Boudicca908

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.) 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 front street side wire read 6.60 (as expected); the street side back read 6.39 (about the same); then I measured the curb side front 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. **

@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.

My first propane tank flagged "empty" about a few days ago, so I decided to get it filled today. It's definitely NOT empty, and the other tank (also not close to being empty) has a partial Red Flag on the regulator. I'm not using that much propane, only for cooking, as I'm on shore power for the fridge, and not using any heat or hot water. Reading here that some recommend turning tanks off and disconnecting the system before reconnecting. I will try that first. But I also am reading recommendations to "whack the regulator".... how hard? I don't want to damage it. And if someone could respond to this earlier request, that would be great. I would go ahead and order a spare if I had tips on a decent one to use.

I first sweep with my hand-sized whisk broom and then crawl on my hands and knees and clean with a mild dampened towel to pick up the remaining grit and dirt. I do this often. On my Oliver, like Ronbrink's, the only really ugly section is below the shower door and I have been wondering about how to tackle that yellowed section. Glad for this thread. And I always remove my shoes at the door and wear 'house slippers' inside. It's a real wonder how so much dirt gets in and all the way down the aisle to the beds!

A picture worth a thousand words. Thank you for that!

Obviously, I missed it! Thank you.