Geronimo John

@Tom and Cheryl: I vote with you on the Telesteps ladder. I am 250 pounds dressed out, and very much appreciate the attributes of the OSHA compliant Telesteps 1400E Telescoping Extension Ladder. This past summer I used it to build lean-to walls that were 48' long by 12' high. This project along with washing and waxing Ollie for over three months worked out very well. The project put me up and down this ladder many dozens of times a day for weeks on end so I know it has excellent durability. Beyond being well made, this Telesteps has three good attributes: It fits nicely into the back of the large storage cabinet at the entry door. As ladders tend to walk off some times, not having it in my truck is a distinct advantage. At 18 pounds vs. the Yesker's 26 pounds, it takes less of a toll on your back if moving it a lot. It performs well and I would buy it again should it become necessary. However if you are over 250 pounds, I would suggest John D's Yesker as it is rated for 300 pounds.

Mike and Carrol: The suction cup style 14" KES refrigerator towel rod does not appear to be available. Would the Yohom 17" Stainless Steel Vacuum Suction Cup version fit? I am asking as I do not have access to my OTT in Hawaii. Thanks,

RB: As a Professional Engineer, I can assure you that your wife's opinion is structurally correct. With each additional support point under the frame, the less flex the hull will have with variable loads. This is true all the way up to having the hull sitting on a concrete slab (An infinite number of support points). I'm 240 pounds and like Overland do not find the flex objectionable... probably due to my past boat life. However, if your wife feels it is, I recommend adding two additional supports. That said, I would not do it as pictured. Rather simply get two half ton screw jacks and don't attached them to the hull. This would provide the same amount of "domestic tranquility" and would not be a permanent eyesore.

Seven Pin Female Pigtail Cover: I have had the pleasure of cleaning out my Oliver electrical umbilical cord connection several times now. I'm not sure how it happens, but when ever there is mud puddle under the tongue of my trailer, my Oliver pig tail does a swan dive out of the tongue storage box to go for a mud bath. The impact of the connector into the below mud seems to always have the same result... mud in the female electrical connector. What a PITA to clean! Since I purchased one of these covers, my pigtail has not once jumped out of the tongue box. Well worth the $7 purchase price from Amazon. Frankly, this cover should be standard equipment. It would surely save a lot of grief. The Amazon description is: Fastway 82-00-3315 7 Way Plug Cover https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JRYHGKC/?coliid=I3IETWGG5DCGXE&colid=BIL63TJ2UBFY&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it Ollie-Pig-Tail-Cover.docx

@John D: His profile says he has a Tundra.

@Trainman & Hobo: Last year I was in your position. I spent a lot of time looking for options that would fit in the basement. Basically there were none. The realistic options appear to be: Carry the BBQ in your tow vehicle (Not good as I was using a 4.7L Sequoia TV) Transport it in the shower (Not ideal from several perspectives) Get the box and transport it there (Not good as I use the box for generator fuel, dunage and chalks) So I ran 2018 with no BBQ. But I resolved the issue for 2019. I replaced my under-powered Toyota 4.7L Sequoia with a F-150. BBQ problem resolved! Sorry for the bad news.

I recommend you entirely read the Forum thread "HOW TO: Tire Pressure Placard" For my Elite II, I am running 60 PSI with a tire pressure monitoring system as suggested by John D and Raspy. Everyone knows that we must check tire pressures when they are cold. I have also found that even after a night of rest, a few hours with one side in the sun can make a big difference in what you will see when you check them sun to shade. I have seen as much as 5 psi difference of those in the sun vs. those in the shade. Finally, as suggested by MANY Ollie owners, I too believe that having a TPMS is essential.

Geronimo Update: Trailer Super Store has longer bolts and Nylocks. Will see if they have castellated bolts and nuts as well and will post back.

@Scuba RX: Roger on the over the cliff or Interstate tumbling show. I towed Ollie 10,000 miles and across several of the plains States was running the posted 80 MPH speed limit or maybe a tad more. I can't imagine what would happen IF I had ran over a tire with the bolt hanging on by a thread. Both Oliver and Dexter Engineering indicated that my experience was unique. Now that both ScubaRX and I have experienced the same sick feeling I suspect there may have been more. This raises my level of concern. So, please all Ollie Owners: If this has also happened to you, please please respond back to this post. Thank you

@ Overland: No, they are just long enough for the job with almost nothing extra. @ John D: Roger on the center punch expansion trick. This would be a good temporary approach. I would MUCH prefer castellated nuts and cotter pins. The Center Pivot Bolts were identified by a trailer supply house as standard "Shackle Bolts". I wonder if a grade 9 bolt that was about 3/4" longer manufactured for a cotter pin and a castellated nut is available?

EZ Flex Service Check: This past summer, I had Ollie going up a very steep four mile section of mountain road to a boondocking site. My tug was in first gear, 4-Low, rear axle locked, center diff locked. That section of road takes me an hour to transverse. Any suspension failures on this road would be a serious problem. Upon arrival, I was setting wheel chocks and noticed that the EZ flex heart bolt locking nut was gone, and the bolt itself was 85% out of the fixture. The only thing holding the EZ Flex in place was the weight of the trailer and a couple of threads. See the pictures below. Now as part of my lube process for the EZ Flex, I recommend you look carefully at the nut to ensure that it is in place, and that you have threads extending past the top of the nut. This could have been a nasty failure. These are "shackle bolts", and I have yet to find longer ones that I could double nut for safety and peace of mind. If you know of a supplier that has some, please let me know. Thanks

@ Bill: Umbrella coverage riders are common and relatively inexpensive. I carry one due to living on a mountain side and also participating in extreme sports. I suspect that OTT owners tend to be a bit better off financially than most, and as such a would have resources that ought to be protected from such legal entanglements. Hence dropping a dime to ask their insurance carrier about an umbrella and its cost is worth more than a quarter. @ John D: Liability waivers are effective in the majority of states. We use them at 99.9% of our hang gliding and paragliding sites as a result. So far they have been effective in court scores of times. In my case, a pilot while on tow made critical errors and crashed. My Texas waiver was reviewed by USAA and they stood behind me as a result. The law suite was filed not by the pilot that crashed, but by his medical insurance provider OVER his objections. Same likely will happen to the OTT owner with the face plant incident. The lady likely will admit she was not rendering due care and fell. But her insurance company will go after the trailer owner and OTT as well. A liability waiver would at least even the playing field.

Does OTT have a list of shops that care as much as they do? If not, having OTT owners submit names of ones they used that do would be a great start to making such a list. The list could be such that the Name and Hull number are listed with the shop info. That way we have some pride of nomination, as well as careful filtering of nominees. How about it OTT?

Hull 342 is parked in a dark shed on gravel. I place jack pads under the jacks and unload the tires (by my best guess) by 50%. In nine months when see her again I hope that she has hatched a new set of baby tires. :-)

Interesting posts. All above are working to narrow down possible causes. Looking at all you have done, I can envisionate a possible cause not documented. Yes you have propane pressure. This is one necessary quality... pressure. But of what? Hopefully 100% of the proper mixture of hydrocarbons we call propane. It may be good enough to sustain fire for your high volume heater and water heater. But the refrigerator is much more picky on what it consumes. Said another way, you may have bad gas. Either in quality or air/nitrogen mixed in it. Recommend you borrow a tank from another trailer/friend and see what if it will run on theirs. That would effectively take gas quality out of the question.

If you have any noticeable vibration, it would be wise to balance your trailer tires.

@ Darryl Very excellent. Was this the first use of of your PRV, or had it been in use at other sites before this site? Just wondering Thanks

Defective batch of fittings... maybe. But I think there most likely is an entirely different cause. As a reasonably adapt Mechanical Engineer, I can think of at least one other cause for several trailers to have the same problem. And, I can also think of a reason that others with the same batch of parts would not. I have hull 342. When I picked up my Ollie II, OTT provided a small brass "Flow Restriction Device" (FRD). I would wager that #381 and #390, and #412 as well as a whole bunch of other hull numbers have the same device. I suspect that some of those that have had this problem were using the OTT FRD at a trailer park with very high city water pressure when the problem occurred. If you look at the OTT provided FRD, it simply is a small orifice between a male and female hose bib fittings. This is NOT a pressure regulating valve (PRV). WHY? Because such a device under no flow conditions will sill allow line pressure at the faucet to be seen inside the trailer. Granted as you open a faucet in the trailer, the device will restrict flow and as such the pressure inside the trailer will also be reduced due to having an open valve. But if you have 125 PSI at the camp ground water source, and are not using any water in the trailer, the pressure inside the trailer will likewise be 125 PSI. IMHO, the OTT provided FRD is a piece of junk. Using it is tantamount to playing Russian Roulette with your plumbing system. The only use I can think of for this device is to use it as a trout line weight. If you have one of the OTT provided FRD's, I STRONGLY recommend you do one of two things. 1. Buy a real Pressure Regulating Valve (PRV) such as the one like John D. suggested. (See picture below that he posted). 2. Don't use the city water connection. Many OTT owners use the fresh water fill port to fill our fresh water tank and we use our pump to supply our needs. Since we don't use the city water port, we have not blown out our plumbing. I recommend that OTT put out a TSB to have all OTT owners trash their FRD's and to purchase a PRV OR, not to use the city water connection. I also recommend that OTT not provide new owners with FRD and give them real PRV's.

With it getting dark, you may want to go back to the valve mode you were in for the past ten days, and disconnect from city water. You'll sleep much better I suspect. I have to agree with both KountryKamper and Overland that you have a pipe or fitting leak and the water you are seeing leaking out of the bottom of the trailer weep holes is the low point and result. Good thing you were only at 20 PSI else wise things would have developed MUCH quicker. :-)

Thanks Overland. I was confused by his use of "Over Flow Ports". I think he is referring to the basement weeps. I agree with you and KountryKamper. Sounds like a pipe came loose. Probably was a good thing that he was only set to 20 PSI! "Check the connection under the basement mat". I assume the basement is the rear lower storage compartment accessible from the back street side. I was not aware there was a hatch under the mat back there. Thanks

"Outside shower just trickles with water when hooked to city water." This likely simply that you have set the pressure to only 20 PSI and the water is leaking out of the overflow as fast as it is coming in, hence there is no pressure to push the water up and out of the outside shower. Normally OTT owners set their city water to 40 to 55 PSI. 20 is very low.

I had been into the valve area a dozen times last summer and never saw the valve configuration sign. Sure made a difference when I dropped the cover on my foot and saw the back side for the first time. However, until I saw your post, I had not ever thought as to what the term "Normal" really means. I totally understand what the configurations for "Boondocking" and "Winterization" mode means. They are very descriptive. But the word "Normal" does not describe to me what the condition really is. Does it mean: "When hooked up to City Water"? If so, maybe OTT would consider a simple word change. Does it mean something else? Does it mean City Water Mode and Something Else that is "Normal"? I'll leave this to our more experienced owners to comment on.

Darryl and Kim: I suggest you turn off the water and then relocate the mattress and take a look in the under-bed mechanical areas on both sides of the trailer. If nothing obvious then verify your valve configurations. Look on the curb side hatch cover that you removed. There is an 8 X 10 sign showing the three valve configurations. Odds are you were in boondocking valve configuration and using the system to suck water from the right rear water port to fill your tank. If you switch over to city water, then Normal Valve configuration would likely be the settings you would want to try. This is my best guess as a pretty new owner myself. If none of the above, then were you in very cold conditions? Good luck. Geronimo S

@ John D: My Ollie has three hot water valves.... counting the outside shower. :-)

Steve and Steph: Welcome to the Oliver Family! I travel the northern path to get to Ruch, OR for the "Rat Race/Applegate Open" +/- Early/Mid June. I have done both routes and find that the "Southern Route" is pretty. Also slow in California, but really pretty up in the NE corner. The "Northern Route" has less drama and can be a a lot faster if you want to reduce stress and travel time. I would recommend going the Norther route via SLC to get TO OTT, then doing the Southern Route when going back to Oregon. Be sure to plan on a couple of days in the area of the factory so that you can take advantage of the great talents and info. Please tell Phil howdy from Geronimo!