Mike and Carol

Eight years for AGM batteries is a good life span. Two of my five year old AGM batteries were starting to swell and two were leaking because the tie down hooks were rubbing holes in them. I now have three 100aH Battle Born lithiums. I had to install an updated PD 4045 that was lithium capable and reprogram the Blue Sky controller. These new batteries have been remarkable. We’re going on two years and we are happy with the switch. Mike

Welcome, Lisa. Between Lithionics, Oliver service and some folks here your battery issue should just be a bump in the road. Let us know how we can help. Mike

Depends. On a new trailer I don’t think there’s a need. On one that has some oxidation, maybe depending on how much. I have a couple of times, probably every 2 to 3 years for me. I’m considering the ceramic thing, those trailers look great. Mike

I can offer advice on a lot of Oliver topics, but winterizing is something I’ve never done! Like Steve and Tali, we are leaving next week for a month long trip. We’ll be back for Thanksgiving and Christmas and then leave for Arizona and other spots before the Christmas holidays are over. Mike

Ours has a valve that shuts off the flush line going into the black tank. It looks like the fresh water tank drain valve. Like Steve says, it’s under the forward dinette seat. Mike

I agree that’s not a good solution. We camped in State Forest State Park just north of Rocky Mountain National Park this summer. We were at about 9,200’, boondocking. The cooktop worked fine as did the fridge and hot water tank. My Weber Q1000 fired right up as did the Blackstone. Mike

I use an external surge protector because we don’t have an internal one. The one I hang on the power pole is our only protection. There has been some discussion about using one with the Oliver installed protection and I think a few are doing it and can offer some thoughts. Mike

Yes, decals get wax.

It’s not an issue. We have the maxxfan open almost always as well as the bath fan. That provides ventilation. Sometimes during really hard rains we shut the bath fan because some of the rain bouncing off the roof can make the bath floor damp. If it isn’t a hard rain, keeping a window cracked is something else we do. Mike

We’ll done! Thanks for the detailed post. Mike

I agree with Frank. If you’re getting a skid when braking back it off a bit. Whenever we start out towing I check mine. Usually before we get up to 5mph I take my foot off the gas and activate the trailer brakes. Depending the resistance I get whether on pavement or gravel I can then bump the setting up or down. Mike

Carmax can be a good option. I bought one car from them, a 2006 MINI Cooper S that was four years old. Low mileage and fair price. The day I picked it up I went straight to the BMW/MINI dealer and paid $120 for a complete bumper to bumper inspection resulting in a page of issues, mostly worn out seals and gaskets and a few other things. The next day I drove it back to Carmax and showed them the inspection results. They honored their 30 day warranty and fixed everything, about $2,300 of repairs. Unless you buy something that is only a year or two old or has very few miles I would recommend a good inspection and a possible return visit to Carmax. Mike

We’ve had a water softener in our current house since we built it 17 years ago. Last year we replaced the original softener with a new model. We’ve also been using a portable softener in the trailer since 2018. I originally bought a 16K grain softener. While it works well, it was very heavy. A couple of years ago I got a 3.2K grain softener, much small and lighter, fits in the basement and will last about a month before needing a recharge. They make a 8K grain that is probably the best solution. All on Amazon. I kept the 16K grain and use it for car/truck/trailer washing. They both recharge easily with plain table salt. Mike

Are there any factory equipped Truma Olivers out there yet? Would like to hear how it performs. The Houghton gets good reviews. Mike

That’s an unfortunate add on. When I bought my Ram 2500 dealers here were taking that much, or more, off MSRP. You might want to look out of state. There are a number of dealers that specialize in long distance purchases with fair pricing. Mike

Interesting. There aren’t any service centers in Texas, just a mobile service out of Austin. Looks like the only service centers are in Florida and Indiana. Mike

Welcome Maleah! There are a number of military retiree Oliver owners. I did 40 years in the Army, 30 in uniform and 10 civil service. Our Oliver goal was also to see the US and as many national parks as we could. You’re in good company here. Be sure to ask as many questions as you need to. We’re all here to help. Mike

Hey Brian, with our son and family in Durango we have a strong pull to Colorado in addition to the mountains, weather and scenery! We also like Tennessee and will be camping there next month. Ouray is quite a place…. Mike

We’ve gone to Quartzsite from San Antonio on I-10 in January a number of times. Never winterized. January could be cold in west Texas, but more likely well above freezing. If you go west on I-20 there’s more of a chance for colder weather. We’ve spent January in AZ the last 6 years. No need to winterize if you stay south of Flagstaff and NE AZ. Even if you venture north, the probability of really cold weather is slim. We’ve camped around Flagstaff and north, all the way up to Page, AZ and Lake Powell. Cold at night (below freezing) but nice during the day. Last year we went to Zion National Park in southern Utah on our January trip and it was perfect, high 20s at night and 50s daytime. Quartzsite is almost always pretty nice. That’s why so many folks head there in the winter. This January we’ll be camping way south at Lake Patagonia, at Kartchner Caverns near Benson, north of Tucson, several spots around Phoenix, north and about an hour east of Payson, and just south of Sedona. We’ll be visiting Flagstaff from our campsite near Sedona for a weekend hockey tournament that our grandson from Durango will be playing in. Maybe we’ll head over to Quartzsite to see who is there. There’s a certain peacefulness about picking your own spot out in the Quartzsite desert and watching traffic on I-10 from a long distance! We will not winterize for any of this trip. Actually, we’ve never winterized our Oliver. Mike

It used to be a rare event, our first year or two we only accidentally encountered other Oliver owners a couple of times. We intentionally camped with other Oliver owners many times! It’s good to see the random gatherings increase. Mike

We’ve made some great Oliver friends over the years. Real friends. It’s fun to see them at various places across the country and renew connections. We like to camp year round. We were in Colorado in June and July. We’ll be out the month of October and then the month of January. It’s a good pace, home a couple of months, out a month or two, repeat. Mike

Is there an issue with the caulking around your windows? If it is a 2021 I wouldn’t think that the caulk would be old. Any leaks? Our 2016 Oliver is going on 7 years old and the caulk around the windows is original, no leaks, no issues. Mike

I’ve towed my Elite II with four trucks. A 2012 Toyota Tacoma (supercharged), a 2016 Ram 1500, a 2020 Ram Rebel and now a 2020 Ram 2500 Diesel. The first three were all with the Andersen WDH. When I got the 2500 the WDH was sold. We’ve towed about 20K miles without the WDH. The 2500 definitely does not need any weight distribution assistance. As far as sway, there has been none. If I had a 3500 I wouldn’t even think about a WDH. Mike

We were a bit wary of the wet bath as well, but it is no big deal. We don’t mind it at all, shower then squeegee and wipe a little with a small towel and done. Cleanest place in the trailer. We find that we can pack the fridge with enough food for at least a couple of weeks or more. When we’re out for over a month we stop by area grocery stores, need to do that for fresh stuff anyway. There are quite a few full timing Oliver owners. Maybe a few will chime in. Mike

Yep, my bad. I was just checking on Delaneywud and saw your post. It’s rough getting old. Mike