ScottyGS

Hey Fred... NJ Here too. We are in the Caldwells. There are several Ollie's planning on hitting the NH Spring Fling in May. It's a fiberglass RV event. If you come to that you can see inside as well as out. No Drooling! :-) If you want a tour send me a PM. I store the trailer about an hour away and will be picking it up for the May trip. Good Luck and hope an Oliver is in your near future. Scotty Flying Sea Turtle - Hull #145

Hi Everyone, Had this issue and was advised by Oliver to use Captain Tolley's Creeping Crack Cure. I used a very small brush to put this sealant on the black gaskets. It solved the problem. No more black streaks. You can get this at West Marine or on Amazon. It was a pretty simple cure. Did this last fall, so not sure if / when i need to re-apply. When I spoke to Oliver on this I asked if there would be a problem taking the lights off to replace the gaskets. My concern was that a nut might fall off the back of the screw and make things difficult to put the lights back on. I was advised that this would not happen. Good Luck, Scotty Flying Sea Turtle hull # 145

OH MAN! When did Oliver add the Saturn V option???? And can they retro fit one for me? :-) Happy New Year everyone! Scotty... and Donna.. and the Flying Sea Turtle... and now... Piper! Newest family member. Picture of Donna and Piper attached.

No worries Randy. Exchange of information and ideas are what make this forum valuable to all of us. Appreciate that you took the time to comment. AND... you did give me the thought that white single tire covers may be the way to go next time. I got these on super sale at CW for about $20 for both. But, they are a bit small. Will do for this season, but I will probably replace if / when the next sale goes off at CW. Thanks and have a great New Year. Scotty

They are not plastic bags. They are tire covers. Here is the link. http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/elements-black-double-tire-cover-27-29-/84957 Would that still cause a problem? In hindsight I would get either the next size up as these fit a bit too tight or the single tire covers. Scotty

Final Winter Bed Down Yesterday was warm and sunny here in NJ and I took that opportunity to take care of the final bed down for the FST. We had a lively discussion on avoiding flat spots on tires and I was seriously considering using jack stands to get the tires off the ground. After reading about other Ollie owners experience and doing a bit of research I decided on the following: Boards under tires to insulate from the ground temp Over-inflate tires to 90 psi Cover the tires Take just a bit of weight off the tires with the jack stands The jacks did a nice job of raising the trailer so I could slide the boards under without having to hitch up. So, she is all bedded down for a long winter nap. Next trip should be the Oliver rally in May. Hope to see many of you there. Scotty And the Flying Sea Turtle, Blue Whale and of course... Donna

Reed & Karen, Great Suggestion.... Hope you don't mind if I bypass running the vodka through the plumbing system and just consume it direct from the bottle. OK... maybe put it in a glass. :-) Scotty Flying Sea Turtle - Hull # 145

Our trailer is in storage now but operating on memory..... If you close the bypass valve, it should bypass the HW heater completely. So I believe the answer is neither. Scotty Flying Sea Turtle - Hull # 145

Randy, Thanks for taking a look at the Summerization procedure. Appreciate the correction and comments. Your question on that document was: Does the draw / pump fill the plumbing or the main tank, can you select either? I am no expert < That's Buzzys Job! - high five to the Buzz man :-) > but I took that part of the Summerization process from the Winterization process in the Oliver Manual. And, double checked it with the Valve configuration picture supplied by Oliver. So..... With the valves in the winterization configuration, the rear port will use the pump to draw water through "all lines and faucets". That rear port is what we use to put the RV Antifreeze in... so it should be what we use to take it out. IMHO. That's all I have for now. I am attaching the Summerization procedure for any others that wish to review. Have a great Holiday and Safe Travels, Scotty Flying Sea Turtle - Hull # 145 Procedures-for-Summarizing-Oliver-LE2-84RV-1.docx

Don, Thank you checking with Dexter and passing along the information. I hope all is right with your axles and there is no problem. After reading the advice you passed along from Dexter regarding modern radial tires not having to worry about flat spots, I decided to do some additional checking. I searched Google and visited a number of car and RV sites and while there is no clear consensus it does appear that older or very high speed / high performance tires will have flat spotting more often than modern radials. That said... there are still concerns about any tire in storage for long periods of time and / or in extreme cold weather. Both are conditions our trailer will face over the winter. Here are some suggestions I read (Read.... like on the internet the teller of all things true - grain of salt time) that folks may want to consider: Unload the trailer so that minimum weight will be on the tires Inflate tires to operating pressure plus 25% - Think that would be about 100 psi for Ollies put the tires on wood planks - "softer" than pavement or gravel and protect from the COLD ground - lots say this works fine, no Flat Spots Put the levelers down to take just a bit of weight off the tires - the whole weight of the trailer would be bad for the jacks over time Cover the tires with tire covers NOT tarps to protect from UV - strap em down good for the wind Take the trailer for a ride every month to 3 months, but NOT in extremely cold weather Finally you may want to try "Race Ramps Flatstoppers" (google it) - I don't plan on it but it's interesting to consider Many people with large trailers (5th wheels etc.) say they store over winter and do not have an issue with modern tires. I will call my storage facility tomorrow and ask them about this. Will pass along any new info. Don, again... I really appreciate your sharing this. Got my fingers crossed for you. Hope we get to meet IRL at an Ollie rally or something... will pay the beers I owe when we do. Scotty Flying Sea Turtle - Hull # 145

Randy, Thanks for the reply on this. We are not lucky to be headed south to the warmer climes like Grayson and Ann. :-) But.... I am thinking ahead to Summertime. I have attached a procedure for "Summarizing" our Oliver to get the Antifreeze out. It comes from your post and a kind of reverse engineering of the winterizing process in the Oliver manual. Would you please give it a once over and point out any errors or improvables? Thanks, Scotty Flying Sea Turtle Hull # 145 Procedures-for-Summarizing-Oliver-LE2-84RV.docx

Don, I would second that. When I spoke with Tommy he was clear that the choices for placing Jack stands were the sub frame and the axles, not the aluminum frame. It may be strong enough..... but when you have the manufacturer advising against it.....probably best to avoid. I like what you did with the four stands and will do the same. Did the rear electric jack stands have any trouble lifting the trailer so you could place the stands? 'Thanks again for the pics. Appreciate them very much. Scotty

Don, Thanks for the great pictures. This is exactly what I plan to do when I put the flying sea turtle up for storage in a couple of weeks. In response to Raspy, and others who may be wondering ....... Here is what I learned from a recent Conversation with Tommy Staggs. You want to put the stands underneath the sub frame which is made of steel. The sub frame is what the axles and the suspension system attach to. If you can't put the stands under the sub frame you should put them under the axles. You Do NOT want to put stands under the aluminum frame because aluminum is too soft to take the weight of the trailer concentrated in one spot. When I took a look under the trailer I saw that the suspension gets in the way of setting stands under the sub frame. So, imho..... four stands under the axles is the way to go. As I write this.... we are in the Flying Sea Turtle at Hilton Head Harbor RV park in South Carolina. It is early morning and we had a great nights sleep in comfy bunks. This will be the last trip for us and the FST for 2016. Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! Scotty

Or are we taking suggestions?

David & Susan, Congratulation on your new Ollie! Thanks for the pictures and write up. Wishing you both the best for your adventures. Maybe we will meet up at some Ollie rally in the future. Gregg & Donna Scott Flying Sea Turtle - Hull # 145

Noisy Hitch Problem - Issue Solved Just a quick up date for folks that have or will have this problem. Yes... it does sound like the spawn of the undead coming from the hitch area when you turn. I spoke to Jason at Anderson who sent out a new cone right away. Jason said that if you have the red material you might have this problem. I had the white cone and was told that they changed the mfg process to correct but some of the older white cones have that problem as well. Instruction pdf and video are available on the anderson web site and the change out is fairly straightforward. One tip... Don't even get the hammer out of the toolbox. Go for the sledge right off. replacing the cone and ball was pretty easy and seated fully without much effort. It was however about 45 degrees here when I did this. Lots of crud on the old cone and ball hitch taper. I cleaned them off well before re-seating. Pictures of what it looked like inside are attached for your amusement. Safe travels and good luck, Scotty

Don, I started a thread on this topic here. It's been a few days and no replies on that thread. http://olivertraveltrailers.com/topic/storage-protecting-tires/ I also put a link to a Camping world sale that you and others might be interested in. It's a BOGO on tire covers. I was going to use a tarp but got covers for both sides for under $20. It's a good deal, check it out. http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/elements-black-double-tire-cover-27-29-/84957 Any advice on this topic would be much appreciated. Thanks, Scotty

Hey again Everyone.... We are getting close to putting the Flying Sea Turtle up for winter storage and my plan is to: A.) Cover the tires to prevent sun damage B.) Get the trailer up on jacks to prevent flat spots on the tires I have A pretty much covered and wanted to let you all know that camping world has a Buy One Get One Free sale on for tire covers. Here is a link: http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/elements-black-double-tire-cover-27-29-/84957 As far as B is concerned... I figure to use the rear jacks to get the trailer off the ground and then use blocks or jack stands to keep it there. Ideally, Just getting the tires an inch off the ground should be good. What suggestions do you have as to where to put the jack stands.... OR.... are you using another method (cinder blocks / wood / etc) that is working for you. Thanks in advance for any tips and Travel Safe. Scotty

Buzzy, Couple of things.... You might want to re-think leaving the rear jacks down over the winter. I had the idea to raise the tires with them for winter storage and was advised by Oliver that they were not meant to be left down for long periods of time. How much pressure is too much? Your guess is as good as mine. My thoughts were to use the rear levelers to raise the tires off the ground and then put some jack stands underneath and lower the trailer onto them. Still need to research exactly where would be a safe point on the chassis to do that. Also, I realized yesterday that I forgot to put compressed air into the winterization inlet. The one that you draw water into from jerry cans. I put air into the fresh water tank fill and the city water connections and got the water out of both faucets. Blew it out pretty good. Also did the float bowl of the water pump like you said. My concern is that it is going down to 28 degrees (for many hours) on Wednesday where the trailer is stored. Do you think it will be all right? Its an hour drive to storage (one way) and I would hate to have to go back up there. I might call Tommy or Jason tomorrow to get their opinion. I can't imagine there would be any appreciable amount of water left in the system but you know how worry goes. Hope we get a chance to meet up with you one day. Would be nice to share a beer or two at the campfire. Scotty

Flying Sea Turtle Winterizing update Well ... first things first. I tease Buzzy every now and then about the amount of DETAIL he puts into everything. But I do have to say a very public and very heartfelt THANK YOU! Buzz Man, your winterizing procedure was on the money. And it helped me a lot. Thank you very much! Now for the update part. This week we will see temps drop below freezing to about 24 degrees that will last 4-6 hours overnight. That was a bit too much for me, so we pack up some stuff and drove a bit over an hour to where we have the FST stored. I won't call this a winterizing but a pre-winterizing. I used the compressed air method in the first part of Buzzy's checklist and then protected the P traps in both sinks and shower with RV Anti Freeze. I did not pump RV Antifreeze into the entire system because...... We are going on a trip down to South Carolina for a couple weeks around Thanksgiving. My original plan was to use only compressed air and a few cups of RV Antifreeze for the entire winter. I first learned about this method from the RV geeks youtube video. Google RV Geeks and Winterize and you will find it easy. After doing a bit more research I have decided to winterize with RV Antifreeze when we put the trailer up for final winter storage about the beginning of December. Here are my reasons for going the extra mile and using the Antifreeze: We will have to sanitize tanks anyway and that will pretty much completely get rid of the pink stuff I saw some other youtube videos that said compressed air might not be adequate for really cold climates My fear that somewhere there would be a little pocket of water that would cause trouble (Thanks again Buzz) Started thinking about any seals in the system. Seals are usually designed to stay wet. Not sure drying them out would be good. So when we return, I will have the storage place do the RV Antifreeze for me. They are the Pro's and the price was right. Will have them install the Dexter Easy Flex next summer as well. HEY... if it's worth doing... it's worth paying someone to do it RIGHT! :-) So to sum up. It was a COLD! WET! NASTY job (can you tell I like to bitch a bit?) but I followed Buzzys Instructions and got it done. After we settle the trailer in permanent for the winter, I plan to put her up on jacks and wrap the tires. Any advice on that would be much appreciated. Thanks for all the replies and shared knowledge and Best of Luck getting your Ollie's ready for Old Man Winter. Scotty FST Hull # 145

Hey Don.... Just wanted to let you know that you will have no problem towing the LE2 with your F150. I wondered if I would need the towing mirrors and found that visibility is pretty good with the standard mirrors. V6 ecoboost engine does a very nice job with the Ollie. Best of Luck Scotty Flying Sea Turtle Hull # 145

I kind of figured you might have this scoped out. The Buzz Man strikes again! Much Thanks Amigo. Scotty

Hey Gang! It's that time of year again. I plan to winterize with compressed air after our November trip south. I made this checklist up from several sources including the RV Geeks video on winterizing with the Viair compressor. It does need refining. I did not consult the manual as it is in the trailer in storage and a bit too far to drive. I was NOT able to find the Oliver Video. The link is broken. Does anyone know where it is? Comments, Advice, Suggestions, Winterizing Flame Wars.... all appreciated Travel Safe, Scotty Flying Sea Turtle - Hull # 145 Winterize-Oliver-LE2-with-AIR.docx

Hi Annie, I have the LE 2 and am new to towing a trailer. TV is a 2016 F-150 and it handles very well. I would advise you get the rear mounted camera option. It acts like a rear view mirror for traveling on the road and for backing in. I would imagine that the difference (from the T@B) would be in HEIGHT and WIDTH. The Elite looks a bit taller and wider than the T@B. Before picking up the Elite 2 I was concerned about the view in the standard side mirrors . The F-150 and the LE2 are the same width and the visibility in the side mirrors is good. I don't have the tow mirrors. Check your width on the MB 550 and if you are 6' 6" or wider, you should have good mirror vis. If you take things slow and steady you should be fine. This is more of a brains vs. brawn issue so the girls just might have the advantage here. :-) Best of Luck, Scotty

Hi Lauren, Thanks for letting me know. That sounds like the toilet vents into the black pipe in the closet, which I believe is also the vent for the black tank. Hope you order your OT soon and are as happy with it as we are. Scotty