jd1923

Back when we had our Class-C, and before we added solar, we would run a built-in Cummins Onan 4000 generator. The PD51 transfer switch automatically connected generator power to house "shore power." We would run ours only during the afternoons. I would start it when we were leaving on a hike. This way you don't have to hear it (even though it wasn't too loud), and neighbors are also usually gone for the day. After I added a small 400W Solar, 315 AH AGM, 1800W inverter system, we rarely ever used the generator. I would start it every month or so to let it run, keep the carb in fresh gas. We had a neighbor in Texas, who mowed his lawn 2-3 times a week, always about 6 PM, when we wanted to sit by the pool with a drink. Not nice, same goes for generators! Plan on enough available battery AH to last 24 hours for your needs. Your generator choice should be capable of recharging your batteries from 60 to 90 percent in a couple of hours, a couple more to 100%. For our Oliver, with solar onboard and ample battery bank, traveling mainly in the great southwestern US, I have no plan to carry a generator. We camp some in the fall, and mostly from Jan through April. We don't want to be out where we need the A/C running overnight.

Congrats to your son, great article! I will say though, the Nitto Recon Grappler®, is about the most HD A/T tire you can buy! Some might call it a hybrid tire (AT to MT). Great offroad tire. I was aiming for something with better highway manners, which was the design goal of the Continental TerrainContact A/T.

I just started using the Pine-Sol/Calgon solution that @HDRider suggested. I learned this from the Kleen tank guy: Kleen Tank, the nationally-recognized, independent RV tank cleaning service Not enough experience with it yet, but the idea is the Pine-Sol keeps tank surfaces clean and the Calgon Beads will keep tank bottoms and drainpipes slippery and lubricate the valves. Not just used for occasional cleaning. These are flush tanks and NOT septic tanks. Given this works, the idea is to have this in your tanks only and stay away from other cleaners and septic tank additives (which I never use, even in 3 homes where we've had with septic systems). Since having this in the Black and Gray tanks, I have not once smelled the strong smell of Pine-Sol in the Oliver. This means all inside is sealed well, venting off the roof as designed.

Hey Scuba Steve, I can still play Bach's Sleepers Awake on the classical guitar. For me, a guitar is always on board. Though, you would have to buy me a few drinks, to get me to entertain!

Quartzsite is not at all our idea of boondocking in the wonderful state of Arizona. However, it is an RVing Snowbird paradise, yes! 🙂 Before or after Quartzsite, if any of you, who want to venture just 3 hours north to visit Prescott AZ (5400 FT elevation during winter, with a low very probability of snow) are welcome here! We can park and hookup water/power to 1 or 2 of you at a time, with a dump station down the road at the local RV dealer. There are FS campsites and secluded 'dispersed' camping EVERYWHERE (no fees anywhere), with amazing views in all directions! Prescott is real Arizona, as it was founded by the Union Army in 1862, an amazing oasis in the dry SW. Just let me know! (PM) I have 3 gigs scheduled early 2024 and nicely this week is free for us, so timing is excellent. Chris and I, being new to OTT ownership and this forum, would love to meet all of you! Hopefully, we get critical mass of Oliver owners at this 2024 Quartzsite meet!

New 17" wheels, time to mount the Dodge Ram 3rd Gen 17" brakes, with my EBC upgrade parts and reman caliper brackets, that have been sitting on my workshop bench for a while now. Had time to get one side done today. All I can say is NICE! A shout-out to the members of the Cummins Forum to make me aware of this possibility! This is a more important upgrade, living in the mountains, than tire brand choice. Looking good so far, more to come after left side and test drive...

Totally agree with Mike, though there is an easier method... Usually, Chris is doing her stuff and I only ask for help on a job, when I cannot do it myself. The mechanics motto! Normally, I just go with my gut feeling, on how much water would half fill the black tank. But if you were the more cautious type, you could time filling a one-gallon jug of water, given you're using an unknown water source (PSI and GPM). Then determine your black tank capacity, divide that number by 2 for 50% full, and run the hose for that amount of time. If you go less or longer NBD since you are only targeting 50%. I do this 2-3 times, until the drain water looks clear and clean. No way you want to come anywhere near full. The cr@p and TP is in the bottom 10-20% of the tank, given you empty regularly. Best wishes and keep the brown stuff downstream! 🤣

OK, enough about tires on other vehicles (sorry about the tangent)... Had my new tires mounted on our tow vehicle today!!! Everything worked out better than expected, as I was truly worried (whenever I'm not personally doing the work myself, I worry)! I asked the shop to mount BSW out (I really wanted to mount OWL out this time, since our truck is white, but the white lettering was scuffed on most tires, not like back in the day, when you would read BFG, Goodyear or Cooper clearly). Also, please use tape-on vs. clip-on weights mounted to the rims, and finally please let me know, call me if any wheel needs much more than 8 OZ of weight to balance. Everything worked out great! Today was a very good day. Drove the truck home and right away I could feel that these tires track better. I will need to go out again, when I have more time, to get up to highway speeds, though all is looking A+ positive. I was able to mount the newer model 17" Dodge Ram wheels and mount the original center caps from my 2nd Gen Ram. So, we have 2023 high-end Continental TerrainContact AT tires, on 2010 Dodge Ram wheels, on an older yet amazing 2001 2nd Gen Dodge 2500 Cummins. Ya gotta love it, but what's important is we love it! Two wheels took 8 oz weights to balance. One took only 4 oz and the best tire took only 2 oz - amazing! When you're considering truck wheels, these weighing 56 LB each, 8 oz is .009 of the total tire weight. When you consider the weight of the wheel, the brake rotor and all moving parts, the number would be more like .004! These are good numbers, very good! Before the weekend, I will have the 17 front brakes shown above installed and we are on our way to an amazing tow vehicle. Our 2001 Dodge Ram 2500 was under 20K at purchase and will be under $30K when done, with more improvements to come! I'm very, very happy today after our rebuilt and tested suspension, a well-balanced drivetrain, including these amazing Dodge Ram wheels & new tires! 😆

Thank you so much @Ollie-Haus! I also placed ribbed rubber toolbox liner under the batteries for cushion, came up with a better solution to fill the 3/8" extra depth in the box. Looking again at my pics, on next maintenance, I may drill a recess in the copper bars where they mount to the battery posts, so that I can mount the nuts deeper so that all threads are holding strong. First, we may just take an outing to see how this install holds up. Thanks again

Was REALLY, really hoping to get some help on this thread! Asked about the grommets, no comments. Asked about the additional wires, the 8GA wires, two + red ones and two grounds, a yellow and a black, yet no comment again. OK, I'll figure it out for myself, like most things in life. So many times, people ask for help, when with a little testing or research we are able to and can figure out so many things for ourselves. (I tell my PM students that almost every day!) Going to finish and close this post. Grommets epoxied into place, not my idea of the best solution, but it is the OTT design. Got rid of what was referred previously as an elegant solution, perhaps, but battery posts mounted too high is NOT a good idea, not near an adequate solution. As another great Greek once said 🤣, "Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world." (Archimedes). You do not want the lever to pull you battery posts out of the casing. I am not interested in elegant solutions, as KISS, Keep It Simple Silly, is a long-lived and currently viable design philosophy. Most of you will not like my solution, fear may engage your mind. I found 100 varied electrical bus solutions for this need, ranging from $40 to $200 on Amazon and professional sites. Why? I just bought a piece of copper. Copper is about the best affordable conductor. For $20 taxed and delivered, I received a 1" wide, 1/4" thick, 8" bar of 99.9% pure copper. I guarantee any manufactured bus you would buy would have more resistance than this copper. Decided to mount the + connections on the left side, so they would not be stressed into the corner like the previous install (as @John E Davies had warned of earlier). Like it or not, here it is. So, we're done here. Thanks for reading and I would certainly appreciate your comments! 🙂

John, I should have bought yours! The 1998 has the higher HP engine, variable timing, etc. Mine is the first year 1992, 90K miles for $12,500 in Phoenix. I love driving 2DR HT rear-wheel drive cars and trucks, won't buy a FWD car. We also have a 2000 Lincoln LS, a 4DR but also v8 with RWD (found it up in Gillette WY 3 years ago with only 11,600 miles). Need AWD, then we drive the GX470! Had more in the past, but currently are a 2-car, 3-truck family (got an old T100 on the lot too). Pretty copperish color with good maintenance history, was dealer exec owned. No issues yet, but will keep you in mind, thanks. In one year, only changed the oil, flushed brake fluid, new wiper blades, hood struts and a beautiful set of wheels and tires!

So GMC made two diesel engines in the same model year. That's great though highly uncommon. The article states the LBZ boosts torque from 605 to 650 (605 is more than enough)! Seeing $45K, even $35K makes me very happy with finding my low mileage Cummins diesel under $20K. Not near as much torque as these newer GMC trucks, but more than any gasser, and enough to nicely pull an Oliver EII and a truck bed full of outdoor camping gear.

These GMC are amazing trucks! My personal problem is having owned 5 Dodge trucks, and for near 20 years restoring a '59 Chrysler 300E. With my history, gotta go Mopar. Hoping it's OK to go on a slight tangent, given the OP has answer and a recent AAA truck purchase! Always looking at everything automotive, I pick this one for those of you new to OTT, perhaps having a new Oliver coming soon... This is a great truck for 40% the price of a new model: Used 2007 GMC Sierra 2500 SLE w/ Convenience Package for sale in American Fork, UT 84003: Truck Details - 695093986 - Autotrader Need a TV? Buy this one! Don't settle for any 1/2-ton or worst yet the SUV. This GMC with only 72K miles, Turbo Diesel w/ 6-sp Allison, 4WD SB Club-Cab, and in white to match your brand new white Ollie! Can't get much better than this!

Purchased my new tires this week. I went with SIMPLETIRE, after dealing with a young 'know-it-all' at Discount Tire, having upset me with his spiel, obviously on commission, wanting to sell me a house brand nobody has EVER heard of, but of course it's "in stock today!" Should I forego my endless hours of online research, and go with the opinion of a 20-sompfin? No. I have purchased 5-6 sets of tires from this chain, but not this time. I had NO idea that I would buy the Continental brand for my truck. Last year was the first time I purchased this German brand for my '92 Lexus SC400 sport coupe. Need a tire for something sporty, I promise you, go with these: ExtremeContact™ DWS06 Plus | Continental Tire However, we NEED high-end LT tires for our trucks. I went with these: TerrainContact™ A/T | Continental Tire. Sorry you Michelin guys, but I believe their corporate mission is mileage over performance, and I will forego 10K miles on a set of tires for performance ANY day. I was thinking Cooper AT3 to start, and we have these on our GX470 and very happy with them, but I wanted something new, and something stronger higher performing! I have purchased many sets of tires from Tire Rack also. I ordered these from SIMPLETIRE since they have local installers and one of them is a shop we use for service, when I'm not wanting to do the work. Ordered Wednesday, they shipped Thursday from Phoenix, and they arrived on Friday. Too bad their first available appointment is Monday, not too bad. More info coming soon. This guy was the straw. He's just an old-school tire guy and his message hit home with me! The feature that really stuck me with this AT tire is that it has outer treads that are connected inline like a HT tire with extremely large rainwater channels. This is the best of AT and HT designs for your LT tire!

Good work Ray! 🙂 You'd be surprised what only a little foil tape will do to close off wrong paths, keeping the cold air going where it's supposed to go. I've been into a couple of these, and after being a professional installer back in the day, it depresses me to observe the average installation these days. I spend hours correcting shoddy work on everything I own (now that installs are now more a hobby). Work ethic is needed, but not found less often today. Can't wait (kidding) to tear apart the A/C on our Oliver someday (1-2 years out). Thinking, did OTT seal the 14x14" standard opening, or does air flow into the area between the fiberglass shells. 🤣 I hope not, but we'll see soon. I used this tape for prior RV A/C installations and several other projects since (like for the exhaust duct on a Jenn-Aire down-draft gas cooktop). Love this tape, when you need an air-tight seal: amazon.com/3M-Metallized-Flexible-Silver-109-6/dp/B00A7I5Q0E/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1OW71NIMMYN48&keywords=3m+foil+tape+3350&qid=1697936285&sprefix=3m+foil+tape+3350%2Caps%2C176&sr=8-3 And PLEASE do yourself a favor and do NOT save a few pennies on ANY tape, or most glues for that matter, that is not 3M (Yay! Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing)!

Yep, no DEF here either. Still no pics! Don't get me truck shopping again. Yours is a special truck: 2006-2007 GM 6.6L LBZ Duramax Buyer's Guide (xtremediesel.com) Though I doubt Mark with the 2024 would trade!

Nice truck and I'm so jealous of the Allison, (not so much the Duramax) but that is a great truck! Pics? Also, not as jealous of the 2024, as we would prefer to make that kind of investment in our home and property (new flooring, countertops...), vs. just a TV! Very hard to afford a new 2500 diesel truck today, though nice older ones can be found as is witnessed here. Some here may likely know, I'm certainly not the minimalist! Why don't we all backpack-camp next time out? Ha Ha 🤣 We'll keep our Oliver at 6K LBs or close to it and that leaves those us with 2500 diesels room enough for another 3/4-ton of gear in the bed. Yeah!

CONGRATULATIONS!!! now that's a TV! You truly are starting things off on the right foot! 🙂 I guess you got your answer in your post. A HD Diesel truck is the best option, by far. Pics?

Don't be! I promise it doesn't feel your pain. Before I drill, I think "will I ever want to remove this?"

Correct 14GA is the most common automotive wire gauge and would be fine for most OTT circuits. Sometimes they use lighter 16-18A for electronics. 12GA perhaps as a relay output, where you need higher amperage. All automotive/trailer wiring should be a stranded wire type. Only household wire is solid copper.

This OTT Service video is just about useless! If that's all you're going to do, don't bother, they would be better off sealed and left alone. @John E Davies wrote a how-to video. Then check page 2 where I added my update. I'm believe I'm the only one who worked the complete service, since where you really need new grease is under the gears and there is another step in removing them (see pic). What it looks like by merely removing the cover is insufficient, as you would not even see the worn grease underneath. Check out this link and when you're done, watch the service video again for grins. 🤣

Thanks @SeaDawg I'm not sure re a "barbed grommet" ... I just not a grommet guy. In most of my installs, I go without so I can drill a smaller dia drill hole and instead wrap the wire sufficiently. I removed the batteries today, how heavy are these? My old body can still just lift each, likely 65 LB each. I also cleaned the bay and it came out nice. I will put some toolbox ribbed rubber under these. I'm thinking on the two main cables, coming off the left side, I may check my old supply of automotive heater hose and cut about a 4" length to wrap each cable snug fit the two holes. On the other side, I will epoxy the original grommet. Question for you OTT experts... Check my picture above on the RHS. Please let me know what the 2 smaller + red wires are and the black and yellow ground wires. I know one red is for the stabilizer jacks, but not sure yet on the others. Thanks!

Got it back together Friday. Laying on the ground to get the adjusters close, what a pain! You have to turn the power up on your brake controller when first towing. Pulled the Oliver some on Sat and Sun. Used the controller actuator to get them to kick in often and adjust. Got the brakes nice now. I can't understand wanting manual adjust shoes, not me. And the wheels had quite a bit of up-n-down play before. Not anymore and it's done finally.

Study, look long and hard at the Progressive Dynamics (PD) interface diagram above. I have for hours and have learned so much from it. I installed their model PD1618 in an RV. What amazing products PD makes for RVs and their user manuals are easy to understand, as compared to others. Don't be afraid to run your inverter long, if your battery bank is sufficient. We have 450 AH now, last time had only 315 AH and would run ours on-n-off, day and night, and always make coffee in the morning, solar recharging by 10 AM. Check out the 120V AC split-bus concept, with main panel (shore/generator) and sub panel (Inverter). This is drawn out, see bottom right corner of the PD diagram, also on page 6 of the PD1600 Operation Guide. PD1600-Operation-Guide-701580.pdf

NP Scuba Steve, you're the best and the Guru of all things OTT! Elegant in a way yes, though it will soon be improved to be more shock resistant. Ordered my bus parts and will share soon. I'm going for solid copper busses at both +/- terminals. Thanks