Steph and Dud B

There's a long discussion about it on this thread: (Essentially, the Norcold fridge has a hole in a circuit board that lets air through.)

This has been reported before. Your fridge wasn't running on propane? There's a theory that poor sealing around the fridge allows exhaust fumes from the fridge gas burner to blow into the trailer. (Either way, it seems problematic that wind can enter your cabin via the fridge compartment.)

Those all work but, honestly, I usually just type "Oliver trailers [search terms]" (without the brackets). 9/10 the forum results come up.

People should check with their manufacturer, but tow ratings are usually calculated with the tow vehicle empty except for a driver. Every other pound you add in the tow vehicle gets deducted from the tow rating. For example, a vehicle with a 4000 pound tow rating that contains a driver plus a 150# passenger, a 50# dog, and 100# of gear can tow a trailer with a maximum weight of 3700# without exceeding the specs. This topic is beat to death in every RV forum. Do people exceed their limits? All the time. Are they all dead? Nope. Could it contribute to an accident in certain conditions? Probably. If that accident caused harm to others, could the opposing lawyer use that against them? I think so. Should you do it? That's up to you. After 24 years of towing various trailers we have decided excess tow vehicle capacity gives us a buffer for unexpected situations and a more relaxed travel experience. I'm entitled to my opinion and so are you. If anything happens, either of us might have our opinions validated by a jury, one way or the other. We all have our own level of comfort with risks. But, information is always useful.

I'm going to disagree. I think it led to an important discussion about choosing an appropriate tow vehicle. An overloaded tow vehicle endangers not only its occupants, but everyone else on the road. If a thread like this encourages others to choose wisely, it's good for them and us. If somebody had come into this thread with data that said the pictured vehicle was, in fact, rated appropriately for that trailer, we would have learned something there, too.

But... the salesman said he could tow it just fine!

Same thing happened to us. I'll bet our trailers are littermates. What's your hull number?

My representation of salespeople was the usual SOB brands, not Oliver. OTT is indeed more reputable than many others. One of the first questions I was asked when I contacted OTT for information was, "What is your tow vehicle?" OTOH, I have listened to many SOB salesmen saying, "Of course you can tow this (42' fifth wheel) with your F150!"

I doubt there's any liability for OTT. The driver is responsible for the safe operation of their vehicle. As long as OTT correctly identifies the "as manufactured" weight, I think they're good. It's like every RV salesperson says: "Sure, you can tow this with your [insert vehicle here]!"

Towing with a full size van. Nice. Our second tow vehicle was a Ford E350 7-seater with the V10. Awesome tow vehicle. We went cross-country with it and our 27' travel trailer. Had to switch to pickups when we changed to fifth wheels, but I wish I had that van today. Congrats on your new Ollie.

If you choose ST tires, stick with the Goodyears, although I also had good luck with Maxxis on 3 trailers. There are lots of off-brand ST tires on the market, commonly referred to as "China-bombs" by other RVers. Most have a reputation for poor quality and many people have reported catastrophic blowouts and tread separations.

Goodyear Endurance are highly respected ST trailer tires. We use the TST TPMS system. Had a blowout with our first trailer.

Congratulations. Hope you have many adventures in your Ollie. What lured you away from Airstream?

That's exactly what I did in an earlier fifth wheel we had. Worked great.

There's this: CARMTEK RV Circuit Analyzer 30 Amp - RV Circuit Tester with Smart Diagnostic Chart and Indicator Lights - ETL Listed 30 Amp Circuit Analyzer for RV https://a.co/d/ifQ07Ip For $7 more, you can get it with a surge suppressor built in.

This isn't your first time ever connecting to shore power is it? You're not using any sort of adapter on your shoreline cord are you? I would NOT bypass the Oliver Progressive unit without further study. If you know how to correctly use a multimeter, I'd check the campground pedestal connection first. If you don't know how, find someone who can and see if the pedestal is wired correctly.

Incidentally, I also use a heavy duty long shackle padlock to secure my safety chains to each other and to the front basket. That makes it harder for a thief to just wrap the chains around a ball and drag the trailer away.

We use a Fort Knox lock: Bulldog Sliding Collar Coupler Lock Includes Cobra-Sidewinder puck lock - https://a.co/d/j6wdOhm Less expensive than the Proven and easy to use. I think the yellow makes it clear there are easier trailers to steal. As a side benefit, the yellow shows up well on my backup camera, allowing me to align the truck easier before hitching. We're also considering a wheel lock to use in addition to the Fort Knox in more secluded or long-term situations.

Our 2022 has a Norcold fridge. There is an external fan in the rear fridge compartment that is controlled automatically. It moves a lot of air. No manual switch.

The neat thing about the Jeep ducks is the randomness: see a Jeep in the grocery store parking lot, duck it, and drive away unseen. Harder to do with Ollies. If they're in a campground with you, you'll probably just say Hi. Other than that, probably not often you'll come across one unattended and ready for Ottering. That said, I think it's a cute idea, and I might keep a couple otters in the truck, just in case. Cheapest one I could find on Amazon: Schleich Wild Life New 2023, Marine and Ocean Wild Animal Toys for Kids and Toddlers, Otter Toy, Ages 3+ https://a.co/d/aPWt89i

That's fantastic.

And don't let anyone distract you. That includes spouses and dear friends. I have a rule: DON'T TALK TO ME WHILE I'M HITCHING UP/UNHITCHING. I've damaged campers by breaking that rule. Luckily, nothing serious and no injuries, but still... We were at a campground where a guy dropped his new fifth wheel on his head because his son came over and was talking to him while unhitching. He went out in a helicopter and the police rinsed the blood out of the back of his truck so his family wouldn't have to deal with it when they came back. (This was also an abject lesson on the importance of always chocking your trailer wheels before you unhitch.)

You forgot the weight of the propane. We only added a couple hundred pounds of gear to the Ollie: mostly kitchen stuff, food and clothes. The truck carries most of the heavier gear, including the genny and Clam. We have traveled short distances with all tanks full. Generally, after dry camping and on the way to a dump station.

The cell booster on our 2022 doesn't require registration. It simply picks up the cell signal outside and retransmits it through the antenna over the dinette into one of our phones. We're Hull 1150. I'm pretty sure you have the same one.