MAX Burner
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Posts posted by MAX Burner
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2 minutes ago, Wandering Sagebrush said:
is there a way to see results as they come in?
Yes. At the very bottom of the Poll there's a button for "show results" - tap it and you'll go to a results page.
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1 hour ago, gbergh said:
I am blessed to have purchased "Mouse" 2017 Elite II previously owned by John Davies.
Woah! That's awesome news, for sure and for certain!
You may not yet realize just "how blessed" you are...
Congrats again, and all our best wishes for making your future memories in "Mouse" most exciting and unparalleled...
Cheers!
A & D
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@John E Davies: Good catch, brother - probably the same issue with other questions. Will edit accordingly... TKX!
(3 minutes later) ...should be good now!
Maybe nobody has ever towed an Oliver through a hail storm because we're OCD enough to check WX reports before departure...(?)
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@Tom and Doreen: Thanks T & D!
We don't have the auto bed step option, FYI.
The only issues with the sensors are when the OTT is disconnected, the hitch/Rocktammers are still attached, and the TV is backing up - we have to remember to disengage the Rear Obstacle Alert and the Rear Crossing Track Alert; both of which will scream at the TV occupants and apply brakes automatically if not disengaged because the truck is sensing an incoming obstacle.
We also must disengage these alerts when the hitch/Rocktammers are replaced with the bikes/rack.
No biggie, IMO.
Cheers!
13 hours ago, Mountainman198 said:-
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Edited the 1st question - the Poll should be good to go.
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(Apologies if this post is redundant - second try at posting. We tried posting this earlier and couldn't find it thereafter, trying again now.)
Please complete the attached poll regarding Oliver Hail Damage Assessment...
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On 7/21/2023 at 3:11 PM, SeaDawg said:
Any light in the bedroom is disturbing to me.
My wife concurs 100%. The TV power cord is always removed as part of our pre-slumber checklist to eliminate the illumination of a bothersome red LED. It's amazing how many LEDs are everywhere in our OTT when it officially "Lights-Out". Ugh.
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18 hours ago, Katjo said:
Our Rocktamers have done a great job keeping chips off our Ollie.
We're lov'n our's too! If we decide to take a gravel road, it will usually be the exception and not the rule - and if so, it will be done very, very slowly.
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AS may buy them to get into the molded fiberglass RV market...
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2 hours ago, Steve Morris said:
This is what the old 2" receivers looked like? Wow, that's a nice setup!
It's pretty beefy, for sure. But it will be even nicer after we eliminate the "play" in the assembly... HA!
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4 hours ago, John Welte said:
It would be plugged into a four pin harness, but I don't know how that's done.
@John Welte: John, I followed @John E Davies's "how to" post describing the procedure to splice into the 4-pin harness which is located in the right/rear of the basement/garage. Access is both through the street-side hatch and aft-most compartment hatch under the street-side bed. You can also refer to my post on "LED Bar Light on Bumper", FYI.
Either one will get you smart on connecting to the 4-pin so you can run lights on your bike rack.
Have fun!
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On 12/8/2021 at 4:31 PM, Steph and Dud B said:
If they've had enough beverages they might forget the chair!
We've got many of our chairs that way! HA!
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We're both previous AS and Casita owners. We installed Airstream-manufactured stainless steel rock guards on the quarter panels of both of our AS's - not a cheap date by any stretch. On the Casita we did what many owners did for protection and had "Rhino-Liner" material applied - not only to front gelcoat areas but also to the wheel wells. Also not a cheap date, and may take away some of the aesthetics of the rig.
For older rigs like, Casablanca, we're considering Rhino-Lining the front to "hide" the small dings in the gelcoat. Probably a less expensive option than having the gelcoat repaired - but such a mod is WAY down the "to-do" list in this household.
Cheers!
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Welcome to the Ollie Community and Forums, Geo! Congrats on the purchase - you will not be disappointed... May you make many memorable OTT adventures in the future! See y'all down the road sometime.
Kind regards,
A & D
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FOLLOW-UP:
Background/problem: As described in an earlier post, we experienced, what looked like an abnormal fore/aft & up/down (not rocking or rotating left/right) movement of the bikes during our trip last weekend. The handlebars appeared as if they would move 1 1/2" - 2" when driving over a bumpy portion of road surface as observed with the rear-view camera.
Testing rack on TV: Moved our bike rack from the OTT and mounted it on the Tundra and drove around the neighborhood yesterday afternoon. As suspected, there was no "flopping around" and no fore/aft/up/down going on back there; both bikes were rock-solid throughout various stretches of smooth, uneven, bumpy, and "gravelly" secondary roads. That's indicating to us there's something going on with the optional accessory receiver assembly and its attachment points.
Contacted OTT: After a call to Mike at the Factory Service Department, we learned that there hasn't been any reports of problems with the OTT 2" or 1 1/4" accessory receiver, nor reports of "loose/floppy" bikes or cargo trays while towing; especially with the 47# Super Duty Double 1Up rack. This confirms @Steve Morris's results after his search for OTT receiver failures. Well, at least we know there's no known/reported failures.
Possible Culprit: We went back to the "Hangar" and measured the height above the floor of the top of the accessory hitch receiver cross member at just under 23 7/8".
Then after applying an upward force and "lifting" the cross member, we discovered it would rotate up slightly, about 3/16".
The "inserts", as Steve Morris mentioned, are machined down to fit into their respective female square tubing members on either side. It may be that the factory cut too much material away on our assembly, it's suggested that those who have this option on their OTT check for how much "play" is present.
FYI, the machining cut on the male square tubing can be seen in the pic below where the Sharpie arrow's pointing (BTW: we never noticed this until after reading @Steve Morris's post):
Perhaps the OTT factory designed these tolerances to make it easier to slide the accessory receiver assembly into the square tubing (?). In any case, it's suspected that the play in this optional accessory may be different from hull to hull. Especially, if over time, the holes for the 4 locking pins become wallowed-out.
Clearly, even after securing the assembly by inserting the 2 pins on either side does not stop the up/down movement. The 3/16" of up/down play translates/amplifies to the 1 1/2" - 2" of movement at the handlebars that we observed last weekend.
In the interim, this 3/16" up/down "play" in the mounting design can be eliminated with tie-down straps as @John E Davies describes above. Another plan is to drill/tap threads on each of the left/right square receiver tubes and use a bolt & locknut to tighten down the slack (please refer to where the "X" is located in the above pic). This is the same approach the factory designed to remove play on carrying devices connected to the accessory receiver hitch:
Granted, many forum members have indicated they've logged thousands of miles using various carrying systems without modifications and problems, but how many more thousands of miles will it take to cause unintended metal fatigue, failure, and possible damage/harm to others?
Eliminating the play with tie-downs, locking bolts, or both is key for any type of carrying device that's connected to this accessory hitch to be more effective and safer in the long run, IMO.
More to come...
"Ravel-ON!", amigos!
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1 hour ago, Steve Morris said:
Oliver has to machine these tubes to get them to fit inside the fixed tubes, possibly creating a stress riser. I’ll keep a close watch on this (as well as the whole shebang) and replace with steel if needed.
Understood, @Steve Morris; With what we've been experiencing in terms of movement (observed from rear facing camera), @Geronimo John's suggestion is a good one.
It seems the up/down forces translates into fore/aft forces causing much of the movement back there. Stabilizing/reducing the for/aft force vector by mounting hard points on the frame and applying tie-down straps through them to both top tubes (bikes') may help.
1 hour ago, Steve Morris said:If there’s any weak link in the system, I think it is where the optional rack is inserted into the two square tubes bolted to the frame.
Concur. The last thing we need is for those machined-to-fit square tubes to snap and fail! Has anyone out there heard of this failure happening?
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10 minutes ago, John E Davies said:
At the very least you should strap the two bikes to each other so that they can provide mutual support.
This is a very prudent safety measure should a tire go flat while towing. We'd hate to damage a trailing vehicle or injure someone with a jettisoned set of bikes!
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On 7/14/2023 at 10:07 AM, Southbird401 said:
I have 70 lb. electric bike, but haven't had the nerve to put it back there.
We've got the same rack as @Steve Morris - Steve's. Our bikes are about 27# and 35# respectively; add about another 45# for the Super Duty Double 1Up rack and we're right at 107". Assuming our 2017 Hull #226 2" receiver hitch has a max weight of 125#, that's 85% of the OTT designed weight limit.
Judging by the stability of the bikes from the rear-view camera, any heavier wouldn't be a good idea, IMO, because there is some definite movement once leaving a smooth road surface.
A 70# electric bike plus the bike rack would be 92% of the designed weight limit - assuming the OTT 2" receiver max weight of 125#. Pretty tight tolerance - but if your max wt. hitch is 150#, that'll give you a bit more breathing room.
Either way, no washboarded roads for the Casablanca with bikes...
Here's a couple shots with bikes aboard. The second pic shows the moment arm from the OTT 2" receiver to the aft-most rail.
On our rig, the moment arm of the bike rack is 24 1/4" inches from the OTT receiver, FYI.
Just our $0.02.
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1 hour ago, John E Davies said:
MAX burner, how about starting an Oliver hail damage poll in a new thread?
@John E Davies: DONE.
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9 hours ago, Jim and Chris Neuman said:
In fact the durability of fibreglass and the relative ease of making fibreglass repairs as opposed to aluminum skin repairs was one of the big reasons we went with Oliver as opposed to Airstream.
@Jim and Chris Neuman: Excellent comment.
We haven't experienced a bad hail storm in the Ollie yet, but several in the AS. Damage repair is significant on aluminum panels. We travel with AS friends and as recent as last month on a road trip from ABQ area to DEN for a concert - our friends (departed 3 hours after us), hit a nasty patch of golfball-size hail on I-25 in the vicinity between Wagon Mound and Maxwell. We came through the same area earlier when only heavy rain squalls were passing.
Their 2022 Titan and 2022 25-foot FB Flying Cloud did not fair well:
Similar damage done to their Titan:
Through-and-through hits in sky-lights, roof vents destroyed, but remarkably - the solar modules appear undamaged. USAA is still considering the hail-caused damage as a complete loss - our friends are still waiting to hear the insurance outcome.
Has anyone experienced heavy hail with the OTT? Just wondering how it handled it...
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16 minutes ago, Steve Morris said:
My external 12V outlets will be Andersen Power Pole style.
That's the way to go, IMO. The Anderson Power Pole system is pretty tough to beat - its "bombproof".
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@rich.dev: 100% concur. After owning a 31- and then a 25-foot AS since 2007, there's no doubt the overall OTT quality is hands-down better.
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On 7/20/2023 at 11:01 AM, Steph and Dud B said:
I'd go with, "Cassette Toilet Access." More believable.
Great idea!
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...more pix from Eagle Nest, Red River, Cimmarron, NM weekend "beat the heat" adventure:
Above Eagle Nest Lake State Park boat ramp.
Lunch stop adjacent to the Cimarron River - awesome fly-fishing.
Above, Cimarron River...
Magnus is ready to hit the road....
Great being out and about with the Casablanca, but not another Ollie spotted...
Be safe out there...
Best,
A & D
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POLL: Hail Damage Assessment
in General Discussion
Posted
Got 'em in there per your request, @SeaDawg. Thanks, good catch!
Cheers!