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I love my wife Chris, and as each year goes by it becomes ever more so apparent! We purchased our Oliver just days short of a year ago and we love being together in our travels, no matter where we camp for the night, good or bad. I share this thought today with my virtual Oliver family. I do my things and she does hers and the best things are the times we spend together. She often asks, “How’s the blog going?” She’s referring to this forum and she is always interested. I tell her stories regarding y’alls antics, often over a drink or two before dinner. She listens and smiles, what a smile. Today is a very special day for us, as it is our 30th wedding anniversary! I have a difficult job every year from June 1st to June 7th. Her birthday being the latter date. Last year, as you can see, it was easy as can be, as to her surprise I brought home an Oliver! 😊 What in the world can I do this year! Good thing we do not need to top the great times we’ve had and will always have together. I write this for my partner in life. Love you, Chrissy.

Mother Neff State Park is a nice little Texas State Park just south of Waco. The land was donated to the state of Texas by the mother of Governor Pat Neff 100 years or so ago. It was the first state park in Texas. We stop here often.

Decided it was time to start the DC/DC charger install after I got the breaker replaced and the solar input working. Getting the Tundra wired up turned out to be fairly straight forward. Just followed the wire I had installed to charge the GZ for the old ARB fridge we used to store extra food. No issues once I figured out where to mount the Anderson connector to the Tundra (absolutely no flat places under bumper near hitch to mount), had to use a couple of longer bolts (removed OEM and matched) that were used to hold the bumper and then used a 6 in water clamp to hold right side of an aluminum 3 in wide x 12 in long x 1/4 in base for the Anderson plug to mount. Used 4 AWG wire from Windy Nation, it came with heat shrink and lugs, 60 amp Blue Seas, a manual 60 amp Blue Seas resettable breaker, 3/4 in sheathing for protection, and Anderson SB120 connectors. For my application, should have gotten 50 ft instead of 40ft wire total. You will also need HD crimper, wire cutter and heat gun. I had to get creative but the mount is strong and as conveniently located as I had hoped for... now for the Ollie install. Have to wait for more wire to ship. Big thank you to those that preceded me and posted their installs! Best, Mike Links: Kit https://www.windynation.com/products/4-gauge-welding-battery-cable-kit-includes-5-pieces-of-3-8-5-pieces-of-5-16-tinned-copper-cable-lugs-and-3-feet-black-heat-shrink-tubing? Blue Seas https://a.co/d/1DkubaD Anderson cover https://powerwerx.com/trailer-vision-tv201426-120-sb120variant=43802376339678 Could have used SB50.

Twice a year, prior to turning my ‘COW’ out to pasture, the COW Barn gets a good cleaning, aside from the frequent use of a leaf blower throughout the year, as necessary. Although fortunate to be able to stow indoors, pests must be kept at bay; specifically insects and spiders. It has been my practice to clean and treat using diatomaceous earth (DE), rather than harmful chemical pesticide and insecticide formulations on a more frequent basis. The proper DE for this use is food grade, not the type used in swimming pool filter systems. Here is the simple, but very effective process: The floor is swept clean with a push broom. At the time of this cleaning, previously applied DE is mostly piled along the walls as an intrusion barrier. Any critters crawling over is destined for death! The old DE is swept to a pile for disposal. A bulb applicator and bag of DE are readied. A scoop is used the fill the bulb. A liberal amount of DE is broadcast on the floor. It’s seemingly a lot, but this initial coverage will be swept to the side walls when the ‘COW’ comes home for prolonged effectiveness. When about three-quarters done, my equipment carts are rolled in and the remainder of the floor is treated. The COW Barn is then closed up for the duration of our trip. Prior to herding the ‘COW’ back into the Barn, the push broom is used to sweep the DE to the walls where is continues to effectively kill targeted pests. Since DE is commonly used to treat pests on outdoor plants, one could dust under and around their OTT sitting outside to reap benefit.

To John & Chris, and all those above and those that will follow, I LIKE THIS THREAD. We are into 44, albeit more of an equation, it is still a good solid 44. What we have discovered and experienced over that last 3 & 11/12’s years of OTT ownership is, when camping in ‘SNY SD UP’ or travelling in the TV and being in such close proximity of each other for weeks & months is, we are on our best behavior and more tolerant of each other's individual quirks. By that I mean, ‘where would one go if you need some alone time’, not in the TV, not in the TT, so, we accept that and enjoy all the new adventures, adversities, breakdowns (a work in progress) and the Uff da’s together. For us to be able to ‘Go Camping’ just brings out the best in each of us, and we like that. We have learned to enjoy being within 6’ of each other day & night and the wonderment of it all that brings us TOGETHER. B~Out,

Carol has simply got to learn to relax - obviously, she is working way too hard!😁 Bill

That is one sexy cow, as is my OLEll, often referred to as my ‘Condo-on-Wheels’!

A thought provoking article on lithium-ion battery fires and how many first responders across the US are not well trained or equipped to deal such intense hot fires. A long but interesting read. https://www.yahoo.com/tech/lithium-ion-battery-fires-rise-121058068.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=ma

Just one of the reasons I purchased lithium phosphate batteries. After being up close and personal with a lithium ion battery that was on fire I really feel for those fire fighters that encounter these things. Bill

Those diatoms are wily little beasts - even after 175 million years! HA!

I was first to suggest on our forum to use a relay to solve the humidity issue by controlling power to the fan by piggybacking on the power to the compressor. Several months later the Air Stream team working the same issue executed with the idea. GSM Bear posted the below DIY guide to do so in an Air Stream. Here it is: GSM BEAR V2 RecPro Houghton Interior Fan Mod v2.pdf I will be executing it in July. I also will be doing the Thermistor Relo hack as well. My DIY for an OE2 is in draft state. But running the thermistor wire between the hulls is a theory and I have three options. The best one was documented to me by. AndrewK. He provided some specific guidance on how he and now others have run rooftop solar wires between the hulls from the buried solar port on the roof in front of the MAX Fan. But this has not been done from the A/C area, As such, I'll hold onto my DIY guide until I have done so later this summer. GJ

I was asked to post some pictures of the rack I built to hold our BlackStone when we travel.

Added some Toyota items after purchase (mud flaps, bed mat, side-rails, Tonneau cover) but only aftermarket item was Timbren Load Enhancement System on the rear differential. The more I look at this, going to change oil/filter every 5000 miles (required when towing) but will do this towing or not. Each oil change, will take an oil sample for analysis and monitor engine oil condition until Toyota resolves this recall. There are some folks with over 100,000 miles on their 2022 Tundras without any issues.

The hull passthrough was the most challenging part of my DC-DC install. I used this double cable gland to ensure a waterproof installation. Here’s a couple of views.

Just returned from a trip to Michigan (not towing) through West Virginia and Ohio with over 1400 miles and the pickup got over 24MPG. Read every post I could find on a Tundra forum today, confident Toyota will solve the issue.

Congratulations! My wife and I have the same relationship, ain't it grand.

Part 2/2 Did as much as I could today (waiting on more 4 awg wire.) All I have to do is pull the wire and hook it up. Did have to remove a small area of propane shroud to fit gland securely. Did not have to remove BR shelf (at least it was easy to fish some fiberglass wire.) Blue Seas gland is well designed, no need for sealant. Clean and easy. Almost bought the @Ronbrink double gland, very nice install. Orion DC-DC 50 amp charger is very light weight and has small footprint. Much less heat production, no heat sink needed. Best, Mike Test fit the wires.

Moo!

I installed the 13.5 KBTU heat pump. It already has a soft start program that ramps up the start. Some folks have the Soft Start installed in addition. No need for it with my Honda 2200. The 2.5 KW and Soft start I believe was a knee jerk reaction to the Yamaha 2000. That unit has an undersized motor and will not pull up most AC's. I ran my old Dometic, which pulled a lot more power than the Houghton, on my Lead Acid batteries with a 2,000 watt inverter. Worked fine. BUT... did not last more than an hour max. I strongly suggest adding a separate A/B switch for the AC unit. Here is my DIY guide for doing so. DIY - Add Air Conditioner Power ATS.docx I also recommend installing a 3,000 watt inverter when your factory 2K one dies. DIY - Renogy 3000 Watt Inverter Upgrade Thoughts.docx The max current draw of the smaller Houghton is well below the Honda (as well as the 13.5K unit) generator's surge AND running amps. Several of us are running the larger units on 2K Hondas. I suspect the smaller would as well. Now for the 800 pound gorilla question: 9,500 or 13.5K Houghton's: With the RELAY & THERMISTOR hacks, the larger unit works exceptionally well as the recycle time and humidity issues are fully resolved. So no worries once hacked. Our 2018 OE2 has a single layer of Reflectix insulation. We camp out West in very hot almost zero shade areas most of the time. We are not in the trailer much during the day, so we may cycle on the unit occasionally, but boondocking it is never left on all day or night. (No shore power and only a Renogy folding suitcase solar). For our use, when I want A/C, I don't want to wait 50 minutes for it to cool down Ollie. Combined the above usage characteristics lead to our getting the 13.5K unit. I have heard, but still do not fully believe, that at some point after our unit OTT doubled the Reflectix insulation. (VERIFICATION REQUESTED). IF VERIFIED, and if your camping is not generally in extreme conditions, and you have solar or shore power, then I would go with the 9.5K unit. Hope the above is beneficial. GJ DIY - Add Air Conditioner Power ATS.docx

Our Tundra experience is the same as @rideandfly's. (Thanks for posting the spreadsheet, BTW, Bill!). We've had no engine indications such as those listed on the Tundra Forums spreadsheet. I'm planning to get our oil analyzed at our local FBO at ABQ Sunport next week to set a baseline. We've put north of 3,500 miles on the TV in the past 6 weeks - it tows Casablanca famously with over 35k miles. The only mods we've made are the AirLift 5000 pneumatics for the rear suspension. Planning 1,500-miler to WY in two weeks... Oh, well.

Congrats, John and Chrissy! Enjoy all the Oliver time you can together during this special time of the year! WOW!

Bill: I would press on if your are under 29K. But would for have towing on both TV and Ollie! Would also not go boondocking where the two insurance would not cover. GJ

I've had three vacuums for the 2008 so far. The first black and decker was too puny, so got relegated to the upstairs in our home for tiny pickups. 2nd was a Dyson, I think v6, which I loved, and I bought an extension and attachments from Amazon or ebay. It lasted 3 or 4 years. (I got a Shark for home use, but it was too heavy to tote around, but actually works better than the dyson. ) Our vacuums get daily use. Japanese Chins shed like crazy. This time I bought an inexpensive Bissell pet cordless model at Walmart. It's no Dyson, but it does the job, and since not as powerful, works great on throw rugs . Has a roller brush (2 speeds) and a revised tool. At under $100, I'm ok with it. The part I don't like is that the charger doesn't connect to the removeable head unit, so I have to carry the whole thing. All the others the charger connected to the handheld section. Oh well. It's cheap, super light, not very big, and the super light part is great with my body right now. Weight restrictions from hand surgery and a few fractured ribs.

Happy anniversary to you both! Congratulations, that’s a great milestone! We hit 48 years this month. Doesn’t seem possible…. Mike

Mike, you’re quickly becoming an Oliver expert! Hope this is your last challenge on this trip!! Mike

Yes, use tow mode with Ollie and normally tow in 7 & 8 gears in NC & TN Yes, there were some early turbo failures, too. These engines were in some Lexus vehicles for a few years first, but different turbos were selected for the Tundra

Didn’t Toyota had early turbo failures on this engine? I know turbos are not very tolerant of contaminants in the oil.

I thought the same thing this morning. Aussie Math I guess... 🙂 GJ

Shame I'll miss ya. By the third week of September I'll be at the North Carolina beach soaking up some of the last rays of summer sun and enjoying the nice warm ocean waters. As much as I'd love to be fishing hoppers during September in the Rockies, I simply have not found a way of being in two places at the same time.🤔 Bill

No cutting of the propane housing involved, but did notch the gland for it to fit (see pic); it is slightly under the propane housing at the top. As I recall, I made a single 3/4” hole behind the gland through the hull to route both cables under the bath flooring and forward dinette seat hatch to the aft dinette seat hatch where the charger is staged. The fishing tool should suffice, but in my case the two cables had to be hand-fed by my Son as I pulled from inside forward hatch.

We also have a 2023 LE2, model# is next to the light switch, should be CR130EL

Running off of a 2KW inverter (or compressor as mentioned) is likely a no-go. They list this at the bottom of their spec insert on the RecPro page: This AC unit requires a minimum 2500-watt generator with a dedicated 30-amp service. Using a lower-rated generator may cause difficulty when starting the AC unit or may require a soft starter.* *It is recommended to use a 3000-watt generator with a dedicated 30-amp service.*

Pisgah inn restaurant has amazingly beautiful layered mountain views before noon. Go for breakfast. Lunch/dinner views are limited by the sun. Reservations required the past few years. If you can't get a res, the views are great from the deck. Pisgah campground is nice, some privacy with rododenrons in between sites, but nothing special. Pretty much any campground on the parkway is nice, but limited services. Driving the Blue Ridege, and skyline drive, is really very, very special. Plan time to stop at many overlooks and enjoy it. Winding and narrowing, but so very beautiful. Slow speed limits. Camp several times to appreciate it all, and stop often. Skyland Cafe on the skyline drive has its ups and downs, but we've always enjoyed our stops there. Short hop off to Luray, Natural Bridge, Lexington, etc. Get your national park pass before you go. Asheville is fun, but we rarely go into downtown anymore. The historic charm (read narrow streets) isn't a lot of fun in a full size truck. Parking can be an issue. Grove arcade (America's first mall) is beautiful, as is historic Grove park inn. Roycroft furniture, huge fireplaces, in the old part. Great brunch onvweekend. East parking. Biltmore is lovely, but expensive. The grounds are amazing. Plenty of great farm to table foods, and inventive food in Asheville, and surrounding communities. Off the parkway, linville falls is a lively area. Get off a bit further in the TV, and newland// crossnore/ old fort give you a bit more of old north carolina. Banner elk is nice, but very touristy now. We had lunch in newland today with friends. Kayes on the river. Head down ash to the old lowes grocery to patlrk, and walk a block back, if you go. Next time, we'll go to tin trout in crossnore . @Steph and Dud B recommendations on i81 to go north is excellent. So much less stressful than 95. Driven it many times, going to erstern new york or canada. . You have a month. Take your time, and enjoy it. Ps. Deer island point campground in new Brunswick is rough, but beautiful. You can see the maelstrom from the point. Ferry to and from. Ferry to Campobello, then in to Lubec. We really loved camping in New Brunswick. Enjoy your journey.

Grandson installed the Houghton 13.5 AC about a week ago. It is so quiet, but the fan ran all of the time. And the humidity was up to 95%..I could not take that, so Grandson installed a switch that shuts down the fan. And the humidity is MUCH better. It also came with a Thermistor Probe, but he has not had time to install that. The only thing that it is doing that is a little funky is the hand held controller is set on 72 and the temp. in the Oliver is about 82..

My wife (Sue) and I only have just short of 20 years on you two. I have some of the same "problem" as you in that our anniversary is on November 30, her birthday is on December 9th and then we celebrate Christmas. Sure does take some "creative" gift thinking. However, I've never even thought about bringing home a "new" Oliver and since there is absolutely nothing wrong with the old Oliver, I'm guessing that it will stay that way. Frankly, as you seem to know, it really isn't the gift as much as it is the thought that is behind the gift. Happy anniversary to you both! Enjoy every minute of it AND the great years to come! Bill

Sadly, I'll not be going that far south - I'm staying in Wyoming again this year (mainly around the Cody area). Have fun though - the mountains are always a great place to be. Bill

Found this while looking for a shower head replacement. Might come in handy. https://itcshopnow.com/products/fontana-exterior-shower-adapter-and-sprayer-holder

I know there are a few Super Duty owners on here. So I decided to post this as it might generate some interest. After our trip I decided to change out the cabin filter on our TV. So I picked up (2) new filters from my local dealer and knocked it out with a little knowledge from YouTube University. Surprisingly with only 25k on the odo my filter overall looked pretty good, but still swapped it out. Two is one and one is none! I keep a decent supply of oil, air, and both fuel filters in my shop and always carry a few spares when we are traveling. Cabin filter PN# for 19 -22 YM.

The spray head and suction cup mount were here when we arrived in Nashville. Side note: Remembered @Snowball had a terrific suggesting for getting ride of the black streaks from the OEM exterior light gaskets. Terribly frustrating. But he suggested using Capt Tolley's creeping crack cure on the gaskets and it worked like a charm!!!! Not more black streaks, just make sure you clean up when applying (hard to get off gelcoat once dry). So the whole reason I replaced the shower head was the freeze got it and it had a hairline crack at the head. SO walking back into the garage I saw Capt. Tolley's sitting on the shelf. Decided to apply it to the old head and see if it works. I will let you know. I also have used it to seal a window that had starting to fog up. Worked great there too. Thanks Snowball, wonderful stuff! Best, Mike

Found a Drag Race Car shop in Lincolnton, NC to weld Ollie's frame earlier this year. Found an engine builder, machine shop, with engine dynamometer (Dyno) this morning at Iron Station NC to do the machine shop work on Ollie's aluminum wheel mount. This area is close to Charlotte Speedway with many shops involved with NASCAR. The owner of this shop used to build race engines at Joe Gibbs Racing. He had a low boost/supercharged Marine engine on his Dyno this morning. Removed the aluminum wheel mount yesterday and the machine shop now has Ollie's wheel mount for modification.

Hey @Geronimo John, I've been studying this thread, on and off over the last year and still need to read and learn more. An extremely quiet Low BTU model makes sense to me, and the Oliver does not require 13.5 BTU at all, given the interior cubic feet and insulated shell. I also need to role this into a lifepo4 upgrade. It will be a one or 2-year plan for me. It only makes sense to do these mods in unison. I will NOT but another Dometic product for any purpose. I have also read, too many times, how those who bring their Oliver for Truma and custom fiberglass work are "very happy" with their purchase. We cannot afford the time, distance and cost of such, so that's not happenin' for us. Loved how our friend @MAX Burner wrote about your side-by-side comparison last summer. I abhor motor noises, unless it's my Cummins pulling an incline, or a sports car tuned for performance at 7000+ RPM. We want QUIET and LOW fan speed and I believe the solution just might be a Houghton AC! Ran across these components in research today and somehow, I want to make this work! I read here about some member(s) are wiring 12V batteries in series which would of course produce 24V but then I'm wondering how, do you step 24V down to 12VDV for all the standard RV lighting and other accessories. How about 48V to 12V? Is that possible? Do we have any true battery/solar experts here? I'm going to spend weeks/months researching this, but is there a way to pair these components in an Oliver? I would truly love the read the opinion of all members who know the physics behind this! (maybe this should be a new thread?) Thank you GJ and OTT Forum members - 48V Air Conditioner for RV - 9.5K Low Profile AC Unit with Heat Pump and Remote Control Non-Ducted - RecPro 48V 100Ah LiFePO4 Battery - Heated & Bluetooth (epochbatteries.com) No inverter required if these two components can somehow be combined in an Oliver. I'm generally more of a "here and now" sort, yet technology will amaze!

@josmith68: Welcome to the Oliver family, Johnny and Juanita! With just over a week prior to your pick-up date at Hohenwald, please be prepared to be overwhelmed with a massive amount of new OTT operational information! Try taking a lot of video coverage -- it may help to remember key functions. Always know that you can reach out to these forums for an assist should you need it. Congrats on the retirement from one who's flunked it twice! HA! Cheers!

We use suction cups for everything. Flag poles, trash, paper towels, etc. Just have to have clean surface. Though, I like your solution. M

Welcome...and CONGRATS!!! :) John

We decided to RO2N in Laurel, MS... Very "green" here compared to what we're used to in the SW! Headed to Dallas in the morning... Safe travels, All!

We’re overnighting at Lake Catherine State Park near Hot Springs, Arkansas. Like most Arkansas state parks this one is nice. There are wooded camp sites and sites right on the lake. It’s 12 miles off of I-30, we’ve stopped here several times when we’re headed east or on our way home.

0915 Departure from LGSP, enroute to Laurel, Miss.:

Yosemite today: The pond near swinging bridge was dead calm.

@CW. Welcome to the forum, and wishing you many happy miles and smile traveling with your Oliver! Cheers! Patriot🇺🇸

During our recent 3 month 10,000 mile trip to the North East, we stopped in Raphine Virginia at the Pilot Travel Store and weighted our rig. The procedure is to weight the total rig (3 zones), steer axle, drive axle, and trailer axle. Then weigh again with the rig disconnected so the trailer axle zone is the trailer disconnected and the axles and front jack are all on the 3rd zone. Then, you will have almost all the information you could ask for, including the tongue weight using a little math. FYI, my cost was $11.00 for the first weigh session, the $2.00 for the second. There was an discrepancy of 40 pounds between the two sessions, which is probably within the tolerances of the scales. Session One: Steer Axle 4,520 Drive Axle 5,180 Trailer Axles 5,880 Gross Weight 15,580 Session Two - Trailer disconnected: Steer Axle 4,800 Drive Axle 4,260 Trailer Axles 6,560 Gross Weight 15,620 So, bottom line, total trailer weight loaded is about 6,560, the tongue weight is about 680 lbs, and the axle weight is about 5,880. The easy way to calculate the tongue weight is the subtract the two different trailer axle weights. You can also examine how much weight is added to the rear tires of the tow and subtract the amount reduced on the front axle of the tow. (That calculates to 640 lbs, but remember the difference is weights due to tolerances. So a safe guess is about 660 lbs if we split the differences. This is fully loaded E2 with 4 flooded golf cart batteries, solar, extended twin beds, Honda generator in the basket, etc. Fresh water tank full, black and grey empty. So the tongue weight is about 10% of the total trailer weight. The rig tows beautifully with no sway without any equalizing or sway controls. The tow vehicle is a Dodge Ram 3500 diesel with the bed loaded. Brad - Santa Fe, NM