jd1923

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!

That would be a Parsec Husky Pro 7-in-1 Antenna (4 cell, 2 Wi-Fi and 1 GPS antennas combined). The Pepwave router is mounted on the cab wall behind the rear seat. I wrote this up in a mod post in January: Pepwave Cellular Router and not the common install - Ollie Modifications - Oliver Owner Forums (olivertraveltrailers.com) This is the kit I used: Speed Demon Mobile Internet Bundle – MobileMustHave.com. We get excellent cell reception almost everywhere we go, stream TV, etc. Mounted in the TV since so many times we are detached, so the Wi-Fi router goes with us. Chris can use computer as we drive too. BTW, in this picture, up at Parowan UT we got 230 Mbps download speed. And we stayed 2 other nights in deep canyons without cell service. Nothing wrong with the older Cummins Diesel, although the 2nd Gen Cummins has much less HP and torque than the newer ones (thinking 5th Gen is current which will double those numbers). The engine ran at 190-200F (ECT) the entire trip and it has a 200F thermostat. The engine cooling system is running as designed and I have a performance water pump and new serpentine belt ready when needed (OEM water pumps are weak on these). The Cummins with recently upgraded fuel supply will outlive me for sure. The temp I was referring to above is Transmission Fluid Temp (TFT). The older Rams are known for weaker transmissions, as mine has the 4-speed 47RE Chrysler trans. Newer model trucks have more gearing. Guys will tow 15K LBS with these older Rams, by adding aftermarket torque converters, valve bodies, etc. That is what mine could need at some point ($6K build). Sounds like a lot, but our TV cost used about 20% of a new diesel truck. A rebuild is not urgent though, since it shifted nicely all trip and the fluid only got hot climbing the 13% grade to Cedar Breaks! When you increase engine performance, as I have in fuel supply and ECM, you need to keep your eye on the trans being the weak link.

BTW, the link @MAX Burner supplied for a replacement door on AMzon, currently has a “Like New” one for $90 less. Like new on Amazon means the packaging has been breached!

Love the hotel when necessary! We are on a 2 1/2 week trip mainly in SW Utah. After a week or so, used my travel points for an overnight at the Marriott, dinner out included. So, so glad to hear you are good again.@Steph and Dud B you’re the one! What you accomplished is that of a HVAC professional.

I had not noticed when replied before. Been camping for 2 weeks now, where we had the screen door closed, main door open. We have the original window. Multiple perfectly horizontal cracks (btw shows flaw in the material) and one much larger, angled down to the handle (from use). We will live with ours as I have larger fish to fry and we promised not to spend more on ours for a while. It is purely cosmetic, goes well with our fading gel-coat!🤣

Yep, not a checklist guy, but Chris and I have the muscle memory after 3 very different kinds of RVs. Walk-around looking under, at the jacks and eyeballing all 8 tires. Eyeball all 4 tires every time before you sit to drive any vehicle. Do they look as they should? We will admit a member of our family taking the side mirror off a truck on a garage door. My father RIP, backed out of his garage, driving a brand new Porsche 911SC, door open, looking back out the door, when the garage door frame crunched his door and LF fender. Gave him another reason to trade it in (first reason: golf clubs didn’t fit). Therefore, OTT steps are much stronger than a 911. None of this makes you feel any better. Good of you to admit and provide warning. I’ve got one. Was unhitching and left one safety cable on, just didn’t see it from my side. The TV pulled the trailer jack off the blocks, streetside tire ran over the shore line, pulled taught to destroy the shore power receptacle. Happy nothing else happened, only about a $150 mistake. We could start a whole thread titled, “Dumb Camping Mistakes.” That would be fun! We all could add a few posts for sure.

Like the simple design @Snackchaser showed. I will do our mod this summer. I’m also thinking of deleting the bed area duct. We’re camping in colder weather last few days and I have this one shut as much as possible which helps the air flow in the bath. The bed area duct is too close to the return and we like the cabin warm but cooler air where we sleep.

Doesn’t Dometic just rebrand many of their products? Could it be sold by Dometic, manufactured by Atwood? April 2018 OTT Service replaced our Suburban furnace with an “Atwood Furnace with outside door.” Reason, “Customer states furnace fan rattles intermittently, Customer requests to remove Suburban and install the Atwood 20K furnace.”

Since you just had it in for service, you know cause. I believe there are 4 short screws with shoulders so to provide spacing to not damage the cover. Power tools OK to remove quickly, but these must be installed by hand. Reason why I rarely contract maintenance work. “If it needs to be done right…” Amazing the cover did not break into pieces. I’d say the service co owes you a new cover installed. Such a shame since AC service on these units really comes down to compressed air or a hose rinse on the condenser coils. Not much more can be done on a factory sealed AC unit. Towing your Oliver in a good rain storm will do about the same thing.

Yours is a pretty classic and LOVE @Scuba Steve’s pics! Sitting here camped at Beaver Dam Wash National Conservation Area (say that ten times fast), my chair pointed in the right direction and I count 4 crossmembers up front, 7 rear with one a double (bad idea) and who knows under the wheels. Had two drinks and not getting on my knees!!!

When @mossemi mentioned bolts, I first thought bolting to the frame. But then looking at my first picture above, you could just bolt to the same kind of plate below. You do not really need the U- part that goes in the tray. It could be just 2 bolts with washers. If you already purchased the U-bolt kit, I would just use them. I would think the bolts should be 5/16", 1/4" is too light and 3/8" overkill. The length should be the height of the frame plus an inch or so. Mine look long, like I should cut off the extra thread!

Looks like long rubber in the back, perpendicular to the trailer (see pic). The short piece parallel in front (mine looks like duct tape there).

Here ya go Bill. First pic shows the front U-bolt installed. The second shows the rear top and the front top looks about the same, hole centers likely 3/4" from edge (eyeballed, more than 1/2" for sure). Place washers on the U-bolts first. They look the same front and rear.

Yes, the shine on hull 135 looks amazing! For the dull look, just scroll up a few screens to see hull 113 at Snow Canyon (the front is really flat).

BTW, it's not advised to tow your Oliver up SR-143. It's a 4K FT climb in 12 miles, and REALLY STEEP the last 2 miles prior to the town of Brian Head. Road signs showed 13% grade and there was a sign going up and another coming down stating "Trailer Towing Not recommended." We did see a new-model HD Ram-Cummins pulling a ~7K trailer up as we were heading back down. Our older 4-speed automatic was working hard on this route, even without trailer attached. I had OD off the entire climb and trans temp was 221F when we parked at the top, where 172F is highway normal. The hottest I've seen pulling the Oliver, when hot outside on an Interstate climb was 201F. If you ever get in a situation where your trans slips, or if you have a temp reading, it gets too hot, stop and put your trans in neutral (NOT Park) which allows the trans fluid to cycle through the cooler. When in Park, the fluid is sitting still, staying hot much longer. I did this for 5 minutes and the temp dropped over 30 degrees. A transmission performance upgrade is very likely in our future.

We certainly are Patriot and @rideandfly and thanks for writing well wishes. Today was GREAT! Finally made it to Cedar Breaks NM and what a view. Literally breathless at 10,440 FT! The park is still closed for winter, but you can park at the North View Overlook. Since I've been reporting weather, it was 63 degrees in Parowan and only 43 another 4000 FT higher at the lookout. Chris too 100 pictures and I took some too. She got this one of me sitting on the overlook wall. Have proof we was there! Simply amazing! Didn't want to leave, but had to eventually, only had a couple layers and a spring jacket.

Chris has been playing around with a drone. Hope this movie loads... Oliver Drone Movie.mp4

Oliver moved north to Parowan Gap. Picture taken returning from our day outing when we could first see the campsite from Gap Rd. If you can see Ollie in the first pic, you have good eyes! Zoomed in on the second picture.

Our trip has been one of weather extremes, from the high 90s 10 days ago in S NV to a high of 63 in Cedar City Utah yesterday. We spent the night at a BLM site (free dispersed camping), the Parowan Gap Petroglyphs: Utah Petroglyphs | Parowan Gap | Visit Utah. The low overnight was 28 and now that it's 10:30 AM it's 50 and feels very warm in the sun (altitude 5600 FT). What a difference a day makes, not only in temperatures, but the contrast between a busy state park and the open BLM. Here our closest neighbors, 4 of them are a minimum of 300 yards away. We met two great couples at Snow Canyon, and then we heard complaining from some not-happy campers. A Class-A with Florida plates, parked in a narrow site like ours a couple spaces down. Slides open on both sides, one was nearly touching the shade structure and the other was hanging over the shared hookups. Common S FL dress, where the couple came out in wool hats and winter coats, since it was only 70 out! The Oregon couple next to them in the Sprinter Class-B had much to say about the space they were taking and running their basement HVAC all day and night, so they cranked up their stereo! Chris and I looked at each other thinking yep, it's time to leave! We’re wearing shorts of course. Gave Charley a bath on our way out that morning, by backing the truck bed right to the Oliver outdoor shower. Better washing the dog at a good height. We hitched up, filled fresh, dumped the tanks, and I used the campground shower myself after everything else was done. And we headed north, SR-18 north, to SR-56 east to SR-130 north, a very nice route avoiding I-15. This location will be great for the next few days since it's warming up again. We're also 45 minutes to Cedar Breaks National Monument which is the one great SW-Utah park that we have not yet visited. The mountain we can see from our campsite is Brian Head Peak (11,307 FT).