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With a tandem axle trailer and a heavy truck you can have a catastrophic trailer tire failure and not even know it. You won't feel it. With the TPMS you know right away and can start reacting, minimizing damage to your rim and trailer and reducing overloading of the remaining tire on that side. That's what happened to us. Our TPMS went off and we got away with only a broken mud flap and cosmetic damage because we stopped with most of the tire still on the rim. You could also have a fast leak from road debris. It could go flat without you feeling it, then chew itself to bits on the rim before you knew you had a problem. Our TPMS also alerted us to a catastrophic trailer brake failure. One wheel started running much hotter than normal. We pulled over and heard noise from that wheel. Turned out the brake assembly had come apart inside the drum. So, yes, I consider TPMS a crucial safety feature.

Almost as bad as having a catastrophic blowout in the middle lanes of six on an interstate at 60mph. Use your own judgement. Your mileage may vary...

Thanks to all who have provided valuable insights and photos. As we have had a busy travel schedule on the road, I have not yet had the opportunity to pull the drawers under the sink or to inspect the underside of the fresh water tank overflow tube in Hull #1291. For now, we are carefully filling the fresh water tank when we need to boondock, until our pre-planned schedule allows me time to try to "get to the bottom" of what caused our problem. We will be on the road until the end of October. I hope to be able to investigate once we get back home. I will then report my findings, if any.

I have been following along without anything to add, but I now have a few thoughts. The fresh water overflow discharge port is, in the words of Google: So it looks like a 2 piece fitting that requires access to the inside and outside of the hull to install, service or remove. So the next step requires a modification to the floor below the bottom drawer below the sink. This picture of the area below the sink without the drawers in place. The blue square surrounds a cutout in the rear wall that OTT provided for access to the refrigerator 120V outlet. The red square surrounds a cutout in the floor that I made with a router, using the walls as a guide. This access was needed for a prior plumbing modification. It may also provide access to the freshwater overflow port that would be needed for the installation, removal or repair. Both of the access ports are normally covered with a thin piece of plywood. My MOP for sanitizing the freshwater tank in hull 193, begins by mixing several ounce of chorine or a quart of hydrogen peroxide in a 5 gallon water jug and using the boondocking port to pump it into the freshwater tank. I then fill the tank using a hose at the freshwater fill bib. I am generally in the area of the Ollie while doing the sanitation job, but I do not monitor the amount of water going in, I just wait for it to overflow. And I do use a pressure regulator set to 40 lbs. whenever connecting a hose to the freshwater tank or city water bibs. Mossey

I have been making my way east towards the rally, and visiting a few lakeside and riverside campgrounds. West Rolling Hills campground on Milford Lake, view from my campsite in Loop A West Rolling Hills is an Army Corp of Engineers cg located alongside Milford Lake, Milford SP, Milford Wildlife Area, Fish Hatchery, Nature Center.... https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/233608 Milford Lake is huge (I think over 15,000 acres) fed by the Republican River. Lots of fishermen, and I saw photo evidence from the camp host of a massive 54 pound catfish he caught the day I arrived. I didn't use any services there, but will attest to the friendliness of the host and other campers, and the clean conditions everywhere around the lake. A beautiful campsite. Sunset from the Prairie Meadow campground in Elk City State Park Elk City SP is west of Independence Kansas. This was a late arrival and early departure for me, but I enjoyed this sunset when I went walking after setting up. The campground overlooks Elk City Lake. There were lots of birds, including Barred Owls and Screech Owls near the campsite! The Current River is lined with vegetation, but walking trails provide direct access from some campsites in Big Spring cg Big Spring Campground in Ozark National Wild & Scenic River is also very pleasant. I've camped there a couple of times. It's a bit of a thrill (rollercoaster) driving to the campground along a narrow winding rolling road, but the campground and the river are beautiful. They have separate buildings for hot and cold showers, and offer other amenities. sunset from my campsite in Eureka Campground, Kuttawa KY Eureka Campground in Kuttawa KY is along the Cumberland River, overlooking The Land Between The Lakes. This is another ACOE campground, and another great location for fishing. The sites are mostly spacious with picnic tables and separate fish-cleaning tables at the site, fire pits and direct lake access from the campsite. There are tons of things to see and do near Land Between the Lakes. I plan to come back to this area. Oh! And about that 54 pound fish.... here's the camp host Tony with his catch at West Rolling Hills cg in Junction City KS

Here's a 2022 thread about Oliver changing to Goodyear Endurance ST tires:

Yes, for sure anything prolonged at 32 degrees is 4 season and I'm not interested. For us the 4th season is - go south young man, go south - a little farther, perhaps. Now to be clear, we have spent a few nights in freezing temps at elevation (10,000) and all was fine and toasty. As we are outdoors folks, and generally the really cold temps preclude outdoors - usually. I'll take a south Fla beach, or the Texas gulf over the snow and cold any day. Waking up at 30 degrees, in a tent in Yellowstone was great. It's better in the Ollie, trust me.

@Rivernerd Remove the drawers on the left side of the drawer stack under the kitchen sink. Look for a hatch plate in the bottom of the cavity. If you have one you should be able to remove the overflow tube to check for and remove any obstructions. The service dept cut that hole and installed the hatch in May 2018 when I suspected that the hose clamp on the through-hull fitting was loose. I have on my to-do list (still) to enlarge that opening to allow easier access to that area between the hulls. I think the factory started placing that access hatch in trailers built after that. Bill 2018 Hull 313

Wrapping up a week in Grand Tetons. Gros Venture is the campground and the fall colors, even though we were a little late, delivered! Also, thought I would post some solar number as some of these days it was really pulling in some good numbers hitting almost 350w out of a 400w panels one day. Another 6 days discounted, running invert most the day with Starlink and laptop and even some small microwave use. Batteries are sitting at 70% still.

Having experienced a catastrophic blowout on a different trailer, I don't mess around with tires. Tire pressure monitor and replace trailer tires every 5 years, regardless of mileage. The problem with trailer tires is the lack of use. Flexing the rubber is actually good for it, so when a trailer sits, the rubber deteriorates faster. Worse, the problem can be on the inside of the tire, even if the outside looks fine. It's shocking how much damage a tire carcass can do to a trailer when it sheds at 65 MPH.

We happened to be camping at Stone Mountain SP NC a few weeks ago when the Carolina Casitas were having a gathering, they invited us to join their Facebook group, so we did! Nice group of folks. Hope to attend Eggs on the Hiawassee River GA gathering held during June. They also have a Facebook group. We attended a couple of Hungry Mother SP VA Fiberglass gatherings attended by various fiberglass owners including Ollie owners. If I remember correctly one of the Oliver owners attending had a hand in making Peach and Cherry cobblers, too! 🙂

In addition to the Oliver regional rallies, there are also fiberglass rallies with more and more Olivers in attendance. Here in Ohio, the Casitas of Ohio put on a spring kick-off fiberglass rally and a fall rally. This past spring there were five Oliver’s in attendance out of maybe 20-25 total trailers. The Florida Eggs n S’mores fiberglass rally in January had at least a dozen Oliver’s. Hungry Mother fiberglass rally in Western Virginia had five Olivers. And there are similar rallies all over the country.

Well I just crawled under there to get a better understanding of the drain port. Ours is in the form of a plastic flanged bulkhead fitting that appears to extend about four inches up through the bottom hull just off the aft corner of the fridge compartment. It’s ID is about 3/4 inch and upon shining a light up inside, there is a fine mesh screen at the upper end and it appears to have a black fiberish filter material on top of the screen. There’s board dividing the fridge compartment from the galley drawer space, so no access to the drain from the outside fridge access panel. My guess is the mesh and what appears to be a filter material are there to prevent anything from getting into the freshwater tank through the drain. But this also would restrict the flow of water during the filling process. Sounds like there’s a few questions for Oliver service to better understand the principle of design and of course what to do if this filter/mesh becomes clogged over time.

Edit: @Steve and MA was quicker on the keyboard than me but I will leave additional thoughts below. I've always monitored the fresh overflow and fill rate closely when filling and flushing the fresh tank. I make sure my fill rate is very slow as the overflow is nowhere near large enough to accommodate a high fill rate. As soon as water starts sputtering out the overflow I shut the supply off. If I want to flush the system for and extended period, I reduce the flow to a fast trickle and monitor while working around the trailer. The holding tanks are not pressure rated, and even at a relatively low supply pressure such as 25psi, a fill rate say 10% faster than the overflow rate would slowly "inflate" the holding tank. It all depends on the overflow capacity to keep up the the fill rate. A strong stream at the overflow in my mind indicates a pressurized system and needs to be shut down immediately. Related to jd's comment above, I just happened to purchase a smart phone borescope earlier this morning on Amazon for other reasons, but realize it will be perfect for inspecting various concealed and hard to reach spaces on the Oliver. This may be just the tool for @Rivernerd to purchase for his evaluation, and keep onboard for future inspection needs. https://a.co/d/00rWQwkn

Reading through this thread, something that hasn't been mentioned as a possible cause is the flow rate of the water filling the tank. Though a water pressure regulator will inherently slow the water flow due to its restrictive internal passages, it's meant to restrict pressure (PSI) not rate (GPM). If water can enter the tank faster than the overflow tube can purge the excess, then the flexible plastic tank would have to expand until it had enough back pressure for the regulator to stop the flow. The point being that a regulator may be of little benefit when filling the fresh tank.

As I read through the replies my memory fades back to several tire foibles of the past. The Michelin's on my 2004 truck had similar bulges. and yet I got 45k out of them, my newer 2018, had one with a "dip" in it, and had no problems. The real issue for me has usually been nails, bolts, or some such road trash trespassing into my tire causing ruin and destruction - a flat. I had great experience with the rubber on my former Ollie, no problems. Ran tire monitors, which actually resulted in more stress overall - "why is that left rear hotter than the left front, oh look, the left front is 2 psi diff, and on". I know they are good for sudden blow out, otherwise, well, not so for me. I don't recall what brand or size is on the 2027 LEII and I'm sure it will be just fine until that screwdriver jettisoned from the electrician's truck bed finds its way into the right front tire sidewall, ending the short life of a full tread left tire. My luck in a nutshell.

Checked online for other Goodyear Endurance ST sidewall bulge discussions: Discussion 2026: https://www.airforums.com/threads/sidewall-bulge-on-new-goodyear-endurance-tire.2207120/ Discussion 2025: https://www.mygrandrv.com/threads/goodyear-endurance-tire-bulge-on-2025-2500rl-safety-risk-and-warranty-options.1200094/

Those are probably the emergency breakaway switch for the breaks and the CO monitor. They take a direct feed from the battery.

Very strange! The fresh tank expanded enough to bow the floor. It was holding pressure, for some period of time, long enough to after the fact use the kitchen faucet to release pressure. Water coming out of the overflow seems contrary to this occurrence. Overflow (must have) occurred only after enough pressure was built up to balloon the tank. 35 PSI was enough to balloon the tank but not burst the tank or tank plumbing. If the connection was 60 PSI, like our home plumbing, the tank would have expanded more and at some pressure point the tank would burst or blow off a connected fitting. Of course, this is not normal. Good news is since pressure held, the tank and plumbing should still be good, but keep your eye out for leaking. When our tank overflows, it pours out heavy, measured in GPM like the open hose! I'm always rushing to the shut-off asap, so not to waste much water. The overflow is the only way to know for sure you have a full (small) tank of precious fresh water. You could use a gallon counter at the hose. I've never trusted tank monitors, haven't used our SeeLevel display in at least 2 years. Thank you for bringing this to our attention, but personally I cannot see changing our simple fresh tank filling procedure. IMHO, your tank overflow needs repair or replacement vs. change of process for our community. Anything but waiting for tank overflow would be a once or twice weekly PITA. I would try a flexible scope up the overflow tube. Remove any screen in the path (replace with new) and debris. Is there some kind of nest up there? Our old hull has no access panels under the kitchen drawers (as Bill pictured above). Your newer hull likely does. It would be great if you can reach in and disconnect the hose clamp to the overflow! (Someday I'll likely cut a trench under both stacks of drawers to have such access and replace that awful ducting as far up as possible.) I hope you find the reason soon so that you can get back to life as usual! 😎 We'll be reading!

Picked up our Apex two weeks ago and have been in it every night - so far, so good. We planned to spend 3 weeks straight to learn and work out any bugs (very minimal issues so far) Pros - A dream to tow & bike mount has been solid/Eco flow display easier to learn that anticipated/battery re-charge amazingly fast/Houghton AC quiet and have ran all appliances (simultaneously) and some “faux” boondocking on the 48 volt DC system w/ no issues. It has been wonderful to arrive at the campsite with 98% battery every time. Overall love the attention to detail and quality of the design. Dinette cushions (backs) could be improved and wished they would have included the solar suitcase connection. Cons: Black/Gray tank indicators don't really warn you of a full tank, but the toilet gurgling and the shower backing up are sure indicators 🙂 I haven’t attempted filling the fresh water tank yet (to be honest I am intimidated by the multiple valves under the bed - wish they were labeled but thankful for the poster size diagrams on the compartment cover. Our background: Previous tent camper, then a Casita circa 2000s, and Airstream owner. So far impressed with the Oliver overall operation (Airstream could learn from Hohenwald orientation and pick up) and while tempted by the new Casita double axle trailer (significant price difference) the Apex is a well designed trailer and we have no regrets.

Four season is a squishy topic as its not defined precisely. You can use a canvas tent four season (our boys did it in Korea in hard winters.) It just depends on how comfortable you want to be, and how much energy you have. I'll break it down Cabin heating. Most people focus on this; it just depends on how efficient you want it to be. The Oliver design (double hull with radiant barrier) is more optimized for the heat (desert) than the snow (mountains). But it handles both excellently. My last trip went from the hot desert to the snowy mountains in March, it just took some propane. If you want a more efficient trailer in snow the Bigfoot is probably the only one better, but you're just saving some propane and personally I found it a cramped trailer. Now which do you want to optimize? Actually for heat is better because you need power to cool it down, which is scarcer than propane (unless you have an electric truck bwahahaha 🙂). So I think the Ollie is an awesome choice as it optimizes on the most energy scarce side of cooling. But any small trailer with decent insulation I think is fine in very cold or hot conditions (not Airstreams! There's a reason why they have two AC's and you'd better have full hookups) Humidity This is the more important issue; humidity management is the critical issue. On the Bigfoot (for example), I think its merely OK. Just anecdotal but I followed a couple who had one on the East Coast and dealing with humidity was a big deal. The Oliver however deals with this extremely well. no wood, nothing that can get damaged for one thing. I took it to Lassen the first week it opened. We lived in a deep fog bank for a week. Thick - you couldn't see the rest of the campground at times and it was a cold humidity which is bad. But the condensation was absolutely not a problem. The windows watered up, but as they're the new flush mount its outside the gasket, I just opened in the morning and squeegeed off outside. In the cabinets all the clothes needed to be pulled off the walls - yes. But the condensation just dripped down into what must have been designed in on purpose which is a condensation trip 'tray'. Impressed the hell out of me, Oliver raises the cabinet bottoms with a (honeycomb probably) panel, with a channel along the sides. This means it just drips down and collects there, I would just go and soak it up once a day. Only other thing was keeping stuff off the closet walls. Anyhow when I got it back down it took a day to dry out 😅But there wasn't a single trace of humidity damage or anything inside. Conclusion IMO it truly is four season. No trailer is perfect for all conditions or use cases. The Ollie optimizes somewhat more for hot than cold, but the advantage of is it's cheaper/easier to heat a trailer than cool a trailer. In roasting hot conditions the walls are cool to the touch due to an air gap, no heat channeling and radiant barriers. For condensation (hot or cold) its probably best in the business.

About two weeks ago my wife reported to me that her cloths dryer was not working. After a quick inspection I called an appliance repairman who explained that there was a short in the heating elements and/or an internal relay - neither of these parts were available for a repair. So, off to Lowe's we went and spent $2,000 on a new washer and dryer (had to get the pair due to them being "stacked" in the laundry room. A few days later once again my wife got my attention by saying that once again the "new" dryer was doing the very same thing that the old "broken" dryer did! This time I suspected that the circuit breaker was faulty, so, I removed the cover panel from our sub-panel "A" and inspected the breaker and wiring closely. Yep - one of the wires entering the circuit breaker for the dryer was loose. Odd that none of the other wires were loose and that the loose wire showed virtually no signs of heat. But, a five minute "fix" was all it took to solve the problem. However, obviously, it was too late to get the old dryer back let alone the $2,000. What are the odds that your battery cable was loose? What are the odds that a single wire into a breaker was loose? At least yours didn't cost you $2,000.😵‍💫 Bill

Be a bit careful with your reservations for the Hiawassee rally in that they really do get crowded. They do have an "overflow" area but I can not recommend it. Also, if you go be sure to get to the pot luck dinner early because all seats under cover will be gone quickly. Bill Hiawasee artwork-2017-1 - Copy-2.tif

Here’s another photo that shows how it is installed. Replacing that screen is now on my task list. Thanks to @Wayfinder for bringing the screen situation to our attention, I would probably have never noticed it. And thanks to @Rivernerd for alerting us to a potential problem. https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/11495-fresh-water-tank-overflow-condition/#comment-126984

Agreed, a screen insert makes sense to keep insects out. Filter material, why? It does look like a filter, but there's no need to filter waste water! The finer the screen or filter material, the quicker it will muck up, and eventually be closed shut. Thanks for the picture! I suggested the scope and now I need to get one! The screen/mesh looks somewhat clogged up. Who knows what has collected above it in your 5 years, our 11 years? Hull #1291 has at most 4 years of use! Could be one of those hole-saw plugs from the tank installation stuck along the path. It irks me how lazy "professional installers" can be. With the right tool it would take a few seconds to retrieve the plugs and a blast of compressed air to quickly clean out the new tank. Fill the tank more slowly? Filling up at Maverick on our last trip, It took over 10 minutes to fill the tank (28 gal on the counter) and the hose had a very good flow rate. Because it's so slow, I now start filling the fresh tank and dump tanks while it's taking its time filling. For me the 1/2" PEX plus the OEM restrictor makes the incoming water flow slow enough. I'll be checking and likely removing this "filter" instead. On my long list is also removing the Fresh and City Water line restrictors (they restrict flow vs. pressure). Everybody in every RV forever has run the hose until the tank overflows. Camping is supposed to be fun! 🤣 Is the "plastic flanged bulkhead fitting" removable, so serviceable? The screen is relatively close to the bottom, so there's hope. Given @Rivernerd's experience, I would certainly try to remove that fitting and see if the screen/filter is serviceable. If not, I would take long auger drill bit and turn it by hand slowly into the screen, trying to grab as much of it as possible for removal. Try to remove as much as possible with the bit, wider bits and other tools. Then use the scope again to see if it's clear all the way up and down into the tank. Finally, take a piece of stainless steel screening material, shape it into a cone and insert it at the very bottom. This screen insert could be removed later easily with a needle-nose pliers. It will be interesting to find out the end result here. I imagine a lot of us will be looking up that overflow tube soon enough!

I've met with another couple of Olivers on the road! One on my way to Elk Mountain Campground at Wind Cave, south of Hot Springs SD (Terry & Terri Hand, Hull #143) And then last week I met Kathy & Nancy who were locals from Abilene Kansas camping at West Rolling Hills Campground, on Milford Lake. Kathy couldn't quite remember her hull number; she thought it was 17xx but it was a 2022. It's always great to meet another Oliver on the road.

Very nice recap of the current Oliver business and overall RV climate. As a returning customer after a 6-year absence which drove a detailed perusing of the forum, the time spent catching up has been enlightening. The perspective you get as a current customer, being up to date with Oliver products and its overall business model is like seeing the trees in all their variety as the forest kind of blends in. When it all seems new, but you come from a base of familiarity, prior experience, the changes in business, features, models, service, no service department, dealers, no dealers, industry rise/decline - it all is a really interesting and a worthwhile study. I can appreciate the tactical moves in the Oliver business model and must give them some kudos as they worked to adapt to changing trends in the industry. Dealer networks, expanded service opportunities, improved option content, less choice, new models, only to regroup - no dealer network, strategize the service business, add a new product, it all represents forward thinking and a management team that looks to the future. Change is hard, it's not always correct, but directionally Oliver stays the course. Given that, what has not changed is the Oliver strategy- take care of customers, build industry leading products, innovate. From my vantage point Oliver has incorporated changes in the option and build content that not only make sense but align with what I once asked - why not? It appears to me streamlining or right sizing of choice has cleaned up the build variation, and driven a little more standard process, less variation. Less demand should drive better builds, and improve quality - not only FTQ, but actual in the field customer satisfaction. Price, whoa, price, now that is a shock - but break it down, it is not out of line with the entirety of the general price increase across the economy. Doesn't appear to be less of an Oliver (less chips in the bag), perhaps quite the contrary. Yearly Oliver owners retreat - a "Rally" --still happening and fully supported by Oliver. Who does that? Now don't get me wrong - I have some issues Oliver could improve, but they are not asking, and they seem to catch on eventually anyways. As I type this post, my mind reminds me of the several issues we had on our prior unit, the many mods I made to improve some function or fix a design issue, tempered by the satisfaction enjoyed in many a remote outpost. It was true to me then - 7 years back, the Oliver was a great thing to have in the wilds of American backcountry travel, it was relatively trouble free, and the Oliver company never let me down when there was a problem. That continues to be true today. I can only look forward to that remaining the case and perhaps improving. I'll let you know next March...... RB As I edit- they also provide and support this forum. another feather to be added to the cap.

High pressure could cause enough turbulence to splash water up to the overflow tube creating gurgling and an air lock. An air lock can effectively block the vent tube. It's not uncommon, even with large industrial tanks! It's also possible that floating debris blocked the overflow tube as the tank filled, then it floated away afterwards. This is intermittent and it's happened with hole-saw plugs that were left in the tank during fabrication. I've always instinctively filled the freshwater tank very slowly, just a crack of the valve. The overflow tube is no match for my hose pressure and volume, and the tank is not designed to be pressurized.

Toni - The Florida, the New England and the Texas rallies were organized by members/owners and all were mentioned here on the Forum. However, primarily due to attendance restrictions (which, in turn, was due to campground availability) each of these rallies had limited availability and "advertisement". It seems that the old saying - "build it and they will come" - certainly pertains to our rallies. While the Texas and and New England rallies have been held each year for the past few years, the Florida rally was only held when Foy and Mirna had the time to devote to it (note here that in addition to hosting the Florida rally Foy and Mirna graciously provided everyone in attendance with the main entree for one night's dinner - Since I've not been able to attend either of the other two rallies I do not know the details). I also know that Oliver has provided some "door prizes" and there have been other "sponsors" as well for each of these rallies. Generally, announcements of these regional rallies would be found in the "Events & Rallies" section of the Forum. Hope this helps. Bill Sorry - I forgot about the Mid-West Rally that is taking place May 19th-May 23, 2027.

My wife and I lived in St. Louis for 25 years. During that time we heard about and saw advertisements for a restaurant in the southern part of Missouri but never thought that the drive (1.5 to 2 hours) was worth it for just a meal. Besides, a restaurant that relies on "throwed rolls" in their advertisements simply can't be all that good when it comes to what matters - the food. Over the past few years of returning to Western North Carolina from the Western mountains where I fly fish each summer, I've stopped at the Mothership in Hohenwald. This takes me down interstate 55 from Saint Louis and the restaurant mentioned above is located in Sikeston, Missouri just west of exit 67. So, this year I decided to make a stop at: Lambert's 2305 East Malone GPS: 36.887912, -89.546457 Lambert's has an RV park right next to the restaurant where all sites have electric and water and there is a central dump - per night rate of $45. However, while convenient to the restaurant, there are few trees (sites 8 and 9 will provide some shade) and there is no bath house. On the positive side, if needed they will come to your site and provide you with transportation to the restaurant, or, deliver your food ordered via a phone to your site. If you desire shade and/or a bath house and a slightly lower camp site price, there is Hinton's RV Park located just East of Interstate 55 at GPS: 36.893962, -89.527317. The food is basically standard American fare - think of Cracker Barrel ON STERIODS. Indeed, they come out from the kitchen area and announce the arrival of fresh rolls and then start throwing them towards anyone wanting one. Note here that if you don't catch your roll on the first or second throw, they then bring it over to you and place it on your plate. As with virtually everything else served, the rolls are large and tasty. They also have a couple of people wandering through the dining area serving out "2nds, 3rds, 4ths, etc." of a couple of "sides". Prices are reasonable and the service is very good. I was told that while the dining area is very large, it can be VERY crowded particularly on the weekends. I was there on a Monday at about 5pm and had no difficulty being seated. Bill

Looks like they installed a flexible tube and left a twist in it. You might try loosening a clamp and twisting the kink out. Unfortunately that kink could be set and it seems like too a tight bend even for a replacement piece. Oliver should address that despite the expired warranty, it was just a poor installation from the start. Good luck, Geoff

Thanks for the detailed response. I agree—the wiring is a mess, and that’s exactly why I’m redoing all of it. I did not know about the failure rate of the Optifuse. I’m also curious about the maximum of three wires on a lug, and why there are two connections ahead of the Optifuse. For my upgrade, I’ll be using the Victron Energy Lynx Distributor with ANL fuses.

Bummer! I have seen brand new tires with a "slight sidewall bulge" due to the lesser manufacturing process of some brands. Though I just looked at my flat bed trailer that has the same Goodyear Endurance ST tires, just a size smaller. No bulges on mine and they look to be rather well made tires. They are 7 years old now with likely only 2500 miles on them! I'm not changing them yet since lately we only use the trailer to go dirt-biking once or twice a year. A 12 ft 7K dual axle trailer with 650 LBS of cargo a few miles at 35 MPH, I'll take my chances! Now the Oliver is a different story! Our LT tires are near 5 years old. I never heard 5 years for ST, always seen 7 years. We have 19K miles on the Oliver in 3 years, prior owner had 2 years on the same tires with who knows how many miles, and there is no real treadwear. Every time I talk maintenance, I recommend removing the wheels for inspection when doing anything else! Grease Zerks, torque bolts and spend a few minutes inspecting each tire. I always remove all the gravel, and often while doing so, I have found a screw or some kind of metal in the treads. Wash the tires on both sides. It's easier to see a defect or new damage on a clean tire! Bulge just on one tire, make it the spare for now. Running at 55 PSI is a very good number for low sidewall stress. Could you have any prorated warranty left? (3 years 10K miles) Or if it's truly a defect, Goodyear might cover it anyway. You could drive by a Discount Tire or other Goodyear dealer when you get a chance. They should help to communicate with Goodyear for coverage. It's a shame that OTT installed tires already 1-2 years old, 6-8 months is more usual, less time with the large manufacturing volume of these ST tires. Why did OTT change to ST tires on 15" wheels? Do they make a 15" LT tire? I'm not a TPMS guy either and our vehicles are all too old to have OEM TPMS. I check every time I take a break from driving. Do a full walk around and eyeball all 8 tires before going. I do it with all vehicles, whether towing or not.

Does this mean the "fuse is good?" it's certainly not a conclusive test and it doesn't mean there's a 12V source connected to the breaker. +12V on the source side of the breaker shows you have connection to the batteries. +12V on the load side shows the breaker is closed providing a power connection to the bus. A dead (or disconnected) converter will only keep you from recharging batteries when connected to shore power. A running converter is not required to operate lights, the jacks or anything else 12VDC. Converter status is independent of these 12V loads getting power from the batteries.

Imelda, Thanks for the update, and I’m glad you’re able to get home with things as they are. Just a quick reminder—the jacks don’t receive their power from the converter, but more of a direct connection from the batteries through the 60 amp Optifuse shown in my above image.

I used white plastic hole plugs similar to below when I changed out my A/C. I actually had to enlarge the holes to get the smallest one's to fit. You don't really notice them but if you do, they just like part of the installation. I was concerned that if I tried to fill the holes, I wouldn't be able to reproduce the glossy finish of the gel coat and that would be more noticeable. https://www.amazon.com/Tnisesm-Plastic-Knockout-Locking-Furniture/dp/B0C3H1J6M8

The coldest we have camped is 15 degrees a few nights in a row. We opened the drive side basement hatch/lid in the dinning seat to allow warm air into this unheated area and ran a dehumitifier. Each day the temps were above freezing. In these conditions our Oliver preformed very well. We have never spent time below freezing 24/7 for running days. If we were to camp in below freezing day and night for an extend time as we are currently setup, we would to blow out the water lines, empty gray, black and fresh water tanks and use water jugs for our water source. Maybe 30+ years ago, I would have considered this a good time. Several Oliver owners have modified the weak areas of heating and or insolation i.e basement/outside shower, batteries and the bathroom trailer nose. Solutions I have read about in this forum are adding insolation, running heat duct down the drivers side basement from heating system and pulling the outside shower inside the hull. I believe Oliver's double hull gives you the best change to set up for true winter camping. I'm thinking there isn't such a thing as a full fuctioning true winter camping trailer ready to go off the showroom floor.

Love the name! Watch out for any bird like woman with a good vocal range

I live in Wisconsin and camp mostly in Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota. We think of ourselves as 3-season campers and based on our experience consider the Oliver a 3-season camper. So for us it works just fine because we value our plumbing and hot water while we are camping. To be more technical, from our experience and what I have read, the Oliver is good down to about 20 degrees F. If that is full winter for you, then it is 4-season. It is not for us, and we don't want to be camping when it is less than 20 degrees F, so all is good!

Todd B - If you are still in the Teton area be sure to look up "Elk Ranch" road. It is located north of your campground, is on your right as you travel north and is easy to get into and out of even when towing your Ollie. Great views of the Tetons are available here without dealing with 5,000 of your closest friends. Also, Dornann's is a good place for a decent pizza - located just north of the airport. Safe travels! Bill

Alex & Kelly, Looks like a great launch into the next chapter of your lives. The Odyssey will take you to many wondrous places throughout this land and your experiences will enrich your lives and souls. Welcome to the Ollie family. I look forward to meeting you at the rally in a few weeks. Pete / site B49

This makes alot of sense. It is far easier to grease and visually observe how the chassis is functioning/wearing with wheels off. But it is a royal pain as every time i take the wheels off the ez-flex inverts on me and then in addition to remounting, and retorquing, there is the jacking to correct the linkage inversion, once on each side. I guess no pain, no gain.

I measured ours and the fitting is 3/4" ID and the full width is 2" which maps to a Thru-Hull fitting this size: https://www.amazon.com/Seaflo-Thru-Hull-Fittings/dp/B076VTKQQ3/ If so, the overflow tube would be 3/4" ID. For OTT to add the "insect screen" it would have to be in the overflow tube just above this fitting. There doesn't appear a way to service this part. Perhaps Geoff may have luck cleaning the screen. @Hokieman had also thanked @Wayfinder above regarding his August post. Chris was thinking ahead in his post, when he wrote, "At least my tank won't blow up like a balloon and warp the trailer." See in the link below, Chris' screen had rusted, falling apart in pieces, and after he removed the screen there was nothing else, no "filter" present. This screen rusting away would likely be common wherever rust is prevalent in your climate. @Ollie-Haus, if there's no filter what is the black substance behind the screen in your photo? We can't be certain with OTT installations; one hull could have a screen/filter while the other has a different installed component, merely a screen. We have ballooned tanks, or screens rusted away, and who knows what else! I believe unless your inspection shows a clean rust-free screen, a screen that allows full light to pass through it, the best thing to do is to remove said screen/filter in any way possible. Then add a removeable screen inserted inside the bottom of the Thru Hull fitting.

Thank you. I had not checked out the 2019 Oliver Manual before. I just downloaded a copy. I see many differences comparing our older hull but still can be helpful.

Dean, WOW! I've seen some strange wiring but what happened here? Did they run out of buses on install day? The installer just bolts everything to the breaker, OMG! 🤣 BTW, this is the famous Optifuse! Many of these have failed, so that OTT has stopped using them! Search the Forum for keyword Optifuse. I'd be surprised if this isn't the answer to the issue of this thread, since everything not working, lights, jacks etc. is connected to this breaker. Do yourself a favor with your upgrade and replace the Optifuse breaker with an 60A ANL fuse and holder. Oh, and add a +bus, LOL! Back in 2016, OTT used Bussman breakers (at least on our hull). They installed a 40A for all 12VDC lighting, jacks, etc. (pictured above) and a 30A Bussman for the rooftop solar. Keeping things standard, I purchased a 35A Bussman breaker to protect the Victron MPPT 100|30 SC that I added for our 400W Renogy suitcase solar. Three Bussman breakers, 2 of them 11 years old, the new one 2 years old, no issues. ANL fuses are more reliable as you certainly know when they are blown (always have a spare). Fuses will blow when there's too much current on either side of the fuse. Breakers are directional, so they only protect on the load side of the breaker. I have no idea what your two black wires are on the source side of your breaker. Trace them back if you can. If not, I'd wire them to a new bus with everything else. I have no wires before a breaker anywhere, meaning power to the breakaway switch on our hull does pass though the 40A breaker (OTT had not wired this to code). I know the breakaway switch works because I pull it to test for amperage to the brakes. When I moved these breakers to the dinette area, I found the wiring from the jack fuses to all 3 jacks ran towards the dinette area first (was surprised since one jack is right there and the curbside jack is another direction). I removed all that excess wire and removed 3 butt connectors on each of the 3 wires along the way. I crimped one fresh butt connector on each of 3 much shorter wires to clean things up. 😎

Did you see the manual? It’s got over a dozen diagrams in it, I just did a snip of one of them. Most of the circuits are shown.

Townesw: Thanks for the tip. I neglected to mention that water was actually flowing from the overflow tube when the trailer shifted, yet the bowing/damage still happened. Our 2022 hull #1291 has a 1/4" plywood cover over a hole in the location you described. I plan to remove it and verify if there is an obstruction of the overflow tube. That said, I still plan to monitor the fresh tank sensor when filling, regardless of what I find!

I would replace the one, put the spare on opposite side of the same axle. Put the other two best on the other axle. The most visible worn tire in as spare. Unless the tires have been in full sun, in the desert (say Phoenix), generally good until 6 - just inspect them regularly. Now the caveat - if I was headed out on a long-term trip - months, and headed up to AK, and beyond, different story. Do you run tire pressure monitors?

Dean & Mary - Re Rallies: In a recent conversation with Aaron Wolters at Oliver he told me that he is working on and is interested in "regional rallies". If you would be interested in helping organize such a rally in your area, I'd suggest that you get in touch with Aaron. There are and have been a number of these regional rallies - the New England area, the Texas rally and the Florida rally all come to mind. Therefore, any organizer would not have to re-invent the wheel to get it done. Bill

What a beautiful start and the perfect name — Odyssey. Welcome to the Oliver family — see you at the Rally!