DavidS

One caution. I read online that some air compressor units can blow oil or other debris into your water lines, and to avoid this you should use an oil-less air compressor. That is the reason that I bought a Viair compressor recommended on this and other forums, and I use it for my winterization.

I came up a different solution, using a split key ring and a zip tie, both of which I already had. I put the fridge power cord through the key ring. I could then put a zip tie around part of the electrical box and through the key ring. I think this should prevent the plug from coming out during travel.

Hi Kathryn, Congrats on your Ollie, and thanks for the nice delivery report! I totally related to "totally nervous newbies." That is what we were three years ago, also having watched many YouTube videos and assembled comprehensive checklists based on others' lists. Even as a three-year veteran, it is still important to use the checklist and to walk around the rig before departing. We have the Camco curved levelers, and we have had that sliding problem on several occasions. Based on the user comments on Amazon, we did buy the rubber mats to glue underneath. This helped on several uses, but then the levelers slid and shredded the rubber mats. We bought new rubber mats, and this time, in addition, I used a staple gun to try to attach the rubber more securely. So far so good. I would be curious to hear from users of the Anderson levelers if they ever have similar problems of the levelers sliding.

We went to the Inyan Trailer Rally, and it was really great. We went to the Oliver Rally in May 2018, so this was our second rally. The two rallies were quite different, but the common denominator was meeting delightful friendly people. I can’t say enough good things about Jeannine (Hidalga), the rally organizer. She did a spectacular job in communicating the information about the rally. Her email contained clear and concise information, with clearly marked website links, on how to register at the campgrounds; I noted that her email answered ALL of the questions I had. Her rally website had a comprehensive list of the many places to see. This really helped with our planning. There are a lot of neat things in the area, including Devils Tower National Monument, Mount Rushmore, Badlands National Park, Wind Cave National Park, Jewel Cave National Monument, and a lot of Native American historical sites. So I suggest you all check out the Eggshells in the Outer Banks Rally she is organizing. I was disappointed to learn about the problems with the Green Eggs and Ham Rally, but either of these rallies would be a very long haul for us, in terms of distance. I usually post my pictures of Ollie on the Where’s Ollie thread, but this time I will post them here. Jeannine had loot bags for all of us, and all kinds of info on all the recreation opportunities. The first campground was in a South Dakota State Park, where campsites were enormous. Lots of space, and we were right next to a lake. The second campground was a commercial one with a bar (drinks and snacks) that made for a nice gathering place for rally-goers. Here are the fiberglass eggs lined up on the grass. We had excellent weather for the most part, but after one rainstorm I caught Ollie in front of a rainbow. Ollie stopped at Devil’s Tower on our way home. Thanks again Jeannine, for organizing a wonderful rally! We did not see all the sights we wanted, but now we will go back to the Badlands of South Dakota, and we plan to camp in Custer State Park. The Bison at Custer State Park were amazing!

Muppy, SeaDawg's suggestions are really good. To access the pump and the plumbing you do not need to remove the drawers, but lift the curbside access hatch beneath the bed. The pump and valves are right there. My experience with a plumbing leak, in this thread, may be useful to you. You would need to remove the drawers if you wanted access to the kitchen sink plumbing, and that is covered in this thread.

I have a similar problem, as I store my Ollie under a roof. My solution is to install a battery disconnect switch. Easy to install, easy to use, and less than $20.

A reasonable question, but I think it will be okay if it moves slightly.

I decided to move the remote display for the surge suppressor to under the dinette, using mountainoliver’s method. When I did this, I looked at the space under the rear dinette seat and decided that I should try to use this space for storage. There is a lot of wiring in there, so I did not want to just put stuff in there on top of the wiring. I wanted to put a container in there so as to not interfere with the wiring. I measured the area and decided the maximum for the container was 8 inches wide x 15 inches long x 12 inches high. I found that the Container Store’s web site, in the storage section, has a nice filter in the sidebar where you can put in minimum and maximum sizes for each of the three dimensions, and then they show you what products meet that criteria. Using this I found the Light Grey Poppin 3x2 Storage Bin that measures 8 inches wide x 13 inches long x 8 inches high. Pretty close to a perfect size. The container comes folded up; you unfold it and place the bottom piece in to give the container some rigidity. It fit perfectly in my trailer. Fortunately, the container is not rigid, and if the fit were a little tight, you could trim the bottom piece to make it fit. It is flush up against the surge suppressor; I checked the instruction manual for the surge suppressor, and it does not have any warnings about providing cooling space around the unit. So I think I am okay. On this trip, I am storing extra beer in this compartment. BTW, the picture also shows a flat blue tray sitting on top of the wheel well. In this tray I keep the folders Oliver sent with literature and a DVD for prospective buyers that I show Ollie to; I keep some canvas tote bags on top of the folders.

There is a way to speed up draining the fresh water tank, besides waiting for the infernally slow drain. Turn on the water pump, and open the valves on the outdoor shower. Drains in about ten minutes.

Based on what I read on the forum, initially I got a bunch of 12 x 12 milk crates to store things in the basement. However, I found that the 12 inch dimension was constraining. My specific complaint was that I had to coil the hoses very tightly so that they could fit in the 12 inch container. I also needed multiple boxes to store the essential items, and the space in the boxes was not used efficiently. I have now purchased a larger plastic storage box, 15 11/16 wide x 21 5/8 long x 10 11/16 high. I think this size box is widely available; I got mine at Costco. I like this box for several reasons. 1) It is much easier to coil my hoses to fit the 15 inch dimension. 2) The 15 inch width fits perfectly through the basement door. 3) The 21 inch length puts the box right up against the wall that is the side of the night stand for my Elite II Twin Bed model, maximizing space usage. 4) The box is large enough that the one box can hold all of my most routinely used items: water hose, water filter, 2-way garden hose splitter and pressure regulator, 30 amp electrical cable, circuit/voltage tester, and my X-chocks. I also have a coaxial cable in the box, but we have used it only once. There is still room left that I could use for other items. This one box holds all of the things that I need most frequently. Additionally, the size of the box makes it easy to put all of these items into the box.

I use one of these Camco water filters when I use the City Water connection, or when I fill the tank via the Fresh Water connection. On numerous occasions, I have used the boondocking port to fill the fresh water tank, but for some reason, I had never used the water filter. Until today, when I tried to fill the fresh water tank via the boondocking port with the water filter inline. No water moved through the system when the water filter was present. My theory is that the water pump does not provide sufficient force to overcome the resistance provided by the water filter. I would love to hear from anyone who has successfully used a filter while importing water via the boondocking port or has any significant insights.

In order to use the coupler lock I purchased, I needed to use a drill to enlarge the hole that originally held the coupler pin. I purchased the Trimax TCP100 Combo Pack, which includes three locks: a hitch lock, a coupler lock, and a receiver lock. I liked this kit because all three locks are "keyed alike," meaning they use the same key. The kit also included a rugged canvas carrying case. I put the hitch lock in the carry case when towing. When the trailer is in storage I remove the ball and ball mount from the tow vehicle, and I can fit them into the carry case. If you read through the forum you will find hitch locks that are more robust and more expensive than this one. I think any hitch lock is a useful deterrent, and I liked the keyed alike feature. Note that there are several complaints on the recent reviews for this product that complain that the Receiver Lock is too short for a Tacoma. The Receiver Lock included with the Trimax TCP100 Combo Pack is the Trimax TS32 Universal Receiver Lock, which has a length of 2 5/8 inches. One of the reviewers with the Tacoma solved his problem by purchasing the Trimax T5 Extended Receiver Lock, which has a length of 3 1/2 inches. The locking part of the two Receiver Locks appears identical, so you should be able to swap them to keep the keyed alike feature.

I used Mike and Carol's great instructions to move my television to over the rear window. I bought this television mount from Amazon, and it says it can hold a maximum of 44 lbs. Maybe you can find out what mount Oliver is using currently.

The female coupler for the propane quick connect has a lever that must be open for the male adapter to fit in, and must be closed for the male adapter to fully seat in position. I learned this the hard way on my first camping trip following pickup when I could not get the BBQ grill lit. I ended up disassembling and re-assembling the BBQ before I figured out the lever on the quick connect. Hope this solves the problem.

My sister told me about the Enchanted Highway in North Dakota, which extends from the towns of Regent to Gladstone, off of I-94. The road has a series of large sculptures made from scrap metal. I have not been there, but the photos look very interesting.

I have the Oliver Rear Bumper Bike Rack holder with the 2-inch receiver. They put a sticker on there stating a 100 lb weight limit.

Ollie was at Deer Creek State Park, near Midway Utah.

I think C/S refers to Charging Station.

We have the Dometic RM2454 fridge in our Ollie, and we have found that it can take a long time to get it to the correct temperature when it is warm hot. If I bring the trailer home from the storage place and start up the fridge, after 24 hours the fridge is only in the 50's or low 60's. It can take another night to reach the correct temp. This procedure can be a problem. For this trip, I was getting the trailer on Monday, and we wanted to depart today, a Tuesday. Yesterday I started the fridge on propane at 7 AM and brought the trailer home. Yesterday it was close to 100. At 5 PM, the fridge was in only in the low 70's. And then I had an idea. We have a bunch of blue ice containers in our freezer at home, and I moved them all to the trailer fridge. In four hours the fridge was in the mid 40's. This morning the fridge was at 36°F. It seems so obvious, but hindsight is always 20-20.

It depends on how much energy you anticipate using. The microwave can use a lot of power. Clearly, @rideadeuce would not have added additional solar panels to go from 350 watts to 520 watts if only a 100-watt panel could be sufficient. There was a good thread discussing energy use HERE, and you could conduct an Energy Audit as described HERE.

Overland, We have camped with friends with an Airstream, and I think you are mistaken. I looked on the Airstream web site, and it says: "All Airstream Travel Trailer exterior lengths are measured from the center of the hitch to the end of the rear bumper." On Airforums people said they are measured from "ball to bumper." One major difference is that the tongue on the Oliver is much longer than on most trailers. Airstreams have a smaller tongue, and thus the cabin on a 23 foot Airstream is longer than on a 23 foot Oliver. I doubt the difference is five feet.

Hi Monica! Welcome to the Forum! I think this is the reading light, from Amazon. The picture below left is from Amazon, and the one on the right is from elsewhere on the web. I think you need to drill a hole in the fiberglass for the wires, and attach the bracket (2. Fix Bracket onto surface) from below. Then attach the lamp to the bracket with the hex key.. You would then need to connect the wires into the 12V system in the wiring harness, which is at the back of the overhead compartments.

Sometimes I need to dump and flush the black tank when I am alone. My solution was to buy a small digital water meter that I leave attached to the black tank flush hose. The black tank holds 18.5 gallons, so I usually halt the flush when it hits 14 gallons.

I think I am like Mike in doing research on the web before tackling a project. Sharing information here, with a good title for the post, is a great idea. Before using Mike and Carol's instructions on moving the TV, I did a lot of research on drilling thru fiberglass. This web site helped me on drilling thru fiberglass, and this web site on using a hole saw. I also followed John Davies' advice to put down masking tape to prevent splintering of the fiberglass gel-coat.

Oliver has one unique feature that makes it exceptional for boondocking, and that is the ability to use the rear water port (on the web site they call it the EZ Winterizing port) and the water pump to add water to your fresh water tank. It works quickly and easily. I don't know of any other trailer that has this feature! Hey Oliver, you ought to make a video on how this feature works and put it on the web site! It is a great sales feature!