Geronimo John

I carry a milk crate full of 2 X 6 blocks. I use three under all my jacks to act as a shear-plane. Should for some reason the trailer moves, I'll hear a clunk and recall that I failed to use my check list. In your hill park picture, I see you are doing your best to keep Ollie in place. You even have a block to act as your shear-plane if it moves. Bravo! The two suggestions would be to: A. Use a line and tie off your brake emergency cable to a tree. If the trailer moves at least your Ollie brakes will activate. B. Bring more 2 X 6 blocks and shorten up the lever arm of the jacks as much as possible. GJ says: "Jack up Ollie as you need, but keep the jack extensions as short as your pre-planning will allow"

JD: Yep for sure on that one. Thanks for filling in the rationale. All: I'll likely mount our solar suitcase charge controller out of the weather in the Ollie battery compartment. My Keep it Simple is to just roll out the panels and plug them into a solar port on the door of the compartment..... IF it does not put out significant heat when charging at capacity. Anybody have the larger 200 watt Renogy solar suit case with the 20 amp charge controller think it puts out more heat than should go into the OE2 batter compartment? Thanks GJ

Having such a wand greatly improves the process. If you have an old 1/2" garden hose that should be in the trash pile, you can make one really easy from it and some scrap metal tubing and a hose clamp (El Cheapo GJ style). Or just buy a nice one with a valve on it. Either way good purchase suggestion

JD: Those look like hte100 watt solar suit cases. Assuming your batteries are at say 70% SOC = 13.2 volts X 6.7 amps = 88 Watts input to the controller. That's really good! Question: Curious why you did not mount the charge controller inside your trailer? Maybe with your Battleborns? Then use a solar port through the battery box door? GJ

Our 2018 4060 manual has a selector switch for LI and Flooded. The LI sets it at a constant 14.6 volts per below. When I started the planning for my system over a year ago, I called Battleborn about needing (or not) to change this unit out. They indicated that this model does not have the Charge Wizard for the Lithium switched mode. As such my charging instructions are to charge to the SOC 95% charge and kill the breaker to the Converter for day to day needs. For equalization every few weeks, charge to SOC of 90%, and then at continue to charge at 60 amps rate for an additional 90 minutes for my Battleborns. So basically my charger is pumping out 14.6 volts all the time the breaker is on. This is why I was wondering how the other chargers... that ARE smarter... would be impacted. I guess this would have been good info to have provided as from your response apparently some models of this are Lithium Charge Wizzard enabled.????? GJ

It was just a few years ago that a couple of sage wise Oliver owners dipped their toes into the Lithium world. Since then, following their foot steps, now many of us have DYIed the conversion to Lithium. Fortunately many of us RoF's (Retired Ole Farts) are now sporting the "Lithium Grin" and have survived the conversion process mostly intact. Those of us in the Boomer Generation that grew up with slide rules as our favorite calculating device, often were able to figure out the conversion process. Having mechanical and electrical power wiring skills made it possible. But, like myself, we lack the fundamental understanding of how the underlying technologies play or don't play together well. I hope that this thread can be used to help owners better understand how THEIR systems can, or should not "Play Well Together". So I ask forgiveness of the super tech savvy younger owners as what may happen is a series of "How will my system Play Together" questions. Likely mine, and a bunch more down the line, will remind you of the dumb questions we see their customers asking at the bottom of Amazon.com products..... This starter post is for Hull 342, our "Ollie". We purchased our 2018 OE2 with Lead Acid batteries and have a Honda EU2200 inverter generator.. This past summer, we successfully made these upgrades: PD 4045 to PD 4060 2000W Inverter to Renogy 3000 watt Three 100 AH Battleborns Victron 12/12-30 DC to DC charger (#4 AWG Cabling) Victron 712 Smart Renogy 200 Watt Solar Suit Case. I use the DC to DC charger when on the highway only. I use solar when camping. Significantly less frequently we use Shore/Gen power to charge. Questions: A. When on Shore Power OR running our Honda, is it advisable to use the Progressive Dynamics 4060 converter and solar suit cases at the same time? B. The Battleborns collectively can charge at up to 300 amps. Our total max possible charge capability is 102 amps (PD 4060 = 60 amps, DC to DC 30 Amps and Solar Suit Case effectively 12 Amps). There have been a time or two when we were in a jamb for time and I really wanted to maximize charging our batteries: Is it advisable to fire off all of the systems simultaneously? If not, which should I safely only use? Thanks, GJ

I'm thinking that Mike has a good first step to consider before making a thread chaser. My suggestion would be to take a pair of vice grips and grab the anode securely. Then using the leverage of the vice grip you will be better to insert and turn the new anode squarely to the water heater threads. If that does not work, then consider John D's cleaver idea. GJ

I totally understand your perspective. IF I were to be a salesman, and I wanted to poise my rig at an event, I would wave my magic wand to presto have the most macho looking tires on the market under both. But before I took The Beast and Ollie on a trip, I would wave my magic wand and go back to purpose designed tires for each of my rolling stock. 🙂 As an engineer I look at purpose and function. Traction tires, especially those that work well on our 4X4 TV's off road, have different priorities of purpose than our trailer tires. So, in my minds eye, they likely would not be identical twins. But that's just my perspective.

I was under the impression that they were no longer available for our OEM OTT rims. ??????

I have one in Texas as a spare that I would be willing to part with. It has the Lithium switch. Just PM me. GJ

Lithiums! But the change over is a time consuming effort that requires some mechanical and electrical skill. There are several threads on this topic. A simpler change is to go with AGM's. But if you are going to own your OE2 for a long time, the cost and performance benefit of Lithiums is WAY better than all other options. I don't know of any owner that still owns their trailer saying they wished they had not converted to Lithiums. GJ

For sure my screen/bowl has snagged plenty of installation shavings... especially in the first two seasons. But frankly I would like to change out the unit with a true water filter that would not be a PITA to install and service. Any suggestions along these lines? GJ

Max: I assume you are all talking about the Cooper AT3 tires as Mike stated. Correct? John G: Your selection of the Ageis Cross Country is very interesting. Here are the pictures of the tires mentioned so far: The Cooper AT3's have a great following and reviews. I will be considering them for replacement on my F-150 FX4. But for Ollie, I have concern that the tread pattern will be more susceptible to tossing rocks than the Michelin Agilis CrossClimate. I also like that the Agilis being a commercial vehicle tire. On Michelin's site they state it is "their most durable tire". Looks like I need to do some more research. Thank you for the suggestions! At least now I know that I do not need to change rims too! GJ

I have run Michelin's on all my rolling stock for 52 years. Never had a problem. As such, I consider my experience to their products to consistently be top notch. As such, my comments were pretty explicit. None the less, eventually my Ollie Michelins will require replacement based upon their condition, not some arbitrary age opinion. Sadly, as indicated on other posts, I understand that they no longer make LT or ST tires for our OE2 16" rims. Are there any brands that offer such quality tires as Michelin, that wear out before they age out, and fit our rims? GJ

I HIGHLY recommend that when doing brake/bearing service that you verify that the EzFlex "Heart Bolt" is torqued to spec. Always put your torque wrench on the nut side as the bolt head has splines to keep it from turning. We have documented four instances where for what ever reason, the bolt head splines were compromised and that allowed the EzFlex to spin the bolt and nut. What happened then is that the nut walked away from the trailer and the bolt tried to follow. Fortunately the bolts were hanging on by their last two threads. Had these owner's trailer gone negative (Deep pot hole or catching air), the unloaded bolt likely would have flipped out. Not something that you want to experience on the highway at speed. Per BHNCB the center bolt nut should be torqued to 65-75 ft-lb. Per OTT, the flank of the center bolt (NOT the threads) should have Never-Seize applied. If you find your center bolt nut not close to specification torque, you likely have compromised splines. Apply say 50% of torque specification. If it spins, remove and inspect. If you find your splines are damaged..... be glad you caught it. If so, see BackOBeyond's the forum post "Dexter axle loose bolt at the equalizer " and my June 9, 2022 fix. GJ

CRM and JD: What labels or product do you use to label them? I have see JD's many times and wondered where I could get them. GJ

Good to know. My 2018 has the Michelins. GJ

I agree with Both Mike and Steve in their cautions. But, I suggest you have your tires inspected by a qualified technician: If your trailer came with Michelin LT tires, and don't have a lot of miles, there is a probability that they are still in pristine condition as they have been stored inside out of the sun and weather. My experience with Michelins is that they slowly age out compared to other brands. However if they are not Michelin tires, then the odds decline. Any age related defect, regardless of brand should result in a reshod of your Ollie. Follows is a lot of "IF''s": If you are towing your trailer long distances in areas where assistance is unlikely then stretching the life of the original tires is generally a bad idea. If you are traveling at or below the posted speed limits on paved roads. If on the other hand, the Tech finds no defects, and if you are camping local and if the sites are paved, then your risk factor may be acceptable. And the BIG IF is: Are you comfortable and capable of changing a flat trailer tire on the side of the road? That's a lot if "IF's". So basically for me, this is more about Risk Management and not a hard and fast rule that all tires should be retired at age X. Geronimo John

Winterization Step One: If you have a battery master switch, turn it to OFF. If not, disconnect the positive terminal that feeds power into the cabin. The parasitic losses in our trailers are small, but over winter the accumulate a lot and certainly can cause our batteries to suffer. OLD SCHOOL METHOD: Were I in your shoes, I would disconnect all four batteries and individually put a slow charger on them and try to bring them up to charge slowly. Once you get some voltage on them, you could then take the charging power up to 25 amps. Just keep an eye on their temperature. If hot to your hand or boiling, back the charge back to 2 amps or so. The process can take a lot of time slow charging, but the potential for more damage is much less. Once you think you have them charged, you could individually put one at a time on a battery load tester. It will load them up to 1500 watts load and you can calculate how much power they were able to deliver from full charge to the 50% voltage. Don't draw them down below this voltage. The answers between each of your four batteries should be very close. If one is not, bingo you know what failed. GJ

I like your version a lot better than my original "El Cheapo" approach!

Could you rob the shield off the Monroe shocks and use it with your KYB's and reuse the old Monroe cupped washers too? GJ

I thinking that vast majority of OTT owners would not need or want such a heavy, complex, costly to purchase and install, and expensive to maintain suspension. GJ

Best Idea I have heard all day! Bravo! GJ

Excellent comment.... but only up to the point of running out of roller. The root cause of "barber polling" is likely that the canopy has been stretched and is no longer a rectangle of the size it once was. This can easily happen over it's lifetime. Or it can be the direct result of owner error in adverse weather conditions such as high winds and/or heavy rain. Mine appears to have been caused by my lowering the outboard rear end support brace to the ground for the purpose of forcing rain to drain near the rear (Away from the door area). Was a great idea...up to the point that it wasn't. When it stretched they generally become a parallelogram. The amount of "barber poling" that a given set-up can tolerate is dependent upon how much extra top roller space you have. If your canopy is say 14 feet wide and your top roller shaft is two inches longer, then you can adjust the canopy left or right to allow for up to 2" of wonky roll-up. This is what my OEM Carefree (SIC) OTT canopy had. Problem was that I needed three more inches of top roller shaft.... For this reason, when ordering replacement canopies, I recommend buying one at least several inches narrower than the OEM canopy My new one has four inches of such space. With that space, it is possible to do as you suggested several times and not have to replace the canopy. Which I hope to make a moot issue by not being creative in my canopy drainage plan..... Cost Saving Rule of Thumb: Don't let water pond on your canopy. Crank it in and lower the leading edge so it drains well if rain is in the forecast.

James: Ok, now down a notch in the test and eval: I assume your arms are "spring arms", and not gas strut driven arms. Please verify. Would be a good idea to inspect the "elbow" of each arm and check for any cracks that may reflect their having been broken. Does the tarp open symmetrically? Possible weak spring arm. Does it stop opening at the same place each time (Possible gear jamb at the motor.) Does your awning have a manual crank? If so, can you crank it open manually? Is it a smooth operation or does it bind in the process? If so where? Opening with a crank tends to be easier (Has spring assist and gravity) than closing against gravity and the springs as well. If you were to incrementally open the awning, and push on the arms, do all three of them feel as if they have the same tension on the tarp? Try again at various stages of opening. Focus before and after where it tends to bind up. If no, likely one of the arms has failed or partially failed. The next check has some risk and you should have two beefy helpers. Open the awning 100% fully and carefully mark where each arm bolts are attached to the leading edge. Open, the arms should have most of their spring tension released. Place ladders under the leading edge to support the awning leading edge. Tie them WELL to the awning leading edge for security and support. Cautiously remove one arm bolt at the leading edge and verify you can handle any remaining spring tension. If yes, untie the arm, and manually check the spring tension increases more or less lineally as you push it in the closing direction. You will be pushing directly towards the arm upper attachment point. You only need to push it part way to know if the spring closer is operating smoothly and with increasing tension. As you move towards the trailer, the spring arm resistance will increase greatly. Don't even try to go further than you can handle those increasing forces. The elbow will be closing and the action should be smooth. If so, all is good. Reattach the arm to the leading edge as marked. Tighten its bole and repeat for other two arms. This will identify if one of your arms is defective. If the above is inconclusive, then likely you have a motor/gear top spool issue and I do not recommend you doing further testing yourself. Time to get it to Girard experienced technician. I hope this helps. Hopefully other owners with this awing have additional ideas or any concerns about the above. If the above does not id the problem, I'm at a loss as well. GJ