Mike and Carol

Rob makes a good point, one that I see through my son who lives in Durango. He does not use chains or socks and doesn’t own any. He had business in Grand Junction for a couple of years that entailed driving there weekly from Durango up through Ouray on Hwy 550 (Million Dollar Highway). During winter they drive our grandson to hockey games in cities north of Durango (Telluride, Vail, GJ, Gunnison, Montrose, Steamboat and Denver). He’s got good tires on his Ram 2500 and has had no problems. I asked once if he thought I needed chains for our trips up to visit. He looked at the tires (Nokian snow rated) on my truck and said, nope! Mike

I upgraded to the beefier ALCAN springs and larger axles last year. That means I drove about 100K miles over 9 years with the smaller 3500lb axles and Dexter 4 leafs. That mileage includes some rough roads/off roads. I’d say you don’t need to rush to upgrade, do it when the timing/budget allows. My only exception might be if you are planning a trip to Alaska, the upgraded suspension might be a good idea. Mike

I use an air compressor similar to the method JD posted. I’ve never used antifreeze. We do get below freezing a few times each winter and have had several days in single digits since we’ve been Oliver owners. When a serious freeze is forecasted I bring the trailer home and use a couple of electric heaters inside with the inner hulls open. No problems to date. I’d be a little more vigilant if we were in colder areas. We’ve been in the upper 70s since Christmas, but will probably get one or two freezes before spring.

We still have the original black molding that was installed on our trailer when new. After long trips when I am cleaning the window tracks I pull those rubber moldings out and put them in a bucket of soapy water. After I’ve cleaned the tracks and the screens I clean the rubber moldings with a sponge and dry them well. I apply some 303 protectant before I put them back in. They show very little wear after 10 years. No mold or discoloration. I think black looks much better than the white, not sure why Oliver switched.

I pull mine up everytime I clean the window tracks. I can only pull up what isn’t underneath the window when open and they go back down pretty easy.

Good idea. That does look better than the Nev-R Lube caps. Time to go shopping….

I had ALCAN upgrade my axles a few months after I had their springs installed. I dropped off around 8:00 and they were done at 10:00. Enough time for breakfast and a stroll around Bass Pro Shop! Mike

We drove by Camp Hale last year just a week or so off of the rally on our way to Leadville (I had a Melanzana appointment). It’s a beautiful area! Mike

We found the same with two different Ram 1500’s during several trips throughout the Rockies. It was payload that nudged me over the edge for a 2500. The extra payload is good, but the big diesel is a game changer. Very little braking in the mountains, the engine brake does most of the work. No high revs on uphills, just steady pulling power. Mike

Happy New Year fellow campers and travelers! Hope 2026 is a good one for everybody. Mike and Carol

Epic trip!!

We’ve got over 110,000 miles towing usually with a full fresh tank and black and gray at various levels depending on dump availability. No issues and I don’t see much difference in mpg if I happen to have less than full tanks. Mike

75 degrees and sunny here in south Texas. Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas. Mike and Carol

Tow vehicles at the margin of their limits are okay “most of the time” but instances like this really underscore having a tow vehicle with more capacity than is needed “most of the time”. “Some of the time” we need to get unstuck from mud or sand, we need to do mountain towing in hot weather, we need to do some emergency braking, we have to tow in high winds, etc, etc. I’m glad GEICO stepped up and helped, that’s what we all want with an insurance company! Good luck on the rest of your travels and thanks for sharing your experiences, it helps us all. Mike

We like both of those having lived in AZ and TX. Our daughter graduated from NAU in Flagstaff while we were there and we have spent much of our camping time in AZ.

What a great adventure!!

The intermittent brake disconnect issue drove me crazy for a couple of years. I had my Ram checked and rechecked, I rewired the 7 pin connector, and had a couple of different technicians go over the trailer. Finally pulled the brake wires out of the axle and there it was, bare wires from bouncing around inside the axles for 100k miles. Frustration!

We installed two BB 100ah batteries in January, 2021. Later that year I added a third battery when they went on sale. I’ve had no issues. Terminals are tight, no wobble like what Will is testing in the video. It’s within about a month of when I got my Ram 2500 and it now shows about 58,000 towing miles. Mike

We are not going to be able to do Q this year. Family situation is keeping us close to home for the foreseeable future. ☹️

Jamie and Sandi, welcome to the forum! Lots of experience and expertise here. We loved our travels in Maine. John, add Maine to your travel list! We had a great visit there and plan on returning….. Mike

I have three of these batteries and they are fine, going on 5 years. Did this guy bother to check with BB before he posted this video and told everyone using the batteries to stop using them? If this was the danger he exclaims why is BB not recalling them or at least sending out warnings? With 400,000 batteries delivered I would think a major safety issue would already be addressed to avoid the inevitable legal issues. What am I missing? Mike

Your Progressive Dynamics converter is a circuit card located in your fuse box under the dinette seat (PD4045). Yours will not support lithium batteries, mine didn’t either. Your hull is the same year as mine. I ordered a new one, it was about $150. It has a switch for lithium batteries. It’s fairly straightforward to switch them out. If I did it you can too. While you are down there, check to make sure your main breaker didn’t flip off. Also, I would check under the bed with your Bluesky for the red circuit breaker to make sure it isn’t off. You might have another one under the dinette seat, I do. Make sure it is set. If you are hooked up to shore power and not getting 110 in the trailer I would suspect one of those breakers broke and needs to be reset (push the little flag back in to place). Hope this helps. Mike

Our 320W panels top off our three Battle Borns without issue. The only time they don’t get too 100% is when it’s a very cloudy day with no sun. MIke

We found that after about 5 years our AGM’s started declining. We replaced them with 300ah of Battle Born lithium 5 years ago this month and we’ve never even been close to running out of battery power. If yours are four years old, it’s probably age combined with the cold weather that’s putting a stress on them. BTW, 300ah doesn’t sound like much compared to what some folks have installed but it’s been plenty for us even for extended boondocking. Mike

Great pictures!