Mike and Carol

The stock suspension is fine. We replaced everything after 9 years and a lot of miles (100K+). There have been some cases of leaf spring failure, but when I had ours replaced they looked fine. I’m just a believer in preventive maintenance (too many years in the Army). There was no reason to replace my axles, except to upgrade from the 3500 lb axles and also get bigger brakes and never lube bearings. Our camping is a combination of nice roads and not so nice roads. Mike

The first time I replaced brakes was just a couple of years ago, I’ve got 110Ksih miles on the trailer now. 24K is way too soon for normal braking. I also agree with the comments on bearings, they should not need replacing, just repacking. Mike

Thanks, Ken, nice write up! I’m replacing my 3 BB’s this week with the same Epoch batteries. I will attempt to test the BB’s also once I get them out. Mike

You have 12v only powered items, propane only items, 120v items and some that work on multiple inputs. 12v only: Furnace motor, water pump, lights, front and rear jacks, ceiling fans (Maxxfan and bath fan), TV and Furrion stereo. These items only work off of your batteries. 120v only: AC, microwave. Propane only: cook top Combination: Water heater (heats on propane or 120v or both at the same time), Fridge (on shore power it defaults to 120v, no shore power it goes to propane, if you want to run on 12v you have to select, at least on my 3 way Dometic. It’s most efficient on propane). Your furnace generates heat from propane only but the fan is 12v only, no shore power needed. Also, if you have the 2K watt inverter it works on 12v to generate 120v, if your batteries don’t have sufficient charge your inverter will not function properly. Hope this helps. Mike

This is a park we’ve been meaning to try. We usually stay at Mother Neff State Park when in the Waco area. Midway looks nice. Mike

We like Lost Dutchman! Sunset. Anonymous Oliver owners.

Does this happen when not hooked up to shore power? I have the same set up. Both the TV and Furrion receiver are 12V so shouldn’t be affected by shore power. Mike

Hi Trailerjohngo, welcome to the forum. Once you have a chance to look at this trailer let us know the model year and/or Hull number. There have been manufacturing differences over the years and it always is helpful to know the age of the trailer we’re talking about. Good luck! Mike

Sounds like it does more than my bubble level! Maybe it’s time I bite the bullet and upgrade.

I’m probably a minority here, but I like my bubble level. It’s used everytime we set up. Generally accurate although it does take adjusting every so often. I haven’t gone for some of the electronic/automatic upgrades (digital door lock, motorized black/gray tank gates, auto levelers, etc). I like simplicity. It’s instructive to remember how Oliver Travel Trailers began. Jim and John traveled around in their Casita(s) for their fiberglass businesses. When it came time to get a new Casita they decided they could make their own. They did, and sometime around 2007 the Elite I was born. They were not RV industry experts, just experienced RVers who used their fiberglass experience to create a new travel trailer. The mechanical parts (electricity, plumbing, etc) have evolved over time with the early trailers not being very standardized. When I look at the newer models compared to those built when ours was, they’ve come a long way and have continued to refine and make improvements. Those of us with 2015/16/17 trailers don’t have that benefit of lessons learned over the years but we still have a solid trailer. Our trailer is 10 years old, just over 110,000 miles and can/does pass for a new trailer (thanks CGI guys). All systems work fine and reliability over the last 6 or 7 years has been outstanding. Mike

Here’s an improvised cover that anyone can make when out on the road….

I will check the temps of my positive terminals right before I swap them out with new batteries. Not sure having them “on” during the trip from storage to our driveway will show much. My new batteries have shipped and they will be installed before our next trip. I’m just not comfortable with the overheating/fire risk to keep using them. Mike

I’ve ordered my new Epoch 300aH batteries. When we, @mountainoliver and I, did my upgrade from AGM’s to the Battle Borns, we also recabled everything so that like John, I have one red cable and one black cable in the battery box. My Battle Borns are just over 5 years old. I’ll keep them for a while as this Dragon Fly crisis progresses. Mike

Very nice!

We use ours for leveling all the time, have for the last 10 years. I’ve also used them to change tires. As Bill mentioned, this has been discussed a lot here, if you want more data do a search and you’ll find lots of opinions! Mike

I discussed this with Ken, I think this is what I will do too.

I watched Will’s latest video this morning. The news keeps getting more disappointing. I’m looking at replacements now, the BB’s have been fine so far but don’t want to wait for a failure before taking action.

We got our legos at Walmart. Probably similar to those above. We bought two sets of 10.

When we picked up in 2016 I was using a bunch of cut off ends of a 2X6 stacked on yellow plastic Camco pads. In 2017 I made some blocks with a rope handle out of those ends. In 2018 I quit using the yellow pads and just went with the big legos which offered more flexibility. I carry 4 wood blocks and 20 big Legos in the front basket along with locks, gloves, flashlight and four rubber wheel chocks.

I’ve never noticed a high=pitch sound from my regulator.

We enjoyed visiting Bisbee when we lived in nearby Sierra Vista. Tombstone, too. Those were good days. Mike

I remember when we lived in Hawaii the weather report was normally short and boringly the same. The exception was when Hurricane Iwa hit on Thanksgiving weekend in 1982. Power went out for 3 days. Carol had cooked our turkey the day before so we had neighbors over on Thanksgiving day to share our turkey. Mike

My 3 Battle Born batteries were installed in December 2020. No issues after lots of use. I’m sticking with them while keeping an eye on any heat or discoloration issues. Mike

Bad news continues….

We lived in Sierra Vista and Fort Huachuca for many years. Almost retired there!