rideandfly

The Ollie has great towing manners and braking manners. Believe the Drawtite unit would work fine. When we picked up our Ollie in MO, had to take a detour in the mountains on the way home to North Carolina. A vehicle pulled out in front of us forcing an emergency stop. The brake controller on the Nissan Frontier TV, was a basic Tekonsha unit and set the controller up with the Ollie before heading home from MO. Very impressed with the Ollie's brakes during an emergency stop. Congrats on your new Ollie, hope we can see many photos when y'all pick it up!!!!!

Here's the Tekonsha Prodgey P3 Brake Controller link at E-Trailer. We have a Toyota factory controller in our 2016 Tundra, many people like the P3 controller. This link should have the plug and play cable included, too. The folks at E-Trailer are very helpful when you have questions about installing the brake controller. https://www.etrailer.com/multi-product.aspx?pc1=90195&pc2=3017-P&hhmake=Toyota&hhmodel=Tundra&hhyear=2015&vehicleid=201528688&hunter=bc Hope this helps!

If your Tundra is 2015 or earlier here's a Tekonsha P3 installation on a Tundra Forum. Many Tundra owners like the P3 better than the factory installed controller on 2016 and later 5.7L Tundras. https://www.tundras.com/threads/brake-controller-installation.12131/#post-222777 Hope this helps!

Reed, Thanks for the reply, sounds like your AC runs the same way ours does on Gen-Set Power. Assume after Easy Start installation, the fan would not stop when the compressor turns on. Would appreciate learning if your fan continues to operate when the compressor turns on after Easy Start installation. John (Raspy), My first concern was about AC reliability when using a Gen-Set, too. Since we're on the east coast, I had not given much thought to reduced power at higher elevations, you make valid points. We will be taking the Ollie out west to higher elevations. Thanks for sharing your approach to Gen-Set use while camping. Would appreciate learning how your inverter system works out. Believe Larry (Mountainborn) uses a Yamaha 3000W Gen-Set, enjoy learning from his high elevation camping experience, too. John Davies, This Yamaha takes only one pull to start, even when the fuel valve was turned off to run the fuel out of the carburetor during shut down. Let it sit for a year after letting it run out of fuel during shut down. Had a little surging when I cranked it up, so removed the old gas and filled it up with fresh gas. Still had surging. Removed two panels secured with four screws, removed air filter, and carburetor. Found a little fuel left in the carburetor during disassembly and a little build up in a jet, cleaned it out with compressed air. Reassembled the unit and it runs fine. It only took 1 1/2 hours to take it apart, clean the carb jet and reassemble, very easy unit to work on. If left without running for a long period of time in the future, would remove one side panel secured by two screws, drain the carb float bowl completely and reassemble, probably taking 15 minutes. Always liked Honda and Yamaha motorcycles, they build quality Gen-Sets, recommend the Yamaha EF2400iSHC, too. Thanks for the comments,

Owned a Yamaha EF2400iSHC Brushless Inverter AC Generator for about 5 years, but hardly used it so far. Changed the oil on it the other day and wanted to see if it would operate the 13.5K Dometic AC unit on the Ollie. It ran the Coleman Polar Mach 13.5K AC on our previous camper just fine. Tested the Yamaha with the Ollie's Dometic AC and the AC compressor started and cooled the Ollie. Once the temperature is set on the wall mounted thermostat, when the interior temp gets warm enough the AC fan turns on first and the compressor turns on in about 20 seconds while using shore power. Using Yamaha power, the fan turned on first, the fan momentarily stopped while the compressor turned on, then the fan turned on and operated fine until the compressor cycled off, then the fan turned off in about 20 seconds. Assume it's borderline on having enough power to start the Ollie's AC compressor, unless a Micro-Air EasyStart 364 is used. I'm sure the electrical folks here can better comment on this. The EF2400iSHC weighs in at 75 pounds dry and over 80 pounds wet. It's larger and heavier than the current 2000W Yamaha and Honda generators available. Yamaha EF2400iSHC: https://www.yamahamotorsports.com/generator/models/inverter-ef2400ishc

Sherry, Like your tip on using butyl tape. We use white electrical tape while on the road, but will find some butyl tape, too. OTD, Used Dicor self leveling sealant on a previous aluminum camper roof seam and it worked great. Asked the techs at OTT during our last visit about white sealant used on the Ollie exterior and they said they use 3m 4000. It comes in 3 OZ and 10 OZ. Have one place to re-seal on the Ollie roof and plan to use the 4000 white sealant.

Bob, Congratulations on your new Ollie!!!!!!! Assumed that was y'all at Fall Hollow. Looking forward to seeing photos of your Ollie when you have some!

Fine ideas!

We don't tow on rough terrain, but this is an interesting question John has asked. More questions, could a low pressure (.5 to 1 pound cracking pressure) adjustable relief valve be threaded into some type of plug placed in the vent outlet only when towing on rough terrain? Hopefully this would not create too much tank pressure?

We have been looking for a way to have a nice fire on the patio at home. A smokeless fireplace may be just the way to go for us at home and while camping, too. Thanks for posting,

Can a boat drain plug be used temporarily to save water? Believe this is the vent:

All of the wheels are balanced, but we purchased the 2015 Ollie used. Keep an eye on them while towing and they run very smooth.

John, Beautiful work, looks like a factory installation and very durable, too!!!!!!

Removed the flexible hose yesterday and ordered a new one, waiting on it to arrive. Will do some cleaning, too. Here's a closer look without flex hose in the bumper storage area:

Repacked bearings & installed new seals last week. Probably have about 12,000 miles on the Ollie, so far. The brakes were in good shape, bearings & races/cups were in good condition, and original seals were not leaking. Towed the Ollie about 1000 miles this week without any issues.

We enjoy camping at State Parks, Army Corps of Engineers, and other Federal parks around the nation. We camped at Cumberland Mountain SP Crossville TN earlier this week. There's a Jack Nicklaus designed golf course next to the State Park, too.

Bob, Believe we saw y'all this morning driving a dark pickup with Maine tags? We were in a white pickup with Ollie in tow at Fall Hollow restaurant. If it was you, gave us a thumbs up! Congrats on the new Ollie, we're no longer in the area to see your beautiful new Ollie, but looking forward to seeing photos!

Bob, Congrats on your new Ollie!!!!!!! We're camping in TN right now, had thunderstorms yesterday afternoon and light rain last night. The light rain on the Ollie roof last night was music to sleep with! Look forward to seeing photos of your new Ollie!!!!

geO, What rack is that one? We use another bike rack in the pickup bed, but like the looks of your rack. Thanks for posting a photo,

"If there is any underlying moral to this story, it is don’t get locked into a travel plan that may be less fun than the lesser known things you may wander across". Larry, Agree, we have had great times camping while being less structured and more spontaneous!

Reed and Karen, Beautiful TV! Is this the truth? AMG GLA 45: "Best in class: the engine of the GLA 45 AMG fully lives up to this claim, as a look at the figures shows. The AMG 2.0-liter turbo engine is the most powerful series-production four-cylinder turbo engine in the world. It produces 280 kW (381 hp) of power and develops a peak torque of 475 Newton meters. A power density of 140 kW (191 hp) puts the AMG high-performance turbo engine on a par with the world's most powerful super sports cars". http://www.mercedes-amg.com/webspecial/gla45/index_eng.php#press AMG S65: https://www.mbusa.com/mercedes/vehicles/model/class-S/model-S65C

Another Thanks to David & Matteo!!!! Want to buy a 2000 Watt Quiet Yamaha or Honda GenSet that will run the 13.5K Dometic AC unit for short periods on the Ollie. Will purchase the EasyStart 364, too.

David, Hats off to the development of your Easy Start, solar, and battery system!!!!!!! Very impressed when you first posted your system here. If we install the roof solar charging system on our Ollie, will borrow yours and everyone involved in development ideas, if you don't mind. On the 28' Ollie, there are rumors floating around.

Welcome from North Carolina. Congratulations on your beautiful Ollie!!!!!

Stan and Linda, Welcome and congratulations on your new Ollie!!!!!