rideandfly

John, We turn the refrigerator off while towing and use reusable ice blocks to keep everything cool while traveling. We leave enough room in the freezer to re-freeze the blocks at night. Tried memory foam blocks behind the vent covers during storage, but not enough clearance for the blocks. Solid covers on the vent covers during travel on dusty roads should work when the refrigerator is turned off.

Wanted to post a few rally photos. Hats off to Coy and everyone that had a hand organizing this fine event. Enjoyed meeting new friends and seeing old friends. Additional photos are Welcome!!!!

John, Fine fix and photos. Should last a long time, too.

Bill, Installed six pins per side with zerks pointing out for easy access. Built a grease gun stand out of 2X4s for Coy, also pointed his pins/zerks out. Sent him an email to see if he will bring the grease gun stand to the Rally, it works nicely for zerks pointing out.

Cindy and Russell, Our 2016 Toyota 5.7L 4X4 Tundra's top of ball to ground measurement is 22.5" before connecting to Ollie. Ollie's tongue weight is around 450lbs and trailer weight (empty water tanks) about 4950lbs without WDH in this photo. We keep Ollie's weight low by transporting extra gear in the pickup bed and pickup's back seat area. Most E2s ready to camp weights are heavier than our Ollie. Hope this helps!

I'm like Tom, give two full shots of grease per fitting with a 14OZ grease gun. Ollie has one fitting that is a little hard to pump grease into. Take a little weight off of that side with Ollie's jack and fitting takes grease easier.

Found this drawing that came with our 10" memory foam mattresses, they fit nicely and are very comfortable. Assume top view mattress dimensions are all the same, installed in Hull 75.

AB Lifestyles made memory foam mattresses for our twin Ollie probably during the summer of 2016. They should have mattress dimensions with proper radius. If they can't find order information, please PM, I will get the order number and may also have a top view drawing of the mattresses in Ollie.

Here's a shot of Hull 75:

Mike, Will be traveling on I70 from Utah through CO, not too far from Black Canyon . Looks like we will need to make several trips to Colorado with plenty of exploring to do. Appreciate the information,

Mike, Which routes did you use to get there, from north or south? I'm putting a trip together and looking at routes to use. We have not camped in CO, yet. Thanks,

Mike, Fine photos. We're looking forward to camping in this area during late summer on our way from southern Utah! Thanks for the report.

We plan to drive to Desoto State Park AL and hike to Desoto Falls. We're playing golf Saturday and Monday. http://exploresouthernhistory.com/desotopark1.html

Debbie & I plan to play at least two days. Saturday and Monday is fine with us, too.

Debbie and I wish Everyone "Happy Saint Patrick's Day" We're celebrating our 45th anniversary of our first date today. Enjoyed the Harp Guitar video. We like Chet Atkins and Mark Knopfler, too:

Bill and Martha, Welcome and Congratulations on your Ollie! Hopefully Debbie and I will meet y'all while camping in the near future!

Gary and Wendy, Welcome! Fine decision choosing Oliver. You live in a beautiful area, we camped on Hunting Island SC several times. Hopefully Debbie and I will meet y'all camping in the future and play golf. We always take our clubs and camera.

Chris, I can answer some of your questions, you will find many helpful and knowledgeable folks here that can share additional information. Our batteries are at 9.0 so it appears my first goal is to get them charged? Yes I was at the trailer this morning and connected the trailer & tow vehicle with the 7 pin connector for about 30 minutes but didn’t see a change in charge level. It has been reported in another thread that some Ollies would not charge batteries when connected to the tow vehicle, I can't find the thread right now. Our Ollie batteries will charge when connected to the TV . I do have a question, did you wire the 7 pin connector yourself? Yes, it's easy to connect two wires - & + to make it work We are registered for the Rally and pending Duke’s recovery, will be there. Although I’ve got to learn how to handle the Ollie by myself, we may need to ask for help with unhooking/hooking up of trailer. There will be many folks at the rally ready to help!

Chris, Sorry to hear about Duke's ribs and hope he feels better soon. We have a 20W solar panel with 12V regulator we used to charge Ollie's two 12V batteries. We no longer need it since we started storing Ollie in an airplane hangar and purchased a 100W suitcase solar charger when camping without shore power. It's mounted on an old camera tripod. We connected the solar panel to Ollie's tow vehicle 7 pin connector and used as a charger, which is a less efficient way to charge, but in full sun would take two 12V batteries from 12.5V to full charge in about a day. We installed a battery master disconnect switch to stop battery drain while not charging with the solar panel, too. Once the batteries were charged, we would store the solar charger and disconnect battery switch. We did not leave the solar panel/regulator out in the rain. The solar panel regulator's one page manual is in Ollie and not here, so I don't remember all of the 12V charging specs. The price is right, free, just pay for shipping from NC or if you attend the rally we can give it to you there. Just let us know if you want it. Bill and Debbie EDIT: Just saw Bill's post about the Harbor Freight Solar Charger, looks like a good deal, too!

Plan to install Michelin Light Truck tires on our Oliver when time to replace tires, but it's worthwhile to continue watching for improved quality tires as they become available for any trailer. Here's a quote from the following article about the new Goodyear Endurance tires: "And it’s not just consumers who have taken notice. Several RV manufacturers outfitted their product with the Endurance as standard equipment including Jayco Inc., Airstream Inc. and Lance Camper Manufacturing Corp., to name a few". http://www.rvbusiness.com/2017/10/buzz-goodyear-gaining-traction-with-endurance/

GeoFish, Been reading about the new Goodyear Endurance ST tires, looks like a fine ST tire. I have radial ST tires on another trailer and have not had any issues with them, so far. Have not had issues with BF Goodrich LT tires on my Ollie so far and plan to install Michelin LT tires on Ollie in the future. My Ollie's wheels have a 60PSI maximum pressure stamped on the casting. Like to look at the following charts for application. Here's a Goodyear Endurance inflation chart, don't see the same size as the LT tire used on my 2015 Ollie. https://www.goodyearrvtires.com/pdfs/rv_inflation.pdf Here's a Michelin Truck inflation chart, could not find the chart for Michelin LT model tires currently installed on Ollies: https://www.michelintruck.com/reference-materials/manuals-bulletins-and-warranties/load-and-inflation-tables/#/ EDIT: Found this thread on Air Forums about Goodyear Endurance ST tires, looks like several there started using them: http://www.airforums.com/forums/f438/goodyear-endurance-st-tires-made-in-usa-157249.html

Dean, Enjoyed your campground review!!!! Liked the town name, so took this shot a few years ago during a camping trip:

Found the article interesting, too: "So, when should you replace tires on your RV trailer is something that I know everyone has an opinion on. I know when I go to replace mine I will get another RVer saying something like “why would you want to replace those? They look like new!” And they are right. They do! But all evidence to the contrary since one of them blew out just a few weeks ago. So, I am looking for a good RV ST trailer tire to replace my five-year-old LT tires. As an RV inspector, I can tell you that five years is the amount of time I recommend for a replacement. When there is so much riding on your tires it is not worth taking a chance. I am not a gambling man like some are". Sounds like the writer is going to replace LT tires with ST tires, too. I'm happy with the LT radial tires installed on the 2015 Ollie so far, they are about 4 years old, plan to replace at about 5 to 6 years as per DOT manufacture code with LT tires.

If I remember correctly you have Battle Born Batteries. Reading their following link how 100% DOD of their LIFEPO4 will not have long term effect giving 3000 cycles or more at this DOD: https://battlebornbatteries.com/depth-of-discharge-li-ion-deep-cycle-batteries/ Edit: I really like Battle Born LIFEPO4 Batteries, but decided to go with AGM batteries to replace the original batteries for our type of camping with shore power 99% of the time.

While visiting Walmart today purchased a 14OZ cartridge of SuperTech grease that meets NLGI Grade 2 spec. Also started looking for a better way to store the grease gun while on camping trips. Purchased an inexpensive $7 Hyper Tough 16" plastic tool box that will allow the grease gun to be stored many places in Ollie or TV.