jd1923

Heck no, getting home from our trip, we are knee-high in weeds, weedwhackers going. Art, whenever you visit, yes that is your spot. I'd move ours to a less level spot w/o shore power. Not much in level land here. Here is a picture take just now from the other direction, our living room window. Five years ago, Adam and I hand-excavated the 10x20' yard area to allow the shed to be level, with pickaxes, shovels and rakes.

For sure, good plan @rideadeuce if you are able to do so, on your property. I pulled a Class-A into this spot several times, but after the shed that maneuver may not work. Found a used 10x20' Tuff-Shed 4-5 years ago for $4K and only $400 to bring it home (tipped the guy another C-note and these cost ~$12K today). We ran 125' of 8 AWG (correct gauge for 30A at this length) direct burial cable. Added a sub-panel for lights and power in the shed as well. LOVE doing electrical work, residential or automotive 12VDC! Have shore power, when we need (mostly in the summer for A/C) and when we return from a trip, everything in the bed of the TV goes into the shed on commercial pallet racking. We are coded for gray water into a gravel bed, but it's on the edge of our 3/4 acre within the city of Prescott. Not going to have our own dump, but very happy as-is. Love when a project is done! Pretty pic to follow...

Well maybe then... We need to head east for the 2025 Oliver Trailer Rally. I could make that service appointment well ahead of time, swing by CGI to get our gelcoat back in shape and meet so many of you great eastern members! Being old-school as I am, I try not to leave the property until I lined up 3-4 errands to do in series. Hoping that would rub off on wife and son for years, still hoping. So now I have at least 3 reasons for making that very long mile trip! I'd be OK in the meantime using our 35-gal backup water in the TV which in the current state of our FWT refills it twice. We get about 55 gallons total. I could not do it without the motorized water valve mod (not lifting beds). With TV detached, you only need a 10' hose. I use a 10' plus a 25' when attached.

Wow, only 10%! What is your rooftop solar wattage? Perhaps a third panel in your future. I dislike the idea of portable, but many here do that. You are based in N Ohio. I wonder if your same package was camping out here in the SW, would 10% increase to 20% or some better number?

What many do not realize is that Motorola only dabbled in consumer electronics (10-20% of sales), through the years, and yes often failed from poor marketing. Motorola was an engineering company, manufacturing backend systems for commercial use and government, along with semiconductor manufacturing used by Apple, HP and so many others. The point I was making was the useful application of technology. First point, I certainly do not need a TT that is so heavy, I would need a 550-grade commercial truck to pull it! Many locations we camp, a rig >24FT would not go. I see the 3-axles Air Streams and fifth wheels everywhere and wonder. They may soon downsize as we have. Honestly, you want these features, flat roof with 10+ solar panels, buy a Class-A RV. We also don't need a balcony on our TT, OMG! 🤣 If you can't walk down 2-3 steps and plant your feet on the ground, why are you camping? Sure it's cool, but is it useful application of technology? I think not. I also see aluminum and rivets in their builds. They offer 100-gal FWT which is another 800+ LBS when full. I could not find a spec sheet without filling out a form and wonder re actual GTWR. Should OTT improve their design? Of course. Flat roof? Not for me. It will create more wind drag and take away from the elemental beauty of the OTT. All the tech in that Living Vehicle and they offer the same 2000W Inverter that we have? I was amazed how our old 340W solar and 450AH lead-acid kept us dry-camping 2 1/2 weeks and battery charge never got below 80% (we do live in the sunny dry SW). I will upgrade to LI and 3000W inverter, only to run a new efficient AC to be fully self-contained. We can do all that in our old hull for just a few thousand dollars. All those bells and whistles have their cost, upfront and down the road. The $300K base package (their 24' model) is approx. 3x the cost of an Oliver. I imagine some of you have that money, but we only had enough discretionary, for this purpose, for our used Oliver. The Oliver cannot be considered a hybrid, as it cannot be driven down the road on its own accord. An EV Truck for camping? 🤣 What are you going to charge first? Your house batteries or the EV TV? How much extra solar wattage would be required for the EV TV? Living Vehicle advertises their product can charge the EV. Problem is when the EV TV needs recharging is when the sun is setting... LI batteries do weigh less, but batteries in an EV TV and enough batteries in the TT to recharge the TV add up to 1000s of LBS in batteries. Some of us worry about 50 LBS of water in the HWH. Wonder when Living Vehicle will get up to over 1500 units sold?

Air-lift would be nice! Without it I bring ramps. At this location, I started at 7" down (reading on the LevelMate) to 3"+. Surprised to get 10" net, but you can see it in resulting the TV angle, since the drive was lower at the front wheels of the TV. We had a free dump station just down the street from home. What was for decades, our local "Affinity RV" became "Blue Compass RV" last year and they charge $10 to use the dump station.

Got to love the flat tank design of the Oliver! The Sunoco at Cedar City UT offers free dump station plus potable water with any fill-up. You have to back in slightly uphill to the facilities.

Thanks @rich.dev Wow! and I hate plumbing. I can see why @MAX Burner is asking OTT Service to do it. Do they still retrofit this at their cost?

Nothing but a buncha b$, living vehicles, EVs for anything more than a daily commute, solar farms, wind farms (that kill eagles and whales), and the like. I appreciate the application of technology, never tech for tech's sake. Learned that working 10 years for Motorola during the 90s. We aren't there, not even close, even though too many mindless politicians say so. Will tow with my old diesel 'til the day I can no longer drive. And our recent investment in an Oliver will be our last RV of any kind. "No brag, just fact."

My solution, again... although we will consider other options! A more recent picture would show that I installed a tank cover, using an inexpensive BBQ grill cover to keep the UV rays off the tank and the water...

I had no idea of such a mod! Is there a thread about it here? I've seen most threads, but I admit I do not read the OTT Service threads (perhaps I should), since our hull is well out of warranty and I'm not able to go to OTT for service. We get 20 gallons max out of our FWT. Thank goodness we have a 35g fresh tank in the bed of our TV and refilling via the winterizing port is painless with the electric motorized valve upgrade.

Agree 100% and Art @MAX Burner has invested more upgrades than we have to date. Those of us here who do our own M&R and mod work can do well with sweat equity in these hulls that are 98% the same, as the newer hulls add some age. And I fully agree with @Mike and Carol, as ours too is "nicely broken in." Just got back from our 5th trip in 11 months. We don't have near the miles or days out as many of you and ours will continue to be for occasional use. We just got back from our biggest trip to-date, a whole 17 days! 🤣 Everything we needed was present and working. Reading all the repair and mod posts, since we joined the forum, I feel many of the newer hulls have more issues than what we have experienced. This is likely due to the care from past owners. Our 8-year-old Oliver had made it back to OTT in 2018 and 2020 for considerable work (new blinds, new furnace, Dexter EZ-Flex, new tires, and much more). Ours also has a lot of options that add a lot to a new purchase (solar package and more). We can't afford a new one in many ways!

Better than tape would be some kind of donut clamped to the hose, so that it cannot be pulled too far.

Bill, I believe you need to add some carbs and proteins to your diet!

Thank you for all you do! Speaking for the majority us, the new and old Oliver owners, we love this forum. Thank you again for your work and all you do! JD

Two bikes, two knuckleheads, two adults (maybe just D), do you always do everything in twos?

Beautiful boy by John Lennon (Lyrics) (youtube.com)

@Half Fast Hugo your build is excellent! I'm thinking if I build a mount like yours, I can haul my '03 Honda CRF230 (it's an old man's Honda 250, detuned with electric starter added). It weighs 230 LBS (please those that worry, do not warn me about the weight limit OTT puts on their punny 1 1/2" hitch receiver). OTT has crazy strength built into the rear, with multiple frame crossmembers, etc. It all depends on your GTWR and resulting hitch weight when you add more weight to the rear. Anybody want to buy my rear OEM hitch, that for hull #113 was a full 2" receiver? It's sitting in the loft of my shed since I have no use for it. Loved bicycles all my life, but for the heavy climbs and descents of Arizona, I prefer a bike that can climb a 20% grade with combustion engine power (and an e-bike just doesn't cut it, old but not that old).

Awe @MAX Burner, thank you! You're just a sucker for a dog picture. 🤣 Charley can't wait to meet you and "the knuckleheads!"

After 3 nights at Parowan Gap, it was time to start heading back south. Wanted to stop on the way to see the Dino Cliffs Trail that @topgun2 suggested, but they had the Interstate exit closed and traffic was backed up everywhere. Turns out Saturday was the "Ironman 70.3 National Championships” in St George. This was not going to happen this year. Bill wrote me, "I'm guessing that those tracks will still be there for the next time!" An hour on I-15 with winds getting stronger all day, was enough for me! I found a great route south where we could avoid the majority of I-15. Love to avoid Interstates (we've driven many times to and from Austin and Prescott, 1100 miles and NO Interstates, nice). The route is "Old US Hwy 91" which runs along the historic Old Spanish Trail. Starting in Ivins UT (St George NW suburb) ending in Mesquite, NV. We boondocked on the way at the entrance to Beaver Dam Wash National Conservation Area. Winds over the weekend got up to a constant 40 MPH with stronger gusts. We could see the Nevada valley ahead looking thick like a dust storm. We wanted to spend the night at elevation instead. There was a tiny camping area at the entrance to the NCA. Noticed it out of the corner of my eye and turned around for it. We camped on a level site with dense cedars on the side. The cedars cut the wind so much, we were able to sit outside in the evening. Stayed there to 2 PM the next day when the winds were finally slowing. What a beautiful area! Beaver Dam Wash NCA Fact Sheet.pdf (blm.gov)

I believe strongly in the iconic phrase from the song Beautiful Boy by John Lennon: "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." There is NOT enough room to have backups for everything! I prefer to pack light and take our chances. Our backup heater is an extra blanket! I'll just bet, that with all the frustration day of, that @Steph and Dud B have a life memory they will cherish, or at least remember. You have to make the best of things and live life as it comes, no regrets. I tend to remember the good stuff.

Turns out the Oliver we found (pictured above), is owned by @Allen Lee Rohner. Too bad we did not get to meet, but they left us a nice note outside. They must have got back to camp after dark and had an early departure planned. We slept in 'til 9 AM (testament to after 2 1/2 weeks I'm finally getting used to sleeping in that short Oliver single! I sent them a text this morning, inviting them to Prescott. It would be great if they would, and we should talk soon. We ran Illinois plates too, from the 70s to the late 90s, Chris and I both being born and raised in Chicagoland.

Love another forum member who is into Pickleball too. I thought there would be 5-6 of us here with all the members, but two is good. Hope you get your Oliver soon. We got lucky to find a used one in our hometown and the prior owner backed it right into our home RV spot upon payment. You should change your profile to read "couple" since you two will be traveling together of course. Let's meet at the PPA Red Rock Open next year. Closer to us than you, but somewhere in the middle. The pros will be there, and you can play too. It's a great venue where you can see many pro matches with just a grounds pass that players get with tournament entry. My warmup comment was that they only allowed us one game to score of 15 vs. the standard two games to 11. No time to catch up and it was a lot of money to play only 3 games to 15 (more games if you keep winning). We would love to play pickleball with you one day in beautiful Coeur d'Alene, ID. Prescott is not a bad visit either during your winter, so the invite goes both ways! We'll look for you having a hull # one day soon. Bring your new Oliver down our way and we'll supply "partial hookups."

Hulls 110, 113,117 are all old girls! The crack must have come from fighting with the hose. I’ve been using ours quite a bit lately and the hose will often not fully extend. From your pic, I can see it’s getting caught on the hot side PEX! I’m going to cover or wrap that plumbing with something so the hose can be pulled out unhindered. hope you can source the cracked part without replacing the entire faucet assembly.

Thought we saw one, in a RV park near Cedar City UT which you could see from I-15. Chris saw it and I looked left and caught a millisecond glimpse while driving. Can’t be sure on this one. Stopped tonight at Grand Canyon Caverns on Hwy 66 in Peach Springs AZ. Couldn’t find anybody working here, the many campsites mostly empty except one and now there are two Olivers here and nobody else! Never seen a hull # printed large front and back. Think it’s hull 867? Knocked on the door. No answer and no TV even now at 9 PM. Has IL plates. Seen an Oliver for sure today and it looks good!