MAX Burner

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

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!

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. 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?

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!

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.

@John E Davies: DONE.

@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...

That's the way to go, IMO. The Anderson Power Pole system is pretty tough to beat - its "bombproof".

@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.

Great idea!

...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

Concur 100%. Don't EVEN mess with Mother Nature... We never leave the awning out if we're not within line of sight.

We've just returned from a wonderful trip to the cooler climates of northern NM - Eagle Nest Lake State Park to be exact. As expected, the higher elevation of the Rockies produce predictable afternoon T-Storms. We received the typical on-again/off-again 25-30 minute rain every afternoon through mid-evening, FRI - SUN. Laying in the rack Friday night while listening to light and sometimes heavier squalls pass through the area, we hear a rather loud "BANG" - believe me, if I could hear it; it must have been loud! The sound was similar to an RV door slamming shut, but much louder. Grabbing the high-power LED hand-held and self-defense protection, I go out to carefully investigate.... All is cool in and about Casablanca, however, looking to the 5th Wheel nearby, it's clear the couple neglected to either "tip" their awning or retract it all together. Thought that this would go without saying, but leaving a level awning deployed after hours is asking for a Big Problem. The 20-foot canopy collect enough water during the evening to snap the drive-control rod freeing it at the forward edge, destroying the forward/rear support arms, and collapsing the awning. We had an interesting chat with the couple over some coffee in the morning. They're new to RV'ing and mentioned that the awning caper is just another example of "how they roll." Wow. There was no way the awning would be retracted with so much damage to the support arms, not to mention the broken control rod in order to get the rig back to TX. We explained they would need to remove both control arms and slide the awning from its track (about 15' off the ground). So, we offered to help since they had no tools or a ladder. We got them road-worthy after about 45 minutes of effort. But now what to do with the 20-foot awning roller? He decided to cut it into thirds with my hacksaw and drove it to a local landfill. The awning was salvageable, but they mentioned they've found one on Amazon along with a couple new control arms. Oh, well... at least there were no injuries! Pay attention to WX and Awning positioning, right? A & D

(Apologies in advance - not trying to HiJack the thread). UPDATE: After a wonderful short trip to the cool WX of northern NM, we returned yesterday after a 335-mile round trip. The maintenance done on the Bull Dog last week appears to have remedied the issue of it rotating on the rear through-bolt as described earlier. The Bull Dog position remains unchanged relative to the Sharpie mark after the trip. We'll pay attention to this by double checking the torque values on the two attachment bolts. Cheers, all!

@jd1923: We couldn't agree more with @Mike and Carol, FYI. We do a top/bottom, port/stbd, fore/aft cleaning inside and out after (and many times during) our trips. It's a good way to mentally keep track of gelcoat issues, general conditions and anomalies that our OTT's acquire after/during use. Like Mike mentions, such attention keeps our "older" Ollies looking and feeling like new.... You know you're doing it right when random comments by Ollie admirers say stuff like, "We can't believe your trailer isn't brand new!". Just say'n.... "Ravel'n On!" A & D

@Dave and Dana: FYI: We roll the same as @Rivernerd regarding attention to TV/OTT level when towing. Our 2" Andeerson ball height is exactly 23.75" off a level surface when the TV is properly loaded. The Bulldog is 23.25" above level surface.... Our Tundra squats about 1.5 - 1.75" when coupled. We've added AirLift suspension bags which help reducing "porpoising" while towing, extend suspension life, and can fine-tune level conditions, if necessary. We're running them with approximately 23psi. Hope this helps out. Cheers, Amigo...

We've got Foy's drawer organizer - real game changer, for sure! Strongly recommend this item... just say'n.

OMG, we watch "The Long, Long Trailer" several times a year - always while camping, though! It cracks us up - we do not, however, collect rocks like Lucy does! HA!

Eagle Nest Lake State Park, NM... Where's Magnus? He's love'n the 60F temps (so are we for that matter)! His FAV spot - right under the Ollie steps! Red River, NM - 8,600' near Eagle Nest - great weekend romp! He's spent... Oh, well... charge up his batteries and go again in the morning. Cheers, A&D

Whew! That was a close one! Glad they stood by their promise...

We installed our LevelMatePRO yesterday using 1/4" stainless screws and small washers. We had originally used velcro to mount the LMP thinking that it would make battery changes easier - NO JOY. The velcro wouldn't hold it in position and we got erroneous data on the app. Double-sided tape might be another solution - but that would likely be messy after a few battery change outs. It's still in the same position just below the closet door bulkhead near the main hatch for easy access to the on/off slider switch. The jury's still out on the functionality of the unit - but we're leaving today for a long weekend trip away from this triple-digit heat, so we'll report back after a few days of testing it. "Ravel'n-On!" Cheers...

We're getting kitted-up to head out to Eagle Nest, NM tomorrow to escape the heat wave. During a routine light inspection this afternoon, Magnus has OK'd the LED Bumper mod.... Apparently, we're good to go, according to "Big M." WOOF!

Exactly right on! Securing our toys is a matter of increasing the bad guys' task time to defeat our measures. However, without a means of detecting and assessing their efforts with some sort of an alarm system - their task time can be as long as the time we are away from the trailer to get what they want. The Proven hitch lock slows them down considerably - and provides a deterrent for those thieves without tools. If, the they bring proper tools to this caper, the deterrent factor goes away. For that matter, with a pre-drilled $130 Bulldog coupler, the bad guys only need to remove the two through bolts, toss the Proven-locked coupler assembly, attach their Bulldog and drive off. Having just removed our Bulldog this week, guess it'd take less than 5 minutes time before pulling chocks and driving away with a $75k+ Ollie, not a bad investment. Regarding the battery compartment lock, given the value sitting on the battery tray - some thought could be given for an engineered locking mechanism for the battery tray latch. Making the latch lockable would further provide a reasonably cost deterrent and simultaneously increase their task time. Again, if they bring tools.... Just our $0.02 worth.

@BackofBeyond: We have done so as well, Russell. We've got an easy drive-through, flat parking adjacent to the "shop", 30Amps, filtered/soft well water, and dump - and a hearty welcome any OTT travelers in our vicinity. Cheers! A & D