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Reminds me of the pictures you get after a colonoscopy. Bill

Better stay with a 3-way fridge, unless you're plugged in. Running on DC overnight takes too much power for AGM batteries. We do, and it must stay below 10F to keep my Qt of ice cream cold! Glampin' right?! 😎 We also make ice! Two of these fit in one corner of the Dometic freezer, taking very little room. I refill one each night so we always have ice available for those adult beverages! https://www.amazon.com/Molds-Silicone-Trays-Large-Square/dp/B0771YDNCY/ @Ronbrink was first to have one of these in his TV. Like you, he has the dual-zone CFX which is great! At first, I didn't want to use the space, but I went with the single compartment CFX5 45L which just fits in this space by the passenger door. It's so nice always having cold water with us, and not only in the cabin. Often when traveling, we buy a load of meat from a local farm or butcher shop. I'll remove the drinking water, set the CFX5 down to freezer temps to carry the box full of frozen meats, yum! Some people go to museums. That's not us. We shop the great local food markets. Leaving to SW Colorado this Wednesday! With both fridges half empty, our first stop is always the Delores Market! 😍

About noon today on Interstate 80 I was headed East and a white truck towing a white LE 2 was headed West near Laramie, WY. And, a wonderful couple paid for dinner tonight as both of us are overnighting at Cabela's, Sidney, NB. 2 in less than 12 hours!

Thank you Chris, for bring this to our attention! 😂 Every time a forum member brings up a maintenance issue, next thing I'm outside checking ours. That's for sure! Ours has no screen at all and no rust. I can stick the full length of my index finger all the up into the opening. Thought I better secure our drain to keep mice and bugs out. I cut a circle about 2 1/2" dia. Then cut a radius line to shape a cone. Then crushed the screen over a 3/8" socket extension and pushed it up into the opening. Same screening I used in the fridge vents.

Interesting story: I actually had fixed the problem before I got the official description from Truma due to the time of day that I had the failure. I had been driving through a raging rain storm during the day, ended up at a campground near Allentown PA in early January 2024. Temperatures dipped to freezing , set up late evening at 4 County RV Park that night and could not get the furnace to run. Because I had driven all day in the pouring rain I suspected that water may have entered the exhaust / inlet port of the furnace. I could find no description for the error that I was getting in the documentation or on line. I decided to take a hair dryer and blow warm air into the furnace exhaust / inlet port and after several minutes I was able to get the furnace to fire up ( luckily ). Called Oliver the next day and they had no listing for the error. I then put in a ticket with Truma and I got an email a day later explaining what the cause may be. I haven't had the problem since.

IMG_0062.mov We had our Oliver ceramic coated by Blake, owner of Triple B Detailing near Lake Norman, NC. He did an outstanding job and was absolutely incredible to work with! His reviews were stellar and making the 3 hour trip to see him was more than worth it! He is knowledgeable, passionate, and takes pride in every step of the process! Our Oliver looks better than when we took delivery a month ago. I wanted to share Blake’s information and an honest review in case anyone is looking for someone in the area and wants someone who does exceptional work with Olivers.

I purchased and picked up my Nova Kool 5810 from a dealer in Miami, FL. It was a day of travel, but what's a retired guy going to do on a Tuesday? Mossey

I did get under my rig with my creeper and a bright flashlight. I took some pics too, but they are not really worth loading up here. So far, everything looks good and things appear to be moving as they should. However, when I put my springs on, I was a bit "anal" and even added a finger size of grease on the shackles where the springs would be touching and rubbing. I knew the 65 ft lbs may be an issue, so I gave everything a fighting chance to move freely. LOL Seems to have worked. I do have grease pushed out to the far side of the wet bolt/shackle area, but then again I used a Ryobi battery powered grease gun, which seem quite powerful, and FAST.

From across the lake

Dennis, PM me with your address and I’ll put a brand new original in the mail to you. 😎 Barker is great. I purchased two reconditioned heads for our rears and they came with new plastic covers, switches, etc. which of course you don’t need when replacing the rears. It would be my pleasure!

@Hokieman Not sure what to explain in regards to the shackles and wet bolts being heavier duty than Dexter parts. They simply appears bigger/larger. Once you get over the fact that the wet bolts could possible spin over time due to no spines in the shackles, all is well, I guess. As to why Oliver is using Dexter parts with Alcan springs, I'm not sure. If they are, I can only think of a few reasons why: They have tons of Dexter spare parts and want to use them up & save $$$. Or they are making a less than desirable decision to save $$ and use Dexter parts with Alcan springs. 🤷‍♂️ The parts will be fine I'm sure. Most of those bolts & shackles had held up pretty well. Oh sure, a few reports of broken ones over the years, but only time will tell with pure Alcan parts. Again, a business does not stay in business since 1971 if they make crap parts, I would think. Us men can be so darn anal detailed oriented with our data-point comparisons that it surely creates super long threads. 🤣. It's like our chess games but with RV parts. 😉 I spend much of my time in recent years ensuring I know how to retire and if I did a good enough job with the portfolio (I think so). And now whether or not I want to go thru a full RV Tech school to have a better foundation, or simply goof-off in early retirement. Decisions, decisions.

I’m fit, I used to always weigh 240+ now 220 LBS or less. We played 2 hours of pickleball today, and generally play 3 times a week. We play against couples in their 50s, winning more often than not, just us in our early 70s! 😎 No fricken way I’m washing/waxing a vehicle anymore! After 50 years of keeping every vehicle I have in A+ condition, my energy for wax-on/wax-off has grown extremely weak! I’ll pay $100 to have a neighborhood kid work all day long washing my truck! Paid $2K for the best Ceramic Coating I’ve ever seen (just one guy, he kept our Oliver for 2 weeks). Taking our hull back to “the guy” for our first annual decontamination wash. I could not believe when just last week he said, the annual will be $180 (based on how I kept it, mostly untouched). Thanks Dan, I enjoy reading “Dan’s Mods!”

I'm with Dan on these comments, but many like and use the Calmark cover. I sold our Calmark a couple years ago to Gary in Minnesota. I would not have purchased one but it came with the deal used. I'm sure up north it keeps the snow off! We had 2 ft of snow once on our Oliver, but that kind of snow around here only blows in every few years and it will always melt in a couple days. 🤣 We all have different needs. Don't forget the rub marks on the gelcoat, unless your storage is well out of the wind. Down here, if I left a cover on, even for a couple of weeks, we would have 3 kinds of nests under the cover and the Pack Rats would chew the fabric all along the bottom edge to make their nests! I also like the rooftop solar showing, so I can leave it unplugged most of the year. 😎

We decided to wash the cushion covers. Unfortunately there are no care instructions in any of the covers we've checked. Oliver didn't have any guidance either. We started machine washing our cushion upholstery covers. Washing in a front loader on delicate/cold with second rinse. Adding regular laundry detergent and oxiclean. The upholstery fabric is synthetic and comes out of the washer almost dry. A few hours in the sun (air drying) finishes them. We also turn them inside out at some point to make sure they dry completely. We would not attempt machine drying. The washed cushion covers look the same (no discoloration) as before washing but they smell better. Not sure if the upholstery had some type of stain treatment but the washed covers feel better too. The edge piping also had a little fraying after washing but we clipped or melted the frays. (Nylon or polyester fabric so you have to be very careful if you try to melt the frays.) Freshly washed on left with a pile of removed frays at bottom. Piping fray after washing, before repair. The most difficult part is removing and reinstalling the foam from the covers. The covers are a very tight fit and the zipper opening is smaller still. The smaller the cushion, the more difficult. We have a standard bed and the small cushions used in the corners were a challenge. Strong hands are useful. We found when removing the covers, our foam had stuck to the seams of the covers in some places. Not sure why this happens. We found it's best to run my hand along the fabric seams to separate the foam from the fabric. There are also a lot of fabric strings on the inside of the cover from the fraying seal allowance so we have to be careful not to pull on those when removing the foam. After drying, we cut off a lot the frayed fabric strings to make it easier to reinstall the foam. Getting the foam past the zipper can be difficult. We found that squeezing the corner of the foam with one hand and pulling the fabric end over the foam worked best for us. Strong hands are very helpful here. Once the foam is inside to cover we had to stick an arm between the cover and the foam to help position the foam, especially in the corners. We're working through the cushions a washer load at a time. The covers take up a lot of space in the washer when dry but not nearly as much when we so we started with four small covers by themselves and we're working up the number and size of the covers we wash at one time. We also plan each wash so there's no confusion on which cover goes on which block of foam.

Do you actually use a freezer compartment? The Dometic they're installing now (or the '26's at least) have a removable one, and its much better as now I have room for taller stuff. Annoying that jams, pasta sauce and the like doesn't fit anywhere except on their side otherwise. I also have a Dometic CFX5 75 in the truck for when we need more stuff. The compartments are individually settable via Bluetooth or front panel, to freezer/fridge. Being an EV there's lots of power in the bed, I have a portable battery plugged into that which tops off when we drive, and powers the cooler otherwise. I got this on sale but there's equivalent cheaper ones Anyhow the other advantage is no more ice buildup since its just a fridge now. On the downside, their design is for moisture to collect on the top area (former freezer) and it drips down which is annoying. This is actually their design ... anyhow easy to 3D print a collection tray and funnel it to the drain hose which I'll do at some point. I believe (can check if you're interested) a Dometic NRX 130C with dark stainless front. Freezer compartment is removeable as mentioned, it has a latch which props it open when unpowered to keep airflow going through it. Really a nice fridge I like it

The Cabela’s campground in Sidney is a convenient stopping spot! Easy walk over to Cabela’s too.

Yes, there is a restriction to both the incoming City Water and Fresh Water lines. OTT plumbing diagrams only show the backflow prevention devices, labeled "check valves" in the plumbing diagrams. However, they also install flow restrictors. See basement picture rear of our hull. I can't be certain if this is true for all hulls, but take a look along the rear wall of your basement. This slows down the City Water and slows down how long it takes to fill the Fresh Tank! It's been on my long list to remove both restrictors while cleaning the check valves, but like you, we use City Water about 1 in 10 days camping. We have also used the water pump to boost internal water flow when necessary. What you're doing, using an actual pressure regulator vs. a flow restrictor, on the incoming City Water is the right way to do it, but given an inline restrictor, you're slowing down GPM 2 times. I have never used a pressure regulator knowing flow restrictors are built-in. I use a filter for desert water but don't bother with good mountain water. We do not drink water from our fresh tank anyway. I drain the Fresh Tank 1-2 times a year and bleach it every couple of years.

I upgraded to the 2 5/16" ball while still using the Andersen WDH, a new Andersen 2 5/16" ball and friction cone for about $90. Later after the Alcan upgrade I stopped using the Andersen all together. I now use a simple HD ball mount that I had previously. It's worth repeating. Do NOT use the Andersen ball mount without the WDH or at least place the lock pin below, otherwise there is only gravity and a circlip keeping the ball cone in place.

I received email reminders from Josh White @ OTT. Last one was 8/20. You may not be on the list or maybe being flagged as spam. Perhaps they closed it down early because it’s full. But there are always cancellations, so give them a call and check on your email situation.

The originals are uncomfortable and i have considered replacing for that reason alone. Ours look a bit too good yet for me to spring for it. Pass the ketchup, please. 😉

I will get an external screen cover to put around the overflow pipe, like those that cover furnace exhausts.

I grabbed my borescope and not only grabbed some pics of the rusted screen in the overflow pipe, but a short video of my borescope magnet attachment trying to pull more screen out. Some of the rotted screen simply fell out upon touching it. I got the rest out with a long angled pick. Also, I had drained my fresh water tank on Sunday after a trip, but did not raise the nose of the camper high enough to remove enough water. You can see the reflection of the borescope light in the water. So I raised the rear jack stands, and raised the nose up a good bit more to drain even more water. I bet no one has shown the inside of the water tank before. LOL I can now see how an old rusted screen mesh could block the overflow. Also time to clean tank. fresh-water-overflow-screen-removal.mp4

That's for sure. There's no sound reason OTT locates them back there. Some of us have real mattresses! No longer am I moving my bed to change a fuse, or Chris' bed to change the water valves. When I moved ours under the rear dinette seat, I found all I had to do was cut the power wires shorter for the 3 jacks because the wires go towards the front anyway. https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/10469-goal-to-minimize-the-need-to-move-the-beds-while-camping/

I believe the fuse on the jack post comes with the jack, so it's somewhat redundant. Fuses should always be located as close to the power source as possible. Glad you got it fixed.

My wife mentioned seeing that incident on the FB page. Was a cause ever determined? I gather the overflow line did work. Too much pressure going in? Another reason to always have a pressure regulator on your hose, even when filling the tank.

Left-Side Hinge Ordering - Just FYI, and to keep this key thread somewhat at the top, if you are ordering a Nova Kool 5810, most in stock fridges are right-side hinged. You can swap sides, but Nova Kool recommends ordering a left-side hinge. I got the sense from talking to them, that if you reverse the door, you end up with the holes exposed and apparently it voids the five year warranty. Lead time as I write this is 4-6 weeks. I got mine from suremarine.com out of Seattle. They are a high volume Nova Kool dealer and close to the Canadian factory. Shipping to San Antonio is around $500. ;-(, but their price was best I could find. https://www.suremarineservice.com/Galley/Single-Door-Freezers/F5810ACDC.html

There should be 3 fuses under the street side bunk, one for each jack. They are easy to find if you look there.

Reasoning is I wouldn't think with how heavy your tow vehicle is that a WDH would be necessary. What you describe is the way my truck felt towing prior to upgrading leaf springs. The Alcan springs will eliminate 90% of the porpoising and so made the tail-heavy feeling go away. BTW, both Bill and I had measured tongue weight with a Sherline scale at 580 LBS. Most Oliver owners with 2500 series trucks do not use the Andersen WDH.

While traveling we've used our Starlink Mini often. Though more often with cell coverage we are able to use our our T-Mobile 5G SIM on our Pepwave router. I have also used the Pepwave with 5G service as a backup to our home network. Twice while teaching, in the last two years, our Sparklight service has gone down, and I've logged into the Pepwave Wi-Fi to continue the Zoom class sessions. Over the last two years, 5G service in our neighborhood has gotten better/faster. I decided to cancel our home cable service which has grown in cost from $40/mo eight years ago to $86/mo lately for 300 Mbps service. I've worked out a complex installation that allows us to be logged into the same Home Network whether we are physically at home or on the road with the Oliver! To date we have only used the Starlink powered by battery, connecting via Wi-Fi using the built-in Starlink Router. I just finished a more complete installation where we have the Starlink powered by 12-24V DC-DC charger (thanks Geoff) and connected by Ethernet cable to the WAN port of the Pepwave. This will start to get technical for many of you... Internet connection comes into Pepwave router by means of the Parsec 5G antenna (priority #1) or when needed by the Starlink Mini via the Pepwave LAN input. The Pepwave can if needed also share bandwidth between WAN connections for greater overall speed. The Pepwave router will also broadcast Wi-Fi but like any Wi-Fi broadcast it has distance limitations. The Wi-Fi coming from our truck installation by itself will not pass through the garage and the walls of our home to the other side of the house or our lower level where it's half underground. But it does fine more than 100 ft radius around any campsite. At home, we've been using a Wi-Fi 6 Mesh network, a main with two satellite routers to cover all the area on our 3/4 acre property. Including the Oliver which is parked 100 ft away! Now that we're not using a home-based modem anymore, I thought "How could I repurpose this system connected to the Pepwave?" I installed the Mesh Wi-Fi main unit in our truck connected by ethernet cable to a LAN output of the Pepwave. It's so cool that when I read the label on the 120V power adapter for the mesh unit, the output was stated at 12VDC 3.5A which means all I had to do was to cut off the adapter and connect two wires to the 12VDC in the truck! I mounted it in the back window behind the rear bench seat, behind the driver's head. Out of sight when driving and good line-of-sight out the rear of the truck. Where our truck is parked most of the time, backed into the driveway, the mesh satellite in my office also has line-of-site to the main. Our "Home" network is getting 300-400 Mbps down and about 20-50 up from this installation, 5G cell through the cell antenna on the truck! I then parked the truck in the garage where the Wi-Fi signal must travel through 3 walls. We could still stream TV at about half these numbers. Half speed is also about what the Starlink Mini delivers day-to-day. Yeah, good 5G service is 2-4 times faster than the Mini. I've canceled our cable Internet service. The savings of $86/mo in two years will pay for everything spent in this installation; the Pepwave and antenna, the Starlink Mini and accessories, the converters and cabling, etc. Now here's the real kicker! 😎 I setup a home network on the Wi-Fi mesh. We have all of our laptops, cell phones, network printer, TVs etc. all connected to the same "home" network. We also have the TV in the Oliver on the same network. Regardless of whether we are home or away the network login is constant so no need to reconnect ever to another Wi-Fi. If we need Starlink, when traveling, or for emergencies when at home and the cell network is overloaded, just mount and connect the Starlink Mini and it feeds the same home network. If we wanted to connect to a public or friend's Wi-Fi we can also input that to the Pepwave "Wi-Fi as WAN" so it becomes the Internet source for our home network. It's a lifetime, seamless setup! 🤣 So, you might be thinking a router with antenna, the Starlink Mini and a Wi-Fi Mesh could pull a bit of power from your truck starter batteries. Yes, and it will over time. Earlier I had installed a 100W Renogy flexible solar panel on our truck toolbox along with a small 15A Victron MPPT SC. This small solar setup always keeps our truck AGM batteries to 13V+ and powers everything listed above. It also has ample power for our Dometic CFX5 45l fridge in the truck bed! 😎 One exception is when I have the truck parked inside the garage for more than a couple days. So then I connect a battery charger, quick connect leads already installed above the front bumper. I got done yesterday as the sun was setting and this picture shows it all. Notice the Starlink Mini mounted top right with the small blue power light on. You can see the Renogy panel on the toolbox, the SC is installed inside with outputs to battery and the fridge in a separate circuit. You can see cable looms, going up to the antenna and to the Starlink running across the box. The Mini is removable but the cabling stays. If we ever camp where the Northern sky is blocked where the TV is parked, then the Starlink would be mounted elsewhere, Starlink Wi-Fi login, powered by battery again. We find this is a rare case where we camp most of the time out West. The Pepwave install was shown earlier in this thread and is behind the rear bench seat below. Lastly, notice the blue light in the truck rear window. This is the Arris Mesh. I had purchased this mesh network 6 years ago, so it was great to reuse it, no cost. If I was to purchase new today there are better and smaller products available, though this system as a whole works great. We've got more installed in our tow vehicle than most have in their homes and RVs put together. What a great upgrade! 🤣

Dan, you are correct and if "two techs" made such statements, the were absolutely WRONG in stating such nonsense! See PDF page 11 of the Andersen Installation Instructions which I have also captured in the picture below. It states first hand-tight and then use socket and tighten to 3-4 more threads showing. The WDH only works from the chain tension. If you kick on the chains properly adjusted you should hear a bass note hum from the tension! 😎 I used the Andersen before we upgraded to Alcan Springs. My older Dodge 2500 is borderline, owners manual stating it's needed when over 500 LB tongue weight or 5000 LB tow weight. The Oliver exceeds both numbers. The Oliver would cause our rear to sag 2" and the Andersen when adjusted would bring the height back up to perfectly level (see pic). Without the Andersen we would have serious porpoising. Turns out the Alcans allow the Oliver suspension to manage itself eliminating the porpoising, so we stopped using the Andersen WDH after the suspension upgrade. First thing to do for your 9K LB 2500 series EV truck is to remove the Andersen WDH! CAUTION: If you remove the Andersen WDH also replace the ball hitch <OR> if you continue to use the same ball mount provided by Andersen, lock the base with the collar pin. If not there is only a circlip holding the hitch ball in place. If @Douglas Rink is towing with a 1/2 ton truck then it is suggested but a waste of money for the 2500 series truck. Anybody need a good used Andersen WDH with a new 2 5/16" ball and cone? Andersen-WD-Hitch-Installation.pdf

FWIW, we keep a cover on our tongue Jack in the hope of reducing failures. https://a.co/d/013Mrxua

@Dennis and Melissa Meaher State Park, Alabama A sunset view from a site close to where you took yours. Mossey

A little hot, but beautiful.

Oh that’s a good idea, don’t know why I didn’t think of it. The one thing I miss about the freezer is having ice cubes, I’ll keep ‘em in the cooler. I need a bigger buffer battery, the small Jackery runs out overnight. I can tell the truck to stay on and power it for however long but its overkill I got a small dedicated drink cooler behind the drivers seat with soft drinks for the road, but my full sized Montague folding bike has been going there now. We eat a lot of veg and good stuff isn’t always available. Four of these store in the fridge part of the cooler, two in the Oliver and eight of the smaller ones also in the Oliver. They have little packets that capture - I think it’s C02, which wilts vegetables. Cut cabbage for example will literally keep for weeks without wilting or browning, its amazing. Anyhow great way to organize the veg https://www.amazon.com/OXO-Grips-GreenSaver-Produce-Keeper/dp/B00TO8X0BA

Your picture is exactly what we’ve got. I’ve replaced both the back flow and the pressure restrictor. I’ve thought about removing the restrictor, too. It’s not causing low pressure now, but if it does….

Doesn't a restrictor just reduce flow? It wouldn't prevent a pressure buildup in the system when water isn't flowing. If that's the case, it won't protect your plumbing if connected to a high pressure source (unless you left a faucet open). But that does describe the behavior perfectly. When we open a faucet, we initially get normal flow (from accumulated pressure), then the flow drops significantly. Also explains why we get normal pump pressure.

@Tom and Doreen, that's what I figured about the pump. Thanks!

It worked! Thanks everyone. 1). Those fuses under the bed are really hard for me to work with. 2) What is the fuse on the jack post for?

I put some 303 Protectant on the cover to protect it from the sun. (I put the same stuff on the decals and all the plastic parts of the trailer exposed to the sun.) https://a.co/d/0crxHVph

I am just starting my research on a new fridge. I also have the old Dometic 3-way fridge in Hull #110. It still works, for the most part, but cannot get it to go to level 5, only runs up to level-4. Have not search on that yet. Works great until cabin gets warm. I would think the Nova kohl R5810 or similar fridge really should be powered by Lithium batteries. I'm not yet ready to upgrade to Lithium as my Lifeline AGMs are still quite new and great shape (2024). Not sure if I could just live with a portable Lithium box for the fridge, when needed on drive days. Thoughts? I'll be digging though all the forums with this model fridge to see what's what. Maybe I will see some of you at the October rally this year and we can discuss in person. Thanks!

I believe if we were ever to mooch-dock with family, I'd use the wet bath inside or better yet borrow the family shower in the house! 🤣 I use the outdoor shower boondocking when miles away from others, and yes we're always "in the dirt." I thought of an outdoor shower mat, not like the one Steve showed but something perforated. But the issue with either kind is afterwards you have a big dirty shower mat to clean. Too much trouble. I wear water shoes when showering outside. They get a little dirty on the bottoms and I take them off as I'm stepping on to the camping carpet. When they dry out, just rub them together to remove the dried dirt and put them back in the truck. Also, where we generally camp the shower water is absorbed very quickly in the ground, rarely creating puddles or mud. 😎 I also use water shoes in public showers at campgrounds for health concerns.

I don't know what exact shackle Oliver is using with the Apex with the Alcan springs. What I do know is the reason to use the Alcan Shackles with the LEII with the 5 leaf springs. The only real thing that I know the Shackle difference is the Dexter are galvanized and the Alcan's are painted. As long as Alcan improved their punch quality they should be the same. Note most all of this is cover somewhere in the 38 pages here. As far as quality goes the both Alcan and Dexter shackles are very close to each other. The original Dexter Have 4 leafs and the 3rd leaf is around 4-5 inches away from the eyelet. With the Alcan 5 leaf the 4th leaf is an inch away from the eyelet. With the 4 leaf so close this is what gives the needed support for the 5 leaf so it will not bust. Here is the rub. The addition of that 5 leaf causes interference with the EZ-Flex and does not allow full movement because of the 4 leaf was interfering with the EZ-flex with Dexter Shackles. What Alcan did was lengthen the distance between holes on shackles to help with the clearances between the 4 leaf and the EZ-flex. (My opinion ON.) I still did not like the distance between the 4 leaf and the ez-flex was still not enough less than .060 in resting state. Due the Alcan punch manufacturing shackle problems at the time, I built my own shackles with an extra 1/2 distance and a slightly wider width on a mill. Opinion Off. As far as wet bolts. I tried the Alcan's wet bolt (they had splines at the time) and torqued to their specs. The shackles and hangers were so tight that no grease would go into the wet bolts. I had to loosen the wet bolt to get grease in. I also felt that the tightness of the Alcan wet bolts hindered free movement of the Ez-flex and leafs. I went back to the Dexter shoulder wet bolts and found that there was 0.010 inch clearance using the Dexter Shoulder bolts with Alcan leafs with the lighter torque. I have around 20K miles since installing the Alcan leafs in this fashion and Happy with the results. How I changed my leafs out. I lifted each side and supported with Jack stands. If I had to do it over again I would probably use Jack stand on all 4 corners. I did get 2 light scissor jacks to lift each axel. I could turn the scissor screws by hand to lift the axel just right to align the EZ-flex and the leafs and hangers. Cheers, Bob

Thank you both! I’ve definitely been impressed with and feel incredibly welcome to the group. Answers to your questions: 1. Home is Clover SC (just across Lake Wylie from Charlotte). 2. There were a few options for the Apex and out of those I chose the rear hitch for my bike rack, and the Anderson weight distribution hitch. I’m also having an OGO composting toilet installed (prefer over the brand Oliver offers). 3. I decided to go with the Oliver for the two main reasons of their quality build and 4 season capability. As I prefer to camp more off the beaten path having the Apex model option sealed the deal. I’ll be at the Rally in October and hopefully will meet y’all there!

Trail cam! The Sierra EV has one of if not the biggest screen in the industry, massive 17” tablet, and GM’s got IMO the best cameras in the industry. Anyhow I can have two trailer cams, I’ve got one on the back for transparent trailer etc. I put the second on as a trail cam Spent a long time thinking about where to put it. Up top is pretty well covered with the other cameras, I realized the ground was the weak spot. Use cases you all will be familiar with Shows levelers/chocks etc. When driving on/off levelers it’s impossible to tell where you are and I often overshoot and bung them up as there’s few inches of margin with dual axel When offroad, or even parking lot speed bumps, will be really nice to see them coming instead of guessing for known obstacles. Sometimes I have to drive over a curb too Fun and a good idea to keep an eye on the trailer suspension Backing up to a stop. At my park I have the cement parking stop placed where I want it, but I can’t tell where it is until I hit it. Installation was ridiculously easy. This and only this cross bar was perfect as its the only one not holding anything up, so I could simply zip tie to it. And of course they have these genius cable runs on the two edges.

I don’t think I’ve seen any white plastic (PVC) pipe - only PEX. Where is there PVC?

It helps to open the shower drain valve (either manual or automatic) to allow some air into the (forward/high/uphill) end of the gray tank... making it somewhat easier for the liquid to pour out of the rear/low/downhill end of the tank. Don't forget to close this valve when moving the camper or parking extremely nose-down or the gray tank fluid may burble up into the shower floor pan from the long & shallow gray tank, which may not be pleasant. This valve must be open when using either the shower or the bathroom vanity sink.. otherwise these will not drain into the gray tank as expected and the fluid will either stay in or flow into the shower floor plan.

Hey I just got it and already did a Tennessee trip this year! 😅 Anyhow still working, close to retirement so one big trip is all that can be managed

Be careful with using these ramps. The inner shackles on the Oliver leaf springs are know to flip and when I tried the ramp (one I've had for years) it flipped the leaf shackle and the suspension looked cock-eyed when rolled off the ramp. I had to tow the Oliver over a curbed entrance to a service station to get it to flip back. Wait for the LOUD BANG when it flips itself back! Just use the built-in jacks for this purpose or when changing a flat tire. There is a member here, with more experience than all of us, who says the Oliver can sit on these jacks forever. I prefer to park near level using Anderson levelers and do not like the trailer wheels to be up in the air when camping or parked for any extended period of time, but NP while you are servicing the trailer. However, if you are going to remove both tires, you can use the jacks to lift the trailer then please use jack stands for your safety. I always travel with one jack stand in the truck toolbox!

We’ve camped in 100+ temps often, normally when we’re trying to get out of south Texas to cooler areas. The old Dometic in our trailer does fine keeping the interior cool, although it is a bit noisy. Texas heat usually includes a fair amount of humidity. Western Slope in CO will have significantly less humidity. We camp there often since our son and family live in Durango. Mike