jd1923

Love the switch install, excellent work! 😂

OK, we love you guys. Our old 10-year-old hull #113 looks better, pasty white only when cleaned, rarely every washed, let alone waxed, LOL (get a pressure washer)! 🤣

As always, my friend GJ... You ask the hard questions! ❤️ Q1) There was an earlier post re the 5200 LB axles being just under $1K each. Q2) I would go with OEM bearings and consider the Timken upgrade 10K miles later. Q3) Yes, the Oliver with 6-bolt rims which from the start are spec'd to match 5200 axles, 3500 axles are usually mated to 5-bolt wheels with made in China tires. Q4) Factory upgrade! 🤣 Are you kiddin' me?! Let's say for example, I wanted to pay $1500 for my DC-to-DC charger installation after driving 2K miles to a sleepy town in TN and have the older Victron model installed (closeout special) instead of the Orion XS 50A and afterwards have somebody off the street wire my truck, the TV side of the install? Not, you get my meaning? Many members here have on their way to an amazing Rocky Mountain trip, stopped by Alcan to have their suspension upgraded. Our friend Ken and Mary Kay will be there next week. I will build mine at home, I'm thinking summer of 2026! Lastly, GJ! Given your OEM Ford brake controller is numbering up at the end of the gain setting, please consider replacing it! We do not have a factory option brake controller, though I just replaced a failing aftermarket component with new, it's a light-n-day difference! Your brake controller is failing and needs replacing. Two weeks ago I did not understand this, v\but true.

Just search the forum for "MaxxFan ." If memory serves me correctly, @Mike and Carol has a post on replacing the drive motor, I've read before. Others have replaced the board, several posts on this site through the years re this fan. BTW, on my post re hitting the fan with the pressure washer... Remove the screen first. Then use an Allen key and remove the fan. Clean these with good ol' Dawn dish detergent and then blast the opening. Start your hose at the base of the vent door, at the hinges where it has strongest connection and work you way out, forcing the dirt to expel out the natural opening. When I did mine, we barely had a damp towel below. 🤣

The only way this occurs if your Andersen chains are loose! When tight enough the ball of the hitch is pushed forward to the point of being tight. We get absolutely NO noise from the hitch at all when the Andersen is dialed in to the right tension. When coupled and adjusted. Push your foot down on both chains. They should flex a little and nothing else. We took our flatbed trailer out a few weeks ago. Simple hitch, no WDH. I opened the windows thinking, what os all that noise back there?

The shipment came from them in Hays KS. Everything was legit. I watch my credit cards online weekly or more often. They did all the right things. Some of these YouTubers are just in for the hits (look at this guy)! You also linked Trust Pilot which which is 84% positive with 170 reviews. Too bad the price went up. Lovin' ours one week out on our trip and the food quality far exceeds the Weber Q, having dual burners, indirect cooking and a griddle plate. It's worth $329 if you need to go retail. Of course when ever we shop online the whole dark-web of marketing today (the 2nd oldest profession, don't get me started) has your number and will be selling you, unless you search through a highly protective VPN.

Yep, when hitting with the hose, stay dead center and clear of the two corners with the two electronic control boards!

We're traveling this week, 1300 miles in a few days on our original leaf springs (backup set onboard in case of roadside failure). This will be our first trip of real mileage, likely 4500 miles when back home and done. I love auto restoration with HD/HP parts, so I will start collecting parts, budget permitting over the next year or two, as I always have. First, I will purchase two 5200 LB axles to fit the Oliver (68" or 68 1/2")? Then likely a disc brake system, although upgrading from 10" to 12" drum brakes may be enough for a trailer (cost basis). Then we will go with the Alcon recommended leaf springs, proven by our friends and confidants, Lance @Mountainman198 (how are you buddy)? And of course Steve @ScubaRx (call me before I call you), and say hey to Tali, see you soon)!!! When you see Steve's 3500+ Diesel Truck, 1000 LBS of tools onboard (beside the usual campin' stuff), he is cruisin'. 🤣 We're are going to have a b!tch'n setup (when?) and when we're up I will likely mount my Honda CRF in place of the front basket and mount a big-@ss basket in the rear. I totally need a waterproof carrier like a Thule carrier, just to hold my acoustic guitar! And to carry all the extra weight, my 25-year-old Ram-Cummins will need extra leaf springs on each side of the rear axle! 🤣🤣🤣

I was with you 100% until this statement. Walked through an Ikea ONCE in Austin TX. Could not wait to get out of their maze of cheap kits, ASAP leaving EMPTY-HANDED! 🤣 My son who has been an Angie's List contractor, on and off, has installed these kits for the mechanically-impaired for big bucks! I do however, certainly appreciate your long written procedure, pictures not required! I have another way to clean this fan QUICKLY (though many forum members do not always like my unique methods)... With fan fully opened, old bath towel on floor below, pressure washer in hand with short wand and wide tip, blast upwards in a circular fashion for 10 seconds and the whole unit is as clean as can be! I do this every summer (and it works well)! 😂

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!