Leaderboard

Things have stabilized a bit here so we decided we could get out for a long weekend. It's the first time we've left on a trip by pulling Eggcelsior out of the new garage. To make it easier to do the pre-trip checklist, I decided to pull the trailer out of the garage first. BIG mistake. The steps were out. The steps caught the bottom of the door frame as I pulled out, split the sill plate, pulled the wall out, and trashed the garage door rail. Not much damage to the Ollie. Bent the bottom step so it wouldn't fold up. Our friend the builder came right over and said he could fix the garage easily while we were gone. A combination of a hand sledge and metal file got the bottom trailer step back in line enough to fold, so we actually made it to our destination today. The garage wall is back in place, the garage door is closed (but off one track until a new track is installed), and the Oliver steps fold again (but are a little beat up). Moral: run your checklist before you move your trailer for ANY reason. 😢

@Badger I recently sold my used cargo box and purchased the Sea biscuit custom locking cargo container and am very happy with it. If I were looking to add a cargo box I would seriously consider this option. It’s more money but you do get a lot more dry lockable storage and it’s very well made. David Hess the owner of Sea biscuit and his team craft fine products built to custom fit to Olivers right in Tenn and they ship. There are other much less expensive cargo box options as well. If you opt to order from Sea biscuit you will need the Ubolts and plates from Oliver to secure the box. Mike Sharpe at Oliver Service can sell and ship you what you need. We store ALL of our immediate go to set up gear in this box with room to spare. It leaves plenty of extra room in our TV bed. David & Kristine Hess will be at the rally if you plan on attending. We are very happy with our cargo box! Cheers Happy Camping! https://seabiscuitmetaldesigns.com/product/oliver-box/

Hopefully either today or tomorrow I'll have these very parts arriving from Oliver and should be able to get you either the numbers and/or sizes. I'll let you know when I get them. Bill

First, I would suggest getting the plumbing part from a big box store. Almost none of the plumbing is "special". For the aluminum storage box, suggest you ask if any of the owners who have upgraded to the nice enclosed boxes would like to sell their unused OTT aluminum boxes. Likely get one for half price... GJ

Follow up... the propane sensor went off this AM and turns out the gas line connection came a little loose when I reinstalled the top. Turned off the propane bottle and headed to Ace hardware. I initially used tape that qualified, according to the label, as suitable for gas line connections. It was gray in color. I didn't have the yellow that I have always used before. Took back apart this afternoon and replaced with the proper yellow tape. All is well for now...according to my sniffer. John

Little known fact - those nice steps on the Ollie can be used to partially demolish a garage!😜 Glad that the damage wasn't worse and that slightly thinner wallet will make sitting on it a bit easier too. Bill

Steve, we've got a wide selection of grommets - if a grommet is what you need, we'll bring them to the rally and you can file through the collection. Never know.

I don't need ours any longer and you are welcome to have it...if you pay for shipping or are passing thru Clinton, MS you can pick it up...it is from 2017 and is definitely yellowing.

Beautiful day.... Got the oldies going here at work. Hope y'all's day is going great! FORUMS looking good after the migration, seems faster, at least to me.

THIS is a good time to remind everyone that is attending the Rally that a few years ago one of these sudden wind gusts came up and it destroyed 4 Oliver awnings. As I understand it, Oliver was gracious in dealing with this situation such that they provided new awnings at cost to those who lost their awnings. Even on sunny days - if you leave your Oliver for any reason, be sure to retract that awning. Bill

Obviously - YES!

Steve, Cameron (above) was right to call OTT Service and ask them about it. One thing I have learned is, even for something like this... If OTT Svc gets enough 'svc tickets' on a particular issue owners are experiencing, they 'May' contact the source and ask, or request a bunch of those parts, for when owners call and need a fix, or at least have a better idea about the part (number-description) in question. We experienced the same thing. We also lost some metal pins which are on the underside of the grate. The 'rubber cushions & pins' were usually found separately in the top drawer just below the stove... until we didn't find them. We ended up replacing the entire D21, for a different issue. I did contact Dometic Customer Support Center at customersupportcenter@dometic.com about the other 'stove issue', it took a while for the reply, but it did answer my question. I just went out to SNYSDUP and looked at our brand new D21, not used since installation. It is missing a rubber pad that cushions the glass top... I will now look at the old D21 for a possible cushion, or find/make one to fit. The other thing I just noticed was, now that the new grate has the pins in it, the metal pins 'seat into' the rubber cushions. So, I could have 'popped one out' at some point when removing the grate and not even noticed that. So the rubber pads have a hole that the 'grate pin' fits into. The reason I mention this is, 'just any' rubber pad may not be the best fit. You will find/figure that out. If you contact DCSC, send some pics of the stove corners where the cushions are/were located. That may help them better understand what you are looking for. Best of luck, B~Out update with (2) pics. one shows pin on underside of Grate, the other is of the D21 bumper pads. Larger one 'receives the pins', you can barely make out the hole in the pad, the smaller is for the Glass Top.

Ours were missing as well. Just replaced with some of these (link) Silicone bumpers from Amazon. They work perfect and the extras are in the spare parts kit in the trailer.

Thank you Bill for answering @rich.dev. We were on the hanging out on the beach 🏖️🌊🌊🏖️ ha!

Patriot, do you maybe have part numbers or size of the ubolts and plates from Oliver? I’m hoping to source this kit up here in Canada rather than paying and arm and leg for shipping from Oliver.

For us non-conformists, at least a walk-around a time or two in review of a ‘mental’ checklist!

I'm so sorry. Things like this happen so easily when we get excited about a new adventure. And, especially when tired. Thanks for the honest warning.

We found 2 in our top drawer :) They push through the hole too easily. John

I used a 5% discount code yesterday, you did much better on the discount! 4StateTrucks.com has an A+ BBB rating, too. Picked up a spare 5 leaf spring and Ubolts/nuts for less than $100 today (original 5200lb axles on our Ollie) from the local Dexter distributor since there has not been any reported Ollie failures on these springs, yet. Going to install bronze bushings in it left over from the EZ Flex installation a few years ago.

I recall a previous post that some folks use cargo straps and tent stakes for securing the awning. We were in Chaco Canyon recently enjoying the awning shade when the wind suddenly picked up dramatically. The Girard auto-retract did work but I popped up and grabbed the awning to stabilize it. Had we not been sitting under it, it may have done some damage.

If you own a late model Ford F-150 and would like to have a set of the rear wheel well liners and will be at the Rally - let me know. This includes mounting hardware and instructions. The passenger side is brand new. The driver's side has been mounted and might require a slight adjustment in fitting. PM me no later than Monday 12 noon (May 13) if you want me to bring it to the Rally. Bill

Y'all are very convincing. Yes, always keep it rolled up. 🤣 We nearly lost an awning, years ago, on a 26' race car trailer in a New Mexico sandstorm. Pulled over, strapped it up and pushed on to Arizona. I don't use them for the pain involved, and I like to sit in the sun!

Concrete was poured and cut today. Long day at the college today but, it looks good in the dark. I'll see if I can get some more pictures with the drone tomorrow.

Yes, we always use ours. We just make it an instinctive habit.

hi, I was able to get replacements from OTT.

This piqued my interest, and I would like to see a picture of yours too. I got under our Oliver today after reading this. I see 4 crossbeams front of the suspension. 3 of 4 of ours have NO sag. The have an intentional arc but are fully supporting the hull left to right. The front one has a 3/8" gap at the center. The true front of the hull is held up by the heavy frame ahead of these 4 beams, so the first one looks to have no weight on it and merely holds left to right. I don't see much wrong with this, but yours may be worse if all four beams have sagged. It's certainly not the weight of cargo or a person on the inner shell.

Just ordered the Bulldog shocks from 4StateTrucks.com. I used the code: PT15MAG for 15% off. Maybe it will work for someone else. Best, M

A garage/barn bigger than the house? That's my kind of setup! 😀 And thank you for providing an undeniably valuable reason to purchase a drone: to check for leaf/detritus buildup behind the awnings without resorting to the dangerous ladder. Does that sound convincing? 😂

What? No grease pit? HA! just kidding - looks fantastic! You'll love it being able to work on OTT projects during bad WX, at night, or just whenever you feel like 24/7/365 - we sure do!

We bought our OTT a year ago, it was 6 years old. 3 of the 4 Monroes were totally shot - they wouldn't extend after compressing them. The 4th was very slow and never fully extended. We replaced them with the OEM Monroes (black in color now instead of the older yellow ones), not knowing about the Bulldog option. Please let us know about how well they wear and perform as you use them this year. They sound like a very promising upgrade... Cheers

Finishing up our visit at Snow Canyon. It doesn't snow much here, so this Utah state park gets its name from two Latter-Day Saint pioneers, Lorenzo and Erastus Snow, who assisted in settling the area during the 1860s. This is a mountain bikers paradise it appears, so many trails. They have a race starting here in a few days and the enthusiasts are showing up each day! They also have an amazing asphalt paved two-lane bike trail from here all the way down to St George. Is this the race route? We followed it for miles, going into town today for supplies. Our final picture here is of the "Petrified Sand Dunes."

To stop the crack from lengthening, you can do what's called "stop drilling." Just drill a 1/8" diameter hole just past the ends of the crack. This hole will relieve the stresses placed on the material (plastic, fiberglass, metal, etc.) and keep the crack from expanding. Use something like JBWeld on the backside to strengthen the area of the crack and also apply it around the area of the cracked screw holes on the panel. It might last long enough for you to save up for a new replacement from Truma. Good luck! Just say'n....

Thanks for the walkthrough. Both screws from underside one burner came out...very fortunate Wendy found them both and we were able to use your help to fix everything. I did have to disconnect the gas line and after using gas thread tape and follow up with a "sniffer" all turned out well. We did use blue locktite on the screws. No evidence of previous locktite application Thanks, John

New campground for 3 nights at Snow Canyon Utah State Park. Got here yesterday, several tight spots in a row with water and electric. Pretty place and everybody we meet is so nice, guests and staff. You can just barely pull through to our site #8 and at first the streetside was 6" low. Using our LevelMatePRO+ we got that number down to 3.5" and the Andersen Levelers took care of the rest. Enjoyed our first night here!

Concur 100%, Rodger. Whether working on an Oliver yourself or choosing to have a trained RV technician perform the effort, the Oliver meets a wide range of owner expectations due, IMO, to its superior design, quality materials/systems, and overall "fun factor". Like many owners, we've transitioned to Olivers from the Aluminum Cloud RV community and have never regretted it for a second. Ollie falls into a category similar to the sailboat and GA aircraft owners enjoy - which is basically an overall product quality that is not shared by the "SOB" RV market enjoys as described in the article @Wandering Sagebrush recently posted. If you like traveling with a peace of mind that yields a confidence that you'll get there without worrying about what going to fail next, an Oliver may be perfect solution. Sure, the big Tiffins, Newmars and Provosts may meet that confidence level, but at what price point? What style of camping? More systems - greater probability for failure over time. The OTT keeps systems fairly straight forward to operate, troubleshoot, and repair - not so with what we consider the "General RV Community" of stick-builts. FYI: We've logged north of 5k miles since JAN in our 7 year-old rig without (knock on wood) an issue... just say'n. Additionally, the OTT community on social media is unusually supportive of owners' questions, issues, and trouble shooting efforts. A real family atmosphere and we're proud to be a part of it. Not so true with other brands. So, keep us posted on your path to acquiring what we consider the penultimate in RV'ing, at least for our style of camping and traveling. TWO thumbs up from us, brother! Cheers!

We've used ours a lot, over the years. The 12v plug was standard issue in 2008, mounted under the eyebrow over the lower fridge vent, with a waterproof cap. Charging phones and lights, running a small 12v fridge, the tire inflator, and especially helpful in certain seasons to run a FanTastic small 12v box fan to blow the gnats away, it's been very helpful.

I would be drooling over these when I was about 13 years old while leafing through the Sears catalog! They were going for about $350 from Sears back then as I recall... Nice choice for "date night" travel mode back in the day, for sure! HA!

We use Blaster products. We have both the silicone and Multipurpose. I use the silicone one on the steps

Even if it was digital it would be a lot of work! Mike

Plug needed changed plus I need to be able to disconnect the black accessory power due to large LFP battery upgrade. DC to DC charger next addition. Black was already loose. Glad I found it and got trailer plug replaced. Plus thanks to one of the forum members I got the idea to add housing storage for it. Thanks! OP

I recommend the widest and tallest door you can get, you never know what you might want to park in there.

Yes looks like they changed the Inverter disconnect switch from an Optifuse breaker to the same cut off switch you have for the solar panels above the steet side bed. Here’s a pic of the Inverter Optifuse breaker on our 2023 LEII

Based on the age of your trailer I suspect that you actually have an inverter/charger (I/C) rather than just an inverter. If so, that switch kills the power going back and forth between the batteries and the I/C. In one direction the current is supplying battery power to the I/C to be changed into 120VAC for the coach. In the other direction the current is supplying 12VDC to charge the batteries. You would want to turn this switch off while doing any maintenance such as unbolting cables or changing fuses. Also if you want to stop the batteries from being charged, you would turn this switch off.

@Gliddenwoods I fixed the orientation of your pictures, and see below for a possible fix to your leak. Pretty sure you have 1/2" pex B piping in your rig, that's what we have in our 2023 LEII. I doubt you have the proper tools to crimp a joint to fix that leak, so the easiest way probably is.... 1) Shut off the water supply 2) Cut your pipe squarely and ensure both end are free of debris 3) Join the 2 end with a push to connect coupling like this You can buy these from Home Depot, Amazon etc. HERE's a link for Home Depot

Ditto! Out west we generally have stronger winds and storms during the summer are common. Best not to leave an awning unsupervised..... We leave, I roll-er-up. If we are boondocking somewhere for an extended period of time I pull my milk crates (One in Basement storing parts, one in the basket that holds our "blocks"), and our Anderson reciever to sit next to our awning poles. I have yet to be at a camp site where rocks are not plentiful. They provide ballast for the milk crates. Three pre-cut and looped sets of 550 milspec para cord tie downs and we are good to go for moderate winds. A recent upgrade was to add three carabiners so I could unconnect quickly and "roll-er-up" in a hurry. End of stay and the rocks go onto the access road in a low spot/washout. Nothing basically to buy. No added space taken. No added weight to be carried. = 3 wins!

i have thought about setting up something similar because it seems to me that the auto retract is way too sensitive even for light winds. However there was one time i had gone over to my parents house and left the awning out and that auto retract saved me a big chunk of change when a freak 30 minute storm with golf ball size hail came out of nowhere while we were eating dinner. after that im not sure id want to do something that eliminated the use of the auto retract, maybe just find away to adjust the sensitivity of the sensor.

We've had 5 travel trailers, the Ollie is the first with electric awning, I'm not sure what type manual awning the older Ollies have, but I definitely prefer a manual awning with support legs, more rigid in my opinion. But, don't tell my wife, she loves the lectric awning! And as @CRM mentioned, one less piece of electronics/motor to deal with that can go wrong.

I don't know about "consensus" but basically the article in your link reflects old Boy Scout advice from long ago. In the over eight years since I bought Twist I have only left it once due to lightening/storm. Every situation is different, terrain, trees, likely direction of the storm, availability of studier shelter, potential protection for the Ollie and my truck, etc. Certainly one thing in the article that is very important (IMO) is one or two sources of "automatic" weather warning information. I use and app on my "burner" cell phone called "Severe Weather Alerts" and I always carry a NOAA Weather Alert Radio - both have automatic alert features. One additional point - if it is possible and you have a good sense of where/what direction the potential storm may be coming from - point the Ollie with either its front or back towards the storm. Since many of these severe storms also have high winds, the Ollie's aero will help if placed in this orientation. Bill

Very good call, IMO. A SHORT RANT: It's always a good thing to get your rig & TV weighed every once in a while - we do our's at the beginning of winter and spring because our load-outs are different for each season. D & I ran into another RV'er (AS type) a couple months ago at Picacho Peak SP in AZ. We discussed GVWR - both trailer and TV. He was new to RV'ing and literally had no clue that GVWR is the maximum loaded weight of the TV (or trailer), as determined by the manufacturer and is placarded on both. He didn't know that the GVWR isn't just the weight of passengers and cargo but also the vehicle itself. I explained that the gross vehicle weight rating is all about safety. So we did a little drill - we located his placarded GVWR sticker on his TV and learned that the "useful cargo load" on his brand new Titan was 1,250lbs. On the back of an envelope we added up the weights of everything the Titan was hauling. You guessed it, with the 2 passengers, his 300# topper, camping gear, and the AS tongue weight of 950 (way over the 9-11% target wt. for a 7200# rig) - he was over his MAX cargo load by an unsafe margin. He said, "Holy crap, I need a bigger truck!" "Yup, or just pay attention to your equipment and respective weights", but that was my "inside voice." We did the same drill for his AS and discovered he was over his GVWR by several hundred pounds. The conversation went into liability issues should he perform an unsuccessful emergency stop while towing with an overloaded rig and TV - subsequently damaging property and/or causing injury. He got the point and was thankful for the conversation. He explained that no one advised him of this information during his recent purchases of the AS and Titan. The dude isn't probably the only one out there on the road without a clue about this basic, yet important topic. Admittedly, preaching to the choir here - but not only should we take this topic seriously but we can also be watchful for those like this guy and get the word out. Wouldn't be surprised if he's converted his Titan into a new 1-Ton diesel by now... HA!