Overland

I’ve seen way too many videos of rolled vehicles on that trail. Personally, I don’t think I’d do it in anything longer than a short wheelbase jeep. There’s just not a lot of room to correct your line if you get it wrong and there’s too high a price to pay when you do.

The nightstand is easily removable - just a few screws and a bead of caulk hiding the joint.

It looks like these F150s are going to be built here in Tennessee. 5,800 jobs and over five billion in investment into Memphis from Ford. Regardless what hesitation some buyers have about these vehicles, the manufacturers know that they’re the future.

We don’t make jambalaya like we used to, but we came up with a way to make it using a Portuguese cataplana. We’d brown the meats in the open cataplana much like using a wok, then the mirepoix, then add back the meat, add the rice and chicken broth and spices, then close it up for everything to steam and meld together. Like a combo wok and pressure cooker. Essentially it made a creole style paella, and was fantastic.

Same. Weighed 50 lbs more then, but hey, good times. 😂🐽

Yeah, unfortunately, I think Lewis County has been one of the worst epicenters in TN. I hope Oliver has been a leader in trying to get that turned around.

Cochiti is a kind of co-op deal between the COE and the Cochiti Pueblo, and I understand it can be a contentious relationship at times. They enjoy the benefits of having the lake and the small neighboring community there, but the dam and lake itself has been an environmental pita. Anyways, the area is under Pueblo control when it comes to COVID, and they've all been pretty strict about it as have the other Pueblos. I think even Chaco as been closed due to access.

That's an odd reply - did he say why?

I still haven't gotten a good answer on how Oliver does service for the Cradlepoint. It's possible that they have a contract that allows customers to get service either from them or direct from Cradlepoint. But yes, otherwise, you've got to pay them by the month even to get software updates.

Yep, gonna have to order a bottle of that. I like living dangerously.

John, I've got a National Luna in my truck, too, and power it with a small AGM battery, which is charged from the truck while driving and also pair of solar panels attached to a rack. With that setup, I've never depleted the battery while traveling. I used a Victron Cyrix smart relay to prevent the fridge from draining the starter battery, and just allow the truck's electronics to act as the regulator for charging the house battery. And I've got a Victron BMV to monitor everything via bluetooth. It's been a good setup and made the fridge something we don't really think about. I've got a DC fridge in the trailer, but now that I've had experience with the NL in the truck, I'd keep the absorption fridge if doing it again. It's just a big drain on the trailer batteries that I wouldn't have to worry about. Propane for us seems to last forever.

Sometimes I don't really get Oliver's service department. I mean, it's a business that one assumes makes money for the company, and therefore the more work the better. Especially when the work has R&D possibilities for the production team. Maybe they're just too busy or short handed.

I think I agree with that. Structurally, the aluminum sleeve can be thought of as a shim to hold the rack snug to the steel U-bolts, which are what's truly holding the rack. That is, I think the only stress on the sleeve is compression, not shear or torque. The anti-rattle bearing on the 1-up is certainly a stress point, but I think you could solve that by lining up the bearing with the forward U-bolt. From the photos, it looks like that would be possible. I do wonder how thin the aluminum is where it's been routed to accept the U-bolts. I think a failure there could allow the sleeve to work it's way out. But it would have to fail at both bolts for that to happen, which is probably unlikely on a single drive. Worth inspecting every so often I'd imagine, but I don't see a failure as being catastrophic - you'd have time to notice.

Oliver is right and wrong about cutting power to the batteries. Yes, there is no ‘easy’ way to do so; but if you or your mechanic are at all comfortable with a screwdriver and 12 volts, you can cut the power by simply removing the charger section from the converter. The instructions on how to do so are in the manual. But I agree that it should be easier. Not to be a thorn in Olivers side on this point, but with Victron equipment, you just turn charging off from the control panel, and as always, a premium trailer should have premium components.

BTW, I see that Battleborn have their standard 100Ah battery on sale for $799 right now, which is the best price I've seen since I bought mine in '17.

The tray that Oliver uses is the MorRyde SP60-042 Utility Tray, inside dimensions 14" x 21" x 2.75". There's 12.75" clear from the floor of the tray to the bottom of the aluminum catch for the lock. The Battleborn 270Ah batteries are 21.3" x 11.6" x 10", so I don't see how you'd fit even one without removing the tray. Three of their standard 100Ah batteries will fit easily, and four will fit tightly; i.e., it will take some work to wire them up.

If it's made in China, you can count on an Amazon knockoff eventually. Interestingly, these aren't all that much cheaper than the original, but they have the advantage of an aluminum backplate vs the wooden one that Lagun supplies. If I were in the market, I'd probably get one of these just for that reason, and save $30 in the process. https://www.amazon.com/EzeXpreze-Removable-Adjustable-Recreational-Accessories/dp/B096FSKBVG/ref=psdc_10961910011_t3_B094XX6TLF

I'd say go for the cheapo battery to get you by. It will work with everything you've got, though the zamp controller has a separate setting for lead acid vs AGM, which you should change - choose the WET setting for traditional lead acid. It's in the manual how to do so, which is in the Oliver University section if you don't have it with you, but I think it's just pressing the battery type button until it displays the right type. The PD converter doesn't have a separate lead acid setting. As for the Battleborns - I'd call them in the morning to verify this, but I'm pretty sure they'll tell you that you will be fine at least temporarily hooking them in to your system without making any other changes. The charge profiles between AGM and lithium aren't that different. Your PD converter will eventually need a new board that has a lithium specific charge profile, which Battleborn may have in stock, and I don't know for sure if the Zamp controller from that period will have a lithium setting or not. I think it does, but hopefully someone else will know for sure (or just flip though the battery type setting and see if it shows up). Regardless, the nice folk at Battleborn will walk you through everything you need to do - I've found them to be extraordinarily helpful and patient. They'll also be able to help you find a good installer in the area. Or maybe just drive over to Reno and let them do it, lol. Sorry for the issues - best of luck getting everything sorted. It might be a good idea to ask the electrician if he can run through the very brief troubleshooting instructions for the converter, which you'll find in the manual. Just to be certain that the battery issue was't caused by the inverter.

Yes. Sealing gaskets isn't what it's made for, but someone here tried it a few years back and found that it does the trick. I sealed mine I think early 2018 and haven't had to redo it yet.

1. Yes, and yes it is! 2. I've had good luck using a magic eraser pad. You can also minimize the streaks by sealing the light gaskets with Captain Tolleys.

Well then I'd definitely opt for a hard shell camper. I'd guess that as far as the shell goes, Ollies are the toughest of the brands you've mentioned.

You guys are nuts - you can't track a Bigfoot with a trailer in tow, no matter how rugged it is. You've got to go for a basecamp / chase vehicle combo. So just concentrate on softroad capability for the trailer, and then kit out your tow vehicle for when you're on the hunt. I'd recommend the Elite I and Mr. Davies' favorite Landcruiser.

Contact the Oliver sales office, 1-888-526-3978, and someone there should be able to help you.

I just noticed it looks like a Sterling battery to battery charger in front of the Multi. I wonder why they chose that over a Victron when they used Victron kit everywhere? With a truck camper especially, you'd think that they'd want engine charging info to be integrated with everything else.

Yep, looks nice. Interesting bus bars on the batteries - looks like bent copper bar with plastidip? I kind of like that solution vs some of the other bus bar implementations we've seen. It seems like it preserves much of the flexibility of cables. That Multi looks like it could use a bit more breathing room though. What's that box on top of the batteries on the left?