STEVEnBETTY

I agree with the necessity of planning on our travels east of the Mississippi River, we live near St Louis. But we’re planning on leaving soon for a month in Texas and I won’t book anything more than a day in advance, we’ll just wing it. But you do have to be flexible, and having a fully self contained rv frees up a lot of options.

You’re welcome, even the big national parks, Yellowstone, devils tower etc., have openings in the middle of the week for first come first serve spots, especially if you go in the shoulder season.

Other than Friday and Saturday, I’ve never had any trouble booking reservations same day or day in advance, anywhere west of the Mississippi River. There are exceptions of course, but I’ve taken 6 week trips out west and paid for camping just 3 nights, between harvest hosts, ultimate c.g., rv Parky, blm etc…. My favorite campgrounds are c.o.e., they’re always on water and with the American the Beautiful pass, they’re half price.

To the people freaking out over the Dexter spring. If your spring is indeed defective it will fail very quickly, I have 3 of the original springs with over 80,000 miles on them, 1 failed, it took approximately 2 hrs for me to change it, when they do fail it’s generally not a catastrophic event, the remaining spring eye and shock will hold the axle in place. You will need to replace it asap however since the remaining spring is carrying more weight. Personally I’m sticking with the original design, e trl can overnight replacement parts anywhere in the USA. I to would prefer to buy USA made parts and will go with Stl spring next time, I forgot about them when my original spring failed.

Around the year 2000 in took a broken 50 year old boat trl spring to St. Louis spring, with the request of 1 inch additional arch in the design, they made 4 of them to my exact specs, very happy with the results.

I have hull #219, i can’t relate to the low flow in the toilet, but as Mossemi described in his post there was a flow restrictor “water saver” in the shower head.If I remember correctly it was a red piece that popped right out, that made a huge difference in mine

Coming from a background of over the road trucking (40 yrs) I’ve experienced several spring failures, to all the people upgrading to heavier rated springs just be aware your axle assembly is rated as a complete unit,if you change one thing you need to make sure the other components, spring perch, shackles, axle tube,wet bolts etc.. can handle the extra stress. It’s been my experience most spring breaks happen from a sharp impact ie: deep pothole, curbing the trl, etc.. and to the shop that has never had a spring failure I call b.s. Steve

Unfortunately I have had the right rear spring break last year, but with approximately 80,00 miles on said spring I’m not dissatisfied with its service life. You can get an replacement spring overnighted from etrailer, however I have had good experience with St. Louis spring. They will custom make whatever you want, in the past they fabricated two springs for a 52 year old boat trailer to my specs (1 one extra leaf,1 inch increased arch)& I was very happy with their service.

My wife & I are the proud original owners of hull #219, recently we experienced a suburban furnace failure., I removed the furnace & replaced the sail and limit switches & took the furnace to a local rv dealer “Colman country campers” in Hartford Il, to bench test the furnace. They had it 2 weeks! I never authorized repairs but they put in a “new” sail switch. I was charged 2 hours labor @ $120 an hour plus the switch, when I got the furnace back I disassembled it & discovered that not only did they put in the wrong switch but it was apparently used. There’s obviously more to the story, but this post is getting long, I just want people to be wary of shady rv dealers & I look forward to having a Oliver authorized repair facility near me. Steve

Don’t mean to disagree John, but the fiber granite top is granite looking material embedded into the gelcoat before “ laying in” the fiberglass, no Velcro involved. Steve

You have a leak, I would guess either the back flow fitting on the back side of the hose connection split, or the pex water line connected to it. That hose connection fills your fresh water tank, if you didn’t fill that line with antifreeze or blow the water out with air to winterize, it may have froze over the winter. Open the cargo door above it and remove the floor above the hose connection, you should be able to see where the pex water line connects to the back flow valve. Good luck Steve

Our Oliver is hull # 219 with a suburban furnace, but this may apply to yours. If we are plugged into shore (ac) power the furnace works fine, but when we are boondocking or just running off of the batteries, any voltage below 12.5 allows the blower motor to slow down enough, so that the “sail” or proof switch doesn’t engage and therefore the burner won’t ignite. The fix is to slightly bend the sail switch to lean more into the airflow of the blower allowing it to engage easier. I haven’t done it yet because with the suburban furnace you have to remove it to get to the switch, but with the Atwood it’s accessible from the outside.

There’s always “1” in a crowd Steve

I can confirm overlands comment on the tax deductibility of the factory installation of the solar package, battery upgrade and the inverter for the tax year 2017, didn’t try including the generator. On a side note, “my” theory on the change of battery suppliers is related to the failure rate of the Trojan agm batteries, mine included, I have since switched to Trojan t105’s ( wet cells).

I can attest personally, Bill is the original desperado, Waylon Jennings or willie has nothing on him!

The screws that hold the white cover on are self tapping, your options if they’re stripped out are, using a slightly larger self tapping screw, or drilling new holes, either option works just fine. As for as a cover for the ac I can’t help you, I had a bird nesting in mine recently, I find it just as easy removing the cover semi annually to clean, while i’m waxing, as opposed to getting a cover, you have to get up there either way. Steve

Muppy, I would guess you do have a leak in a water line, time to remove panels and investigate, the good news is pex plumbing is pretty easy to repair, depending on where your leak is, that and with an Oliver at least there’s no wood to rot when leaks do eventually happen. The shower drain valve was doing what it’s supposed to do if it was closed and the water from the sink or shower wasn’t draining, it’s actually a back flow preventer to keep water from your gray tank from backing up into your shower when you’re underway. The refrigerator shouldn’t have anything to do with it. Good luck, Steve

I would encourage anyone with the time and or the ability to remove the maxfan, if for no other reason to see how the Oliver is “over built” I didn’t measure the roof thickness,but just seeing the honeycomb core fiberglass construction it was obvious the roof will handle an extreme amount of weight. Steve

LOL, just what are YOU trying to imply? Actually I was able do do the removal from a ladder, but I know for sure the roof will support my considerable weight. Steve

An alternative way to clean the maxfan is to just remove it entirely. If you don’t mind getting on the roof, you just raise the fan to it’s in use position, that exposes 4 screws, remove the screws and the whole assembly lifts out. All that remains is 2 wires and the inner and outer trim rings, I just cut the butt wire connectors and removed the whole unit, disassembled the fan and thoroughly cleaned it. Reassembly was just new butt connectors crimped into place, drop the fan back in and reinsert the 4 screws, done! Steve

routlaw, sorry to hear about your problems, glad you resolved them. I just wanted to point out the later units have an outside access port cut into side of the trailer, with 4 screws holding the panel on, fortunately I haven’t had to remove it but it “should” make access easier. Thanks, Steve

My typical towing weight with an elite 2 is 6,000 lbs with a tongue weight of 600 lbs. Our oliver’s Empty weight was 5,020 lbs with a 500 lb tongue weight, we got to the 6,000 lb weight with cargo, full fresh water tanks, and two ebikes on the back rack. When we added the ebikes our tongue weight dropped to 480 lbs, I added ballast to the front of the trailer in the form of a tool bag (50 lbs) and a cooler (50lbs approx) in the bathroom to bring the tongue weight back up to 10% I do agree with everyone else in stating that Oliver trailers have a very stable towing manner, and I haven’t heard anyone complain about sway, however anytime your tongue weight drops significantly below 10% “any” trailer will sway. Steve

To clarify a prior post, there is a flow restrictor in the water line going to the bathroom faucet, to remove it you just unscrew the shower head from the flexible water line, the restrictor is in the end of the hose, I just pried it out with a small screwdriver and reattached the shower head. Steve

I posted earlier in this thread about running white vinegar through the water supply, while it has helped, I was still dissatisfied with the flow, I have since removed the restriction screen from the bathroom faucet, and I don’t plan on putting it back. To say there is a difference would be an understatement.

Flushing out the black tank doesn’t have to be a two man (or woman) job, that’s what the valve on the inside under the forward dinette seat is for. Unless it’s been deleted from the newer trailers.