Geronimo John

What a great way to score some Father/Daughter time!

Frank: I have a SUV TV so my storage for "stuff" pretty much has to be in Ollie. As such, I took great care on what I carry and selecting storage containers for the hold that I can use for multiple purposes. Milk crates are less valueable on the road for most needs. Also, the 6 gallon ones are often too heavy to move when out of reach in the back storage hold. As such, I use only one "4 gallon" milk crate for the very heavy items in the hold. It is placed in the far back of the rear storage area. I also have one in the back of my TV. As suggested by Phil at OTT, the Fortiflex 20 QU FB-120 Bucket works perfectly in the Ollie hold. I highly recommend getting them at the Tractor Supply Company, 608 EAST MAIN ST, Hohenwald, TN 38462, 931-796-2528 Store #1346) after you pick up your Ollie. Be sure to get the Fortiflex buckets with the FLAT BACK. They are designed as a feed bucket that can be hung a wall. That flat section allows you to dense pack several of these buckets very efficiently in the hold. When I arrived at tractor supply, they very graciously allowed me to bring outside to Ollie some of their 20 qt and 8 quart Fortiflex buckets. I went with a mix for flexibility. I recommend getting buckets sized for different contents and sized to fit in the hold. For example I have a large blue one for my garden hoses, water filter and the collection of clean water related fittings you will end up with. I have a red large one for the Furion electrical cord, and a 27 foot 12 GA 20 amp extension cord coiled up. In this red bucket I also have all the electrical connectors you will end up with. I have two stacking 8 quart buckets for washing Ollie. Stacked they fit in the hold, and I use them for the cleaning supplies you will end up with. Granted the milk crate works great for my heavy stuff (Bearing supplies, spare brake pads, sockets, ratchet etc.), but the cords, hoses and cleaning/waxing supplies work best for me in the Fortiflex's. Hence I recommend more buckets and less milk crates. (Note: You will want two buckets for washing Ollie.) The pearl is to go to Tractor Supply with your stuff you want to store in the hold. Then play with their buckets to see what works for you best. Also suggested is getting a Home Depot/Lowes trash picking up wand before going to Tractor Supply. This tool has a gripper on one end and a long handle. The gripper works well to get the milk crate that I keep at the far end of the storage area. It also works OK on the bucket rims as well. It would be very handy to have while you are at Tractor Supply playing with your buckets. :-) I hope some of the above helps.

Gary: Really helpful info! Thank you. Which Mr Buddy Heater did you use? How did you get the propane to it? Where in the trailer did you park your Mr. Buddy for overnight use? I assume, maybe correctly, that you used the Oliver on-board furnace, and only used the Mr. Buddy when it failed. Is this correct? Thank you,

Amazon.com: Maxtrax MTX02FJRMAXTRAX MKII Vehicle Recovery and Extraction Device, $299 John D: Thanks for the Maxtrax suggestion. I had seen them in use in Africa, but had put it way deep in the memory bank. Will they fit sideways in the back of your LC? If not, where do you transport them? Thank you once again,

Kathryn and Chad: I agree with JD on the top off road/durable SUV if cost is not an issue is the LC 200. But the new Land Cruisers are really expensive. There are some available in the used market, but because they are so so strongly sought after by the off-road users, even the used LC's are very pricey. I looked at the LC as my first choice, as they really are designed to be durable and reliable for 20+ years. But the availability and cost is an issue. A good non truck TV fall back is the Toyota Sequoia. I use an ancient one (2005) as my TV. Unfortunately, (as advised before buying my Ollie Elite II by JD), the high speed rear end and the small 4.7L engine just would not cut the mustard in the mountains. He was spot on. If you look at the Sequoia's, be sure to get the 5.7L engine, 4WD with towing axles. The extra 100 lf-ft of torque of the 5.7 vs the 4.7L is a tremendous advantage over mine. Due to the age and mileage on my TV, I am looking at vehicles that are both durable, and powerful. I think that the F250 would be the best long haul TV, but finances may drive me to a used Sequoia that was set up as a tow vehicle. The Toyota forum is hinting that they will be bringing out a new updated Sequoia in the next year. That likely will reduce the cost of the used ones that will be put on the market as trade in's for new ones. Just something to consider. One key factor is how many passengers you need to carry. If it is just the two of you, then maybe a standard cab F250 may be a very reliable and safe selection, but not have the length issues you are concerned about. If an SUV is desired with its greater passenger room, then the Land Cruiser (Best)/Sequoia (Good) are options to at least look into. What ever way you go, it is very important that you get towing axles, not the high speed ones... especially if the primary purpose of the vehicle will be towing your Ollie Elite II. Geronimo John

Yvonne: I am glad that you had a good ending to the near catastrophe. It certainly could have gone a lot worse. You raise an important point, and that is TV heavy towing durability. A beloved vehicle, such as my 2005 Sequoia with only 228,000 miles on it is about as reliable as a vehicle can be. But, as advised by John D this past early Spring, its 4.7L V8 simply does not have the power, and I worry about its heavy towing durability in mountains and on fire roads that I travel each summer. Your selection of the F250 certainly has the durability for safe long term mountain travel with Ollie. A quick look at your drive shaft vs. the smaller half ton P/U trucks clearly demonstrates the point. As does the size of it's brakes, axles and a bunch of other critical parts that can get stressed to the max by temperature, grade and heavy tow loads; especially in the mountains. For many months I have been chasing MPG numbers and as a result really like the great MPG numbers that the Ram 1500 Eco Diesel or the F-150's can provide. And yes, the F250 carries a higher fuel and maintenance cost. But the cost delta between a F150 and a F-250 diesel is not all that great any more. But the cost potential of just one critical mechanical failure could be really high, especially in the mountains. The durability consideration in my eyes has two components. One is weight related and the other is capability related of the various truck components. On both the weight and component capacity, I think that the Nissan Titon XD has an advantage over all the 1/2 ton trucks. And of course the 3/4 ton trucks do over the half and 5/8 ton trucks. So it appears to boil down to what is really important? Cost of operation or intrinsic safety of the TV and Trailer? In the hundreds of posts about tow vehicles that I have read here and elsewhere, I do not recall the concept of heavy towing durability getting discussed much. Especially with regard to owners looking as to which TV to acquire. Maybe it should be. So, I thank you for causing that concept to click.... at least in my thick skull. Thank you.

Darrel: You mentioned your "Generator Ground Plug". My assumption is that your plug is to bond the neutral and ground at your generator. I suspect that some new owners may not be aware of this issue. I have cut and pasted an article from Fiberglass RV Forum that describes the problem and a simple fix. It is a good read for those not familiar with the electrical grounding requirements of code and how/why some generators give our Progressive Industries surge and monitoring system fits. Thanks for the reminder, Geronimo John FROM: FIBERGLASS RV FORUM – 7 DEC 2018 03:15 PM, Mr. Casita Greg, Senior Member This is a description of the N-G bond plug that I wrote some time back which I posted on some forums: Portable Inverter Generators and Neutral-Ground Jumper for RV Use Only While we're on the subject of portable generators, all RV electrical systems are wired with their Ground and Neutral buses floated, (un-bonded from each other.) There’s lots of good reasons for this, most specifically it’s an NEC and RVIA code requirement that the safety ground wire never carries any load current, and there can be only one Ground-To-Neutral bonding point in any distributed electrical system in the USA. Now, when you’re plugging your RV into power from a building, such as your garage outlet or a campground pedestal outlet, your RV has its Ground and Neutral buses “bonded” (connected) together externally as part of the service panel’s earthed safety ground system. Again, lots of reasons for this, but the fact is you can only have a single G-N bonding point according to the National Electrical Code and RVIA building codes. So when your RV is powered by a portable generator, and if you have an inline voltage monitor system from a manufacturer such as TRC or Progressive Industries, (like the EMS-30 that I installed in my trailer,) your voltage monitor is checking for the Neutral and Ground voltages to be very close to each other, probably within 3 volts or so. This works well if you’re plugged into shore power that’s properly grounded and bonded, but this voltage protector can be tripped off by plugging your RV shore power plug into a portable generator without an internal Ground-Neutral bond. If you don’t have a voltage protection device on your RV, then you may never know that your generator has a floated neutral (un-bonded G-N bus). Contractor-type generators, such as a Coleman 5000 for example, are generally G-N bonded internally, which is why it runs your RV just fine. However, many portable inverter generators from companies such as Yamaha and Honda (such as a Honda 2000i or EU3000 for example) have floated Neutrals (i.e. no internal Ground-Neutral Bond) since they expect an external G-N bond to happen somewhere else. And while RV-approved generators may have an internal G-N bond, it seems that many of the most popular portable inverter generators from Honda and Yamaha have floating neutrals. So your 2000i or your EU3000 isn’t providing the Ground-Neutral Bond that your RV requires to think it’s getting properly grounded power, while a Coleman 5000 has a Ground-Neutral bond already so it operates your RV properly. Seems crazy, but that appears to be the scenario. It’s pretty simple to wire a special “Ground-Neutral Bond” jumper cable for your Honda or Yamaha generator which will allow you to power your RV through its voltage protection device. You can obtain or make a dummy 15 or 20 amp “Edison” plug with the Neutral (white) and Ground (green) screws jumpered together with a piece of 12 or 14 gauge wire. This G-N jumper plug can be plugged into one of the generator’s unused 20-amp outlets, and the entire generator’s electrical system will be N-G bonded. You can then use the other 20-amp Edison outlet or the 30-amp outlet to power the RV. Just be sure to mark this plug specifically for its intended purpose. It won’t really hurt anything if it’s plugged into a correctly wired home outlet, but it will create a secondary G-N bonding point that could induce ground loop currents and create hum or buzz in a sound system. So this is a generator-only G-N bonding plug which should be only plugged into a portable generator while powering your RV. What's going on inside the plug? Jumper wire between the silver screw terminal and the ground screw terminal. Be careful not to hook to the gold terminal screw. (Which is the "hot" prong and can be easily determined by looking at the two power prongs. The "hot" prong (usually the black wire,) will be the smaller of the two blades on the plug and is the power supply. Do not connect to this one.

John D: About 98% of the time I am in lockstep with you. However, I don't agree with your 2015 recommendation not to purchase the front storage box if using the Anderson. Like you, I pull with a SUV and don't want fuel for the generator inside either Oliver or my TV. For this, and carrying dunage and other items that seem to attract mud, the box is very useful. I do agree with you on the two other major points. A. First that front box owners should not put a ton of weight in it. I typically carry about 60 pounds there. I would not be concerned with up to say a hundred or so pounds or so. B. Secondly backing off the Anderson tension nuts before traversing really radical terrain is a sound and prudent idea. On this second point, I wonder if any Ollie owner has ever destroyed/damaged their trailer or Anderson by high angle of approach/departure? If so, any idea which component of the system proved to be the "Weak Link"? I going to guess the mounting hardware on the tongue under the propane tanks would fail first. Your thoughts? Geronimo John

They sell milk crates at the big box hardware stores. No need to purloin them. :-)

I have two replacement knees and totally agree with your suggestion about knee padding. I carry a standard inexpensive boat throw cushion. Walmart for about $8, the kind that are square, orange,and about 3" thick. It makes reaching those water valves a lot nicer. But mostly it makes changing a spare tire possible. I keep one in my TV and one in the shop. They are also handy to sit on when riding in the boat!

The above thread raises several "red flags" for me that as a Professional Engineer I am required to respond. Although I believe that several of our OTT owners are quite qualified to mitigate my below concerns. That said, I also believe that the majority of OTT owners, myself included, likely are not. As such, I am taking the time to highlight to this second group some concerns with the modification made to the OTT electrical systems as discussed in the above threads. Upon delivery, I asked OTT if I could run the A/C by battery power alone. The OTT answer was NO. If I am recalling correctly, the reason given was that the inverter and electrical systems were not designed to provide the continuous power necessary to run the A/C as well as other parasitic and elective loads of the trailer at the same time while on battery power alone. In the case of our trailers, the A/C pulls 1731 watts (Oliver University documentation), add to that normal other loads of an occupied trailer, and the power inverter will be operating near or above its continuous max load of 2,000 watts. Should an owner then power up the microwave, water heater (on electric mode) or other electrical loads, several system components will certainly be operating in an overload condition. Systems running at or above their designed continuous capacity are prone to fail young with the added concern of possible fire or other unforeseen electrical damages. Yes I do believe it is possible to run our A/C off the trailer batteries alone. But it certainly comes with risks that neither I or the average OTT owner should sign up for. Granted if solar power is added to the equation, the power available (Battery Power + Solar Power) improves the ability to run the A/C and other loads without generator or shore power. However you are still facing the brick wall of the capacity of the individual components to do so safely. To do so safely and to meet UL requirements, a full re-look, if not redesign of the OTT power systems would be required. For those Owners that are compelled to modify their OTT to run the A/C from batteries (with or without solar), I humbly recommend five safety mitigation efforts: A. That you instrument your Xantrex Inverter, batteries, and cables to monitor and alarm for temperature and current overloads. B. As I suspect that your inverter life will be substantially reduced, you may want to consider having a spare inverter in your spare parts box. C. That you install master battery kill switch(s) accessible outside at the battery compartment to shut down the flow of power from your batteries and solar systems in the event of fire. This would allow the fire department an ability to more safely fight an electrical fire in your trailer. D. That you and your family actually practice exiting out the emergency window. E. The modifications described in the above threads appear to be accomplished without UL approval or testing. Nor does it appear that they have been designed and documented by a licensed Electrical Engineer. As such, you may want to know if your insurance will cover the loss of your trailer should an electrical fire consume it. I fully support an owner's right to execute modifications to his/her trailer. Especially when done by competent individuals, as many of our OTT owners are. That said, it is my opinion that this modification needs to be cautiously approached by the majority of us. Thank you.

Please don't take offense for these two thoughts concerning propane tanks and the Auto Switch Over Valve (ASOV) at the tanks. A. For the ASOV to work automatically, both valves on top of the tanks have to be open, and the ASOV must be pointing to one of the tanks. This combination will keep the supply of propane "ON" to your system all the way up to both tanks being near empty. B. All propane modern tanks have a max propane flow safety device. If a surge flow of propane occurs that exceeds the manufactured set point, the valve will shut to very nearly off. Such super low flow will not allow your gas appliances to work. The fix I use is to turn off all propane devices connected to the propane system, unconnect the propane supply lines at the top of your tanks. Briefly vent the tank valve and close it. Re-connect a tank or two, to the system, and then very slowly crack a tank supply valve. Wait a moment or two. Then turn on one stove burner to low and bleed propane to the stove. Once the stove is lit and stable, further open the propane tank valve to allow more flow of fuel to the system. This process will reset the safety valve and will bring the pressure up in the supply lines more slowly so as not to not evoke the run-away propane flow feature of the tanks. Oh yea, then fire off the gas water heater and stove. This process, although has more steps than some may feel necessary, but it gives me a visual indication of the gas flow at the stove with both low and high flames (some indication that the pressure regulator is working properly at sequentially higher flows), and reduces the probability of another undesired safety valve shut down by too many appliances all trying to get propane startup flow at the same time. Good luck.

25 feet is essential. I have not needed more. I have certainly needed more than ten lots of times.

I agree with Bill and John D about safety of the trailer when arriving at a new site. Especially if it has some slope to it. I keep my jack blocks in a milk crate in the front tongue basket. The Harbor Freight HEAVY chocks are right beside them. They are a prominent reminder to use them first as suggested above. Another safety measure concerns when to unhook the safety chains/cables. I first park, chock, raise the tongue to unhitch, and then move the TV forward a few inches. Just enough that there is some daylight between the Bulldog and Anderson. I specifically do not unhook the chains until AFTER I have rechecked the chocks, placed all the jack blocks and leveled the trailer. At that point I am sure that Ollie is not going anywhere without me. I then unhook the chains and move the TV a few feet further away to allow easy passage all the way around the trailer. If one is a bit forgetful, a sign on the dash such as "Chains?" would be prudent.

Paul: Welcome to our Forum! For me, space, functionality, cost, and durability are considerations. To do this, I recommend the following: Get a milk crate to store all my leveling blocks. (Space) Cut two pieces of scrap plywood (Recommend 3/4" thick) that will easily fit into the milk crate. I use this only in really muddy sites where the below will sink into the mud. For soft mud sites, place the plywood under the low side rear jack and the tongue. 2" X 6" scrap cut offs that easily fit flat into the milk crate side by side. Fill the crate to the top with the 2X6's and bungee the milk crate to the aluminum tongue tow box with my 2.5 gallon gas can for the Honda EU2200i. Lessons Learned: A. When I started my Milk Crate approach, I had a couple of 2" X 12", and tried 2" X 10" cut-offs. I used them under the tongue jack and really liked them. But I quickly learned that the tongue weight in soft mud would break them long wise. Hence the plywood. For muddy locations, I placed the plywood on the ground, and then place two 2X6's side by side, then I stack as needed single 2X6's at 90 degrees to the base layer. This plan has resulted in a more even load on the front plywood base and they have not failed. B. My "Easily Fit" definition changed after the Milk Crate cube of wood got very wet and expanded to the point that I had trouble getting the wood out of the crate. My second try allowed for 1/2" clearance for the boards and plywood. C. As mentioned by others, I also support using all my dunage to reduce jacking time, energy use and wear. But a more important reason is prevention of jack damage. You would not believe the number of owners that have forgot to raise a jack before driving off and destroying the jack. Having dunage under all three jacks gives you a chance of not having to replace the extended bent jack. Finally be sure to have an arrival and departure check list. PM me if you would like a copy of the one that I have put together that includes the majority of the elements others have identified, and some of my own a well. Good luck! Geronimo John

As indicated above, depends on what you set the T-Stat to and the ambient. In general, our fully charged stock batteries will power up the furnace all night on a charge. We camp high and have had several nights with freezing temp's and have not had a problem with the batteries topped off via generator before going to bed. I also support having a supplemental heat source. Even if it is only your Honda and a 1500 watt electric heater. Without kids or pets in the trailer, we like to put the heater in front of the bath room entry facing the emergency escape window. Out of the way and a plug is handy there also. Have fun! Geronimo John

Andrew: I am a 6'3", some what in shape 240 pound, OTT Elite II owner. We have the twin beds, so I can't speak to your set up directly. But I can say that when buying our trailer earlier this year, I had the same problem you are finding. I chose NOT to go with the rather expensive KTT option. Instead I purchased from Amazon the Zinus Ultima Comfort Memory Foam 6 Inch Mattress, Narrow Twin / Cot Size / 30" x 75". I use the existing stock twin bed cushions as a "box spring" and the Zinus on top. It works perfectly for both this bigger guy, as well as my wife who is the same size as yours. Not to mention it saved me a large chunk of change. Should you or anybody else go this path, I recommend that you have OTT make the "Couch" wall cushions 6" shorter. That way they are not in the way of the windows. If I had to do it over again, I would for sure repeat the above with the 6" mod. Geronimo John

Trainman: My 2017 Legacy Elite II does not have solar. I chose not to get it for several reasons. Some are: A. The cost. B. The aerodynamic drag. One of these days Oliver will be able to offer direct adhered solar panels that will eliminate this reason. I am told that currently the flexible panels on the market will not make the radius curves of the roof. So aerodynamically speaking, the existing "Dirty" panels must be used. Of course, an option would be to modify the roof curves to reduce the radius so that they could. I think it wise that OTT is waiting for more flexible panels vs. changing their roof profile. C. The compromises needed to make a solar generator free system work. Reasons A and B speak for themselves. So, the following attempts to address Reason C. Unlike your camping style, we are boon-docking 75% of the time at locations that have no hookups. Sure, we take advantage of hook-ups when we can, but frankly I agree with the above owners that it is rare out west to be able to do so. So, to take care of our power needs, we have the 2000-watt inverter, the EZ Start option on the A/C, and a Honda EU 2200i generator. With this setup we can run the microwave every day (and yes, it is "a battery killer"), occasionally the A/C (when the MaxFan is not enough cooling). We typically make our coffee (electric pot), make breakfast using the microwave and stove. Then later in the morning we run the very quiet Honda generator for an hour or so. Then if needed, during the evening will run it again for about 90 minutes or less to fully charge our batteries. This setup works very well for us and we have avoided Reasons A and B. After 50 years of sleeping under the stars and tent camping, we very much enjoy the comforts of our Ollie. Especially when we find ourselves out west at an extremely hot site. Most of the time, Ollie with its white color and well insulated walls does very well with the Max-fan. But there are a few times that we just have to run the A/C. I suspect that this is the case with most of our Oliver peers. It is the A/C that drives this issue in my opinion. I would love to hear how the Oliver Solar Owners address running the A/C when needed when they don’t have a generator. How long will the batteries last when doing so? I suspect that if they have a need for A/C, the limitations of power storage and sunny weather pretty much requires them to also have a generator handy. If not, what compromises are needed to make a solar system work with A/C loads without a generator in the game plan? Geronimo John

George: I think that leaks are one of the most frustrating elements of owning a trailer. I can only imagine your frustration. The nice thing about gravity is that it rarely lies. :-) But our eyes often do. If the leak is from upper window seal, then a single line of duct tape, horizontally placed on the outside of the hull, spanning the seal, from the fiberglass shell over the seal to the glass below the seal would be a simple garden hose test. If it still leaks water into the interior, then it would seem that the water is coming down the interstitial space of the hull from above. Unfortunately, you'll need either a dry day, or a covered space to let all the trapped water in the hull excape.... then to test it. That could take several days. As Dave P. (above) mentions, and I suspect is the case, the leak may well still be coming from above, and the upper window seal is just the location the water is leaving the inter-hull space and entering the interior of the trailer. If the above is the case, the water from above will find a place to exit the space between the hulls, exiting either inside, out, or both. One other consideration, or test, would be to turn off the A/C and allow all the water to leave the hull wall cavity. Then garden test the exterior. If no leak, the run the A/C looking for it to appear. This too would require a lot of time. The above does little to solve the problem, but at least it could possibly help in understanding it. Good luck. Geronimo John

Bill and Bob: I very much appreciate your insights and responses. My past boat trailers always got an annual spring "Full Monte" when it comes to bearing service. I also always carried two sets of spindle rehab spare parts just in case. I know for boat trailers, the issue water intrusion. Especially in Utah with altitude, high speeds, and extremely hot sun heated bearings getting quenched into a chilly Lake Powell. Add to that winter salt and you have the perfect conditions to eat seals and bearings. Hence the annual Full Monte. Without inspection ports and flow-through grease replacement, I will follow your advice and pull them all the way down.... and my gut to have a Dexter repair kit in the boot as well. The PITA of being on the side of a highway 95 miles from anything makes the service effort seem really easy. Thank you again, John R

For a portable BBQ, I like the Viking "See Inside" the cylinder to see how much propane is left. However, I don't use them for my trailer. There I want steel or aluminum tanks. Too many OOPs, or an accident could more easily rupture the fiberglass Vikings. I would not recommend the 30 pound cylinders due to their weight. I do like Dave Phelp's recommendation of carrying a third 20 pound tank if you really need more fuel unless you are boondocking very high with extreme cold conditions. For three season camping, I personally don't think it would be needed. As such, recommend you try the two standard tanks out for a few trips. Mahalo, John

Jaque: Welcome to the Oliver Family and our Forum. An item not yet commented upon is your concern with not wasting water while boondocking. Spot on! Solution: Cut the top of a plastic milk jug above the handle in an oval shape towards the opposite side so that the sink faucet handle/shower head can slip into the jug but leaving the jug handle intact. When you want hot water at the bathroom or kitchen, use the jug to collect the cold "Hot water". Place it by the toilet for future flushing. I also encourage you to scour the Forum and Oliver University sections of this site. The owners and OTT have an amazing amount of info on line that is invaluable. John TOM: Thanks for the reminder that the hot water heater indirectly also assists in keeping the inner hull space warm. I had not thought of that before your post. Mahalo!

The 3.0L Eco-Diesel engine has not been discontinued for model year 2019. According to two blogs, it will enter production during the summer of 2019. To keep up with the competition, it is rumored that the output of the 3.0 Eco Diesel will be on the order of 260 HP and 442 lb-Ft of torque...... and still get great mileage in a big truck.

Jim: I'm also looking at the used market for a Ram 3.0 Eco-diesel. Impressive in the 4X4 version, puts out 420 ft-lbs of torque and is EPA rated a combined 22 mpg (City 19 and Highway 28 MPG) for the 2015 model anyway. Some of the blogs indicate that the owners of the used ones are getting way over the EPA ratings. Also, the 2015 version has an eight speed transmission, and I believe two of the gears are OD. The combination absolutely kills the ten MPG I got last summer.

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