mountainoliver

Don, have you been to Big Bend before? We were just there this past November and camped at the Chisos Basin Campground. We were towing with a Tundra 5.7. I don’t know how heavy your camper is but, it is a tough pull up there with a couple of tight turns that require you to go almost dead slow around. There are a couple signs and a warning on the map that say you shouldn’t take a camper longer than 20ft and 24ft for an RV (I think those are the dimensions). We made it but it is tight. The road is closed and a police escort is used to get the campground hosts’ campers up there. As a suggestion, drop your camper off at the bottom and drive up just to see and check the campground for open sites. I think there are a limited number of sites suitable for the LEII. Most sites are for tents. We were lucky and got the last camper suitable site across from the dump station. Although we did not stay there, we thought that the Cottonwood Campground area was very quaint. Next time we go we’ll stay here. Have fun it’s absolutely gorgeous everywhere there! We were thinking of going to the Big Bend state park on our way home from Quartzsite. Don’t know what our timing will be but may bump into you.

<p style="text-align: left;">I just went through the same thing with a Toyota Tundra. My rear axle weight was over the maximum weight rating by about 200 lbs. Tightening the weight distribution hitch did not help much and the truck drove like it was on ice. I felt like it struggled too much on long steep hills and just felt uneasy with the setup in general. I decided to buy a 3/4 ton truck and I’m extremely happy and impressed with everything about this new truck. We carry what we need (within reason) without worrying about weather we should leave a pair of shoes or coffee maker at home or not so as to not be over weight. I don’t have to worry about the tongue weight so much as well. I stopped using the weight distribution hitch and the trailer pulls smoother than ever before. I mostly don’t feel big trucks passing me or cross winds and it just feels so much safer and in control as well. I can maintain speed on hills and even easily accelerate up hills as needed. Truck and trailer set level without all of the “crutches” and gadgets needed to force it to do so. These are my feelings about my experience but everyone feels differently on this, so your experience will definitely be different.</p>

This is bad enough in itself but what ever you do don’t and I mean don’t remove the mattress tag!

There are differences between brands and even between different same brand models depending on what options you have. My last truck had a little yellow sticker in the door jamb stating that the weight rating had been reduced by seven pounds due to some option that I had ordered. All this is included in the fine print and is legally covered in the term “properly equipped “ as noted in the sales literature. If your tow vehicle is overloaded in some way and there’s an accident I’m guessing that there could be additional legal consequences. Not the least of which, one or all involved insurance companies denying compensation. GVWR is important but you need to still keep an eye on all the other ratings as well. Someone once explained to me that if you are getting close to any one of the weight ratings, you’re probably over on at least one other one. Good rule of thumb. On my last truck (Tundra) the trailer weight was within specs, the GVWR was within specs, front axle weight rating was within specs as well. The trailer tongue weight was high (675 lbs) and I had the weight distribution part of my hitch cranked down (maybe not to its max) and I was over the rear axle weight rating by about 200 lbs. and close to the tire weight rating as well. Of course that was not only the tongue weight but also the stuff in the truck bed that contributed to the total weight. Could I have gotten 200-300 pounds additional weight distribution effectiveness out of the Andersen equipment, I don’t know? The whole setup felt overly stressed to me and too close to maximum numbers for my comfort level. Maybe not a problem on nice smooth and flat highway surfaces but we like to boondock a lot in areas not considered RV resorts. As a result, I need to take certain extra things just in case. General observations about the Andersen hitch. It is advertised as a two in one hitch, weight distribution and anti sway. It is interesting to note the design. The tapered ball shank being forced into a matching tapered housing (plastic liner between them) due to tongue weight, creates the “anti sway” feature. The chains pulling on the ball shank through the urethane “springs” creates the weight distribution feature. Note that as you pull on the ball shank by way of the urethane springs, chain and, whale tail the ball shank tends to tilt in the housing. The top moving forward and bottom being pulled rearward. The harder you crank down on the adjusting nuts and compress the urethane springs to create a better weight distribution effect the more the ball shank tries to tilt. By the very definition of a weight distribution hitch, it lifts the rear of the tow vehicle thus moving weight from the rear axle and transferring it to the front axle. This basically eliminates the anti sway feature and vice versa. The more tongue force on the ball shank in order to gain maximum anti sway effectiveness the less weight distribution will be achieved. You can either achieve good anti sway effectiveness or good weight distribution effectiveness or a mediocre combination of both. If you can achieve good anti sway effectiveness you may not be able to achieve the advertised maximum weight distribution rating. Maybe that’s why I couldn’t completely eliminate my rear axle over load situation? I don’t know this as fact because I haven’t measured any of the forces in the assembly. Comments?

Welcome! You said that you think your Oliver will weigh 6,000 pounds, I think that is a fair average fully loaded weight. That equals a tongue weight of 600 pounds (this should be weighed to verify). What does your owners manual say? Most half ton pickups require a weight distribution hitch for a tongue weight of 500 pounds and over. Be sure that you don’t exceed the rear axle weight rating or your tire weight rating. That weight would be the tongue weight plus everything loaded in your truck, everything. With a half ton truck you will more than likely be required by the manufacturer to use the weight distribution hitch. I used the Anderson hitch with my previous truck and would loosen the chains when pulling or backing up a steep hill. Just like John, I also feel like the system would be over stressed.

Mike, I don’t even want to hear it! Ha,ha! We’ve got about 8 inches with at least 4-6 more to come here in central VA. We should have gone to south central Texas! I understand that it’s always nice and warm there.

The lower weep holes (at least on my Oliver) have screen glued inside. As far as ants are concerned, we had them last spring in our travels. I got a small bag of Seven powder and sprinkled it around the outside everywhere something from the trailer touched the ground to prevent any more ants from getting inside. I also sprinkled a little all around the edges inside the main cabin. We have “wall to wall” indoor/outdoor carpet so the powder wasn’t in the open. I later just vacuumed the powder up.

Probably the converter under the rearmost dinette seat. It is charging the batteries and can draw 10 to 15 amps or so initially until the batteries cycle into a lower or maintenance mode requirement. When you hear the noise check the Progressive Industries remote display. It will show you amps being drawn. The remote display should be located in a readily accessible location but unfortunately isn’t usually if factory stock.

We were in the Outer Banks (OBX) area North Carolina the past (Oct 3-6) few days. Heading out of town on our way home, we checked out a few campgrounds for future reference. The one we liked the best was Oregon Inlet Campground. While driving around we saw an Oliver in the “C” section. That made us wish we were there in our Ollie as well. Just a shout out to the Oliver folks there. Hope you’re having a great time!

Thank you Matt! I appreciate all of you there, you’re all the best!

Matt, the battery box support on my trailer (#208) is not welded to the frame. There is a 1 1/2 x 2 x 8 inch aluminum angle attached to the body. there are two self drill screws holding this angle to the body and the support leg is welded to the angle. The angle is resting on the insulation. Probably the two self drill screws go through the fiberglass and into the frame. The #2 welding cable that I used for the ground is attached to one of the two 1/2 inch rear jack mounts attached directly to the frame. The ground tab you speak of is also attached to the frame with a 1/2 inch bolt but, already has two other grounds attached to the 1/4 inch stud. Due to the potential levels of current possible, I wanted to keep the ground length short and use a fairly large cable. I also feel that the 1/2 inch attachment will carry more current than the 1/4 inch stud. Remember that the minor diameter of a 1/4 x 20 screw is only about 3/16 or so. Not much surface area to carry a large current. Not to mention the metric stud on the inverter. It’s minor diameter is really closer to 1/8 inch or so (only a rough guess as I didn’t look up the minor diameter specs of either 1/4 x 20 or the metric version). My guess is that the small studs will melt long before the #2 ground cable will even get warm. My welder uses #2 cable and I can use (melt) 3/16 rods all day.

Steve, I offered the soldering iron fix but nooo you had to do it your way. I could mostly guarantee that would have worked. I also had a wire tie tourniquet worked out, again you didn’t want to try that either. What can I say.

Yes, you are exactly correct. Some products are rather nasty and I think may cause burns to ER folks. Hoping that someone with medical experience will jump in here. The product that I have is a plant based gauze that actually disintegrates over time. The one time (thankfully) that I had to use it I put a piece on the cut then a regular band aid over that. The next day the gauze was gone. As moisture contacts the material the material dissolves and in so doing, it thickens the moisture (blood) causing the blood to clot quicker. At least that’s my take on it. Another item we seldom think about today is a Styptic pencil. That can be used to stop some persistent bleeding as well. Comments doctor?

I had dibs on some of his tools, so.

My 2017 hull #208 actually has two fans. One that was installed by Oliver just behind the upper air vent grill, and I guess the Dometic installed fan buried somewhere on the back of the refrigerator. The Oliver installed fan has a switch on the “master” switch panel near the entry door. The other fan has no switch. I was told that somewhere around the time we bought our LEII the Dometic refrigerators started coming from the factory with the fan already installed. I guess that around this time as well Oliver stopped adding the other fan. My trailer must have been in this transition so I got both fans.

Great ideas! I also recently started keeping a product called “Blood Stop” which is used for major bleeding issues. Not necessarily for large areas though. I have used this on a deep cut recently and it seemed to stop the bleeding quickly. There are similar products the military uses for major wounds that would be handy as well.

The larger port does allow me to reach both valves. Our Ollie is a 2017, hull no. 208.

Which furnace do you have?

Strange, mine came with that access port in 2017. The original one however was only 4 inches and I had the service folks change it to their standard large one. I think it is 6 inches.

Thanks, mine is now grounded!

Just last week I noticed mine was out of place and snapped it back in.

I don’t have the inverter ground wire on hull 208 (2017). I don’t think that it should be attached to the DC negative buss bar, should it? But instead to the frame ground bolt under the rear dinette seat? Wouldn’t it be bad to have the inverter short internally and dump 120 AC volts directly to the batteries? I’m trying to figure if (especially due to solar charging) the DC negative should be completely separate from any AC grounds. Anyway, to be determined. In answer to the switch and breaker question, Steve (ScubaRx) and I installed Blue Sky solar equipment on my trailer and when Oliver installed the rooftop panels I asked them to install a disconnect switch and a 30 amp breaker/switch. Something like this should be in line for maintenance/safety. The switch disconnects the panels from the solar controller and the breaker is between the controller and the batteries. See photo.

Also if parked on asphalt for long term, the tires should be on a piece of wood or plastic. Something that the constantly out gassing asphalt solvent can’t readily pass through. The solvent will accelerate the tire deterioration. I believe that trailer tires have some sort of protectant against this as well as some UV protectant as well. Correct me if this is incorrect.

Didn’t need them on the front or back just the two ends. No not dulled, I don’t have any cheap drills! I took the loaded basket to a large local lake area. There I found a guy who makes boat covers and such. He digitized the whole assembly and made the cover from heavyweight truckers tarp material. Any decent boat cover or convertible top maker can do this and will have the good material. I bought the large stainless snaps from McMaster-Carr. These included either an attached #8 or #10 (can’t remember right now) stainless stud. 14 evenly spaced all around so the cover wouldn’t flap or remove itself along an interstate. Also, more effort for the curious/thief to peek under.

I just drilled 1/2 holes evenly spaced on the top rail/both sides of the basket. I then used a counter sink on both the inside and outside of each hole. Standard ratchet tie down hooks fit nicely with no extra hardware needed. I carry a 2000 watt Honda generator and a 5 gallon Septer fuel container. Both tightly tied down and locked in with a cable/lock arrangement. I also have 14 large stainless steel snaps evenly spaced all around the base for holding a custom fit truckers vinyl cover in place.