bugeyedriver

The configuration beneath my front dinette seat differs from yours a lot. While you have a furnace in that area, I have one of my favorite things about The Wonder Egg, a 45 ft 30Amp extension cord on an electric windup spool! My furnace is in the galley area, resulting in a loss of some kitchen drawers from your configuration. Here are two pictures which will show the white HEPvO valve which Larry inserted into the PVC line from the shower to the grey tank. Good luck and let us know if you manage to have a HEPvO valve installed in your trailer.

DBL-R, I also have an early model LE I (2008 - #14) with the same plumbing configuration up front and for years, I dealt with the potential back flow of grey water into the shower pan if the handle for the valve on the back wall of the shower was not adequately closed before travel and the spring actuated foot valve was open. Then, many years ago, a good friend, Larry Gamble, of Little House Customs, fixed the issue by installing a HEPvO valve and magically solved the back slosh issue. The HepvO valve is a one way valve which closes like a duck bill and prevents the grey water from backing up into the shower during nose down or deceleration while braking. Now that handle on the shower wall is always in the out position, allowing water to drain from the pan into the tank and the HEPvO precludes it from making the return trip. I've removed the foot actuated drain plug and replaced it with a small sink screen to catch any small items and prevent them from gumming up the HEPvO valve. Larry said the clearance to install the HEPvO was very tight, but with his skill he managed to get it done anyway. He's retired now making music instead of bending wrenches, but there should be some skilled RV mechanic you can find to make the same modification on your trailer. Good Luck, Pete

Bill, if you offer free installation, I bet you'll have takers.

@strhomsen, Good catch, your right, although the year of my trailer is in my signature area, it is not emphasized greatly. Yes changes have been made to the trailer manufacturing over the years and this fix specifically pertains to very early models. However, when initially discussing this problem with the factory, they said the valves in the new LE1s also had limited clearance to access that bolt. If that is the case in anyone's trailer, this mod, or something akin to it may help in the future.

Here you go, taken with a little wider perspective. in order to find the position from below, Ron first positioned a long, skinny drill bit next to the valve above and drilled a pilot-hole which he measured from before cutting from below.

To all single axle Ollie owners, have you ever needed to have the black tank dump valve replaced? How much fun was that?! There is virtually NO room underneath to wrangle a wrench into in order to remove the bottom bolt. I’ve owned The Wonder Egg for 18 years now and it seems about every 9 years, the black tank dump valve begins to seep “water”. The first time I took it to my local, reliable, RV repair shop, Boerne RV, the technician stated that job was so difficult he almost quit being an RV tech! Well, here it is, 9 years later and I just had Beorne RV replace that *!%#! Valve again, I told them to feel free to make any modification to the trailer to simplify the process. Here’s the brilliant idea they came up with . . . A sealed, water-tight exterior access panel directly underneath the valve.

The 24' Casita Discovery width is 8 ft, which is wider than the Oliver and will require extra care while maneuvering corners or pulling up to a crowded gas station . . . doable, but different. Also the interior wall covering is not the Casita "Rat Fur" short napped rug-like covering. It is an almost smooth marine grade, felt-like headliner which comes in two shades.

Through general searches on the internet about protecting RV's from rock chips, I came across a repair facility on the east side of San Antonio who had a video about applying it to the bottom half of a high end Class-A motorhome. I figured if it was good enough for a $500k+ diesel pusher, it was good enough for The Wonder Egg. Unfortunately, they no longer offer Vortex coating. Good luck on your search. If you apply any sort of protective coating, you should still use some sort of rock guard protection between your tow vehicle and trailer to back it up. I use a Rock Tamer fitted to my F150.

The Wonder Egg has had Vortex over the lower front, just like taylor.coyote's picture for about 8 years now. Yes, it added 40 lbs to the weight, but is impervious to rocks. I hesitated to take a trip to Alaska until it was applied. Now, I'll go anywhere, (within reason).

Living in the Texas Hill Country, with steep dips on roads where dry river beds cross, I asked Oliver to build The Wonder Egg (#14) with a spring-over-axle set up to avoid rear end scraping. It has worked very well for me and improves clearances over obstacles if I want to place the back end of the trailer over a log / etc to get into the perfect boondocking site. As mentioned, a set up like this does result in some handling issues you'd need to contend with . . . braking a turn taken little too fast with a strong, gusting wind coming from the inside of the turn is a potential rollover situation. That might be more pronounced in the LEII due to more height and mass on top, combined with a larger surface area causing a "sail" effect. To mitigate this issue, I always travel with a full fresh water tank when starting out to lower the center of gravity and improve safety. The 2"X8" board or driveway modification might be your best bet.

When my tire pressure is too high and the ride a bit harsh, my mother-in-law starts complaining about the bumpy ride back there making her drop stitches on her knitting, which then upsets my wife, and when momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy. Happy wife, Happy Life! Just set yer tire pressure so your MIL may knit in peace.

I know our Olivers are hail resistant, but can anyone in Florida confirm that they are also iguana resistant?

Wow, that blower is almost half your age!

MAX - those Brinkley's are stunning. Enjoy! DAVID - Welcome to OllieWorld. Get set for fun and adventures! I'm just down the road, like Mike & Carol, and would gladly get together for an impromptu and informal Ollie roundup somewhere here in the Hill Country. Looking forward to meeting you in person. Pete, and his side-kick, Bosker.

Short answer - YES