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Walker Fork Campground (BLM) approx 15 miles north of Chicken, AK. 33 degrees this morning but warmed up nicely while we panned for gold...not much luck...this time. Dirt courtesy of Top of the World Highway coming from Dawson City, Yukon Territory.

Oliver Bulldog 2 5/16 coupler upgrade. I decided to finally pull the trigger and upgrade our Oliver from a 2” 7000# Bulldog coupler to a new Bulldog 2 5/16” 12500 coupler. I also ordered a spare coupler repair kit. These 2 5/16” BD couplers are becoming difficult to locate and purchase with Bulldog filing for bankruptcy protection in Oct of last year😳. It’s my understanding, that BD is no longer manufacturing and shipping these couplers to RV manufacturers possibly due to bankruptcy proceedings. (open source) I did attempt to purchase a 2 5/16 BG coupler from Oliver and they no longer have this upgrade in stock and available to purchase and ship. Jerry at Oliver told me they have no idea if or when they will have this coupler in stock again and are seeking alternative options. Will there will be a restructuring with BD? Anyone’s guess. I will be taking the new coupler to a friend’s machine shop to have the holes precisely drilled. If you’re on the fence about upgrading to a 2 5/16 12,500 #coupler it might be a good time to search for a vendor that has one on the shelf and ready to ship. A big thank you to @rideandfly for helping source this coupler! The Vendor I ordered from was Croft Trailer Supply in Kansas City, Mo. Ended up myself, @rideandfly and @John Dorrer purchased the (3) they had in stock. If it’s an upgrade you’re considering you may not want to wait. Safe Travels! Hull#634 XPLOR

From what I’ve heard Mike, you started serving our country back on its 200th birthday! Thank you Mike, and all our Oliver Veterans for your years of service! 😂 We all have to continue to fight for our country in these difficult times. It makes this 250th all the more special! God Bless America!!!

I have been wondering if the new (2027 model year) window shades would work with the older style windows. The frame looks different but the shade seems to perform the same functions. In October at the Rally I will take a good look at how they are attached and if they could be retrofit to the older sliding style windows.

Hope everyone has a great holiday! 250 years is a pretty good run. Based on some of the videos from the World Cup attendees visiting the US for the first time, we seem to be the envy of the world! Mike

Happy July 4th and 250th US Birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks. Mine is less fancy. In particular, the coupler lock is the Curt longer rod varient that wouldnt survive a decent set of bolt cutters much less a good hit with a hammer. You are probably correct that it doesnt matter that much.

There are several of us here!

Where are all the Ollies? On this 4th of July, the 250th Anniversary of our Great Nation? In 2 weeks, we'll be camping the Coconino NF, first Walnut Canyon and then boondocking the Kaibab NF just south of the Grand Canyon. But on this special holiday, our Ollie is just parked at home. We enjoyed Prescott Frontier Days, the "World's Oldest Rodeo" this year. Annually, it runs over the 4th of July weekend. It was a fun evening! 🤠

It helps to open the shower drain valve (either manual or automatic) to allow some air into the (forward/high/uphill) end of the gray tank... making it somewhat easier for the liquid to pour out of the rear/low/downhill end of the tank. Don't forget to close this valve when moving the camper or parking extremely nose-down or the gray tank fluid may burble up into the shower floor pan from the long & shallow gray tank, which may not be pleasant. This valve must be open when using either the shower or the bathroom vanity sink.. otherwise these will not drain into the gray tank as expected and the fluid will either stay in or flow into the shower floor plan.

Those of you who use a lock in the lever as a method of securing your hitch should consider the Collar Lock. The wire bail between the lever and the sliding collar that secures the clam shell is easily removed without tools and the sliding collar can be pulled back by hand. Bill

We’re in Starbuck, MN - Glacial Lakes SP. The bathrooms are just OK - a bit dated. 5 miles from the town of Starbuck. (There’s no Starbucks in Starbuck.) Bigger town of Glenwood a 20 drive - more stores and restaurants. Alexandria about a half hour away. (This is where the Starbucks is) Nice lake here. Also near Lake Minnewaska. Some hiking. Quiet during mid-week. Typically full weekends. Electric-only sites - no water at sites. There is a place to fill and a dump station. Also primitive sites. Flies and mosquitoes ARE all here. (“Minnesota - Land of 10,000 lakes - and 10,000,000,000 mosquitoes.”) Pretty much halfway between Fargo and Sioux Falls. We’re campground hosts until end of July. Our second year. This was our attempt at “cooler weather during the summer” - we didn’t go far enough North!

Thanks, Rob! Your local upholstery shop should be able to produce something equivalent when using quality materials and attention to detail. Our shop used high-density upholstery foam and Sunbrella fabric. This brand is designed for outdoor furniture and comes in dozens of colors!

I did look at those Brooklyn Bedding mattresses but ended up for now doing the ones at Costco. Like I told my wife if they don't work out after a trip or they will be easy to sale on craigslist. Agreed on the existing cushions. The foam in those are pretty bad. We need to at least replace that if nothing else. Your new cushions look great.

Hopefully they will restructure like many companies do. Only time will tell.

I purchased my Oliver in 2022 with the upgraded Bulldog 2 5/16 coupler and have no regrets. I also use this collar with a slightly different ABUS lock. EDIT: I will also say that I use this coupler lock when I am hitched (visiting somewhere, for instance) as security. AND on top of that, as I like to boondock, I use the Fort Knox Locks box when I am not hitched, along with the collar lock. It might seem like a lot, but I worry a lot less with this setup. https://ftknoxlocks.com/shop/ols/products/bulldog-lock I'm sorry to hear about the issues with Bulldog. Hopefully they will straighten out and pull through.

We do not have the king setup, but we did replace EVERY cushion in our Oliver! Also hated a king topper we had at home years ago. We'd sink into the foam making us sleep HOT! We now use Brooklyn Bedding at home and the Oliver. They manufacture in the Phoenix West Valley and have every RV mattress size imaginable. They roll up and box their mattresses and ship everywhere. If you're ever down here, they have several store locations across The Valley. RV Mattresses by Brooklyn Bedding They have new models this year, with hybrid (foam/coil) models in RV sizes. We purchased two 30x75" foam beds 2 1/2 years ago for our twin bed setup. We went with 12" mattresses based on the fact that the taller the mattress the softer the feel (you can see that in their charts). The 12" mattresses are heavy, but Chris is able to lift them/stand them sideways to work the sheets. I'd prefer a shorter/lighter mattress for the Oliver, but they might be too firm. Time to take care of our older bodies! We had to replace the dinette cushions too. The original cushions were 4" and we made ours 5" tall. We had these custom upholstered at a local shop with higher quality foam for $500 OTD. Boy, the OEM ones were ugly, and my bony butt doesn't hit the hard fiberglass right through the cushions anymore! 😎

We have used this coupler security and ABUS lock combo since we took delivery in June of 2020. Since it only takes less than 5 minutes to remove the BD coupler via the two bolts off the trailer tongue it’s a good deterent and better than nothing. Also when on the road it makes for an easy eye safety check during a walk around of our rig. This combo continue to serve us well 6 years in. Both have strong reviews. I will use this collar and lock on the new 2 5/16 coupler. Another plus with the S/S collar, you cannot secure the collar on the coupler locking mechanism if the coupler is not properly locked down so the clam shell cannot be moved back on the hitch ball. A nice little extra built in secondary safety feature. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HL2NM0K?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title ABUS Stainless lock made in Germany- https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009S5Y6ZS?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1

Look under street side bunk. Make sure valve is open all of the way when handle is pulled. Also if you’re going to fill it lay a water hose in the shower pan (but watch it REAL close) and really raise the nose so you are washing the bottom of the tank. Fill tank until water stops draining in shower pan. Be sure to quickly turn water off. Open the valve and let it rush out. Do it a few times. Watch what comes out if you can. You know that white snot that grows in HVAC condensate pans and lines? I think similar stuff grows in gray tanks. I think #1455 has sat unused and you have a build up in your tank. I think people set these trailers up level, hook up to the sewer and open the drain and let the water out as it is filled. This lets solids settle on the tank floors. We were told to keep the drains closed and only dump when the tanks were filled so that solids could be flushed out. We always dump black first. Then we use the flush inlet and fill and drain the black tank 3,4,5 times until I don’t see anymore floaters (we don’t put paper in our black tank) in the clear elbow at the sewer connection. Then I open the gray tank and let it drain while I do something else. After a few minutes the gray tank level is 0. Since I got that gunk out of my gray tank I haven’t had any problems. It will still drain slow but I eventually get to 0%.

We use a long shank Brinks padlock in the 2" Bulldog coupler. It fits snugly without drilling and hang the chains on the emergency brake cable snap-hook: Tried a short shank Brinks padlock in the new 2 5/16" Bulldog and it fits, too. After making holes in the new Bulldog, will sand and spray paint with aluminum finish for contrast.

Exactly. The newer models, certainly not ours, have many of those electric controls out of the basement. Some Oliver owners have also installed remote valves for the water/plumbing side. Good idea I just hate fiddling with plumbing. It really is a far easier to deal with sheet changing with two twin mattresses and piece of cake to lift them for access below. We should've done this years ago. No regrets so far.

I try not to in there too often - but not the usual reason people avoid basements. Winterizing/un-winterizing, and to the other side to manually trip and reset the main DC breaker when storing and recommissioning. It certainly is a pain when you have the original cushions, condensation mats underneath, topper and bedclothes on top…

I have two sets of Flag Pole Buddy suction cup mounts; one with black cups for the flagpole, one with white cups for the SLM pole. Neither leave a lasting mark on the Oliver’s gelcoat once removed and surface wiped clean. Could be that they use synthetic rubber compounds specially formulated for a non-marring grip on RV fiberglass surfaces; unlike the typical natural rubber that does leave a mark (think black streak issues we all battle)! Been using 303 Aerospace Protectant for years on a skiff and many suggest this conditioner be applied to keep rubber cups soft and pliable for a better seal and UV protection.

For years we used a Temperpedic 3 inch memory foam topper. It works, was heavy and also a pain to deal with while trying access the basement. So earlier in the year while doing some repairs and other mods we decided to eliminate the cushions altogether and replace with two twin mattress we bought at Costco. Since neither of us are tall sleeping in line with the trailer works just fine for us and we have never used the main dinette anyway. The smaller dinette at the kitchen works great for the two of us. This method is far easier to access the basement too with only one thing per side to lift. So far so good. I would recommend this method as a possibility.

Yep

Happy 250th Birthday to our great United States!

Our Ollie does not have factory solar or inverter. I use portable suitcase solar panels or a 2000W Honda Gen-Set when away from shore power. Copied @Snackchaser idea converting the Furrion Cable TV inlet to a Starlink Mini power outlet using a 5.5 x 2.1 mm DC Power Jack Socket. Thanks Snackchaser for the idea! Used a 7/16" drill bit to drill the new Furrion power outlet for the power jack socket to fit. Had enough threads on the 5.5 x 2.1 mm DC Power Jack Socket to install water/dust cover, lock washer and nut. Old Furrion inlet on the left: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GKB4YSM5?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DLKN8J7M?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title Purchased a 12/24V to 48V DC to DC step up Starlink Mini converter and switching with a manual switch to be installed.

We use a 2.5” matress topper and love it. It is no longer available from Amazon but was listed as BedStory 2.5 Inch Mattress Topper RV Short King Size. It works great but sometimes pulls up from the sides a little after 5-7 days, but that’s when we usually change the sheets anyway. I would note that changing sheets and making the bed in a king Oliver ain’t easy, but we have gotten used to it

Thank you from at least one of us who isn't on facebook!

I used to be fairly active on Facebook - even before social media became the way official government information is disseminated - but quit cold turkey several years ago and haven’t looked back. I found that even without all the suspicious groups and the collection of our indie action (Which can be used against you in SO many ways…) I found the “signal to noise ratio” to be very poor. Far too many trolls, too many people trying to scam you, people who had severe cases of rectal-cranial-inversion, or just folks whose parents never taught them manners. Unfortunately (I find I use that word a lot) it seems that many businesses and government agencies use Facebook instead of maintaining real web sites. They assume everybody is there. So I miss a lot from local police and other organizations. No Facebook, Twitter/X, instagram, “truth social” (hah!) or any of them.

True enough but there will be 7 of us owners there. Assuming the forest fires don't get us it should still be fun. And I will just happen to be in Colorado at that time so for me it makes sense. Nevertheless, I AM looking forward to the "real" Oliver rally in October too.

Oliver Owners, Due to Oliver Travel Trailers changing their date to October this year, it was decided that our next rally will be in the spring. The Texas Oliver Rally for Oliver Owners will be held at Lake Livingston State Park (not to far from Houston), checking in April 5 and checking out April 8. We are planning a meet and greet the evening of the 5th, and hope to have a BBQ dinner and potluck lunch during the rally. Starting December 5 you may book your site through Texas Park and Wildlife Department 1-512-389-8900. The cost to attend this event is up to you. You pay for your site, if you plan to attend the BBQ you will cover your plate(s) if we don't get a sponsor (last year Oliver Travel Trailers sponsor it and CGI gave us all TShirts with our own rally logo) and if we are able to reserve the meeting hall you will pay your share (based on how many sites are booked). So you have and idea, the hall will cost a total of around $300.00, BBQ around $26/plate (if we don't have a sponsor), etc. in 2024 and the 2025 we had over 45 Oliver Trailers parked on site and a total of 90 participants visiting new and old friends. We hope to have door prizes so if you want to donate one bring it with you and let me know. I have an event set up under the Ollie Rolling Rally Facebook group which will have more information as we get closer to the date. Hope to see you there and wishing you all safe travels Donna and Scott Gerould

During our return from the Boler Rally in Winnipeg we traveled down through North and South Dakota. We saw all the National Park units in both states. Several of them had campgrounds for about $8-10 per night.

Here is another photo of the area mentioned south of Wall including our LEII, our Land Cruiser, my wife, a cell tower, our closest neighbors, and wild mountain goats on the hillside under our trailer. Great place to park for the night. Ken

Mike, 8miles south of wall sd is badlands dispersed, as you're going south look to your left, you'll see cell towers, when you are parallel with them there is a barb wire gate that you have to open and close, but it's a great spot, plenty of room, quiet, and "free". The entrance to badlands state park is a 1/2 mile to the south, highly recommended, and free with the geeser pass. Steve