DanielBoondock

@jd1923 that’s a clever solution! I’d rather not be internet connected all the time (boo!), but since I need it for a ‘retirement’ business with my son it’s a business expense writeoff (yay!). Anyhow this looks super simple and clean, couple questions … Do you put it away at night in case of a two legged wildlife? Also if you leave the trailer, seems like there might be a lot putting it away and out again, or not? The reason for a tall pole seems (to me) obviously not satellite distance but rather to get above obstacles including the Oliver, for better line of sight. Thoughts? I have a WIFI on the trailer, so this would be the upstream WAN, either hardwired if on the trailer or as a hotspot (e.g. WIFI to WIFI), how far away do you usually place the dish? Non related question - you always carry an extra 35 gallons? I like the idea, we’re testing it this week on a trip to our relatives. I filled the tank and have 30g in the truck bed, and we’ve made it last nearly a week. Water is our biggest constraint so I really like the idea of always being prepared, just wondering how that’s worked out for you?

Oh back in the day I never buffed/waxed anything, except windshields occasionally with wax (and now ceramic). Too much work for something that doesn’t last - ceramic changed all that and this is my first use of it. The Ollie is special though, my prized possession. I’m trying to keep it as pristine as possible.

Nice design actually for maintenance, should be easy to remove and clean out compared to rigid pipe

Finished off the SiO2C6 coating! Took one 250 ml bottle exactly for two coats over the whole trailer, including two Seafoam storage boxes (tops), two awnings and various metal bits like the doorstep. Except for the solar panel, mainly I want to get that bug catcher front edge but will do the top too. But I bought the 30' new trailer kit which has two bottles. What to do with the unopened second bottle? Once a bottle is opened it needs to be used within a month or so Option One: Inside I'm considering doing the inside too, at least strategic parts of it. The bathroom is a prime candidate to make shower cleanup easy. The countertops too, they're a thick gelcoat I believe which picks up fine scratches. I'll do a small test and see how well that works out. The floor rounded edges along the aisle is a prime candidate, those take a lot of wear. I've been waxing them but that doesn't really do a lot honestly. Checking with an AI opinion, Gemini is saying 'yes you can but generally not recommended'. Main reason being the solvent fumes (I have 3M cartridge chemical respirators and we have the ceiling fan), and basically its overkill, which is reasonable. Presently I'm using DuraGloss two step - base marine wax with a quick clean touch up, which works OK but not like a silicon coat. Option Two: Refresh coat Other option is to save the bottle (storage temp is important) until the next year or year and a half, and apply a refresh top coat. I think I'll do this Procedure (notes to my future self) Use that unused bottle of Glidecoat nano wash (deep chemical wash) Check the surface, rough spots (previous coating glitches) and scratches Use leftover SONAX EX-04-06 with foam pad, 4500 RPM, three passes crosshatch Two towel wipe off 3'x3' sections Alcohol/GC Surface wipe two towel Apply coating in a cross hatch pattern, let flash 30-60 seconds Two towel leveling (wipe off cross hatch, second towel in a circular method) Also do the missed parts Underbody (why not I've got plenty to use up?) Solar Truma plastic covers Front door, door step aluminum and other exposed aluminum Rear bumper metal

Love the name! Watch out for any bird like woman with a good vocal range

By MY2026 its now accessible from a hinged hatch under the outside table that replaced the older propane fridge vent and there's no port under the drawer. You've got access to the back of the fridge, the overflow tube and further back you'll even find a 120V for the induction that theoretically could be used for something. Problem with the monitors is they get inaccurate unless you're perfectly level, and generally aren't super accurate anyhow. There's a new system in the 27's apparently, don't know if its actually much better.

Four season is a squishy topic as its not defined precisely. You can use a canvas tent four season (our boys did it in Korea in hard winters.) It just depends on how comfortable you want to be, and how much energy you have. I'll break it down Cabin heating. Most people focus on this; it just depends on how efficient you want it to be. The Oliver design (double hull with radiant barrier) is more optimized for the heat (desert) than the snow (mountains). But it handles both excellently. My last trip went from the hot desert to the snowy mountains in March, it just took some propane. If you want a more efficient trailer in snow the Bigfoot is probably the only one better, but you're just saving some propane and personally I found it a cramped trailer. Now which do you want to optimize? Actually for heat is better because you need power to cool it down, which is scarcer than propane (unless you have an electric truck bwahahaha 🙂). So I think the Ollie is an awesome choice as it optimizes on the most energy scarce side of cooling. But any small trailer with decent insulation I think is fine in very cold or hot conditions (not Airstreams! There's a reason why they have two AC's and you'd better have full hookups) Humidity This is the more important issue; humidity management is the critical issue. On the Bigfoot (for example), I think its merely OK. Just anecdotal but I followed a couple who had one on the East Coast and dealing with humidity was a big deal. The Oliver however deals with this extremely well. no wood, nothing that can get damaged for one thing. I took it to Lassen the first week it opened. We lived in a deep fog bank for a week. Thick - you couldn't see the rest of the campground at times and it was a cold humidity which is bad. But the condensation was absolutely not a problem. The windows watered up, but as they're the new flush mount its outside the gasket, I just opened in the morning and squeegeed off outside. In the cabinets all the clothes needed to be pulled off the walls - yes. But the condensation just dripped down into what must have been designed in on purpose which is a condensation trip 'tray'. Impressed the hell out of me, Oliver raises the cabinet bottoms with a (honeycomb probably) panel, with a channel along the sides. This means it just drips down and collects there, I would just go and soak it up once a day. Only other thing was keeping stuff off the closet walls. Anyhow when I got it back down it took a day to dry out 😅But there wasn't a single trace of humidity damage or anything inside. Conclusion IMO it truly is four season. No trailer is perfect for all conditions or use cases. The Ollie optimizes somewhat more for hot than cold, but the advantage of is it's cheaper/easier to heat a trailer than cool a trailer. In roasting hot conditions the walls are cool to the touch due to an air gap, no heat channeling and radiant barriers. For condensation (hot or cold) its probably best in the business.

Assuming its the same as the 2026 its super easy, just remember there's basically two modes you use the majority of the time. Pump or city: For the back ports you either fill the tank directly (streetside) and use the onboard pump, or you get pressurized city water (curbside) with the pump off. Boondock fill: If you want to fill unpressurized from a container, use curbside, with all the valves reversed. Including the one that's far at the back of the trailer in the T. Reverse all the valves again to use the pump normally. That's it. The third configuration is for maintenance; winterize, sanitize or descale I (and others) only use the onboard pump and fill the tank with softened water. I have a small RV softener installed under the twin bedside table used during filling. I also have a few small inline bullet hose softeners I might use sometime for pressurized water, who knows.

Yeah after I wrote that I thought “nah, it’ll be an upgraded I”. But $2M?? I knew those molds are expensive but that is nuts. Well $500k per mold I guess makes more sense. You make a fiberglass one-off model (the ‘plug’ I think?), then build the fiberglass mold off that. Still seems high but what do I know … Edit: easier bet; first reveal will be at the Rally

From their Twitter/X feed. Single axel, I’ll guess larger than the I but smaller than the II

First re-torque of the D-bolts, surprised at how much they stretched, And looked what I noticed, check the marks on bottom of the frame this isn’t Alcan which has only done 30 and barely moved by the trail cam, it’s Dexter. In only 4k miles that flabby old suspension banged (HARD) against the frame, bottoming out. Might as well hit your trailer with a huge sledge hammer. I suspected it was bottoming out, that seems like they’re practically inverting. No wonder those springs break 🙄

Compared to my last one DeWalt puts in a much stiffer spring so it's a bear getting the pusher in. I've gone all-in on your approach, or will soon. Trying to find where I put those 45 zerks to finish it off. Also have the LockNLube. How well does this work with the Alcan, do you find you need to lift the camper to relieve pressure and get grease in? Unfortunately I'm not super confident that all the grease holes are horizontal, they might have shifted in installation.

By the way some automotive history if you’re not familiar and are interested; none of this is new. EV’s were actually the second type of drivetrain after steam, invented in the 1830’s. They were very popular in New York City in the early 20th century where fashionable (and rich) ladies would take them shopping. Internal combustion came later and the problem was that crank. It was difficult and possibly dangerous to crank the engine. When the electric starter was invented they took off and dominated. And getting gasoline back then was difficult, you had to buy it by the pint at the drug store - the ones that had it 😅 Hybrids too have been around a long time, Leno has a 1916 Owens Magnetic which was quite innovative with an EM drivetrain. He’s got all the historical stuff including steam cars

I took a hint from @jd1923 and got the DeWalt battery powered grease gun and separately had to buy the case. Driving me nuts how dirty and greasy this ones gets, and awkward to bring with you, this should be easier. Only thing is that filling it with a fresh tube was a trick, I’m thinking it would be easier to do it from a bulk container and let the motor do the work. Anybody try this, John?

Good to hear thanks! I’ll forget about it. Yeah if it settles down it’ll be perfect. 😅🤣😂💯💯💯