topgun2

WOW! Don't know what Matt did (wouldn't understand it anyway), but, it now works. Bill

Stan and Carol. All I can tell you is that a launch is really something to see and feel. I did a shuttle launch several years ago and watched it from Coco Beach - about ten miles away as the crow flies. All I can say is WOW! With regards to the Space Center - (as with most things these days) bring money. I did not "do" any of the programs with astronauts, but I did "do" the up close tour of the facility. I don't remember the exact cost, but it was not cheap. However, for a one time thing it was certainly worth it. I'm not familiar with Manatee Hammock but I've stayed a number of times at Blue Springs State Park and it is great. Enjoy July in Florida - I'm sure it will not be too HOT. Bill p.s. thanks for the PM - hopefully I'll get to see you in August.

John Guess I should have been a bit more precise with my language - I personally don't like the look of the four doors relative to having just the two doors plus the small "suicide" half doors. However, since I'd never investigated the Ram enough to know that they had the smaller rear doors available, for the right price I certainly could get over my "relative" aversion. I've always liked the hemi engine even though my current Ecoboost certainly has more than enough grunt for the Oliver. Bill

Mike & Carol, Nice looking truck! Nothing like being sooooo comfortable cruising down the highway with that Ollie in tow. I sure wish that they would make that truck with a half door in the rear instead of the full set of four full sized doors. Bill

Be careful what you wish for - I'm just about to leave on my annual 2 month fishing trip in Wyoming. Certainly pictures will follow. Bill

Weyzer, Don't know the answer but you might try emailing - Helen Markham <helen@furrion.com> She got back to me fairly quickly with a good answer on my Furrion questions. Bill

The recent discussion regarding the Andersen WDH and the location of the water drain valve got me to thinking about what other items can be overlooked, not remembered, forgotten, etc. One of those items just might be the glass plate in the microwave. Even though I've never had a problem with the microwave door coming open while on the road, I was cautioned that I should always remove the glass plate prior to traveling because the door can come open on rough roads and the glass plate would certainly shatter as it bounced around. I simply take it out of the microwave and place it in the cabinet right above. Does anyone remember any other thing(s) of that nature? Bill

I'll be at the factory in about a week and a half when (amongst other things) the guys are installing at least one dimmer switch on Twist. Bill

Cold feet and about $100,000?

Just saw that myself (click the "home" button at the top of the Forum page). From what I can tell, that is the only thing that has been changed (so far). The information listed for the Elite II appears to be the same as for the 2016. But, I don't know about the information for the Elite. Bill

Back in 2011 I sold my beloved Taco and bought an F-150 Ecoboost Ford. I never towed my Elite II with the Taco, but my previous campers were 4,000 pound hybrids and I towed them extensively. My reasons for selling the Tacoma were (like Mike and Carol), not based on power but mainly on fuel capacity. The straw that broke the Taco's back happened when I was headed West on Interstate 70 in the middle of Kansas. There was a 40 mph headwind and I had the cruise control set on 60. My miles per gallon at that point was 4! OK, that is bad, but I could handle that and the resultant price of gas except for one thing - I was having to look for a gas station far too often. Yes, I thought about simply getting a larger or additional tank, but at that point the truck was five years old and it was simply time to let it go. For the record, I don't remember the exact size of the engine, but it was the largest 6 that Toyota had at the time, the truck was the TRD 4x4 top of the line model. I'd love to own another Tacoma but until they provide an even bigger engine with a larger gas tank and more towing capacity, I'll stay with a larger pickup. Bill

Bill, You da man! Nice pictures and quick work too. Bill

Robert, In the 2016 Elite II the fridge is the Dometic RM2554 - 5 cubic feet volume. I got this from the Oliver Owner's manual as I don't think that the size is ever mentioned on the website or in the pamphlets. Not sure about the size of the fridge in the smaller Oliver. Bill

Robert, In the picture above the "extensions" are the white curved pieces that stick out into the aisle (The grey plastic trash bag is touching the one on the right side. Sorry, but I do not have a picture of the rivets. Bill

Leigh, After you get the bugs/tar off, a good coat of wax will help you the next time you have to remove "stuff". I agree with rideand fly - plexus is great for anything plastic. Bill

Yes, the nightstand can be removed as well as the "twin bed extensions" that hold the twin bed mattresses in place. I'm not sure just how the nightstand is attached, but, the extensions are held in place by what look to be fairly large rivets. Back before I received delivery I asked the very same question that you are and Anita (at Oliver) told me that the conversion would be no problem at all. Hope this helps. Bill

Leigh, Thanks for giving us an update on your "situation". Other than your wallet it is good to know that nothing was permanently hurt. Perhaps I'm confused (certainly not the first time), but, regarding your picture of the hole in the shaft of the ball, I trust that you know that this shaft is supposed to "move". As I understand it, the inside of this shaft has a lining on it similar to that of brake linings. This is what is used to help eliminate "sway" in the trailer. When the tow vehicle and the camper are hooked together and are in a straight line and the chains are attached with an equal number of threads showing beyond the nut at the rear, this hole should be perpendicular to nice straight line. However, when turning, this hole will shift left or right (depending on which way you turn). I believe that this is the source of the majority of problems that people have with this hitch. It really comes to fore when you have backed the camper into a spot, unhitched, and, then come back later and try to re-hitch. In an ideal world when you try to re-hitch, you will back up to the camper in exactly the same line as you were when you unhitched. But, sometimes this is close to impossible to do with the result being that it can be then very difficult to get the "whale tail" back on the bottom of the hitch ball and get the hole to line up so that the pin can be put through it. Andersen's product video will show you how to get things back in line without resorting to using pure muscle or other tools.

Stan, With Carol and Gunner there to help I would have thought that even an old guy could get those tanks filled in no time. Thanks for the info on the towel bar - it really does look good. How do you like that screen door bar? Bill

John, Hopefully we are not beating this thing to death - it really is not very hard or complicated in virtually any aspect. You are probably correct when you suggest using a long pry bar that fits the hole nicely. However, for the number of times that the alignment "problem" happens, I'm not going to carry around a pry bar. In addition, one usually does not know that there will be an alignment problem until the bulldog hitch is on the ball, the camper has been raised to allow slack in the chains and you have the Andersen collar basically in position. I suppose that at this point one could use a drift but the Andersen has pressure on the ball "shaft" (either positive or negative pressure) which could make turning that shaft a bit difficult. Certainly instead of risking damaging what is a very expensive part (as you point out), trying to adjust the pressure on the ball shaft to neutral, carrying a long drift or pry bar, etc., I elect to simple drive a short distance and then hookup as normal. I like the idea of a nut on the bottom of the shaft but then you are talking about a fairly good sized wrench or socket ( perhaps they could use the same size nut as they have on the chains for the bolts and just use the same socket?). Again, I think you are right when you say that the Andersen's are a cool hitch. I really liked my Equalizer WDH that I had on a previous camper but like so many others on the market, they do not work easily with the Oliver due to the cowling over the propane tanks and frame, it was noisy, it was at least as difficult to work with and with the grease on the bars and hitch it could be very messy. Of course one could cut away some of that cowling in order to use other WDH, but .... Again, I sure do hope that Leigh gets back on here to let us know more information regarding the problem and the response from Andersen. Bill

John, Basically the answer is no - but I have tried to rotate that shaft by just using the "whale tail" as leverage and it will not budge. Andersen recommends that you do not try to do what you are suggesting. I like your idea of the clevis pins even better than either jam or nylock nuts, but I have not had the problem that Leigh has and without input from her I'm not convinced that the nut is the root of the problem. I too hate thieves and I am as much concerned with the meth guy as I am with the kid that takes "stuff" simply because it is not nailed down. Don't get me wrong here - I do not live in a high crime area but better safe than sorry particularly with something that is so easy to prevent. Bill

John, "It seems to me from reading articles online that the hitch can be removed or installed without screwing around with the nuts. Am I misunderstanding this?" Yes, you are basically correct in that the tow vehicle can be separated from the camper without "screwing around with the nuts". However, since I store my Oliver about ten miles from my residence and even though the storage facility is gated with video I choose to remove anything that can not be locked down. This actually is a fairly simple procedure after the pressure is removed from the chains by taking the "whale tail" off the hitch and then taking the two nuts off the bolts - this can all be done by hand. There was another occasion where I was unable to align the TV with the camper in the same plane that it was when I unhitched. Even though there is a procedure that Andersen talks about in their instruction manual and in the YouTube video for getting things straight, the camp ground that I was in just didn't have enough room for this. So, I simply took the chain off one side, towed the camper straight a couple hundred yards and then re-attached the chain making sure that the same six threads were showing on both bolts (left and right sides). As I said in my first post on this subject, it is hard to imagine that the nut would have "backed off" all by itself given the amount of pressure that is on that assembly once hooked up. I did think of another possible reason that Leigh had this problem - the weld at the end of the bolt which holds a chain link to the bolt failed. In her first post she says that the chain was dragging on the ground with the nut, washer, "red thingy" and bolt all being gone. The only explanations that I can think of for the bolt to be gone are either that this weld failed or in the space of 40 miles the chain wore through enough in order to allow the bolt to become lost - this is certainly possible, but doubtful. Buzzy, I have no problem with Leigh's statement that she “Tighten both sides evenly” in that in all that I've read both chains should be tightened the same - in my case I've found that the original setting of 6 threads showing allows both the TV and the camper to ride fairly level. Adjustments can or should be made to this number of threads showing depending on a number of factors to include the load in the back of the TV and/or the load distribution in the camper. I'm guessing that you are correct in saying that most WDH owners do not remove the chains from the frame brackets. But, there really is no reason not to do this as long as you put them back to the proper setting when you re-install. Hopefully Leigh will let us know what the cause of her problem was so that all of us can learn from her mis-adventure.. Bill

Stan, Details? Is that suctioned to the fridge? Where did you get it? How much? How long have you had it stuck (assuming suction)? Bill

Randy does bring up another possible solution as to why Weyzer's chain came out of the bracket in the first place - the bracket moved. If the bracket moved, the chain could have become loose therefore letting the nut back off the bolt. In the fairly short distance that was traveled I still find this to be unlikely, but, certainly possible. While John's Nylock solution would probably help, I'm not so sure that it is as simple as it seems. In the short period of time that I've had Twist, I have had the Andersen chains on and off the camper at least 10 to 15 times. Most of this is for storage, but on at least two occasions I've had to take a chain off in order to get the "whale tail" back on the hitch. This job is easier with a regular "free running" nut as opposed to Nylocks. Also, I'm a bit confused with John's comment about turning around the bolt. Unless I'm missing something here, one can not turn around the bolt because of the chain link that is welded to the other end. And, at least with the Oliver, the propane tank shroud pretty much protects one from "opening up one's shin" on those exposed bolt threads. I'm still curious as to what Andersen has to say. Bill

This is not exactly the answer to the question that Stan asked regarding using suction cups to hold up a towel rack or paper towel holder - but - on the suggestion of one of our fellow members that attended to Eggs on the Hiawasee rally, I bought both the small and large versions of suction cups sold at Harbor Freight. Both hold very nicely. I needed a way to hang my wet fishing waders up to dry after a day of fishing. I simply put on of the large bright orange ones on the side of the camper near the door. Right before I go to bed I take the now dry waders in all ready for the next day. The bright orange color reminds me to remove it before breaking camp and heading on down the road. Currently these large ones are on sale for $2.00. I use the smaller black ones inside the closet to hold my laundry bag. After a week it still is sucking. Bill

Weyzer, When you hooked up your Andersen and tightened the chains, did you have the same number of threads showing at the rear of the bolt as you had showing when it was first installed? If yes, I can't imagine how the nut could have come loose given the amount of pressure that is on the chains/red bushing/washer/nut. With mine (six threads showing when all hooked up) even when making a sharp turn, the inside chain is still very tight. Having said the above, I had wondered about those nuts coming loose and even thought about buying an extra nut to put on acting as a "jam" nut to prevent a problem such as you have experienced. I decided against this because in the research I did prior to buying mine I did not find one instance of this kind of problem. However, I may now have to re-think this. Please let us all know what Andersen has to say. Bill