Mike and Carol

Glad to hear you’ve got your new Ollie! I know Fort Monroe well, seems like a lifetime ago. Enjoy that new trailer - Mike

Welcome to the group and congrats on your Oliver! Sounds like you are experienced campers so we’ll look forward to hearing from you as you get to know your trailer. Mike

No!

Welcome! Hopefully it won’t be too much longer than SomeDaySoon. Hanging around here will help prepare you for whenever your Oliver adventures begin. We’d like to do some parks in Canada, it’s nice to know we have someone familiar with them. Mike

Drive across the park to the Grand Lake side, it’s quite a drive. The area around Grand Lake is nice, not as built up as Estes Park. Have fun! Mike

Don’t disconnect the sewer hose. Just slide it back into the bumper and be on your way. If you are getting a gray tank leak around the blade valve you should check to see if the cable is the problem (easy to adjust) or if the gate isn’t closing because something has lodged in the track. I’m sure you try to keep solids out of the gray tank, but sometimes something will inadvertently go down the drain. Mike

I would guess about 70 or 80% of owners are members. A lot of trailers are on their second or third owner, so those trailers would have 2 or 3 forum members. Others join to look and get info before they order a trailer - some order and some don’t. Some are members while their trailer is being built. As far as I know once someone is registered they stay a member even if they sell and never log back on. I can remember some years ago when if we got 20 online it was a big deal! Times have changed! Mike

We’ve used quite a few HH. Some say cooking outside is fine, just be sure to ask. Each Host is different! Mike

Or, odd numbers like Hull #135.

We’ve been traveling from south Texas to Tennessee and arrived in the Memphis area this afternoon. We’re at a military campground on Midsouth Naval Base just north of Memphis. It’s small, but somehow there’s an Oliver parked right next to us. The spot we are in was occupied by another Oliver last night. Small world. Our neighbors just picked up their trailer yesterday, Mike and Barb - Hull 1428.

We’ve had single digit weather twice since 2016. When it gets below 10 for a few days I supplement the furnace with small cube electric heaters to help with the lines that run from the water fill/outside shower area around the back to the hot water tank and pump area. The furnace doesn’t have any ducting there. I do have my basement door insulated so that helps. Mike

It depends on how low your temperatures get and how long they stay there. I’ve never winterized because we also camp year round. It routinely gets into the 20s where we live (San Antonio area). Keeping the heat on and opening the inner hull hatches keeps things from freezing. We occasionally dip into the teens and even single digits and when that happens I open all the inner hull hatches, run the furnace, and have a couple of small electrical heaters - one in the basement area and one where the water pump and all those water lines are. It’s usually only 2 or 3 days once a year. Mike

Leadville is worth a stop. The highway in and out is enjoyable and scenic. If you want to do Highway 550 (Million Dollar Highway) through Ouray and Silverton a good place to camp is at Ridgway State Park near Ouray. You can also visit Telluride from there. Durango is also worth a visit (our son and family live there). Rifle Gap State Park is good for a few days of relaxation, it’s just a few miles from Rifle Falls State park, with a nice waterfall to visit. Steamboat is another nice town, you can stay at Yampa River State Park, it’s only about a 30 minute drive into Steamboat. If you want big city camping, Chatfield State Park is nice, just outside of Denver (Littleton, CO). Oh, the possibilities!

Agree. It’s never been an issue for us, not something we’ve ever been concerned about.

I had asked him to run the wires on the back of the axle. I guess it depends on what your definition of back is? I’ll move them when I add a few more zip ties. Mike

OK, just back from the RV repair shop, again. They pulled the brake wires from inside the axles and attached new wires, zip tied to the outside of the axle. They gave me the old wires. One was about 11’ long, the other about 9’. The excess was stuffed into the axle. One had a spot where the insulation was rubbed through showing bare wires. The other had about 6” of electrical tape wrapped around the end where it connected to the brake. When I took the tape off I found a weird situation that makes no sense to me. This appears to be the same issue SNY SD UP was experiencing (his photos above). First, here’s the rub: (brown insulation worn to the red then to the copper. Then here’s the end that was taped. The tape extended from the end of the wires to where my fingers are, making it look as though it was one set of wires. The ends of the brown pair on top were completely covered with tape and the left end of the bottom brown and white pair was also covered, leaving only the ends of the brown and white pair showing. So, it appears they were not connected to anything? The tech simply cut the wires off when he was replacing them which are the brown/white pair. The top pair has one wire stripped and one is a few inches shorter than the other. I’m not sure what this was all about. They zip tied the new wires to the axle. I will add a few more to what they used. I had no “trailer brake disconnected” messages on the way home. We leave tomorrow for our fall trip for some cooler weather and fall leaves. Hopefully the problem is solved. I will close out my ticket with Oliver service. Their only offering was that when they’ve encountered this issue it’s almost always the tow vehicle. Not in this case.

This makes sense to me, too. But, why would the official guidance be to turn off all lights?

If I’m under 50% I usually fill the black tank to 75 or 80% before dumping. I then close the valve and fill it up again to 60 or 70%. Then one more time, usually only about 50% and that dump is usually clear. I’m usually outside and Carol is inside letting me know where we’re at. If I do it by myself, I’m inside watching the level before going out and opening the valve. Mike

Yes, I can clarify. I’m running Cooper Discoverer AT3’s on my Oliver on the original 16” wheels in the original size. Sorry for the confusion, would 18” wheels even fit? 18” wheels and 35” tires on an Oliver would probably require major bodywork! 😆 Mike

The Cooper AT3 is a really good tire, I had them on my 1500s too. I’d put them on my Audi S3 but they don’t come in 235/35-19! 🤣

My Ram 2500 came with 20” wheels and 285/60-20 Firestone tires. The tires weren’t so great, okay on dry pavement but that’s about it. At 30K miles I replaced them with 35/12.5-18 Cooper AT3 XLT’s. Same as on my trailer. Bought new 18” wheels and sold the 20” wheels and tires. After about 30K miles, it’s been a good swap, very happy with the results. Mike

Here’s a nice video on the last 100 years of Texas State Parks. I’m sure most states have a similar history. We’ve stayed at state parks across the nation and appreciate what they provide. BTW, H-E-B is a Texas supermarket chain headquartered here in San Antonio. https://youtu.be/1rHgTkBGv_w?si=qCcsBz99Cxvy1hmU

I found a major issue with my power inlet (lose lug that caused some surrounding plastic to melt) as we were preparing to depart on a long trip. A direct replacement (stainless steel) would have taken days to arrive. I chose to go to a local RV shop just minutes away for a replacement I could install and still be on our way. It wasn’t a question of cost. At some point I will replace the plastic with the original stainless steel cover. Mike

I did the same job a few years ago, I think I posted some pictures. I don’t have anything to add to rideandfly’s description. It’s not difficult, just time consuming and a bit hard on the back from the kneeling and reaching down to the area needing attention! Mike

If you get to Yellowstone and need a site with power there’s a nice Idaho state park just about 10 or 15 miles to the west. Ralph’s Lake State Park, W/E plus they have new shower buildings. I don’t think they take reservations, we had no problem getting in. It was only a 20 minute drive to Yellowstone.