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Showing content with the highest reputation on 04/30/2021 in all areas

  1. No. I haven't climbed the mountains of Colorado or Washington, nor do I plan a trip there. I'm fairly new to TT camping. For the long hauls, I prefer to fly my 200+ Knot aircraft and I stay in a cabin. I'm blessed that Texas has plentiful, and lovely State parks to explore. That will keep me busy for a while. Big Bend is not mountainous, but fairly steep for Texas. Again, no problem towing with the Tacoma. I'm blessed to be able afford any of the popular tow vehicles when the time comes to replace the Tacoma. I just hate to drive a big heavy truck for everyday driving. As you put it, the Trucklet is a pleasure to drive around town. It doesn't beat you up with every pot hole. She's more like my wife's Lexus RX 350 in ride, quiet and comfort than my last Ford Ranger or my friends big trucks. Let's face it. You spend very little time towing a TT compared to just normal usage.
    3 points
  2. I drove my 2015 4x4 Tacoma to Holdenwald February 20 to pick up my new 2021 Legacy Elite II and haul it back to Southlake Texas. I had read negative comments as to the Tacoma's ability to tow an Ollie. I also read a review of both the Ollie Elite II and a 2016 Tacoma. The reviewer love both, and said the Tacoma towed the Ollie just fine. I decided to find out for myself. I can report that my Tacoma tows the Oliver Elite II just fine. I stayed around 65 MPH over the route. I normally can travel 300 miles between fueling. Towing the Ollie, the tank approaches empty after 250 miles. I wish I had more range, but I simply threw a five gallon gas container in the back just incase I needed it. I didn't need it. My wife and I camp with two other couples. One has a Ram diesel and a Oliver Elite II, the other a Ford King Ranch and a Forest River stick trailer. I have no problem keeping up with them. You Tacoma lovers can decide for yourself, but I actually have experience towing an Ollie. I'm not sure if all the nay sayers really know what they are talking about.
    3 points
  3. @topgun2 I don’t think you have to worry about elk eating your wiring but a female moose will nest in the engine bay if you leave the hood open and young grizzlies will just steal your truck outright and head straight to town, so lock it up.
    2 points
  4. 2 points
  5. We had a great factory tour. While I was fully committed to bringing up some boudain, as well as some doughnuts as was John E Davies' suggestion to assist in obtaining wiring diagrams, I failed on all counts! I forgot the boudain at home and upon leaving Linden, TN after a night's rest, the only doughnut shop Mr. Googles would suggest was an hour away. I dared not come into the plant with doughnuts from Walmart. And, of course, my super secret stealth spy camera's battery died. So, sorry folks, no wiring diagrams 😄 Regardless, it was a great trip, great time, super meeting some of the folks that make up the Oliver team. The clock ticks soooo slowly for our October delivery.
    2 points
  6. JD, Evo has the hammer for $20 less than Amazon...if you haven't already purchased one. I bought a couple of other small things I needed which got me free shipping. https://www.evo.com/shop?text=hammer
    2 points
  7. Most people do. We really monitor and squeeze power, because of our limited battery capacity. We're not honestly the model to follow. If you camp a lot in cool weather, you'll use maybe twice the amp hours, or more, running the furnace fan. However, I am always concerned that some people spend a lot on battery power, without a good reason. Some people need it, others just want it. I find these discussions interesting, too. My husband and I have been discussing lithium alternatives when our 5 year old agm batteries die. We'll probably only add one or two 100 ah lithium batteries. It will be enough, for us. Small portable generators are cheap insurance, if solar doesn't keep up, imo.
    2 points
  8. Their public beta has begun, with pricing announced at $99/month plus $500 up front to buy the antenna. Pricey, but not insane if the speeds are good and you spend a lot of time away from cell coverage. Any takers?
    1 point
  9. And - since you asked for "nature stuff" - learn how to recognize western poison ivy. It does look slightly different than the eastern variety - see THIS - in any case - "leaves of three, let it be".
    1 point
  10. Doing my pre-camping season checkout of the Oliver, along with de-winterizing, and I noticed the clear plastic filter screen cup on the pump inlet showed a pinkish-white discoloration, and also some stress cracking probably related as well. I’m thinking it’s the pink RV antifreeze solution used (the standard stuff sold at Walmart for RV potable water system winterizing). Anyone else noticed this? I’ve already replaced it with a brand new one, and that’ll now become an annual maintenance check/replacement item. It’s on the intake (vacuum side) of the pump so not really a major water leak issue if it did crack, but it could create an air leak on the pump intake side that would affect the pump efficiency.
    1 point
  11. I do the fresh tank fill and city water ports. The boondocking port will drain on its own since there’s no check valve, so I just uncap that while I’m doing everything else to make sure nothings in there. If I’m putting up the trailer for the full winter then I’ll sanitize the fresh and grey tanks first. If you aren’t doing that, then start by draining all of your lines. You can do that by running your pump with a faucet open, or if you’ve got a Truma water heater, open its drain valve and you can pump the water out through there pretty quickly. Then blow out the fresh tank fill with your compressor using an attachment like either this or this. I think I use 80 psi, which I think should be fine for everything. Then open a faucet and do the city water port. I don’t move any of the plumbing valves from normal. Do each faucet separately - kitchen, bath, and outside shower - and be sure to do them with the valves turned to both hot and cold. You’ll get a fine mist of water for a while. I’ll repeat that two or three times for each faucet until they all seem clear. Before the last time I’ll run the pump for a bit to make sure it’s clear (take off the filter so that you know you aren’t pulling any new water in from the tank.) I’ll also open the truma drain while I do that just to make sure no water has settled in there. I don’t have a flush toilet so I’ve never looked up how that’s done. If you want to blow out the sink traps, you can by adding an air valve to a small plunger. I think it’s the same little adapter I linked to above, just screw it into the plunger where the handle would go. Just be sure that the hole goes all the way through, and cut one if not. It works really well, but if you do it that way, make sure you plug your drains or in the spring your trailer will smell like grey tank. I leave all the faucet valves open through the winter. If I’m on the road and it’s going to freeze, I’ll just blow out both ports quickly to get water out of the check valves. I think that’s it. I’m having to run through it in my head so I may have missed something.
    1 point
  12. I will paraphrase a statement from an old pilot friend of mine. "The only time you have too much fuel (battery power) is if everything is on fire." I just replaced the four original AGM's that were delivered in our 2014 trailer with three Battle Borns. They're only a total of 300 aH. Get the most you can afford. You'll probably end up boondocking more that you think.
    1 point
  13. I'll see your desert rodent and raise you a bull moose or elk during the rut in Fall plus a griz in Spring, Summer and Fall.😅
    1 point
  14. We will be taking the tour the second Monday in May. We already had a trip planned to the red river gorge in Kentucky in the works when we put our deposit down on our ollie. (We pick it up Feb 2022) We just adjusted our reservations a bit. Now it seems the kayaking in the cave, red river gorge zip line and possible via ferrata as well as some hikes are taking second place to the ollie tour - it's all we talk about! Really looking forward to it! Once we do the tour , Red river gorge here we come!!
    1 point
  15. Not unless you ask for one. While I strongly encourage a factory tour I would hesitate to recommend anyone spend the time and effort just to take a factory tour when coming from Oregon. Adding it on to your delivery schedule would be a good idea though in that you can take pictures and generally become acquainted with how your Oliver was put together. If I were doing this, I'd plan on doing the tour one day and then taking delivery the next day. Trying to do both in one day is asking a bunch. Bill
    1 point
  16. I love Tacos. My son has a 2012 with 6 speed manual. He towed an Elite II-weight trailer (SOB) from Minneapolis to Oshkosh and back two years ago and vowed not to do it again. 4th or 5th gear most of the way, high revs and terrible fuel mileage. Yes, these trucks are almost indestructible (like their Hilux cousins), but I agree that it's a struggle to tow anywhere near the rated towing limit. Towing out west would be even worse. Maybe a supercharger would help? 😉
    1 point
  17. I believe at this point Oliver is committed to Lithionics for all LI packages for ship dates later in the year. The GTX315 has the heaters built in, the other model which Oliver Uses does not have a heater and charging cuts off at 32F or 0C Datasheet for the 130AH unit is here: 12V130A-G31-LRBM8-R5.pdf Pix from the data sheets to quick compare: Up to 3 of these Lithionics G31's fit in the battery bay of the Oliver. The Oliver specific version slightly higher watt hour rated. Two of these Fit in the Battery Bay as part of the Platinum LI Package. These same batteries are used in Winnebago Class B's and other Motorhomes..
    1 point
  18. Try this for that link. Bill
    1 point
  19. Here is another option you may look at a rv generator box the company makes aluminum diamond plate Rv generator boxes that are made for small generators and can be run in the box. I’m sure this will fit the Ollie basket then just bolt it down to the basket should be a secure option i can’t link the web site. The web site is rvgeneratorbox.com
    1 point
  20. Thanks for posting! This is not at all uncommon, https://www.practical-sailor.com/blog/antifreeze-ethylene-glycol-vs-propylene-glycol I wonder how the plastic water fittings are affected? This is perhaps a good reason to use compressed air for a major system purge, and then add a little pink stuff to just the outside ports and inside sink and shower traps. John Davies Spokane WA
    1 point
  21. Uh, I could understand wanting Metal Tent Stakes, but Tent Steaks Metal might be a little hard to chew.
    1 point
  22. Well after reading that I feel like I’ve disappointed someone by not oiling them. I also feel like I’ve backed myself into a corner on those shoes. I’ll stick with my cariuma’s for the moment though. Hipster tent pegs and hipster shoes - can’t really separate the two.
    1 point
  23. I like the Drivin’ and Vibin’ videos and Kyle makes some good points on why not to get solar. I disagree with his first point... we’ve found that camping in National Parks is usually a dry camping experience. Having electrical hookups is the exception rather than the rule, especially in the west. I agree that if you like campgrounds with hook ups then solar is not necessary. That’s what we thought we would do when we got our Oliver 5 years ago, I got the solar package “just in case”. As it turns out, we camp a lot in BLM and FS campgrounds, so I’m glad we opted for the solar. Mike
    1 point
  24. Per request, I've moved all the electrical diagram discussion to its own topic.
    1 point
  25. Discounts, so when you build the best number one product, why would you discount when you have to wait 6 months just to get one. Try buying a new Corvette, does two years wait time sound good to you and $30,000 over list price. Everything sells at market value at the time, so far Oliver's has been in business for 10 plus years and still going strong with no discount, maybe next year they will offer discounts, why not wait and see. trainman
    1 point
  26. Have you all seen the Starlink satellite trains? Recent satellites had to be equipped with "visors" to prevent light pollution; only those launched before June 13, 2020 can be seen with the naked eye. There are several online tracking sites to tell you when they can be seen from your location. https://observer.com/2020/08/spacex-starlink-satellite-launch-tracker-how-to-see-in-sky/
    1 point
  27. We just took delivery of our "L" navigator. For its inaugural voyage it got parked in Manhattan - that was fun - 360 camera for the win. I initially thought the EXP/NAV don't feel much smaller than an F150 when driving in the burbs, but I was glad that I was 10-20" shorter than an F150 crew cab last night. The ride is great, and I really fell in love with the 30 way "perfect position" seats on the drive back to our hotel. Tomorrow, we set sail toward TN to pickup hull 529 by the end of the month.
    1 point
  28. I still fail to see the point of a Facebook group. All it does is siphon posts and solutions from this site to make both less useful.
    1 point
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