ inch tees at certain locations (i.e.: the faucet in the bathroom, the outside shower, and the fresh water fill pipe). The tees will be to connect the hot water line to the cold water line, with an electric valve that is normally closed between these connections. An activation of these 12 volt valves will cause the water pump to activate and will push water through the hot water heater, along the hot water line almost to the faucet where it will tee into the cold water line and then go through that line, and then get pushed into the fresh water tank. Obviously, I’ll need a valve to divert water into the fresh water tank. To activate the 12 volt lines at the proper intervals, I was going to get one of the cheap PID controllers from Amazon and some cheap water temperature sensors to put in key locations (i.e. outside shower cold line, the freshwater tank fill line, the freshwater tank, and the bathroom faucet). Once the temperature gets to 40 degrees at a certain location, the correct valves open, the pump activates, both the cold and hot water lines get hot water racing through them until a desired temperature is reached (say 85 degrees). If I also insulate what I can of the pipes, they should maintain their temperature a while. I’m probably not describing this too well, but the end result will be no frozen pipes, and instead of heating the entire basement, I’ll only be heating the water lines and the fresh water tank using just the hot water heater. I anticipate this will use less propane than heating everything with the furnace. I can leave it active while away hiking or exploring without running the propane hogging furnace. The only down side is it won’t keep the gray or black water tanks heated. Did this make sense? If so, thoughts?

Not a V8 but mileage on the 3.5 twin turbo (2017) was 12-13 on several round trips from the mountains of Western NC to the Rockies and back. Tonneau cover on FX4 trim truck with a 6.5 foot bed, max towing, and max payload. I understand that the V8 performance is about the same while towing but that the ecoboost has better gas mileage (22 to 24 mpg) when not towing. Bill

There is supposed to be a tag on the rear of the axle with the model number on it. If your tag is missing, as mine was, look at the flange where the brake assembly mounts to the axle. If you have 4 bolts in a square pattern they're 3500# axles, and if you have 5 bolts in a in a circular pattern they're 5200# axles.

Yes. EDIT: I need to add some context to my quick, one word answer this morning. I don’t want to give the impression that I have a cavalier attitude toward my safety and the safety of those around me. I do pull into fuel stations with my fridge on propane. Normally, my trailer is not next to a pump, it is behind the truck which is next to the pump. We travel a lot in the west where it is usually windy. On those occasions where the station is very busy and I need to use a forward interior pump I will turn off my propane. I always check inside the trailer when stopped, so when I turn off the propane I will go inside and turn off the fridge while I’m checking so that the fridge is not on batteries. As far as the furnace goes, over the last 7 years I’ve only traveled with it on a few times so I don’t remember fueling with it on. The same situational awareness would have applied.

Yes, both the furnace and the fridge running on propane. Running the furnace while driving is rare, running the fridge on propane while driving is 100% of the time….except for a couple of times we had tunnels that required no propane and had a pull over area to turn it off. Mike

Last winter I put a 4" vent through from the base of the toilet to the area under the dinette. It's an eyebrow style vent so shower water can't splash into the belly. I also removed the exterior shower head, brought that hose inside and re-attached the head. Also removed the hot and cold water knobs. Used closed cell foam to insulate the space behind the tiny door and two layers of reflectix to insulate the outer door. All super easy and very productive. Those belly areas were measurably warmer as was the temp in the bathroom as air now flowed through there where it had been a dead end.

Jason, Thank you for the update and clarification! It is always good to hear explanations concerning changes to Oliver Travel Trailer production from the service department. Mossey

This is the one thing that I found was in a very inconvenient place, the fresh water drain valve (Elite II). I think this electric valve install should be stand on the Oliver trailers, just a pain the "a" to get to, lifting the bed and all the covers just to operate the value. trainman

Yes my original plan was to do that. But I wanted to see if it would even make a difference before I went through the extra effort . This took me about 10 minutes to swap the piping around to try it and it worked better than anticipated. Next step will be to clean things up a bit and most likely run rigid pipe where possible. Bill

I give credit to ScubaRX for detailing his disk brake modification back in 2017 and Ron for his mechanical prowess.

My drum brakes performed admirably for over a decade with regular annual maintenance . . . I was traveling 9 to 10 thousand miles a year then. Lots of braking events . . . and then . . . COVID! No travel at all for one year, and two years only going 700 miles into the mountains and sitting for 3 months with lots of friends in the cool air. Well. the dust and debris of normal travel had gotten into the drums and sort of solidified, causing the left drum to cease working altogether and the right one to be cantankerous. My TV is an F150 which has abundant braking power for my 3900 lb Wonder Egg. But that's not the point. I need to ensure safety at ALL times, even when going down 9 miles of 12-15° down slopes in the mountains. So that was the impetus for my move to disk brakes. Plus . . . they look COOL! $1600 in parts, $900 in labor. For me, where I am in life at this time, it is worth every buckaaroo. I hope to return to my long wanderings again this year. Woohooooo

I purchased a 5" X 13" X 1/4" sheet of aluminum for mounting the actuator and asked Ron to ensure the fill port was mid-center, between the propane tanks. It is tight, but does not interfere with the tanks or make contact with the fiberglass shell. The actuator adaptor module which allows it to interface with modern in truck brake controllers is mounted on the inside of the street-side A-frame. One major change I asked Ron to do from ScubaRX's design is to enclose the entire run of the copper-nickle brake line in a protective stainless steel brake line protector from Summit Racing https://www.summitracing.com/parts/ops-gg31616ss It slips right over the brake line to protect it from stones. The line is run on the side of a frame member until it enters the fiberglass channel housing the propane line where it is well secured and away from anything that might chafe it over the long term. The grease bearing zerk fitting came with my 5200 lb axle. I never used it because one day a brake shop owner told me about all the extra work he was seeing because customers were applying too much grease, which squirted out of the seals, which then fouled up the brakes.

Our Houghton rapidly dehumidifies (and cools) the cabin whether or not the fan is on high or low, as long as the compressor is running (AC or "dry" mode). Water literally pours off the roof for the first 30 minutes. The problem with humidity coming back up is definitely related to the compressor not running while the fan is running - which of course would happen more often if the unit is oversized and cycling (normal operation by the way). It's been a bit of a learning curve, but no way I'd ever go back to the Dometic or something that loud. We are still super happy with the Houghton over the original Dometic.

The air conditioner has a remote control and also on the unit itself you can make changes in case you lose the control. My unit also has the heat strip. The original controls continue to be used for the propane furnace

I was skeptical about electric but now family and friends have cars, they seem happy with them. I also agree that towing a trailer we’re going to need gas or diesel for awhile. i think the point of all the electric vehicles is that with enough solar, wind, and nuclear power we can transport ourselves without dumping more pollutants into the atmosphere.

We also have the Outland fire pit. It keeps our clam toasty warm in cold weather on low. Highly recommend! Mike

Well, it is safe, am I the only one here that gets turned on by this kind of high end running gear? I do hate drum brakes, they are the spawn of Satan. The hardware, lug nuts and even the backing plates for the pads are stainless. http://www.sturdybuiltonline.com/Kodiak-Trailer-Slip-on-6-Lug-Disc-Brake-Kit-ALL-STAINLESS-w-SS-Hubs_p_968.html I plan to keep my drums for a while, but when they are too tired they are going straight into the trash. I really think that disc brakes should be a factory option, stainless would be nice but it's not needed unless you tow in winter on deiced roads. Disc brakes give significantly better towing mpgs, that alone would help mitigate the cost over many miles. Then there is the low maintenance and the cool factor .... ...which is undeniably important to me..... Comments? John Davies Spokane WA

My version of Disk Brake Porn Dexter D52 axles Nev-R-Lube bearings 12 inch 4 piston disk brakes