jd1923

Measure from bottom of each fender to center of wheel (or to the ground) on all 4 wheels. They should be the same left to right, but often the rear height is greater than the fronts in a truck that is weight balanced. Hitch your Oliver and take the same measurements. The numbers will usually be lower on the rears and taller up front. Tighten the Andersen chains until you have the same numbers measured when the truck was unhitched. The only way this method is not accurate would be from a worn suspension or being over capacity in the truck bed. Once you get it right, count the number of threads and go for this number. Also, it does not matter if left to right you are off a thread or two. The hitch will adjust to make chain pressure equal on both sides. If you look very closely at these pics, the first one is tongue weight loaded, about 2" or so drop in the rear of the truck. The second pic shows truck and trailer in a perfect level line after tightening the Andersen WDH! 😂

The chains should be taught, not loose, not overtight, easy to say, right? After coupling but before tightening the chains, check the sitting angle of your tow vehicle. At this point mine looks about 2" low in the rear and I can see an opening in the front wheel wells also about 2" greater than normal (as compared to when not towing). I usually get about 6 threads on each side when tight. At this point, I see the rear has raised 2", the front wheel gap has gone down. The tow vehicle now looks level and it performs well set at this point. I use a 1/2" ratchet 10" long with the Andersen supplied socket and it never gets so tight that I cannot one-hand the ratchet. But then I am a big guy with "tool hands" from years of wrenching.

We had a blue friction cone and the replacement they sent just a month ago was also blue. From the Andersen website: "Replacement cones may vary in color, but it does not affect the cone's performance." Our original blue cone (10 years old?) was almost as thick as the new one, not nearly needing replacing. I did replace it though, since I had purchased a new ball to upgrade to 2 5/16" and the old cone had horizontal wear marks from turning. I wanted a new friction cone on the new ball which is the right way do do it. Yes, funny the warrantied is the wear-out maintenance item. Free $18 part for the $13.50 CONUS shipping. Feels more secure with new Bulldog and Andersen parts, over-engineered to 12.5K LBS GTWR. One thing I learned in this maintenance is never use the Andersen hitch without attaching the chains. Without the anti-sway plate bolted below only the snap ring would be holding the tapered ball from coming up and out hence decoupling the trailer.

I don’t see why not. This post fuse is called Marine Rated Battery Fuse (MRBF). I bought these in 60A to protect our DC2DC charger and another to protect my positive bus. I went with ANL for the main since OTT had installed a holder there and I needed to up it to 400A for our Victron Inverter upgrade. They do make a 300A MBRF. I went with this South Bend brand. Here is their 300A MBRF holder and 2-pack fuses. https://a.co/d/05ee0Ia

Yes, you are correct. I had never notice the color line before, hard to see if you have the doghouse attached. I open the valve on the curbside tank and use that until empty and then switch to the other so I know when one is empty. The down side is you can run out on a could night and the furnace would stop. Now that I have the Mopeka sensors, I guess i could start using the auto switching feature. But since having them I just make a manual switch when it reads about 10% full.

I do have one major gripe re New Mexico and you can keep all the National Parks with the word sand in them. Like White Sands NP and the Great Sands Dunes NP in CO (seen them once is enough)! Though you don't have to visit one of these parks to get caught in a New Mexico sand storm. I believe we've been caught in a half dozen of them over the last 20 years! It wasn't even that windy but from Gallup to well past Albuquerque the sky had a brown haze, not good air to breathe, both of us had sinus headaches by lunchtime, not fun. Years ago on our AZ move, with fully-packed 26' enclosed trailer we got caught in a full-scale July sand storm, being difficult to see just 100 yards ahead. Then the rear awning mount failed from heavy winds and it opened up like a large gull wing! Had to strap it down anyway possible to continue down the road. A long day stuck on I-40 to Tucumcari and then up to Ute Lake State Park. We booked via Reserve America for NM SPs while already parked on site #5 in their New Cottonwood section. Couple pictures of our site and the water pic is campsite #7 which was open but marked unavailable. Our plan is to do mostly 2-day stays on the way up to Minnesota and 3-day or longer stays on the way back. But we're not fisherman nor water-sports enthusiasts and it was going to be hot there the next day. This is my new definition of a “One-Night Stand!” The original one-night stand went out with the carelessness of the 80s! When we stay one night, we keep the trailer hitched if possible and why not a quick tail-gate? Overnight it just got cool enough to sleep, but humid cause of the lake. Thank goodness I had just installed the Sirocco II fan for Chris (or I certainly would have heard about it)!

New Mexico is a wonderful state in its hidden treasures from the area NE of ABQ (where Art lives) up to Santa Fe and to Taos NM, then further up to Raton NM for the Santa Fe Trail Balloon Rally (we just happened by this rally when moving from VA to AZ back in 2005)! Then there is Ruidoso! It's Gods Country in Lincoln County NM of Billy-the-Kid and Smokey-the-Bear fame. Don't travel across southern NM without spending some time here. The area is named the White Mountains of NM, wild elk and feral horses walking the city streets daily and so many cute carvings Smokey is shops everywhere. If you're ever traveling through Albuquerque and need breakfast, lunch or dinner, or just great sides to go, like their amazing salsa and beans, Mexican meats and stews and much more, you've got to stop at the Frontier Restaurant. Just one exit S on I-25 of I-40, head a few blocks east on Central. This is my 4th visit here but the first time I parallel parked with an Oliver! (There was a car behind me when I parked and just a narrow alley in front). It worked out great and we could even keep an eye on our rig from the window seat! Chris had the Taco Salad and I enjoyed the Frontier Burrito, pints of salsa and beans to go for upcoming campsite dinners!

Video didn’t show much and given the noise, was t going to click on the long version! 🤣 A window that can go from full light to blackout dark would be a game-changer! This would allow us to delete our blinds, less day-to-day hassle and more seating room to lean back sideways on the beds and dinette seating. I still want sliders however for ease of one-handed opening/closing. Though I do get how full-timers have different needs.

I always keeps ours connected. Truly dislike that movement, of craning my neck or leaning to get under things! Reaching in there at each dump station, no. Same reason I have 6” extensions on our water hoses, easy to reach. Bought a RhinoEXTREME from a suggestion here on another thread. Returned it immediately when found it would not compress like the RhinoFLEX we use instead. I mounted a 6” clear section for viewing and drain elbow at end. I sawed the elbow part flat so it fits easily into the Oliver bumper. Don’t use an end cap, so no vacuum effect when pulling or compressing the hose. Pull it out and place it in sewer opening, open then later close valves, lift the hose from bumper to end to drain 98% if the water leaving only a few OZs of water on the ground behind, and close the bumper. No fuss, just quick and simple..

OTT owes you a replacement, but if you need to go without their help, with more pics from you I can help you create some kind of work-around. Best to you Dan!

I did the same. One inside the hull and it works fine. Faraday worries are solely for Airstream owners and anybody else who desires to camp in an archaic tin can! 🤣 I get constant notifications as soon as we drive away. Drive away from home and tells me everything I have left. Must have an iPhone family. Bought the 4-pack, so I also have one hidden in the truck, and in our treasured GX470 and I purchased a key ring holder and this has found my keys, often misplaced! https://a.co/d/29lrREf

Our paths will cross, but at different times. Apple Maps not so good at visualizing the route but this list is what we have in mind, actual route TBD!

We felt the same with all the fuss getting things ready for our longer than usual trip, like your trip starting soon! Stayed 2 nights at our first stop and did absolutely nothing today! We needed this kind of lazy day just looking at the woods and doing little else.

I like 12 ft on the grill and a 12 ft extension with splitter to connect our fire ring too. We used all 24’ at this campsite. And first use of the Napoleon grill last night and griddle insert for breakfast this morning. We love it!

This will be a first for us, though common to many of you who have more time for travel. I have 6 weeks off work, for our personal longest camping trip ever. I was inspired by a post our friend Steve @ScubaRx made last year where wrote that he and Tali often travel across country without reservations! This is difficult for the Project Manager in me, but should make for a spontaneous and exciting adventure! First stop just 5 hours from home, we’ll stay 2 nights up at 7760 ft in this beautiful McGaffey Campground SE of Gallup NM.

The ONLY good thing re the Dometic P2 is it does turn off when fan set to AUTO and temp is reached!

You have the PD charger with the LI switch, so you have the correct charger for LiFePO4 batteries. Good for you, upgrading to the 300 Ah Epoch Essential! It’s likely 14.6V vs 14.8. I could be wrong but 14.6V is more the industry standard. Epoch suggests 14.2, good enough. IMHO what you’re doing is fine. I do not use the PD charger anymore, but… One small suggestion with any battery charger, do not leave it connected days at end. Batteries should work, then rest a while, and charge only when needed. Let your Epoch get down to 50% +/- before charging again. 😂

Ours are 10 years old, look nicely arced. Purchased a backup pair for travel safety, but leaving ours as-is until maybe one day I upgrade to 5200 lb axles and the would get the 5-leaf Alcans which is the co recommendation. Perhaps Dexter used better steel 10-16 years ago. Leave well enough alone in our case.

Your report sounds familiar re an issue or two we've had. No more service tickets for me. I figure OTT owes me nothing on our 10-year-old hull. When 2 frame crossmembers dropped from bad welds, I got a local welder to repair it. OTT is too far from us for service needs anyway. In 3 days it was done. It doesn't take a month sitting on an engineer's desk to simply ship out 1-2 new jacks! 🤣 Dan, given everything is solid, the weld is good however misaligned, could you reinstall it adding a plate and/or washers underneath, space the jack to sit lower? That's what I would do if it's possible and be up and running the same day. You may have to purchase spacers and bolts an 1" longer to make this idea work. Or escalate with OTT management because all they have to do is admit their mistake, their manufacturing defect, and ship you two news jacks immediately!

Received this kit today. It plugged into same harness. I had mounted the previous controller bracket with VHB tape, so it came off quickly and cleanly. All I had to do was mount the new bracket. Easy menus to configure it. I'm really going to like the 3 boost settings for downhill braking in the mountains. Got the trailer wheels off the ground again, one side at a time, and the brake response is like night and day. The new controller is immediately responsive. With hindsight I can now see how the old controller had been getting less responsive, likely cause of my truck brakes overheating on steep declines during our trip back from Texas last fall. I also figured out a way to set the self-adjusters without going through the adjustment opening behind the wheels. With wheels off the ground, wife or friend applying the brakes lightly (or use brake lever on the controller), rock the wheels backwards and forwards and you can even hear the adjuster clicking each time. I found the forward brake shoes pretty close to the drums, but the shoes on the rear axles were much looser, likely from less weight being the rears when braking. I got all 4 wheels where you could hear and feel the shoes just lightly scraping the drums while spinning the tires. I'll fine tune the gain, as we get on the road tomorrow, on a long flat stretch which we just don't have in our neighborhood. "On the road again..."

Mike @rideadeuce, I'll be looking forward to seeing your installation. As I did, you will likely have to remove your Victron MP2 from the streetside bed area to get to the gray waste valve underneath. The front dinette is much easier to work in, but they had my 1 1/2" gray valve installed right on top of the black waste valve and I had to rework the plumbing to give the new powered valve enough room. Hopefully they installed yours better. Every hull was a one-off back in the day!

This is certainly true when there is a good breeze outside. When it’s still out, you can turn the fan on exhaust, just barely crack the window(s) where you want the airflow to get good ventilation. The fact that the bedside windows open on the rear side and the fan is front of beds it pulls air across the bed. A better breeze is felt if you sleep heads towards the kitchen/pantry.

Where's Ollie? She's hitched up and rearing to go! She's usually behind our Tuff Shed getting some shade, but I backed her in further so the Ram can get some shade as I work on a last few details. Mostly all packed, brakes adjusted and tires set, new Bulldog and Anderson parts. Hitched and did a test drive yesterday. Not a big deal for many of you, but we're leaving Thursday for a 5+ week trip, back home on the 4th of July! Our longest trip ever by far. Off to Minnesota to see Chris' sister. We'll take 10-12 days to get there and we'll have 3 weeks for a long return, camping in the northern Minnesota woods, boondocking on the Badlands with a Mt Rushmore night visit. Then we'll make our way across the Western Slope of Colorado. Cool thing about this trip is we have not made a single reservation! We'll find our routes and camps along the way. We have all we need to be off-grid for days! Signed up for Harvest Hosts which may help in the farm country and we'll see... 🤣

They should fit on the main gray and black waste valves. I had supplied a link above for the electrically operated valves. If they have a 1 1/2” model, then all three! I found this product too late in my project and had already purchased all the other parts I needed.

Looks like all our Toyota products have the same Redarc button installed in about the same location!