AlbertNTerri
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Posts posted by AlbertNTerri
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Congratulations on retirement!! and welcome to the Oliver Family!! Going through the videos and literature in the Oliver University is a great place to start. A good set of rubber wheel chocks are a must and a set of X-chocks are helpful, nice pair of work gloves, a set of OX Blox, will all come in handy. Also getting some "dog bones" for the electrical hookup can come in handy so you can plug your power cord into sockets with different plug configurations. If you're getting the composting toilet then you'll need some coconut coir to get started
Otherwise, mostly less is better, you can always pick stuff up as you see the need for it, also there's a Walmart and Tractor Supply within a couple of miles of the OTT hatchery so most of the stuff you NEED can be picked up once you arrive.
here's some links. Happy camping, hope to see you on the road!!
OX BLOX: https://myoxblox.com/products/ox-blox-trailer-jack-block?variant=40142725349582
X-Chock: https://www.amazon.com/X-Chock-Wheel-Stabilizer-Handle-28012/dp/B002XLHUQG
Dog Bone addapters: (just an example, make sure to get the correct ends)
https://www.amazon.com/Camco-Dogbone-Electrical-Innovative-PowerGrip/dp/B000BUU5YA?th=1
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We had the OTT BMPRO tank sensors, had them replaced multiple times, they were accurate when they worked but the battery clip inside the sending units weren't soldered on well and kept failing resulting in the sensors not working. OTT was wonderful about sending out new replacement units but after 2-3 attempts I finally sent them all back and got a full refund. Now we just let the tank run out and switch over to the full tank as needed (old school way of monitoring). IMO the sensors are a great idea that don't work. We found a 30# tank to last about 2-3 days in the dead of winter using the heat all the time, otherwise a 30# tank will last several weeks if just being used for hot water and cooking.
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You won't have the braking capacity you would want during a panic stop down hill with a 6400 pound towing capacity. It will probably tow fine, it will be stopping in an emergency that will be the sketchy part. I forgot the exact number but our E2 loaded came in right around 6,700 pounds with the water tank filled and gray tank empty. If you found a van with 10,000# towing capacity then you're in line with an F250 which is a fine tow vehicle for an Elite 2. I'd go with that.
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Thanks for the recommendation, it just got added to the list for the upcoming maintenance
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We had the propane tank monitoring system included in our add-on list when we purchased #1125 last year. Since then we had to have multiple sending units replaced because of manufacturing defects, the battery clips weren't soldered well and kept falling off. When the units were "functional" they were only marginally accurate. After several attempts I finally asked for my money back. I returned the magnetic units and OTT sent me a check. I recommend against using them, the quality of workmanship is very poor and when they are working they are not reliable. Better to keep one tank turned on and the other off, when you run out of propane, go switch tanks and plan on filling the empty one. in the next day or two. We were getting 2-3 days during the most cold weather in Massachusetts this past winter, down to the low teens, no problem.
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so if i'm understaning, it is held in place by the pressure against the two flat walls with some "springy recoil" from the insulation strips along the back sides? ingenious!
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1 hour ago, John E Davies said:
I think it is a bad idea for several reasons.
A cargo tray and your cooler will be over 100 pounds empty. Adding a bunch of food will bring it way higher, that is a huge cooler. The factory bike rack is rated at 150 pounds cargo weight, I think.
The rear of an Ollie is dusty, wet and mucky, not a place for your expensive compressor to be operating while towing in inclement weather or on dirt roads.
The up and down motion will be severe, your food will be damaged and rearranged, eggs broken.
The theft risk is incredibly high!
Sun will beat on it and make it work extra hard. You can put an insulating blanket over it, that helps with heat gain but they are pricy. An ARB one is $400.
1Up makes a very nice tray, but it is about 50 pounds. Their “add on” tray for their bike racks is too small for your cooler.
https://www.1up-usa.com/product/48in-hitch-mounted-cargo-carrier/
Inside your truck cab is the very best place, is there a reason you can’t strap it down there? It would be secure, cool, dry and clean. Plug it into your round power socket.
Here are pics of a birch dog platform I built for my 2006 Ram 3500. Two 40 pound doodles up top, lockable gear storage under the right side, cooler area on the left. A soft “pantry” cooler on top of that with soft stuff. In direct sun I would put a sun shield over that window .
John Davies
Spokane WA
Great storage solution for the back seat of truck for gear and dogs!! I've been planning on a flip-up deck for the back seat of our F 250 and after seeing your setup it's going to be my next project.
(Way cute dogs too)
thanks John!!
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Thanks so much!!
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Previously someone described how to use google search to search the forums more thoroughly , could anyone please reiterate how that is done?
Thanks in advance
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November 2021 we bought a 2017 Ford F250 long bed, 6.2 liter gas, 4door, lariat basically loaded, a very nice truck, fantastic travel vehicle and superb tow vehicle. It had 95,000 miles on it when we bought it, more than I'd wanted but there were so few vehicles available it was what we had to do. We picked up our elite II the first week of June 2022. Since then we've gone from the factory to Massachusetts, to several locations in Colorado, then to San Diego, the grand canyon, back to Colorado, Mass and now in Key West. We'll be back in Colorado (Home) the beginning of April. We've logged over 13,000 miles on the Oliver in the past 8 months, it'll be over 15,000 by the time we're back on the western slope of Colorado. The F250 has been fantastic as far as being a tow vehicle. Unless you go crazy carrying stuff (like we sometimes do), It has more than enough capacity, you never really have to worry about being over weight. The greater breaking capacity of the 250/2500s and 350/3500s over the 150/1500s is the biggest sell point for me. We frequent the rocky mountains, and knowing that if we're coming down a steep grade we have plenty of braking power gives me great piece of mind. The only complaint I have is the gas mileage, If I stay light on the throttle and without our kayak on the roof, we've seen 14 mpg, but not very often. Once I put the kayak on the roof it dropped to 8-10 mpg. Diesel will improve that quite a bit but at a steep up front cost, and there just weren't any available when we needed to buy so we went with this one. I recommend nothing less then a 250/2500 for a Elite II, and if you can swing the extra cost, you'll not regret the diesel for power and efficiency. On the other hand, the extra $10,000 for diesel will buy a lot of gas and even at 8 mpg, you'll have to put on a lot of miles before you brake even spending the money on the diesel. Ultimately I hope to replace my F250 with a Cybertruck, but it is still at least a year before that likely becomes an option.
Good luck with your plans and we look forward to seeing you on the road!!
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On 2/18/2023 at 1:50 PM, angler said:
Hey Forum Pals,
I love all your comments. Thanks for the support, and it's great to have my rig back. Hopefully I will be on the road again in a month or so. I have been looking at the Proven Industries lock that Snake River suggests. My rig is about 30 miles away at the repair shop, so I can't easily look at it, but if my fading geriatric memory serves, it seems that the bulldog hitch is held to the frame by a single bolt. Does anyone know if the Proven Industries hitch lock covers this bolt or could the thieves simply unbolt the hitch and quickly attach their own to the rig. It also looks like Proven Industries also makes a killer wheel lock. Any one have experience with it?
This theft has turned me a bit paranoid, and I have looked at a few videos of how easy it is to freeze (liquid nitrogen) or pick many of the low to moderately priced wheel locks. I'd love to hear more people's thoughts on security. Obviously the best is indoors and locked up, but I am not in a location where I can manage that. Any one have experience with removable bollards in front of the rig? I suspect that I will go with multiple items. Hitch lock, wheel lock or two, tracker, and perhaps pulling the pin to the brake locks so they are always on. It's getting a bit over the top, but...
RE your comment above ( ...and perhaps pulling the pin to the brake locks so they are always on...)
DO NOT pull the pin to leave the brakes on all the time. Doing that will only work until it depletes your batteries then you will have no battery power, the brakes will release and the trailer can be rolled away...
On the other hand, it is recommended to routinely pull the pin to check to make sure the safety mechanism is functioning properly, this amounts to an emergency braking system in the event your trailer breaks loose of your tow vehicle on the road, it will help slow it down, or at least it will cause it to have skid marks into whatever it careens into as it freewheels into something.
I too have a Proven Industry lock but I upgraded the puck lock to an Abloy Sentry Cylinder in a Steel Ft. Knox puck lock body which I bought from Ft. Knox Locks. it ended up costing almost $400 for the set (Bulldog lock by Proven and an upgraded Abloy cylinder in a Ft knox Steel puck-lock) but for the nearly $100,000 piece of equipment I'm looking to protect it didn't seem out of line to spend that much.
Puck lock with ugraded Abloy key cylinder (which is virtually unpickable)
https://ftknoxlocks.com/shop/ols/products/abloy-sentry-cylinder-in-ft-knox-steel-puck-lock-body
Proven Industries locks
I didn't like the aluminum puck lock that came with the Proven Industries lock so that's why I opted for the Ft Knox puck lock and use it with the Proven Industries bull dog coupler lock. It's a very nice combination.
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#1 is to lock the outside basement door and the outside battery door
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2 hours ago, Ollie-Haus said:
Love all this comparing old ways with the new. I love my digital media and resources as much as anyone else, but we have always carried pertinent hard copies of maps for all our destinations. My wife as copilot always pulls out the paper maps to gain a mental picture of the route and what's around. Funny that the land line came up as we just got a new fiber optic data service connected all the way to the house. Very fast to say the least, but it included a land line if we wanted it, and we did. But the crazy part is we connected it to a 1970's Slim Line wall mount Bell Telephone in the kitchen. Looks like walking into my childhood when we come in the back door. Oh, and we get our television service via the good old aerial antenna on the roof of the house. 😆
they make a new and improved portable version of the wall phone now
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8 hours ago, csevel said:
Hello my Ollie friends!
Haven't been hanging out here much due to the lovely winter weather we get to endure here in the Northeast. My ILOVHER is tucked nicely away under her cover waiting to go somewhere maybe mid March. My son, however, is a traveling ER nurse and has taken a contract in Madera, California at a Pediatric ER. He has been traveling for three years, an ER nurse for six and has just returned from a three month stint in Guam! This Sunday he leaves again with his 25' Coachman Apex in tow.. He just purchased a '23 Ram Power Wagon and is looking forward to some boondocking adventures. Attached is a RV trip wizard map of the route he's planning. For all of you cross country travelers, do you have any must-see stops, attractions and/or campground/boondocking sites that you could recommend? Any route modifications you would suggest? I wish I could follow him in the ILOVHER but other obligations prevent it and I'd never want salt to touch her! Thank you for any help!
*As suggested here my son loves Nature, Off-Roading, Fishing Nut ~including fly, Hiking and Interesting Scenery, Photography, Rafting...the whole shebang!
If he doesn't already have the app, he should consider HipCamp. He'll be about 60 miles from the Grand Canyon south rim, if he hasn't been there then it's absolutely worth the effort. About half way between i 40 and the entrance is a Hipcamp named Eagle #1, Free Man Camp. We stayed there, they have full hook ups and multiple sites, also pull through sites. You access the place via a forest road which seemed a bit sketchy and a little wash-boardy, but once you arrive it was absolutely worth the effort, and it's only about 30-40 minutes from the park entrance. Even if he just stops on the way through and doesn't spend the night he will be thankful for the experience.
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4 hours ago, Rivernerd said:
35 years of litigation practice confirmed the truth of this observation to me. Yet, the odds are very low (but not zero) that the tightly-drafted Waiver of Liability, Assumption of Risk and Hold Harmless agreement being required by Oliver as part of the new rewards program will not be enforced. I appreciate Oliver investing the $$$$ to get it drafted, and insisting that it be executed before a trailer is shown.
Of greater financial concern to me than the possibility that the agreement will not ultimately be enforced, is that many thousands of $$$$ must be spent on attorneys to defend the claim before a decision regarding the effect of that document is ever made. In this country, defendants in such cases get to pay their own attorneys, "win, lose or draw." Much expensive motion practice by defense counsel is required before the enforceability of that document is even presented to the judge for decision. That is one reason we have an umbrella insurance policy, in case our regular homeowners' policy, and our vehicle insurance on the trailer, don't cover such a claim. We hope our insurance carrier will get to pay defense counsel to try to get the claim dismissed, not us.
That is why the indemnity provision in Oliver's Terms and Conditions is so critical. As presently drafted, not only must an unlucky Oliver owner pay its own attorney(s) to defend the claim, but Oliver's attorneys as well! As I have noted in earlier posts, I would only be willing to sign up for the program if Oliver deleted that Indemnification language, and substituted in its place a covenant to fully defend, indemnify and hold harmless Oliver owners who get sued for injuries incurred when showing a trailer. Then, an unlucky owner who gets sued should tender defense of any such claim to Oliver, and Oliver (or more likely its insurers) would be obligated to retain and pay defense counsel. It would then be Oliver's obligation to get the Waiver of Liability, Assumption of Risk and Hold Harmless agreement enforced, and the claim dismissed. No risk of financial ruin for the unlucky owner.
In my view, Oliver should assume this legal obligation, and simply pay the additional insurance premiums to cover that contractual commitment. Given the very small odds of such a claim even being made, the additional premiums for such coverage should be relatively low. I believe the profit from the increased sales, and the goodwill with its existing owners, would more than cover the cost of the additional premiums.
But that is a business decision only Oliver can make. Unless and until they do what I believe to be the "right thing," this retired lawyer will not be opting in to the Rewards Program.
I'm interested in hearing what the OTT lawyers who drafted the agreement being discussed will be willing to change without giving some pushback to Oliver. Given Oliver's history of fantastic customer service and the feedback we are getting from them, I believe that this is a case of the lawyers producing a document that fully protects their client (OTT) without regard to what it lays on us the Oliver Owners. It is my hope that in the spirit of their historical great care and service of the owners, that the people at Oliver who are in direct contact with the drafting attorneys will make known to them their (OTT's) desire to not place an undue burden, real or perceived on those of us who so willingly open our personal space and hearts to those who have interest in our trailers. Assuming that's the case then the lawyers involved should have no problem re-writing the questionable portions and remove any verbiage that could result in the undue liability suggested by Rivernerd.
(Thanks Rivernerd for the input)
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For any type of fiberglass repair or polishing/buffing, these guys are top-notch, they were recommended to me by 2 other fiberglass places in Denver, work was done on time, at the price they quoted and was better than expected. Any fiberglass work that I may need is going to be done by these guys. If you are not in Denver, it is worth the drive. They worked on our Trillium before we became Oliver Owners.
Calibre Marine Body Shop and Paint
5505 East 48th Avenue, Commerce City, CO, 80216
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Great Pictures, Thanks for sharing!! Glad you chose to stick it out, the memories will last a lifetime!!
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You have to play with the length, (and they are each different lengths). After a couple of failed attempts we figured out how long they needed to be and we've not had the TV fall since. We're currently have over 12,000 miles on our E2.
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We ended up several feet short of a power outlet the first week after leaving OTT with our E2 at a HipCamp. I called Service and they assured me that you can add a 50 foot cord to the 25 footer provided making 75 feet total but not to go any longer than 75 feet since it results in other unintended consequences (power loss and subsequent problems related to that). We've used the 50 footer several times but have never had to put the two together.
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sorry to take so long to get back on this, we've been on the road and havent been checking the internet. I'll see about getting some pictures and post them in the next day or two.
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Is the Starlink cable just a regular RJ45 cable?
albert
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One other detail, we opted for the 2-5/16 bulldog. The 2" is certainly adequate for the LE II but having a little over-build is not a problem in this case.
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We picked up our LE II in July 2022 and have logged over 10,000 miles across the country, through the rockies, now in the Northeast. Next week we're going from Massachusetts to Key West. Our Ford F 250 without a WD hitch has been fantastic, no need for a WD hitch at all. I have a Weigh Safe hitch and we have never reached 700 pounds on the tongue. We added a (probably too) large generator to the front basket (>150 pounds) from California to Mass since the temps over the summer were exceeding 105 degrees and our plan of boondocking through the desert suggested we would need more air conditioning than the lithium batteries were able to provide, and still never hit 700 pounds on the tongue. I recommend against the Anderson (or any other) WD hitch for your 2500 until you've tried pulling without it. I doubt you'll spend the money once you've towed your Oliver. A stock 2500 is a perfect vehicle for this trailer. (IMHO)
🙂
albert
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Wedging a custom sized pool noodle on either side of the TV (in the up position) has become one of our check list items for breaking camp. It took a couple of tries to get the right lengths (the left and right will be slightly different) but one noodle provides plenty of material to make a few attempts at it
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Disconnecting the Nature’s Head Vent Tube
in Mechanical & Technical Tips
Posted
hmm, I never had that problem, mine always just pulled or twisted off. Maybe applying some mild heat either with a hot washcloth wrapped around if for a few minutes will get it to expand enough to get it moving