Geronimo John

You may be the high mileage leader on the Alcan's. Sounds like you logged 21,000 after getting the Alcons. It us statically interesting that you would have problems with so many shocks from different stores over such a short period of time. We did over a month in Alaska two years ago, and also transverse fire roads much of our of our 3 - 4 month season each year. When I replaced our springs and shocks this past summer, we had seven seasons and 31K miles on the Monroe's and our Ollie. I frankly was surprised that all four shocks were still serviceable. I hope I don't get tared and feathered for even suggesting... But with such experience from several batches of Monroe shocks, a third possibility could be that with your miles you may have uncovered another hidden concern with having really strong springs under your trailer. Something to monitor as you gather up more miles and others with this combination travel. Stronger springs for a given load will have different rebound characteristics. For the Alcon/Monroe's, the Monroe's may not be able to handle the springs. Something to ponder further. GJ

I would tap the hole and insert a fully threaded SS bolt with locktite red. Then cut the head off the bolt. GJ

That does not surprise me at all! 🙂 GJ

Glad you found the pending loss before it happened. Last month in a response to Jason's post I stated: "A bit off topic, but important. I recently lost on the highway one of my jack foot plates. Recommend checking their single bolt tightness occasionally. Anybody know how to do so and to what torque? My concern is that one could damage the jack tube if it is not restrained during tightening." We now have two documented cases supporting the need to periodically check the torque of our jack leg feet. Jason mentioned using a strap wrency to back-up the torque process so as not to damage the leg when doing so. Pondering this further, I think it would be worth attaching a small diameter cable to act as a "safety chain" for the feet. GJ

Claudia: I recommend you cut and paste the above in to the Amazon Reviews. It is to the point and honest. GJ

Claudia: I don't have any experience with the removal. But for the hole it will leave when removed I suggest using a piece of scrap white cutting board to cover the hole. Suggest cutting it into a circle and then use some white acrylic sealant to keep it in place. You could taper the edges for aerodynamic smoothing if your as particular as I am. I would not suggest using JB Weld or other adheasives we use for hanging heavy equipment as they would not meet your goal of being able to reinstall down the road. Hope this helps, GJ

Wow you ROCK! GJ

The referenced site indicates purchases of 250 feet. How to Order a Drip Rail from Trim-Lok Trim-Lok’s Drip Rails are easy to order. Go to our drip rail product page, choose your color, and choose your quantity of 250-foot boxes of the plastic drip rail. GJ

Honda 2000 EI or 2200 EI is used by many OTT owners.

Thanks for the video. Good execution. Hopefully you'll be able to video the unit in action during a future camping trip. GJ

All: Sort of a related topic. Should find a light dusting of mold/mildew on the underside of the mattress, would using 91 proof iso alcohol kill it? Or maybe better what would you use to do so? GJ

Having any water in the trailer lines with a hard freeze can cause extensive damage. Strongly suggest the above sage recommendation....it's just not worth the risk. Using the trailer dry can easily be done. For the toilet use one of those bags in the toilet or "go" elsewhere. GJ

Our 7-Pin connection failed us last year. Art and I replaced it with one that has LED indicators for each of the wires heading back. Worth the extra few $ in my opinion. We check the trailer brakes with the manual trailer actuator every time we start out our day. A good idea to know if you have trailer brakes before leaving the camp site. Twice in 7 seasons we circled back to our camp site and worked the issue. Sort of like a "Don't Leave Home" without brakes idea. GJ

Just two cents from my end.... when using slip planes on level ground... The idea is that you want a low coeficient of friction (CoF) from your stack-up elements, and ideally get at least four inches of height in their stack up when the trailer is accidently moved when jacked up. Why? Under such an event, you WANT a low CoF for the jack plate to move and slip. Rubber does not have a low CoF. Likely it would preclude the slip planes from slipping. Instead I would consider using a 3/4" plywood or hardwood piece between the jack plates and the Andersor (or others) blocks. When the jacked up trailer is moved while on your blocks, when moved you want the jack plate slip and fall towards the ground. If you have 4+ inches of clearance, it may touch the driving surface, but likely will not dig in enough to cause sufficient torque to damage the jack mast. If it only drops an inch or two, this is sadly is not likely the case. Word of caution for new owners: All of the above is assumed to be for use on relatively flat or low cross sloped camp sites. For other less than ideal camp sites, I do NOT recommend ever using your OTT jacks for leveling. For such conditions you would be far safer to use the tire drive on ramps (Of various designs) to elevate the low side of the trailer.

Thanks JD and others! Good to hear of progress on the refer upgrades. I purchased the Titan double 90 mm fan set up. The manual function works well, but the Auto function failed half way through its first year. Titan did not cover their defective controller despite at least 15 E-mails and "hoops" they tossed out to delay doing so. After four months of dragging it out, I contacted Amazon and got a full refund. As such I can not suggest using Titan as a supplier. I know this has been covered but I've have been on the road for almost four months and missed several important posts... hence I apologize for asking what was covered I am sure. Which Beach Lane fans are being used for interior and the exterior refrigerators? Thanks GJ

Ditto! GJ

Especially if you forgot to let the Hot Water tank's contents cool down first!

On a slope, you may want and need to reconsider your procedure. Having a 6,000 + anchor attached by at least a chain can be a day saver. IMHO that is. GJ

Yep, as previously stated.

YES THERE IS. You can depressurize the tank with the PTV on top, remove the valve and use a shop vaccuum with a draw tube or a siimple syphon hose to drain the tank. But frankly removing the annode is easier IMHO. GJ

Like JD said, I have as well. For my first year OOPs I broke a jack leg. It happened when I did not feel I needed the use the slip 2" X 6" slip planes under the jack feet. Did that just ONE time. Lesson learned. I know that 2 X 6 blocks will slip when pulled or pushed by the TV, saving the jack leg. I suspect that the plastic ones likely will as well, but do not know this for sure. It would be nice to know from the plastic block users what their experience is when driving off with their trailers on plastic blocks. With two or more of the wood blocks in place there has been no damage when another driver did not know they were in place and the trailer slipped the 2 X 6's and dropped to the ground. To warn all potential drivers of my rig when blocked, I tie hot pink flagging on the steering wheel every time I put the jacks down and always use two or more 2 X 6 blocks under every jack. The more blocks used the more slip planes you have. It also increases the odds of no damage if the trailer is moved. This is due to shortened lever arm effect. GJ

I fully understand that perspective. You would be a good canidate to be using at least two 2 X 6" lumber blocks under each jack plate to create slip planes for when the jacks get moved or move under duress. Sure have saved bending a LOT of Ollie Jack Shafts. Thanks for the strap wrench idea and Locktite on the 5/8" jack leg ground plate. GJ

Yes, they "can". But, I'm not aware of any OTT reported frame, mounts or jack tubes from use on reasonably level ground. However, I can certainly envisonate situtations where it could occur when unwisely used on sloping ground and well extended. But I have not yet heard of such damage actually happening within the OTT community. I believe that it is very important that we use blocking under all three jack plates every time. They reduce the lever arm and will prevent jack damage when moved while extended. But this is a topic of a previous post.... A bit off topic, but important. I recently lost on the highway one of my jack foot plates. Recommend checking their single bolt tightness occasionally. Anybody know how to do so and to what torque? My concern is that one could damage the jack tube if it is not restrained during tightening. GJ

I purchased a six foot water hose from a big box store, and cut it in half. One end goes in my truck to help me fill my Reliance 5 gallon tanks from a hose bib. The other us used to suck out water from my 5 gallon containers when boondocking it into Ollie. Both of the cut ends of the hoses are beveled 45 degrees to keep them from "sucking down" in the containers. GJ

Earlier this year we had a discussion about what to do if you had to run on just one tire on one side of an OE2. Below was some thoughts. If you must, then having some blocking under the good axle to carry additional load maybe a workable solution to eliminanate any fiberglass damage. Going slow is also paramount. DIY - Two Flat Tires On An OE2.docx