Mike and Carol

23.5” is what I used, too. (+/- a half inch). My truck sank a little more than an inch, trailer is pretty level. For a half ton, there will be a lot more drop once the trailer is hitched. The Andersen can even that out. Mike

I just replaced all four of my tires at Discount tire. Had them balanced with TPMS monitors installed. Side note - I replaced the original BF Goodrich tires with the Cooper Discoverer AT3 and are happy with them. I might put them on my truck too, they get good recommendations on the Ram HD forum. Mike

Welcome! Browse around and ask any questions you might have. This is a friendly place! Mike

We spent a week camped in the Destin area. We would like to travel the rest of Florida, so I’ll be watching for replies! Mike

In a state like Texas that produces way more energy that we need it is a shame this happened. Many political issues that we don’t need to get into here. There will be a serious look at how we produce and distribute our electricity and water. We’re fine. I have the trailer in the driveway with heat. I’ve made a serious dent in my firewood supply but we had our propane filled late last week so heat and cooktop are good. Temps will be above freezing this weekend for the foreseeable future. In other words, back to normal. BTW, it’s still snowing big fluffy flakes. Scenic! Mike

After most of the 6” we got on Monday melted yesterday it has started again, big flakes. Might get another 6” today. Normal in a lot of places but record setting here in San Antonio!

We woke up to 7 degrees and 6” of snow with no power. Electricity came on after 8 hours. We put on our cold weather camping gear and had a good fire in the fireplace. 4 degrees tonight. These are all time record lows and snowfall for south Texas. It will be above freezing by the end of the week. I hope the globe does not get much warmer! Mike

To be clear, I believe this was a local repair tech, not an Oliver service person that drove from Hohenwald to Houston to do this work. Just like any of us who have an issue at home or away from Hohenwald, we get a local repair tech to do the work. Oliver picks up the bill.

Oliver sent a technician to the campground in TX who fixed the issue. The fridge was not plugged in and it was difficult to reach. Mike

We were camped with Sheri this past week at Lake Livingston State Park near Houston. She has resolved some issues and is heading back to TN to have Oliver take care of some. We had a nice visit and I think she is doing better. This RV life is so new to her with lots to learn, frustration happens easily. Mike

We also changed our stems to metal and had the tires rebalanced with the TST TPMS sensors installed about 4 years ago.

We had a 110V outlet installed under the bed near the kitchen. I used some On Command cable holders up under the bed extension for the cord. I don’t know where outlets are installed on new trailers or if they will install them in custom locations. It would be easy enough to add an outlet under one of the bed extensions. We just returned from a couple of weeks in east Texas and Arkansas, it was cold and we were cozy! Mike

Yes, the jumper cables are 1/0, provided by Battle Born. We used the buss bar on the “under the bed” side and the terminal strip (not sure the correct name) on the “under the dinette seat” side. Under the bed next to the solar controller. Buss is behind circuit breaker. This is under the dinette seat. Added this voltage controller for the Maxxfan and bath fan.

Our particular model is no longer available, replaced with new models. I will say it is 5 years old and still going strong. It is a Vornado Whole House heater. Ours has 3 settings, 750W, 1150W, 1500W. It was available in white, which we got. Small, so it doesn’t take up much space. The way it is made makes it very hard to tip over and it does have a safety switch on the bottom in case it does. It has manual controls, some of the newer ones have digital controls. The closest I could find on Amazon is this one.

We’ve used a small Vornado electric heater for the last 5 years in our Oliver. We put it right in front of the nightstand blowing toward the bathroom. With the inside of the trailer in the high 60s/low 70s we’ve never had a freezing issue in temps down to low 20s (19 degrees one night at Pinnacles NP). If it was colder than that I’m not sure just an electric heater would be enough, but we don’t like to camp in single digit or teens temperatures so I can’t really say. Mike

There are a couple of other recent threads that address some of your questions and concerns. I asked BB about jumper cables, they recommended 1/0 and sent me two along with my two batteries. I also had them send a new PD4045 that had a lithium setting. I have the BlueSky and there were some settings that needed to be reprogrammed. BB sent me those settings. I installed a battery cut off switch because BB recommends disconnecting them for periods of storage longer than a month or so. I have a little over 1AH phantom draw when everything is off and that can add up over a week or so. They don’t recommend leaving the charger on continuously while in storage more than 2 or 3 weeks. I was told if it is parked in the open then the solar can keep the batteries charged long term while allowing them to “rest” each night.

Mine is a 2016 and did not come with the Dexter. I upgraded 3 or 4 years ago. Mike

Lake Ouachita State Park near Hot Springs, Arkansas last week. This is our second time here, very nice park!

On I-10 between San Antonio and El Paso there isn’t much. In Junction just off the freeway is South Llano State Park. We stayed there a few days and it is nice. Davis Mountains State Park is also nice, very close to McDonald Observatory which is worth a visit. Drop down further past Marfa and you’ll get to Big Bend National Park. There are a couple of commercial RV parks we’ve stayed overnight at along I-10 in west Texas, nothing special but a place to stop if needed. One is Van Horn RV park which is getting a little run down and the other is Fort Stockton RV park which is nicer and a convenient stop. In New Mexico we’ve stayed at Aguirre Spring COE near Las Cruces, no hook ups but great views and close to White Sands National Park - you have to drive up the mountain on a winding road. We plan on returning there. I think most state parks in NM are still closed. In Arizona, Karchner Caverns state Park is just off I-10 on highway 90 as you head south to Sierra Vista, Tombstone and Bisbee. In west AZ, you should spend a night at Quartzsite just to say you did! Dome Rock area is where the fiberglass rally is held, just a big swatch of desert speckled with campers. Mike

We travel I-10 west from San Antonio to AZ and southern CA all the time. Roads are good and not much traffic. I’d monitor the weather and if it looks like there might be some winter weather on the northern route I’d drop south and go I-10/I-20 or even I-40.

We’ve had our shade and new glass for about 3 years now. No issues. It’s nice to be able to see outside without opening the door. Mike

Sometimes I can close my door with little to no effort. Sometimes I have to lean in to it get it shut. So, what is the difference? Is it a production or safety issue when I have to lean into the door and not a production or safety issue when I don’t? Or, maybe it is an issue of leveling and the natural twist and flex depending on how the wheels are adapting to unlevel ground or if I have one side up on legos to get level? If you don’t hear the click when you shut the door and you don’t engage the deadbolt don’t jump on the freeway. Checklists are your friend. Door shut? Deadbolt engaged? Maybe I spent way to long in the Army but that is how we minimize potential safety issues. Mike

Bill, that looks like the same site we were in last week, B03. Glad your pickup and trip home went well. We’re in Lake Livingston State Park north of Houston but should be home Wednesday or Thursday. Looks like some cold weather coming in. Mike

Hey Coach, welcome to the forum and congrats on the pending delivery! Mike

I just replaced my tires after 5 years and 60K miles. They had plenty of tread on all of them. Had some small cracks appearing so went ahead and put on new tires. As long as the tread wear appears pretty even on the tires I won’t be rotating. Mike