Mike and Carol

We went with metal stems when we got the TST system 5 years ago. Local tire shop mounted the stems and balanced each wheel with the TST sensors mounted. If I recall it took about 45 minutes and was not expensive. No issues so far after around 60K miles with them mounted. Mike

Yep, Ralph is almost a neighbor! He texted me that you would be here but…. Colorado is calling! We’re in Tennessee often so that is our best option. See you at the rally! Mike

Not to mention the fine craftsmanship of Oliver owner Foy Sperring and all his fine wood products for Olivers! Mike

I was told you’d be coming through Texas and normally we’d get in line. But, the plan now is to leave for Colorado the first week of June and probably won’t return until end of July or early August. It would be easy enough to visit you in Tennessee which is what we might do. For older trailers the like-new shine and protection would be worth it! We’ll see you at the rally and I’ll be checking out Steve and Tally’s Hull 50. Mike

I got a couple of big Velcro straps from Amazon and fold it, strap it and put it in the bed of the truck. The basement has a crate with water supplies, a crate with black tank supplies, a crate with spare stuff and the power cord and surge protector (I don’t have an internal one). Mike

The microwave plate is one of our departure chores - it goes in a drawer with hot pads/towels. It doesn’t even take a rough road to dislodge it from the microwave! Mike

Interesting and educational article. Thanks for posting. Mike

It’s good to get all that weather experience done on the first trip. Glad there were no weather mishaps! Hope to see out on the road sometime. Mike

Agree with Bill, the roof is sturdy but you’ll have no reason to get on it. I’ve removed my vent a couple of times without getting on the roof. You can reach anything from a ladder on the side. We’ve been all around Utah in all four seasons, the Oliver does well. We like our twin bed arrangement. Enjoy your trip to Odessa. Mike

We also carry a spare water pump. We had ours quit once while we were on the road and couldn’t get any water flow. As it turned out, we had some rough roads and the two wires that connect to the bottom of the pump came lose. Once I figured out how and where to reconnect them all was fine. It happened a couple of years later and I got a good crimp on the connectors so now they stay. We realized a spare pump was a small price to pay for a critical trailer component! Mike

There have been some posts about leaks. When you consider the number of Olivers out there it’s a minor problem that can be fixed with a little diligence. As has been stated, water leaks in an Oliver are not a major deal in that there is little to no resulting damage. Our Oliver is 6 years old, 80K miles and we’ve never had a leak. At some point I’m sure a leak will appear, but I know it’s an issue that can be dealt with effectively. If you are talking about camping with no hook ups, whether in a National Park campground or out on BLM land somewhere, the Oliver is a great place to be in those situations. I am careful about pulling my trailer where the terrain is rugged, it’s not really a serious off road/rock crawling trailer but does well on most unimproved roads and flat desert. Mike

Wow, that is quite an accident! So glad you are okay!! I have a dash cam that I don’t use much…. looks like yours provided key evidence. It’s interesting that the trailer separated the way it did, just leaving the bottom outer hull. There’s another Oliver out there waiting for you - hope you can get back on the road soon!! Mike

If diesel gets rationed there will be more problems than just for RVers! Long haul trucks and trains live on diesel so supply chain issues will shut down the country. I’ll pay the extra amount to travel. Let’s hope there continues to be some supply for all the serious users. Mike

We replaced our rubber stems with metal when I installed the TST. Mike

Higher fuel prices should dampen a lot of the new RV enthusiasm. Folks that have been at it a while will probably just suck it up and drive on. I’ll be driving a little slower to bump up mileage, but we will still be on the road. Mike

Past rallies have been mostly owner run. Then we had the COVID gap without any rallies. This year, Oliver has taken responsibility for the organization and schedule so it is difficult to answer your question. At the park, there are common areas that could be used for spontaneous gatherings. I’m sure Oliver will have a central spot where the organizers will be stationed, either up at the lodge or down in one of the campground facilities. Not sure if there will be bulletin boards, but there should be a fairly busy agenda provided with displays, orientations and classes. Mike

Wow, a frightening experience for sure. Dumping at night while deprived of sleep would be a challenge for anyone, but adding in the stress of the storm increases the challenge! Don’t beat yourself up too much! A few years ago we were camping on the Missouri River north of Kansas City (Leavenworth, Kansas side) in a city campground. There had been quite a bit of rain north and the river was rising. We knew there was a chance for flooding and possible quick evacuation. I had disconnected the fresh water hose and hitched to the truck. Sure enough, at about 3am the city police drove through the campground, lights flashing and announcing that everyone had to evacuate, immediately! We got up, dressed, disconnected power and were the first ones out of the campground. We watched others fumbling with things and a tent camper just left his tent and drove off. The campground was under 4 feet of water when the sun came up. Mike

Fuel prices stink but won’t deter our summer plans. We’ll be in Colorado in June and July, partly for family events. We may not do an extended trip around the rally, just head to Alabama then come home. Mike

Is there any data on noise level differences between the 9.5 and 13.5?

The PD 4045 that came in your trailer should work fine for flooded batteries or AGM. It won’t work with Lithium. I had to swap mine out when I went with lithiums. The new chargers have a little switch on the front that you move to lithium if you go in that direction. I’ve still got my old charger, works fine, just not with my batteries now. Anyone need a spare? Mike

The assumption in your question is that the suburban tank is prone to problems. It’s not. There have not been very many suburban issues raised here. Ours is now a full 6 years old. No issues. The only thing I’ve had to replace is the little on/off switch which seems prone to get stuck in either on or off. The switch is about $6 and takes a few minutes to swap out. I carry a couple of spares. I also swap out the anode every year or two and clean out the deposits. We’ve been happy with it. Someone else can address reliability of the Truma. It seems a bit more complicated, mechanically. But, there haven’t been that many issues raised with it, either. Mike

I’ve been to discount tire twice with my Oliver. I put a tall block under the front jack to stabilize and then a tall block on the side I want to lift with the onboard jack (“stabilizer”). When done with one side I lower it and raise the other side using a tall block. The jack only extends 3 or 4 inches. When done with the other side I raise the front jack, put the blocks in my tongue box and go home. Mike

We don’t rely on the bath vent for much heat. I’ve had the panel under the sink off a couple of times (for other things) and didn’t see any kinks in the duct. I haven’t felt like tracing it back to the furnace. We keep the bath ‘door open and our electric heater by the nightstand blowing toward the bath. If we don’t have shore power we still keep the bath door open and it stays comfortable with the furnace. Mike

Eggsactly.

Glad to hear it went well! Any pictures? Mike