topgun2

I don't know - but - I doubt it since the principle on which this device works is based on pressure differences. I wouldn't think that there would be enough pressure difference in the cold water lines. However, in the beginning of my usage, I didn't think that it would really work for the hot water line either. Shows ya what I know. Certainly would not hurt to shoot the company an email. Bill

I assume that you have sent you suggestion to someone at Oliver? If not then I'd send it to Rodney Lomax % Oliver Travel Trailers. Bill

Absolutely! For a number of reasons. Bill

Interesting idea - Our current home was built as a "SPEC" house about 20 years ago. After it sat vacant on the market for two years (because the builder was asking too much money for it) we negotiated a fair price and moved in. A short time later, I discovered that the plumber that did the original work on the house decided to install a "return on the hot water line" from the further point away from the water heater thus forming a "loop" in the hot water line. He did this because the house is relatively long and narrow with the source of hot water being located at one end while the kitchen and laundry room are located at the other end. Obviously this causes a rather long delay in getting hot water to that end of the house. Having never seen a return "hot water line" before I did some investigating and found a product called "Just Right" made by the Nibco company. This product is installed near the water heater on that "return line", it requires NO pump because it basically works using the Venturi principle which takes advantage of the small differences in fluid pressure due to the slight difference in pressure between the return water being slightly cooler than the water coming directly out of the water heater. You can read about how it works HERE. As I see it, the down side is that the water heater would have to constantly be "on", but, that would probably be less expensive than having the furnace constantly "on". Bill p.s. this device works great and there is always hot water available in the kitchen and laundry room. Since there is always water circulating in those house pipes I did insulate those pipes heavily.

Carl - Another thing that you can try is to press down (towards the tire) on the TPMS while at the same time turning the TPMS anti-clockwise (lefty loosey). If the sensors aren't on too tight this just might work without that little wrench. One more - Hold the main body of your TPMS in your left hand and use your right hand to try to twist the very top of the TPMS (again anti-clockwise). Again, if the top isn't screwed on too tight, it just might come off without that little wrench. And, finally - if you have either a thin head adjustable wrench or a thin pair of pliers, you can use those in place of the little wrench. Be a bit careful doing this in that you certainly do not want to bugger up the relatively soft plastic that these TPMS housings are made out of. Bill

Thanks - I try my best to be objective and balanced on both sides of most discussions. Me too! I've never had a flat on the side of the road (knock on wood) but have rotated the tires and raised the camper (using the jacks) in order to place jack stands, blocks of wood, etc. under it in order to do other maintenance jobs too. Being squashed by any vehicle is not high on my list of things to do, therefore, I too am VERY careful and assume full responsibility for for my actions regarding these jacks. Another note for those that own "newer" Ollies - on the newer Ollies the steel sub-frame was bigger (i.e. longer) and this is when Oliver started placing those stickers/decals showing "jack points". For those of us that own older Elite II's the sub-frame is so short that there really is little to no place for a jack. Since one can not use a jack under the axle and there is little to no space under the support for the springs - where does one place a jack? Yes, there are places, but, one must be very careful with its placement - both under the Ollie and on the ground (you certainly do not want ANY shifting of the jack in either location). Thus, for these owners of older Ollies (Elite II's) many times it is easier and even more prudent to simply use these onboard jacks to temporarily raise the camper on one side. Bill

This is what I think the steel brackets are. Under this application I don't believe that there is a snowball's chance in .... that they will fail.

Are you sure that this steel not simply been bent and/or molded/extruded in this manner versus "welded"? I've never examined one of these steel brackets closely, but, I always thought that they were simply reasonably heavy "L" channel. Bill

I just read my email from Ford on this and it sounds really useful. Bill

B & B - What you have heard is correct - these jacks are supposed to be used only for stabilization NOT for leveling. Perhaps your confusion comes from the fact that at one time (pre 2018 or 2019) Oliver actually made note of the fact that these jacks could lift one side of the trailer at a time. Therefore, they could be used for leveling, and/or other things like changing a tire. Certainly the jacks are strong enough to do just that, but, given other possible things going wrong - think twisted frame, cracked fiberglass, collapsing jack tube due to torque and even the possibility of lawyers getting involved with potential liability issues, Oliver now advises to only use these jacks for stabilization. Having said all this, there are still a number of owners that continue to use these jacks for things like changing tires in an emergency, and, lifting the side to the trailer in order to place more substantial supports for jobs like wheel bearing maintenance, etc. Bill

That's great to hear! So, now we are back down to a single instance - that I know of. Bill

I do not specifically know - however, as I said above, I believe that Oliver changed from aluminum to steel brackets in 2018 or so. Certainly, it is easy enough to inspect any particular trailer to ascertain if that trailer has steel of aluminum brackets. All I can do is answer this question relative to the brackets that are on my Oliver. For BOTH rear brackets it is easy to see that they are aluminum AND for BOTH brackets it is easy to see that the welds on both sides of the bracket extends to close to the ends of the bracket. No borescope or light or mirror is needed. I can tell you that this is exactly what Oliver Service did for this owner. I can also tell you that I was told that Oliver Service inspected all "completed" brackets in the parts bins and all brackets on any trailer on the production line with no additional brackets being found that were not welded properly. Indeed, in reading this thread, I'd certainly take a look at my rear brackets - just to make sure - "trust but verify" (The phrase became internationally known in English after Suzanne Massie, an American scholar, taught it to Ronald Reagan, then president of the United States, the latter of whom used it on several occasions in the context of nuclear disarmament discussions with the Soviet Union.) This is particularly true given that it appears that there just may have been two instances (that we know of) that had failures of this nature - even though no pictures of the bracket failure that started this thread have been given.

Everyone - please note. I have never heard of any of the aluminum brackets failing as long as they were welded properly in the first place. The issue with the bracket in the photos above is that while there was a "spot" weld completed on the one side of the bracket, the finish weld that should have gone across the entire length of the bracket on that side - as it did on the reverse side - was never completed. And that is the reason the bracket failed. Those with aluminum brackets that are welded on both sides of the bracket should experience no issues. Recalls and/or Service bulletins are only issued if there is a known problem that affects a number of trailers - not a one off. Bill

GJ - You're welcome. Bill

I don't exactly know when but Oliver stopped using the aluminum ones within a year of so (2018?) after the photos above.

Heck - I'd bet that the shipping costs more than the cover!

Here are a couple of pictures of the brackets in question and the "spot" welds that obviously failed. Note that I do not believe any "recent" Oliver has this type of bracket. And, I'd still like to see pictures of the one(s) mentioned above that broke. Bill p.s. sorry for the thread hijack. If this goes much further I'll split this "bracket" portion off.

Sure enough - I got 4 of them similar to Frank C. Mine are the original Trojan T-105's that Oliver was offering 7 years ago. I purchased the optional "watering system" that makes getting water into these very easy. I've been fairly religious in checking these and giving them water at least every 60 days. I know that I'm living on borrowed time with these but as long as they continue to function properly I'll hang with them. Bill

I thought the exact same thing.

Can I have seconds on that camping at your place? 😇

My experience with lithium and fire is relatively small - a laptop battery pack. However, I can tell you that it can get exciting! As those individual cells that are on the inside of the battery come shooting out of the case, bounce off the ceiling of my office and then melt into the carpet while setting it on fire and other cells have already turned paper, a trash can, a lamp shade and a desk on fire, I knew that I had to pull the plug out of the outlet in the wall in order to stop the current from igniting even more cells. Once the power was removed from the equation then a Tundra aerosol spray fire extinguisher ( like THIS ONE) quickly took care of the fires. Given what I believe would be somewhat larger individual cells in our Ollies I believe that you simply can not afford to be too safe. Bill

Not a V8 but mileage on the 3.5 twin turbo (2017) was 12-13 on several round trips from the mountains of Western NC to the Rockies and back. Tonneau cover on FX4 trim truck with a 6.5 foot bed, max towing, and max payload. I understand that the V8 performance is about the same while towing but that the ecoboost has better gas mileage (22 to 24 mpg) when not towing. Bill

Frank - Could you post a picture of those welds? There was a time when two steel plates were welded together forming an "L" bracket. Unfortunately, there apparently were times when only "spot welds" were performed and the full welds were never completed on those brackets. If you suspect that you have any of these brackets you should take a picture of them and send it to Service. Bill

Bummer! I just took delivery of my third F-150 and each one has had the 3.5 twin turbo engine. Absolutely no problems with any of the three. However, I should add that the current one only has 60 miles on it and the maximum mileage that either of the other two had was 45,000. Hope you got the issues out of the way. Many modern vehicles have this "limited" power "feature" built into them. This enables you to still operate the vehicle but supposedly limits any harm that you might do to the engine or transmission until you can get the vehicle to a dealer. Bill