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Showing content with the highest reputation on 03/28/2026 in all areas

  1. Snackchaser was spot on. I got up this morning and found the emergency breakaway switch had gotten pulled out during setup. I put it back in and voila, back to 0 draw. Thanks you all so much for the responses. I was really stressing out about this issue.
    5 points
  2. Greetings to you all! We are the happy new owners of Hull #1665, an Oliver Elite II. We picked up our new camper at the dealer in Colorado a few weeks ago. Our first night in the camper was at a Cracker Barrel on the drive home to New Mexico. Last weekend we had our first official 3 day -2 night camping trip and had a wonderful time. Our previous camper was a nuCamp Tab 400. We really loved that camper and it will be missed, but we both realized it was time to get a camper with more head room on the bed! (Especially Mary who always slept scrunched against the wall with two pups at her feet. :0) ) We live in Albuquerque and have been long time hikers, climbers, skiers, campers, hunters and general outdoor enthusiasts. Having a larger camper definitely makes traveling so much more comfortable. There is much about the camper that we love. We like the fact that the Ollie has a great suspension that will allow us to go on two track roads. The battery capacity and solar means that we can be off grid in NM for quite some time. After our first trip, we both realized just how comfortable and usable this camper really is. This summer we are planning a long trip back east for an archery competition and will be making a stop in Hohlenwald for some minor issues with the camper. We also are planning a long trip to Portland this fall to visit a new baby granddaughter. We look forward to meeting other Ollie owners on the road as we travel and at future Ollie rallies! Zane and Mary Rakes '26 Oliver Elite II One man, one woman, two small dogs and a sense of humor. 😊
    4 points
  3. Check your brakes. Extended run time like that can cause damage to the magnets or wiring. Not always, but sometimes.
    4 points
  4. Check to make sure that your brake "breakaway switch" wasn't accidentally pulled out. If so, the electric brakes have been on the whole time. Four brakes would draw 3-4 amps each. If you were reading 2-3 amps draw on your Lithionics battery App, then that's only one of the 3 batteries. So it's actually 9-12 amps. Add in the solar input and it's about right for what the brakes would draw. Good luck, Geoff
    4 points
  5. Our camping trip last week was canceled... 😒 We were headed to St. George for the PPA Red Rock Open (pickleball tournament) at the Black Desert Resort (amazing red rock views) in Ivins UT. We had earmarked boondocking spots along the way and a nice BLM area just 20 min north of the tournament. Then we were going to spend another week in SW Utah. The weather for the second time this WINTER had become unseasonably HOT, low 90s a couple days in Prescott and high 90s everyday in SW Utah. Our drive would have seen 100F temps at lower elevations! But the A/C charge on our tow vehicle had leaked/emptied with non-use since last season. I really wanted to try running our new Chill Cube A/C on battery, which should have been fine when camping, but towing in this heat without A/C would !be unbearable! I could have finished up the A/C work on the TV and left a day later, but then there is the price of diesel fuel, OMG! Why the market is so volatile and why a blockade at the Straights of Hormuz nearly doubles the cost of diesel in the SW US? Who knows, but trip canceled! Our son Adam had some time off and he wanted to camp and learn about the Oliver. She will be his one day! We have a LOT of camping nearby, needing very little fuel. And staying at high elevation, means A/C in the TV is less important. He spent a week on Thumb Butte road where there are designated dispersed numbered campsites. There is about a 10 mile radius around Prescott where you can only camp at designated dispersed sites. Further out you can camp anywhere in the FS and BLM lands. We got lucky towing up on a Friday just after noon to find site #8 open. It's at the top with the best view of Prescott below. 😎 BTW, up here are countless hiking trails and a grand mountain bike trail that runs 8 miles, dropping 1200 FT, running all the way down to the city below. Guys drive up with multiple trucks and bikes to run this trail. Thumb Butte is the iconic Prescott Mountain, the core of an extinct volcano! It's like a baby version of Wyoming's Devils Tower within Prescott City limits! City streets were laid out so that all streets pointing west have a view of Thumb Butte! This campsite is not for everybody! You must climb 1000 FT in 6 miles. The last mile is dirt, heavily rutted and very steep. I towed our Oliver up, parked it and returned with the TV so I could work on the A/C! Trans temp should be about 190F on this warm day, but given the climb <5 MPH, trans temp hit 230F by the time I parked! The views are worth it! Come visit Prescott on your next SW trip and I can point you to 100 amazing campsites with an hour of town! 😎
    3 points
  6. Two total knees, 2019 and 2020. I, too, have lumbar scoliosis. Full recovery for each knee took 6 months+, but the recovery was truly full. Once you can tolerate it, cycling is a big help to full recovery from knee replacement. I eventually recovered full range of motion. I need knee pads when kneeling on hard surfaces, but once I was fully recovered, I could kneel without pain. My 2 total knee replacements impose no limitations on use, or maintenance of, our 2022 Elite II. Keep at it!
    3 points
  7. We did a full month long trip in Sept thru early October to the area shown 2 years ago and it was barely long enough. Each of the items with a TENT on the map are highlighted in our trip..."the big loop" and and be seen in pictures with comments here: Scroll down to the pix section on Nova Scotia Main Island. https://4-ever-hitched.com/the-big-loop-2024 Graves Island Provincial Park - Site 31 Shown - is Just South of Halifax on the main island. Puts you perfectly in a spot for the UNESCO site of Lunenburg, Halifax and Peggys Cove as day trips. I would stay there at least 4-5 days if I were doing over. To get into the park you cross a causeway into the park which is on an island. Going south don't miss staying at "The Islands PP" Further SE = Site 54 - Islands Provincial Park - Puts you on the edge of the water....this is on the SE Corner of the main Island. North on the main Island before you cross onto Breton Island you may want to also see the Fortress of Louisburg...which is on the north east side of the island. A good stop point is Mira River Provincial Park as you can easily drive down to Fortress Louisburg from Mira River...and then north after that stop. SIte 28 - Electric & Water at Mira River PP Above....but the site 34 below would fit and is right on the bay, but no Electric or Water... I've labeled all the campsite photos for each park in our blog, but If you have any specific questions we could get on a call. Craig & Rose
    3 points
  8. Anyone who used to be called Big Bruiser will get back to a good activity level in short order! Keep up the walking and the trailer work! And, no more shortcuts into the basement…. Mike
    2 points
  9. Wow. This forum is worth its weight in fiberglass.
    2 points
  10. Wow! Thanks for all of the great feedback and information. Really appreciate it. Some great stories in here too with your injuries occurred and how you have over come them. Congratulations to all who have gotten back to where you wanted to be. I will add this regarding my situation. My left knee issue is most likely due scoliosis which renders one leg being ever so slightly shorter than the other, it runs in the family. Playing football in high school at 110 lbs soaking wet didn't help. I was known as Big Bruiser on those days. Name given to me by our coach Bill Oliver who went on to be head defensive coach at the University of Alabama back in the day. Suffice it to say my knees and other body parts took a beating as well. Lesson learned… sort of. Had to give up running several years ago but always kept hiking, walking, and cycling. This past year, as all of the previous years before, my wife and I walked, hiked and biked well over a 1,000 miles with an accumulated elevation gain of more than twice Mount Everest until it all came crashing down in late Nov or early Dec '25. Knee injections were no longer an option to get through it. The next couple of months I was in a bit of denial, this can't be happening to me. Finally made the decision to get it over with. On off days from PT I exercise and stretch and will continue this as long as needed. I was at 119º flex on Wednesday but did not get measured today, so getting there slowly. PT's have had me on stationary bikes most sessions for about five minutes and while it's uncomfortable I can kneel on a padded cushion for short periods. And for those who have gone through this you'll love the next part of the story. I fell down our stairs into the basement a week ago due to my stupidity of walking down in sock feet on carpeted stairs. Good knee slipped and bad knee made a forced nearly 140º flex while sliding down. The pain was beyond anything I can ever recall but fortunately got over it within a few days and back to walking again almost every day since pacing at around 3.25 MPH ±. Thanks again for the encouragement.
    1 point
  11. @routlaw Don't give up so soon. My wife has had both hips replaced and both knees replaced. She had the last knee done in 2024 on the day before Thanksgiving. (The first one 2 years before that one.) It takes a number of months to recover and it takes about a full year before you do not know it was done. She was told to expect to get 130 to 135 degrees of flex, not what you said. You do need to keep up the PT to get the flex back, so do not stop PT and after the PT sessions are done you will probably need to do the exercises yourself at home if your muscles are still complaining. After a year, she was able to knee down, but uses a foam pad to knee on. So do not give up on the OTT and camping. If you have any other questions, feel free to PM me and I can get you in touch with my wife.
    1 point
  12. I had total hip replacement (not knee surgery) a few years ago. After two months of dedication to my physical therapy routine, I received my surgeon's approval to take off on my summer trip. Some friends travelled tandem with their own TT to be sure I arrived safely at my destination -- 2,200 miles away. I believe the work on my Oliver helped to keep me limber and I continued with my own home therapy (mostly walking and flexibility exercises). I would encourage you to stay the course. I have no regrets! EDIT: about the sitting on the drive: I found that I needed more frequent stretch breaks. I allowed myself 11 days to drive that 2200 miles, and I moved around enough to avoid pain from sitting.
    1 point
  13. I was always active, marathons, triathlons, racket sports, etc. I lost the ACL in my left knee due to a college football injury. I kept up the activity even without that ACL which resulted in re-injuring that knee multiple times. I had ACL replacement surgery, meniscus repair surgery, excess fluid drainings and kept up the activity. Finally, the pain pushed me to go to a sports orthopedic surgeon who told me bluntly to stop all the sports stuff! He told me the last thing I should do is a knee replacement, spend the time you would be running to do strength exercises for both legs. He sent me to physical therapy to do that. That was 15 years ago and now I just walk. He told me that if after physical therapy day to day activities did not result in pain, then avoid knee replacement. At the time, even my walks (a few miles) resulted in pain, but after the physical therapy and continued strength training that pain has been gone for years. I still tweak that knee occasionally, but it heals after a few days. I can squat, climb a ladder, lift, slide under the trailer and drive long distances pain free. Hope this helps, just another variable in your decision equation! Mike
    1 point
  14. We have a 2022 and when I see something like your situation, my brain goes to "Inverter Breaker". We have the 3 Lithonics batteries and 3000 Xantrex Inverter. We spent the night at Oliver after pick-up and plugged in. The next afternoon we packed up and moved to David Crockett State Park and plugged in. That evening I opened the Lithonics app only to find my batteries down to 73%. Shore power wasn't charging the batteries. I reached out to Oliver and Mike sent me a picture of the breaker. He stayed on the phone and walked me through checking the breaker, which was tripped and resetting the breaker. All was good for 2 months and it happened twice more. Oliver sent me a new breaker. In October 2024 we were boondocking, turned on the inverter to cook oatmeal, and 30 seconds in the microwave shut off. Jason was at the Texas Rally and ran tests. In February 2025, during service, it was determined that the issue was the breaker. Since they were no longer using the breaker and didn't have any, we lived with things until we got home. We were plugged in for the trip, so really was not inconvenienced. I order two new ones. I followed the shut down procedures, solar off, inverter breaker off, then each battery. Start up is reversed. I discovered to my horror that problem was very loose connects, resulting in pitting of the cable ends. Arching was obviously occuring. I replaced the breaker and now will check the connections each fall after our last trip. While your breaker might not be the issue, I would really check it over. Just make sure you completely power down per the sequence mentioned in this post. Good Luck. Please provide an update. During this period we experience a few weird things, which we attributed to the loose connectors. I suggest you send a service ticket request to Oliver so they can provide input. support@olivertraveltrailers.com
    1 point
  15. Been there and done that x2 (ten years apart.. Both times I used a stationary training bike during rehab. It few weeks after surgery before I could get the knee joint loose enough to get all the way around the top of the pedal stroke. it was probably 2 months before I could get a above 40 rpm still without force. By 3 months I was walking 5 miles a day and standing on my feet 8 hours a day before I went back to work as a cardiac RN. Both times I did each knee during the summer. It wasn't until spring that I got out on a real bicycle. Even at 9 months I still had to Ice the knee after bike rides. As mentioned above it was about 1 year the I forgot that I had a knee surgery. Also as stated above rehab is tough and painful. Do what PT tells you. The important thing is getting full mobility back. Then getting muscle stronger. This takes months. I still have a minor problem with my left leg (Dominate) with standing on one leg and balancing long enough to put my pants on easily standing up. I still do it, but I am clumsy. I did have an exterior tendon release a few years before the surgery because the tracking on my patella to the knee joint, which might has cause the slight balance issues. Things I have never done again. I love sports and always pushed my self hard. Down hill skiing, If I could not do the double diamonds, and push myself it wasn't worth skiing. Jumping down off of anything: The truck tailgate, large logs and rocks when hiking, Anything that required cutting side to side, soccer, racket ball, etc. As far as trailer maintenance, 3-6 months for some of the easy stuff. The hard stuff like repacking bearings 9+months. You learn about getting down on the ground and getting back up. I still can not squat down to the ground like a mechanic would to work on things. Only do what is comfortable and you feel safe. Remember baby steps. If you have to repack bearings or such coming up soon you should have someone else do it. I do all of my maintenance on my Oli it just means modifying how you do things. I know little old ladies that still garden that have had knee replacement. You should be back in the camp grounds in around 6 months or so. Remember Ice and Stretching during the next 9 months. I spent my lunch breaks Icing the knee on my lunch breaks. I was the best surgeries I have done. Hang in there and don't give up.
    1 point
  16. I have a 2022 Elite II. I ran three lines of heat tracing on the water lines including bathroom, outside shower lines, water intake lines, over the water pump, etc. I also added a heat duct to carry heat through the streetside basement. This gives me two lines of defense from freezing temperatures. Monitoring my bluetooth thermometers tell me that the furnace does a fantastic job of keeping the basement above freezing. The furnace actually runs more efficiently and quieter with the added duct. When plugged into shorepower I use a small AC space heater and open the little garage door and face the heater toward the garage. When driving I turn on the inverter to run the heat tracing which comes on at 40 degrees. I have three thermometers placed around the basement and they have confirmed when the heat tracing comes on. So far we have driven and camped through 20 degree weather. Yes, all of this required me to stand on my head and squeeze into small places but the peace of mind is well worth the struggles. I have yet to test not winterizing for next winter, but think I might try it. Input?
    1 point
  17. Greetings, I just purchased a 2022 Oliver. It is the Legacy, Elite II. This is my first RV and it has been interesting learning about the various systems. So far I haven’t made any costly mistakes. I need to find my way to an empty parking lot and practice backing up. Until that becomes muscle memory, I likely won’t venture too far away from home. I hope to spend a lot of time in British Columbia, Canada. I enjoy trout fishing and I think that region will allow me to find some nice fishing and allow me to boondock on Crown Land. Wishing all of you safe travels in the sunny days ahead.
    1 point
  18. We enjoyed our stay at Clear Spring, but we like to stay clear of I-30 and I-40. We usually head to Texas down through TN, MS, LA, into Texas, spending some time on the Natchez Trace Parkway.
    1 point
  19. You can try setting your valves to the normal position, turn your pump on, then turn the valve circled in the picture below 'on' briefly. You will hear water rushing into your fresh tank. What this does is pump water from your fresh tank back into your fresh tank. This will purge the air out of the pump and associated components. This has happened to me many times after traveling and arriving at a site, somehow air gets into the system.
    1 point
  20. I always have my 4 sided Clam with me since it nicely fits into the closet. I never use it if its: hot or if I'm simply stopping for only a day or two. But, when the bugs are bad and the temps are below the mid 80's I provides a great place to read, relax by a stream, and have a beverage (or two). It is also a great place to sit when there is a light rain. Simply put - the Clam gives you options. Bill
    1 point
  21. Another mosquito magnet here. The campground at Watson Lake, Yukon Territory was the worse for mosquitoes. This was my setup. The older, dark green Thermacell I set on the right side of the steps going into the Oliver and never had a mosquito get inside. The Repel spray works great if you have to leave the Thermacell shield of protection to go for a walk or otherwise leave the campsite. The severity of the mosquitoes depends on the weather. When we went to Alaska in 2016 they weren’t that bad except in wet, rainy heavily wooded campgrounds, but it pays to be prepared.
    1 point
  22. We’re in Clear Lake near Galveston, I ‘m a mosquito magnet! We carry Thermacells, one handheld and three latern style. The handheld is kept near me and the laterns are positioned around the immediate camp. I have a dropper bottle containing Pyrethrin to recharge the scent pads, very cost efficient and very effective! I really don’t like to spray down with harsh insect repellant, but find the Repel Lemon Eucalyptus (Deet-Free) product pleasent for skin and clothing applications and effective. Inside the Oliver I hang a couple of bug zappers for the occasional pesty invaders. If anywhere for a length of time, the screened Clam is deployed. Although I don’t like using, sometimes there’s a need to sweep camp with Cutter Backyard Bug Control.
    1 point
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