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Showing content with the highest reputation on 07/10/2018 in Posts

  1. If you are struggling with your decisions about all the options, I suggest taking a break from it for a bit. Your new trailer will be lots of fun for years. Often, if I can't decide on some options, I figure it doesn't matter which way I go. A couple of comments though: I bought mine used and ended up the with options it came with. It was so close to what I would have chosen that it is fine, but I do wish it had the cell phone booster and I'll probably install one. You might consider the upgraded matresses that I think they offer as the stock ones can get a bit hard after a week or two out somewhere. I personally think the Faux granite counter tops aren't worth the cost. They are fiberglass and no more durable than the standard tops. I installed a stainless steel countertop in mine and I love it (you can see pictures in "Modifications to Hull 92). The standard wood tops are nice and so is the standard textured dinette table. The propane quick disconnects are a nice thing. I had to install them on mine. Great for outdoor stoves or a propane firepit. The 30 lb propane tanks are also nice. Reading lights and extra plugs are also very useful. Solar is a wonderful option in some cases, but it's not all rosy. If you need a lot of power while boondocking, fine, but you'll also have to clean them and always park in the sun, instead of the shade. I have a suitcase setup that fits in the closet and I think it will be just fine, at a much lower price. I personally just don't like the idea of more and more stuff on the roof and they cannot be tilted to give maximum performance. Just a thought, as it's a popular option. I have the standard water heater and I'm glad I do. It is simple and reliable. The instant water heater might be better if you wanted longer showers, but that will only work when you have shore tie water and sewer. If you are planning to get the tongue box and you are towing with a pickup, try to make sure you can open the tailgate without interference. One of my pet peeves is not being able to open the tailgate without disconnecting, and that was the way it was on my other trailers. Olivers have very long tongues and it is really nice to be able to open the gate anytime. Mine came with an Anderson hitch and I've never used it. I tow with a full size Ram and it is completely stable. You may feel you need it for peace-of-mind, or for towing with a lighter vehicle, so make up your own mind. I think it's a waste of money for a full sized truck. There have even been cases where trucks had issues with the stability system when using the Anderson hitch and Anderson told them to shut off the stability system in the truck! Others have had the friction system replaced because it gets so noisy and others complain that the ball wears too fast. Unfortunately, the Anderson is the only load leveling hitch that I know of that can fit an Oliver without modifying the forward fiberglass fairing. If you want load leveling, you get a pre-set sway control too. If you want sway control, it's not adjustable. The adjustment is for the load leveling. Your ready to go tongue weight will be around 485 lbs plus what is in the tongue box, if so equiped. I have the four Trojan deep cycle 6 volt batteries and they are very nice. AGMs would probably be even better. I don't have a built in inverter, but I plan to put one in. Meanwhile I carry a 3000 watt one in the truck. It connects with jumper cables to run a compressor, power tools or other heavy loads in an emergency. We use several small cigarette lighter style inverters to charge the phones and the laptops. These are very cheap and efficient, but won't run the microwave. Our DVD player is moody, so I run a player and a Bose speaker off one of the little inverters. Another very handy little add is an 8" deckplate in the front of the propane cover to allow you to simply reach in and turn the tanks off or on. Intalling one in the closet as an access to the sink faucet and shower hose fittings would be nice too, as there is no way to get to them without removing the glued in shampoo rack. I would mention to them, and have them show me when I picked up the trailer, that the trailer batteries charge from the seven pin plug. This has been an ongoing conversation and I've fixed two of them that were wired differently from each other, but neither one charged the trailer batteries. It was brought to Oliver's attention, but you should make sure. Finally, the King bed vs the twins. I wanted the King setup and was a bit disappointed when I found mine with the twins. Now, we both really like the twins. With twins you have a longer hallway and a nice dresser/table. They are fairly wide at 30" and long enough for my 6'3" frame. Getting up in the night does not disturb the other and you might want to go on a trip sometime with someone you don't want to share a bed with. Then just pick the interior and exterior color schemes, the toilet design (we have the standard setup and it's fine), the overhead cabinet material (we have mirror and like it), the cook stove orientation and you're outta here! Have fun!
    3 points
  2. Thanks, guys. Here's what I found: CE4340AC-C134-48BE-B5C3-1A9F901862EC Note the black weight attached to a cord that assists the extendable faucet nozzle when it retracts back into the faucet. This weight swings like a pendulum within the space behind the drawers and likely smacked my fridge plug enough times that it eventually knocked it out of the electrical socket. Fridge works fine on AC once it's plugged in. Duh. I moved the "pendulum" to the other side of the sink drain pipes and wrapped it in a spongy foam material. Sad that it took me this long to figure this out but I mistakenly assumed that I was getting power to the fridge because the front diodes all lit up. I was getting power....D.C. Power. Bob G
    3 points
  3. 3 points
  4. On the start of a two month fly fishing trip in Idaho I stopped for gas at a Pilot gas station on Interstate 70 about 40 miles east of Kansas City. Sure enough I spied another Oliver! It was hull number 324 and they were from Chapel Hill, NC - just down the street from near where I live close to Asheville, NC. They were headed to Jefferson City, MO (driving East while I was driving West) in order to add to the goal of visiting all the State Capitals. In addition, the owner told me that earlier in the day they had met another Oliver owner - Greg & Terresa from Madison, WI that I had camped right next to at this year's Owners rally. Small world that we live in! Bill P.s. pic is from Victorian Acres, Nebraska City, NE - nice campground right off HWY 2. With temps in the 90's a WalMart parking lot didn't seem to be a very good idea without a generator!
    1 point
  5. Hi! We are Kim and David Thompson, RV Newbies, from Waynesville, NC. In January we had made the decision to purchase a new Airstream 19' Flying Cloud - even had a downpayment in place. A week later while camping at St George State Park in Florida, we noticed a shiny white camper in the campsite next to us. Sitting around the campfire that night we googled Oliver Travel Trailers, then waited and waited the next morning for the owners to come out their door - I just had to get inside and take a look! Turns out the owners actually live just 25 minutes away from us in Western North Carolina! Long story short, we were overwhelmingly impressed, so we rerouted our trip home to include a factory tour in Hohenwald - then cancelled our Airstream order! After deliberating, researching, and making all the tough decisions on colors, surfaces, bells and whistles, our Ollie went into production in early May and we will be driving to Hohenwald July 29th to pick her up the following morning. We are literally counting down the days -and filling the guest room with "Ollie stuff"! Many many thanks to the members of this forum - being new to RV camping we've gathered so much helpful information already - and it feels so great to know when we run into problems we will have a great team of support at our fingertips. We are really looking forward to being a part of the Ollie Community!
    1 point
  6. Have not really had it long enough to evaluate. Three months and all is good. Mopeka's FAQ answer: The sensor battery lasts over 1 year but may last longer or shorter depending on the outside temperature. The battery will generally last longer in warmer environments
    1 point
  7. As others have stated you need to have the Oliver level for two reasons. If not level the indicator will provide you with a false reading on just how much water is in the tank, but also an out of level water tank will not allow for proper filling. You should have this luxury at home, but at other places where you are filling the fresh water tank its a bit of a crap shoot to have a level trailer while filling the tank.
    1 point
  8. I have the exact same problem Rumline describes. I get the trailer out of storage, park it in front of our house, and fill the tank. Our street has a very steep slope to the curb. When we get to our destination and level the trailer we have 60-65% full tank. My solution is based on a post I saw several years ago (See Tip number 4), of using boards for leveling. I cut angles on 2 x 8 boards and put drive the trailer up on them. The only photo I have is of two boards under the curbside wheels. Two boards was not enough, so I tried three boards, and I am now using four boards which seems to level the trailer. That should be about six inches. Like I said, my street has a steep slope. I used long wood screws to attach the boards together. Although the original post suggested carrying these boards for leveling at campsites, I do not. The boards stay at home.
    1 point
  9. I think water splashing out isn’t as much of an issue as making sure that you’re level when you fill the tank. When you fill angled towards the curb, air gets trapped in the tank since the overflow is on the curb side and there’s no where else for air to escape. So the water starts to overflow once that bubble gets sealed off. As shallow as our tanks are, the volume lost can be substantial, as you found out. When possible, I tilt the trailer a bit to the street side when filling just to make sure. When traveling, you’d have to be at an angle that allows water to flow over the top of the drain line before it comes out, which would be pretty steep. Going up or down steeper inclines would be more of an issue than side to side because of the shape of the tank. What I don’t know is how much can come out when making left hand turns and all the water sloshes to the right side. It seems to me that the volume of water in a full tank could push a good bit out of the overflow. On the other hand, air would have to come in at the same time so it would be like trying to pour fuel from one of those new EPA fuel cans. I’ve thought about getting some sort of stopper for the opening but it probably isn’t necessary and I think a good point was made in the other thread about needing to keep the vent open for pressure changes. I still think a screen might be a good addition but that hasn’t made it on my to do list yet. For what it’s worth, I’ve never noticed that we’ve lost water while traveling, but then I’ve never made it a point to check. Plus I’d have to lose 2-3 gallons before our gauge read anything other than 100%. Maybe I should start paying more attention.
    1 point
  10. 1 point
  11. We just got back from the Westcliffe area, inbetween the huge Spring fire and the much smaller Adobe fire. We got lucky with the winds because we experienced zero smoke in the air. When we made reservations three weeks ago we got the last reservable campsite, but when we got there, over half the sites were empty. So if you're able to gamble (I understand allergies and asthma are not something one should typically gamble with) you might get some great camping anyway. Before we left I monitored news on each of the fires as well as the wind forecasts on windy.com, so it wasn't a complete shot in the dark; I had reason to hope that the smoke would not be coming our way. Your mileage may vary but just thought I'd share what worked for us.
    1 point
  12. If you unscrew the small panel behind the drawers under the sink, you'll see the outlet behind the cabinet at the bottom left.
    1 point
  13. John, So many beautiful places to camp up in the Flat Tops. That area is maybe my favorite area of Colorado, though I really love the Crested Butte area too, hard to pick favorites here! Have a great time. -Alison
    1 point
  14. Bill, I have never rebuilt one of these valves but that kit does look like what you would need to do so. On a further note, I believe you stated that you were able to manually push the blade valve down into the seated position. Is that correct? If so, that makes me wonder how that is possible if the gasket is rolled. At any rate, taking the valve apart and rebuilding it is not a bad idea. Hopefully, this will get your problem fixed. Oh yes, make sure you have the black tank completely emptied and clean before taking that valve apart ????
    1 point
  15. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01INZ7RY0/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Mike
    1 point
  16. Please check your tow vehicle operators manual and contact Hayes if you have any questions if the Sway Master will work with your tow vehicle and Ollie. Hayes replied to the question about loss of Sway Master GPS signal and to how the unit will operate in that situation. Hayes Reply: "If the GPS is not connected, the Sway Master will go into a default mode. This means the unit will activate when sway is detected regardless of speed. So no matter the connection status of the GPS, the device will still combat sway".
    1 point
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