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We've been very pleased with the basket and boxes. Now that we've had them for almost 6 months we can give more feedback. First, many have asked about their weight limit. As @Patriot mentions, this is a question better answered by Oliver. Sea Biscuit doesn't provide a weight limit, but the basket and boxes are very robust. Oliver has a 150 lb limit on their optional bumper receiver. Our unladen receiver weighs 26 lb, so we're looking at a maximum of about 176 lb hanging on the rear bumper. The Oliver receiver could probably handle more weight, but you also have to consider front/rear weight balance. Our Sea Biscuit basket and empty boxes combined weigh 74 lb. If we observe the Oliver weight limit, we can carry 102 lb maximum in the boxes. We only carry about 30 lb of bulky/dirty items in the boxes: chocks and blocks in one rear box and a (very) small grill in the other. We also have the Oliver front basket, sometimes loaded with 70-80 lb of gear (e.g. generator and fuel) which helps offset the weight on the rear. Access to the dump hoses stored in the bumper is a minor inconvenience, but less so if you keep the hoses attached. Since we have the Nature's Head, we only have to deal with gray water. If we had a black tank, then we wouldn't want to troubleshoot a leaky hose or connection while the basket is attached. That brings us to another access issue. The basket must be pulled out about 4-5 inches to remove the spare tire cover. This isn't a big issue though. We can just pull the pins holding the basket on the bumper and slide it back a little without removing it from the mounts. No tools required. Fortunately, we haven't had to use the spare, but the basket won't be a problem if we do. Besides the convenient storage, especially the easy access to the chocks and blocks, an unexpected big benefit is that the boxes are at countertop height when parked on level ground. We always have an outdoor table set up. The boxes are also strong enough for a 225 lb person to stand on, making it easy to visually check things on the roof. Steve

FYI…Oliver quoted me $1500 for the rear receiver assy including installation, just checked and the Sea Biscuit Oliver rear basket is $1050 including hardware to mount the basket to an Oliver without receiver assy! My intention was to get the Oliver receiver assy, remove the 2” receiver and side aluminum rails then add longer side aluminum rails in order to mount an aluminum basket on the rails. So $1500 for the Oliver receiver, $350 for a UWS basket plus modifying the Oliver receiver….then I saw the sea biscuit basket which is exactly what I was looking to do…and cheaper, so for me definitely worth it!😊 Here’s the sea biscuit basket and link Now I just have to decide if I want it in bare aluminum, or powder coated for an additional $250. 🤔

We were in Hohenwald this week and saw some new products made by SEA BISCUIT METAL DESIGNS on display in the Oliver showroom. One product caught our attention, so we decide to visit Johnson City. The rear basket carrier and storage boxes are very well crafted. We already have the OEM rear bumper receiver option so installation was simplified. Since we weren't using the bumper receiver on this trip, we replaced one for the other. We're very pleased with the quality and the design. The lockable boxes increase the secure outside storage, and they're easily removed from the basket in case we want to use it to carry odd shaped/sized cargo. We went with two separate storage boxes, but they also have a larger single "coffin" box that spans the width of the basket. The low profile doesn't cover the original license plate location, so no need to move the plate and rewire its light. The CNC cut "Oliver" name on the carrier is also a nice touch.

Update on furnace not working below 45 degrees. Ended up being a faulty thermostat wire. Originally, the thermostat had an error code of E1 when we turned on the furnace during our first cold morning this fall. I rebooted the system, the error code went away and the furnace then worked fine above 45 degrees, and below 45 would cycle with the burner only staying lit for 5 seconds. This would repeat a few times during a 20 minute period with the blower running the whole time, then turn off completely. There where no error codes on the furnace circuit board. Then it just stopped working completely until the temps warmed. Finally it just stopped responding completely. Kudos to the service manager at the local rv dealer for an evaluation and repair. He talked with an Oliver tech who described the rather difficult process of running a new wire as the continuity was broken on 2 of the 3 wires running up to the AC. This apparently has infrequently occurred where the wire is pinched between the hulls during assembly. In this case, the wire was compromised and during cold weather the wire contracted enough to short. Then after more miles were driven the wire severed. I’m very happy to have established a strong service relationship locally. It was interesting that the local dealer was skeptical of the brand as it was the first one they worked on, but very complimentary after completing the work and engaging Oliver’s service department with constructive dialog to resolve the problem. Dometic HVAC system. Mark Hull 1111 Chelsea MI

It’s interesting to me that hull 1108 and hull 1111 both experienced the same issue. Having a source for owners to share their knowledge and experiences rocks!

Hello everyone, I'm grateful for this community and especially for the helpful post from Mark and Lorraine. Their experience mirrored the issues we had with our intermittent furnace. I wanted to share our solution in case it helps others: it was a faulty thermostat-to-AC wire. Symptoms: Below ~60°F: Furnace blower would start, ignite briefly, and then shut off after a few minutes. Blower would start, ignite, then immediately go out. Blower would start with no ignition. In each case, I heard a "click" from a relay in the AC, followed by another "click" as the system shut down. The blower would then enter shutdown mode. Oddly, stepping on a specific spot near the pantry/seat seemed to trigger the on/off cycle. Above ~60°F: Furnace worked perfectly with no issues. The Fix: Initially, I suspected temperature-related components and replaced the gas regulator switchover valve and upper-limit switch. This did not resolve the problem, so I changed the sail switch, control board, and thermostat, just to throw everything at it. (I now have spare parts on the ready) After finding Mark and Lorraine’s post, I confirmed their diagnosis: a faulty thermostat-to-AC wire. Here’s how I fixed it: Purchased an 18-3 wire from Home Depot. Removed the interior AC cowling to locate the thermostat wire’s connection to the HVAC control unit. Disconnected the thermostat and connected a new wire directly to the HVAC control box using compact splicing connectors. I tested it with this jumper and it worked as expected, without issue. Fished the new wire with a wire hanger from the HVAC towards the curb side (opposite of factory wire routing), back to the rear compartment, over to the street side, behind the radio and pantry, then down to the thermostat. It was actually really easy to fish the wire around. Once completed, the furnace worked flawlessly, even in cold temperatures, regardless of where I stood inside or outside the trailer. I hope this helps someone else!

@jd1923 John as you know we are settled in here in La Posa South, we will swing by the dome rock rally for a visit but not to camp, too much work to break down/setup camp. I’m lazy so this is where we will stay until mid March!

On my Garmin 890 there are three calculation modes - "faster time", "Shorter Distance", and "Off Road". Plus, there are a bunch of "Avoidances" and even "custom avoidances". The only one I don't see is "Less Fuel". Bill

The Victron Orion installation requires circuit protection from both sides of the system. One at the TV battery and another at the load side of the connection. JD prefers two fuses and that works great for him. I am in the Circuit Breaker camp on the TV side and a fuse like JD suggests on the Ollie end of those 4 AWG's. Of the two, I think the load end is the most important. Reason is that if you have a direct short our Litho's easily generate more than 3X the power that the TV battery can. The fuse sizing criterion includes: Amps, Volts, and Potential Power. Sure we could put a small fuse with a small 10 Ga wire on it. But if short circuited, it would be blown away and certainly not contain the potential energy generated by the 1800 amps or more that three Battleborns can generate. I would not want to even guess what those twin 360 AH Litho installs could put out but would bet they can melt 4/0 cables in two seconds. Hence using quality fuses as JD suggested or a quality circuit breaker and fuse.

Is Fiona standing or laying down?

Yes, the basket and boxes are sold separately. If you don't already have the dual receivers for the OEM bumper hitch, then you'd have to get those too. The basket is very solidly mounted. There is no free-play.

Can you buy just the rack, less storage boxes? I’d like a 12VDC fridge/freezer back there, locked down, very nice given it fits in the receivers on our old hull. TY!

Today we pulled the trigger on the Starlink “mini”and I also ordered a custom fabricated aluminum protective Striker mount case made by a small family owned company in Florida 🇺🇸 called Strikerfab.com. I will post up thoughts on connectivity, speed and use once we receive it and get some camping and travel time in with it. https://www.starlink.com/us/roam?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR3VXVoA8Gb9hdnLaMWqBcXsa1BfRBdqm_l2iKkNW-Va5r6RJiPc2u8PpD0_aem_DeHBx7JMI-i_vIWAYBg03Q https://www.strikerfab.com/