MAX Burner

@Al T from Alberta - Welcome to the Oliver family, Al and Sher! We're into biking as well - lot's of common interests among the forum's owners. OBTW: You'll love towing Molly behind your Tundra! Cheers! A & D

Gee.... which bike is Kathy's and which one is Dave's?

We removed the velcro under the pantry countertop and replace it with drawer slides that "soft close" - I'll do the nightstand top the same way after we're back home from this excursion... Now you see it.... DVD storage above Now you don't... Oscar's not impressed at all!

Perfect, brother!

FYI: Here's a shot of the site near Waco, TX under the path of totality: IMG_1534.MOV Didn't expect either the 360-degree sunset or the 15-20 degree F drop in temp. Incredible experience.

OK, so we're popcorn folks - not quite junkies, but close. The collapsible Pampered Chef microwave popcorn bowl does a great job "not burning" Orville's corn - slam a few dollops of Kerry Gold salted Irish butter into its integrated dispenser on top - and poof! A couple minutes later - heaven on earth! Yum

@Against The Wind - Welcome to the community! We are backpackers and backcountry skiers, too - but we still absolutely love taking time traveling in our rig, "Casablanca." We developed a "less is more" attitude while experiencing extended periods in the high-country of the Rockies and that attitude carries over to our OTT. Like @Patriot mentioned (and Zak Brown Band sings) - "we've got everything we need and nuth'n that we don't." Keep us posted on your acquisition! Cheers!

We've got one of the original 2" bike rack receivers that @ScubaRx primarily designed back in the day. Our Super Duty 1Up rack weighs 47lbs and the two cruisers are roughly 30lbs each - taking us to 107lbs for the full load giving us a 40% margin before hitting the 150lb max weight design limit. Personally, the receiver kit is beefy - I'm thinking it could take more than the stated max... but I'm not going to find out. Ride ON!

We can fit the BS Steamer, grease catch, a spatula, and a couple Lodge plates under the lid... The stand is designed to fit either the 17" or 20" with a pattern of holes on the table top to accommodate the "feet" for either model. It all lives inside the BS travel bag - the table folds up and is packed separately. Check out the cool BS spatula stand: IMG_2082.MOV

I'm like'n it!

Dude... "Everything DC" goes through the shunt. Otherwise, the SS will not monitor that input - in this case, from the solar modules. If you choose to include one of the available Victron touch screens, it will display the solar power input status. We use a dedicated Victron solar monitor in addition to the touch screen, yeah - I get it, overkill. What can I say, we like overkill... Cheers, brother!

Excellent point, brother! We like having that conversation at RV parks as well - it usually comes with a discounted nightly rate, too...

According to Jason E., that's another premium one-off upgrade offered to owners by invitation only - not a cheap date, I've been told. Similar to OTT's handling of the one-off upgrade offered to increase the height in @Patriot's rain locker!

In my particular configuration, the NEG 4/0 cable from the Xantrax inverter goes directly to the first lug of the NEG bus bar. The first lug of the NEG bus bar is connected to the load side of the SS with a 4/0 cable. I've connected the 4AWG yellow wire to the 2nd lug of the NEG bus bar. It's not easy to see from the above pic, but my middle finger is pointing to the 4/0 cable from the inverter and my index finger is pointing to the 4AWG yellow wire. So this way, the SS can monitor current to and from the inverter because its NEG lead is connected to the bus bar which goes through the shunt. From the 4th lug I've routed the NEG bus bar to the factory frame ground, FYI. Hope this helps...

BINGO, brother! Our power cord only saw the light of day during this trip until DAY-11. Fortunately, our route had us going into the northern high-country of WY and UT and eastern ID - in some cases, mid-30's at night. We've only cranked up the Screaming Penguin on Sunday due to the low-mid 90's here in Huntington, UT - thankfully, its mid-60's a night for good sleeping temps w/o the AC grinding away.

Hey, Rhonda - recommend getting yourself an easy to use HT... ICOM, Yaesu, BaoFeng, and other mfg. offer several dual band models. That way, you can get a magnet mounted roof antenna and use your HT on the move in either VHF or UHF mode.

@topgun2: Excellent post, Bill! Very well thought out, for sure. Seriously clean install - those lithiums will last 10+ years. 460AH! You'll never get below a 10% SOC unless you boondock in a cave somewhere. Sweet!

Hey, Chris: So, what @topgun2 Bill explained above is dead nuts on. At a high level, here's a description of the Smart Shunt: The SS continuously monitors multiple elements of the electro-motive force going through your DC circuitry - these elements include, current voltage, current, SOC%, useful battery time remaining, battery temperature, etc. Our's is mounted under the aft dinette seat where I'm pointing with my left index finger: The key here is to wire all your DC devices' negative connections through a "NEG Buss Bar." If you miss one and connect a DC device directly to the battery bypassing the SmartShunt, it will not be detected. So, the right lug of the SS jumps over to the negative buss bar and the left lug jumps directly to the battery bank. It's called, "Smart", because it's Blue Tooth-enabled allowing it to communicate to its corresponding mobile app. Here's what the Victron app's Home Screen looks like on my phone: At the top it shows the Victron "Cerbo unit" data block - this is sort of the central nervous system of both your AC and DC circuitry. The Cerbo unit tells the user graphically where AC and DC power is going at any point in time - either via the app or by the touch screen. This device is not required unless you desire it for extended boondocking or for your particular style of camping. Going down, the app next displays the SS status, turns out the SS's BlueTooth signal isn't very strong - but we can monitor this screen from the TV while under tow and track SOC status. After the SS data block is the Smart Solar MPPT Charge Controller data coming into the system. If we were connect to the TV when I took this screen shot (and the engine running) the app would also show the DC/DC Charger data - since we're not connected w/engine running the charger is OFF and therefore, no data block is displayed for it on the app. The next screen shot is specific to the SS: This gives the user a different graphic of the Home Screen that's specific to the SS. If your "Phase 1" includes Lithiums, suggest you consider including a SS at the same time. You'll be making rather large custom battery cables anyway, so with those tools (cable cutters, lugs, lug crimper, heat shrink, and heat gun) out and ready, it will be a straight forward process to make your SS/Bus Bar cables as part of this first phase. A note on the NEG Bus Bar: On our hull, the factory negative bus was a "pole type" bus that's grounded to the frame right under aft dinette seat. It wasn't robust enough to handle the additional negative connections, so that explains why we decided to upgrade to a Blue Sea Systems multiple lug bus bar. We used the same grounding point on the frame as was used for the factory pole bus. Hope this helps out, Chris. Good luck and keep us posted on your upgrade! Cheers!

I agree, JD, in my pea brain I'm thinking we might get another 10-12% more miles out of this set of sneakers by rotating them. Last year we logged 8,597 miles and the new Coopers didn't even show wear. So far, in the first 6 months of this year, we're sitting at 7,841 and the Discoverers show wear around the outer edges, but the main ribs are looking strong and the grooves are deep. We may hit 15k for the year... Definitely concur that the environmental factors will wear them out more so than being towed. I just hate to think of a pristine spare sitting back there doing nut'n! Put him to work, I say! HA!

YES. You may want to PM @ScubaRx and ask Steve what hull number cutoff went from the smaller spare to the current style which has a larger spare tire carrier compartment. Our's is Hull 226, a 2017 model year, with the larger compartment. So, somewhere between Hull 110 and 226 they made them larger. Steve keeps track of that stuff. I'd ask him...

Hey, Chris - we met at the owner's rally last month. Wish we could've talked more about this then and exchange a ton of info... Anyhow, I'm thinking you're right on track with your approach. Breaking this down a bit, IMO - the battery upgrade (whatever AH storage you choose) and the Victron SmartShunt is what I would call Phase-1. Your 4/0 connections between the batteries and inverter are spot on. Depending on the distance to your negative and positive bus bars - you may consider at least 4 AWG, but that's just me. We upgraded with 2 BB's for a 300AH storage and its suited us very well for our style of camping and boondocking. We'd love to have 640AH or more so we could run the AC for extended periods - that's on our radar, for sure. Don't worry about the "custom" battery connections because you'll be making them yourself with the proper tools - several posts regarding this are found in these forums. The new 45W PD converter board with the Lithium switch is another spot on move on your part. We did the exact same thing last year with the BB upgrade. We've had ZERO issues (knocking on my head) with the PD converter/charger. Regarding the Blue Sky charge controller - this is a great piece of kit. We ran an MPPT BS CC on our AS with 4 AGMs with no issues. The key is if yours is a PWM or MPPT controller. You'll get way better efficiency with the MPPT version - just something to consider. We chose to go with Victron's MPPT 30A CC - very happy with its performance with the 340W worth of modules on the roof. OK, Victron. Great devices, IMO. Except for our Renogy 200W portable modules - everything so far has been a Victron upgrade for our style of boondocking. Game-changer? Maybe. But your Phase-2 might be to get your Victron DC/DC charger. There's a new 50A model available - ours is the 30A unit, but it's plenty of current to get the SOC to max-out by the end of a tow-day. These chargers are real happy running off new smart alternators in TVs manufactured since roughly 2015. @Geronimo John has a wonderful LOI (list of instructions) for this modification, TV and OTT. Phase-3: Victron's GSX monitoring system with either the 5" or 7" touch screen. The screen graphically indicates the status of your charging/load conditions with just a touch. It's a sweet addition to any Oliver owner intend on extended boondocking operations - again, this upgrade is based on your particular style of camping/boondocking. Phase-4/5: Timing of this could easily be based on when your Xantrex 2kW inverter goes Tango Uniform. When ours goes down we'll go for the Victron 3k inverter/charger. Then crank in Phase-5 - this consists of upgrading to an "efficient and quiet" 13.5kBTU HVAC unit with appropriate auto transfer switches that can operate from the battery bank for extended periods. As you've probably already experienced, this path is a very deep and broad RABBIT HOLE! What you're contemplating is not a trivial endeavor - it's like trying to eat an elephant. It's doable, but you have to take it one bite at a time... PM anytime specific challenges arise - we'd be happy to help out, brother! My $0.02

Ah! Of course. Frankly, after installing the accumulator last year, I still can't tell the difference at any of the points of usage. Been playing with pressures between 15 and 30psi. Whatever....

Real simple - whichever wheel is the spare it goes to the right rear. Then rotate anti-clockwise until the left rear becomes the new spare.

Been using Fix It Stix for years and they're a great product. The T-handled torque wrench is the bomb - I wouldn't mount a precision scope or optic on any long-range rifle without it... just say'n. https://www.pewpewtactical.com/fix-it-sticks-review/

We're using the microwave (until it goes Tango Uniform) for D's movie night popcorn - which occurs around 7pm, every day. The air fryer lives on the floor of the closet - I'm certain the AF will land in the MW garage eventually. Cook On, All!