DavidS

If you bought them from Amazon, you can find out the details on the purchase as well as the supplier. Log onto Amazon, and click the Returns & Orders button at the upper right. There is a Search All Orders field, where you could enter Timken or Ball Bearings. It will return your order details, along with a link to the exact product you ordered. Amazon never forgets....

In another thread, @Nan asked about Maintenance schedules. @John E Davies responded with a link to his post with spreadsheets for Travel Logs, Service Records, and Inventory. John mentioned that you might need Numbers (IOS or Mac) or Excel (Mac and Windows) for these files. If you don't own this software, an alternative is to use free software for spreadsheets, such as Open Office or Google Sheets, which is part of Google Docs. I am posting today because I just updated my lists of Springtime tasks for the Oliver, including Sanitizing the Fresh Water System. I try to keep documents like this and my campground checklists to a single sheet of paper so that they fit into a sheet protector. I also took some info that Oliver posted on regular inspection and maintenance, and put them into three single sheet documents. I am going to upload them as Word documents (docx), so that they can be edited to fit your needs. Please let me know if you would like a pdf document, or an rtf version that can be edited with other software. I probably missed some important maintenance items, and I hope others will chime in. Maintenance - Spring Items.docx Maintenance - Sanitizing the Fresh Water System.docx Maintenance - MaxxAir Fan.docx Maintenance - Water Pump Filter.docx Maintenance - Window Tracks.docx

At the 2018 Oliver Rally I met @DeanCHS1980, who camps in a Casita. He has been interviewed on a number of the RV Atlas podcasts. On one of these podcasts he was interviewed about grilling and smoking. He recommended the Akorn Kamado for smoking. For transporting to the campsite, the Akorn Kamado does weigh more than the Green Mountain or the Traeger grills that @The Shackelfords mentioned.

The model that Oliver sells and installs is a WiFi Ranger. I just looked at the Oliver optional upgrades web page, and it is the same model, but they now describe it on their web page as "WiFi Booster." When I bought my trailer their web page called it "WiFi Ranger," which is the brand name.

If you google search for WiFi Ranger, the first hit will be the website (https://wifiranger.com) for the company that makes them. A lot of info there. The google search page also lists reviews about the product. This is copied from my earlier post on Tethering a Hotspot to WiFi Ranger : "The WiFi Ranger has two inter-connected routers, the Sky router on the roof and the Go2 in the cabinet above the dinette, and it provides a number of useful features. First, it creates your own local network, which is especially useful if you have multiple devices. Logging in to your network is easy, as your devices can remember the password to your local network. Second, the rooftop antenna can boost the WiFi signal from a campground, a Starbucks, or a truck stop, from as much as a mile away (see post by RVGeeks). If your device (phone, tablet or laptop) is connected to the WiFi Ranger, you would have a much stronger signal and faster speeds than if you connected your device directly to the WiFi source. Third, the Sky router on the roof allows you to access your WiFi signal outside the trailer, as much as 1000 feet away. This allows you to surf the web at the picnic table or by the river. When inside the trailer you should connect to the interior Go2 router."

We have the access door to the basement, and we really like it. I even put it in myself! But the basement access door is a minor feature compared to the nightstand drawer! I think it would be foolish to buy Oliver’s lagun table option, as currently configured. With the lagun table in place, you can’t open the nightstand drawer! I hope Oliver will adopt Overland’s excellent design for factory installations of lagun tables, because it is a better solution!

When I walk around in the trailer my wife complained that that trailer moved around. We have found that X-chocks do reduce this movement.

Mark, I was like you before picking up our Oliver. Never pulled a trailer, and had never visited a dump station. I did a bunch of research online, and here are some of the pearls of wisdom from my notes. To answer your specific questions: The whole process probably takes 10 minutes. I have rarely had to wait in a line to dump at state and national parks, which is where we mostly camp. Sometimes there is a small line, and as @Mike and Carol said, be prepared to that you can be as quick as possible. If you want a composting toilet, by all means get it; but I would not make that decision based on long lines for tank dumping. Also, with a composting toilet you will still need to dump your grey tank. You don't need to dump the black tank every time you dump your grey tank. You want to let your black tank be at least 3/4 full before dumping, and you want to have your grey tank pretty full, to use the grey water as a rinse for the sewer hose. If you are dumping the black tank, then do it first. Then the grey tank which provides the rinse water for the sewer hose. There are a lot of forum threads on what is the best type of sewer hose, but everyone agrees that you want to have a clear plastic elbow so that you can visually see that the water is clear and thus the rinse is complete. If you are going to do a black tank rinse, you should do it after the black tank dump, and before the grey tank dump. I read somewhere that one should rinse the black tank every other time you dump the black tank, and I usually follow that advice. Like @Mike and Carol said, if I am going to do a black tank rinse, I will do it twice. Also you want to buy a dedicated black tank hose that is a different color than your fresh water hoses. You should also get a Y-connector so that you can connect your black tank hose to the campground water supply without disconnecting the fresh water supply. I saved some links when I was researching on best dumping practice, including this website, and two YouTube Videos: The Oliver design makes all of this easier, as there is a dedicated water inlet for the black tank flush, and the rear bumper is designed to store your sewer hoses. You probably do not want to do your first tank dump in a situation where people might be waiting, where perceived peer pressure might force a mistake. Dump your tanks the first few times at a campground with full hookups, so you don't have to hurry. Make yourself a step-by-step checklist. Don't stress about it! Soon you will be a pro!

Jason Walmsley migrated the forum to a new platform last October. The forum is so much better, faster, better features, and much better search tools. However, I have found that many of the links I had saved to forum pages no longer work. Sometimes I can find them by using the Forum Search box with the words from the title of the post (which are found in the link). Sometimes that does not work, and that seems to be the case with the bullnose hitch lock. But I did a google search and I think I found John Davies' original post on a website called sourcesoftsolution, https://forumtest.sourcesoftsolutions.com/topic/1331-bullnose-hitch-lock/ .

You might send a private message to @ScentFreeInSC, who also have chemical sensitivities, and see what their experience has been. You can see all of their posts HERE. I hope your recovery from Lyme's disease progresses, and you are on the road to better health!

That is a level. I followed @John E Davies's excellent installation instructions HERE. I positioned it so that I can see it in the tow vehicle's rear view mirror. With curved levelers under the wheels, it is really easy to level!

The picture is from a BLM campground called Goose Island, near Moab. The campsite is right on the Colorado River. More pictures and info in this earlier thread.

We have a 12 gallon tote that we carry in the storage basket on the tongue, along with fresh water containers. We use the tote to offload grey water, and the fresh water to refill the water supply. We never use the tote for black water.

This discussion has been interesting for me. I just read about ARB fridges, and they appear to be very high quality, with prices equally high. John Davies says his fridge draws 2.3 amps, and for overnight use that would be 2.3 amps x 18 hours = 41 amp-hours. John, do you hook up your fridge to the trailer when you are boondocking, i.e. not on shore power? We have a small Koolatron 12V cooler that fits between the front seats and the folded-down rear seats. I selected this model because it is 8.5 inches wide, and fits perfectly in this space. It also has good reviews. We primarily use this cooler for drinks, lunch, and snacks that the passenger can access while we are driving. On longer trips we have used the cooler to extend the capacity of the trailer’s fridge. Sometimes we have brought it into the trailer at night and plugged it into a 12V outlet. However, thus far we have only done this when we have shore power. I now know that this cooler draws 4.5 amps, so overnight use would be 81 amp-hours. Doable, but one would need to carefully monitor the batteries. There are major differences between the ARB units and my Koolatron cooler. The ARB has an efficient compressor that draws only 2.3 amps, while mine draws 4.5 amps. The ARB also has robust insulation to help maintain temperature without power, while the info I find online suggests my unit has much less insulation. The ARB units are much better engineered, but they also cost ten times as much as mine. Here is my idea, and I would like feedback. In another thread, Overland mentioned using a 12 volt battery pack; this item has 3 amp-hours. So I am thinking about battery packs. Sometimes we park the car and go for a hike, and as the engine is off the temperature of the cooler is not maintained. I would like to connect the cooler to a battery pack to power the cooler during the hike, and on occasion I might use the battery pack overnight. I can find more robust battery packs at Amazon, from 11 amp-hours to 38 amp-hours, that have good reviews. Would this strategy work?

Still a very good price!

$75 for the Outland fire pit sounds like an incredible bargain! We have one of these, and we really like it. In addition to the virtues that @Patriot listed, we like that the propane fire pit connects to Ollie's propane quick connect (adaptor cable needed), that unlike a wood fire it does not blow smoke in our faces (Susan really likes this!), and it is quick and easy to shut off, without needed to douse the fire with water. Our last trip before purchasing the Outland fire bowl was boondocking on BLM land near Moab. We had a nice wood fire, but water is a precious commodity to use for putting out a fire!

1) Yes, Bluetooth should work with the 2017 Oliver. Mine is a 2016. 2) AC power should probably be off. 3) If you don't want to turn off all of the DC power, you will need to pull the fuse that controls the thermostat. On my Ollie the fusebox is under the dinette. Or you could disconnect the batteries to shut off all DC power. 4) I contacted Dometic customer service (customersupportcenter@dometic.com) to ask which model to get. I told them that I had a Dometic Thermostat model 3313194, and they asked for the brand and model of the AC unit. I told them a Dometic Penguin, model number 936000724. They replied that I had model number 641935C751C0 (I think this is the capacitor part number), and that the part I needed for a Bluetooth CT replacement thermostat is 3316255.000 for white and 3316255.011 for black. Based on their response, it sounds like there are a number of models. My email correspondence with them is attached below. Dometic emails.pdf I purchased my Bluetooth thermostat from Panther RV for $77 with tax and shipping. And a piece of history for those who are interested. Bluetooth wireless technology was named for Harald Bluetooth, a Danish king who ruled more than a thousand years ago. The naming was based on the analogy that Bluetooth technology would unite devices the way Harald Bluetooth united the tribes of Denmark into a single kingdom, and the Bluetooth logo consists of runes for his initials, H (ᚼ) and B (ᛒ). I am a big fan of Wikipedia!

Nan, I have a spare thermostat I can send you if you want. Mine is hull 164, and it had an older model thermostat than the photo @Townesw posted. As I posted in this thread, I replaced my thermostat with a Bluetooth model that allows us to turn on the heat or adjust the thermostat from our warm bed, using our phones. We really like it. One thing I noticed after the replacement, is that the buttons on the regular thermostat were not always responsive, and that the iPhone app worked much better.

Yes, that is my Ollie. There are few of us pulling an Oliver with an SUV instead of a pickup. My guess is that Jason wants to buy the rights to my photo to use for promotional purposes. Do you think he will send me a big check? No, not the Publisher's Clearing House kinda big check....

I am the original owner. I assume the other elbows are also plastic, but I have not looked.

It was a cracked plastic elbow. I replaced it with a brass elbow.

HERE is a thread with various options for relocating the surge suppressor display. I followed @mountainoliver's suggestion HERE to move it under the dinette where it is visible from the door during campsite setup. You can snake the cable out through the electrical box, and no drilling is needed if you use command strips to attach the display to the trailer wall.

John, I appreciate the kind words. I use two cameras, a big Canon digital SLR and a compact Sony RX-100. These Badlands NP pictures look good because of the light. It was the middle the day, and the pictures would have been washed out if it had been blue skies and bright sun. The clouds softened the light and give good visual interest. When camping, I really enjoy sleeping in, snug in my warm bed. However, I sometimes force myself to get up right after dawn to go out and take pictures. The best light is at the beginning and the end of the day. The other thing I do is to shot my pictures in the RAW format instead of the camera's default JPG setting, and then "post-process" the pictures on the computer. More info on RAW in an earlier post HERE.

After having had a Pex Elbow fail while camped in the middle of nowhere (details HERE in an earlier Sharkbite thread), I recommend all owners get Pex repair parts and tools in advance. After my experience I suggested a crimping tool with clamps ($26.99), and some brass elbows ($8.99) from Amazon. Also some 3 foot segments of Pex tubing from any hardware store; Amazon seems to sell Pex in 50 or 100 foot rolls. I also keep my Pex stuff in the water pump compartment.

John, I gotta disagree. We went to Badlands NP last year and it was gorgeous. In western SD, I also recommend the Black Hills, especially Custer State Park. Pictures from Badlands: