jd1923

Could be a coincidence. But there was once an old hull with an Air Fryer upgrade. 🤣

Email sent. Mike wrote on Where's Ollie something like, this one is "good enough to frame!"

This is exactly what we have. Was OTT installing these back when our hulls were made? I assumed it was OEM but maybe previous owner upgraded. I realize many newer ones look like what Bill showed above. The shut-off on ours was tight but works well after a CLR soak. In shower head mode, pressure not so great but good enough.

Taylor and Dave are exactly right. So how do we get away with a 2500 diesel with only 8800 GVWR? We don't have a cap. I don't want to drive a truck with a cap again (after 18 year with previous truck). Then since we don't have a cap we don't need a slide. Cap and slide could be 500 LBS, more on a long bed. We ALWAYS carry a FULL 35-gal fresh water tank in the bed (300 LBS). My truck toolbox, who knows what it weighs now full, but it has extra hubs for both truck and trailer and other parts, tools to do most roadside repairs (no maintenance stuff, I do that at home). I can change a hub, even press a new axle bearing with tools always in the TV. Check with our friend Steve who has the tools on board to do anything Oliver, almost anywhere! Best wishes @ScubaRx! I like this statement and I'm an engineer who has actually taught statistics. I forget where Dave lives, but Taylor lives in that quiet part of CA near OR and I believe it rains a LOT and has that salt ocean air! He must have a cap. I love the fact that we don't need one. Yeah, sometimes I worry about theft, but try to keep my head up above those kind of thoughts since we left the west-side of Chicago 32 years ago! I LOVE an open truck bed, makes me feel like a kid again with a first truck, just pile up the chairs, break camp in minutes, reach in and grab anything, it's easy! But if you travel in rain a lot an open bed would be a PITA! When we see rain is coming all we do is put our two camp chairs in the truck (if we're in the Oliver), or in the Oliver when towing. The toolboxes are waterproof, the fridge is covered, and the rest of the stuff will get wet whether in the bed or at the campsite. The extra weight of the Cummins is likely equal to the cap and slide in a long-bed truck. And 2WD over 4WD saves 100s of LBS! Except for body height, 4WD would be a plus! But what a pain to repair! I did the starter motor in a 4WD 4Runner but first had to remove the front driveshaft to do so. We're certainly not light packers but I still have over 500 LBS available capacity when fully loaded (in both the TV and TT). No kayaks for us, but that little Weber grill is not enough, we have the dual-burner Napoleon, much heavier. We have lots of cooking equipment, pressure cookers and more, can cook over our fire ring with multiple attachments. Then there's a truck bed Dometic CFX5 45L fridge full of water and meats, etc. A diesel truck is more expensive, but our older 2WD Dodge Cummins was actually 20% of what the same truck, 4WD brand new would have cost. Diesel fuel prices today are worse than ever, diesel now being over $6 and $2 more than regular gas per gallon! I still MUST have the exhaust brake, just drive one down a hill and you'll know. Greg from CA, this is just a bunch of my ramblin's, things think about, consider or dismiss. Like Taylor wrote, "Calculate." Start a spreadsheet and keep working it. You have loads of time, think long on what you want, so don't rush the order! 😎

I don't see any margin in fact they're below spec (see table). This table only goes to 600" which is 50 ft and roundtrip for DC-DC wiring from the battery bay in the Oliver to the starter battery in a full-size truck is closer to 80 ft. The tables are ultra conservative being concerned for voltage drop which is less of a concern in RV charging. But STILL! Note row 3 where 20A on 12 AWG wire is only good for a 120" or a 10 ft run. I went with 4 AWG wire for the 50A Orion on a cost basis, while some were warning go with 2 AWG. It is what it is and the 7-blade wiring is only 12 AWG. You'll fit right in here! 🤣 Got my hydraulic crimpers and cable cutter when I first got into this 2 years ago! (Used once on eBay, they only used a couple huge dies). You'll have a new hull and can order your options. So, you won't have the 20 +/- mods I've done, but perhaps a few regardless.

I fully agree until you want to run an efficient variable-speed A/C on inverter/batteries. Not required most of the time in the PNW but most often in the SW. With DC-DC charging, we can run the Chill Cube A/C while towing and SOC% will be the same as when we started our drive!

Charging on the "7-pin connector" has come up now twice in two days! (see "Rich Solar" post). Not sure why OTT would think to install a 20A DC-DC charger on the 12 AWG black (aux) wire of the 7-blade coupler. For years, they had been disconnecting that wire on lithium installations. I'm pretty sure 20A is too much current for 12 AWG wire over the roundtrip distance, truck alternator back to the trailer house batteries! Yes, you are correct! 10A can run on 12 AWG, I believe for 20A charging 10 AWG is required (so the OTT DC-DC charger installation is truly unsafe)! Your delivery is next year. If it was me, I'd ask them to skip this "DC-DC charger" installation. Or have them do the trailer side of a proper DC-DC installation with dedicated wiring. IMHO, the black/aux wire should be disconnected in all travel trailer installations, given the trailer has house batteries. Most DC-DC installations run dedicated 4 AWG wire (or heavier) for a 50A charger. We have been averaging +40A on the road. And yes, I upgraded our truck alternator to handle the extra amperage. @Chuck and Beth, who already has the new DC-DC charger installed by OTT, has set theirs down to 10A to be safe. For us +10A charging is nowhere near enough. Say you have OTT's best Lithionics 640 Ah batteries installed. A 10A charge will give you +1.5% SOC for every hour towing. So 40A provides +6% SOC per hour. Wish we had the new 70A Orion but boy-oh-boy copper wire is about as expensive as diesel fuel is these days. 🤣

There shouldn't be any real struggle unless adding DC-DC charging. The trailer only pulls up to 12A when braking. Taillights etc. are negligible given LED lighting. There is the black wire on the 7-blade coupler which should be disconnected. Otherwise truck and trailer have mostly independent electrical systems. Given the standard alternator is 190A, the 350A dual on the same truck has net 160A free! The dual-battery HD alt upgrade option was first established for northern trucks to have enough battery power to operate a snowplow. DC-DC charging is one of our favorite upgrades, hands-down! Say you install the new Victron 70A Orion (with your new setup I would for sure go 70A) and you net +60A actual. That means for every hour you're towing you're adding a 60 Ah charge back to your house batteries. Tow a 4-hour half-day and that's +240 Ah, wow! The Orion 70A will need some heavy gauge wiring and should get +40 Ah even at idle! I posted this in another thread about electrical options earlier today. Also relevant here, something you may want to consider after getting your Oliver. OTT can do the trailer-side installation, but they don't work the truck side. Any auto accessory installer, a good truck shop, could work the full install, or DIY as many of us have!

Me too! I would never want to descend a mountain road without an exhaust brake, never again. But, if I could trade ours for a gasser, just for the month of October, we could afford the trip to The Rally! I’d have to trade it back upon return. Love our old TV!

This is an exceptional option! You could easily add the Victron Orion 50A or even the new 70A DC-DC charger with this 350A dual alternator!

Yes, you have a viable system. Let us know more as you get real camping experience. The Black/Aux wire on the 7-blade connector is 12 AWG. A 10A charge/load is the high end. Neither the F150 nor standard trailer wiring is made for DC-DC charging. The original purpose for the black wire was power aux lighting in trailers that do not have house batteries. To be safe, I wouldn't use it and your rooftop solar on a sunny day is already giving you more than a 10A charge (to power the fridge)! I used 4 AWG wire to connect the 50A Victron Orion and some said it should be 2 AWG. Anyway, it's no big loss since through the years, OTT had never installed DC-DC chargers. Real DC-DC charging looks like this:

Welcome Greg, very exciting! It's going to be a long wait for May to get here... 🤣 Great to be planning your tow vehicle, asking for input early! I'm like the 1 in 1000 who lives in the mountains and tows with a 2WD truck. I'm not suggesting it but I do like the simplicity in maintenance, the weight is on the rears when towing. I enjoy the lower center-of-gravity when towing and the lower suspension does not require a painful process just to get into the driver's seat! Got out of the mud recently by lowering rear tire pressure to 30 PSI. I have gotten stuck twice (for an hour) in 3 years and 19K miles towing. I noticed "Crew Cab" in your description. Do you need that? Maybe you have two big dogs but then fitting in the Oliver would be your issue! Meeting other Oliver owners at Quartzsite or at the Texas Rally, I noted how many Oliver Owners use that back seat for storage, some to the point of, "Oh, what a mess back there!" Crew-Cab trucks often are matched to short beds and have less available GVWR (there's a lot of weight in 4WD and a crew cab truck). I prefer to keep our storage in the bed of our 8' long bed and keep our truck cab clean. There's only one dog, an induction cooktop and a pickleball bag in the rear of our cab, some shoes under the seats. We can take 4 out for dinner without too much trouble. We have the extended-cab with rear half door. I couldn't travel without the long bed. But I'm also in the minority here as you will find most have 4-door TVs with the short bed (except for some F350s)!

Comparing your hull to ours is of course night & day. 10 years ago ours came with 320W rooftop solar, a 2KW Xantrex inverter-only (PD charger in electrical panel) and 200+ lbs of lead acid! We kept the rooftop solar but replaced everything else with 6 Victron devices all on Victron Connect which is an excellent app. I like having control of the inverter/charger to set input amperage, turn on-n-off, etc. We have Epoch batteries and their app is awful, might not connect when SOC is low. Never heard a complaint on Lithionics here. They are expensive but you made a good choice in having 640 Ah. SOC% and amps +/- (in or out) are important numbers to keep your eye on via the app. I do not leave the Oliver for the day without seeing the -amp reading is small, meaning we didn't leave an appliance running. Some like displays, I like apps. 90% of the time I want to read these numbers, I'm either in the truck or somewhere outdoors, by the campfire not wanting to get up and climb into the Oliver cabin to look at a screen. Perhaps Rich Solar CS can help you with their app. One downside on Rich Solar is when you have a question on configuration, lowering the cut-off voltage or whatever, there will be not be the body of experience on our forum to help you. In your first post, you mentioned DC-DC charger. Did they install a Rich Solar DC-DC charger too? To have DC-DC charging there is also a tow vehicle installation. Was this done? I'd say you have batteries and perhaps electrical components equal to or better than most! @David and Gail gave you the thumbs up on Rich Solar quality and you have warranties on these products. Just as long as they perform as advertised and to your expectations. It would be interesting to know however, why did OTT install Rich Solar in your hull, and perhaps only your hull! Keep us posted!

If you do talk to sales, please ask them if Rich Solar is their new brand of choice. I believe this is the first time we've seen internals of a 2027 Oliver. If not, ask if yours was some kind of experiment? (To answer the worry you expressed above.) Clean installation, 60A SC and 3K inverter/charger are good capacity. If Rich Solar has a decent Bluetooth app, this setup may be better than hulls built with a mix of brands; Xantrex inverter, Zamp or Victron SC and Lithionics batteries. Rich Solar brand batteries too, or Lithionics? How many Ah? What make/model A/C? Did they wire your A/C so it can run unplugged, on batteries only? I imagine you also have the induction cooktop which should be wired to run on inverter when shore power is not available. Yeah, every Oliver is a Jem! 😂

Never heard of the brand. Never seen this brand in an Oliver, though we don’t get much input from owners with brand new hulls. It’s odd that during delivery OTT made no mention of your electrical hardware. Please share pics!

Glue! I knew this would happen! In my 48 years of auto repair, I only used glue once to replace the cloth on a convertible. The "rag-top" must be glued to the frame. OTT had our 2KW inverter screwed into a glued-on board. They glued a board on for the water pump and valves. My inverter, new motorized water valves and everything else I've installed is bolted into place using metal brackets. I'm not fond of Wago connectors either, less is better. Our MP2 is not quite "removable." It just has enough slack in the wires to slide it about 10" back and forth and pull it halfway out as pictured above, but it's certainly hard-wired. Removeable would be difficult as I used the MP2 dual DC buses for many connections, then AC connections in and out, plus 2 Ethernet connections (pic1). I wired most of the MP2 while it was sitting on the streetside bed platform, then fed the wires through to the EMS and AC panel, the DC ground bus and new DC +bus all under the rear dinette seat where the new charge controllers are also installed (pic2). Our Bigfoot was their Class-C model that they no longer produce. I did as much work on the Bigfoot, as I have on our Oliver and tow vehicle combined (yeah engine stuff, like change fluids, hoses and belts, suspension and steering rebuild, besides RV stuff and major electrical). I installed everything on the roof (pic3, except the skylight). I also don't like mounting hardware into fiberglass with metal or wood screws. Everything on this rooftop was mounted with 3M 4950 VHB tape, no holes drilled except for four 1/4" holes hidden under the left side panel for the solar +/- and dish cables adding just a dab of Dicor on each 1/4" hole. The "Professional Installer" would have added some big junction box, drilled some 30 screw holes and emptied the whole tube of Dicor all over everything! 🤣 Times sure have changed. Six years ago I installed a new Dish. Last year I removed the Dish from our Oliver! Six years ago, I purchased 3 new AGM batteries, now we have 3 new LiFePO4 batteries. You can also see I have experience installing Furrion A/C units twice, but they didn't have the amazing Chill Cube back then! I love that the Oliver doesn't need oil changes and other work that RVs need and trailers do not. Trailer maintenance is easy-peasy! 😎

Again Dean, you're welcome and I truly appreciate your kind words! 😂 I dove in without having much experience from others to learn from. A couple of years ago there were only a couple of prior Victron installations, now there are many. I had help in a prior installation from a capable and practical EE on the Bigfoot Forum where I had worked an entire solar/inverter/battery installation from scratch. So, our Oliver MP2 was my second attempt. Seven years ago, I did not know what an inverter was, nor a shunt or battery monitor! We learn as we build and you'll learn a lot in the doing. I went with installing the fan first only because fan and parts were <$100 and it's easy work before installing the MP2, not so afterwards. I thought it to be a useful addition, but we haven't really needed it. There's about 6 things I've done to our Oliver that we no longer use! 🤣 I did have to replace the Grey Tank Waste Valve afterwards, not fun, and to do so I had to remove the MP2. I had planned enough slack in the wiring to pull the MP2 up, half out of the basement and prop it up to work on the waste valve (see pic, disconnect battery ground before moving the MP2). The platform also had to come out. But it all went back in quickly. Another thing is how you mount the MP2. Many have glued a plastic mounting board to the hull. I built a structural platform with its two-footed base on the hull floor just above the aluminum frame. The MP2 is heavy, the new 4K model weighs 58 lbs!

Yep, no fun, it's quite a push. Just installed the 3rd tube in my 1st-ever power grease gun! Though once ya get er loaded, it’s a dream! 🤣 And thank you, Dan. You reminded me to do the grease/torque job, after a bit of travel and conveniently when our Oliver was sitting in the driveway hitched. It's my "first annual maintenance" since our suspension upgrade. Took me an hour each side. I lift the tires using the one leveler jack and remove the 2 wheels first, always. She's in my driveway, I have the air tools, so zip-zip off. If you don't have the HD compressor and pneumatic impact get the HD Dewalt 1/2" impact (compare torque ratings before purchase). Don't worry about installing wet bolts outside-in like some do, or using 45-degree Zerks as I had. The standard installation is just fine when you take the wheels off first. Inspect the tires too while removing gravel from the treads. Test brake amperage. Don't I have a thread on this? (linked below) I don't use dust caps on the Zerks anymore. They just collect dirt. I steel brush all the old grease & dirt off first. Then wipe with paper towels and after greasing use a screwdriver and my fingers to get ALL the grease that oozed out of every opening. It is a messy job. Grease first, torque second and YES with wheels off a lot of weight is off the suspension and it's lightly hanging. This time all wet bolts took grease without fiddlin' with them! Last time I had to loosen 2 wet bolts to get them to accept grease. I only needed a second wrench on one wet bolt to keep it from spinning while torquing; the others held on their own meaning they held in place since last maintenance. Only two U-bolt nuts, 2 out of 16, needed tightening at 95 ft-lbs and the two only moved an 1/8th turn each. The others were set, slightly rusted into place. All the parts including the Alcan shackles are like new, with no observable wear. I’d say that after one full year with an estimated 5,600 miles towing, our new Alcan-D52 axle suspension has broken in well. 😎

GJ, you make a good point and it is a wonderful world! I need a fully adequate TV for the Oliver and for me that's the 3/4-ton truck with exhaust brake. The 1/2-ton means less payload and Andersen WDH and maybe airbags or Timbrens, etc. Once you're up in 3500-land, might as well get a dually and a 40' fifth-wheel trailer! 🤣 Like Mike, I'm fine with driving our 3/4-ton truck around town. It's also fun to drive at times, but we have two "daily drivers" that are better around town. My '92 Lexus SC400 get's me to pickleball 3 times a week, more quickly with less fuel costs. The 1/2-ton truck gets a little better MPG than the 3/4-ton. The 3/4-ton will be safer. I buy older vehicles in good condition, fix them up myself so we could afford them. For the last many years, a new truck costs a small fortune, so we're often in this same discussion, "Can I tow more with less?" 🤠 I've read here about towing an OE2 with so many odd choices, OMG! This thread started re the GMC Sierra 1500 which can be a fine TV for some. Maybe for those who pack light and tow more worry-free. Having the 2500 is reassuring, exhaust brake better yet! You have to do what's right for you and there's more than just the basics. For example, I've learned that we must have a long-bed truck with 1500 LBS capacity just for stuff in the bed, including 35 gallons extra water. It's a must, for us. I drove a Quad-Cab Ram for 18 years. It was great when our son was young and we had two labs, but I will not own another 4-door truck. There's just two of us and I love the extended cab with the half-size suicide door. It's quick and easy and Charley loves his narrow bench seat back there! It was also very important to us to have the rig, the truck & trailer that look good together, a matched set! 😎 Our truck fits us and our needs. Make the right choices for yourselves, with a lot here to think about.

Hello Dean, you're welcome and thank you! Our upgrade was completed 2 years ago and I purchased the best Victron products available at the time. I didn't do our DC-DC upgrade 'til later which was a good thing as the Orion 50A had just come out which was far superior to the 30A model. This year Victron released a 70A Orion which like the larger inverter could be overkill. I would also consider the 4KVA Victron if upgrading today (unless I could find a good closeout sale price on the 3K model). The 3K model is all we need and 1 or 2 fans doesn't matter as I'm certain each model has adequate cooling for its design. The higher CFM would be noisier. It's close to the same size and weight so why not have the newest most capable model? Since we also upgraded our A/C to a variable-speed highly efficient A/C, I have not found the need where 3KVA has not handled our needs where we will run A/C and anything else at the same time without worry. When first installed, I had started our old Dometic P2, forgetting we already had the hot water heater running on inverter. That was the only time the 3K Victron struggled and BTW it outputted 3.5KW for a few minutes until I realized what happened. In answer to your specific question, re the additional Beech Lane fan I installed, I'd now say it's unnecessary. I've only used it a couple of times. The only time the MP2 gets somewhat hot is when battery SOC is low and we connect to shore power at a new campsite, heat of the afternoon, and the charger is set to full charge. Continuous charging is more of a heat issue than inverting and the MP2 will run fine up to 104F. The 3K MP2 can charge at 120A max. I believe max on the 4K unit is 160A. What I do instead is recharge more slowly. You can adjust charge amperage using the programming interface. Though it's easier to use the Victron Connect app. Just tell the app your shore power is less. Set allowed input to 30A, given you have that at the pedestal, the MP2 will charge at the full rate. Set input amps to less than 10A (10A on 120VAC = 100A on 12VDC) and the charge rate will be lower according to max amps specified. Love to see your installation. I installed a simple VE.Bus dongle to provide Bluetooth interface to the MP2 since I did not want a display. Your interface is via the Cerbo GX. The VE.Bus allows for adjusting input amps and can switch the MP2 (ON. OFF, Charger Only, Inverter Only). It also has a temp reading. I installed it on the wheel well above the MP2 to provide a reliable temp reading. If the MP2 is still charging when I'm going to sleep, I just reach for the phone and turn it off and back on when we wake. We're unplugged most of the time anyway. Charging is solar or DC2DC.

Love this tool. Mine sits on a shelf in our garage. No case, not towing with it. Also got the LockNLube coupler. I wipe the nozzle and each Zerk fitting clean after every squeeze of the trigger. Getting a tube of grease in any gun, manual guns too, is always a struggle, not easy to get the spring back in on a full tube. I don't know of any tricks, just push down on the workbench. Never tried bulk grease. I purchased a 10-pack of red #2 wheel bearing grease a few years ago.

Hey Ron, After seeing this picture, I realized you must have a 2015 Elite I, the single-axle baby Ollie! You should add a signature line so we realize that more quickly. Calling on @SeaDawg, @DavePhelps, @bugeyedriver and others with an older EI to advise! Most of us have the dual-axle larger EII with furnace right rear and there's so much different to which us EII owners would have no clue. Best wishes, JD

Seems odd to me to almost have an EV truck, but in addition to an array of batteries and all their weight, to have a v6 engine and fuel tank. Charge your tow vehicle and fill the tank, or use the fuel in your tank to charge your truck? Perhaps it's the best of both worlds? I've been driving 2500 Series diesel trucks for 23 years. @DanielBoondock was first to tow with the Sierra EV. I tow our Oliver with enough electrical upgrades to never need or use a generator when camping. If I was to go EV, it would likely be full-out! 🤠 We had this discussion just 2 weeks ago and this subject comes up every couple of months if you study this "Towing an Oliver" section of your Forum. Once Oliver owners tow with a 2500 Series pickup truck, we won't go back! Just ask @Rivernerd or @rideandfly, will you give up your F350? (recent TV upgrades)

Here's a picture of the service end of the Grey Tank. You can see the drain and waste valve on the left and the edge of the tank with label and SeeLevel sensor on the right. The space in the center is where I installed 1 of 2 footings for my inverter shelf. Across the top of the picture you see the 4" waste line, where far off to the right is the black tank and to the left is the drain at the rear bumper. Looking at the schematic Mike supplied, you can see that if the curbside of the trailer is lower the grey tank could still be 20% full when it stops draining. Does the black tank really have that 1/4-radius shape? I guess it makes sense but there's no way to see up there! 😎

Rare situation that hot & cold water flows through the kitchen sink and outside shower but not in the bathroom, with the same issue at the toilet! Did you do any work inside the bathroom vanity recently? I would start by removing the bathroom faucet/shower head and the toilet filter (again). Either these endpoints are the issue or somehow you have two internal obstructions on hot & cold lines somewhere past the water pump and hot water heater. It' won't hurt blowing air but what would cause these two obstructions at the same time? 1700 miles one-way to Hohenwald from AZ. Today this roundtrip would cost over $1,500 in diesel fuel. It's never an option for us.