ScubaRx

Hi Steve, I have thought about using that ultra strong bond tape so I don't have to drill holes. Has anybody used the tape for the vents? I thought about the tape since others have mounted solar panels to the roof that have stayed secure. How can the tape not hold the vents? Wanting to install them is as far as I have gotten. J The louvers are mounted with screws that go through holes and into the outside frame of the window. There is a rubber gasket that is placed on the edge and contacts the trailer. There is no other contact point and using some sort of VHB tape would not work very well at best. There would be so little contact with the louvers they would probably fly off at highway speed. The holes are no big deal as they don't enter the body of the trailer. They really are easy to install, we put them on in about an hour. That's not counting the cutting and fitting.

We bought these early on after spending the night in the remnants of Hurricane Ike with tropical-force winds as it tracked across Arkansas on the night of Sept. 13, 2008 at the RVER near Fort Smith (you remember, you were there.) It was hot and it rained all night and we could not open our windows. Chuck and Geri had them on their Oliver and I was sold on the way they claimed they worked. I lucked out and found three of them at a local RV dealership and got them for about $20.00 each. We put one on each window. The locking pins we did not install, you would have to drill a hole into the frame or the window to use them. I'm not against drilling the holes, I just didn't see the need. We do like them a lot. Installation was not too hard. The worst part was cutting the louvers to length. Hand cutting with any saw would be difficult. I put them in my horizontal band saw and cut them off. I'd probably use my chop saw with a fine blade if I were doing it again. You do have to drill holes into the outside frame of the windows.

I have just finished removing the shower pan for repairs which also involved undoing the drain from the shower floor. I would like to get rid of the u-shaped trap under the floor because it is compressed to half closed against the bottom hull, but it looks as if it would be next to impossible unless you could remove the drain from the gray tank and get it out into the open. If you could, it would be a simple matter of sliding the flexible tube further up onto the elbows. I'll take some pictures and post them in another thread devoted to shower pan repair/replacement.

She may be sitting too far back in the coach. Remember, you need more weight in front of the axle than behind it to avoid fish-tailing. Tell her if she'll sit more forward (probably best on the crapper) it'll be a much smoother ride. But, depending on how much the old girl weighs, it could increase your tongue weight. Hope this helps...

I have put screens over every opening that varmints might want to enter. I used store-bought screens from Camping World over the water heater vent and the furnace vents. I made covers from 1/8" hardware cloth and installed them on the inside of the refrigerator baffles. I removed the cover of the A/C unit and using the same hardware cloth covered all the holes in the housing. Covering the A/C with a tarp will probably keep out the leaves, not so sure about the dirt daubers. I don’t think that the jacks would provide any means of entrance to the coach. There are about 10 or so “weep” holes on the underside of the shell. These could be covered with a small piece of tape if you think it necessary. Close the vent to the bathroom to keep out the daubers, I had a nest so big this year it encompassed the motor and fan blade. Needless to say it would not run until I had cleaned it out. You could leave the lid to the Fantastic Fan open a bit for ventilation since it has its own screen.

Jam49, you have the 5200 pound Freedom Axle, probably this one: apparently with camber built in (due to the slight "hump" in the middle.) I think you're fine.

How many lugs does the axle have? 5 lug=3500lb, 6 lug=5200lb also the diameter of the axle itself is different. 2.75 inch=3500lb, 3 inch=5200 lb. As far as I know there is no designation on the trailer itself as to the capacity of the axle. There is no camber in the axle we have. It was replaced late in the game, possibly the last one done at the factory (Pete's was shipped out.) Ours was manufactured by Freedom Axle.

Yes, 16 inch wheels will fit onto our Olivers. After our sojourn to California last fall, I was really disappointed with the performance of the tires that Oliver had supplied at the 5200 pound axle upgrade. In only 6000 miles, the curb side tire had worn considerably on the outside. I called the factory with these concerns stating that I felt as if the tires were not heavy duty enough to handle our (very) heavy Oliver. I wanted to get away from the ST tires and get a heavier duty light truck tire but was unable to find one in a 15 inch size. They agreed with the use of the LT's and suggested I go to a 16 inch wheel which would open up a whole new field of possibilities. Since I had hated the wheels that they used with the upgrade from the first day, this gave me an opportunity to also get back the wheels that I wanted. We have a local tire store here in Tupelo that has been in business since 1956. These guys know more about tires than any of us ever will. One of the employees is an old friend and has worked there about 30 years so I asked his advice. He took me back into the warehouse and showed me several different tires explaining the load characteristics of each. I chose the Savero HT Plus, LT 225/75 R16 in blackwall. Each tire is rated for 2680 pounds at 80 psi. It is a 10 ply load range E with a tread-wear rating of 460. We've only put abut 2000 miles on them so far so the jury is still out on their wear profile. I know that at 2000 miles on the previous tires I was concerned that I was seeing the beginnings of problems. They added about an inch to the overall height of the trailer bringing our needed clearance to over nine and a half feet.

We've not noticed any leakage around our windows, but thanks for bringing this to everyone's attention. I went out and looked at the way the windows are actually mounted. The outside frame is virtually flush with the outside shell. It is neatly caulked all the way around. As you mentioned, there are four weep holes at the bottom of each of the smaller windows (there may be more on the larger window, I didn't look). Due to the slope of the upper body of the Oliver, the windows extend further out at the bottom than at the top. Even in a gentle rain this would easily allow water to accumulate in the channel at the bottom of the window. In a hard, blowing storm the amount of water that could end up in the channel would undoubtedly be considerable. Because of this slope, any water in the channel at the bottom of the window would actually flow toward the inside of the coach. Did you see exactly where the water was running from (and down the inside?) From your description, I gather the channel was overflowing (to the inside) from simply too much water and as such overwhelming the (upstream) weep holes. If that be the case, the only solution I can see is to stay out of the rain. Just kidding... although I did find this link to the Hehr service manuals, maybe there's something in there that will help

We're currently at home and at work. We'll be leaving for the Smokies in about a week. Then, in October, over to North Carolina to the Woolly Worm Festival with a group of Oliver friends. Hope to see you soon.

At least right now, Tali and I are planning a trip to the Outer Banks around the middle of September. We don't have a really firm itinerary at this time. We will be leaving here sometime on the 17th. We’ve planned this trip before and always decided at the last minute to go somewhere else. I believe we’ll follow thru this time. If anyone will be in that area during that time it would be nice to be able to get together. If interested let us know....

Are you using an external HD? Also how is the monitor mounted to the back wall? Did you do the mounting or was there a back plate installed at the factory during assembly? This is a very nice looking install.

We never turn the fridge off, ever. Done it like that for years and it runs fine. We've done the same thing for the past two years we've owned the . We were advised to do that by a service tech that did a seminar at one of the rally's we went to in the first few months of our ownership. Likewise, we've not had any problems.

Probably what I would use (if I understand what you want to do) is aluminum flashing. A quick Google brought up plenty of examples. Such as: http://www.amazon.com/Amerimax-68320-20 ... B000H5OEB4 You can usually find this material at a local level and I wouldn't think you'd need to order it. It is easily cut with a pair of heavy scissors and readily bends to the shape you want. I have a roll I keep to make all kinds of things with. I wish I'd thought about lining the tops of our cabinet areas with it I installed the lights in there. Maybe this will give you some ideas toward what you need...

A few quick thoughts: To get from the tongue to the bench storage, you have to get around the bathroom and its associated plumbing. My recommendation would be to see if this is even possible before you go ahead with your plans as it may not be. I'm not sure that I think that moving the batteries is a grand idea, but gaining access to this area is relatively easy to do. First you have to remove the insert below the sink in the bathroom. Just cut around it with a utility knife and it will pull out. Be careful of the wires going to the switch that is mounted in the insert. Then you will have to use some sort of caulk to put it back. Once out, you can get to where all the wiring enters the shell. Now admittedly I've only done it with 12 gauge wire and not the monster cables that would be required to re-route the batteries but you snake the cables under the the toilet area (i.e. nightmare ) I can see many potential difficulties and much expense here. I'd consider a small generator. Steve

Do NOT confuse the Oregon Gathering with the NOG. The NOG, is the Northern Oregon Gathering and is held in the spring and fall. The OREGON GATHERING is in Bandon, along the SOUTHERN Oregon coast in JULY. I knew you knew this, just wanted to clear the air for the less initiated. Thank you 12ladyblue for helping us uninitiated folks. I'd been trying to figure out what the hey a NOG was for the past week. Really wish there was some way Tali and I could be there, we came to California this past October, gone about 3 weeks. That's a loooong way from Mississippi. Have fun and post some pics for all us that are stuck at home.

Chris, My guess is that there is a backing plate on the other side of the fiberglass. Both the old rivets have to be knocked out of their holes. If you did both of them at the same time, I would expect that the backing plate would fall (maybe not, it could be glued in place.) In order to not take that chance, I would replace the rivets one at a time. They will have to be drilled out. I would use the smallest drill that will still do the job so as to try to not make the old holes any bigger. Then re-rivet the hook back into those holes. Where are you guys currently?

Chris, Fixing the water inlet problem should be easy after finding the right parts/tools. As far as the hex wrench problem goes, if you can't find a half inch allen wrench, just use a hex-head bolt that fits into the opening and a pair of vice grips to turn it with. Crude, but it will work. I googled and found several things that might work if you can't get an original from the factory. http://shop.torresen.com/ships_store/in ... 2110&frm=g (probably a good match) http://www.outerbanksoutfitters.com/pro ... 818549.htm (looks the same--more money) Hope this helps, Steve

Thanks for the kind words Angler. I'm currently at work so I won't be able to look at the panel until later. I know the wire you're talking about. I've spliced into it in the past to get a ground for some mods that I installed in that area. That said, I would have to assume mine is grounded somewhere, else my mods would not have worked. If I recall, my thought at the time was that the yellow wire was the ground for the panel itself.

Does your bathroom exhaust fan run? The same switch beside the entrance door feeds power to both fans (Ours is labeled Accessory.)

Sherry, I've never seen that one. You were probably wise not to go there. Steve

Tali and I had a great time at the 2010 Jugfest. It's kinda sad too. Now with Larry and Betty's Oliver gone as well as Chuck and Jeri's, it may be that there will never be 5 Olivers in one place at the same time again. Maybe we can do it again this October in North Carolina. I hope so.

It's unlikely many people will have to do this mod. From the day we picked up our trailer the right to left opening closet door was one feature that really bothered me. I wondered what great thinker had decided that was the proper way to install it. It was only after I met several other Oliver owners that I realized theirs was not installed like mine. I reversed mine a year or so ago although I didn't find it as easy as yours apparently was. I had to modify a couple of the frame pieces to fit into the reversed position. I agree that it was a most helpful modification. When I was at the factory looking at the first of the 22 foot models rolling down the line, I noticed that the closet door in it was opening left to right and I questioned them as to why mine had been installed "backwards." They laughed and said that it was a little experiment to see if that configuration would be better since people could reach in from the outside of the trailer and get something from the closet. I've never tried to do that and can't think of a time when it would be useful. Anyway, the guys at the factory stated that they went back to the original arrangement when there had been complaints. They didn't know how many had been turned around. You and I may have had the only ones done this way.

Brakes Fixed! The problem was simply that the brakes were not getting a ground when not hooked to the tow vehicle (I've yet to make sure the brakes work during tow, but I don't have any reason to think otherwise--but I will check.) Both drums are grounded with the same wire (goes across to the other side thru the axle) so when one worked they both did. Sherry, you and Paul suggested it first. Thanks for everyone's help Steve

The other day I decided to see if my brakes needed adjusting and to test the emergency break-away switch on our trailer. I didn't have any reason to think it would not operate properly, but I figured knowing it would work would be better than finding out the hard way that it didn't. The trailer was not connected to the tow vehicle. It was plugged in to external power. I lowered the jacks on both sides until each tire could spin freely and pulled the switch pin. I then tried each tire and, to my surprise, they both still spun freely. No clicking, humming, no sound at all. My first thought was that, for some reason, it needed to be unplugged from the external power. No change. Next, I figured the switch or the wiring of said switch was somehow bad. I replaced the switch pin and checked the wires coming out of the switch. One wire showed 12 volts (this one apparently coming from the batteries) the other one was "dead" until the switch pin was pulled and then it too showed 12 volts. That proved that the switch itself was functional. I then found the blue wire inside the trailer that exits to the outside to attach to the brake drum on the street side. This wire tested hot when the switch pin was pulled, so I knew the wiring was good to that point. I then checked it outside the trailer at the drum and that tested hot also. Meanwhile, the wheels still spun. So, what am I overlooking? Am I incorrect in my expectations? Could it be that the brakes only need adjusting? To the best of my knowledge the brakes have always worked properly thru the tow vehicle. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks...