Mike and Carol

Ralph, the set screws were pretty tight when I used it. There are still indentations on my frame where they bit in. As I recall, the brackets were never at 90 degrees to the frame, there was always a slight angle. Mike

Hey John, good to hear from you. The Xplore looks like quite a trailer. Shane seems pretty sold on it too. I’m glad we’re getting more options for well built, quality trailers! Mike

I used stainless steel nuts, bolts and washers along with neoprene washers against the aluminum box. I also used pieces I cut from one of those puzzle floor mats. On thickness under the box that sits on the fiberglass and two thickness under the part that hangs over onto the frame. Nothing fancy, I just drilled three holes up from the bottom through the fiberglass after clamping the box where I wanted it. Yes, if I ever remove it I will have three holes in the tongue fiberglass, but I don’t see that happening. It’s very secure and does exactly what we wanted. These are the only pictures I have right now. These show where the bolts are. Shot from underneath. Sho Another blurry shot from underneath. This is an attempt to show the foam padding underneath. One layer between the box and fiberglass and one between the box and tongue. I cut another piece of foam to sit in the bottom of the box to cover the bolts.

There were two or three near Wilkesboro, can’t remember which one we were going to since we ended up going up to Banner Elk.

BT, welcome! Hail isn’t a big concern with the Oliver, we’ve been through several hail storms (medium to small hail) with no issues. Since everything is molded to shape there’s also no worries about cabinets and other interior features coming loose. It’s solid. Not as wide and spacious as an AS, but very liveable. Ask questions, lots of experts (and opinions) here…. Mike

We got a Camco 30a surge protector from Amazon. It works well, when you plug it in it doesn’t pass power for about 45 seconds until after it has checked to make sure everything is okay. The only thing I don’t like about it is that it is yellow and very noticeable. Progressive Industries makes a good one too and they are black, a little less noticeable when hanging from the power pole. Either is good. We’ve used ours a lot over the last 5 years and it has performed well. Mike

Hey Garageboy, welcome. Used Ollies pop up pretty often. Check often! Mike

We camped at Banner Elk - what a nice little town in a really scenic part of NC. I can’t recommend a campground, but have a funny story about where we camped…. The short version - we met the couple next to us while camping at Unicoi State Park in north GA. He (Kevin) asked where we were going next, I told him (it was a COE campground down the hill from Banner Elk). He said don’t go there, keep going up to Banner Elk. I asked if he would recommend a campground, he said no, camp in the parking lot of my business, JACKS Glass Shop for as long as you want, W/E included and there is a shower and small kitchen in the shop. So we did. It was a great camping spot. We sent him a bunch of TX BBQ supplies when we got home for him to use on his future camping trips!

I put the gutter right up against the frame. Not saying that’s where it should be, to me it looked best and made it easy keep it straight and aligned with the window. I’ve seen others with a significant gap between the gutter and the window frame. Mike

Tennessee has some great state parks if you don’t want to stay in the Hohenwald neighborhood more that a few days. We stayed a week at Fall Creek Falls State Park last month, lots to do. There are others too, which would keep you close enough to for a service visit if necessary. Mike

Thanks for the links. I think I’ll give them a try, easier set up and tear down is always a good thing. Mike

Our plan up to now is to drive up the coast to Acadia. We just found out about the funeral and family gathering yesterday and we had planned on spending July and August in Colorado, so now everything changes! Maine is one of the few states we’ve never been to. I checked Lemoine State Park and it’s booked all of July and August. It’s going to be a challenge to find campsites this late in the game. I’m thinking after Acadia we could continue up the coast or go north, there appears to be a lot of USFS areas. We will definitely spend some time in New Hampshire and Vermont on our way home. Just haven’t researched enough yet. Thanks for the input! Mike

I removed my black valve, it isn’t too complicated and shouldn’t take up too much of your time while camping (a few hours at the most). You could also try just cleaning the one you have to see if you can get the blade to seat all the way down. Like I said elsewhere, after dumping we routinely open the dinette seat and physically push the blade down. Make sure your black tank is clean! Maybe put a few gallons of water, a detergent pod and a bleach pod in before you leave home and let it agitate around while driving, then dump when you get there. Good luck! Mike

We will be going to a funeral in Portsmouth, NH the end of July (my Aunt who passed away last December, funeral postponed due to COVID restrictions). We plan on heading up to Acadia NP after. Besides the National Park, what recommendations does anyone have for other camping and other sites to see? We’ve never been to Maine. Also, does anyone have any recommendations for camping around the Portsmount/Manchester NH area? My cousin lives in Mont Vernon and we will be spending some time with her and family. Thanks! Mike

Welcome, again! Being a researcher you should have a lot to offer everyone here. Ask questions now and then provide answers later! We always say that our Oliver has everything that we need and nothing that we don’t. Mike

…and it looks like we’ll be getting more rain in the days to come. Not used to things being so green around here!

I can vouch for this. 6 years ago I was concerned with towing specs and did not consider payload. It’s a truck, right? Throw a bunch of stuff in the back and go. Once you add the tongue weight, people weight, stuff in the cab and stuff in the bed (including caps or covers) it doesn’t matter how much you can tow if you’re at or over your weight limit. My 2500 diesel does tow better than my Tacoma did, but it’s the payload capacity that is the big difference. Mike

Tina and Mike, welcome! September is right around the corner and a great time to camp. Glad to have you on the forum and we’ll look for you on the road! Mike

Ours did that occasionally. To remedy, while hooked up to city water and getting overflow from the fresh tank, I turned on the water pump for 15 or 20 seconds. Turn it off and the problem is resolved. There’s probably an explanation that involves physics and fluid mechanics but as long as it works I’m happy.

We always run on propane while towing so if you don’t get it figured out you can use propane and don’t need to worry until you get it fixed. We have the older Dometic so hopefully someone with the new Norcold will chime in. The plug issue seems to be common, I hope the factory folks figure out a solution. Mike

Lee and Linda, welcome! You’ve got a classic trailer with number 36. Hope to meet you out on the road! Mike

Sometimes the blade on the black tank won’t close all the way. We’ve had it happen. There might be a little “something” that gets lodged where the blade seats at the bottom of the valve. You can access it from under the dinette seat by the bath. What we have been doing the last few years is to manually push the blade down all the way after dumping. We’ve had no issues since we started doing this. Also, while you’re looking at it, you can also check for adjustment of the cable. Loosen the screw on top which frees the cable, then adjust it so that when the dump handle is closed you have max pressure on the blade. Also, you can pull the entire cable out clean and lubricate it and then snake it back in to the blade valve. I did that a year or so ago and it did make the operation a bit smoother. If you need to, you can also replace or just remove and clean the valve. It’s not too difficult. Just make sure your black tank is nice and clean. I removed mine when we were having some full hose issues and cleaned and lubricated it. Have fun! Mike

If you’re around Flagstaff, Walnut Canyon National Monument is worth at stop as is Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument. Enjoy the dry weather! Mike

I got the aluminum box off of Amazon. About $100. It carries my heavy rubber chocks, wood blocks, 20 legos, gloves, flashlight and a couple of other items. I never lock it. It’s held up well the past few years. For what I use it for it’s perfect. Mike

On the positive side, you are getting a crash course on some parts of your Oliver. Steve suggested some work in the attic, I’ve had that insulation out several times for various projects. Learning where all the possible leak location are, where the weep holes are, etc will come in handy in the future. Every time I have a maintenance issue I look at it as another short course in my Oliver expertise. Plus, all of your Casita experience will be invaluable. Pretty soon you won’t be the question asker here, you’ll be one of the professors. Mike