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I always wash/wax my vehicles and also my trailer. Then, I GOT OLD. Since hitting the 70’s my stamina isn’t what it used to be. I can still wash/wax my trailer, but what the CGI team did is a different level. 4 guys, multiple buffers, scaffolding, ladders, thorough wash, buff and then buff some more, ceramic coat, buff, ceramic coat again, buff, measure shine with some kind of shine measuring thing. It would have taken me a week to do that, then two weeks to recover! Mike

Ours is original and black. It’s also about an inch short at each window. I keep the gap on the upper part of the window. I’d replace them but the rubber is still good and the gap doesn’t seem to be an issue. Mike

If anyone is interested in trying the Bulldog shocks, AutoZone sells them for $53.99 online only and claims to have them in stock. They state they have a Limited Lifetime Warranty (you can read it at the link provided below.) The part number is HD1214-0656. This link should get you there.

Generally, I'd agree, especially as I'm cargo capacity limited. However, we're spending two months in Florida this winter, and will be plugged in most places we stay. So saving propane by using free electricity for seven weeks is appealing to me.

If it is worth it, then it is worth it.

We're in southern Mississippi just after traversing some pretty rough roads across Louisiana. We've retorqued the u bolts per Alcan's recommendations and then some. A few still need minor tweaking so I'll continue checking for another 1000 miles or so. The Alcans seem to be doing great and I'm glad we went that route. Lew and Tucker were a pleasure to meet and they taught me a few things :) I changed my Oliver shocks in July, in Maine, with Monroe Magnum 555001s. Upon completion of the springs install in Colorado, Tucker informed me 1 of the struts were blown and would not extend after compressing it. We continued on to our next destination without the bad shock installed and I re-installed another 555001 after a visit with O'Reilly (not a common stock item so had to be ordered ahead of time). All was going well until Louisiana roads...after reaching Lake Mary Crawford, a public fishing lake by Monticello, MS, I discovered 2 more shocks leaking, removed them and ordered 2 more from O'Reilly. Only 1 came in so I reinstalled the best of the 2. They would extend ok after compressing so I figure they has some life left, but had oil that had leaked from the top of the shock. I wiped the shocks down and will check on them from time to time until getting back to SC. I'm thinking the frequent severe porpoising through dips in the road for over 30+ miles may have forced the oil out and down the bottom outside cylinder. We will see if the struts continue to leak and report back at a later date. My TV now has 121000+ miles (over 21000 so far this year alone since leaving SC) on it and I'm seriously thinking about replacing the shocks on it when we get back. They're not leaking nor appear in bad shape but the truck seems to be a little more springy on hard stops and porpoises a little more than when newer. The tires are new so no unusual wear at this time. I have had zero problems with exchanging the bad shocks at O'Reilly's (lifetime guarantee...thanks Steve L) but am thinking I'll want to try another brand to see if it lasts a little longer. Still happy campers here... :) John

On our recent 48 day trip we used the furnace when we needed at little heat in the mornings and it worked flawlessly. I also think it’s a real good idea to use and run the equipment you have on board. This way you will know it is operating properly. I personally don’t see any need to carry a space heater/space taker and they are not really efficient. One night during our week camping in Yellowstone the temp dropped to 28d we were toasty warm with our furnace. Keeping that Max Air Vent screen and fan blade clean was a regular maintenance ✅ list item especially on this last trip in the dusty dirty windy high deserts of the midwest. I think I cleaned ours twice during our recent trip and again when we arrived back home.

I found the little guy below at a garage sale for $5 about 12 years ago -it measures about 6x6x6 inches. It has a temp sensor, on/off switch and rotary switch where I can set the desired temp on the back of the unit. Like many of these electric space heaters its maximum wattage is 1500 and it can roast me out of the Ollie if I leave it on full blast for over 30 minutes without setting the adjustable control lower. However, I never leave it on overnight or while I'm not in the camper. Bill

It really depends on how particular you are about how your ollie looks and also how you store it. I have ceramic on both my truck and my wife's car. Her car lives in the garage and still looks and washes like the day the ceramic was applied. My truck lives outdoors and the ceramic started to fail after the 2.5 year mark. If I stored my trailer indoors then the ceramic would be a no brainer but since my Oliver lives outside at a storage facility I just wash it occasionally and but and wax every 6 months. Does it look perfect, no, but the great part about gelcoat is that it can always (within reason) be brought back to life with a little effort. John

It does pro-rate based on start date. Our billing cycle is on the 11th of each month. In September we started on the 15th of the month and only paid $45. But it is only pro-rated based on start as regardless of when you pause you get it through the end of the billing cycle.

@John Dorrer here is what I used. It worked perfect and only $8. https://www.harborfreight.com/finger-release-ratcheting-pvc-pipe-cutter-62588.html

I cannot deny that the Ceramic Coat work performed by CGI is top shelf. I have seen a couple Ollies with this treatment and they are spectacular. That said, my E2 lives outdoors, uncovered 24/7x365 and lasted three years with 2x/yr hand washing and waxing before it started to show signs of light oxidation. I took the dive and bought a Makita rotary buffer and a forced-rotation DA polisher and did the top half this Fall. Looks good enough for who it is for and I enjoyed the physical activity and the chance to get intimate with my trailer. This direction is subject to change as I age of course, but for now the $3k sits in my bank account.

Our Vornado has three settings, 750, 1150, 1500. The lowest setting is enough for temps down into the 40’s. We’ve used the middle setting to get things warm while camping in the 30’s. We rarely use the 1500W setting, in the teens and 20’s it will get the trailer warmed up and then we go to one of the lower settings. It’s got a wide base and is super stable. It also has a switch on the bottom that shuts the unit off if it is not sitting flat. We’ve been in the Kansas City area the last couple of nights, overnight temps near 40 when we wake up. Using the lowest setting (750) we kept the temperature in the high 60s for sleeping. That’s not running constantly. I think the new ones have a digital temperature readout. Ours just has a knob (8 years old). If you’re not going to camp in sub freezing temps I think the small Vornado would be fine. It’s a very quiet unit. Mike

I just want to go back in time. https://www.motortrend.com/features/60s-muscle-cars/

Same price as when I bought ours in black last year. I bought 17 ft, they sent 18 and I had over a foot left over. Total shipped was $99. https://www.pellandent.com/Half-Inch-Glass-Vinyl-Seal

Agree with David’s comment! The fall colors are something we miss in south Texas. Mike

I feel the pinch too. Everything has gone up except my pay and I am still paying for two houses waiting for the bigger one to sell. Hopefully, the economy will get better after the election.

All, I have updated the instructions to Rev 1. The last two pages in Rev 1 outline the process for inspecting the cooling coil for signs of freezing. Rheostat Install on AC rev 1.pdf

I have almost always been adamantly opposed to hiring someone to do a job that I can do myself, which is virtually everything. I remember years ago I had a stopped up washing machine drain. I called a friend to ask if he had a drain snake and he brought one over to help. After monking with it for about an hour and not doing any good I suggested to him that I should just go out to a rental center and rent a powered snake. He asked what it would cost. I remember it being in the $100 dollar range for a few hours. He stated, "...or you could just call a plumber for about the same price and not have to fool with driving out to get the machine, coming home and messing around with it for another few hours and maybe still not get it open and then driving out to return the machine and still ending up having to call a plumber." I called a plumber. I always consider how long it would have taken me at work to earn enough money to pay for the job at hand. The older I've gotten the more willing I am to pay someone rather than doing it myself. I plan to die with a balance of only 5¢ in the bank. I did pay the CGI boys their fee to do my trailer when they first went into business. I've never met a finer bunch of young men. Our trailer is looking like it needs it again but aside from Hull #045, ours is the oldest Elite II still on the road. I've never waxed it even once and have usually paid to have it washed. Here again, number of hours worked vs amount paid to have the job done. I would take me several hours to wash the truck and the trailer, I pay $125 to get both done at a detail shop. No brainer for me!

Great testament on the Atmos. Felt bad you guys had to step into the Oliver with the a/c off, but then perfect demonstration of the efficiency of the unit to quickly cool the interior while dropping the humidity! Love me some Atmos!

Just returned home from the Hungry Mother SP VA fiberglass rally. There were three Ollie's in attendance, too. Fellowship and Potluck dinner were great!

John, these posts should help you, happy reading! https://supersizelife.com/replacing-your-rvs-window-seals/ https://www.pellandent.com/Half-Inch-Glass-Vinyl-Seal

The houghton is designed to have the fan run when the compressor is off. Turing the fan to low makes it less noise and still allows the air to circulate. The issue with the Houghton is that the thermistor is up inside the unit which is why the fan was designed to run constantly according to the manufacturer. I would return the unit to its original design (no relay) and see if that solves your problem. John

It seems like if $3k for a ceramic coating is worth it $1,300 for a Calmark cover (assuming you don’t go with a cheaper one) would be worth it. We store outside and have a ceramic coating. Figured keeping it covered over the winter would stretch how often we have to get it coated again, therefore paying for the cover pretty quickly. The coating has made washing it and get bugs off pretty easy. We wash after each trip. I also use WashWaxAll to help protect.

I clean the screen and blade assembly after each trip. You figured out the screeen, the blade is held on by a single set screw that comes off easily. If we want the vent open and no fan I usually just turn the fan down all the way to 10, it hardly moves any air. The vent is pretty noisy, once we open it it stays open. We got down to 43 here last night, both vents open and Vornado heater providing quiet, even heat. Mike

Rheostat Install on AC.pdfHello, I am sharing instructions I developed for installing a rheostat on the Dometic A/C so the A/C blower motor's speed and can controlled and reduced, thereby reducing the excessive air turbulence noise. FYI, the file size is large, I apologize for this. I tried compressing the file prior to uploading, but most of the content disappeared each time I compressed the file. I also tried compressing the photos within the file, but this too did not work. Thanks, GG

I have read that outside air being drawn in as the issue with the Houghton, but some have argued it is not and I respect that. I do know that the Atmos has significantly more airflow than my former DPll and maybe more than the Houghton, as well. That said, this increased airflow could be drying the wet coils out faster and/or more efficiently, thereby decreasing humidity levels. I too would like to better understand and hopefully someone can provide a definitive answer to your questions.

Hi Nan, I made this modification (added a relay to the Houghton) over a year ago and have used the unit to both heat and cool multiple times without issue since. I used this relay: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07587NZTC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 If you are sure that a properly sized relay was wired in correctly replacing it with another and testing it in a controlled environment is what I'd do. The fact that it was working correctly for some time is a good sign, but to double check the installation, either google for the instructions (I did) or there was a long forum thread on this subject with discussions and instructions (last summer I believe). I didn't relocate my thermistor as you did. I'd love to hear more about how that's working once you get your unit running again. I currently use a small fan on the nightstand that I point up at the Houghton so the thermistor gets some airflow from below when the compressor and fan are both off. This modification has definitely solved the humidity problems the Houghton created with its design at the expense of having to have that small fan on the nightstand running when the Houghton is running. Good tradeoff for me but I'd certainly prefer having the thermistor in the cabin. Best of luck! John

We got ours through Oliver. Mike Sharpe helped us.

I have always been self sufficient. Ever since I was a young man, a kid even, I would refuse to pay anyone for something I could do myself. The first job I ever tackled on my own was fixing the crank on my bicycle. I was 12. From that point on, the toys got bigger and the repairs did as well. Instead of hiring someone, I bought tools and learned how to do it. That progressed to the point that I now have a shop, $20k (probably more) worth of tools and have enough trade knowledge in my head that I can do just about anything. Is it worth it? To me it is. I have literally built houses, cabinets, plumbing, electrical work, I have rebuilt a few engines that actually worked afterwards and I have never paid anyone a penny for it. On top of that, it has built wealth for me. I will die with more money left in the bank than I can spend unless the country falls apart and the dollar tanks. But even then, I will have the knowledge and the tools to keep going. Do it all again. Until I get old and spend $3000 to get my Oliver detailed. :)

No. SL does not offer a prorated plan at least for now. Once you start the new monthly subscription, you can pause it and still use the days left on the plan. After that when you unpause, you pay for another month of use. So for example ours runs out on Nov 2, I paused it upon our return from our western trip. If we want to unpause and use our mini after Nov 2, we pay for another month. edit and update - mid-billing cycle, you will only be charged for the remaining days in that cycle, especially when using the "Roam - 50GB" plan associated with the Mini; this applies to both pausing and unpausing your service.

This is a great idea and when we get back to high speed internet I’m looking forward to reading the PDF and trying it! Thank you. At Inks Lake in a sea of Olivers I noted a few things. First off, if you have $1650 to spend, get the Atmos A/C! @Ronbrink’s system is amazing. In 15 minutes at the noon hour in Texas 80+ heat and humidity it cooled the interior at a whisper! Humidity dropped 11% on the gauge and I felt cool and dry before we looked at the numbers. We run our Dometic only when necessary and set it in Auto so the fan is on only when the compressor is on. The majority of noise is inside from the loud fan at high speed. Outside it’s not near as noisy. We had a neighbor who runs theirs fan ON always. Their outside noise was double ours, likely from running it 24x7! Theirs was not only louder but I could hear bearing noise, on top of noise! Maybe, but likely with the fan at 50-60% it would be fine. Most A/C systems allow for multiple fan speeds, but set on AUTO ours only runs fan on HIGH. Worth a try! What are you chancing, a poor Dometic model where w/o modification needs replacing anyway?

I can’t afford $3K on an older hull which has set and will sit in the AZ sun year after year. I’m getting less work annually on my job and inflation adding to 30% over the last 4 years makes it worse. Given two young men at 1 1/2 days that’s 24 hours. Say $120 for buffing compounds, this comes to $120/hr. I’m not getting near that with a MSIE degree teaching professionals for PMP certification. It’s a crazy number for manual labor! I can see $75 max. This comes to $1,920. Another example: OTT wants “on special” $1000 labor only to wire the Oliver, not the TV too, for a DC-DC charger, equally crazy. Call it 6 hours and it comes to $167/hr. Glad I do my own electrical and mechanical work, though buffing/waxing is not worth taxing my body! The CGI young men are so nice, witnessed by them serving us dinner at Inks Lake! If I was in my 20s making over $100/hr I’d be grinning ear-to-ear too! Love when my wife Chris says, “Why does a trailer have to be so shiny?”

Does the Dometic noisemaker A/C have an evaporator temperature sensor? I'm not an HVAC expert, but I would be concerned about operating the fan at too low of a speed and freezing up the evaporator. Sorry, I didn't take the time to read the attached file.

We’re big fans of the work the CGI team does. It’s an investment, and for us with an older trailer it was well worth the cost. We had ours done in April 2023 in our driveway when they came through Texas. Our finish had begun to dull and we lost the new trailer shine. When they were done it looked better than the day we picked up. It’s made after-trip cleaning easier and still has a nice shine. They work hard with expected results. New trailer shine for an old Oliver. More shine.

That's not fair! No wax job I ever did (cars, trucks, campers) ever was as slick or shiny as the Oliver after CGI had their way with it.

I guess I'm going to have to brave the fire ants and crawl under mine to see what the clearances are. My curiosity box is humming.

I am not sure about leaving it open while off. But Oliver did put out a video on cleaning it and operation.

Update- I brought the camper back to Hohenwald and they determined the mount broke due to a defect during manufacture. Apparently the holes were drilled in the wrong location and a repair was made that ultimately failed. Bottom line, they upgraded me from a regular microwave to a convection model at no cost. Got it installed yesterday. I also had an issue with the vent cap on the roof. Looked like it was over torqued during installation and cracked at all the holes. Since I had not reported that during warranty, I did have to pay to have that replaced, but they basically charged me their cost- $49. Outstanding customer service for a camper that is out of warranty.

Is that on one set of tires? JD: It would not surprise me at all if it was. JohnW's and mine came off the line within a week or so. Both have these tires: My 2018 Ollie Michelin's now have 42,000 miles on them with no cracking and about 2/3 of the tread left. Close inspection by Discount Tire cleared them for a couple more years. But I changed out the springs and shocks ten thousand miles ago. I thank Scott Oliver on a regular basis for these tires on ours. Down the road, regardless of what springs our OE2 owners choose to use, it is my strong recommendation that if you have over 30,000 miles and you have the Dexter 1750# rated ones, it is time to change them when it is easy for you to do so. I strongly recommend doing so where you like, and not being forced to do so on the highway somewhere out in the boondocks. ESPECIALLY if you are considering Alaska and don't live there. 🙂 GJ

42K on trailer tires seems like decent life expectancy. But "severe cupping on one wheel" is odd. Could be an issue local to that wheel, or merely a defective tire. Watch that tire position for cupping on your new set of tires. But those shocks look just awful! I believe @Geronimo John is correct re the shocks. It's like mounting shocks engineered for a 1500 truck on a 2500. These Monroes, or even the same spec Bulldog shocks, would hardly dampen the 4x 2750# Alcan leaf springs and will likely fail more often and more quickly. Whoever talks to Alcan next, please ask the shock make and model number of the shock they suggest and post this info on our Oliver Forum. Thank you.

Maybe a case of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" Just in case it would brick the inverter. Oh! I should install the firmware upgrades over and over until I *do* brick it. Then I'll have an excuse to swap in the Victron unit. 😉

Thanks, John....hope that is in the future. Thanks, all, for your help and info. About the wheel bearings...Hull 996 picked up on 13 Jan and been back to Oliver twice now for annual service. They have checked the bearings as good and I have as well. No wobble at all. After severe cupping on one wheel I changed all tires for 4 new ones. Trailer had over 42,000 miles at that time. Then on to Alcan where the 5th strut failed on the way. Actually after finding total failure of the front two struts, I just replaced them all. Here are the original 2 that I removed after the severe cupping started. We are safely on the road to SC with good struts...for now :) Is it possible the numerous severe dips in the road can cause fluid from within the strut to be forced out with a really large compression and over time become dry inside the cylinder, where it no longer is effective at all? GJ...I'm going to need a beer before I start reading your reply :) Probably tonight :) Thanks for your help. John

I think Tucker is right, but only with the assumption that the shocks have the dampening capability to do so. More detail follows: The dampers job is not only to control the rate of energy transfer to the spring, but also the rate at which it is released. The process takes the movement (Up and Down) and converts it to heat. Generally speaking stiffer springs require stronger damping to deal with the heat being generated by the stiffer springs. You can see this in many Asian suspension systems that use stiffer springs and are tuned with stiffer damping. Spring rates and damping are definitely connected. An increase in spring rate will require an increase in rebound damping to control it. This principle is in my opinion why I think that the Monroe shocks we are using do not have sufficient dampening capacity when used with the Alcon's. The net result I believe is that the Monroe's are being damaged by the heat generated by the Alcon's. For those wanting a deeper dive, here is a great web site to guide you through the math to do so: https://www.shimrestackor.com/Code/Sample_Applications/Spring_Change/spring-change.htm Just be aware that you'll get into some deep math pretty quickly. LOL! GJ GJ

John, just read this again… I would check your wheel bearings regarding cupped tires. In a TV it means alignment but there is no alignment on trailers. To do so, lift each wheel off ground, hands on tire at 3 and 9 o’clock positions to check if there is any shake. Turn the wheel some and shake hard a few times. If you find ANY wobble at all then the axle nut needs to be tightened. If you have packed the bearings in the last 1-2 years, just tighten the nut. If not, it’s time to clean and pack the wheel bearings. I’m not sure but thinking bad shocks or even no shocks should not affect tire wear. Shocks merely stop the pendulum effect of spring bounce. I guess excessive bounce could affect tires, though less likely than bearings.

Probably won't get the TV shocks changed until Dec and won't know the effect until our trip out to Quartzsite mid January. Will follow up!

JD Tucker at Alcan shares that view as well....that's why we don't mind driving with the bad one removed until I can replace it. Good point about extras. I'm getting pretty good with the changeouts :) My bad experience was having to change out the severely cupped tires that I suspect was the fault of the sheared shafts on the front 2 shocks (previous post). Hopefully changing out the TV shocks will help.

Thanks for the report John! Safe Travels to you and Wendy my friend. David

Try the service knowledge base here: https://support.olivertraveltrailers.com/portal/en/kb/articles/xantrex-inverters#Inverter_Settings

Glad you found the pending loss before it happened. Last month in a response to Jason's post I stated: "A bit off topic, but important. I recently lost on the highway one of my jack foot plates. Recommend checking their single bolt tightness occasionally. Anybody know how to do so and to what torque? My concern is that one could damage the jack tube if it is not restrained during tightening." We now have two documented cases supporting the need to periodically check the torque of our jack leg feet. Jason mentioned using a strap wrency to back-up the torque process so as not to damage the leg when doing so. Pondering this further, I think it would be worth attaching a small diameter cable to act as a "safety chain" for the feet. GJ