technomadia

We are so excited that Oliver is back in production, and it's so wonderful to see this community growing! While we no longer own an Oliver, the trailers and the community remain near and dear to our hearts. For the past several months we've been involved with an exciting project called RVillage. It's a new social network specifically for RVers. And we just recently launched. Ya - we know. You're probably saying 'Do we really need another social network?'. This one, we think, you'll find different. It's designed specifically for RVers, by RVers. The intention is to help us meet and find like minded people right in the RV Parks and locations we park at.. and keep in touch with friends we've met. When you log in, you set your location to where you're at, and then can browse others right in your park or nearby location. You can also 'friend' each other, and see where your friends are on our 'Explore' map. And.. an exciting feature - is the group's map. This one below is from a group of fellow bus conversion owners (what we travel in since selling our Oliver)... but you can get the idea of what an Ollie map might look like once folks are joined up on RVillage: I've set up an 'Oliver Trailer Trailer Owners' group on RVillage that you can join, and you can track each other around the country. Wouldn't it be awesome to know when another fellow Ollie owner was nearby, or soon passing your way? RVillage is completely free for us RVers to use. And creating a new account/profile is super simple and easy. If you'd like to check it out, please join us at http://www.RVillage.com - and then be sure to join the Oliver Travel Trailer by clicking 'Groups'. You can either search for it, browse through the pages and pages of groups (maybe you'll find other special interests you'd like to join too!) For more information: Our blog announcement: http://www.technomadia.com/2014/03/intr ... t-project/ RV-Dreams Review (and a tutorial to RVillage): http://www.rv-dreams-journal.com/2014/0 ... ction.html Note: RVillage is a brand new site, and we are technically in a 'Public Beta'. That means our team is still actively developing, and there are some rough edges that are still be smoothed out. But we're making progress every day, and are inviting the public to come on in and help us make it even better! Hope to see you on RVillage! - Cherie & Chris

We stayed at Wekiva Springs a few weeks ago before we left Florida... we loved it! Great hiking trails, and the campground is about a mile hike to the swimming springs and kayak launch. And so close to stuff in Altamonte Springs for shopping & dining. If it wasn't for the guys blaring their truck's stereo all night, it would have been a very peaceful stay for us. - Cherie

Wanted to let y'all know about a newer entry into the RV Park review and directory game - http://www.rvparking.com. They're taking a lot of the great things about social networking and letting folks create user profiles to leave reviews under, and attempting to compile the most comprehensive RV Park listing out there. We think they're on an excellent track. Some of their data still needs updating, but they're doing the right thing and hiring folks to do extensive fact checking (if you're looking for part time work, they'll even hire you!). They also have a free companion iPhone app for finding parks on the go. Anyway, check it out in your travels! - Cherie

Roadside Attractions are so much fun, and nicely add adventure to the road trip! For those of you with iPhones/iPads/iThingies, check out the app 'Roadside America' - it's a great geo listing of all these gems. They also have a website (http://www.roadsideamerica.com/) for those without iPhones. - Cherie

Great advice Sherry, thanks! One other thing crossed my mind... Any tips on keeping pests out? I am thinking of putting a tarp over the air conditioning to keep leaves out, and maybe taping shut the heater, water heater, and air conditioning vents to keep things from nesting. Any other thoughts? Any ideas on ways to keep crawling bugs from going up the jacks? Thanks! - Chris

If possible I would move the tires inside. It is a big theft deterrent, although depending on where you are parking it, probably not a huge deal. It will also keep them out of the sun and the weight off of them which should help them degrade less while not using them. Thanks for the great tips Andrew. I hadn't considered taking the tires off and storing them inside the trailer. If we do, should we put the trailer up on blocks, or will the electric jacks be strong and stable enough for long-term storage? Also - should we put anything in the various tanks to keep them from getting stagnant or musty? Or is just draining them enough? Thanks! - Chris

The 65 mph rating is no issue here since anything of 60 just isn't comfortable when hauling just about anything. I often wonder what those driver are thing that pass me doing 70 or better with trailers. FYI - The factory folks used to brag that Jim would regularly tow Oliver's across country at 95mph. *zoom*

That looks *sweet* guys, well done! And kudo's to Spencer! (He rocks, just like Andrew and crew). - Cherie

Is it noted some where on the trailer what axle you have? This is a good question - I'm not actually sure how to tell the axles apart. I know some people had a lighter-weigh axle, and then Oliver upgraded them to a 5000lb axle. We had a 5000lb axle from the start, but our original was fabricated with a very slight bow in it that was leading to the uneven wear. The one they replaced it with for us was identical, just without the bow. - Chris

When we had them off getting the new tires put on this week, I happened to take a close look at the 15" wheels that came with our Oliver. They are stamped on the inside with "Do Not Exceed 60psi" and "Max Load 1900 lbs". This seems to be under-specced for a trailer of the Oliver's overall weight and 5000lb axle. The original tires were able to be inflated up to 65psi, higher than the wheel they came mounted on... That seems an odd mismatch to me. Has anyone else checked out the specs on their wheels? Do we all have the same? How much of a cause for concern is this? A bit of Googling seems to reveal a lot of people happily ignoring and exceeding the pressure rating on their wheels, at least for truck tires... Thoughts? - Chris

We had hull #33, and our original axle was faulty too and causing uneven tire wear. The Oliver folks replaced our axle, and gave us new tires. We haven't had any uneven wear since. - Chris

The Contis and Kumhos are both truck tires and you wont find them under trailer tires. The Conti and Kumho truck tires I have tracked down in the 225/75R15 size are not rated to carry the Oliver's weight, as best I can tell. To get enough carrying capacity from those truck tires, you would need to get new wheels and go up to 16 inch rims. I wonder - will a 16" wheel even work on the Oliver? I think there is enough clearance... Anyway -- I ordered a pair of Maxxis M8008 ST225/75R15 trailer tires, load range E. They were $148/each at Discount Tire. Cheers! - Chris

Our Oliver came with Goodyear Marathon Radial ST225/75R15 tires. When a shard of barbed-wire punctured one of them, we had to replace the damaged one with a DynaTrail Radial ST ST225/75R15. Both are Class D load rated. Now the Goodyear is starting to look oddly shaped, and we are looking to replace it ASAP (this week!). The DynaTrail still looks fine, but I want to replace them both with something rock-solid that we can rely on. Unfortunately, it is hard to track down much good info on trailer tires. Any recommendations on tires, and where to buy them? Most tire shops seem to be clueless when it comes to trailers. Continental Tire makes a great & $$$$ 8 and 10 ply truck tire called the Conti! Also, iffen ya'll kin find them, Kumho makes some great, long wearing truck tires in 8 plys (not quite so $$$). These sound interesting - but I've been having trouble tracking them down. The only properly sized Continental Conti tires I have found seem rated for a load capacity significantly lower than our current Class D tires. Tips appreciated. We are about to jet from San Francisco to Florida, and we need to get new shoes for both our truck and trailer before we go. Cheers! - Chris

So.. serendipity will have Chris and I flying to the US Virgin Islands this winter, and living there for 5 months. (Excited!! - full story here: http://www.technomadia.com/2010/09/sere ... lands-mon/) Anyway, we'll soon be starting a cross country drive from CA to FL, then parking our Oliver at a friend's place for the duration. As we've lived in ours full time for over 2 years now, we've never had to think about the things involved with safely storing it... Any tips and advice for the things we should plan to do before flying away to our rum drinks? Obviously - draining/cleaning the holding tanks, etc. - Cherie

BTW - since we will be spending the winter in the US Virgin Islands, I think it makes sense to sell our Mac Mini / Carnetix setup rather than have it sit unused. So.... If anyone is interested in a killer trailer PC that can be powered by 12volt, let me know ASAP. - Chris