Overland

They're Zero Gravity Chairs. Really well made and comfortable, but a bit heavy and awkward to pack. Here's a really good discussion about camp chairs from a year ago. Lot's of good options. We're using Helinox Sunset chairs now and still love them.

The attachment method on the Carefree kit seems like it would work on both the Dometic and Fiamma awnings as well. But it's an odd attachment - it doesn't seem all that reliable to me, though maybe it works better than it looks. I guess if you need something sturdier, you could remove the top and use the poles like I do. I do like that the poles have a sliding adjustment vs the set pins on the REI.

Those Carefree poles must be new - at least they weren't available back when I was looking. We've been using some REI tarp poles, which are extremely sturdy, but require a bit of hacking to make them work. I drilled a small hole in the bottom two corners of the awning housing and then I wrap ratchet straps over the extension arms to keep the awning from lifting off the poles. We've weathered some pretty big winds with that setup, and even a hailstorm. My ultimate plan was to thread the pin at the top of the poles, then install a grommet at the end of my ratchet straps - that way I could just slide the grommet over the pole, insert the pole in the awning, and secure it with a wing nut. That's never happened, and now that I know about that Carefree kit, I might just switch to that instead. Here's a photo of the setup - those ratchet straps are ridiculous, at a minimum I need to get something smaller and much less orange...

I replaced our smoke detector with one of these First Alert Atoms. Looks a lot nicer and they come with a 10 year battery. I give it a test before each trip just to make sure.

I think CalMark is still the top choice. Expensive but quality construction and materials.

We have a cheapy Chinese one that we used when tent camping before we got our Ollie. It wasn't the highest quality thing I've ever owned, but honestly, it did it's job and seems none the worse for wear after three or four years of use. Apart from the aluminum tube, I can't say that it looks much different to the one pictured above. I think that if I were going to spend real money on a hitch carrier, I'd probably go for the one that 1up sells. I've never seen it in person, but if it's anything like the quality of their bike racks, then it's probably worth the $500 bucks they want for it. Plus you can fold it up out of the way when not in use and can attach one of their bike racks to it. And for just $20 more you can get a 60" version, which seems like the better deal.

Nice write up, thanks! Does the box provide any sound attenuation?

Looks great! Thanks for the writeup.

Here's mine. Similar number of miles and I haven't cleaned anything since last spring. The zirk caps may help, or it could be the grease, but also I pressure wash everything after each trip, which I think more likely could be the difference. I usually take the wheels off and wash the suspension and brakes as well as I can.

Not Redline, but I've been using Mobil 1 synthetic and haven't noticed any leaking, at least not any more than the grease that Oliver originally used. It definitely leaks out of the grease gun though if I hang it the wrong way around.

I've had good luck using a magic eraser on them. It doesn't get everything 100%, but clean enough that you can't tell unless you're looking closely.

Whenever I sanitize my tanks, I tilt the trailer up and to the street side when I fill, so that I can limit any air that gets trapped to the front curbside corner, closest to the overflow. Then after a while I'll tilt the trailer down and to the curb side to make sure that the sanitizing solution gets into that same corner. I do the same after running that water into the grey tank. I've also found the the grey tank needs to be 'burped' when it's almost full, by tilting the trailer back and forth. There's a corner in there somewhere that doesn't vent properly and it will trap air, essentially reducing the volume of the tank. Also, like Mike says, 'level' is relative. Most people level to their floor or countertops. I always level so that the bathroom door doesn't swing either way on it's own. I don't think that in either of those cases are my grey or fresh tanks truly level.

I agree that looks like a pretty heavy box, but then others tow with a good bit of weight on the back, including JED, and I'm curious if over time we'll get a better picture of how much that affects the dynamics of an Ollie. I wonder if you've towed with and without the box and if you notice much difference. I've towed with a rack on the back that was maybe only 50-75 lbs total, and subjectively I felt like it towed a bit better, possibly due to reduced tongue weight. Since I don't use a WD hitch, it makes sense that I might see an improvement there vs the negative effects of adding more yaw inertia to the trailer.

Are you unable to see the video, Maniac? It looks like the brass check valve is cracked lengthwise.

I just took a look at the one I pulled out of my trailer, and it looks like that piece is bonded to the shaft with epoxy or something.

17’, per Mossemi. 2’ for the bath window and 5’ each for the larger ones. I was just about to go ahead and order some, even though you’re right that it seems too expensive for what it is.

Here’s a link to another thread about the check valve issue. I really do think that Oliver either had a bad batch of valves or an overzealous installer at one point. Assuming that the OP’s hull number is 404, that’s right in the middle of the hull numbers mentioned in the other thread. I think if it were me, I’d give Oliver service a call, mention these threads, and if the trailer isn’t still under warranty, ask if they might extend it for this issue.

So was the leak around one of the awning mounts then? I can’t think of another reason why they’d have to remove it.

It’s not easy to get to, which is unfortunate since this seems to be a relatively common problem, at least for a certain batch of trailers. What Oliver really needs to do is to move the two check valves further inboard where they aren’t as likely to freeze. You’d get some water spilling back out after filling, but that’s a small price to pay for reliability. Once you get access, you can wrap the check valves in silicon repair tape as a temporary fix, if you don’t have the time or the replacement valves.

If you run out of gas, the control panel will flash a warning light. And if you think it's cold enough to freeze, you gan go out and flip the drain lever open and go back to bed.

The truma will fire up just enough to keep the water inside the unit above freezing. From the factory it will do this with propane, or you can buy the electric antifreeze kit which does the same on 12v, which is great when traveling through freezing temps. It doesn't do anything to protect your pipes, but it will protect your expensive water heater from damage.

Ford is cancelling its Rivian SUV. They say it's because of the coronavirus, but that seems odd. Postponing it, like they are the truck, seems reasonable, but cancelling it altogether suggests something different. Perhaps they don't think gas prices will recover and EVs won't be as popular?

I've heard that most KOA's and other private CGs are open, which probably isn't of interest except that they could provide a night's stop along the way or a place to refill and dump tanks. If I were headed out, I'd probably look to USFS and BLM dispersed camping as my primary/only option, but perhaps like Mike said, some of the state and even national parks may start to open in the next few months. I have to admit that the thought of Yellowstone without tour busses is appealing, but then I know I'm only one of about 6 million having the same thought.

I'd just do a thorough cleaning and check for any caulking that may be deteriorated. You might also take off the AC cover to see if there are leaves or anything that needs to be cleaned out.

It looks like the only superintendents talking about that are Teton and Yellowstone, which are two extremely political positions, so they may just be trying to keep the locals happy. It’s possible, but there’d be a ton of work to do at this point to get seasonal help back, for both the parks and for ARA/Xanterra. Perhaps they could open the gates but with limited amenities? I don’t know, I could see something like backcountry access at parks like Big Bend reopening pretty safely, but it seems reckless to me at this point to think about opening major parks - Yellowstone is basically Disney with bison in terms of the crowds it attracts.