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Ollie in the Wild West! We were one of only a few travel trailers to ever camp at the historic Cerro Gordo Silver Mine and Ghost Town, which is 8,500 feet in the California Sierra Nevada Mountains. I took the Ollie up there while doing volunteer electrical work on a 150-year-old cabin that’s being turned into a recording studio. The road to Cerro Gordo is challenging and requires a high-clearance, sometimes even a 4-wheel drive. I had to use 4-low a few times to make it up the 8-mile access road with a significant elevation gain of 5,000-feet. The dirt road winds through narrow rocky canyons, switchbacks, steep shelves, and washboards. I was pleasantly surprised with the Oliver’s off-roading performance; the stock springs and shocks have over 30k miles and they worked perfectly to absorb the bumps and ruts without much bouncing or swaying! At its peak in the 1870s, Cerro Gordo had a population of around 5,000, and it was the largest producer of silver in the United States. It was like stepping back in time, and the views and sunsets were stunning. While the town is private property, it’s open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for self-guided and sometimes guided tours. It is considered one of the best-preserved ghost towns with interesting buildings and equipment, including the mine, a museum, boarding houses, and even the original brothel. Unfortunately, the famous American Hotel burned down a few years ago, but it has been completely rebuilt and is close to reopening. The town is featured in the YouTube channel “Ghost Town Living,” and they have collaborated with other popular YouTube channels for mine exploration and various projects. Cerro Gordo is located near Lone Pine just off the famous U.S. Route 395, on the road to Death Valley. Cheers, Geoff

Tosot is having a sale, so I thought I'd pick one up and do the swap. Just ordered it last night from tosotdirect.com, so it should get to me in about a week. It's even cheaper on Amazon right now, but the seller doesn't have the best reviews so I went to the source instead. Sale price is $1,059.99 with the soft start and around $960 without. I went with the soft start option. When I get it and do the install, I'll update this post. Looking forward to this next upgrade! Looking forward to the quieter than Dometic ac unit, and I think it will be nice to have the heater too. Ronbrink did a great write up on his install, so I'm going to comb over his post since I thought his install looked so clean.

Thanks for posting. One thing Lew mentions in the video which we have not yet touched on in this thread is that mass-produced springs often have gaps between leafs which can lead to failure. Attached is a pic I took of a nearly-new Dexter PR4 (2,400 lb) spring which I installed (in a pair) on my rear axle to limp home a year ago after experiencing a broken stock spring. This PR4 only has 125 miles on it so I consider it to be like new. Notice the daylight showing between the leafs. Not good testament to Dexter build quality and a potential for failure down the road. Something to check during annual inspection.

Just had Alcan redo our Hull 505 with new springs. Here's a video showing how they make the springs...starting at 1:14 mark for about 2 minutes.

Dirt - Actually, if you look around, you have more of these "drains" than you have found - so far. These are "scupper" holes similar to those found in kayaks/boats. They serve the purpose of removing any water/moisture that manages to collect between the inside and outside shells of your Oliver. Generally this water/moisture is in the form of condensation - not actual dripping water. Since you have found dripping water this (almost certainly) is a sign that you have a leak in your plumbing system - somewhere. Bill

Looks like we picked the wrong CG to stay at in Elkhart

Amish restaurant and buffet, Das Dutchmen Essenhaus to chow down: https://maps.app.goo.gl/MYq2854UTu2LjPLm8 , The Bag Factory for shopping: https://maps.app.goo.gl/aaMDybSNji4EHPav6 , Venturi for authentic Neopolitan pizza: https://maps.app.goo.gl/t5WiaMadvzyFcQnn7 , Yoder's Meat and Cheese: https://maps.app.goo.gl/du6vPspozdgsdSat8

The museum is awesome. You can boondock there for free, the area is nice. If you want an electric hook-up they charge $40 which includes water but when we were there the hydrants were labeled “non potable”. There is also a dump site there. The Truma service center is close by if you need anything from them.

Talked to Kevin Searer at SDG Elkhart. Stopped by without an appointment. Walked in and said I would like some info on installing a Tosot in an Oliver. He showed me the one on the demonstration stand in the workshop and turned it on. He said that you can stay in the parking lot the night before your conversion. They have 30a hookup. They pull your trailer in at 8am and 3 hours later they are done. Same hole as Dometic. Control panel is on the front right corner of the air box. They replace the Dometic thermostat with a simple thermostat for the existing furnace. Only thing I didn’t like was the condensate running off the roof. I didn’t ask pricing because I wasn’t ready to buy.

I used to carry the smaller version, but got the larger model that holds more condensate to keep from having to go to the COW Barn so often to empty when in storage; high RH is a thing in Clear Lake (Houston) being near the GOA coast! Several owners have these and are pleased with performance. Although still carried with when traveling, I no longer rely on it to control cabin humidity; my Cielo Breez Max a/c controller efficiently maintains a comfortable 40-50% average level in the Oliver at all times, whether in the Oliver for extended periods or away.

If you still have the OEM Dometic Penguin II air conditioner, you can go to SDG Elkhart and have your A/C nicely upgraded with a very, very quiet Tosot brand unit! 🤣 I have a high-end Viair system with all accessories! Just installed an exhaust brake on our TV which included an onboard air compressor, so our Viair is no longer needed. PM if interested!

Not surprised, really. As to feedback from one of us that have the 4 leaf Alcan springs - did a two thousand mile trek to Oshkosh and back in late July plus a recent trip to South Carolina and back last week (about 300 miles round trip). No issues and really no difference noted in handling from the previous Dexter OEM springs. Tire pressure reduced from 50 psi to 45 psi. Single data point doesn't prove or disprove anything.

We had the five leaf Alcan springs installed in Grand Junction last May. They're a bit stiff for the first 1000 miles or so judging by what fell onto the floor of the trailer, but after that, they work great. Lew at Alcan can maybe assure you of what to expect with them. We kept the tire pressure the same at about 50 psi before and after. He said the four leaf springs are designed to fail at the shear point about three inches from the eye. We now have about 2500 miles on these springs and it tows like it's on rails and is very stable. I have no regrets. John

All of my lead wires were black/white, ceiling and under cabinet. In your situation, probably black to the red and white to the yellow; in my trailer yellow designates ground/neutral. These are quality lights and thus, expected to hold up well; no issues to date and so much easier to operate. The former lights were indeed frustrating, which lead me to do the total light replacement, no regrets!

We saw a red & orange stripe Oliver EII with Red Pickup today on I70 Westbound 2 miles from Utah border at about 11am Tuesday 10/4

Have you field tested your setup yet? Bought mine a couple months ago and making first use at camp this week. Went with the Airstream Suction Cup Mount Kit plus an extra 4’ pole section for at 12’ lift. These mounts are angled and work great since the Oliver has similar side concours as AS. Real impressed with the SLM, was able to stream a movie while heavy weather moved through the area last night. Been using a FPB with the suction cup mount for five years for a windsock and weBoost with no issues; these suction cup mounts rock!

Amazon purchases:

There is a touch sensitive control button in the center; touch to change colors, long touch to increase/decrease lighting. Can also be turned on/off by Master light switch to last setting(s). Simple install; a little larger diameter, but mounting holes were same. First install was above dinette, this second above the cooktop. I plan to install additional lights above each bed, over sink and maybe in wet bath under cabinet.

We didn’t get the Oliver shower curtain track with our Elite II. The curtain track is an odd design, seems a bit expensive, and some owners have had issues with the track detaching from the inner hull ceiling because of a poor riveting job. But we wanted a shower curtain though, so I attached the small Command hooks all around on the bathroom ceiling directly above the perimeter of the shower pan in the floor, and then hung a standard shower curtain on those hooks to take our showers, and easy to quickly remove the curtain to let it dry outside the trailer when done. It was a cheap and effective solution to keeping the toilet area dry. And easy to remove it all completely if ever needed. Command strips/hooks are a great accessory for attaching lot of things on the Ollie interior.

14" x 21" - to get four, you have to stand them on end. And yes, it's a PITA to wire them up that way. The power assist on the Multi is seamless. I use it all the time at home since all I have is a 20A connection. I limit the Multi to 15A and let the batteries make up the rest if I run the A/C.

Wow! You sure have been busy. Once again a very nice installation. You should’ve let us know you were going down this rabbit hole, I would have bought some Victron and Zamp stock. Mike

Donna and Scott -- It is with regret that Jodi and I inform you that we will not be able to attend the rally. So site No. 79 will become available after I cancel the reservation today.