jd1923

Deleted the booster and the front camera when I removed the Sat dish and did fiberglass work to fill all the holes and clean up the top front of our hull.

🤣 me too! Wow, 3700 miles oneway from here to Anchorage. Really a long trip for those of you who live SE! If we were to adventure up, I think we would take the ferry for one leg. Check out what Apple Maps shows when I looked up the route. Take your pick Severe Weather, High Winds or Flood Warning. Obviously it’s too early in the season to drive up that far north!

I believe the mod you suggested, a switch has been added by a few owners with mentions in these pages. I tend to believe the more you make it difficult for a thief, the more damage you will have when he’s done doing his mischief! Jack up or down doesn’t matter, or the fancy hitch locks, when all they have to do is wrap a chain around it to drag it away. Not a big market for hot Oliver parts! Maybe with a Winnebago or Airstream we would have more worries.

This rings a bell and I stand corrected, thanks Val. Now I remember an RV we had was gas and when the fuel tank was 1/4 full or less it would stop feeding fuel to the generator. Likely a lot of RV generators are gas. For trailer use, pouring gas is messy and a safety hazard, like Ron wrote, LP is cleaner/easier for his small generator. I'm glad to be generator-free now. There was a time with only two lead-acid batteries that I would have to run the generator in the afternoon to recharge them every couple of days, running a small inverter without any solar.

You have 12VDC in the attic and adding a USB-C port is easy enough. What @Snackchaser Geoff was suggesting is that his powered solution and the device you suggested earlier would boost voltage for a longer distance cable run. Part of me says forget the extra length and mount the Mini on the roof of my truck right next to the Parsec cell antenna! 60+ days out camping so far, only a few days were in the woods and 50’ away, we’d still be in the woods! Most of our camping will always be in the SW where tall trees start at 7K ft elevation. I could always move the truck too since Wi-Fi distance on the Parsec antenna is over 100 ft. Keep us posted on your install!

It looks like @Geronimo John and I were thinking alike and writing at the same time! Great minds… 🤣

The simple answer is NO, and since when does an E-rated LT tire have thin sidewalls? Please do not take advice from Overlanders, Van-Life or or Rock-Crawler types! 🤣 The Oliver is simply a 7K LB rated trailer. Ours weighs in at 6500 LB and 40 PSI is enough according to pressure-weight tables, so I go with 45 PSI. Yes, OTT suggests even more pressure for legal reasons, since not everybody checks tire pressure each time out. https://tirepressure.org/lt-metric-tire-load-inflation-chart More pressure AND more plies in the tire construction makes the tire stiffer, the ride harsher, which is not helpful to Oliver trailer systems. Many owners have drawers and cabinets opening, which is a sign, but a stiff ride also causes real damage. You want a softer ride, in fact the E-rated tire is already too stiff. Most 7K trailers run on ST tires. Many Oliver owners have run the OEM tires at 80 PSI because that's what the label says on the side of our older hull and that's what OTT used to spec which was very wrong. Like you, we very often go, "down some bumpy dirt roads and truly off-gridding." There are more wash-board roads where we live and travel than most of you. You need strength in the drive tires on your tow vehicle, but the trailer should glide slowly over the rough terrain as much as possible. Think, why do off-road types air down when the terrain is rough? (to make them soft and flexible for better traction). And based on your location, cold weather also makes tires stiffer! We owned a class-C where a prior owner install G-rated 12-ply tires instead of the spec for Load Range-E. The ride was horrible. Every time the front tires hit grooves on the highway (almost everywhere) the front-end felt like it was being hit with a 100 LB hammer! Another example - we own a Lexus GX AWD truck. I added a 2-inch lift and suspension goodies. This truck comes OEM with P-rated tires (P for passenger). I wanted LT tires for our dirt roads. Everybody goes with an E-rated tire which makes sense if you are always pressuring down and crawling rocks but we are on city roads and highway 90% of the time. I purchased a Cooper AT tire because I could get the size I needed in a Load Range-C which is stronger than the P-rated tire but not stiff and harsh as E-rated. We run at only 32 PSI (not towing) and the truck glides down most roads. LOVE the ride and was so happy with this purchase decision! I will likely replace our Oliver tires with Range-C tires when the time comes, since it is all we need and the Oliver will ride more smoothly at lower pressures. We only need 45 PSI, not 80 and certainly not 110 PSI. BTW, welcome to the OTT Forum and congrats on your first post! I hope that my explanation helps! JD

Thank you @JT Long and @Snackchaser. We have the “Speed Demon” kit also from MobileMustHave. The Pepwave modem runs on 12VDC too, installed in our tow vehicle. So far we are only connecting by cellular antenna. Something like this is in our future, connecting a powered-up Starlink Mini to the WAN port of the modem. 😂

Steve, you should add an electrical sub-panel for your garage. You can replace the 20A double breaker with a 60A. Run 8 AWG wire from there to an inexpensive 60A panel. Buy a panel kit that includes some 15A or 20A breakers. Try to separate the wiring to freezer, etc. to separate breakers in the new panel wherever possible. You could add a 30A breaker and a 30A RV outlet on an outer garage wall. You have 150A service, so this is possible for about $200 at the Depot. I’ve added sub-panels for 2 outbuildings, our spa, and one in the kitchen so that we can have the fridge, microwave and air-fryer all on separate 20A breakers. You can bring your home out of the 70s. Ours was built in 1980, but I learned in the 90s, on my first project, a 1943 farmhouse with a pole barn that needed power. One new sub-panel is a good weekend project after some good planning. Best wishes, JD

If that’s left to right, new 12” brakes, bearings everything… that’s decent. If that includes their installation labor that’s a very good price! 😂

If label is missing or hard to read, look at the backside of the wheels. If the drum brakes backing plate shows it is bolted on in a 4-bolt square pattern, you have 3500# axles and 10” brakes. If you see 5 bolts in a pentagon pattern, you have 5200# axles with 12” brakes. Good to check, just to be sure, in case of mis-labeling!

I believe you meant you replaced the 3500# axles with 10" brakes (on 4-bolt backing plates) to 5200# rated axles that have 12" brakes on 5 bolts backing plates. The 5-bolt backing plate takes the larger 12" drum brakes or disc brakes like @ScubaRx has, which are not available on the 4-bolt platform. I'd upgrade for the better brakes more so than the Nev-R-Lube feature (someday).

I’ve never seen a generator catch on fire. I would not want a gasoline model on a trailer and don’t use generators anymore. Built-in ones are always LP.

My suggestion is that you join a Ford F150 forum to ask this question where there is specific towing expertise for your truck. That’s what I do for my TV. I’m a member of the Cummins Forum and the wealth of their experience is amazing. On a Ford truck forum you can certainly read the experiences of many F150 owners that have installed and used all of the aftermarket suspension helpers that you are considering. Best wishes an hope this helps!

Love the fox! It was the perfect snow, snowing while we were sleeping. It only stuck to soft surfaces since two days ago it was 60F and the streets and sidewalks were well above freezing. This never happened when we lived in the Midwest, LOL! We did shovel the decks to keep the redwood in good shape and we took a truly enjoyable late afternoon walk! 😂