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We have traditionally camped at or near these coordinates off Dome Rock Road west of Quartzsite. N 33.642439 W 114.307646 If you're coming into Quartzsite on Interstate 10 from the East (headed West) do not take any of the exits marked Quartzsite. If you do you will likely become snarled in traffic. Instead, continue West on I-10 until you see the Exit 11 - Dome Rock Road sign. Exit to your right and follow the road turning left to go back under the Interstate. Continue on a few hundred feet and turn left onto Dome rock road. You will begin to see folks camped along either side of the road but within 2-3 miles you will be nearing the coordinates I've provided. From there we will be off the right side of the road and you'll just have to look for a group of Oliver's. We should not be too hard to spot. Most of us will be there around the 2nd to 3rd week in January and will likely stay for a couple of weeks. This time frame will allow you to visit the Big Tent show. Hope to see you there. Contact me directly if you need more information.

A week or so after the leaf springs and water pipe on the Oliver were fixed the engine seized on the van as I was trying to turn the trailer around and it got stuck in a meadow near Mammoth Lakes, Ca. I was using traction mats to slowly pull it forward when the 6.6L engine seized. I had it towed to the highway ($1200) and then used my premium AAA roadside service to get it towed 2 1/2 hours to Reno, Nevada. I got the premium roadside service just for this instance (The mechanics in Mammoth and Bishop were booked up for months). Triple AAA will not pay for towing from a dirt road - hence the $1200 charge from Rauh towing. I got to know him pretty good - a good guy). Despite the fact that I had personally kept track of oil changes, that I had just gotten the transmission fluid changed, and a GM dealer had checked out the oil and other fluid levels 2 weeks before, that the check engine light never came on (showing that the oil was running low), the fact that I did not have a receipt showing that the oil had been changed by a shop, meant the dealer assumed that I had neglected to change the oil, and refused to honor the warranty. The service guy's tone markedly changed when he learned that the engine had seized. I contacted a shop about breaking down the engine to show that that was not the case, but the owner recommended against it because even if the breakdown showed that a rod or bearing had broken and no evidence that low oil was the cause, the dealer or GM would likely still refuse to honor the warranty. GM, it seems, will do anything to avoid paying to replace an engine. Big Oil Leak I went to GEICO to see if they would help with the rental car and they led me to their mechanical breakdown department. I didn't realize it, but I had a mechanical breakdown on my insurance policy. (GEICO does this for newer cars). It took a while with the dealer essentially ignoring their requests but they got an engine specialist over there to inspect the outside of the engine. I almost fell off my chair when he believed that an oil filter failure caused the seizure. One question immediately was whether I broke the engine by trying to pull the trailer through deep sand. The answer to that was surely no. Dragging anything through sand dramatically increases the strain on the vehicles suspension and its engine. In this case, the van's suspension - which is only rated to tow 10,000 lbs - held, while the engine - which is rated to tow at maximum over 18,000 lbs failed. The strain must have done something but I believe that it either revealed a problem with the engine that was already there or I just got unlucky. I've been stuck many times and I know not to bury a stuck vehicle further by revving the engine. As soon as the van got stuck, I turned off the engine. The wheels were never buried much. I still question the diagnosis. The engine had always had a rough idle (it chugged like a little diesel), and from the beginning, I thought a rod or a bearing had broken. I assume, though, that the inspector did not find evidence of oil leaking from the upper half of the engine. I was able to inspect the oil filter later and did not see anything amiss. GEICO told me that sometimes the connection between an oil filter and the engine can fail - causing oil to spew out. They also said it's rare for a large amount of oil to blow out like that. The filter had not contacted the ground or been damaged during the pull. It's still and will always be something of a mystery to me. At that I thought the jig was up - I was going to pay for the whole thing when GEICO referred me to another department. They concluded that the oil filter failure was "an act of God"? or something like that - an unforseeable accident - and said they would pay for the engine replacement. (I really almost fell off my chair at that point), They also ended up paying for the tow and about half the rental car charges over the 2+ months the van was in the shop (which were massive). When it came to the engine they disagreed with GM about the need to change the radiator and the fuel pump. They also paid for $150/hour (instead of the dealer $200/hour). Plus the dealer added on another $1000 or so because the engine was seized so badly that they had to take the bottom off. They also took 15% off the engine because it had been used for 2 years. GM actually got the engine pretty quickly and did the job pretty quickly as well. It was the runup to all that which took so much time. In the end, it was about a $16K job, and I ended up paying about $6K. Lessons learned Plot out turnarounds better. I could have continued to back the trailer up a small hill and gotten out of there fine but I looked at the meadow - and it looked like short run to the road - and I went for it. I didn't realize the sand in the meadow was so deep. Even though it was clear that the pull should not have damaged the engine it did do something. Note that pulling anything through sand or mud is going to dramatically increase the strain on the suspension and engine. If your vehicle is already near its towing limit be careful. Probably better to have someone else pull the trailer out. Keep oil receipts (or document oil changes another way (photo's). I think I will have the oil changed in shops until the warranty runs out. Premium roadside service is a good thing. Don't rely on vehicle warranties - Check out your insurance company. GEICO turned out to be a good company. I think of insurance companies in general as trying to wiggle out of everything. In this case, GEICO was the opposite - they came through when I was sure they wouldn't. I'll stay with them. If you have a winch use it to pull the trailer out instead of using the tow vehicle. I am putting on the XO trailer jack so that I can do that. Note that it was hitch that pulled down the rear of the van and caused the rear differential and hitch to get stuck. If I had attached the XO jack to the trailer (I had it but hadn't attached it). I probably could have easily pulled the trailer out.

Found these cool decorative emblems that have helped with repairs and mods. Any emblem you like could help cover up where needed. Last year I upgraded the OEM inverter. It had a remote switch, requiring OTT to cut a 2 1/2" square hole in the fiberglass below the pantry shelf. Now we have an emblem of the Arizona state flag in that spot. Just recently, I removed our Dometic A/C and thermostat. I decided to relocate the new furnace-only thermostat under the pantry. That way we could set temp while lying in bed, nice! WOW, what a mess under the old thermostat! There was even a broke-off screw in the wall, like the installer tightened it so hard the head broke off! I used a Dremel to file down the steel screw flush. I mounted the new thermostat, drilling one 1/4" hole for the wires, and mounting using 3M VHB 4950. One small hole is all you need! 😎 This time we went with the flag of the great state of Texas! @Mike and Carol should like this! We lived in Texas for 9 years. It's where our son grew up, went to school, played sports and he stayed for college. We also have a Red-White & Blue theme for our Oliver, so the Lone Star state flag is perfect. Sure looks a lot better! These are really decent quality emblems, 3 3/8" diameter an 1/8" thick and reasonable cost. I chose the semi-flexible models. They have the US flag, the Thin Blue Line, Army, Navy, every one of the 50 state flags and many more: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09GH2TC75/?th=1 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09G8SWZ42/?th=1

Cort: Wow, between Leaf Springs, Lug Nuts and a Blown Engine you've had a tough season for sure. I hope the bad karma truck passes you by for awhile. May only Good luck and sunshine visit you! GJ

Yeah, your humidity and ocean salt must be extreme! Perhaps an anti-seize compound would help.

Sorry to mislead. Our flat was a truck tire. JD, I rotated every 5,000 miles and have serviced the brake and bearings . The wheels have seized before. I think it may have to do with my home being within 5 miles of the ocean on the north coast of California. I like your idea to drop the jack level to break the bond between the wheel and the hub.

Tow vehicles at the margin of their limits are okay “most of the time” but instances like this really underscore having a tow vehicle with more capacity than is needed “most of the time”. “Some of the time” we need to get unstuck from mud or sand, we need to do mountain towing in hot weather, we need to do some emergency braking, we have to tow in high winds, etc, etc. I’m glad GEICO stepped up and helped, that’s what we all want with an insurance company! Good luck on the rest of your travels and thanks for sharing your experiences, it helps us all. Mike

What Steve wrote! Thanks @ScubaRx Given the schedule this year, we should have a handful of Olivers during the timeframe of the Big Tent. The Fiberglass Rally is much later this year and I believe most Olivers will be gone by February. Looking forward to meeting you! JD

It's been wild! I'm learning a lot though. Hopefully, better karma in my future! 🙂 (Now I'm dealing with marine batteries that are dying at the 2 year mark. Time to start the lithium replacement :))

Good for Will for testing a new battery. I was getting a little down on him for posing that everyone should get rid of their BB's. I wonder if its an applicable test? Apparently BB should be able to handle this but when I looked this up on AI it said this is a very severe test of the batteries and they will heat up. Unless I have this wrong - under normal circumstances we would never draw nearly this much power from a battery (???)

We like both of those having lived in AZ and TX. Our daughter graduated from NAU in Flagstaff while we were there and we have spent much of our camping time in AZ.

#1238 would love to camp near other Oliver’s and fiberglass RVs. Where is the location for the fiberglass RV gathering? (February 6-9th) - Also any gatherings for the Big Tent time frame. This will be our first year going to Quartzite. Any planned meet-ups around the big tent time period?

Another vid from Will on a new issue with BB’s.🤔

I think I would have lowered the jack on the wheel, lugs on just a couple threads. Then place a wheel chock on the inside rim, creating a downhill angle. Gravity/weight of the trailer should do it and lowering carefully it should do less harm than many heavy sledge hammer hits! Given your wheel seized so HARD, I’d bet all 4 wheels are in dire need of bearing and perhaps brake service! For sure this wheel had not been removed in some time.

Thank you @tallmandan and @CRM and other forum members for the 👍! @rideadeuce was my inspiration. Mike installed 920 Ah Epoch back in April 2024. He purchased two of the Epoch 460 Ah Elite Series that come with Victron Comms, upgraded internal components and special cases. I didn't need the extras and preferred the lower price point of the Epoch Essentials Series. They call them Essentials, but they include the app, built-in heaters, internal protection, temp sensors and alarms. Even their Essentials Series batteries are industry leading! Two Epoch 460 Ah Elite Series batteries just barely fit in the bay (see Mike's post linked below). Two Epoch 460 Ah Essential Series will NOT fit! The two side-by-side would be an inch too wide (the Elite Series batteries are much taller). Too bad, or I would have gone that way to begin with. I didn't see that Mike secured his batteries into the bay. Likely they are so big/heavy, sitting on rubber, and since they fit wall-to-wall they would not budge! I felt the 3 smaller batteries should be strapped into place and I was also able to add a locking mechanism which minimizes theft worries. At 900+ Ah these are surely forever installs! 😎

Once I got to this point, I started thinking a thief could possibly undo the battery cables, loosen the straps and even with cable lock in place, slide out the outer battery, then steal them all. Oh No! So, I had a 12x12x1/4" sheet of aluminum left over from another job and it became the perfect solution. Now besides a taking a crowbar to the battery door, a thief would have to cut the 3/8" hardened steel cable. Now these expensive batteries ain't goin' nowhere! I'll cinch down the straps and cable lock again, after putting on some miles... Ya gotta love the new look of our Epoch app! 900 Ah - Priceless! 😎

I reached out to RV Electrical Guru, Mike Sokol on his Facebook site. He responded that he would dig into this and today he posted on his email newsletter. He has asked people to respond if they had experienced any battery overheating.

Doing some more research: Bad News: Apparently this problem was documented in 2021 in side by side comparison video. They states that the Brand B was 90% there, and only needs $5 in parts. Suggest you view this one. This now could be a class action. Good News: Looking at the video it is evident that the problem COULD BE FIXED. Question I have is did DF change the design of their batteries to fix the problem back then? Or did they ignore the warning? GJ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tt0joJc9HPo&t=294s

One of the very spot on early-on statements of this forum was from Patriot: Their first written response as shreadded in the YouTube response was characterized as "Gaslighting". I think that was a bit harsh. But it did not go over as well as I am sure DF wished. They would have been better served by stating that they have been made aware of the issue, and will commit the resources to determine the root cause. And then appropriate remediation as appropriate. They lost ground that can not easily be made up. But the PR damage is done, and it needs to be repaired. Above in this getting longer and longer thread, I postulated that the root cause of the heating, and the failure mechanism that resulted in the arching, was likely excessively amp draws on a per battery basis. DF needs a new approach here is what I recommend: Test beyond what OTT MountainOliver did. DF should test their 100's with progressively higher loading to the point where the battery B+ terminal base temperature approaches what is safe for the design. My SWAG is that it will tolerate up to 15 minutes at 200 Amps peak and likely 100 amps contineous to 10% SOC before the B+ temp is highenough to cause concern for the plastic deformation of the "plastic" structural support of of the bolt and post. As most of our OTT OE2 owners with the BB's have installed 3 BB's, that level would be fine for our occasional A/C on inverter with other loads such as the microwave also on line. Knowing the facts would basically would go a LONG WAY to ease the concerns on this thread for sure. Not to mention a lot of other owners across their RV customer base that operate as we do. This would also buy time to safely allow us to operate, while DF address others in higher need. But still address ours in due time. Secondly, Present their findings to their customers. If a redesign of the B+ post is needed, tell us. Finally, DF should state that they will stand behind their ten year warranty. And if they cannot do so that they will provide a prorated reimbursement of the cost we paid for them. These actions would put DF ahead of the issue as so wisely stated by Patriot. GJ

it was our turn to change a tire in the wild. good news, we carry all the tools (impact wrench, bottle jack, impact socket set, gloves, torque wrench, on board air compressor and maybe the most important tool were my knee pads). All good, all lug nuts off, jack the wheel up for clearance and X!!!@!!, the aluminum wheels are bonded to the steel hubs, electrolysis in action). I kick, got a strap through the wheels and yak and they don't budge. I need a heavy hand sledge and a block of wood to bang the wheels loose from the inside of the wheel. The sledge is the only tool I don't carry. The good news we were not off the grid in the back country for the first time all week. Many of you may know AmBoy road that runs between Route 66 and the 29 Palms / Joshua Tree. Still remote but it didn't take gps cordanates to find us. We had to call a tow service just for a heavy hand sledge. Took about 2 minutes to knock the wheel loose... back on the road and my wife will be getting a hand sledge for Christmas. You may want to check your tool inventory for a hand sledge if you have aluminum wheels.

After taking a look at their financials, I wouldn't put much hope into that. And just today they had to do a 1 for 10 reverse stock split to get their share price over $1 to maintain their Nasdaq listing. Down 99.7 percent over the past 3 years.