Mike and Carol

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

I don’t know if they were balanced when I picked up my trailer. I did have them balanced within a few months with added metal stems and TST TPMS sensors. Just had new tires installed and did the same - balanced with TPMS sensors mounted. Mike

Usually 5 to 10 degrees above ambient temperature. Depends on if tires are in direct sun and how fast you’re going. Mike

Bill, looks nice. We are cutting our stay here in Arkansas short because snow is forecasted starting Tuesday night. Hope it doesn’t follow us to Texas!

I just replaced my original tires with Cooper Discoverer HT3. I figured Oliver did the research on these, so why not? When Discount Tire installed them they inflated to 80 psi. I asked why and was told on trailers they inflate to max pressure but most folks air down later. I set mine at 60 in warm San Antonio weather. My TPMS is saying 53 psi in this cold weather here in Arkansas. When we picked up in 2016 our tires were set at 80 psi. The TV would flop down, window shades would fall off, MW unplugged, etc. went to 55 psi and all that stopped. That was with the original BF Goodrich tires. BTW, I like these new Coopers. More aggressive looking than the utilitarian looking BF Goodrich. Mike

I agree with Steve here. Trailers twist and flex depending on how level the ground is and what jacking has been done to bring it to level. This is not a workmanship problem. Close the door, push it until it clicks and lock the deadbolt. Sometimes no push is necessary and sometimes you have to lean into it a little. We only have 60K miles and the door has never come open while driving. Mike

Very happy with our Ram 2500. Tows our Oliver without breaking a sweat! Mike

Us too. Simple is good.

I’m continually amazed at the knowledge and expertise of members on this forum. It’s nice to know I can come with an issue and get lots of relevant input. I wonder what a rally with 5,000 would look like! Mike