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Drinking first cup of coffee.... We just finished this odd arctic blast this week. Temps hit single digits two nights and we stayed well below freezing all week. Finally, yesterday we hit the 60s and the low last night was 53. I didn’t winterize 😬, never needed to before. I did find a couple of gallons of antifreeze at the third Walmart I checked, but could not find a pump. I put the trailer in the driveway, turned on the furnace and electric heater, hot water tank and put drop lights in the basement and under the bed near the outdoor shower. Once the weather returned to normal yesterday I checked everything and it appears we weathered this storm with no damage. I did keep the vents closed and shades down to help retain heat. Mike

Yes, nice temps today, worked outside all day on Sat, roads have been clear since Friday, snow all gone but for the few areas in the shade. I cannot complain- the worst issue I experienced - the pool was closed one day, and delayed open a few other. So basically we had it good. And our snow creatures have seen their best days.... My two remaining bee hives seem to have made it - All a good day! RB

Ray, my local discount tire shop will perform the wheel balancing as mentioned in my earlier post for $10.00 a tire. I find it easier to just take Ollie to the tire store, point out where the lift/jack locations are and have it done right there. They hand torque lugs on every wheel they install to wheel or factory specifications. I will likely purchase their insurance plan which allows mounting and balancing for the life of the tire (at any time) and full replacement if they cannot fix the tire if it goes flat. The plan allows for replacement of the tire with no prorate on mileage. I have always had this on our trucks and cars. I will double check, but feel sure it’s offered on trailer tires as long as they sell the tire. We have done business with DCT for years and our experience has been excellent. Hope this helps. I fully subscribe to DCT Core Values -

OMG. The Houghton is quiet. Really quiet. Just got it installed and hooked up. I'll post more info later but a very quick measurement with the unit running in heat or cool with high fan was about 64-65 dBA. The Dometic was about 78 dBA on my unit, so this very rough, unscientific measurement indicates the Houghton is less than half as noisy as the Dometic. The heat pump feature is a nice addition. OTT are you listening? Probably can't hear me over the sound of your noisy Dometic A/C 🤣

Yes and with the evaporator/condenser style fridges (which as I understand it covers any fridge that can run on propane) there's a point where it just won't keep up. I've talked with someone from AZ who camps a lot in the Sonoran Desert and thereabouts and he says he MUST have a compressor style fridge (only runs on electricity though) for his summer camping down there. He has a small compressor based freezer/fridge combo in his Four Wheel Camper brand truck top camper and he says the solar panels on top are almost always enough to keep the batteries topped off and the fridge happy. I experienced this problem once in my camper van when crossing the Mojave desert on a very hot day. I don't have an outside thermometer readout in the van so I'm not sure but I believe the temperature was somewhere between 100 and 110. I was also running on the less efficient DC power because on my van the pilot light blows out somewhere above about 25MPH. That evening when I took a break for dinner at a rest stop somewhere north of Bakersfield I realized I needed to toss any meat as well as my mayo and go shopping for fresh stuff. I don't know what the limit would have been on propane instead of 12V but I bet it wouldn't be about the same as this fridge seems on the edge in the upper nineties. When it gets that hot we generally seek cooler venues though, which is usually not hard living near the Pacific coast. But in any case yeah the propane use from that fridge which is only a little smaller than the one in the Ollie (though no freezer) is minimal even in hot weather.

No, I am not recommending for your Ollie. But, I know some folks had trouble keeping their homes heated during this crazy winter storm. And, you might be looking at alternatives to electricity and gas to supply auxiliary or emergency heat. I stumbled on this today. 26 per cent tax credit, just like solar, through 2023, for high efficiency biomass heating, (75 per cent and above) including flues, installation fees, etc. The government website hasn't been updated yet, but I saw this on several sites, with links back to the code passed in December.

Goosebumps! The Blue Angels perform [almost] every year at Lakeland's huge airshow, the Sun 'n Fun Fly-In. I hear the roar & run outside to my private viewing of their magnificence. Goosebumps & tears every time.

Actually, some places in Florida do have lizard warnings when it gets very cold. The iguanas start falling from the trees. Since they revive when warmed, it's not recommended that the general public pick the up. Even with a lizard shovel. https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/look-out-below-falling-iguanas-in-south-florida-possible-as-temperatures-dip-nws-says/2373858/

Warm temps for most of yesterday and all today, plus rain tonight, should clear the roads across the state completely. All in all, we’re pretty proud of how well TN dealt with this. At least on the western end, no major utility problems and our city even had the forethought to bring in snowplows from outside. The worst problem for us has been low water pressure, but that’s a tiny inconvenience, considering. And I suspect that an add on silver lining will be a reduction in COVID rates across the southeast, what with everything shut down for a week.

I think the very best time to buy a travel trailer is when you have the time to use it. We never looked at our Ollie as a financial "investment, " but we do feel we've had a great return in memories and fun.

Actually, thinking about it, I believe that the standard fridge sits lower than mine - right at the floor? That’s probably why the ‘baffle’ exists, since it’s just an extension of the rear wall of the fridge compartment. If so, then you’d be cutting into the fridge compartment. Perhaps that makes the situation worse, since you’re then dependent on air making it’s way around the fridge to get into the basement. Either way, the dinette is certainly an easier solution. If your weep vents are anything like mine, they’re 90% blocked with fiberglass dust gunk from construction, so probably not much to worry about.

Cooper AT3s are good, I am a Cooper fan normally, has anyone thought about a different model like the AT3 XLT? https://us.coopertire.com/tires/discoverer-at3-xlt It has more agressive sidewalls and much better stone protection, plus it looks great. It will be my next choice for my 200. I think matching ones on “Mouse” would be nifty. I am transitioning away from mud tires, I just don’t need that ultimate offroad grip much any more. John Davies Spokane WA

I just replaced all four of my tires at Discount tire. Had them balanced with TPMS monitors installed. Side note - I replaced the original BF Goodrich tires with the Cooper Discoverer AT3 and are happy with them. I might put them on my truck too, they get good recommendations on the Ram HD forum. Mike

23.5" for the 2020 EII we just picked up last November. Keep in mind your tow vehicle hitch will sink an inch or two (depending on your suspension, etc.) with the additional tongue weight (and any other weight you may be carrying in the back of your TV). My '06 2500 Silverado sinks 1.5" and I raise it back up to 23.5" with air shocks.

I think I'd wait on making changes to the door assembly, til you have it in hand, honestly. The bath door is not likely to support the weight of dense teak, imo. It is made to support the glass mirror panel, and vibration of travel. But, it's not a heavy hinge assembly. At least, not in our 2008. Anything can be modified, but, I'd wait to see what you're working with, imo

I bought a Valterra gasket kit - which if had bothered to RTFM (read the manual completely) - I would have known that the Houghton came with a hard plastic insert that is installed with RTV on the outside of the trailer. It seals the 14 x 14 opening and centers the outdoor unit in the hole. Pretty clever and very easy. So I didn't need the gasket kit, only a tube of RTV which I already had. The instruction manual is not the clearest I have seen and the hardest part of the install is getting the old unit down from the roof and the new unit onto the roof.

I kept the same metal stems. They checked them out to make sure they were good.

2017 Furrion TV & Furrion stereo Although we've had our camper 3 years, we rarely used the television until we wanted to watch the Superbowl a couple weekends ago. Wanting to pipe the sound through the stereo speakers I set out to learn how to make it happen. Searched forum... 😬 Watched video... our settings menu is different Unplugged & replugged cables on television & behind stereo... 😬 Just started pushing buttons... Success! It appears, in our case anyway, that the stereo mode needs to be set to ARC, not AUX. And it takes it several seconds for the sound to switch. And if the stereo is on ARC when you turn it on, the sound won't switch to the speakers. You have to cycle through all the modes & go back to ARC. This seems darn goofy to me which makes me think, "there must be a better way," so please chime in with your thoughts. Attached is my reminder for the next time we want to listen to the tv through the stereo speakers. 😁

In that case, definitely not going for the optional microwave and might sell the original in Craigslist.

That’s my understanding as well.

I’m just catching up on this - haven’t been too active here the past few weeks. A vent at the fridge could work, but would probably involve a good bit more work than cutting one at the dinette. If your trailer is built like mine, there will be two problems with the fridge vent. First, there is a solid floor underneath the fridge that separates the fridge space from the basement, so you’ll need to cut a hole in that as well (easy enough, and desirable for future maintenance anyway). Second, there’s a fiberglass ‘baffle’ in the basement area separating the area under the fridge from that under the sink. You’d have to cut through this as well to get good airflow. Possible, but it would be little hard to get to. I’m not sure if the baffle has a purpose - I doubt it and suspect that its just a vestige of construction. Here are some photos. The first shows the fridge space with the access hole that I cut in the floor (the small vent on the left is for my fridge). The second is in the basement area looking toward the fridge from the rear, showing the baffle. The access hole that you see is directly below the sink and the hose is the fresh tank overflow. Hope this helps.

Our camping buddies just left this morning and are heading to Holenwald to pickup there new trailer on Monday 2-22-2021. They were to get it last week, but something told them to wait till this week, I wonder what it was. trainman

Last I checked, Oliver removed the microwave delete option on the 2022 build sheets.

I like most color schemes if done in good taste. Our trailer is done in mainly silver exterior stripes and the inside is all white, with cushion and trim done in gray and wine red colors. Our interior is all white with the countertop all being the standard white color, it's very classy looking and we get complements on it all the time, plus was a saving of $1800. I did like the nautical theme and we did give it some thought, that is all white interior, with our trim being done in the green and blue nautical colors. I've had two BMW motorcycles painted that way and they were my favorite color combination. I'd go for that color combination, it would look good with the outside stripes in the nautical colors and a custom front decal that has a palm tree or something like that. Go for it. trainman

Yep, Same plan for our Ollie, replacing original BFG Commercial with Cooper Discoverer AT3 and balancing, too!

Agree, Had a set of tires installed on the Tundra at DCT Denver CO during a camping trip and they did a great job! Getting ready to replace & balance all of Ollie's tires and DCT at Denver NC will be doing the work.

There is only one update and one set of instructions that I know of. Problem fixed? So far I have not seen the [20] error code again since I upgraded the firmware but it's only been 2 days now.

Ours was attached with two screws through the door frame. Andrew

Hi Ray, I did hear from OTT. I suggest you open a service ticket and OTT will in all likelihood offer to pay for the tires to be balanced. I haven't had the time to do it yet but I will when I return from my camping trip next week. I'll definitely research and scout ahead as suggested above.

Just the files. They are pretty small so any small usb / flash drive you have around should work. @ScubaRxalso posted the links to the exact same files - the firmware and the instructions - earlier in this thread.

Airtabs work best on a vehicle with a square butt - like 99% of the commercial trucks, travel trailers and motorhomes out there. But an Ollie is already well streamlined in back. It will accumulate dust there, for sure, at any speed. Tabs on the sides and top would most likely be a little helpful at speeds high enough for them to operate. But as I quipped earlier, you have to not slow down below the speed at which they can function. And there is no practical way to install them on the belly, unless you made a big pan there, behind the axles to provide a flat place for them to mount a foot in front of the rear bumper. http://www.airtab.com/how-do-they-work.htm They are easy to install and reportedly not too bad to remove, so you could be the first Ollie owner to try them, and post your before and after dirt road pictures here....;) If somebody were to give me a box of them I definitely would try them. But I won't spend a bunch of cash on what will most likely be a total bust. FYI these are used on aircraft with incredible results, but they are designed to keep the airflow attached to the wing surfaces at unusually high angles of attack (landing, takeoff, low speed). ... https://www.boldmethod.com/learn-to-fly/aerodynamics/vortex-generators/ John Davies Spokane WA

My local guy is easy access, and no, I don't have to remove tires. Only my local Walmart asks me to do that. I'm only willing to do that for boat trailer tires, when rhe trailer is empty. Every place is different, so a good conversation ahead of time is important. And, scout ahead, as John suggested.

Fritz - You might want to take a look at THIS YouTube post. There are a number of additional reviews besides this one on YouTube. Bill p.s. I do not recall anyone posting here on the Oliver Forum about these things.

Longstride: Thanks. Very helpful. My recent experience with microwaves is they are often non-repairable. I think I prefer to have a finished cabinet and bring my own appliance, so I can easily swap it out if it goes bad. My trailer is scheduled for late September pickup. I'm trying to make all my option decisions well ahead of time. Thanks again. -bruce

Blackwater River State Park in Holt (east of Pensacola) is nice.. So is Camp Venice Retreat in Venice.

I am probably preaching to the choir, but I will mention it anyway. Be really careful about where you take your trailer, if you haven’t already been there before, use the Google Earth or Maps satellite view to check out the parking. My favorite Discount Tire store is quite old and small, and would be a pure nightmare to pull an Ollie into. It has a very tight dead end parking lot, extra storage in the way of half a dozen 40 foot shipping containers, and the single driveway enters a very busy four lane road. John Davies Spokane WA

Ray - When I had metal stems and my TPMS installed I simply towed my Ollie over to a local tire shop and they did all the work from there. If you go this route - just make sure that they jack up your Ollie exactly where you tell them to jack it up and certainly NOT under/right on the axles. Bill

Or, you could always hang one of these to remind you to "duck."

Being Floridians, we, too, have seldom RV camped here. Places we have stayed & enjoyed are: Jacksonville- Kathryn Hanna Park St. Augustine- Anastasia SP High Springs- O'Leno SP Sopchoppy- Ochlockonee River SP (Only stayed 1 night.) Pensacola- Top Sail SP Chipley- Falling Waters SP (1 night, not much to do once you've seen the falls.) Lakeland (home)- Sanlan RV Resort (it's where we taught ourselves how to use camper. Nice pools & trails through reclaimed phosphate pits.) Pre-camper days we enjoyed tent camping with our boys at Fort De Soto CP, Hillsboro River SP, Lake Kissimmee SP, & Myakka River SP. Friends whose opinions we trust like Hardee Lakes CP, Colt Creek SP, & Kissimmee Prairie Preserve SP. We're looking forward to seeing where you go!

There are a bunch of bike rack threads. The quickest solution would be to remove the undersized factory receiver and bolt down a 2” steel one. You would have to fabricate mounting plates and weld them onto the new receiver tube, to be secure. I personally would build an aluminum support structure like the original Ollie rack, with long main support arms and a couple of crossbeams, and bolt down the trays directly to it. That saves a fair amount of weight and complexity, and completely removes the “how do I keep the bike rack from flopping around” problem entirely. I think overland has that setup with 1-Up trays. I built my own rack, but I would never carry bikes there for a number of reasons. https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/3263-how-to-move-the-factory-cargo-tray-to-a-rear-rack/ It is interesting to see how something as basic as a bike rack can get so many people riled up....😬 John Davies Spokane WA

I received this from a friend who lives in Nevada. Struck my fun bone thought you all might enjoy.

I reset the inverter first and got it working properly with the remote before installing the firmware, although it probably doesn't matter since you have to power cycle the inverter as part of the upgrade process anyhow. I just haven't been able to figure out why the "power" button on the inverter works sometimes and not others and I suspected the remote [20] error may have had something to do with it so I did a hard reset first. During the firmware upgrade itself, I was able to use the power button on the inverter to do the power cycle since I had done the hard reset first. 👍 You actually don't need to see the panel on the inverter to do the upgrade. The USB port (and two other ports) are right below those two white power cords coming out of the back of the unit (and so blocked from view). I did stick my head in there with a flashlight to "find" the USB. The flashing lights indicating the firmware is updating are also right under the port, and you just plug in the USB with the firmware on it, the inverter recognizes the firmware and downloads it, then you power cycle and it's done. You can then check the firmware version on the remote after upgrading - since it will be working for a change! 🙂 The duct is a modification I made to get some ducted warm air from the furnace to the street side. I have some holes in the ducts to warm some of the components that need to be warmed on that side in the winter - you can see one of the holes on top of the duct where the cell foam matting ends. The hole looks like it's an accident because I hacked it in there with a screwdriver, but it's on purpose to shoot warm air up towards the battery compartment. 😄

Mike & Carol - It's terrible hearing about all of the issues going on in the great state of Texas with the weather you are having down there. I trust that the two of you, Bugeyedriver, both your Ollies and your Mom are all OK. I'm hoping that once your politicians get done blaming each other things will settle down, repairs will get done and plans will be put in place to help mitigate future issues of this nature. Stay warm until it gets too warm. 😇 Bill p.s. BoB - nice snow creatures. Over here on the other side of the mountains in NC we were supposed to have an ice storm last night but it never happened - too warm. Now, given the amount of rain we are looking at the chance for minor flooding.

Pat and Molly: If you decide to not make the Teak items yourself, attached is a catalog from Foy Speering who is a Oliver owner in Florida. I purchased the shower mat, cutting board that fit over the sink and the silverwear organizer. Foy does a wonderful job in his wood shop and ships them to you. Highly recommended and you will find him on the Oliver forums. Richard Foybles' Catalog V2.0f (1).pdf

Alright, closing the loop on this one. I'll spare the details as to how but with some spare HDMI and RCA audio cables I was able to isolate the source of the problem to somewhere between the HDMI input of the Jensen TV and the analog audio out of the TV. All other cables and components passed testing. So a new Jensen TV is > $250 bucks. Or perhaps I can take it to an electronics repair place but I doubt it. In any case, I have other priorities right now so what I did was instead run a 12ft RCA cable from the back of the receiver to the attic and then mounted an HDMI audio extractor box (and and HDMI splitter for other devices living in the attic) and that's working like a charm. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00XJITK7E/ I suppose I need to come up with some nice racking with cable management for the attic since I have a PS4, Vero, Raspberry Pi, surge protector, HDMI splitter, and audio extractor up there now. Time to break out the 3D printer. ;)

I knew they would be flying for the SB and I also knew they were practicing the stadium flyover on Friday evening. I was feeding the dogs Friday when I heard them coming. So I ran out to the back yard just as they cleared the roof line and I didn’t ave my phone. They were all in clear view and at a lower altitude on the Friday pass. I hoped they would be coming by after the National Anthem before the SB, so I was waiting when they came by. I believe they were flying home last night. One was from Missouri, one from Utah and the other was from Minot, ND. Mossey

This video is of the B52, B1 and B2 bombers that flew over RayJay before the Buccaneers Super Bowl 55 victory. And if you add all of B's up you get 55. Somebody had their thinking caps on when they put the fly over together. Watch the left side of the picture for the B1 and B2. They were blocked by the trees. The B52 flew right over the house. Mossey 20210207_182926.mp4

tNo experience with that TV, but here are a few basic AV troubleshooting steps that may help if you haven't already tried these things (long ago I built and installed somewhat complicated interactive A/V systems in museums and at trade shows and got used this troubleshooting dance with A/V components, trying to isolate where problems lay). If there's more than one HDMI input on the TV, you could try moving the input cord from one to the other to try to sort out whether the problem is in the TV or in the cord or the device that's providing the source signal. You would of course have to select that second HDMI input on the TV menu. If you have a computer monitor in your house that takes an HDMI input (and has a speaker, which is not uncommon in later model LCD monitors) you could also bring that into the trailer and swap the HDMI input cable from your trailer's TV to the computer monitor to see whether that HDMI cable/plug is providing a good signal to the TV...

I would settle for a steel one! ;). Thanks to this forum I now have a 1UP (which is awesome) bike rack and would love to have a solution like this vs. the factory design to carry our bikes. Can we get a vote on who would order one and if enough people pledged might it be possible to get some made? I would be in for sure!

Please!!!! BTW: the 1up rack is one of few approved for use on RVs. It is so easy to load and unload (takes less than a minute); can accommodate 29" and "fat tires"; 200# capacity (225# if you get the Super Duty model) so can carry most electric bikes; is extremely well built; and made in the USA. I highly recommend it 👍 https://www.1up-usa.com/product/2in-heavy-duty-double-bike-rack/