bugeyedriver

Hi Jennifer! Hope you survived the hot Texas summer. Oscar & I are at Custer State Park, SD for the Buffalo Roundup, and yesterday we had the pleasure of meeting another member of our Oliver family. Steve, from Florida is the proud new owner of hull # 23 he recently picked up in Utah. Like all of us, he LOVES his Ollie and looks forward to many years of pleasure from his new trailer. He may be asking questions on the forum and knows the friendly folks here will help out with great information and advice. Oscar the Smiley Dog and I should be home in about 10 days or so after a 5 month wander . . . it was great! Safe travels, ya'll!!! Pete

This year, I made the switch to 16" wheels and Michelin LTX tires and couldn't be happier in the appearance and ride. Here are the specs of What I purchased: Wheels from Discount tire: MB 72 - size 16 X 7 6-139.7-16MMS Tires from Discount Tire: Michelin LTX M/S LT225/75R16E1 115R B It's my understanding that ST tires have beefed up sidewalls for the unique stresses that happen with double or triple axle configurations when the trailer makes turns. All of that is moot on a single axle trailer. My reasoning for going with the 16" Michelin LTX M/S tires was dependability, longevity, speed rating, availability, yda, yada, yada. They look good too! Combining these wheels and tires with a TST pressure/temperature monitoring system gives me HUGE peace of mind as I wander around this great nation.

SteveP, Greetings from Yellowstone National Park, congratulations on your rare find and welcome to the Oliver Travel Trailer family. There aren't many of us around (as you know) but we're a supportive bunch. I'm sure your new trailer will provide you many, many years of pleasure. Pete & Oscar the Smiley Dog

If you're looking for beauty and cool air while most of the nation is baking in the heat, you can't go wrong with Pinnacle Campground in northwest Wyoming; 9100' Elevation, lake, mountain views, fishing, hiking, grizzly bears and MORE! Check out http://peteandthewonderegg.blogspot.com/2012/08/pinnacle-campground-slice-of-heaven.html and see what adventures Oscar has gotten into . . .

Steve, I experienced intermittent tongue jack operation a few years ago, took out the switch and went to an "electrical gizmo place" to purchase another one. Put the new one in and have had no problems since. Pete ps The Wonder Egg has 63,000 miles on it and is still going strong! Oscar the Smiley Dog and I are currently in the Colorado Rocky MTS avoiding the Texas heat for a few months. Just joined Mountainborn and Butcherknife at their Camp Host gig at Columbine Campground northwest of Denver. Woohoo!!!

Oscar the Smiley Dog & I had a great Thanksgiving with three of our grandkids (Oscar was a bit nervous with all the noise from the little ones...WIMP!) We just enjoyed a week with our camping buddies at Matagorda Madness, on the coastline of Texas. Christmas time will be spent running around to see all 5 grandkids and playing SANTA. New Years Eve will find us, again, with our Texas camping buddies at Brazos Bend State Park soutwest of Houston. MERRY CHRISTMAS YA"LL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

... I wonder if Oliver is still willing to work on our trailers if we take them in for repairs or modifications? I suppose I should ask them this question . . . I believe they would, if you called them in advance so they could schedule their manpower. They still have the craftsmen that made our trailers working for them on other lines of products, so they'd need to take them off the line and come over to work on the trailer. Last fall they did just that for the Wonder Egg as I stopped by to have the septic clean-out system installed. A few weeks ago, I called them to get a new bottom, sliding window portion for the bathroom, 'cause mine shattered after a close lightning strike. "No problem, Pete . . ." they said. The part is being sent to my house in Texas and it'll be there when I return from my current adventure. In my experience, while the Oliver trailer is not currently in production, their customer service goes on, and on . . .

Oscar & I have joined some Casita friends and are following the Lewis & Clark expedition pathway. You can follow along on our blog if you'd like. Better yet, join us! Our rough itinerary can be found on the Casita forum, under the Get-Together section, then Lewis and Clark Rolling Rally. In the thread, go to page 5, entry # 66 and you can see about where we are . . . Feel free to pm me and I'll give you an accurate update so you can join along!

Steve & Elizabeth . . . hello! Long time no see. Hope you are well and that your Oliver travels have been memorable. I spoke to Mark, an owner of one of the first few Ollies who is having the same problem. He actually had a chance to take his rig to the SeaLevel II production plant and they confirmed his sending units are all functioning properly when tested internally. They even replaced one sending unit to ensure it worked correctly. This, however, did not solve his spurious reading problem. The factory said the glitch was most likely a faulty ground somewhere in his trailer. Now, if we only had a wiring schematic . . .

. . . in spite of the 80's color theme of yellow and gold . . . /quote] Sounds like my kitchen! I keep telling the kids not to worry. By the time they get it, it'll be in style!!" LOL Sounds like a lovely campground, thanks for the report . . .

How about a set of FRS radios with weather alert capabilities? You can plug them into your 12V outlet while in the charger, get weather alerts when needed, and have communications as needed. I also carry a hand crank emergency radio as a back-up when the power and batteries may be gone. You can find them at Radio Shack.

It's always a big surprise to see another Ollie. That means Austin had 3 Ollies pass through today. Oscar & I were northbound on I-35, passing through about noon! Chuck & Geri's trailer had a custom thin gold graphic going down the side. Its new owner lives in Canada. Perhaps he's been down south avoiding all that scary white stuff that's all over the ground back home.

I have enjoyed mine a lot. I purchased one at Camping World and it had a long enough louver section to make one for each of my rear side windows. One of my Casita friends said that if you call the 1-800 number on the box and ask them nicely to send you a couple of the rounded end caps and another length of rubber seal so you can cover another window, they'll send some to you. I did . . . and they did . . . no charge! What a great deal. If you use the supplied screws, it's a good idea to add just a drop of silicone to help prevent the screw from backing out on you over time.

Without Karen challenging my manhood, I couldn't pull it. Tom Whoa girl, put away that whip!! Jenn, Have you made sure your cable pathway is not crimped? I'd love to join you all at Miller Creek, but I'll be up at Jugfest III tossing out bait traps for the big catfish slaughter ...

Yes, thanks for the pictures. Unfortunately, I recognize Pete. Hey Tom . . . I've set up an appointment for you with my new dentist for when ya'll come honky tonkin' around these here parts. He'll take reeeeeeel gud kare of ya! (he, he, he) The other fellow that dropped in was Mark, owner of # 2, who may be putting it up for sale soon. He' has loved it but is moving on to a different phase in his life for the moment. Larry & Betty may remember Mark when he visited them up at Trujillo Meadows and the bear visited his Ollie and left paw prints all over it. LOL About them there overalls . . . they are real comfy like and you city folk that haven't tried them just don't know whut yer missin!

Full moon and prime fishing will be on April 17th. Oscar the Smiley Dog and I plan to join you to help break in your new boat and slaughter some more catfish. Yum Yum Yum!!!

Beautiful pictures of your winter wonderland. One thing missing though, you guys need a sled for those great snow covered hills! Have a Very Merry Christmas.

Terry, Thanks for the update. Glad to hear you've got it all fixed now. I understand all about being mechanically challenged . . . I do an awful lot of head-scratchin' myself when presented with mechanical or electrical problems. This and other forums will often have a solution for me. Do you keep #36 at home and will you be keeping it plugged in between sojourns to let the Charge Wizard manage your battery? Have a great trip to Florida! Pete

OB1, Not sure what your problem is, exactly, but I do note two things: 1 - A reading of 11.5 volts on a 12V battery system is exceedingly low. It could point to a defective battery or one that has just been run bone dead. If you haven't been plugged in for months, cold weather combined with the phantom draws (CO2 monitor, TV, etc) may have sucked all the juice from your battery pack and killed it. I'd have it checked. 2 - Your Ollie should have come with a Charge Wizard which you will find underneath the aft dinette seat. I think they were standard items. These intelligent gizmos are great for taking care of your battery. Read more about it at: http://www.progressivedyn.com/prod_details/charge_wizard.html I always plug the Wonder Egg in between trips for this reason and have recently started leaving the refrigerator on to keep the ammonia circulating and prevent it from getting musty. You might also check your ground fault interrupt switch found at the external plug outlet on the curb side. It may have gone bad. I carry an extra one of these just in case. If it fails you'll have no 110V electricity. You can get them at a big box hardware store. Good luck and let us know what you find.

Pam & Allen, If I get home and still need to empty the black tank, I hook the macerator to a 1" hose which runs to the back yard where I have a clean-out port for my septic system (about a 125' distance). I run the hose about a foot into the 4" pipe and turn on the system, followed by plenty of clear water which cleans the hose. I've never brought it into a house toilet. While technically feasible, I'd be concerned with the neatness of that process. Do you have a campground near you that might allow you to use their dump station for a small fee?

allenpamela, Sorry for the late reply. I've been traveling around in the Wonder Egg for a few months. The macerator continues to be a helpful addition to The Wonder Egg. I recently stopped in at Hohenwald and had the guys add a septic clean-out hookup. Now the "dirty job" is even an easier task, as there is no need to haul a clean-out wand through the front door. I simply attach the external hose to the clean-out port, pull the black lever and turn on the macerator, when the pitch changes on the pump I turn on the hose which does a thorough rinse inside the tank for 2 minutes . . . hose off, pump off, lever in and I'm done! Life is goooooood . . . .

Mountainborn, thanks for "The REST of the story." I believe we understand, now. The newly simplified request for "two sentences about yourself" should not hinder folks from coming on into the forum. Overall, it's an improvement over the bazillion spammers that were attempting to worm their way into our family.

Andrew, That's pretty dang impressive! Normally, I shy away from the thought of carpet, but if anything was to change my mind, this nice looking quality carpet would. I'm currently hanging out in the Appalachians with SeaDawg, JuniorBridMan, ScubaRX, and Herm. The temps will be in the high 30's tonight, which can make the "2am dash" dicy. Does your friend have any contact information he'd like posted here?

Looks like the bolt failure is NOT an isolated incident. Oscar & I joined Aubrey, Rascal & Woodstock for a trip out east and out of curiosity, Aubrey took a look at my tongue bolt and discovered IT HAD FAILED!!!! I had checked it when this thread started. It was OK then, so I never gave it another thought. OOPS The nut was gone, bushing still held on by a thread, and the head of the bolt was starting to migrate out. Continuing in this manner without checking could have eventually resulted in tongue separation. The bolt that sheared was a hardened, extra strong, grade 8 bolt. Fortunately, Aubrey had another one handy and we fixed it on the spot. Moral of the story . . . check your tongue bolts on a regular basis to ensure all is well.

Window leaks plagued the Wonder Egg for its first 18 months. Light rain, no problem . . . gully washer, get out the mop! (OK, perhaps not THAT bad but it was still yucky) I traced it down with Daniel's help to being an early model and they were not always using an external gasket between the outer window frame and the outer fiberglass. Daniel sent me enough gasket material to do all the windows. I took it to my local RV guru and he fixed me up in no time. No problems since! The Wonder Egg sat outside as Tropical Storm Hermine slowly passed overhead giving us a real frog-choker. Totally dry inside. Pete's theory: The outer and inner window frames are joined by long screws. The inner and outer shells may have slightly different movement as we go over any rough terrain. This movement "may" result in a tiny crack around the sealant which only manifests itself in a large down-pour. The gasket between the outer frame and the fiberglass mitigates this problem. For my weep holes, I blow them out with a bottle of compressed air called "GASduster" purchased at the local OfficeMax.