Mike and Carol

Like Steve and Tali, Carol and I make dumping a two person job. I’m outside and she is inside watching the readout and tells me when we hit 80 or 85%. I don’t hook the flush hose to the trailer until we’re ready to dump. I use one of those expanding hoses so I know if the water is on because it expands. It’s black and is a single use hose. It attaches to the faucet via a splitter with a back flow preventer and on/off valves for each side of the splitter. I’m a bit paranoid about a black tank “accident”. We had an incident coming down a hill at Quartzsite with a near full tank due to an unattached black tank vent pipe which resulted in some spillage under the bathroom sink. Another time I noticed the hose felt full as we were setting up at a new site. I didn’t know if it was black or gray. I was able too attach a second hose section which gave enough slack to attach to the dump while holding the middle of the hose up. Turns out I had something stuck at the black valve preventing it from closing all the way. Those were both 2-3 years ago. So, I’ve become methodical and deliberate, checking and then checking again! Mike

[postquote quote=180294][/postquote] Yes.

Looks like a simple solution. Maybe hang a towel or something on them when not on the move? We’ve never had an issue with the kitchen drawers, the nightstand drawer is a different story! Mike

Hi Mirna, I split your post so it’s a new thread. If you would prefer a different title let me know. I agree with what’s been said. You are really comparing apples and oranges, these are two very different types of trailers. We looked at Lance before we decided to buy our Oliver, for all the reasons mentioned above. Thanks for posting here, you’ll get some good facts and, of course, some Oliver leaning advice! Mike

John and Joy, Welcome to the family! I’ll also be interested in how you like your new Oliver after being seasoned Airstreamers. Mike

Happy fourth, everyone! It’s a good day to grill and chill with family and friends. Mike

[postquote quote=179553][/postquote] Same here.

[postquote quote=179484][/postquote] We use sheets and mattress pads from AB Lifestyles and are very happy with them. Sandy, I sent you a PM on the Champion 3400. Mike

I agree that what you pack depends on how you camp. We rarely eat at restaurants. We grill most of the time and so I have a Weber Q1000 gas grill and a small Weber charcoal grill. We have a couple of pots and a medium size pan and that’s about it. Sometimes we take the instant pot but it rides in the truck, we’ve made chili on a rainy day more than a few times. We carry less now than when we picked up, so I’d go light and add as you see what your style is. Mike

I see a Texas Hill Country micro-Rally taking shape. Boerne, Fredericksburg, Marble Falls... There are two Ollie’s I’m aware of in San Antonio, two here in my neighborhood and now one in Marble Falls and one in Fredericksburg. Mike

[postquote quote=179001][/postquote] Ours is an ABCwater 16,000 grain softener. They are on Amazon. If I was doing it over I would get an 8,000 grain. The bigger one is heavy. I may still get the smaller one for camping and just use the large one I have for car and trailer washing. Mike

[postquote quote=179016][/postquote] Agree with Bill, I don’t think any cutting is necessary. Mine certainly wasn’t. You just need to get underneath to attach the brackets. Mike

[postquote quote=178944][/postquote] We had a local graphic artist do the design. We told her what we were thinking and she did a few designs. We refined one of them to what we have now. She provided a digital file and a local print shop printed the big graphic for the front and some smaller ones for whatever. Mike

When we’re with FHU we let the gray tank fill before draining. It’s usually also when we dump the black. The gray provides a rinse. I wouldn’t want the gray to be continuously open because I don’t want my basement open all the time. We have dumped the gray independent of the black if we’re showering a lot. I usually raise the front of the trailer a bit when draining the tanks, especially when we’re leaving the campground. Mike

We had a problem with water flow to the toilet. We happened to be on our way to Tennessee for some upgrades when it happened. The service guys found hard water deposits where the hose connects to the toilet preventing flow. We have been using a water softener since. We’ve been to some remote campgrounds that I’m sure had some pretty hard water. Mike

Congratulations and welcome to the family. We’re just down the road a bit from you. We go through Marble Falls whenever we head north, it’s a beautiful area. Mike

I have not, but am considering the upgrade. Bill J. (topgun2) has upgraded. I’m sure he’ll weigh in. Mike

Congratulations! Another Oliver on the road - enjoy! Mike

John, thanks. As we discussed, it was an inexpensive mod that works well for what I needed it to do. Having all the chocks, blocks, etc right there makes set up much easier. Mike

I also had a site at Davis Mountain State Park that was bad. I ended up parking a bit sideways to make it work. One thing to add to your chocks and blocks is an x-chock that fits between the wheels when up on legos or wood. Mike

Congratulations! Have you tried adjusting the level to see if the bubble comes back? The screws around it are to adjust the level, I have to readjust ours every so often. Level the trailer with another level and then adjust to put the bubble in the middle. I use a small level under the seam between the top and bottom hulls around the outside. Good luck! Mike

Thanks for posting this, good info for those of us with Blue Sky solar. Mike

Ed and Nancy, welcome! We were like you, new to the RV world. That was four years ago and we’ve come a long way - and you will too. Ask any questions as you get settled in and enjoy your new Oliver! Mike

[postquote quote=176982][/postquote] Ken, we love it when you guys come to Texas - the temperature always drops 30 degrees no matter what time of year! Mike

[postquote quote=176946][/postquote] This is what we use. They also have screens for the furnace. Mike