DavePhelps

I would personally stay away from the pipe cleaners. My main worry is the wire core might rust and streak your trailer. Paracord for the win! Its kernmantle construction wicks water very well. Google it! It also has tons of uses around camp. I think most every hardware store carries some form of it. Get the 1/8" version. Paracord Planet is a good online resource, I think they have an Amazon store.... Dave

I posted this pic a couple years ago in another leaky window thread. Those weep slots are just not up to the task of keeping water from building up in the tracks (capillary attraction really hinders water flow). Folks talked about using pipe cleaners and lantern wicks to help wick out the water (maybe they work as well) but I find that 1/8" paracord works great. Cut some 3" lengths and stuff them in the slots. It's amazing how well they work! Don't heat seal the ends! Easy to replace and everyone has some paracord around right? Some may think it's kind of ugly looking but better than a wet bed! Cheers, Dave

Man this is a real mystery. So glad it ended well and that you and yours are safe! I have been reading all the posts trying to make sense of how this could happen, especially to a Bulldog hitch. If the hitch lever was indeed pinned in place and didn't pop open when you hit that bump, then the options become limited. Some thoughts about this: You didn't show the ball in your pics, but I would have a close look at it for clues, including the possibility that it was out of spec and not the correct size. Or that from lack of lubrication, it was "ground down" to be out of round. This is unlikely but worth checking. If the ball doesn't give up any clues, I would check the pin on the Bulldog that creates the hinge that holds the two clamping pieces together. Do the two halve come together as they should? Did the pin somehow get bent increasing the closed opening of the hitch around the ball? It's just hard to imagine a Bulldog letting go of the ball like that if all was in spec. I assume your hitch setup with your TV is nice and flat, not nose up or down. Just throwing out these ideas to try and figure this out. Hope you will let us know what you find out. Definitely take JD's advice and get a new hitch! Sizing up would be good as you would get a new ball as well. Again, glad everyone is OK, and kudos to you for keeping control of your rig. Cheers, Dave

One other possibility is that if you fully drained your FWT for winterizing, the water pump may be sucking air because the siphon tube in the tank is not in water. This was an issue with the earlier Olivers (pre siphon tube) before they changed the design. Dave

Oops, forgot the part #: PR1022. But Check your door. My door is 11 years old! Dave

Just in case no one looked at Zarcor's website, the glass sold there is a Lippert product for their doors. My older Oliver Lippert door (2015) used screws to hold the window trim and the glass in place (along with some butyl weatherstrip). The newer doors use clips which complicate the switch but is still very doable. There are a few Youtube videos out there which I would advise watching if your door uses the clip system. The window I used from Zarcor was Tinted Glass, Lippert Style A, Valterra Style C Glass size: 21 7/16" × 12 7/16", Fits frame style A I would call them with your door information and they will set you up. The kit comes with the glass and butyl so nothing else to buy except maybe some spare clips if your door is that style, I've read that they can sometimes break during disassembly. Good luck! Cheers, Dave

I replaced my Opaque door glass with a clear tinted one from Zarcor. Really like it. Make sure to order the glass specific to the door used on your Oliver. There were changes made over the years that affect the glass specs. Their Airstream shades also have my attention.... https://www.zarcor.com/rv_products/rv-door-window-kit/spare-parts.php Dave

Yes it does! And it is good you are taking the time to figure it all out. Traditional towing wisdom is that it is always best to have your trailer "level" (parallel to the ground) while towing. One can err a little having the front slightly low, but front higher than level is to be avoided for stability reasons. If you have a long flat surface to hitch up your TV and trailer, "level" just means that they are in plane with each other and the ground. You can measure the Oliver seam joint fore and aft to the ground (as you did) to see if they are equal (or check by measuring the frame to ground). Then check your TV to be sure it's not squatting in the rear. It should be sitting parallel to the ground as well. Trailer adjustments are made at the hitch, TV adjustments can be made by adding airbags or adjusting your WDH. Best to start getting your TV level. Just standing back and looking at the TV/trailer hooked up will tell you a lot. Just a caution that adding airbags to your TV does not increase your rated payload capacity! Make your trailer and TV so they are on parallel planes, that is the goal, with a slight nose down being acceptable if that is all you can tune into the system. It is never perfect, but getting it as close as you can goes a long ways to increasing your safety, and others around you on the road. Check out the Robert Pepper video. He has many videos on rigging and trailer setups that are extremely valuable. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeEEC5eVNCk Good luck, Dave

OK, I will give you my 2 cents on this. I have a 10 year old hull, so don't know how Oliver is currently dealing with their hull cutouts. But I can say with some certainty that square inside corners in a fiberglass layup is just poor detailing. Especially in a RV that is subject to all kinds of stresses and vibration. All corners at the very least should be drilled out with a hole saw to a diameter that is compatible with the appliance (or whatever) being installed. Then the straights can be cut out with whatever tool: angle grinder, router, jig saw etc. seems best. The hull on my rear Oliver lense had square cutouts, and I have similar spider cracks at two of the corners. I checked my HWH yesterday and the hull was also square cut under the rounded metal flange. Last year my friend had to pull his HWH and his hull was also square cut (pretty badly as we recall). No spider cracks yet on ours but.... Look up in your attic at the back side of the Oliver light. If it was square cut, then that is a good indicator that your HWH is the same. You can also look from the inside at the HWH and see what the corners are like. If it is square cut, then the only repair I know that will last is to create a radius at the corner to spread out the stresses that concentrate there. This is what I did on my rear lense in the pic. For you, that will be a real PITA as the metal trim ring has to be removed and who knows what else. Mine is set with butyl tape and pop rivets. As I mentioned, your crack is probably just in the gelcoat and not structural. But it shouldn't be there in a trailer of this caliber. Any repair that doesn't address the root cause, will be wasted effort and money IMHO. Wandering Sagebrush's idea to drill a hole at the end of the crack could work. I have used "stop drilling" to stop cracks in fiberglass layups from migrating, but then you have a hole that needs to be gel-coated and polished out. Not sure if it would work for just a gelcoat fracture. Maybe a good solution? It could be! In the end, a good fiberglass technician will know what to do. But I think it will not be a quick and easy fix. Please post up what you find out. Good luck. Dave

Agreed. Although there was a moment when I first posted when I thought I was in the wrong thread. Carry on. Dave

Seems like we have some serious thread drift going on here.... Dave

Inside corners are a typical area where gelcoat, which is relatively brittle, can fracture. Which is why it is never good practice to have square inside corners that concentrate flexing at a single point. Surprised you had a fracture with a nice radiused corner (Or is it? Is there a square cutout in fiberglass under the round WH flange?) Pretty sure the crack is just in the gelcoat and does not mean the fiberglass underneath is also cracked. So mostly just a cosmetic defect. Not sure how to "repair" a crack like that, and if a repair wouldn't suffer the same fate over time. Hopefully someone may know and chime in. Sorry to hear about your other woes. Our 10 year old trailer had some issues at the start, some also potentially dangerous. But since getting all that sorted, all has been great. Just had to replace my plastic toilet flange that was broken. Just the usual maintenance one would expect over time. Good luck. Dave

For the Commercial flaps, I read 85 inch-pounds. Even small bolts need special care in certain situations! Not that this is one of them however. I did just notice that after my recent trip before my last post, that one of my bolts had fallen out somewhere. So I emailed Rockstar about the situation of their torque spec and the rubber flaps not being able to support that kind of compression. I asked if using blue loc-tite would be a better solution. All they said was yes it would be OK. So I redid all the bolts with 5/16x1-1/2" SS fender washers and Blue loctite. With the larger washer, I was able to achieve 85 in-pounds with minimal distortion, but it's really probably not necessary with loc-tite. I just did it to see what would happen. Even with loc-tite and less torque, I think a washer is a good idea however. Dave

Took me a while to get to this.... I also have the Rockstar Commercial Flaps on my rig and really like it. My old flaps clamped on to my ball mount shank and were just OK. It made removing and placing the ball mount a very cumbersome and heavy affair. These are way more convenient to put on and take off since they are separate from the ball mount and do a much better job protecting the trailer from flying debris. Perhaps because they sit further forward under the bumper. My rig is gas but the cutout is similar I'm sure. Perfect fit. I added stainless steel fender washers to the bolts that attach the crossbar to the rubber flaps to spread out the load. The torque spec in the install guide was pulling the heads too deep into the rubber for my taste. Even with the washers, I didn't get as tight as was specified. But no issues with many miles on them. You'll love them! Cheers, Dave

OK, better pic.....