Steve Morris

Who was at Patoka Lake in Indiana during a recent heat wave? You made it in the background of “We’re the Russos” latest YouTube video. https://youtu.be/Fnykd-E1qw4?feature=shared

The external SAE port goes directly to the battery, not to the charge controller. Even if it did go to the charge controller, you wouldn’t necessarily be able to tie into it. In my case, the Oliver mounted panels are 24 volt, where my portable panels are 12. Mixing voltages drags the 24V panels down to the lower input. And if both your installed and portable panels are the same voltage, you might need a larger charge controller to handle the combined input. I’ll eventually mount a controller inside for convenience. But having the setup that I have now has already saved the day for a friend while camping with no hookups. He was able to use my kit to keep his battery charged enough to run the fridge instead of having to go home early.

Gary, send me a message with your address. We’re away right now, but when I get home I’ll see if I can find them. I recently cleaned my garage, and now I don’t know where anything is! 🤣

Mine almost never go down the tubes. One side occasionally, the other not at all. I’ve run string trimmer line up from the bottom, but that doesn’t seem to do anything. I haven’t popped the cover, yet

Very nice! Foy sells three sizes, standard (24.25 X 28.125), Extended 29.25 X 28.125), and Mega (29.26 X 32.125). Yours is even longer, by 3" each side. That's a lot of space you've made available. Thanks for sharing!

That’s been one of my only complaints on our trailer. Why would they use black material top and bottom!? It’s like an oven underneath! Even having a reflective top would be a huge benefit.

No, I had not read that question earlier. It should function fine either direction. The only negative would be if the weld that holds the tube to the plate were to fail, the collar wouldn’t capture the cross pin, allowing the rack to become lost. But I’m pretty confident that the Reese receiver is far better than the no-name options available, and have not seen a review with a weld failure. Ours has been fine for over 12,000 miles now.

Mine frequently end up in the silverware drawer under the stove. I’m missing one now that’s completely gone. If you find a replacement, please post a link.

Some ford trucks are missing a brake pedal spring, which can result in total loss of braking. Here is the recall information: https://www.nhtsa.gov/?nhtsaId=25V401000 Summary Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2025 F-550 SD, F-450 SD, F-350 SD, and F-250 SD vehicles. The brake booster pushrod retaining spring may not have been installed, which can allow the pushrod to disconnect from the brake pedal and cause a sudden loss of brake function. You can search to see if your vehicle is effected (or if any vehicle has a pending recall) here: https://www.nhtsa.gov/recalls

8 ~Oliver Door Lock ~Basement/Battery door ~Master tongue lock ~Bike rack locks (all keyed alike ~2 Bicycle keys ~Cable lock across tongue box ~Toyota key But at camp, I only carry the door lock key, and while travelling, just the door key and the Toyota key. I have two duplicate sets stashed, because I once arrived at camp with just the door key. So I spent four days without unhooking from the truck, leveling, dumping, or external power...

It gets better!

Current location: Fish Creek Ponds Campground site 222 in the Adirondacks. Absolutely beautiful! The view from the door

Lowrider! We are currently at Hamlin Beach State Park, in New York, on the shores of Lake Ontario. On the way here, I realized that I’d never seen this Great Lake before, despite several trips across New York over the decades. It is a very nice park, with brand new bathroom/showerhouse combos, and lots of beach, shelter houses, laundry, playground, etc. Tomorrow we leave for Fish Creek Pond in the Adirondacks for the six night TearUp ADK rally.

Prompted by similar posts on the Facebook groups and here on the Oliver forum, I finally assembled my portable solar kit. I’ve had a Bluetti 200W solar panel (which does not have an integrated charge controller) for several years to help keep the EB70 in my truck charged up. I added a second after we got the Oliver, as well as a Vicrton MPPT 100/20 charge controller. My original intention was to interrupt the line between the solar port and the battery. But I really didn’t want to do something that invasive. So instead, like many owners before me, I built a suitcase case to supplement my suitcase panels. A Cabela’s plastic ammo box works great to mount the charge controller, an SAE solar port, and an MC4 PV port. It also holds the 10 gauge SAE and 30’ 10 gauge MC4 cables, inline fuse, polarity reverser, and MC4 tools. All in a handy box. This will be handy next weekend, when we leave for a ten day trip to New York’s Adirondack area at Fish Creek Pond. There are camp sites all around the lake; every one a waterfront spot. But no hookups and lots of trees. So hopefully 800W of solar panels will keep us well charged.