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Raspy

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Everything posted by Raspy

  1. Sorry for the delay. Yes, we are on the road and I'll post some pix when I get a chance. Last night was incredible! The Texas panhandle between Amarillo and Erik Oklahoma. Twelve tornadoes reported. Extremely heavy rain and hail. Continuous lightening for many hours. People parked under overpasses. A semi blown over. And we were tooling along in the darkness. Excellent! Love it! We stopped at the rest stop at Erik, OK and it was full of trucks ducking out of the chaos. I was wondering how strong the wind would get and if Ollie might get blown over. A lot of it was a cross-wind, and it was pushing us around. My 1 ton Ram/Cummins is about as stable as they get, but still....... Ollie was a real trooper and just followed along totally stable with no sway control. We could not hope for a more stable design! After we stopped for the night, water was sheeting down the windows as Ollie rocked from the gusts. I sat, with a glass of wine and smiling, while looking out the widows at the proceedings. Too loud in here to talk comfortably. Then the power at the rest stop went out. This morning, Ollie and the truck are nice and clean. We'll press on to Big Piney Rest Stop in Arkansas tonight and then to Florence Alabama for a couple of days on the Tennessee river next to Muscle Shoals. It took us a couple days to get out of Nevada with a stop at Valley of Fire, east of Las Vegas and some on-line business. But now were cranking out about 450 -550 miles per day. Had to stop at Meteor Crater for another look and at Rudy's Texas Bar-B-Que in Amarillo. Fuel is getting gradually cheaper as we go east. Still getting water up into the shower pan each day and don't know why. The gate valve is closed, we haven't used the bath sink and the pop-up drain is down. Oh well. See you guys soon! John
  2. Here's a great documentary about trying to hit 100 MPH on the way to Yorkshire with "Tornado" pulling a full passenger train. It is amazing they'll stay on the track at that speed. The old train engineers and enthusiasts are pushing it to the limit as the firemen shovel and the engineer opens it up. Looking for stretches of track with no speed limits and enough range to see what she'll do. Love it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJTljCZNCqc&frags=pl%2Cwn
  3. Monday in The Valley of Fire, east of Las Vegas. On our way to Guntersville.
  4. I could not do it in the way you described. That's how I wanted to do it, but the seals were glued in and extremely hard to remove. Next time will be easier since I didn't glue them back in.
  5. I just inspected and re-packed my bearings too. It was time. I estimate about 15,000 miles on them and I had not looked at them previously. I'll be traveling with new bearings, races, high quality seals, grease and a punch to knock out the races. Don't forget the punch for the races, if you are going prepared to do the work on the road! I was told by the Dexter rep that they used to sell brass punches for this, but no one I talked to could find them in the catalogue. The concern is cracking the race, so the punch should be softer than the bearing race. There has traditionally been a little relief area where the race seats that helped you to get a purchase on the race with the punch, to knock it out, but my hubs have no such relief. This means you need a hard drift punch with a good square edge. But not hard enough to crack the race. Or a very large flat bladed screwdriver. Hmmm. I settled on a 1/2" diameter cold rolled steel rod about a foot long. With a nice squared off end. The next problem is removing the stock seals. Dexter says to glue these in with some hardening type gasket sealer. And apparently they do, because the seals are really hard to remove. It's a bad idea to pound them out by hammering on the bearing! So, I found, after several attempts to do it in a more straight forward way, to grab the seal with a very large Channel-Lock style plier and then pound on the pliers to lever the seal out. These seals cannot be re-used after this exercise. This is hard to describe, but we'll probably have a chance to do it in person at the rally and I'll show you my technique then.
  6. I have the Renogy portable 100 watt solar suitcase and it is a very nice setup. I installed a plug on the battery compartment door and wired it inside the compartment directly to the batteries. The plug is a CNLINKO 20 amp plug with cover, found on Amazon for about $16. I made a cord from a #12 extension cord and made it about 20' long. This allows me to set the panels anywhere around the trailer and pointed to the sun. Here's a link to the plug: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0795464LP/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 The other end of the cord gets made up with the Renogy male and female connectors that plug into the collector wires already on the suitcase and coming out of it's controller. All pre-wiring is done on the suitcase and it's simply plug and play. https://www.renogy.com/mc4-solar-panel-cable-connector-pair-male-female/
  7. Woody, I got out of the Coast Guard in the early 70s too. Wondering where you were stationed, and also hoping you can make the Oliver Rally.
  8. John, All very good points. I had a lot of fun with a pop-up camper on my truck for years. I like to explore back roads and you make a good point about wondering if there will be a place to turn around. And, of course, parking is always a hassle. A number of times we have wanted to stop somewhere and went on because of no place to park. The thing that wore me down about the camper was not being able to go anywhere without taking it along. No side trips after getting set-up somewhere. And the fact that the trailer is so much more convenient once there. The people we got our Ollie from decided right away that it was not right for them because they were in a separate vehicle when camping, unlike a motorhome, for instance. They felt more secure in a small motorhome. And they did not like backing up, which doesn't bother me, but can be a challenge. It seems that by the time they got back to CA from Hohenwald, they were done with their Ollie. It was a mistake for them and a great opportunity for us.
  9. Dwain, If you boil down the concerns to their most basic elements, it seems to be something like: If I continue with the routine I've always done, I'll be safe. If I stray from that routine, I'll be unsafe. It's the fear of the unknown and nothing more. Or, put another way, if I drive on the freeway, in the city, and go about my life (where there are X number of traffic deaths, X number of muggings, and X number of murders every year), I'll be safe. But if I take a risk and go out into the forest, where there is almost nobody around, I'll get robbed and killed for sure. Following that logic, why even go outside, or to the store, or on any kind of vacation? Or why vote for anyone other than who is feeding you the rhetoric of fear? If you long for a breath of fresh air, want to see the open spaces, listen to the quiet, or explore some natural wonders, you have to get out there and do it. And an Ollie is the perfect little cabin you can take with you to do it. I must say that wondering about these basic questions reveals that you are looking beyond the confines of the security trap. Good! Spending the night in the forest, or out in the desert, and just looking and wondering at the night sky, the sound of a breeze in the trees, or a babbling brook, will help you take stock in your life and the meaning of it. Making some new friends that are doing the same, will give you renewed confidence in humans. Hearing a coyote late at night, or watching bats swoop in for a drink from a pond as evening sets in, or hearing a bird screech, or poking at the campfire with it's quiet crackle and warmth, as you study the Milky Way, will reset your clock. And as you drift off to sleep, you'll know you've been changed. Your insecurities about being in a new place will melt as your fascination about it grows. But, of course, you must take more responsibility for your own safety by taking food, water and supplies, and a way to communicate as much as possible. As in being wherever you are, you should always be aware of your surroundings. Much of this comes down to addressing emotions with logic. Those two are incompatible and one cannot answer the other very well. But reason can bridge the gap. Curiosity can fuel desire. Desire and curiosity can lead to adventure. A taste of adventure can lead to more adventure. A desire for more adventure and good experiences can lead to acquiring an Ollie. An Ollie can lead to virtually unlimited adventure. None of this can occur without a bit of courage and curiosity. I say grab your courage by the tail and let it pull you out of the routine. Cautiously at first, if need be, at a rate the works for you. But grab that chance before it's too late. Or before fear of an imagined bogeyman keeps you hiding under the bed thinking you're safe. Find your adventure and relish it. We all have our demons, do they rule us, or do we live in spite of them? Step one: Get an Ollie and attend an organized Casita or Oliver rally. They are totally safe, fun and organized. You'll have chances to make lots of friends and get lots of ideas. Open house tours will give you a chance to meet others and look at their trailers. These are social events based around camping. Step two: Visit some State or National Parks with organized campgrounds. A safe, organized and a wonderful way to see natural wonders, like Yellowstone, Yosemite and the Grand Canyon. These are camping trips with no risk and easy access to resources. Step three: begin to visit some BLM lands in more secluded areas, if you wish. There is nothing wrong with steps one and two and they may be just fine forever. But you might want to get out farther, or find more seclusion. If so, Death Valley awaits. The National Forest lands await. Lakes, forests, deserts, hot springs, Bristlecone Pines, and all sorts of wonders can act as a backdrop to your escape and wonder. These are mainly boondocking trips where you are more on your own, but no too remote. Good examples are: an eclipse trip, a hot springs search, a place off the beaten path to wait for a campsite in Yosemite, a desire for solitude, an animal study of some kind, a gold panning trip. Or a trip to the east coast of Baja to fish and swim in peace. Or a few nights amongst the ruins of a ghost town as you ponder the past. Or simply a romantic getaway with your sweetie for a few days.
  10. In spite of Jeep pulling all the stops to get to "class leading" status with the Gladiator, I would not want to pull an Elite2 with one. The Jeep is narrow and underpowered, an LE2 can easily weigh 6,000 lbs. and the bed of the Gladiator has most of it's volume behind the rear axle. So the cargo in the bed is lifting the front end and making things worse. The tow rating was partly achieved by doing everything they could think of to cool it. Meaning, there is no head room at all. Too bad they didn't go with the early Gladiator front styling instead of insisting on the off-the-shelf Wrangler front end. I have a 3.6 liter V6 Pentastar in my Rubicon, with 4.10 gears and a stick, and the numbers don't seem to match the experience. It's fine for slow 4 wheeling, but it strains on the highway in the mountains while just pulling itself around. Why not get a Rebel with the Hemi? Lots of off-road equipment, wider for better stability, nearly the same length with the Quad cab, compared to the Crew cab only Gladiator, more power in a more durable engine and rated for more towing weight. The Power wagon is very nice too, but $10,000. more, worse mileage and a lot heavier. As far as width is concerned, the LE2 is almost exactly the same width as a full sized Ram. Anywhere the Ram will go, an LE2 will go. The wheels roll in nearly the same path. So, it's easy to see around and it follows along nicely on back roads. Mid sized trucks are narrower, but you are still limited to where the trailer will fit.
  11. Excellent! See you there!
  12. Well that sucks. Hope you feel better real soon! Are you still planning to go to Yellowstone?
  13. Tom, Here are the weights for our 2015 LE2 measured under each wheel individually and under the tongue. Five separate measurements with a certified scale, by Frederick at Bullards Beach, Oregon, last year. I am surprised that the rear axle is carrying more weight since it's an equalizer suspension system. I'm puzzled that the right rear is 325 lbs heavier than the right front. Also interesting is the galley side is heavier than the battery side. We were set up and camping on a level surface with some gear not in the trailer (approx. 200 lbs) and the tanks about 1/2 full. We have the (4) flooded cell Trojan T-105 bats, and two 30 lb propane tanks, about 1/2 full. Six gallon water heater also full. No solar on the roof. Left Front 1,155 Total left side 2,385 Right Front 1,160 Total right side 2,645 Left Rear 1,230 Difference right to left 260 heavier on the galley side Right Rear 1,485 Tongue weight with all gear aboard approx 10% average. Tongue 570 Total 5,600
  14. I'll dig out the record tomorrow and post it.
  15. Tom, The equalizer suspension system makes the two tires on each side carry the same weight, or extremely close to it. Right to left can be different and I don't recall what the difference was when I had mine weighed. We weighed each tire and the tongue. I have the values, but not in front of me. The point is: a few pounds difference is not enough to worry about if you are safely within the pressure per weight recommendations on the chart. Why push it as close as possible with the minimum pressure? I could not find the exact wording, but on similar charts I've seen, the pressures were the "minimum" required, not the max. From actual measurements, tires run hotter at lower pressures. I can easily read the difference between 60 and 50, for instance. 35 would make me nervous. And no, I'm not claiming to know more than Michelin about tires, as was implied in an earlier post, as some false reason to vary from the chart. It would probably be helpful in this discussion to determine for sure if Michelin means max pressure, recommended for all situations, or minimum allowable, in their charts. I don't see any reason to run the minimum pressure unless I'm in the desert on a rough road at slow speeds.
  16. I consider the chart to list the absolute minimum acceptable pressure. Even you are not using the Michelin charted pressure, and you are doing it for a perfectly logical reason, as am I, and many others. So maybe you agree that Michelin doesn't always know best for every situation. 40 PSI on the Michelin chart would be for a total trailer weight of around 7,200 lbs. You must be loaded pretty heavy if that is the number you used as the "recommended" number. 1,650 X 4 = 6600 + 10% tongue weight = 7260. Mine only weighs 5,700. ready to go. Fortunately, we are all running LT tires where we can vary the pressure for good reasons and not risk a blowout, as seems to be the case with ST trailer tires. I've been advocating LT tires on trailers for years.
  17. From the Michelin chart, it seems Michelin recommends 30 -35 PSI. I consider that to be far too low and my reasoning is actual tire temperature measurements at different pressures, and the fact that a leak would make matters even worse in a shorter amount of time than running 60 PSI would. Off road is a different story, but I'm referring to highway pressures. Just curious, why are you running 45 PSI when the Michelin chart shows 30-35 PSI?
  18. After my microwave tried to escape from it's cabinet twice, I redesigned the cabinet to include a wine rack, utensil storage, key hooks and a smaller microwave that cannot get away. It also provides an additional work surface when open.
  19. In previous discussions about tire pressure recommendations, it seemed the pressures listed in the charts were the minimum allowable pressure, not the recommended pressures. That Michelin chart just seems to be the recommended pressures and I could not find where it said "minimum". For instance, it shows 35 PSI as recommended for 1500 lbs on a single for the 225/75r16 E. This would be 6,000 PSI total. Fine for most Oliver LE2s. But to me, that is way too low and is what I use off road to smooth out the ride in the desert at low speeds. I'm sure it would run hot on the highway. I have run most miles starting out at 60 PSI cold. This isn't rock hard, but runs cool. At 50 PSI I can feel the tires are warmer under the same conditions. Still OK, but generating more heat. That means a little more rolling resistance too. With sustained high speeds in the summer out west, the tires run hot. I don't like the idea of making them even hotter from lower pressure. Starting out at 80 PSI and then going higher from driving on hot pavement at speed, seems like it would be harder on the trailer suspension and on the tires. I don't have a TPMS for the trailer, but if I picked up a nail, 60 PSI would give me more time to spot it at the next gas stop, than 40 PSI would.
  20. Spike, I don't have the soft start either. I've tried to run the the AC from my 3,000 watt inverter, but it won't start it. I think it would for sure with the soft start. If you wanted to run the AC for eight hours, idling the truck for that long seems like a bad idea and I'm sure it would use a lot more fuel than a 2,000 watt generator. To charge from the truck, you simply pull the battery tray out about 1/2 way and attach the jumper cables to the two terminals that connect to the leads going into the trailer. Find the two cables that leave the battery box and they are the ones to connect to, at the batteries. I disconnect from the truck whenever we are camped in order to free up the truck and to level the trailer, so I can simply turn around and then reach with the cables I have. Charging with the truck is faster than with a small generator and quieter. I seem to never do it for more than an hour, and usually about 1/2 hour, depending on how low they are and what I'm running at the same time. If you want to run your AC from a 2,000 watt generator, you'll have to have the soft start, as you know, but you will also probably have to have the batteries already charged so that some of the power is not being used to charge batteries, while starting the AC. With a soft start, it might work better to run the AC from the inverter and use the generator to charge the batteries. This could work if the inverter could handle a larger starting load than the generator. That is what I was trying to do, but my inverter would not start the AC.
  21. I would definitely opt for the (4) batteries over the (2) batteries. We have the (4) 6 volt wet cell Trojan bats and it does make camping more convenient. I will not run the generator every day. We do run the heater as needed, we use a lot of lights, use pressure water and we charge the computer and phones from a small plug in inverter. We also watch movies sometimes and run the DVD player on another small, plug in inverter. At about three days in, the batteries are at 50%. At that point the charging plan kicks in, or it's time to move on to the next place and they get charged while driving . We don't have the rooftop solar and haven't set up the portable system yet. I was using the 2,ooo watt generator, but now, I leave it at home and charge with jumper cables directly to the trailer batteries from the truck. This works very well as it charges faster than the generator, is quieter, I don't have to carry the generator with us and I don't have to carry fuel for it. If you use the same amount of power you've been using, and have (4) batteries, you'll be able to charge half as often, or if you end up using twice as much power, you can charge like you are used to. The battery compartment is directly over the axles and is well designed to carry the weight. It's one of the great features of the Oliver trailers. Batteries outside, but not on the tongue.
  22. Mike, I think you just identified the perfect customer for the new tracking system: No room left on top and not wanting a portable system. The tracker would solve both of those problems.
  23. Just pointing out the group of considerations it will have to address in order to be practical. I'll be eager to see it at the rally. It's not simple negativity, it's a group of problems or decisions that solar companies have had to address for a long time. Issues that everyone should consider before putting an expensive solar system on their trailer. Don't you agree? Nobody said it would be a required purchase, where did you see that? If it's practical, it will sell, if it's not practical, it won't.
  24. Tracking systems have been around, for ground use, for a long time. The problem with them has been that the cost was more than just adding another collector. A larger array running at a lower efficiency, can produce just as much as a smaller array that tracts. Then factor in reliability (which will be unknown for this new product), weight on the roof, the power it uses to do its tracking (which takes away from it's net delivery), more wind resistance, and possible maintenance. Factor in that you still have to park in 100% sun, all day and the value becomes questionable. When towing, the trailer is charging from the tow vehicle, so no solar is needed. The only time it's needed is when parked where there is no shore power. With a system on the ground, you can park in the shade, turn it occasionally during the day for semi-tracking if you wish (not really needed if the panels are pointing south and tilted to latitude), you don't have to clean the panels up on the roof, you have less wind resistance during storms or when towing, less vulnerability to hail damage and no weight on the roof.
  25. I have a little inverter, similar to the one John included a link to. We use it to charge the computers, or run the DVD player. Then I have a very small one, about the size of an avocado, that plugs into a cigarette lighter socket and has a 115 receptacle. It's used to charge a phone, or the laptop. Coffee is always made on the stove. I also have a 3000 watt inverter, carried in the truck, that I can use if needed. I connect it with jumper cables and it will run a compressor or I can plug the trailer into it. With that, everything in the trailer works, except the AC.
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