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@topgun2: TRUE and TRUE! There's no way we could fit the recycled plastic bottle mat into the Ollie garage, ours would only roll-up into a giant burrito and would live in the shop and travel in the truck bed, its nice having the CGEAR residing in the OTT. Definitely more expensive, though - ours was north of $160. We've been using it since 2020 on several dozen trips - very little if any noticeable wear/tear... Tons of size options, too.

I bought a Sand Mat like this, after reading about it in another forum post: CGEAR Original Sand-Free Outdoor Rug Camping Mat - Water-Resistant & Anti-Fade Material - Military-Grade Construction - Reversible Design - Area Rug for Beach, RV, & Picnics - Includes Travel Bag https://a.co/d/6dzNKWn Mine was on sale, maybe from REI, and maybe half the price. It works well to filter out the sand and seems durable; it came with a bag that also is open mesh (which means I don’t store it in the trailer.)

And that huge mat might push the Beast a little closer to its max payload.😃 Mossey

We used to roll out a huge PVC mat I think it was like 8x10😳. Wrestling and cleaning this large mat became more trouble than we were interested in dealing with. So we opted to go a with a much smaller 4x6 PVC mat and lay a rubber mat that actually drains water through the bottom. The porous heavier rubber mat lays on top which keeps the pvc mat in place should a breeze kick up. I picked up two of the small PVC mats at Wally World for $20 a piece on an end cap. One as a back up should we need to replace the old one. The new smaller mat works perfect, has held up great and is super easy to manage and clean (hose off) and take up very little room in the bed of the Beast. My attempt to make set up and break down of camp a little more user friendly. The huge PVC mat goes in the donation stack. Small door mats matter!!! 😂 Patriot🇺🇸

Kind of like Ollie's, sometimes you get what you pay for! And I have to give credit to Overland for the original post about CGEAR RV mats. I bought our 8'x20' Orange/Agave mat in February of 2020 on sale. It was the only color available in that size and price and Krunch does not like it. It is big and heavy and if I was to buy it again, I think I would op for 2 smaller mats, especially if we had a Clam shelter. Mossey

I bought mine on Amazon. I’ve had it 3 years and still looks like new. It sprays off dirt easily and drys fast. Faulkner Deluxe 48896 Multi-Purpose Paradise Mat, 9' x 12', Blue (Improved/ Blue) https://a.co/d/66JgfWo

This is the one we use and have been very happy with it. It is the same rug Oliver has in their showroom. Lightweight, dries quickly, doesn’t hold dirt or sand. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007G2KJLA/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_image_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Your assumption is very likely correct. And, that bang is a bit startling even when you are expecting it. If this happens to you again and you notice that the shackle has flipped then all you have to do is slowly drive (on the side that is flipped) over a curb or a 4x4 (this is what they do in the Oliver Service Dept). Bill

We’ve had two C-Gear Original Sand-Free Mats since 2017 (10x10) and 2019 (8x11) in orange/teal. The square one fits perfectly in our six-sided CLAM enclosure. They worked great in the teardrop, where it is too east to transfer dirt and grass inside. Now they’re perfect for the Oliver. They dry fast, fold relatively small, and work as advertised. They do tend to gum up with clay mud, but a good hosing off at home easily cleans them. I don’t know if it is still the case, as I don’t see it on their web site, but both of ours were made in the USA. The company started out making landing mats for military helicopters is sandy locations.

I think I would just cut off enough of this one to fit a future Clam and seal the cut ends. Mossey

@mossemi: That's a great point - if we get a Clam in the future, we would definitely consider the option of 2 smaller mats; which would be a perfect configuration. Although we like the 8' x 20' and it fits into the rear garage hatch - it is not light weight by any stretch compared to the recycled bottle mats. We had it for the AS which was a longer rig, a smaller size CGEAR mat for the Casablanca would be even better, IMO. We'll probably live with this one until a Clam is obtained...

Mossemi put me onto the CGEAR type mats a couple of years ago. The biggest benefit that I see with these mats is that they fold/roll up much smaller as compared to the recycled plastic bottle mats. However, from what I've seen, the CGEAR sand mats are also somewhat more expensive. Bill

FYI: Over the year's, we've been getting our mats from the Quartzite RV show - they're the ones made overseas (China?) from recycled plastic bottles. They would last several years, but hard to keep clean and once they started fraying - boom!; our's would unravel fast. Fairly inexpensive and loads of colors and patterns. D found the traditional CGEAR sand mats several years ago and they work great for us! Water drains through them quickly, debris - sand, dirt, etc., works its way through and not into the Ollie. The mat has lots of tie-downs and is a heavy duty product all around. She got us an 8' x 20' green/blue color combo with the storage bag made from the same material. The bagged mat fits into the "garage" hatch and lives full-time in the Casablanca. D and Magnus really love this one! "HWHL"!

I don't bother with a chock when coupled. The truck parking brake is quite enough, as it ain't going nowhere! I will chock to decouple a trailer for tire repair, since I prefer to drive the wheel in for repair, not the whole rig, unless we're many, many miles to a tire store and then the spare makes sense to me. I see so many vehicles stopped, just one foot from the white line on a major highway and I'm thinking why, in the world, did they stop there? Why not coast a little down the road to a safe place. This is first and foremost. Your tire likely needs replacing anyway, you can't hurt it any further, maybe scrape the rim little which is less important than your safety! Just keep rolling, don't hit the brakes, flashers on, and coast slowly to a safe place, while looking ahead to eyeball the best safe level spot available! And Steve is absolutely correct, if you are going to mount the spare, drive truck & trailer in for repair, there is no reason to decouple.

I'll bet you're are spot on about the noise coming from a reversed shackle. While working on the running gear of the trailer, while I would advise you to chock the opposite side, I would also recommend that you to never unhook the tow vehicle. It is your greatest safety net. With the trailer still attached to the truck, there is virtually no way it could move forward or backward.

Another point to remember is that bearing don't have a recommended change interval. Don't just assume because they have 12,000 miles on them they're shot. The number one cause of trailer bearing failures is infrequent use and the subsequent corrosion or pitting that can occur due to grease contaminated by condensation/moisture forming inside the hub. Routine inspection and repacking, or more frequent supplanting of old grease, are the accepted ways to extend bearing life.

I wanted to improve the sound quality in our trailer so I bought a couple of JBL Charge 5 speakers after reading lots of reviews. The speakers are small and both will easily fit in any of the overhead compartments. I bought these so that we could use them while camping but I can also use them while working on projects in my garage and around our home both inside and out. About 2 minutes to pair them to my phone and they were up and running. We enjoy listening to music considerably more than watching TV while camping...at a reasonable volume level of course 🙂 The sound quality is really quite impressive and the volume at the 50% setting is more than ample. Reasonably priced IMHO to boot. https://www.crutchfield.com/p_109CHRGE5G/JBL-Charge-5-Grey.html?tp=63331

@MAX Burner We bought the (5) sided clam. It fit perfectly length wise in the short bed Tundra Crewmax we previously owned. We found it more than adequate for two people and a small table. We also purchased the window covers to block out the sun. Clams are great in the fall, but can get a pretty steamy in the dog days of summer. Back to the magic carpet posts! 😊 Patriot🇺🇸

So… I had a hail storm blow over me, while parked at my volunteer station here in the middle of ND. Thankfully, the hail was minuscule here at the hatchery (golf ball size, down the road.) I just realized this poll asks for input “if you have experienced hail damage”, and since I didn’t have damage, I haven’t answered any of the questions.

We bought ours at IKEA, probably 12 to 14 years ago. It's getting a bit threadbare, but still hangs together, and serves the purpose. Camping world has some very nice ones that are made to fold up in small sections. Watch for their sales and closeouts. The ikea mat has a limited life left. I'll be watching at camping world, amazon,,and overstock.

We don't use one ourselves but have seen them at Costco and would suspect Camping World and other such RV stores might stock them too.

Well, y'all got me thinking of being ready to change a tire on the road - TY. I had the Oliver hooked up this weekend to do a few things, like measuring rear ride height before and after coupling, and while I was at it, I tested my EZ Jack to know whether it works on the Oliver. The one I bought 30 years ago is the same brand as this one: Blaylock EZ Jack and Wheel Chock for Tandem-Axle Trailers - Aluminum - 20,000 lbs Blaylock Industries Wheel Chocks EZ-JACK It does work on the E2, lifting the other wheel barely off the ground. Then I used the rear leveling jack to bring it up another inch and it was very solid for changing a flat tire (chock the other side if you are going to decouple the TV). All was good, then as I pulled into a gas station, up the driveway on an angle, I heard a loud BANG, and quickly checked my right-side mirror to see if I had hit the curb but was 2-3 feet away. I'm thinking a shackle got turned upside down when I drove up the jack, lifting one wheel allowing the other to drop. Now it's reset, all by itself!

It's been a while, so I don't remember the actual numbers, but I do remember that the cubic feet of space in their camper was much less than an LE2 and that is was also a fully foam insulated 4 season camper. The big giveaway that their issue (IMHO) is caused by an oversized unit was that it always short cycled at night, even on low fan. Shutting the fan down in between cycles would more than likely help some, but if they're short cycling and never getting the humidity down to begin with I don't see how it could ever solve the problem in their truck camper. I'm far more interested in learning how this Houghton performs in a low temp / high humidity environment in an LE2 for use as a possible replacement of our Coleman 9.2k unit down the road. Our Coleman, which for now works perfectly, is pushing 15 years old and I really like the idea of switching to a heatpump to eliminate the use of the the propane heater when power is available.

Totally concur, 100%. Maybe a bit off the topic of this thread, but... We carry and use an inexpensive portable surge protector for all the same reasons @ScubaRx describes - plus connecting it first to the power pedestal will give you a reading of the nature of the power being provided at that point of usage. We recently had a reversed neutral readout - it stopped us from connecting the Ollie and we notified the RV park office attendant. Apparently, recent maintenance on the pedestal left this condition. It may not have caused damage by proceeding to connect, and the internal Surge/EMS would have likely saved the day - but why gamble on it?

Grand Codroy RV camping - Very nice private park, would recommend staying 2 or 3 nights to see the area. Sandbanks Provincial Park - The road from Hwy 1 to Burgeo has a lot of pot holes and takes a long hour. This was our first real excursion off Hwy 1, it doesn’t seem so bad now that we have experienced a wide variety of the roads in Newfoundland, it’s not hard to find worse roads. The campground and surrounding area is very nice especially if you like sandy beaches. We stayed 3 nights which was the right amount of time for us. Blow Me Down Provincial Park - We stayed 4 nights at the park, for us it was the right amount of time we like to hike and there are several nice hikes in the area Gros Morne National Park, Berry Hill Campground - We stayed 7 nights here, there is a lot see in the Gros Morne area. Pistolet Bay Provincial Park - We booked 7 nights but departed after four. The park is very remote with no services, but nice enough campground. There is a nice little beach to swim at. We enjoyed L’Anse aux Meadows and the town of St Anthony. Mountain Waters Resort - We stayed one night here to recharge our batteries. We visited Port au Choix which is worth seeing, there is a private campground on the ocean I think I would stay at if I did this again, It’s much closer to Port au Choix and far fewer bugs. Sir Richards Squires Memorial Provincial Park - We stayed 2 nights which was plenty unless you are an avid fly fisherman. It is a nice campground like all the Provincial Parks we stayed at. There are two roads to the park, 422 west of Deer Lake is a partially paved long road with many pot holes. We didn’t enjoy that drive so tried the other “road” out that intersects with 420 just north of Hwy 1. I strongly recommend not using that “road” it’s more like an off road trail in many spots. Crescent Lake RV Park - We stayed 3 nights here at this top notch private park. Very nice trail around the lake it’s on. The owners are very friendly and helpful. ***** Run Provincial Park - This is a beautiful park, the only downside is it’s about a 15 minute drive to Twillingate which we really enjoyed. We stayed 7 nights here there is a lot to see in this area. We took a day trip to Fogo Island the main attraction are the historic buildings on the island. Tera Nova National Park - Newman Sound Campground - We ended up canceling this reservation due to electrical issues at the park and our batteries were low after a week in ***** Run without any hookups and not much sun. We stayed at Shriners RV park which had full hookups, good cell and WIFI service. We spent 4 nights at this campground which was adequate to see the area. Lockston Path Provincial Park - Long 5k gravel road to get to the park entrance. Once there the park is nice similar to a lot of other provincial parks. The Bonavista Peninsula covers a large area, the highlights were Trinity, Cape Bonavista and Tickle Cove. Four nights gave us enough time to see the sights but does require a fair amount of driving. Butter Pot Provincial Park - Decent campground very similar to other provincial parks, clean, well maintained, nice sites. We stayed 4 nights which was plenty for me. I am not a big fan of cities and crowds. Most of St. Johns is like any other large city, except for the downtown area. Heading Home from St John’s we stayed at: Notre Dame Provincial Park - Beautiful provincial park with sites backing up to a very nice lake, good cell service, sites have electrical hookups. Barachois Pond Provincial Park - Another beautiful park, one of my favorites There is a lot to see in Newfoundland, highlights I wouldn’t miss are the Gros Morne National Park, Twillingate area, Bonavista Peninsula and St. John’s downtown area and signal hill. There are many other very nice places to visit if you have the time, just not quite as spectacular as the above, depending on what you like to see and do. There is much of Newfoundland we didn’t see. There are many RV campgrounds not on any maps I had, plus boon docking opportunities. We did not have any issues making last minute modifications to our schedule and finding places to stay. I reserved all of our camping for the entire trip, if I had to do it over I would probably have a less rigid schedule of reservations. We never found any campgrounds to be completely full, but you will need reservations for the prime sites.

EDITS IN GREEN: Ok, now that I have my Houghton 3400 heat pump installed and have run it in 106 degrees full sun on our OE2, I can respond with a professional M.E. opinion: The 13.5 KBTU Houghton 3400 is NOT oversized for hot running conditions. I would not recommend a 11,000 BTU unit for an OE2 if you go to hot places, Secondly, again in my opinion the humidity problem is certainly caused by re-evaporation of humidity on the coils after the compressor is shut down. Frankly IMHO, this is a bad design element of Houghton units for USA use where humidity issurs are common. But for the dry Aussie Land it makes sense. As such, I am doubling down on my long-ago suggestion of adding a relay tied to the fan low speed and compressor as a trigger (Mounted in the upper unit) to shut off the fan when it auto cycles to low speed while on auto. This suggestion is exactly what another AS owner (GSMBear) posted last month on their web site and one of our owners posted on ours. I took a deep dive into that video and the relay part is relatively easy. But one also has to know how to relocate the room air sensor from the supply air duct to the ambient area. Detailed info on this must be known before just adding the relay. GJ

If you'll run those jacks down and take the weight off the suspension as other's have suggested, that side to side wobble will virtually disappear. Always put a block of some kind under the jack rather than running it all the way to the ground. One day you will forget to raise one and drive away. If it is not sitting on top of something that will turn over as you pull out, you will find yourself with a jack that now has a bent lower tube that will not go up. Hope you've got a hack saw with you because at that point, it's your only remedy. Oh, and that'll cost you $400+ to replace. Trust Me.

Following my first hard reboot in May, our Xantrex Freedom XC Pro 3000 Watt inverter once again shut down when asked to handle loads over 1400 watts at less that 100% State of Charge. So I tried just turning off all three batteries, as suggested by Geronimo John. Although I left the batteries off for a couple of days before turning them back on, the inverter still shut down when asked to handle loads over 1400 watts. So, I did a second hard reboot by physically disconnecting both the positive and negative battery cables from the inverter, and waiting 3 days. For reasons I do not understand, physically disconnecting the battery cables enabled the inverter to once again handle loads over 1400 watts, while just turning off the batteries did not. How long the effects of that second hard reboot will last remains to be seen. Tom and Doreen: have you done a hard reboot on your Xantrex inverter? If so, what were the results?

(Stolen directly from the Land Cruiser 200 subform over a iH8MUD, with regards to JamesC, the author) There are a lot of little things that I wonder about but I don't feel merit that I start a new thread. Still, I'm curious. Maybe this can serve as a repository for those misc questions that are still searchable but don't necessarily fit elsewhere? If no one else sees the value I'll just post mine here.

I like easy, so here goes! I was born and raised in Florida and know enough to stay there in the winter, so that is the reason I have never had to winterize. But I do sanitize my freshwater tank and when I do drain it, I tilt the trailer to the curb side which is were the drain pipe exits the freshwater tank and I remove the outside shower head, turn the shower on and insert the hose into a piece of PVC pipe to move the water away from the trailer when I am at home. You could run it into your drain hose if your campsite has a sewer connection. And I wouldn’t have any qualms with opening the freshwater drain and driving down the road if the weather cooperates. I often dump my freshwater during the last few hours of driving home. That probably wouldn’t work in freezing weather. On the other hand it may be safer to have a 1/2 of tank of water, which would be less likely to freeze. Mossey

Engineer's wife says you never stop, just temporarily suspend . Have a great time. Camping experiences have been some of the best, in our lives . Usually, no engineering required. Just time to have fun.

Thanks Mike and Bill! I knew about flushing with gray after, but I never thought to allow some through first to wet the drain hose. Great tip! Nor had I thought about "stuff" accumulating in the gray tank. We plan to avoid as much food particles and grease going down the drain as possible. Kitchen traps smell worse than bathroom traps! Thanks again for the wise counsel!

My trailer is also off site at this time but it's easy to open the fuse panel under the dinette seat. my recollection: its pretty standard stuff 7.5, 10, 15, 20 and 30 amp. Seems, I recall the 7.5 amp fuse for the furnace and fan may have been a bit unique but not hard to find. I do have a larger fuse ( maybe 40amp ) under the drive side bed next to the master power re-rest and in the battery compartment (positive side cable) . Not sure is this is stock from the factory I'm not the original owner of the 2016 trailer. check the owners manual starting on page 35 https://olivertraveltrailers.com/wp-content/uploads/oliver-university/Owners_Manual/2019/2019-Owners-Manual.pdf

OLIVER OWNERS: If you own any vehicle recovery gear, or could find yourself stuck, PLEASE take a moment and read this post. Thank you, GJ In pursuit of mountain top hang glider and paragliding launches, I have spent much of my adult life enjoying fire and remote unpaved adventures. I pride myself in trying to be a helpful Good Samaritan. More than a few times I have stopped and helped a fellow off-roader who had become stuck. I carry a 15,000 # rated tow strap that I have attached to my trailer ball on many occasions. After watching the below referenced video, it is apparent that my confidence in my recovery gear exceeds by a wide margin the actual safety ratings of my gear. The below info came from a recently posted by Colorado 4X4 Rescue and Recovery, Inc. that Good Samaritans should review. It involves an incident not all that different from what many of us have done many times. Sadly for Mr. Ryan Woods, a 43 year old Arizona off-roader, was killed by a Good Sam’s confidence in his recovery gear and/or lack of understanding of its limitations and/or how to properly use it. I commend Ryan’s wife for allowing Colorado Rescue and Recovery to produce the video analysis of the incident that resulted in the death of her young husband. (Pictures from video) The Good Samaritan apparently had looped their tow strap over their truck’s trailer ball and ran the tow strap to the tow hooks (Apparently below the cow catcher in the mud) of this Super Duty Ford. According to the video, the Good Samaritan’s truck was using an “Anderson Style” drop hitch and 2” receiver such as this one. In this case, the hitch failed at the truck receiver. But, as the video advises, there are several other potential failure points that could have resulted in the fatality. In this incident, It appears that the entire hitch assembly aft of the truck became a missile that killed Mr. Woods. It could have been the ball itself, or the shank pin, or the tow strap, or the tow hook(s) on the stuck vehicle. I think that the central point of the video is that all elements of a vehicle recovery system need to have the necessary ratings for the task involved. One of the video reviewers (Mr. Jeffrey Coomb) stated: “I'm guilty of using my tow hitch to recover trucks and trailers. I think for me it's a case of you don't know what you don't know, and when you find out, it's too late. I'm glad I found this video and really appreciate Ryan's wife for allowing you to use their story to educate others on the dangers. I am very sorry for her loss, but incredible that she see's the possibility to help others despite her grief. Quite a woman! I'm ordering the right tools ASAP. Please be aware that your trailer hitch ball and receiver may be significant failure point. Personally, I will also be taking a re-look at my recovery gear and for certain stop using my hitch as the pull point when using it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mb3BkeeXlIo

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

My Natures Head was a factory install, one of the very first. It was a custom order that later became a regular option. I doubt that the fan power wire is there in a non NH trailer It would be simple enough to run one from an unused fuse in back.You would have to block off the top of the black tank and add a tee and pipe to the 1 1/2” black sewer pipe for the new toilet vent. You could leave the fresh flush line intact, as Oliver does, but it would be best to cap off that line under the vanity so you don’t have to fuss with winterizing that small section of line. The hold down brackets would be straight forward. It should be a fairly easy mod. If you did it right away you could sell your porcelon toilet as “nearly new, unpooped in” on Craigslist. 😁 FYI the early installations of the NH had the wrong fan fuse and it would pop after a day or two. Oliver put in a 1 amp, the required one is 2.5 Amp. John Davies Spokane WA

There is a Zamp sidewall port on the street side near the battery box. The fused circuit is wired directly to the batteries. It has a limit of maybe 10A, but that’s just a guess, I don’t recall. Only the roof panels go through a controller. You’ll have to buy a small controller, PWM types are very inexpensive. As Seadawg mentioned, the Zamp outlet is an SAE type, reverse polarity. Zamp Port

I'll try, but I have a 2008. Our trailer has a 110 outlet, by the tires. Your bluetti panels will need not only a charge controller (not that expensive), but possibly a device to reverse the polarity that zamp reverses, sae. (If new trailers still use zamp port. Idk.) To tap into 12v for the tiny fan for a composting toilet will likely not be difficult. If you decide to change it up, and if you don't have wiring installed. I'd pm John e Davies, as I think he installed his nature's head, himself. Orhers have. Some very good questions for your Oliver rep. We'll see what he or she has to say.

Is there an external 115V AC outlet at/near the front of the trailer? Is there an external 12V DC outlet at/near the front of the trailer? I keep my fridge/freezer in the back of my tow vehicle, with a 115V AC pigtail hanging under the rear bumper. At home, or when at a campsite with electricity, I keep the fridge plugged in via an extension cord. So, one cord from the trailer to the power post, and one from the truck. It sure would be nice if there was an outlet near the front to plug the fridge into. Same with 12V DC. I forgot to look when at the factory, and I haven't seen any mention of one on videos, so I'm assuming not. Am I going to have a problem adding a 115V AC and/or 12V DC outlet up front? Thanks!

If interested, I have this brand new exterior shower faucet for sale. Still in original box. I bought it for a previous camper but did not install it as I sold it and bought by Ollie. PM me and we can discuss selling and shipping.

Just following up here concerning positioning of the little hole in the shaft of the wet bolt. Dexter confirmed that there can be issues with a plugged bolt (grease not being able to come out of the hole) unless the hole is oriented to 3:00 or 9:00. I spoke to someone at the Oliver shop, just after removing and re-orientating the problem bolt on my trailer and he stated that he thought the orientation was irrelevant but would contact Dexter to confirm. A week or so later, he followed up with me to let me know that Dexter had repeated the information given to me. Word to the wise: If you are having an issue getting your wet bolts to accept grease, it may have been installed improperly at Oliver. This was a doable but clumsy job to complete as it was difficult to de-weight the nut to allow it to be removed..

I had some split/cracked 2 piece clad lug nuts as well. I just replaced all of my lug nuts with solid one piece Gorilla lug nuts from Summit Racing. I don’t think the new ones actually seat any deeper into the rim. The conical seating area of the lug nut and rim are the standard 60 degree taper. It just looks like it seats deeper because the new lug nuts don’t have the stainless steel clad cover that protrudes right at the rim. And the female thread depth on the new lug nut is more than enough to fully engage all of the male threads on the lug. https://www.summitracing.com/parts/gor-41187htb

Soooo, this was an interesting project. I had tested the ball on the end of the zerk fitting before seeking input above on how to remove the wet bolt. pushed it with a small nail punch and it seemed to work well. I did spray both the inside and outside of the wet nut with a penetrating oil. It probably helped some but I feel that the load on the shackle was preventing the nut from being hammered loose. I took most of the weight off the tires on that side and let it sit on a couple of floor jacks, one each on the appropriate jack points in front and behind the tires. I then used a scissor jack to see-saw the Dexter suspension rocker to minimize the tension on the shackle encasing the wet bolt. Jason, the Oliver shop manager, wisely suggested backing the nut to the end of the thread of the bolt to give a larger surface to hammer on. Too bad for me that I got that info after going to town with a hammer. Oh well. The nut did break free - finally. used a float punch (wide head punch) to drive it out of the shackle which turned out to be smart cause the punch itself was what kept the two parts semi aligned when the nut popped free. I tested the nut and zerk by pumping grease through them and they worked fine. After talking to Dexter, my conclusion is that the nut had been installed incorrectly. The little hole that the grease comes out is supposed to be at 3:00 or 9:00 and, turned facing say 6:00 or 12:00, will not dispense grease. Could not find a replacemt local and did not have the stomach to wait for shipping for the $10 part so used a $4 thread cutter to repair the mushroomed threads (damaged by my misguided removal process) and reinstalled. Took some tweaking to line up the parts of the shackle but none too ugly. Guess I did OK as it took grease as it's supposed to. John was right that allowing the penetrant time to do it's thing seemed to be key. Wish I had read the Neuman's post before reinstalling as an application of anti seize would have been prudent but I did grease the nut well so hopefully that grease does not wash out or dry up and works as a lubricant when I replace the nut when it's time to grease the bearings. Will certainly pick up a can of Kroil too. Thanks all for thoughtful responses.

Before I made further efforts to remove the wet bolt, I would invest in a Grease Buster and give it a try on the bad zerk with some PB Blaster. It has worked for me on a bad zerk on my tractor. https://locknlube.com/collections/grease-buster/products/grease-buster-shop-size?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI_vrelKLQ9gIVhyCtBh3D9wptEAAYASABEgLgwvD_BwE I am a big Lock-N-Lube fan. Their Grease Couplers are big time savers when lubing more than 30 zerks on my tractor!

Hello to the Elite II heading south on I-35 in Kansas just north of the Oklahoma border at around noon today. We were traveling without our trailer, which seemed really weird. Mike

EDIT 05/10/21. Made an alteration to the cable, added a Y connection to connect to a portable solar panel ... https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/5478-how-to-remote-mount-the-controller-of-a-suitcase-solar-panel-not-inside-the-trailer/ I wanted a large gauge cord that would provide 12v power from the trailer to my ARB compressor fridge (while inside the parked truck), and also as an extension cord in the future for use with an external solar panel. I had been using a regular 120 volt AC extension cord, but that required me to run the inverter all the time and I did not like the idea of a live high-voltage cord lying outside in wet conditions. The 12 V cord is safer and uses way less power than the inverter. The short rear section will unplug itself, hopefully, from the front section if I drive away without disconnecting first. I do hang a red flag on the gearshift every time I connect this cable to the trailer, as a reminder! Parts used: Unlimited Solar 50 FT - 12 AWG Solar PV Multi-Conductor Tray Cable. Rugged and heavy gauge. Actually a little too stiff, it doesn't like going past the rear hatch seal when I run it into the truck. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01KWGEODU/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 CNLINKO 2 Pin Power Industrial Circular Connector, Male Plug, Fit Furrion RV Solar Port: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01M4RQ3X1/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 NOCO GC018 12V Adapter Plug Socket with Eyelet Terminal. Heavy duty socket, dust cover, big wires, well built: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00G8WLW2Y/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Powerworx Anderson Power Pole Connectors: The best choice for reliable exterior (or interior) connections, heavy duty and self cleaning contacts. I used the red/ black paired connectors, not the individual ones, and the 30 amp pins, which are for 12 to 14 AWG wire. It is impossible to connect them backwards. You can order packs of replacement parts from Powerworx to refill your kit.: https://powerwerx.com/anderson-power-powerpole-sb-connectors [attachment file=IMG_7251.jpg] [attachment file=IMG_7248.jpg] A special crimper is required: It would also be smart to order one or more of the pin extraction tools in case you make a mistake. [attachment file=IMG_7254.jpg] Instructions, getting the pin to click securely in place inside the housing may be tricky otherwise: https://powerwerx.com/help/powerpole-assembly-instructions If you don't have an external port on your Ollie, this is what the factory used on mine. I think it is standard equipment now. Be sure to use an inline 10 amp fuse to protect the trailer wires: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B017P8H8PE/ref=twister_B017XOALKY?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1 The rear section of cable, 5 feet long, from the external port connector to an Anderson red/ black pair. The black sleeve is heat shrink tubing, shrunk and secured to the cable only. It provides some rain protection, which is not really needed. It does however keep the inside of the connector cleaner, especially if you drop it in the dirt.: [attachment file=IMG_7260.jpg] [attachment file=IMG_7261.jpg] Soldering the wires to the port plug is a challenge. You need to use rosin core electrical solder and a large high wattage soldering iron. The fat wires try to suck away all your heat. I added heat shrink where the wires entered, and "potted" the hole with silicone sealer to keep out water. The main section, 25 feet long, with an Anderson pair at each end. It mates to a 5 foot "inside" cable to power the fridge. It has an Anderson pair at one end and a fused DC round socket at the other. The red sleeves are so I can find the ends easily in bad light or against a dark background. [attachment file=IMG_7262.jpg] The inline fuse holder for the round socket, rugged and reasonably weather proof. I used a 10 amp fuse since that is the rating for the Furrion socket; the fridge draws around 3 amps when the compressor is running. [attachment file=IMG_7265.jpg] The spare 25 foot extension cable, with Andersons at each end. Plus a 5 foot scrap, to use to make an adapter cable to a solar panel, if needed. [attachment file=IMG_7266.jpg] It works great, coils up and takes very little room on the closet shelf, and I am happy with the outcome. I might suggest a cable with a softer outer casing for more flexibility, but this works. It is actually hard to find cable with a flat profile, which I wanted. Most are big fat round things. John Davies Spokane WA

Bill, I'm the guy David referred to in his comments about the Touareg. I towed with a 2015 Touareg TDI that I leased. Towed my Elite II over 20k with that Touareg and put over 70k miles on the vehicle in 3 years. I replaced it with a new 2016 Touareg TDI that I purchased in January 2018 after VW released them for sale. I've already towed my Ollie over 5,000 miles with the '16. John is a very knowledgeable and valuable member of the forum, but I don't agree with his conclusions about the reliability or lack of reliability of the Touareg. Consumer Reports rates the '16 Touareg a 5/5 for reliability--its highest rating. The Landcruiser is unrated because of lack of data. The 2016 Tundra is rated 4/5. There are a lot of reasons to like the Touareg. First, the fit and finish of a German-made vehicle are outstanding. Second, the handling is far superior to any SUV other than a Porsche or Audi--and that's true when you're towing as well. Third, the gas mileage (diesel) is great--I get up to 32 mpg at freeway speeds when I'm not towing and 16 to 19 mpg towing depending on speed and how much mountainous driving I'm doing. I got over 18 mpg in Colorado this summer/fall on two-lane highways towing my Oliver. The only downside I've found is the relatively small cargo area. I use a Yakama cargo box to carry bulky items to solve this problem. The only issue I've had with either Touareg was with the emission controls on the 2015. VW paid for some repairs/replacement to the emission controls under warranty that would have cost about $1500 had they not been covered. After that experience, I decided to modify my '16 when I bought it to simplify the emission control system. I followed the advice of another TDI (Audi Q7) owner I met at the Oliver Rally this spring. My 3.0 litre TDI now has 305 horsepower and 490 lb-ft of torque compared to the 240/406 in the stock tune. Before doing this, I spent a lot of time talking to the manager of the service department at my Audi/VW dealer and he consulted with the VW warranty people before assuring me that I could make these modifications without affecting the warranty. The engine runs so much better now and the extra torque makes towing the Ollie a breeze. If you want to talk to me about any of this, please send a personal message to me and we can exchange phone numbers.

Thanks, David! John, I'm looking at VW Certified ONLY. It seems the mid $30s is the sweet spot for a Certified 2016. I've considered moving to a Lexus GX460, in order to keep the Toyota reliability and get a small V8. The Lexus doesn't have the torque of the TDI nor the high altitude performance but it is a body-on-frame Toyota. It's a bummer Toyota doesn't import their diesels to the US. Yes, I'm quite comfortable with a diesel. I've owned three.

Don Thompson tows with an 2016 VW Touareg TDI, and he is very happy with it. Before buying, I posted about wanting to tow with an SUV, an Audi Q7. Don Thompson responded and our conversations made me confident that this type of SUV makes a very good tow vehicle. I am very happy with the Audi Q7. Although they switched to a pickup, Reed & Karen Lukens used to pull with a Mercedes ML350 Diesel, and were very happy with its performance. I think you will be happy with a Touareg.