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We recently booked two nights at Manzano Mountain NM SP. Cost was $15/night. I think it comes with electric but not sure. We don't care about hook-ups. I just want a site that allows for the trailer, not a tent site of course. At checkout, there was an extra $5/night charge which I believe was for out-of-state residents. Then of course the $3.50 online booking fee, for a total of $23.50/night. We're leaving next weekend. I also booked one night at OK RV Park in Holbrook AZ, for a halfway point, so we can take our time and break the 7 hour drive in half. I'm on the phone with the girl at the park. She tells me with a "senior discount" it will come to $55! I asked, really, are all your sites at this rate. She said they have electric only sites for less, but was not sure one was available. Then I asked about overflow or dry-camping. Thank goodness, she said, "Yes, that will be $25/night." I always ask this question. No BLM in this area since you have the Petrified Forest NF nearby (with no camping there) and the Navajo Nation 100 miles in every direction. Some special BLM sites do charge usually a small/fair amount. If you know where, the states of New Mexico and Arizona have endless free BLM and NF campsites. Though when traveling through it's hard to know where the good sites are and there's always that fear of having to back up a mile more if you drive down the wrong road! 🤣

It’s been a wonderful Christian holiday weekend! 😂 Down here we had the usual gloom of Good Friday, woke up to clouds and rain, by evening it dropped 25 points, down to 32F and it snowed an inch or so, with more at the higher altitudes. It like never snows here in late April. On the beautiful Saturday, we played pickleball in the afternoon, currently 68F with a light breeze on this Easter Sunday! Picture from our deck. The closest mound is a portion of Point of Rocks in Prescott. Behind that, the hills of Perkinsville and in the far distance the San Francisco Peaks just NW of Flagstaff, “100-mile view!” Please share your Easter weekend and pics if you like…

IMO, a bad idea. The Bulldog hitch has long proven to be a reliable hitch on the Oliver. If it ain't broke why fix it? The Oliver tongue is designed for the Bulldog

Like jd, my trailer did not come with any kind of seal. You might want to clean it up and go without. It hasn’t been a problem over the years. Mike

I'll try to get that posted next week. Sorry, been busy with higher priorities. And yes, I think a TIG weld or even some high temperature metallic epoxy would do the job. https://www.amazon.com/J-B-Weld-37901-Temperature-Resistant/dp/B01IBOBY74/ref=asc_df_B01IBOBY74?mcid=8379611e6f663b5f9dd162baf3db4633&hvocijid=6621279464323635468-B01IBOBY74-&hvexpln=73&tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=721245378154&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=6621279464323635468&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9010892&hvtargid=pla-2281435178858&th=1

Just an observation. I went to the Cow Barn last Friday to check on the Oliver and run the Atmos on the LFPs in order to drop the SOC below 75%. I do this routinely when in storage for lengthy periods to cycle the batteries and exercise the charging system, which has dual chargers kicking in at that specified level of charge. As the Atmos was running to cool the interior, I referenced the User’s Manual and learned how to operate the Sleep Mode. The unit was whisper quiet and I could only tell when the compressor was running by watching the VictronConnect app as it kicked in. During the interim however, I was also watching the humidity levels as the Atmos cycled in this mode. I observed a 5% fluctuation in the humidity between compressor cycles, which remained steady for the duration of this Sleep Mode test. As it may relate, the interior temperature inside the Oliver was 87° upon arrival (stored inside a totally enclosed storage facility), outside temp was 85°. Because the dehumidifier had shut off due to a full reservoir, a reading of 58% was observed, outside relative humidity was high (>70). During initial operation in Cool Mode, the interior temp dropped to 76° and humidity to 50% in 20 minutes. For the remainder of operational time in Sleep Mode the compressor cycled with a 3° fluctuation in temp and humidity range of 49-54%.

A quick look at the B&W shows a couple of potential "problems" with mounting it to the Oliver. The biggest of these would be that "strap" across the top of the frame. This area is completely covered on the Ollie by fiberglass. Second - one of the advantages of the Andersen is that it actually dampens the up and down movements of the union between the tow vehicle and the trailer due to those little red bushings at the end of the chains. While the B&W uses "composite" "bars" versus the old steel type, I'd imagine that they are still not as efficient at dampening as the Andersen's are. Bill

As far as I know, only the Anderson can be used on an Oliver. Not sure if this is because of dimensions or the aluminum frame. If you have a 2500 or 3500 truck you might not need weight distribution at all.

A nice campground is off 26 in Ririe ID. It's called Juniper Campground and is on the reservoir with some campsites along the rim with a view of the reservoir. Other sites have full hookups and beautiful lawns in the park. https://www.junipercampground.com Bluff view at Juniper CG. Typical FHU Site in middle of Juniper CG. Another stop on your loop is an Idaho State park called Three Island Crossing SP. https://parksandrecreation.idaho.gov/parks/three-island-crossing/ It's next door to a winery for wine tasting and a golf course. It also has a very nice interpretive center. We've camped here several times as my wife Great Grandfather was a wagon train scout from Missouri that took folks across here 5 different times. There are a variety of campsites FHU to no Dry Camping in this park and well worth a two day stop. Interpretive Center in distance: Typical Campsite at Thee Island Crossing SP There are so many great places in that loop that you'll have no trouble finding great fishing near or at most of the state and NF campgrounds..>Have a great trip. CS

To any and all. Feel free to announce a stay if you want a visit to your campsite. We will be at Mount Magazine State Park Campsite 14 arriving tomorrow April 21, departing Friday April 25 2025. This is our first outing this year. Stop by and say hi.

Happy Easter ya'll...from Big Bend Recreation area outside Canton, OK. 94 degrees was the high a couple days ago, 44 was the high yesterday. A ton of rain in the past 24 hours but now the sun is out :) Nice backyard, JD!!!

Yesterday we camped at Dark Sky outside of Kanab. Quite the upscale treat. For example the showers are full master baths with outdoor AND indoor showers, and heated tiled floors 😆 We also hiked The Wave with a guide from Dreamland Adventures. Overwhelmingly beautiful in every possible way. Then we went out for dinner to celebrate. And my wife noticed that the bolt that holds the Anderson chains to the hitch was missing 😳. Apparently the idiot who uncoupled the trailer (me) left it on the bumper. After an hour of panic, our guide from the hike gave us a replacement. How lucky are we? And finally, as we drove away from the campground this morning, we found the bolt on the street about a mile away 🤯 PS We saw our FOURTH Ollie in the wild today driving East between Zion and Kanab PPS Happy Easter to all 🐇

Yeah @Patriot, I guess if you don’t own an Oliver, you can’t measure it! Double 🤣!

Yes, sharp eyes JD, and why I have chosen not reply. 😎

Do it the old-fashioned way (lay on the ground face up and measure). 🤣 Seriously, I would never take another’s opinion on measurements. What I’m sure of is you would have to cut into the fiberglass fascia as Bill already mentioned. You would also be shortening the tongue length, which may have adverse affects when turning and backing up! I love that as hard as I can turn my truck, the Oliver follows w/o incident, turn radius the same towing or not. Since you have no forum signature, we have no idea regarding your tow vehicle, so I’m wondering if the Anderson WDH is issue or not? Experienced trailer hitch installers would ask, why replace the reliable cast-iron Bulldog with a lesser coupler made with stamped steel? Not a good idea. I’m making a few suspension tweaks so we can loose the annoying Anderson finally. I have this coupler in my eTrailer shopping cart so to have the larger hitch ball and our coupler does not open and close easily after 10 years of use. However, what OTT installed to your hull is perfectly fine unless it has been damaged https://www.etrailer.com/s.aspx?qry=Bulldog+12,500&furl=-pg-Straight_Tongue_Trailer_Coupler

I changed the interior courtesy lights to red for the same reason plus it helps preserve night vision for night sky observing. For the exterior lights I covered them with a dark amber film. One day I want to add the dimmer to the interior white lights too.

That must be something OTT added on newer hulls that our older hulls do not have. You got to ask, why in less than 3 years has yours gone bad, when our hull now 10 years old, finally needs some work? My answer is having the seal up on the doghouse made for the better installation. It looks awful in your picture and being on the lower section it just collects dirt. Ours and yours have the same recess, but ours looks clean never having rubber glued to it. i just ordered what @CRM suggested, thanks again. I suggest you remove that rubber, use a solvent to remove all the crude and old sealant. The rubber edging suggested will be a far better insulator! Problem solved. 😂

I had a similar hitch on my cargo trailer. In 2020, when moving to NE Oregon, I hit an I-84 expansion joint so hard it popped the hitch of the 2-5/16” ball. The chains held, and in heavy traffic I made it to the very narrow shoulder. Somehow I got it reconnected. The hitch was properly connected. The trailer now has a Bulldog hitch.

Frank, Believe your first post in this thread is what I copied to improve our Ollie #75. Thanks, Bill

here’s a more detailed post of the full modification I did, with links to all the hardware used.

Also - What year and model of Oliver do you have or are you referring to? Different years of Olivers have different lights - both inside and out. Bill p.s. note that you can add this type of information to your signature as both Steph and Dud B and I have done at the bottom of our posts. p.p.s. another way to tackle this issue would be to install a "dimmer switch". An array of these can be found HERE.

Agree. I’ve not seen anything but the Andersen used. What tow vehicle will you use?

Occasionally need access under the sink. Thanks for the link.

Per @topgun2 suggestion, I applied this a few years ago (no glue required) to the dog house aka LP tank cover edge and also the edge of the twin beds. Ours has held up great. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00QAJJJ3Y?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1

Yes, it's very tight fit and no glue is needed. To install it I just used a rubber mallet to drive it down over the edge of the cover. The steel clips embedded into the vinyl hold it on securely and IMHO, it's a much better solution that the hard plastic edging that came on our Ollie.

I put this on 6 or 7 years ago and it still looks like new. Check the thickness of your cover to be sure the trim will fit. There are different grip ranges available. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00QAJJJ3Y?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share&th=1

One of the great features of the Oliver trailer design is the fast and easy (no tools needed) access to ALMOST all of the plumbing, heating, and electrical systems through the hatches under the dinette seats and the beds, or by removing the kitchen cabinet drawers. One area that’s NOT readily accessible is the area under the bathroom vanity, even though there is plumbing, electrical, and furnace ductwork all tucked inside the vanity. The storage cubby in the front of the vanity is screwed AND CAULKED in place by Oliver at the factory, so access is a bit more complicated than the other areas. I recently needed to get into that vanity area for some inspection and maintenance, and after completing that I wanted to make future access easier (no tools needed and no caulking). I know some owners have replaced the storage cubby with a hinged marine access panel, but I didn’t want to lose the cubby storage. So here’s a detailed description of a simple modification I did, along with links to the parts used. Access is now fast and easy. No-Slip Clip-On Barrel Nut, for 0.025" to 0.15" Panel Thickness, 8-32 Thread Size https://www.mcmaster.com/94850A111 #8-32 x 1" Thumb Screw Stainless... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09FZVLZKD?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share uxcell Edge Trim U Seal Extrusion, Silicone White U Channel Edge Protector Sheet Fits 0.5-2.5mm Edge 3Meters/9.84Ft Length https://a.co/d/1uWUZB3 Molex -3 Match Set - (3-Pin) w/14-20 AWG, Wire Connector - 2.13mm D, Latch Lock, MLX https://a.co/d/gapvioi

After routing wires and an Ethernet cable under the vanity into the closet for the Starlink system, it was time to finish up the “Cubby Mod”. Used some available 3/16” plywood from another project to fashion a shelf and bulkhead to help organize storage. Rattle-canned a white enamel coating and - poof! One and done: Added 2 extra layers of insulation while in there. Cheers!

I thought that THIS was a secret. Just wait around for THAT knock on the door at zero dark thirty! It will normally be General ScubaRX doing the inspection - don't even think about giving him the ol' "side eye". And, yes, it is white glove! 😜

After a bit of searching I did find this white silicone edge U seal trim. I’m going to order this and give it a try to replace the caulking the next time I remove the towel holder. This should fit on the edge all around the perimeter of the molded plastic towel holder. uxcell Edge Trim U Seal Extrusion, Silicone White U Channel Edge Protector Sheet Fits 0.5-2.5mm Edge 3Meters/9.84Ft Length https://a.co/d/4ebKfcQ