Leaderboard

I'm BACK Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and prayers - especially those that were specific to me and my family. We never lost power, satellite TV, or water/sewer in my sub-division. We had several trees down that blocked the roads into/out of our home but our City workers pushed those aside fairly early after the rain stopped and then my wife and I cleared the 95% of the mess up until I ran out of gas for the chainsaw. However, even though (as far as I know) the small town where I live "only" had relatively little damage, the storm had major effects on many areas around the entire Western North Carolina, north Georgia, and Tennessee. Specifically, the small town of Chimney Rock is basically gone. I don't mean damaged, I mean it is literally gone. There are highways that are gone, bridges gone, and, of course, buildings that are gone. I've heard varying numbers of deaths due to the storm but there are still areas that have not been visited because there is simply no way to get to them other than helicopter fly overs. Fortunately, these types of storms are not "normal" for us. Certainly THAT is good news. But, the bad news is that our infrastructure is not prepared for this type of thing. Also, our personal and governmental structure is basically not prepared. Curfews have been place since early on and I've not traveled so that the people, equipment and supplies that are needed can more easily get to where it is really needed. However, what little I've personally observed is amazing. We did get cell and land line phones back yesterday and just this morning slow internet is available. My wife went out early this morning in the hopes of getting some fresh fruit and milk. It took longer than "normal" but she returned with those supplies. Only one grocery store had those things in stock though and of the three stores she stopped into only one was accepting limited credit card payments. Apparently the local gas stations have received fresh supplies of gas but there are still long lines to get it. I'm guessing that by Friday things should be getting back closer to "normal". Unfortunately, I can't say the same for other nearby areas where I'm sure it will take months (if not years) to find any sense of "normalcy"😟. Bill p.s. I store my Ollie in a storage yard about 10 miles from my home. I'm assuming that it is still there and undamaged - I'll try to go for a visit by the weekend.

A few lessons learned from the recent storm here in Western North Carolina: 1: Get and/or make a copy of any drug prescription(s) you may have. A neighbor of our went to CVS to get a refill for one of his meds. Due to having no computer and/or internet access the pharmacy could not verify his prescription and, therefore, had to deny his request. They advised him to go to the local hospital where he could see a doctor to get a new script. 2: Keep a supply of cash (in small bills) on hand. Since power and access to computers/internet was lost in the region, the only way to get any services and/or products was to have cash. 3: Keep at least a 1/2 tank of gas in your vehicle(s) at all times. First the power went out. This caused the gas stations to not be able to pump the gas that they had on hand. Second, the power came back on but then there was "panic" buying and long lines to get gas. Third, when the gas stations were re-supplied there were still long lines due to the "panic" and uncertainty of when or if gas would be available in the future. 4: Keep bottled water on hand. Obviously the amount partially depends on the number of people, the area where you live - to include climate and time of year. 5: Consider some type of satellite communications device. This can be something as "simple" as a personal communications device like the Garmin InReach mini, a satellite phone, or Starlink. Bill

We are here right now -https://www.nps.gov/deto/index.htm and had a decent hike around the base. In 1906 President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed the tower and over 1000 surrounding acres a national monument. We are camped essentially on the door step of this tower. We woke up to a nice crisp 37 degrees but were both toasty warm inside our Oliver aka XPLOR. There were there people climbing the tower today as we hiked around its base which was pretty awesome to see. Onward tomorrow saying so long to Wyoming to XPLOR parts of South Dakota.

Glad ya'll are ok Bill. Ground zero during Hugo was certainly no fun but I fondly remember how everyone pulled together to get through the aftermath. Safety during cleanup was so important for all. Best of luck and prayers for quick recovery. John

Like JD said, I have as well. For my first year OOPs I broke a jack leg. It happened when I did not feel I needed the use the slip 2" X 6" slip planes under the jack feet. Did that just ONE time. Lesson learned. I know that 2 X 6 blocks will slip when pulled or pushed by the TV, saving the jack leg. I suspect that the plastic ones likely will as well, but do not know this for sure. It would be nice to know from the plastic block users what their experience is when driving off with their trailers on plastic blocks. With two or more of the wood blocks in place there has been no damage when another driver did not know they were in place and the trailer slipped the 2 X 6's and dropped to the ground. To warn all potential drivers of my rig when blocked, I tie hot pink flagging on the steering wheel every time I put the jacks down and always use two or more 2 X 6 blocks under every jack. The more blocks used the more slip planes you have. It also increases the odds of no damage if the trailer is moved. This is due to shortened lever arm effect. GJ

I am talking to topgun2 as I type this post. He and Sue are safe and sound, with all services. I called again this morning and I was able to reach them. I’m sure he will have stories to share when has full communications back. Mossey

Look on the spring retainers. Mine was stamped there. Model PR4B is what came from the factory on my 2021 E2, 3,500lb axles, 4-leaf springs

I used a thin piece of wire to help thread the string. Yes, Mike is correct - there is a screw in each corner that holds the frame together. The only other "hint" I can give is that however the string in routed on one side of the frame, you should/must route the string on the other side in the exact same manner. If you don't, the shade will not work properly no matter how you set the tension of the spring (don't ask me how I know this!). Bill

That looks like a great deal. The two spares that I purchased from Dexter are made in china and all of the springs that they sell are made in china. Probably most if not all of the really inexpensive ones from Amazon are also made in china. Had I stumbled across this supplier with USA made springs of this capacity I would have purchased all four and just replaced them all. I’ll probably do that this winter whenever we get back home from our trip. I don’t have any complaints about the current spring capacity so I’ll stick with the 1750# springs.

@jd1923 John another option is the Dexter 2400lbs 4-leaf spring part# PR4, on special now for $49

That’s a great setup you have created. I will have to try your recommendation of using the outdoor shower during the Summer months as I keep the trailer Winterized during my Winter camping from Dec-Mar.

This is so sad. Having traveled this whole area at this time last year, hits home. Our prayers for all affected. Thanks for this post and sharing.

@Mike and Carol Thank you Mike for your concern. As reported the Western NC foothills and mountain areas are in really bad shape in a lot of areas. A close friend of mine who works for Duke power told me it looks like a war zone. We did have had friends and neighbors check on our home and to our surprise we were spared and had no damage with exception of a few pines over on the ridge we live on. Sadly, this is not the same report for many of our neighbors. Our LNG Generac standby generator ran for 60 hrs before our power was restored keeping our home on 💯 full power. We are very grateful to say the least. All this said our hearts our heavy for ALL impacted by this storm. I40 which connects eastern Tenn with western NC is closed and it appears it will be for a long time. Our Starlink mini has been a game changer with regard to staying up to date. I have made several attempts to call and txt topgun2 and have not had any success. Mike I am glad hear you got through this morning. We are both relieved he and Sue are ok. I would ask everyone to take a moment and lift up ALL people impacted by this storm in your thoughts and prayers. David & Kathy

I just tried to text Bill (Topgun) and it failed. I’m sure they have no power or cell coverage in Brevard.

We live outside of Asheville, about 35 miles. Total devastation in our county. Services have been knocked out; power, water, phone and internet. Trees down everywhere. Lots of bridges out. Many roads are simply closed. Topgun and Scotty live in Western NC; not sure how they are doing. We have been lucky-house okay.

Bill, I saw Mike's post and it looks as if he was able to detach the pleated shade from the pull down bar which sure would make threading along that bar easier instead of using a wire. I'll try the wire. Thanks for the help Bill. John

You got that right, ‘low’ is the way to ‘go’! Camped for a week in moderate ambient temps and found this energy miser mode to be sufficient to meet our cooling needs. Best of all, this light sleeper didn’t have to fuss with ear plugs! Also had an opportunity to use the heat pump with night temps dropping into the mid to upper 60s. There is an increase in noise level, but this mode heats quickly and the fan shuts down completely between cycles. Love me some Atmos!

The inside fan for air circulation really helped in spreading the cold and maintaining a more consistent temperature.

Our hull, older than yours and @Ronbrink's has only 5 levels. We run on #4 unless it's really hot outside. Have not tried out the new Beech Lane dual fan yet with fridge on and full of food. Leaving a week from tomorrow for the Texas Rally (a slow 10 days getting there)! The fridge always ran pretty well, freezer great. Hopefully with the fan will allow for better cooling in the fridge section, getting water bottles in the door shelving cold more quickly.

YES THERE IS. You can depressurize the tank with the PTV on top, remove the valve and use a shop vaccuum with a draw tube or a siimple syphon hose to drain the tank. But frankly removing the annode is easier IMHO. GJ

I set up a dedicated table at the garage and use the outdoor shower for a hot water wash and rinse; tub, dish drainer, soap, sponge and shower head holder all kept within easy reach. Maybe you could extend the hose to reach your table when used as a wash station.

We enjoyed our stay at James Robb state park. It’s just minutes away from the Colorado National Monument. Enjoy! Mike

John, I don’t remember exactly but I found some pictures I took in case I needed to do another one (and I did!). Here’s what I found…

Just returned from a week long trip since the two exterior exhaust and an interior fin fan were installed on the Norcold 3-way. Prior uses required levels 7-9 depending on time of year, for example level 9 in 100+ Texas temps. Although ambient temps this go were mostly mid 80 to lower 90s, level 5 was the sweet spot for all modes of operation; level 6 was not egg friendly at the top shelf in front of the fin/fan combo and ice in the freezer was too cold to handle with wet fingers! No doubt this fan system, as described, vastly improved the efficiency of my unit and will hopefully extend its’ life.

Yes, every night at 7 pm. Ha!

Are they still showing Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind every night at the KOA? :)

We’ve been up and down 550 a lot, towing, and it’s really not too bad. Everyone goes slow enough that there’s not the “white knuckle” experience you would think. An alternative that we’ve done from Fruita (be sure to visit the Colorado Nat’l Monument there) is to head towards Ridgway on 50, which turns into 550. In Ridgway, turn right towards Telluride so that you avoid the Million Dollar Highway part of 550 (Ouray to Silverton). Go past Telluride, through Rico and you’ll be able to pick up 145 south to Cortez. We are usually heading to Durango so we bypass Cortez. It’s a scenic drive without the mountain passes that are on 550. Mike

We left Cody the land of Buffalo Bill Cody and arrived at Devils Tower KOA this afternoon. The sites are close to DT have FH’s and are level. Yay! The staff was welcoming and really helpful. We will get a good nights rest and check out this National Monument. The drive through Big Horn National Forest was just pretty spectacular. Safe Travels and Happy Camping! IMG_2221.mov Our site with a decent views of DT.

They do have mostly tent sites. They advertise some RV sites up to 25 FT (depending on your dates). I believe you will find the Oliver Elite II is actually 23.5 FT not 26 FT. I always enter 23 FT when reserving a campsite.

FYI: I just received this recall notice when I logged into Amazon this morning, concerning this product. Progressive Industries 30 Amp Portable Surge Protector Kit, PSK-30. Follow this link to NHTSA.GOV for additional information. Mossey

Yes, every click is the drive gear (pictured) slipping pass the large round gear that moves the post. The long spiral thread design makes it the weaker gear taking the damage. You can see the wear marks on the outer portion of the gear. Once it slips when just in use, then it's damaged to the point of replacing the motor since it is the motor drive shaft. I never get ours near the ends. We travel with the rear jack bases at the height of the wheel centers and the front is always down a good 4". It makes for less time and work going up and down!

Let her know that there are several previous Airstream owners on this forum that moved to Oliver to get away from expensive repairs, hail damage, rotten floors, failing cabinets, popped rivets, and more. All you need to do is join an Airstream forum to learn there is a better option. 😉

The OTT video shows some basic steps, but it misses the mark in properly servicing the jack. It merely demonstrates a visual inspection and if that's all you're going to do, I'd say just leave them alone. Given your hull is only 2 years old, if they sound good when running it should be fine to wait. They are nicely greased and sealed by the manufacturer to last awhile. The rear jacks are housed within the hull, and these will last even longer between service. Look at page 2 of the How-to Service thread linked above, where I worked a full jack service. It is better to do the job right every 3-5 years than to just visually inspect annually. Adding some grease on top of the gear does absolutely nothing. The body and moving parts of the jack must be cleaned of ALL old grease. You want a bath of new grease, with no air bubbles, under the main drive gear. I did that job on our front jack of our 8-year-old hull. The original OTT brown grease was still present, so you could tell this service had not been done in all these years. I don't plan to open it up again before 2028. I have not worked the rear jacks yet since these get little use, no real lifting strain, as compared to the front jack. They sound good as-is, on my list for next year. The only way to damage these quality VP3000 jacks is to allow the motor to run past the end stops. When the lift hits the stop and the motor continues to run, the spiral motor gear must slip on the large wheel gear causing damage to the spiral gear attached to the motor. When I had our apart and clean, I could see some evidence of this but not bad enough to change out the motor. There was no evidence of gear wear from lack of service. It did not sound well before the service and to my ear it sounds good now when lifting and lowering.

That's shocking!😁

Thanks for the update on the mini. We have been using Gen 2 for a good while both at home and on the road (we have residential with roaming which was discontinued long ago) and have been pleased with it. The mini with the unlimited package is VERY tempting...easier to manage and just leave in the trailer!

There’s not much difference between the construction of new and old Oliver’s. The main difference will be the added components. There has been some updating of appliances, faucets, sinks, etc. Solar switched from Blue Sky to Zamp. Different fridge, AC, inverter and other items. The trailer and suspension are essentially the same. A lot of It depends on what the owner has updated or changed. We have our original Dometic fridge and AC but some owners of our vintage have changed those out. I just replaced our springs, shocks, brakes and bearings, so underneath we’re good as new. It just depends on what you want. If you find a used trailer ask about what they’ve done to change and update. It’s hard to give a year by year description of the differences. Mike

with ac on and compressor kicked on it was drawing a total of 80 amps cooling on low. going camping for a few days now but won't need ac til next july for us it is having an ac that we can actually use now that it is so much quieter

Now 5 weeks into our western trip our Starlink Mini has worked flawlessly with usually 4 devices attached. With our use, the upgrade to the unlimited plan is the way to go and it still has the pause feature when we are not using it. I can’t imagine having to ever deal with WiFi at CGs or cell phone hots spots. As soon as I deploy the mini dish which takes about 5 minutes, it immediately recognizes our devices. I am glad I purchased the aluminum protective case/cradle. The mini is really light weight and could easily be blown around by strong winds if not secured or weighted down. The added weight of the aluminum protective case makes a difference in my field use experience so far. An impressive useful piece of technology. It was a frosty 32d when I took this pic here in Yellowstone two mornings ago. As long as SpaceX keeps those satellites sailing we are in great shape. Ha!

From your post it appears that maybe after many years you're considering a purchase? The answer to your question is in so many posts. Search 'model' or 'model year' or 'options' or... What really matters is what is available on the used marketplace. Older Olivers hulls to newer hulls, they are all Olivers and are all about 90% alike, except for options and owner modifications. There are no better years, but they likely got better each year. Look and compare based on availability, location, cost and your needs re options.

I use a 12volt pump, kind of cheap and manual, but I hook it to the output for dumping, and then connect to the spray port on the black tank. I do have a fine mesh filter on the pump so no debree gets stuck in the sprayers. I have used it when we are boondocking greater than 4 days.

Gave it to the tech who switched them out

Last year while messing around under the bathroom sink, I adjusted the weight on the “pull-down” faucet hose so that it would pull out far enough to rinse the toilet. That worked for awhile, then the hose started kinking when it was pulled all the way out. Rats! So while preparing for the next trip, I decided to try another approach. I found a 1/2” x 10” spring at the local Ace that fits snuggly over the hose (when little snap-on clip is removed.) The spring was tie-wrapped in place and it allows the hose to bend tightly without kinks. Now the hose easily reaches the toilet for better rinsing. This is a quick and easy mod, particularly if you have done the “Bathroom Vanity Cubby Modification” by Frank C. It allows cubby to be quickly removed without having to re-caulk every time. I was also adding a little water freshener today, so thought I’d share another idea that's probably not new. We always carry a 5 gallon bucket and tall kitchen bags to use as an outdoor trash can. If we want to fill the fresh water tank from the Boondocking inlet, we use the bucket with a new trash bag as a clean liner. We also carry a short piece of garden house for this purpose. Saved us a few times. Cheers! Geoff

We replaced the Dometic on the Bigfoot Class-C we had, after ours had a stuck fan. It threw a bearing and was dislodged on an angle. I unbolted the unit from inside and slid it an inch or so to be sure. Then asked my son Adam to help. I asked him to climb up on the roof and throw it down below. My single request was to hit the gravel drive ONLY. Placed on the curb in time for our city annual trash pickup. We hoisted the new unit up top using an extension ladder as a long ramp. Can't believe anybody would pay $600 for this model! Not likely up here (slow Craigslist in our area), though perhaps if we lived down in the valley. I will pull the SoftStart off the old unit to save $300, if it's still in good condition and will work on the Atmos. Been meaning to climb up there to take a look.

We acquired hull 752 this spring and I’ll follow this thread. I’ve been thinking to use it portable but I’m not willing to put any holes in for antennas. I think that until I resolve this quandary , I’ll feed it in thought the bathroom window. One of my intentions is to (finally) set up Winlink AC0DH

Unfortunately, but, understandably, the classified section was removed when Oliver started having "dealerships". Simply put - the dealers didn't want Oliver to be in "competition" with them for selling any Oliver trailers. And, Oliver didn't want its dealers to think that the factory was trying anything "fishy". However, it sure would be nice to have the classifieds back on the Forum for all other things related to camping and even "used" Oliver accessories. If the members of this Forum would send an email to either (or both) Rodney Lomax and/or Scott Oliver, there is a chance that we could get it back (of course with the exception of selling used Olivers). Bill

That is true. During one of the calls I was presenting and it worked great. Again it all depends on the speeds you happen to be getting. But then again I have the same issue at home sometimes. This morning working from the camp spot speeds are good. Upload is for sure slower but 15 Mbps up with 22ms latency will work. On my plan Starlink can throttle me though so your mileage may vary.

Based on how light and compact the Mini is, I wont be considering a permanent mount. The main reason is if I am parked where there are any obstructions I will have to move the mini to a northern unobstructed view for a solid satellite connection. Now this is just based on our experience so far on this trip. The SL mini has a reported latency of 23 milliseconds according to SpaceX. We have not used it for any zoom meetings, but we did stream the entire Presidential debate last night without any interruption issues. I am going to keep it simple and deploy it from its carrying case. So far we are very pleased with the mini and it is serving our needs perfectly. One thing we have both noticed and really like is that it connects instantly to our (4) devices after plugging in the dish. Perfect! Onward!

Just learned from SL via email below, that the unlimited plan has gone up from $150 to $165 per month. The good thing is we can still pause this service plan when not using it. So far on this trip we have been very happy with our SL mini. Thank you for being a Starlink customer. We are making changes to your service plan and price in order to deliver an improved Starlink experience. Effective immediately, you will have access to the following features with Starlink Roam: In-Motion Use International Travel Coastal Coverage To support these enhancements and our ongoing network improvements, your monthly service price for Starlink Roam will be $165. The updated monthly price and new Terms of Service will go into effect starting 10/10/2024.

Last May Oliver service replaced our awning seal under warranty and they also drilled out our awning brackets so they drain properly and they now do. The new awning seal was installed just low enough that there is no longer an issue with water puddling and water drains off as it should. When washing the roof of our Oliver I did not see any water puddling along the awning seal or brackets as it just drains off the rear of the trailer as designed. When I wash and detail our Ollie I usually have it a little nose high to facilitate water draining off the roof area. The water also drains off when the Ollie is level. I am fine with how the new seal works now. Regular washing keeps the seal and roof area nice and clean.