Overland

Yes, that was me. I could probably dig up that sketch if anyone is interested, though it wasn't any more than an idea. I never gave it any more thought since we don't need bunks ourselves, but I'm sure it wouldn't be hard to do, provided the height is there. The idea was very similar to those bunk beds in the link above - something you could set on top of the dinette seats.

Thanks - will definitely check.

Did you try putting it underneath the insulation? It has a metallic coating that will knock out some, but not all of the reception, so be sure to try sticking the antenna underneath the insulation in the attic first to see what the reception is. I just got Oliver to move my spot trace from where they had it on the roof to a more secure location inside, and it seems to be doing just fine.

https://www.rvwaterfilterstore.com/B2418.htm

I know of at least one other person who has installed the same hitch, though I’ve shown it to quite a few interested owners. A jockey wheel is pretty much required for the hitch, since you bump the trailer when hitching up and it would be easy to damage the factory jack that way.

No, mine is incognito at the moment. When I get it back from Oliver (soon, I hope), I'll get the logo on. It will be the same as my avatar.

You guys might ask Oliver if they can make you a set of the aluminum blocks they made for mine so that the wheel clears the fiberglass when folded. It will work without them; but at least on mine, I would have needed to cut a square out of the fiberglass for it to clear. I think it would be the same on other trailers, since the saddle that I have for my hitch is essentially the same size as the bulldog. Oliver has my trailer right now, #256, so they should be able to take the measurements if anyone asks.

Yes, there's a number of things I need to post about. I was going to do so after Christmas, but I let it slip and then work got busy and here we are. Soon.

Oliver used to stock full size templates for the mattresses. You might give Anita a call and ask if they have them and can ship one to you.

I want to agree with Bill on the bearings - carry the parts but let someone else do the work. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems like if you have one go, then you'd likely still be able to get to the nearest town without destroying anything.

I think if you were to pull from the breakaway chains, then you'd be O.K. as far as applying any weird torque to the tongue - they're pretty much dead center and if you're pulling from the cables you aren't going to apply any twisting forces. I don't know what the cables and those two shackles are rated for, though. I don't think it would take much to collapse the factory tongue jack. I'd be more inclined to just drag the tongue on the ground if that's your only choice. Better would be the XO Jack like I mentioned above. It's stout, and mounted directly to the tongue. I'd have no problem at all pulling that through sand or mud. In fact if you go to their website, they have a few videos of doing just that. Personally, I think it's one of the best improvements I've made to the trailer.

I agree, I think they're backwards, not that it would matter much. Probably easy to swap it all around if needed. I like this material much better than the conveyor belt material you used for the stone stomper. Another good material choice for anyone thinking about doing this is the heavy duty ones from PDP - that's what I put on my truck and I really like them. They're made from a flexible plastic rather than rubber - they seem very stiff but you can cut them with a utility knife, and once on they flex much more than you'd think . Same stuff they use on baja trucks. And of course they can be had with the ever popular naked lady silhouette, which my wife tells me I can't have. She's no fun. They have a notched version that you can get in white, if that's your thing.

I'm sure it is. But it's worth having the conversation, and if Oliver can't help with a solution then that's what these boards are for. Not sure what the negativity is about.

It's really a question of trying not to be stupid, taking it slow and patient, keeping in mind how big the trailer is and what it takes to turn it around, and then being prepared for when you don't do one of those things. As far as punishment goes, on the short few trips we've made, I've rattled the trailer around far more on bad paved roads than on gravel. And the worst stuck I've ever been, not with the trailer, was 6' off the road on what looked like the perfect grassy little camping spot. Turned out it had rained there for a solid week and the soil was saturated. Buried the wheels up to the axles. So you just never know - I'd rather carry around all that stuff for years and never use any of it, than to need it once and not have it.

All good advice. I wasn't familiar with the Lewis winch, but I like that you could have a chain saw that does double duty. That, or a capstan winch would be great for light pulls, like just getting your trailer turned around in a tight spot. I've had the ARB X-Jack on my amazon list for a long time but every time I think it's time to buy it, I look at the price again. I don't know if you've seen it, but they have a new hi-lift style jack that looks really interesting. Here are some of my choices for a few of the things you mentioned: Traction mats - I have both the maxtrax and a pair of bridging ladders from crux offroad. Shovels - We carry a Crazy Beaver shovel, and also two of the knock-down snow shovels off Amazon. I really like those shovels - lightweight and great with sand and mud as well as snow. I drilled several holed in one to make it better for mud. Deadman - a Deadman, of course.

I discussed this at length with Jason and he didn't have an answer for pulling from behind. The frame just isn't made to be pulled in different directions. Best shot is probably to pull from the axles if you have no other choice but to pull from behind. If you're going to try to move it at all with tow straps, I strongly suggest a strong jockey wheel like the XO Jack, and a hand brake. I don't have a brake hooked up to mine yet, but I've maneuvered the trailer around a bit on a flat site. It doesn't take much to get some momentum going.

I'm probably guilty of carrying too many tools, so my list would be pretty long. But some of the trailer specific non-obvious ones that I can think of off the top of my head would be a rubber mallet for setting and removing wheel chocks, a dedicated wrench for tightening hoses (for convenience), and a multimeter to track down any electrical gremlins. One thing I don't carry but need to put together is a pex repair kit.

Here's a photo of the old tongue - I can't remember who's trailer this is. It think overall it was no longer than the current one.

John, you might be able to work out something similar to what I had to do to mount my hitch, but make the saddle longer and weld the receiver tube inside. It bolts into the existing holes for the bulldog, so you don't have to do anything to the trailer at all. You could also extend the saddle back to give it more leverage against the tongue and take some stress off the bolts. Whether you can extend it far enough for what you need I couldn't say.

Thanks for this - really appreciate it. A few questions: I thought that the cross bar that attaches to the truck was hinged with a spring so that it bends when turning. I guess I was wrong or they changed the design, since it looks like it's depending on bungees stretching when you turn. Maybe I was thinking about a different product. Anyway, how does it keep from bunching up the fabric when you straighten up again, or what's keeping the wind from pushing the fabric back on the bungees? Is there another bungee that attaches from the truck to the fabric to pull it back? Are you worried about catching on anything with the front crossbar? I don't think for us that I'd want it to extend past the truck. The middle cross bar looks like it will really limit turning while backing up. In fact, even while going forward my truck bumper almost touches the fiberglass in a full lock. How feasible do you think it would be to move that bar back so it clears the truck in a turn, or eliminate it entirely? I suppose it wouldn't be hard to make a hinged support with a bungee that would pull it back in a turn - you could make it out of 80/20 and tie the bungee back to the LP box. I think 80/20 might be a good alternate for the whole project - it would look nice and then you'd be all aluminum. Speaking of backing up, it seems like there will be a lot of material on the ground, and I wonder if there's any chance of it getting caught under the rear tires, esp. if you have a vehicle with little rear overhang? If your flaps don't uncurl you can always add a metal strip to the bottom. How difficult will it be to remove, or to unhitch with it in place? Is it just the four clips each side? Have you thought about how you're going to deal with the fabric when camped, to keep it out of the mud or whatever? You mentioned needing to detach it entirely if it's super muddy - would you have to crawl under the trailer to detach the rear? That's not something I'd love doing in the middle of a muddy road, so I'm thinking it wouldn't happen. I wonder if the rear cross bar could be made so that it only uses one clip each side. What's the black pipe in the second to the last set? How do you feel about the width now that you have it installed? Would you have gone wider, to protect the trailer more, or narrower so it didn't extend past the Cruiser? I wonder if they'd make a tapered version that got wider towards the trailer, or if that would make any sense. Could you share the dimensions you gave Stone Stomper when ordering?

Thanks for shading the sticky posts - that was getting a bit annoying with so many of them floating up there. And the blue text is far easier on the eyes. The blue/gold is a nice color scheme, so I hope you guys stick with it for more than a few months, lol. When I was photoshopping graphics ideas for or trailer, one of my favorites was a simple blue & gold stripe down the side. In the end, it was a bit too conservative for us, but as a 'corporate' color scheme, I think it would work well for Oliver.

This is the closest I've seen to the Lagun table making sense in the Ollie to me. The standard setup I've just been unable to see the benefit, though that may just be me not understanding how people use it. Now, what would really make the difference for me on this setup would be if the leg could be mounted to the side so that the drawer can still be accessed. Seems like there's just barely enough room to do just that so that the drawer scoots past the leg. Mounting it below at that location might be an issue. We opted for a basement hatch where the table normally mounts, so that's an issue for us as well. I think we'd have to attach it to one of the sides with some blocking to clear the bed overhang. What size table is that? Looks like it could be easily stowed in the front closet.

Thanks for the info on the HepvO valve. We want to upgrade our sink, but because of the large existing cut out, the only replacement that I've been able to find that fits is extra deep - so it was going to require some plumbing and drawer modifications to work. Eliminating the trap will probably give me back enough space to swap the sinks without a problem. Good tip on keeping a spare regulator, too.

I don't know about the "at only", but I've wanted a remote controlled tank ever since I was a kid, and this does seem like a fine excuse to get one.

I’m pretty sure that the Char-Broil would fit though I haven’t tried it. We did end up going with the Char-Broil after all. I bought both and returned the Weber. Turned out after being able to examine the valve that the Char-Broil wasn’t any more difficult to convert to low pressure than the Weber, and comparing them side by side, I preferred the Char-Broil. So far it’s worked out great - really high heat and zero flame up. The travel case for it is one of the best I’ve seen - easy to get the grill in and out and very durable. I like that it’s a fairly compact size and shape for packing. Ours stays in the bed of the truck, and the elements haven’t been a problem. With the travel case, however, I’d have no problem keeping it inside the truck on the floor. I ordered a second valve so that we can use the grill with our unregulated tank on the truck when we’re out away from base camp, and we’re really happy with the setup.