Boudicca908

BRIEF UPDATE July 14, 2026: I accepted the generous offer by John @jd1923 and Chris to come farther west to Prescott and tackle this 'Check Trailer Wiring' issue. While my Oliver was jacked up, I was able to take care of some other regular maintenance work, and John helped out with that as well, but I will focus here on the trailer wiring. The main job was to replace the brake wires beginning at the left side (below the battery box) where the wiring exits the hull, and connecting new wires to each of the four brakes. John suggested pulling the new wires through the axle by taping them to the end of the old wires, for various reasons, but once the taped joint reached the opposite side and I needed to pull it out through that small hole in the axle, the tape broke apart. I tried pulling the new wire through that hole with some needle-nose pliers but the wire was so soft that small pieces were breaking off. So we reverted to my initial plan (based on several others here on the forum), and ran the new wires along the rear side of the axles, using split loom and zip ties to anchor it. We found that the butt connectors I ordered from Amazon did not hold; John tested one and the wires pulled right out without any effort. He had some older style butt connectors that we used, with much thicker metal inside, and then we added tape on the connections. I will probably come back to those taped joints with some liquid tape to try to weatherproof them better. (I saw that someone had used a clear sealant -- if anyone knows what that is called, I would like to find it. The liquid tape I have is black like tar.) The finished job looks really good. Note that I haven't tested by towing yet. After the rewiring, I measured the amperage at each wheel, after disconnecting the 7-pin connector from the truck and pulling the Emergency Brake pin. Each one measured about 3.0, with the left front measuring slightly higher. This was a good result in so far as the power was flowing from the Emergency Brake battery (I believe on the Oliver, this is the trailer battery; SOB trailers have a separate little battery for this power). After the tires were back on and everything was back in place, I tested again using the power from the truck through the 7pin connector, with John's son Adam helping me by being at the controls in the truck. Measuring the two main wires exiting the hull (below the battery box) the amperage was 1.85 and 1.71 on the left front and rear wires. This measurement is obviously without being in motion, and my understanding is that the truck will not provide the full power to the brakes in this case; I'm not sure what amount should be expected here, but power is flowing to both wires from the truck. Quoting from @Geronimo John in an older forum post, "... modern brake controllers sense when a vehicle is stopped and back off the power flow to the magnetic coils when stopped..." Yesterday, John and I performed another set of tests on the 7pin Cable wires where they enter the hull and exit the cable, inside a double sized junction box behind the small panel below the vanity sink (see earlier photos in this thread.) We tested amperage for each of the wires, and the 7pin cable seems to be working fine -- even jiggling the wire at the connector and below the Oliver -- so we elected not to replace it. Of course, once again, this is not in motion driving down the highway. None of this is definitive until I actually tow the Oliver, tomorrow morning. I will report again in a few days, and try to add some photos here for clarity. I don't think this is resolved yet, but making progress on eliminating things is good. Many heartfelt thanks to John, Chris and Adam -- they have all been extremely gracious hosts and very helpful, and have cheered me up as well. Many thanks as well to all the other forum members who have been helping out with ideas and links and questions. Now we are heading out for some fun!

And there are Oliver owners who boondock almost exclusively. Hopefully more will pipe in here for you. I live waaaaay down in southwest Florida; I 'boondock' at Cracker Barrel when I'm just trying to get closer to my destination, which is almost always in the Rockies -- about 3,000 miles away from home. Once I reach the west where BLM, USFS and other public lands are abundant, I typically boondock for weeks at a time without plugging in anywhere, but I am mostly at higher elevations so I am reaching for a light blanket rather than the AC. This year has been an exception for me on this; I got away from Florida a lot later in the season. I have the Lithium Pro package (mine is (3) 130 Lithiums) but I am frugal using power. I hardly ever use my microwave. You should also consider where and what time of year you want to camp -- seasons will impact how you use power. Does your Oliver have propane heat? Does it have a propane refrigerator? Mine is 3-way so I can use DC, propane or AC -- but I don't think the new units are like that. I agree with John here. I only have the single awning on the right (curbside) and often enough it's not where I would need it for optimal sun protection. It all depends on the access, even when you are boondocking, and how you decide to position your door, etc. I used my awning a lot my first year but rarely use it any more. Some people create shade with different methods, like hanging shade cloth. I've wished for shade on my left side, but apparently not enough to do anything about it. :) I would opt out of the solar awning. There are other forum members who will give you more concrete data on power use and other options. Have fun as you think about your options.

Where's Ollie is my favorite thread and it's 10 years old! Thanks @Mike and Carol for getting it started!

Last year I found the same issue with the screws coming out of the pvc mounting boards. Service had no suggestions to offer except to replace the pvc mounting board. I don't think the pvc material is the right thing to use for this mounting board, but that's what they use. My brother and I discussed this issue and came up with a simple solution. On my Oliver (and others might vary) there is enough space below the pvc board to place a narrow strip of thin plywood -- just long and wide enough to use to sit below those locations and to reinstall some longer screws through those clamps. I keep checking the existing clamps, and have tried adding some superglue in with the screws, and that has worked on two of them, for now. I don't want to have to take everything out to fix this issue. I don't have the tools to cut this piece of wood, but that is my plan. @Galileo on an Elite II Twin Bed model, it's below the curb side bed close to the stove location, where the plumbing equipment is mounted.

Congratulations and welcome to the family. It's exciting!

Thanks -- I did that. Glad to have this in the thread as a warning to others.

... and that brought a huge smile to my face. I can't wait to get back to fishing! I hope you had a good day, with lots of fish and no grizzly action.

UPDATE July 8, 2026: I arrived in Cimarron NM two weeks ago. On June 28th, I connected my TV to my friend's Oliver 7-pin and didn't get any error messages. I was not able to tow her Oliver though, because she is fully connected and set up in camp -- so this was not a definitive test. On July 3rd, I towed my trailer to Eagle Nest -- the TV dash warning lights came on within a mile, and my TT brakes were not working for part of the haul through Cimarron Canyon. They worked, then didn’t, and then they worked again. That is all the same as before. Today July 8th, my friend's schedule opened up and she was able to come hook up to my Oliver to test towing my trailer with her new Dodge Ram. She drove around for about an hour, trying to simulate conditions (I have noticed a lot of the time my warning messages come after I have been over rough road surface, or else after braking for a traffic light). We had no warning messages. After towing for about 10 miles (maybe 40 minutes), we stopped on a pull-out and reached out to @jd1923 who talked us through his testing method with the clamp ammeter. (Luckily, my friend has a clamp ammeter; mine is not a clamp style and I think mine would require penetrating or cutting the wires to test them.) EDIT: As noted below by @Townesw be SURE to unplug the Oliver from the tow vehicle before pulling the pin from the Emergency Brake for this test! Here are my notes: I struggled to pull the emergency breakaway pin out of the socket. John suggested a wrench and hard tug, not on the cable but on the pin. I used a wrench on the looped end of the pin, and it broke off. The pin itself was still inserted. (I did manage to get the pin out, which engaged the emergency brakes.) With the emergency breakaway pin still engaged, the ammeter showed 0.02 on the front street side wire. Once I was able to pull the emergency breakaway, this EDIT: Main Wire exiting the hull and feeding the front street side wire read 6.60 (as expected); the EDIT: Main wire feeding the street side back read 6.39 (about the same); then I measured the curb side front EDIT: at the wheel and it was 2.89 (as expected). I couldn’t get the clamp ammeter to fit between the shocks and the drum in order to measure the rear curb side, but these measurements seem to show power (from the emergency brake battery) running through the wires. I believe that this is not a definitive test. For one thing, the trailer is sitting still, not bouncing along the road, so there could still be an issue with worn brake wires inside the axles (or somewhere else). But it was worth testing, and without any error messages in my friend’s truck, it seemed more likely an issue on the TV side. She continued to tow my Oliver back toward my campground. At two stop signs, she used the gain control to see if my trailer brakes were working (and they were.) Then, as she braked on the highway to slow down and pull into my campground, the brakes seized up (or… something). She felt as though the trailer brakes quit working and that the Oliver was pushing her truck. I felt (though I wasn’t driving) that my brakes had seized — I heard the tires skidding on the road. As soon as we pulled into the campground, she used the gain control to test and the trailer brakes were indeed working. I could only see out my side, but the curb side wheels were turning, not dragging or seized up. We unhitched, and tried plugging the 7 pin into my truck — no error messages. At this point, a storm was coming down and the wind was picking up, so I put down my stabilizer jacks and got Oliver settled into the space. When I opened the door to my Oliver, I could smell burning rubber (I am pretty sure); no smell or smoke from under the aft dinette seat, and the wind was blowing so hard that the smell from outside was already dissipated. We looked at the highway and could see the skid marks — apparently only one tire, on the street side. Tomorrow I will raise the wheels and try to determine which tire it was. And then I will try to find and purchase a new Breakaway Emergency Brake switch and pin; I think there is one available in Raton (about an hour northeast of here). ** I don't know why my photos don't seem to show up correctly. This happens to me sometimes, but I am too tired to worry about it now. EDIT: I was able to insert them later, using my phone. Another EDIT for clarity about which wires were measured. **

@Martin White I sent you a private message with a few links and I hope that helps. You should see a notification about a 'new private message' near upper right corner (on my computer, that is where my notifications show up).

Oh my -- the biting insects. Sometimes I do forget about them -- haha -- thinking that I have escaped by leaving southwest Florida for the summer, but ooohhh no. They nailed me last year in eastern Wyoming at a low-lying campground. Also, @Galileo I find that it's not necessarily how far North you go, but how high in elevation. The mountains can really make a difference for beating the heat. Thanks @jd1923 that looks great. It might be the ticket.

I purchased my Oliver in 2022 with the upgraded Bulldog 2 5/16 coupler and have no regrets. I also use this collar with a slightly different ABUS lock. EDIT: I will also say that I use this coupler lock when I am hitched (visiting somewhere, for instance) as security. AND on top of that, as I like to boondock, I use the Fort Knox Locks box when I am not hitched, along with the collar lock. It might seem like a lot, but I worry a lot less with this setup. https://ftknoxlocks.com/shop/ols/products/bulldog-lock I'm sorry to hear about the issues with Bulldog. Hopefully they will straighten out and pull through.

In September, my friend and I are going to be camping in Theodore Roosevelt NP (the North Unit) and Badlands NP & Rapid City SD environs. After that, we are heading east and looking at spending a day near Fargo ND, and then a few days in the Sioux Falls SD area, to explore museums and local sights. West of Sioux Falls, we plan to go to the World's Only Corn Palace, in Mitchell SD. We prefer not to camp in the urban area. The closest federal camping I see is Cottonwood Recreation Area campground near Yankton SD (1.5 hours) and Left Tailrace near Thompson SD (2.5 hours). I've camped at Cottonwood and it was nice. But we would like to be closer to Sioux Falls. Any suggestions for the Fargo area and the Sioux Falls area would be appreciated.

Happy 250th Birthday to our great United States!

Thank you from at least one of us who isn't on facebook!

Thank you for the excellent images to go along with your description! This is very helpful.