Geronimo John

NOW I know why someone would not want to open the barn doors and run the Suburban heater! LOL. Well played! GJ

For sure on both accounts! For an hour of my RoF time, and about $7 dollars of RV antifreeze, I can easily do the full monte winterize. At what someone is willing to pay for my time, say $2 an hour or one of Art's fantastic home brew's (Priceless), it would only take two hours of anxiety caused sleep loss to amortize my time and materials rate. But for me, and many of those reading this, our anxiety is worth less than five minutes of time to cover the cost. Especially if we pull in to our boondock heaven, and CINC - House is stepping into the bathroom for a hot shower for happy time to follow. But she discovers our tanks are empty due to a frozen pipe the night before thawing. Now that alone is enough to make a man weep. 😢 So JD go right ahead and gamble you are right every time. But for me, "I just don't feel that lucky". LOL~ GJ

In June a couple of years ago I was heading to Medford OR. Stopped at a huge parking area and decided it was a perfect place to spend the night. it was 74 degrees. Set up the BBQ and grilled some burgers. Hit the sack around 9:30 and slept like a log. Until I woke up at 3:00 and Ollie was 40 degrees inside. Turned on the heater and looked out in the morning to 4" of snow and 24 degrees. Sure was glad I had not gone off down a logging road to boondock Getting back up to the snow machine parking lot would have been dicey. Point is, sometimes we get curve balls tossed into our chili pot!

From Mr. Google: The record low temperature in Asheville, North Carolina for winter is -16°F, which was recorded on January 21, 1985. This was part of a wave of frigid temperatures that affected much of the state, including Mount Mitchell, which recorded a record low of -34°F. Scotty Some Observations: For sure these hatches also should be opened up, as well as the bathroom door. If you store any liquids in the upper cabinets, they too need to be open. Your above post indicated that you are only one deep in heat sources with the nice oil filled radiator heater. Suggest setting your Suburban heater to on at a bit lower temp in case you lose power and are away from the area by choice or emergency. You are making some assumptions that can not 100% of the time for every winter be assumed. Just one time you got caught away, or utilities went out you could get into a plumbing nightmare. On the other hand, the OTT specified winterization process is pretty much an absolute. Me personally I would not risk it. But then some others likely would take the gamble. I would at least use the air method that JD mentioned so as to reduce the risk. One other thought, hopefully you have a sensor point inside the street side rear area where the plumbing problems seem to crop up during Ollie Freeze-ups. GJ

Different trailer with different drawer slides designs. But the VAST majority of our owners have trailers are of a more recent design. And many of us have found that flying drawers and their contents do in fact toss stuff on the floor, especially off road as Mike noted. Several of the off road owners, like ours, have had heavier drawers not only bounce out contents, but eventually they blast out so fast the they have broken the drawer retainer hardware as well. For the design we have, the straps have proven to be a God Send as stated. Another thank you to John Davies. As far as them looking tacky, I don't really mind as there is never any guests in the trailer when the straps are in place. As far as the time to install and uninstall, with the "Hooks" and the straps pre looped as JD suggested, it takes about 30 seconds to install/de-install. Time wise, it is a lot less than just the time to pick silverware scattered about the trailer. And a lot less additional time for washing them...again... Finally, if I could afford the beautiful Bocote wood drawer fronts that @Foy_Mirna Sperring made..... I for darn sure would not want them bouncing out and both getting damaged and also likely damaging the interior of our OE2. This appears to be a topic where getting strapped in the long haul is a good thing. Seems like my Daddy felt that way to about me. So basically, it looks like we sort of disagree on this one issue. John DIY - Galley Drawers Straps by John E. Davies.docx

JD: Thanks for the compliment.... I think??? LOL Seriously though, would it not be pretty cool to cherry pick our what must be about ten million OTT forum posts (more or less) and gather them up as a tutorial for new and potential owners? Could be a Oliver University crash course based upon all the mistakes us ROF's have already done. About 27% of the time I like not making an OOPs myself. Prefer that others do it first and I can read about it. But at times I just like to make the mistake myself.

True, but it's an Oldie but Goodie topic. Think about how many new owners we have had in the past three years. And of those, how many have not had the opportunity to understand the topic the hard way... on the side of the road. Or understanding the damage they can do by not being aware of the limitations of the Anderson or any other WDH system. So I applaud ScubaRx and others for sharing the expertise. Even with a minor "hijacking" or two on the topic line, it is a good read... especially for our newer owners.

There are more than a few thoughts expressed in this thread to cause me to pause: Mike and Carrol; I see you are towing with a "2020 Ram 2500 6.7L". Why are you even using an Anderson? Long Stride: For emergency safety chains, one of these is a great idea vs. a quick link. Along the same lines as John D's post above, damage can certainly occur when the chains are over tightened and were installed tight as well. Hence there is some that would see a benefit of having a sacrificial link in this system. For the same reason that my boat prop's don't have super high strength shear pins. Stranded: Now I'm going the opposite way from my shear pin analogy. Your statement "I bought a similar sized stainless steel coupler at Home Depot" is another pause moment for me. SS is inherently less strong than the steel ones Anderson uses. Suggest rethinking your purchase. My main intent here is that the Anderson/Oliver links properly installed and ADJUSTED (By the big nuts at the rear" should be protected by using the suggested rated quick link. Not a massive one or a weaker one. I believe this as even though our OTT frames are likely the strongest in the industry, they are aluminum. That is unique, and in my opinion likely is why a link of 2650 pounds working load was specified for our trailers. If you have maintained the quick links (I.E. they are tight), and you have damaged one, then contributing causes are most likely: They were set up with the chains too tight to begin with. Not likely if done by OTT. You were using too many threads (You over tightened the chain nuts at the rear). You were trying to go travel across a grade change beyond the system's design, or were traveling too fast when doing so as John D. also suggested. As mentioned in my above post, beyond occasional link tightness check, I occasionally do a chain tension check by standing on one of them. If it does not move, then guess what? Also if I am approaching a significant grade change, like crossing a deep ditch, I consider the stress it will put to the Anderson system and items attached to it. For severe crossings, I'll loosen the nuts. GJ

JD: It was never my intent to remove the door and disassemble it. Noor was it to look exactly like original. For those that need that level of perfection, I 100% agree with you. Let them eat cake and fully enjoy their beautiful new OEM $1600 door. My point of the video was to just say it is possible to reskin a door on an RV. Not a path likely you or I would wander down. But it is possible to do so. Hence my hint "One Way". Now that I have better clarified that my intent is to suggest laminating Edge to Edge on top of existing: With a thin white sheet of material (Likely aluminum), one could trace the existing door shape directly onto the new aluminum. Cut and paste then SS rivet or flat head screw it in place. Simple, fast, and relatively inexpensive. Only concern would be if the thin thickness of the new skin material could be absorbed by some hinge slop. When my fails, I would rather execute the reskin in place concept before spending $1600! That said, hopefully someone out there in the RV door business will offer a better more cost effective solution. Time for us is on our side... for now. 🙂

At 5:31 in the above video is one way to re-skin a trailer door. At 5:31 in the above video is one way to re-skin a trailer door. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftNdzpe6_To

$1,600 for a replacement door? That's more than insane. What's even worse is buying from the same source that provided a badly designed door. Why not in place re-laminate the interior as suggested above? Can some of our plastic guys shed some brain cells on the concept. GJ

Happy Thanksgiving!

JD: Tilt. After our Alaska trip from Houston, I would for sure use tie-down strapS. The Alaska highways were not bad, but the ones getting up there were in places were. So much so that I had to stop and aid a fellow RV traveler who had broken the frame on his trailer. Corduroy roads it is called when the logs they used to construct the road finally rot and the road sinks and rises accordingly to the individual logs used as a road base. Dishes flying and jumbled interiors for any RV driver that does not take it seriously. Thank God for John Davis drawer straps Mod! GJ

I also really like the AAV's. I have them in both our bathrooms that we redid. But swapping out the vent for an AAV in the case of our Ollie's would cause me to pause.... for three possible reasons: A. I suspect that Mr. Oliver put the stack where he did to take advantage of the venturi effect of air rising up and over the front of the trailer when on the move. Doing so in a "Low pressure area" would act as a controlled venting of the sanitary systems. Thereby presenting a clean smelling cabin upon entry at your next stop. B. AAV's are basically an air/gas version of a water check valve. Yes doing so in Ollie would allow air into the system to aid in flow. But it would not allow sewer gas to get out of the system. As "stuff" in our tanks accumulates, it degrades "passing gas". With no vent stack it WILL pressurize the system and most likely leak past the toilet flush valves or thru the "P" traps into the cabin. The result will be you and your spouse looking at each other wondering what the other ate that was disagreeable. C. I'm not a RV code guy, but the National Plumbing Code requires at least one 2" vent on every system to address this issue I suspect. GJ

Great high quality install JD! Love it! GJ

Likely they were on a fishing expedition. For a cable of course. Good luck with your effort. It appears that maybe you could add more solar there by running one of them over the exhaust fan. ??? GJ

Mike: How about sealing the cracks with 3M and running a laminate to the edges of the door, and secure it with SS screws or SS pop-rivets it to the frame. To bond to the existing, maybe use a carpentry glue in the field between the four sides of rivets. For the window area, do the same thing by removing the trim, place the laminate, replace the trim and secure. Caulk all edges. Maybe a very thin white High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) would work well. Would want it very thin.

So long as the door is structurally OK, and the cracks are on the inside: Would lamination of the door with a thin material to just hide the cracks be a solution? GJ

Craig: It appears that the inside skin is being pushed into the hinge side of the door as shown in your picture. Did the outside skin at or near this location also show a compression failure as well? GJ

Thanks Patriot. Foam core would explain the lightness of the door. From the way it cracked, I was thinking something like fake wood due to moisture intrusion. With foam core such cracking seems to be a bit unusual.

Craig: Not good news for sure. Any chance you could enlighten as to what the interior material our doors are made from? Thanks GJ

Good questions. Roger on doing the springs and shocks. I did so myself as they were 6 seasons used. That said, none of them were blown. Amazingly considering other owners experience with them. Why change the EZ Flex? I had several motivators. A. First, our first season with our OE2, the center bolt walked 95% out of the flange. Only explanation that made sense for a brand new trailer was that during the assembly of the frame process, the center bolt of the EZ Flex had been spun from the head. This caused some wear on the supporting arm bolt bores. B. So there certainly was debris in the lubricated channel. Casting doubt. C. Over time, the seals on the unit leaked grease and when doing so cast further doubt about what condition the bearing surfaces. Especially with heavy use and and lots of miles each summer. D. So, the last thing I wanted to have was a road side break down from the EZ Flex when I could have done it with the shocks and springs. E. Especially when it was so convenient to do so. GJ

PS to the above "Reminders": Follow your spring MFG requirements on torques of the hardware. Especially for the U-bolts. For the U-bolts, they typically are to re-torque three times at specific mileage as they stretch out. Here is a sample of one MFG's requirements: Always re-torque the newly installed U-bolts after 50 miles of driving. Then recheck after another 50 miles. Then again after 500 miles. I checked mine again at 1500 miles and they were still good on torque. It is my opinion that after the initial and then four more torque checks (Initial, 50, 50, 500 and 1500 miles), I am done with it. I prefer not to adjust the U-bolt torques further as the bolts/nuts will have corroded a bit. Breaking that connection in my minds eye would not be useful or needed. GJ

Roadside Spring Failure: If I were in your shoes, I would make sure I had a jack and three each 2" X 6" X 11 inch blocks of wood. Elevate the broken spring and slip the lumber between it and the frame. Lower and maybe use a couple of band clamps or at least stout zip ties to secure. Then travel carefully to a recommended shop. At least one owner just drove there carefully. That could be risky to your fiberglass wheel well area. Hence my insurance blocks suggestion. Local Garage: It is an easy job with the right tools. But not one that you would want to do on the side of the road or at a rest stop. To your question, YES, a local garage will have floor jacks, hydraulic jack, jack stands, dead fall hammer and other tools to make it just a simple spring change. It took me a couple of days working alone. What to Buy: You will need four springs. Be sure to also order out BRASS shackle bushings and "U" bolts with the springs. For other owners with older trailers like our 2018 OE2, when doing the springs I also changed out the EZ Flex. Two Reminders: Your suspension has bolts that have splines on the shank on the bolt head end. Make sure that these bolts are "backed-up" (as in fixed in place with a wrench) on the head end, and only then loosened from the nut end. If you turn the bolt head you'll spin off the splines. That has resulted in several owners experiencing the suspension bolts actually walking their bolts nuts off. This is especially imperative for the EZ Center Bolt. Also, the Wet Bolts (Ones with a Zerk on them), have two grease discharge holes near the bolt's shank center. This is where the zerked grease comes out of the bolt to lubricate the suspension. These two holes are recommended to be at 9AM and 3PM. This allows for easier greasing. Be sure to back up these zerked bolt heads when tightening as mentioned above. GJ

A very easy swap is to just use the PR4 Dexters. They are 2400 pound rated. Perfect fit replacement for the PR4B the lighter 1750 rated ones.