topgun2

When ordering my Oliver I considered simply adding on the rearview camera option. However, I had a couple of problems with this in that I felt the price of the unit Oliver had was a bit steep and I didn't want another screen on the dash of my truck (I already have a GPS - 7 inch screen, the Ford F-150 screen, and my 8 inch tablet). So, it was off to Amazon to see what might be out there. On Amazon I found a cheap camera and separate WiFi transmitter from a company called Sunroadway. After reading the mixed reviews I thought that for the total of $70. I'd give it a try. But, first, I called Anita at Oliver asking if they would install the wiring and a switch near the door. As usual, Oliver came through and for $125 they did a very nice job including installing the camera and transmitter on delivery day. But, I'm a little ahead of myself. Long story short, the WiFi transmitter that I received from Amazon didn't work. After a couple of weeks of testing, pictures and emails to the company, they stated that the unit "they" sold me was counterfeit. Not sure just how that happened, however, I sent the entire order back to Amazon and they, nicely, refunded all my money. I then found a company called Rearview Safety (http://www.reviewsafety.com). For $130 they are selling what appears to be exactly the same thing. But after a phone call and asking multiple questions in this regard, they convinced me to give their unit a shot. It arrived a few days later and I tested it in my workshop with good results - see picture below. Right from the start I was concerned that the WiFi sending unit for the camera would not have enough power to get the signal from the rear tire area, through the camper and up to the dash of the truck. Since I was ordering the Oliver option of the WiFi Ranger anyway, I figured that if there was a weak signal, I could use the Ranger to boost it and would be OK in the cab of the truck. And, if that didn't work then I would simply run enough wire in order to re-locate the WiFi sending unit from the rear tire area to the front of the camper. The next thing was how and where to exactly mount the camera. I didn't want to drill through the shell of my new Oliver for what I think are obvious reasons. Even though a higher camera mount position is generally more favorable than a lower one, I thought that mounting the camera in the spare tire cover would be sufficient for my purposes - general backing up procedures and a quick monitor of what was behind me (tailgaters, etc.) while going down the road. From pictures of the Oliver I noted that the spare tire cover was not at a 90 degree angle to the ground. With a quick call to Anita I found out that the angle to the ground is 84 degrees. I decided to make the back of the mount for the camera have a cut at 5 degrees which would allow for a 1 degree downward slope to allow rain water to run off - given the 130 degree view range of the camera I would change that to a 4 degree cut if I were to do it over again in order to get a slightly reduced view of the sky. So, here is how I made the camera mount - I took what is a Crystal Light Drink Mix container and drilled a 9/16 inch hole in the bottom for the lens. In order to give solid support to this light weight plastic and to give the lens some additional protection, I took a piece of Styrofoam, traced the container's outline onto it and then using a band saw Cut the Styrofoam slightly too wide for the container so that there would be a slight squeeze in order to get it into the container. Before inserting the Styrofoam into the container with a 5/8 bit I hollowed out a small area to allow room for the camera body in the Styrofoam and drilled a 7/32 inch hole through the Styrofoam to allow the camera cord to pass through. After test fitting all parts they were assembled. Blue tread lock was used on the camera lens cap and latex caulk was used in the camera recess and in the cord channel to both seal and hold the camera in position. Obviously when putting this together I made sure that the camera was set in the proper position for both orientation and level. All that was left at this point was on the delivery day, another 7/32 hole was drilled in the spare tire cover, the camera wire fed through, the WiFi transmitter was attached to the inside of the spare tire cover and the power wires were connected. Initially the WiFi sending unit did get a good signal to the cab of the truck. But that signal seemed to be dependent on weather, traffic, and "who knows". Therefore, I now use the WiFi Ranger to boost the signal of the sending unit and have had no problems getting a good picture in the cab. Given the location of the camera, if it is raining, the lens gets dirty, thus hurting the view. Also, there is about a half second delay between what REALLY happens and what I see on the screen of my tablet in the cab of the truck. All in all, for a total of about $250, I'm very happy with the results. In the pictures are the mounted camera, the switch that Oliver installed so I can turn the camera off/on, the workshop test with grid lines showing - these can be turned off if you do not want them. Bill camera switch mounted camera camera view with grid lines

OK, I've been at it again. This time I've installed a clothesline in the bathroom. I got the idea from similar lines that I've seen in the bathrooms of a number of hotels. The install is fairly simple. For the plate that the line hooks into I used a couple of stainless steel bolts through two holes drilled through the bath wall and into the closet. Inside the closet I used washers and nuts also of stainless. For the main unit, again two holes were drilled through the bath wall and into the bathroom cabinet. Again, stainless bolts, washers and nuts were used to attach a bracket to the wall. Then, as per the instructions, the main unit was placed over the installed bracket, a set screw was tightened and I was done. A simple twist of the knob in the center of the main unit, pull out the string to the bracket on the opposite wall, tighten the knob and hang up the wet things. Reverse the process to take down the line. I purchased this from Amazon - $11.99 - Kingsuper Stainless Retractable Clothsline. It will hold up to 11 pounds and will extend up to 8.2 feet. Bill Note that in the left side of the picture one can see the bracket on the opposite wall that the line gets hooked into.

Coy, We did the Trace some 25 years ago which is partly the reason we want to do it again - but, this time with Twist. Hard to be that near New Orleans without staying there at least a few nights. Hopefully Horace and Diane will let us know how they did BEFORE we hit the road in that direction. Bill

trumphetguy, We should talk in more detail while in GA next month. I know nothing about Ash Grove, but Davidson River is not bad and there are a number of free spots (boondocking) not far up into the National Forest just off 276. Bill

Welcome and have a good time reading! Don't forget to go over to YouTube and view Ron Merritt's Oliver video. It's fairly long but is well done. Finally, don't be afraid to ask questions. Bill

Do you think they might get upset if one would ask to "pick" their nose cone?

This IS great news! I've been wanting to meet trumpetguy - looking forward to it. This now makes 4 of us? Bill

Gary and Jona, Thanks! It should be fun meeting you and seeing what others have done with their eggs. And, where else can you "go to Helen back" by only traveling 30 or so miles This will be my first eggsperience. Bill

OK, make that another Oliver Legacy Elite II joining this EGG crate. Site A-28. Bill

Mike and Carol, I got the surge protector on Twist at delivery. Since it is directly wired into Twist I do not even notice it and no longer worry or have to test before I plug in at campsites. - this really is a good thing particularly if it is raining or dark and I know that the relatively expensive electronic equipment inside Twist is protected. However, on the downside, there is a panel that constantly gives a readout on the status of the surge protector and the electricity that is coming into the Ollie. Unfortunately, this panel is located under the street side bed. Obviously, this means that in order to see what the panel is telling you, one has to list that bed, lift the hatch cover, and then read the code that the panel is showing. I prepared a card that indicates the "fault codes" with relatively large type (so I didn't need my glasses and/or so it was easy to read in low light) and taped it next to that panel. However, in the event of the surge protector having to do its "real" job, I still have to lift that bed and hatch to figure out what is going on. In time, if I ever figure out a better place to put that panel, I'll simply move it. But, for now, it is OK where it is. Bill

Welcome! Tell me that you are not going to name your new Ollie "Great Scott"! June should be a wonderful time to take a nice drive on the Parkway. The Davidson River Campground near Brevard, NC is a decent one with reasonable restaurants, a Walmart, and a fairly good grocery store (BI-LO) nearby. There are also several waterfalls near. Bill

B & C Have a good trip in both directions. The folks at Oliver are great. Safe travels. Bill

Mountainborn - Thanks for the link! We too had difficulty finding that puppy. If it had not been for the great assistance of Mrs. Commanche we'd still be looking for it. Even though I now know where it is, I put three signs showing me the way - one on the outside of the compartment under the bed, and two inside placed so that when you look into that array of pipes and duct work it is fairly easy to just follow the arrows. Bill

I just knew that someone was going to ask for those measurements - sorry, but I don't remember nor did I write them down. However, I do remember that the cut-out for the drain was 4 x 4 inches. And I remember that the indentation for the curved wall beneath the sink was smaller than I had expected. Also, I forgot to allow for the thickness of the carpet on the first round of cuts. The idea of the dritek is a good one except for the fact that I would have to buy the dritek and the scrap plywood and carpet were "free". I'm guessing that the dritek would do a good job of keeping the carpet from slipping. However, due to height restrictions I'm guessing that I would have had to remove the dritek when showering. Bill

The only thing that I changed on the "stock" screen door was the addition of the silver and black bar located above the normal screen door latch. Yes, the sliding clear plastic panel is still there but is very difficult to see in that picture. With regards to the "round thing" just above the black screen door latch - this is a relatively new addition to most of the RV screen doors that I've seen. By simply pushing this round object down, it pushes the black screen door latch down to open the screen door. Thus, it saves one from having to slide open the clear panel first before gaining access to the black screen door latch. I think that these can be ordered separately to upgrade an existing screen door and would simply replace the entire sliding panel. The bar that I installed really helps on windy days giving you something to hold on to while you open the screen door so that the screen door does not "fly" open and bang into whatever it hits first. The bar also helps with closing the screen door when entering the camper. As with a fair amount of things these days, I bought mine on Amazon. But, they are also available at Camping World and a number of other RV outlets. Bill

Yes, I will have to take the carpet out when I use the shower - just thought that I'd set it right by the door. The piece of scrap plywood I had actually measured right at 5/8 inch. The height in that area is compromised, particularly so since I'm right at 6 feet tall. But, getting to the toilet is not a problem and using the sink does not seem to be a problem with regards to height. I did test the "foam" flooring, but I'd also have to take that out when showering (mainly due to little drainage underneath) and it didn't feel as good on the toes. I also briefly used a carpet directly on the shower floor. This is certainly a simpler approach, allows for washing and/or "shaking out" and does not impact the height issues. Unfortunately I do not like the carpets that have the latex backing and others that I tried had a tendency to slip when stepping over the threshold in or out of the bath area. Bill

donthompson, I've still not had a chance to try the Bluetooth side of things but I'm guessing that it will work as you say. However, using Bluetooth means that you have to have another "machine". Perhaps I'm a bit old fashion and my mind seems to be only be able to handle one thing at a time. I say, "stick a USB stick in the hole and let it play". That way I do not have to even think about turning on the tablet, getting the music app up, picking the right songs or playlist, and making sure that the tablet is "paired" with the Furrion. But, given the limitations of the Furrion, as noted above, it looks like Bluetooth or multiple memory sticks (assuming that you want over 2gb of differing styles of music) are the two ways to go. Bill

Thanks for looking for me - I've been a bit busy since I took delivery of Twist back in mid-February so I have not had a chance to look at this. Bill

I thought that there were a couple of "problems" with the floor in the bath. First, given that it is white, it will eventually get dirty from simple foot traffic and I'm guessing that over time this will be harder and harder to keep clean. Second, for those trips in the middle of the night, the floor is a bit cold on the toes. And, third, even if the floor is "dried" after a shower there is still a bit of moisture that lingers for awhile. So, with a piece of scrap plywood and left over carpet, a new removable floor was constructed. Note that the side nearest the sink has a slight curve to it and I cut out the area around the drain. I also bought eight 3/4 inch vinyl feet to attach to the bottom so that air can circulate beneath the removable floor to insure complete drying. When cutting the plywood make sure that you leave enough room for the thickness of the carpet around the edges. The carpet can simply be stapled to the bottom of the plywood and then using a hot melt glue gun, the edges of the carpet can be sealed so that they do not ravel.

I know that most have already seen this mod, but, here it is on Twist. The only change that I made to the instructions that were included with the bar was to go to one size smaller drill bit. After drilling a "test" hole I thought that the bit in the instructions was a little too large. This caused a better chance of stripping the screws since they are placed into the very thin aluminum of the screen door (I believe that it was suggested to use a 1/8 inch bit but I used a 7/64). The total time for the install was less than 15 minutes and since it was a windy day today I got the chance to test it out right away - it works! On the down side, I can see the possibility of someone using this bar for support when getting in or out of the camper. Neither the bar nor the screen door are really designed to hold virtually any weight. Therefore, remind people to still use the grab handles on the other side of the door. Bill

Just for the record - here is what this puppy looks like. Bill

Nope - all the files I used in the various tests on the Furrion were MP3's. Thanks for trying though. Bill

Stan, As you know, I've not had Twist very long. However, I've already tried a number of things mounted with suction cups and they all failed. I really like the "Command" brand of tape by 3M in that you can remove it. And, of course, the 3M regular double sided stuff is great for heavier duty applications. Of course you could always just ask Gunner to hold it in place for you! Bill

Juniorbirdman, Nicely done aren't they. Nothing like having a set of protected buttons! Bill

Sherry and Stan (and Carol), Not only are those buttons protected but I do like the look. Not only the outside edge of the guard is polished, but, inside the holes made for the buttons is polished. I understand from the owner of RV Widget Works that he was able to polish the inside of those holes due to the fact that they are cut with a laser. I have no vested interest in this company, but, I do like the product and I like the way they do business. Bill