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I would personally stay away from the pipe cleaners. My main worry is the wire core might rust and streak your trailer. Paracord for the win! Its kernmantle construction wicks water very well. Google it! It also has tons of uses around camp. I think most every hardware store carries some form of it. Get the 1/8" version. Paracord Planet is a good online resource, I think they have an Amazon store.... Dave

General Discussion Talk about anything and everything Oliver-related — and beyond! (this would be the “and beyond!”)

A lot of truth..

I think I mentioned that the actual channel on the back side of the shade is cracked and doesn’t give the clip much to hold onto. Moving the clip to an untracked area helps - but once an area of the channel is cracked, it’s easy for the crack to spread to adjoining areas. So the clip needs to be moved more than one screw away on the window frame. I actually did try to bend the clip. Unfortunately, it’s pretty stout spring steel - so that didn’t work. One of ours was actually broken and half missing upon delivery - probably from either attempts to re-form it, or just whacking the window shade too hard when it was initially installed. Not surprisingly, that’s the shade with the cracked channel that likes to fall off.

I think that was Morton’s YouTube (the electrical engineer with the super in-depth testing of ducted and ductless models?) But yes, he mentioned because the condensate gets flung onto the evaporator coils to assist in the cooling that it might be more susceptible to collecting, dirt, dust, etc. That makes sense as a wet surface is a lot more likely to hold onto airborne stuff - pollen, etc. The added moisture would also allow stuff to grow. The height might make it easier, but the water there would work against that. I suppose as with most things, YMMV as to how often you need to clean the condenser coils, what method to use, and if you’d need something like a commercial coil cleaner. I had a home window unit that did something similar with a ring around the condenser coil fan that sat in a pool of condensate water. It was in humid Texas, so the water didn’t evaporate that well, but did make sure that dust and pollen collected into a mud that required pretty aggressive cleaning. Once a season I’d pull the whole unit out of the sleeve, put aluminum foil over the electronics, and take a pressure washer to the thing. I don’t know how well that brushless DC motor that turns the condenser fan is sealed, or if any of those “many” sensors will appreciate being sprayed with a stream of water.

JD, thank you for the thoughtful reply. I do like your design. In 7 years of owning our trailer getting caught in the out-back Owyhee country in far south eastern Oregon has been a one-time event. In fact the mud/clay wrapped the tires and the truck tires were standing on an inch or two of mud/clay above the tred. The truck hardly would respond to turning the front wheel and would genneraly plow straight forward, eventually moving the direct they were turned. Fortunately we were traveling on a slight down slope most of the way to gravel topped roads. Even in 4 wheel drive, I don't think we would have enough traction to climb more than a modest grade. All this said, I think I will likely move forward with your design because the we avoid this kind these type of roads if rain is in the forecast. Regardless of the rig you are driving, these roads become virtually impassable when saturated. Side slopes are the killer.

Taylor, I just measured it to answer your question. At the closest point, bottom of the L-bracket, the clearance measures 1 1/2". When you see 3-4" of caked mud, how much is actually above the tread? Most of it is in the treads and caked around the side. I've had my truck wheels caked up but not so much on the trailer. This doesn't worry me. And below the rubber/plastic flap material bends outwards while towing and no big deal if it got damaged. It's so easy and cheap to replace if need be. John E. Davies did an amazing amount of work to his "Mouse!" I studied most of his work 3 years ago when I first joined The Forum! In the case of mud flaps, I believe my design is superior for a couple reasons. The mud flap in his design is a full 6" further back. The 6" of open fiberglass will be hit extra hard since dirt and stones will hit the mud flap and bounce upwards due to the rotation of the tire. The open area will get chipped and be doubly hard to clean. And next mud episode; do you want your stabilizer jacks packed with mud or protected behind the mud flaps? We've had 49 overnights since this upgrade, on a bunch of short trips this year. They still look like new. I wouldn't change anything. Anybody who wants to copy my installation, send me a PM with your mailing address and I'll mail you a paper template to make cutting the mud flap material easy. Everything else you need is explained above in this thread!

@Katy McAnarney welcome to the dysfunctional Oliver window club but sorry you are having this issue like so many of us. This is how I have re-installed the sliding window with either new or cleaned and refurbished gutter track. First put the siding window into its channel without the rubber track. Coat the rubber track with silicone and wipe off excess. Position the sliding window approximately half open/closed and gently start feeding the rubber track into the bottom of the channel and below the sliding window first. You will only get so far, then start to close the window part way, hold the rubber track against the sliding window then start to push open again as far as it will go. Repeat this back and forth process for a few efforts until the rubber track appears on the far side of the sliding window at which point you should be able to grab the rubber track and pull the it through as far as it needs to go. Open the window all the way and feed the rubber track into the remaining channel along the bottom then up the vertical side and into the top leaving several inches of dangling rubber track. At this point you will need to slide the window forward into a partially closed portion so that you can repeat what was done on the bottom channel. This will also take a few passes to complete. It will be virtually impossible to do this without the use of silicone. The rubber alone just has too much friction. Once you get the hang of it the process will go much easier in the future. I don't think it is possible to do this with the rubber track already installed. The silicone allows for very easy back and forth maneuvering of the rubber track and window. It's far easier to start on the bottom rail first before the top. Hope this helps

I listed my take of Pros & Cons on page 1 of the link I posted above. Most of it came from Tom Morton's YouTube review of the Chill Cube: Testing the Furrion Chill Cube 18k Variable-Speed AC: The Future of RV Air Conditioning?

I feel your pain! We headed down a dirt road to visit Toadstool Geological Park NE a day after a rain ( without the trailer luckily ). The mud was sticky and slick all at the same time, completely filled the wheel wells and turned the tires into slicks. We paddled in 4WD for miles. Later the slurry dried nearly to concrete consistency! Weeks later I was still washing bits and pieces of the stuff out from under the truck!

One of the first "mods" I did to hull #145 was to install 3M trim lock drip rails. We've owned the trailer for 10 years now and although we have been fortunate to be able to store inside for the last 8 years, I have never had a window leak problem. Once a few years ago I decided to remove the rubber and clean the weep holes and window channels. I only found dust. I credit this to the drip rails. They just channel all that rain run off around the window and keep the channels clean. Just my $0.02. It's an easy install and I believe prevents a LOT of problems. I even put it above the Oliver sign at the back. Happy Camping, Scotty

We will see how long the perfect closure lasts but there is an adjustment you can try.

One week on the road. Besides 700+ miles so far, we’ve run 30+ miles on washboard dirt, and through some muddy washes too! No dirt on the rear lowers and no splatters front of Ollie due to the wider TV mud flaps! 😎

Here's a CD & Album found stored away at home: