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Pictures under the bathroom sink. When water in black tank can’t go out the dump valve it fills the black tank then goes up the black tank vent and down the sink drain to the grey tank if the back flow valve is open View looking down at top corner of black tank and sink drain going under shower View looking at plumbing under vanity adjacent to inside of front wall Path black water takes if black dump valve is closed and water is still filling black tank When water from black tank fills the grey tank it comes up through shower drain. If back flow valve is closed it doesn’t fill grey tank but comes up through shower drain anyway. Either way nasty stuff.

The following is only for those that have the regular toilet. Although those with "composting" toilets have their own list of issues, this is not on it and will be of little interest to them. There is another scenario where the black water can fill the bathroom floor (and beyond) during the black tank flush and dump. (cue the Twilight Zone theme music) ... Picture this, if you will... You've hooked your black flush hose to the outside port and begun to fill your black tank in preparation for dumping. The black tank dump valve is closed as is the shower drain back-flow preventer valve. The black tank needs to be monitored during this step. I do it by holding the toilet flush valve open with my foot on the flush lever while peering down into the tank with a flashlight. Others may simply watch the readout for the black tank on the SeeLevel Tank Monitoring System. However you want to monitor the filling of the tank is largely irrelevant, but you do need to watch it. Consequences will occur if you do not. Everything is running smoothly until a stranger appears at your door and is proclaiming to everyone within earshot that this is the coolest trailer he's never seen, where is it built?, what does it cost?, what is its weight?, how does it pull?, how do you like it? and on and on. Now you're distracted, and in trying to answer his questions, you forget that the black tank is filling with water. Ten minutes later you discover the bathroom has six inches of NASTY water in the floor, it is all around the base of the toilet and is now spilling over the threshold, out the door and into the main cabin. But, it's not overflowing from the toilet, and you discover that the poop and pee is coming up through the shower drain. How could this happen? The black tank plumping is not connected to anything but the main drain and does not interface with the shower drain or gray tank system in any way so there's no possible way it could be doing this, right? But it is doing this. Nasty, Creepy, Perplexing but entirely possible once you understand how the bathroom is actually plumbed. As the water level in the closed black tank rises, it can not escape into the toilet bowl because you’re not paying attention and the flush valve is closed. Neither can it escape down the drain because the black dump valve is closed. Pressure inside the black tank is beginning to rise also as the air trapped inside is being compressed by the rising water. At this point, I can personally advise you to NEVER depress the flush lever. If you wonder what will happen, go ahead and try it and report back here. Now your black tank is completely full and the water has to go somewhere. The increasing pressure inside the tank will begin to push the water up the vent pipe that terminates through the roof from inside the closet. The same pipe is used to vent both the gray and the black tanks. What most do not realize is that this vent pipe also serves as the drain pipe from the bathroom lavatory into the gray tank. As the water level rises inside the vent pipe, it will eventually reach the connection between the drain and the vent pipes. The black water will now enter the drain pipe and, taking the path of least resistance, will flow down the drain pipe seeking entrance to the gray tank where it is stopped by the closed shower drain back-flow preventer valve. Now its only escape is up through the shower drain and out into the world. Just when you thought you didn't have to worry about anything else.

Making our way to out Colorado yesterday we stopped at Buc-ee’s in Knoxville, Tenn. It was our very first time. The barbecue brisket and pork sandwiches “Texas style” were ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ amazing. Just like we remember when we lived in Texas. And just a warning Buc-ee’s Cheddar cheese NUG-EE’S are addicting. Don’t buy a bag you won’t like them 😝. We continued on I40 west to Cedars of Lebanon SP for a nice restful nights sleep. A really nice SP about 7 mi off of I40. Large spacious sites, a nice staff and great place to layover. A few FH sites, mostly W/E sites and a dump station and fairly modern bath houses. We would stay here again.👍🏻 Onward! 😳😋😋😂

The fuse to the detector is located under the aft dinette seat along a single wire with an inline fuse holder. My guess from afar is that it is a bad CO/LP Alarm. As I'm sure you know, they do have a shelf life and most likely the expiration date is printed on the unit somewhere (hopefully easily visible.)

@Townesw This was the statement from which I drew my conclusion..."While watching the frame area and the right rear jack atop the modified jack stand we noted how much the fiberglass body moved. We asked her to exit and re-enter and to move around inside the cabin and noted that even though the frame was stationary there was considerable movement in the body." After watching your video, I'll admit that was not what I expected to see. I was thinking of side to side movement rather than up and down. As all my physician friends say when they don't have a clue what could be wrong with a patient, "Hmmm, interesting." I think you at 100% correct in saying, "You’re chasing your tail trying to make it “non wobbly”".

I This job is a lot easier with 2 people as Mike mentions, but if I am by myself I use a hose flow meter which are readily available at Amazon and hardware stores. This allows me to monitor the amount of water that is flowing into the black tank. I usually limit the rinsing fill to 12 gallons. And as ScubaRx stated above, always ignore any interruptions from anyone! Sometimes it’s OK to be rude. Mossey

Thanks Bill for the pictures. You perfectly illustrated what I was trying to put into words.

Have you thought about just mounting a front hitch on your truck?

Yes Mountain Man, the other side of my brain is saying, just put good set of tires on my OEM Dodge Premium 16" rims. I would not want 20" with a 60 profile or less but was thinking perhaps a LT275/70R17 vs. what I have in LT265/75R16. Looking at the Cooper specs, all their 70 profile tires will carry up to 3195 lbs. and the LT265/75R16 tire holds 3415 lbs. Will the 75 handle better in towing vs. a 70, or about the same? I also understand that with 17" wheels, I can upgrade to 3rd Gen front brakes and next brake job I will need new rotors (mine has rear drums which limits wheel choice). I like that we have a consensus on the Cooper Discoverer AT3. Their LT and XLT are about the same tires, the XLT has larger sizes, and the outer wall has more AT look to it. I have the AT3 LT in LT265/70R17 on my GX470, because OEM was P265/65R17 and I could get the Cooper AT3 in a Load Range C, which is what I wanted there (not P and not Load E, perfect for the lighter truck). Of course we need Load Range E in a TV. Picking up on JD's idea... I'm not fond of the 3rd Gen 5-spoke wheels, but really like the look of the 4th Gen 6-spoke wheels (see pic). I may have a line on a good set of these. SeaDawg, I do have Pirelli tires on my '84 Goldwing, great tires! Thanks all!

If you can locate the rear of the CO/Propane detector under the rear dinette seat, there should be 2 small wires coming out of the detector. Following those wires, one should lead to the negative buss bar, it’s the one with a lot of yellow wires connected to it and should be visible near the floor. The other wire should be the power/positive wire and should connect to a fuse somewhere along that wire. You will probably have to open the wire loom which covers and protects the wire bundles. Mossey

If there is an advantage, it would be the greater volume of water to assist with the first dumping. As far as what CAN happen, I won’t allow someone to interfere with that process again. Once was plenty for me. I’ve always read that setting up or breaking down camp should not be interrupted. I’ve added dumping to that list.

@ScubaRx, et alia: Watch video. Disregard cicadas and dog panting. Note movement of body relative to frame. It is not a “distance from wheel skirt to lens vs. frame to lens” optical illusion. Check your Oliver and tell me what you see. I’ve seen it on John Roemer’s hull 92 and my hull 313. I bet they all do it. You’re chasing your tail trying to make it “non wobbly”. IMG_2653.mov

This article is in the latest edition of Camper Report & was an eye opener for me. Living in muggy Florida my entire life, & fortunately during all our travels, I have never experienced a true dust storm. A few other subtropical friends were also unaware of some of the tips in this article so I thought it worthy of sharing. Many of the tips are common sense but this one surprised me: "The National Weather Service has a protocol for people who are on the road when a dust storm arrives. They advise drivers to, “pull your vehicle off the pavement as far as possible, stop, turn off lights, set the emergency brake, take your foot off of the brake pedal to be sure the tail lights are not illuminated.” It might sound counterintuitive to turn off your lights because usually, you want people to know where you are. But in a low-visibility situation, it’s best to turn off your lights once you pull off the road. This prevents other drivers from seeing your lights and veering off the road to follow you." That led me to research other low/zero visibility situations on the NWS website. They recommend doing the same in zero visibility fog with the exception to leave hazard lights on. "If there is no parking lot or driveway to pull into, pull your vehicle off to the side of the road as far as possible. Once you come to a stop, turn off all lights except your hazard flashing lights, set the emergency brake, and take your foot off of the brake pedal to be sure the tail lights are not illuminated so that other drivers don't mistakenly run into you." My instinct would be, if the locals are getting off the road, I will too; otherwise, I'll keep going--slowly. I'd love to get feedback from you desert creatures who have experienced dust storms. Thanks! Chris

One should never be interrupted while dumping. 🤪

I should have clarified my statement to say “pull off the road and activate emergency flashers” I didn’t mean to indicate you should remain in motion.

I agree, but only if your flashing lights are amber. I simple will not follow a driver with flashing red lights because every flash makes me think that they are applying their brakes and I automatically put on my brakes. Mossey

I'll take a stab at Mike's question: This section of I-10 in western NM is a "mandatory lights ON" stretch of the interstate during all conditions, especially with known dusty conditions in this area. So, in low-viz dusty conditions those vehicles with lights ON are the ones presumably driving in one of the lanes and not pulled over. If one would pull over leaving lights ON, an approaching driver (remember "low-viz") may assume the pulled-over vehicle is moving forward in one of the lanes. With rate of closure difficult to assess in these conditions - it could lead to a rear-ender. NM does not allow vehicles to activate flashers when the vehicle is motion, no good really comes out of driving with flashers on - we see this happen here all the time. But this is not the case in other states where emergency flashers are allowed for moving vehicles. It may be a stretch, but can't really figure any other logical reason for the state requirement to turn "OFF" all lights when pulled over in these low-viz driving conditions.

If I’m under 50% I usually fill the black tank to 75 or 80% before dumping. I then close the valve and fill it up again to 60 or 70%. Then one more time, usually only about 50% and that dump is usually clear. I’m usually outside and Carol is inside letting me know where we’re at. If I do it by myself, I’m inside watching the level before going out and opening the valve. Mike

Now that is a sweet solution! GJ

This was a game-changer for us when we were sliding our 8.5-foot wide SOB into our 10-foot wide opening. After mounting the front hitch on the RAM the neighbors never heard the "backing up" screaming instructions, "I said the other left, you dip-sh**!" anymore!!! However, with the 7-foot wide OTT, backing-in is a breeze now... NICE!

I think leaving the emergency flashers on is the best idea.

Thanks Mike! I'm probably the only one to read it wrong, but it’s easy to confuse me.🫤 Mossey

Same here. We're not bothered by the slight movement - and like @SeaDawg, we're a long time sailing family and actually don't notice movement inside the Casablanca much at all. If it was rock'n inside - I'm sure it was self-induced....

On I-10 in AZ and NM they post what to do in a dust storm, same as above.

Ollie in the Wild! We left Monte Sano SP and made the short trek to Lake Guntersville SP. The 69,000 acre lake is gorgeous as always! We got set up at site 50 and are looking forward to seeing everyone. Keep an eye out for deer as you enter the park, there are lots of them. Safe Travels to everyone! Patriot🇺🇸

We just just spent a week at Bear Den CG just North of Spruce Pine, NC. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ with Hull# 634 which performed flawlessly. It was a well needed vacation post our blueberry harvest. We took time and spent a lot of time learning our Ollies systems- Love Love the Truma, long instant hot showers a win.I think it took like 6-8 seconds for us to have constant hot water at the kitchen sink and sink/shower. Microwave convection oven a must have for us. We were easily able to quickly cook/heat meals during a heavy storm one evening. Full hook ups allowed us to use our black and gray tanks seamlessly. The generator tray was extremely useful for a number of tasks. (We did not take our Honda generator this trip). Our AC kept us cool and cycled as it should. We did run the Dometic furnace on a cool 60 degree morning and it performed great. All in all a great safe week! A few photos....of our great State of North Carolina! 😊🇺🇸 Our Tundra CrewMax and it’s reliability delivered and performed outstanding. Check out Bear Den if your ever traveling the gorgeous elevations of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Happy Camping! Patriot

Looking for advice, from those of experience with HD tow vehicles, diesel trucks preferred. Thinking on upgrading our 16x8" OEM rims with LT265/75R16 tires, but not sure as the stock rims are Mopar USA manufactured (hard to come by these days). However, there are not a lot of tire size choices for 16" wheels. Dodge and other makes have increased the wheel diameters through the years. I may move to 17" or 18" wheels. This thread is for 2500 and 3500 series trucks ONLY (Ford F250/350). Please NO half-ton trucks or SUVs of any kind. Please reply here with your truck year, make and model and your OEM tire size. Also, please let me know if you replaced your OEM tires and/or wheels with a size you prefer. So many new truck owners are going the other direction, replacing 20" wheels with 18s. Thanks

What "misinformation"? Perhaps his fuse wasn't located under the rear dinette seat (where mine is) but you did say to follow that positive wire until you find the fuse.

Same here, Moss... These work well, IMO.

I could not find which fuse under the dinnette was for the CO/Propnae detector so I contact OTT. I was told by OTT that the CO/Propane detector is connected to the LP fuse in my 2018 Ollie.

It would be surprising to me also, if I could duplicate what has been said to be happening. The dual hull design of the Oliver TT is more rigid than any other trailer on the market. Anyone who has seen one that has been rolled can attest to the fact that, after it’s all done, there is no resulting distortion or twisting of the body. Normal use can cause the frame to flex and twist but not the body. The body of your trailer moving independently of the frame would indicate to me that one or more attachment points have loosened. If that be the case, you need to get under your trailer and tighten the nuts.

Olivers are built much like a boat, on wheels. They are meant to flex. Fiberglass flexes. Even steel flexes. Big ships flex. Determining how, when, and how much is the big engineering question. We rarely even use the rear jacks, if camped for a night or two. I guess maybe because we're used to boats, we're not bothered by the little movement. Perhaps I'm "desensitized", since I'm used to everything moving around on a sailboat. The slight movement we feel is not an issue, imo. More importantly, we've never experienced any separation or other issue, like some sob trailers , like airstream. (16 years in, 150k miles) It does, however, give us a little bit of understanding of what happens, going down the road. If the hull didn't "flex" a bit as necessary, something else more catastrophic might occur. Stationary, at a campsite, you can add extra jack supports, if it's disturbing, without harm to anything, except extendimg your setup and breakdown time. Me. I'm in the it "is what it is" category, and happy to not have to worry about a tent in the wind and rain.

I don't meet the requirements that you state above for those that comment. However, it appears to me that (as you say) most manufacturers are going to 18 inch wheels. That is the direction that I'd go if I were in your shoes. Good luck. Bill

Just an FYI. We purchased hull #49 about a year ago and have constant issues with water in our dinette window. I did everything possible that the forum suggested to no avail. After more investigation I took a little pick and ran on the inside of the window tracks and the pick kept grabbing on something. Turns out the drains were stamped but not completely out. After some luck I was able to get all 4 drains clear. Not sure if this was an issue with earlier models or if we just got lucky! 😂 We have not had an issue since, knock on wood. Oops that's fiberglass.

My best guess is that those wires would power/operate the optional Barker electric dump valves. Mossey

We had the same issues with our black tank valve a few years ago. Poured Thetford drain valve lubricant in the black tank, but still continued to have the problems. Lubricated the push/pull cables and did not correct the valve bypass issue, but cable worked easier. Going from memory. Used valve lubricant on the valve during reassembly. Also used 1/4" drive set with long extension, and tape on my finger to hold one nut during reassembly. I cannot speak to the wires. It was a few years ago, but kept photos of the job. Black tank valve still working without issues. Believe I had to loosen the hose clamps and slid pipe back a little while removing & installing new valve.

The only solution I’m aware of is what Steve describes above. I’ve tried bending the clips to create more resistance with some success. I don’t want them permanently mounted because I remove them when I do a deep clean on the window tracks. Mike

As most everyone knows, the blinds hang on two tabs at the top and snap onto two brackets on the bottom. To take them down, pull out sharply at the bottom and then lift the whole frame off the two top hangers. (Later Edit...some have the same snap in brackets top and bottom, but you still just pull them off, If you don't know which you have, pull the bottom off first to allow you to check) If you’re traveling on a bumpy enough road the bottom will eventually pop loose from the bottom brackets and then it’s only a matter of time before the top will jump off the hangers. The best way I’ve found to prevent this is to take the blinds down, squirt some adhesive caulk on the two surfaces of each bottom bracket and re-install the blind. Once the caulk sets up, they’re unlikely to come loose accidentally. But, they can still be removed as described above albeit a little more difficult at the bottom.

Yes, I would.

Interesting. Thank you for sharing.

I do carry a large Husky kneeling pad to make things more comfortable when working at ground level. I don’t have much trouble kneeling down to work on the wheel bearings, it’s getting back up that’s the issue 😂. I’m “vintage” as well.

Ollie in the Wild! After a very successful service visit and Truma retrofit/install we left the Oliver Mothership and are now camped at Monte Sano SP near Huntsville, Ala. It’s a reeeeally nice SP and we highly recommend it! Nice large sites with full HP. Only 55 miles from the LGSP Oliver Rally. A nice place to chill until we head out to the Rally. Even a little Bluegrass music under the Pavilion this evening. Happy Camping! Patriot🇺🇸

Ollie in the wild!! Enjoying several days of Blue Ridge Mountain camping fun and a little trout fishing on the Toe River. We really enjoy like Mountain River Family CG and one of the nicest in the the Blue Ridge, so we are back again. A little fire side fresh venison chili from last falls hunt was perfect for last nights dinner at 51 degrees. We give this CG ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🤩. The owners are awesome folks who camp and know what campers enjoy. Happy Camping!

We just spent a 4 nights at Willow Tree Campground in Longs SC. We really prefer the beach in the cool of the fall season as the heat and sand gnats are not as bad. This is one of the nicest privately owned CG’s we have ever visited. Nice and very modern clean bath houses, a lot of paved bicycle trails one of which surrounds a fairly large lake. Swimming, fishing, and kayaking is allowed and lots of places to get out and walk. The sites are really large and spacious with nice and level concrete pads. It’s located about 20 minutes from Myrtle Beach and we enjoyed some really amazing seafood. We had a really great meal at the Sea Captains house on the grand strand. Happy Fall Camping! Somewhere over the rainbow.. Large sites- We had a decent lake view - We really had a great time cycling. My bride and our rides! 🚴‍♂️

I think there has been some question about their capacity rating, so some have upgraded to greater capacity with either larger cables or chains. Each safety cable or chain should be of greater capacity than the weight of the trailer being towed and not the combined total capacity of both cables or chains. I don’t believe Oliver would provide safety cables that were not rated for at least 7000 lbs, but I believe the Texas motto is "bigger is better" or maybe it’s "everything is bigger in Texas", so I do think it a worthwhile upgrade. And I am from Florida, so what do I know. Mossey

Interesting thoughts and opinions on the Truck - can you really call it a truck, or even transportation. . Or is it just a mobile energy storage platform that also morphs into something that will get you to the store and back. Or are we seeing an entire industry evolve in such a way that in a short generation, personal transportation will go the way of the hand held phone. It is not just a 4 wheeled transporter - it also slices, dices, chops, cubes, mixes, cooks and serves whatever one desires. It even has its own like button on the screen. It looks like a truck, but it is so much more - I can hear the marketers now. Funny thing is - as I was driving home this morning - I was thinking about how I would like to find an older - say 1957 or so - truck. Simple 4 wheels, inline 6, Manual on the column. Simplicity. I do not need the vast majority of the info and doodles and dawdles the modern vehicles have to offer up. Just a gas gauge, oil pressure, speedometer. I am good. I must be a member of a dying breed - I enjoy driving, the feel of the road, the interaction between the mechanical and the pavement - the curves , the undulations of the road. I do not look fondly at driverless anything. It is all so antiseptic, so bland, unexciting. Technology does not always move us forward - "Look - I went to the wally world, never even looked at the road - but I got to like all my stuff on the FB" Woo-Hoo. Right. Luddite I am not. I just like what I like. I have way to much information at my beck and call, I don't need a vehicle to give me more. My simple GMC gives me a bunch of information - more than I care about - I tire at canceling them all - yes I know - shut up - I don't need you - the damn tone deaf voice of the info system- to tell me to check the rear seats - just because . Enough. Have fun all, I am going on a road trip, Asphalt, dirt, trees, rocks, some moving water. No gizmo driven, digital production, zillion lines of code, illuminating on the latest big screen - all to put me there. I prefer to be - there. Topgun - where's that rod - I need to get to that stream - just back of beyond. RB Oh - cool truck, sort of....

What we like about the metallic silver is that in the shade it’s a bit darker and sun light much lighter and brighter. The same as our Tundra...kinda cool FWIW. Silver is a timeless color. 👍🏻

Susan, I asked for “Mouse” to be delivered with no side graphics. I wanted the descriptive labels, just no swooshes. The trailer was delivered completely naked on the sides, so I ordered two sets of the “Oliver Legacy Elite II” stickers straight from the Service Department, no worries, and installed them myself in a straight line. It is not at all hard, but it does take some prep, patience and care. If you don’t have all three of those, get somebody else to install them. I put “Oliver“ at the back on each side, mirror imaged side to side, see pics. I prefer this to the factory positioning. They are visually centered under the rear windows, and the bottom edges align with each other about 6 inches below the belt seam. I suspect that they will be reluctant to install them in a non-standard way, but maybe they could be persuaded to just leave them off, and put them in a galley drawer for you to install later....? John Davies Spokane WA

Glad you had a great trip. I can’t view photos right now, we’re alternating between a few bars of Edge and 1 bar of 3G in the AZ desert. Mike

Thanks for sharing your New Oliver experience. I am jealous . . . . . . but our day will come . . . . . . 180 days and counting - that's less than 200 😁 I think I've asked before, so sorry if this is a repeat: What color are your graphics?