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Who was at Patoka Lake in Indiana during a recent heat wave? You made it in the background of “We’re the Russos” latest YouTube video. https://youtu.be/Fnykd-E1qw4?feature=shared

I've never heard of a carbon fiber frame for RV's but given that thousands of road and mountain bikes are made from this material and given how they are ridden most likely a frame made of the same material would hold up well too. It's expensive to make, so one has to take that into consideration as well, meaning the price of admission for an RV made partly or whole with CC could become very pricey. Not that the Olivers are chump change, far from it.

Correct! Who knows why Dexter makes a marketing slogan out of “Nev-R Adjust!” Drum brakes have had self-adjusters almost since the automobile industry invented drum brakes! 🤣

Yes John, a good reminder! You can tell a lot lifting the tires off the ground, have a helper press the TV brake pedal gently then abruptly. Tighten the self-adjusters to the point where you just hear and feel the shoes rub, because we know they don’t always self-adjust as they should and the rears will be usually be looser than the fronts. Get them as so and you can be relatively confident all inside the drum is working as designed. I worked this service recently and found out brake controller was not working right. Replaced the controller and brake response was night and day. To do a full interior inspection with the Nev-R Lube bearings you’ll need a new set of 4 spindle nuts but on the positive side you won’t have to remove and repack the outer bearings (or both) as we have for decades with the old-style wheel bearings.

Thanks for the explanation! If I understand correctly it is very possibe (likely) I have "nev-r-lube" axles AND "nev-r-adjust" brakes. Yes?

Some would also say that the brakes will need inspection occasionally as well. GJ

Got the Secondary Solar Power System finished. Works well.

Our story is different, but equally compelling. Hadn't camped in 30 years and had never owned an RV. Purchased Hull 1394 in August of 2023 sight unseen but after a lot of research. We knew what we wanted. Just completed trip #13 today arriving home from the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest. Little FS primitive campground nestled away through 10 miles of single lane gravel road. Temperatures got down in the 40's most nights - we love the northern cool. No regrets. Perfect trailer for us.

Great pics Geoff & Tanya, and great idea for a new thread! Spring 2023 we just sold our Bigfoot Class-C. We decided that given our boondocking style in the western mountains, that a smaller travel trailer would be the better way to go. Our first sighting was what became our Oliver, hull # 113! It was listed on Craigslist right here in Prescott by the 3rd owner. My first thought when seeing the ad was, "No-way we'd pay that much for a small travel trailer!" But first thing out of my mouth was, "Chris, we need to go see this!" 🤣 I put 20% down the day after we went to see it. And just a few days later we paid the balance at our bank, then Paul the prior owner delivered it to our home! Timing was perfect, as we became new owners on Chris' very Happy Birthday! 😂 Pictures of our first day and first campsite just outside Kendrick Mountain Wilderness.

The batteries are back to fully charged. They went to down to around 50%, when this happened, but back to 100% now.

If your batteries are too low of voltage < 10.5v the 2000 watt inverter shuts down. the inverter should alarm on low voltage or give an E01 code. when you are in solar if the batteries drop too low the inverter will not turn on again until the batteries are charged When we boondock we leave the inverter off unless we need 110 as it draws down the batteries just being turned on. if you fully charge your batteries the inverter should begin working.

Your outlets will only work with shore power, a generator, or with an inverter turned on if you have one. More information is required. What batteries do you have

15Amp is blue, and it's for the water pump. Pix of ours so you can read it in a 2019EII Hull 505 Notice that I crossed off the #5 AC breaker for the 12V Charger. When I upgraded to Lithium batteries I replaced our embedded 12V charger with a new combination 2000W Inverter/Charger . I disconnected the wiring from the 15A breaker for the embedded 12v charger to deactivate that circuit.

The Oliver’s fiberglass body is the majority of the 4900 lb dry weight. I’d conservatively guess the aluminum frame is around 2000 lbs, not including the running gear and hardware. So given their claim of 30% weight savings, it would save about 600 lbs. However, I’d question whether that 30% weight savings is compared to a conventional steel frame. If so, then you're looking at closer to 20% weight savings compared to aluminum, or 400 lbs . . . which is not significant IMO. If the frame costs more to make, and it’s a selling point, then just make sure that corners are not being cut elsewhere. Food for thought! Cheers, Geoff

Hey John, It might be worth checking out my post Bathroom Heat - a more direct approach! It's an easy and significant improvement to bathroom heating. It won't help with your dust issue, but it includes replacement of some of that problematic flexible duct. It would be near impossible to replace that long duct going to the bathroom, but I think with a filter installed the dust problem should go away. Since I've done that mod, I've added more semi rigid duct from the furnace to the kitchen. It's tucked up out of the way into the space above the return air register as seen in the photo, and it eliminated some restrictions and puncture hazards. I also cut a vent hole in the wall on the left side of the toilet through to under the dinette seat as others have recommended. It helped a lot! Afterall, bathroom heat is a nice luxury, and it helps with the wet bath humidity too! Cheers, Geoff

The number is way north of double that. GJ

Here is a pretty straight forward SS install video…

Ralph, I tried replacing the sleeve on that hitch back in 2017 and couldn’t get it out. I contacted Andersen and they sent me a new assembly in exchange for the old one. The linked thread below is from a 2016 thread on the Andersen where I described trying to get the sleeve out. In those days Andersen was on this forum and answered questions. Mike My Andersen post in 2017

My new axles should ship next week. I want to remove a hub to see what's what inside, bearing make and model#, etc. Issue is the spindle nut is one-use only, must be replaced if removed. Alcan wrote they can get spindle nuts from Dexter at $42 each! 🤣 We're hoping to figure out the spec for the axle nut to source at a reasonable cost from some industrial supplier vs. this flagrant pricing from Dexter. If you read the Dexter spec sheet for Nev-R Lube linked above, it states the bearings are Made-in-USA. The 42mm bearing on RockAuto shows Timken, Made-in-USA. Good eye to see this NTN brand made in Japan. I too would be good with either, Japan or USA, just no-way on Chinese knock-offs! Hoping the USA made Timken $36 at RockAuto is correct and then all we need is correct spindle nuts. The other parts should be re-usable for at least the replacement of a second bearing. We'll know more soon...

If you zoom in on the bearing included in this kit you'll see that they are NTN brand made in Japan. If that's what comes in the axles from the factory I'd probably leave them in and run with them instead of swapping them out ASAP with Timken's like I was originally thinking. I'd still carry a new set(s) and the tools to change them though...

When I read @Gliddenwoods post and read the term Nev-R Adjust I mistook it for the previous generation bearing type called EZ-Lube. John Dorrer knows the spec for 2022-25 Olivers and even though you were told you do not have Nev-R Lube bearings, perhaps you actually do (ask again). Please strike my comment made last night re upgrading to Timken. https://www.dextergroup.com/nev-r-adjust-brakes https://www.dextergroup.com/user_area/content_media/raw/nev-r-lube-lit-215-00.pdf A few of us are considering carrying replacement Nev-R Lube bearings to have as spares in our toolbox. The 5-year 100,000 mile warranty is a good claim but will not help if a bearing fails on the road in some remote location. Alcan quoted me the same price as eTrailer has it listed. It would be good to have one or more of these with you. Read page 29 of this thread for more information re these bearing kits. https://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Bearings-Races-Seals-Caps/Dexter/31-73-3.html And as John wrote above, grease your leaf spring welt bolts but Nev-R Lube bearings do not require service as suggested in the name!

Have you seen this video?

👏👏👏 Hope you have many years of great camping, Hull #1045, Jolli Olli.

@dewdev Thank you for the detailed "How To." It's finally cooled off here (for a couple days) so I'll be working on the trailer this weekend. Thanks again, Tony

There's definitely a lot of cool places to see enroute from NM to the White Mtns of AZ! We had a blast traveling with @Geronimo John and meeting @jd1923 and his lovely wife and wonderful chef, Chris, and their puppy, Charlie! Above -- a couple Olivers, and a couple knucklehead huskies at the Very Large Array west of Socorro, NM at 6,800' Above: Close-up of one of the 27 VLA radio telescopes (90-foot diameter) that look deep into the Milkyway in the radio frequency spectrum. Definitely worth the time spent to visit this place. Above: Looking for @jd1923.... Above: AH! They can run, but they can't hide from us! Typical afternoon monsoon weather in the White Mtns... Above: Beautiful campground in the Whites... Lots of elk and turkey: A couple knuckleheads trying to figure out what to do with those big 4-legged friends... Above shows a nice flock of Rio Grande Turkeys at about 8,750' enroute to our campsite... Above -- Hannigan Meadow Lodge on AZ Hwy 191 at 9k' -- absolutely fantastic! All in all -- it was a wonderful 5-day, 635-ish mile run from Placitas, NM... Thanks, @jd1923 and @Geronimo John! Plan this one for 2026! Best, A & D (...and the boys - WOOF!) (PS: A couple Olivers preparing for dinner and adult bevs -- note @Geronimo John's ice maker on the table!)

I just got a text message from Truma Aventa today. They have partnered with SoftStartUSA to offer soft start technology for starting their AC units. This will make it easier to start the Truma Aventa AC units and will take less starting amps while connected to shore power and for those that have lithiun batteries and solar power during off-grid camping. As well, thouse using inverters and generators will benefit from the lower starting amps.