jd1923

Suspension work and brake jobs are a specialty of mine. See pic of the front-end restoration I worked on our Class-C, an '03 Ford E-450 chassis, all new Moog ball joints, steering, Super Springs, Hellwig sway bars, and Bilstein shocks. So yeah, I need to go through this new truck once the weather cools down some. I'm ashamed to report, that I received the Oliver with 80 PSI, knew it was wrong, but then read on a few websites that trailers should be at the max pressure. So, I had a weak moment and thought more pressure is better than less and we drove our first trip at max pressure. (I read John's post about tire pressure after we returned.) Reading John's answer this morning, I'm thinking that this is likely all there was wrong, making my "ride really hard and squirrelly" not truly trailer sway, just squirrelly. I already dropped the pressure to 60 PSI and I'm thinking to bring in down to 48. Yes, proper pressure will certainly make it track better on the road. Next time I hook up, I will measure TV ride height before and after to see if the rear truly sags. I'll be happy to ditch the Anderson. I'll pull all the parts eventually and save some more weight. Thank you, John and others who commented.

Thanks SeaDawg, and I believe DunnYet, got the answer requested, now ordering a new truck! You have great memories, of a long-gone Maverick. Honestly, the pic looks way better than I remember, though no fancy black racing stripes on ours! I'm sure we had basic steel wheels too. 😉

And there are likely many other models, by this panel manufacturer and others, that have a RHS door opening. BTW, they could have mounted this same unit upside down and turn the label 180 degrees. It would be as easy as that! I will make the correction at some point. I'll Check JD's post. Issue is, they are selling $100K TTs this way and it only would take 10 cents of reasoning to deliver a better design here, one that we would not have to modify. This will sit at the bottom of my list for a long time, and I'll cuss each time I have to lay on the floor to check a fuse. Wow, that breaker panel in your attic. Looks like something from Lost in Space! I'm glad I have a fan fuse and not have a secondary breaker panel. Thanks for showing this. I'm learning all I can about these OTT works of art!

Fuel prices are high here in AZ! Any of you on the Kroger grocery fuel points program, get their credit card! We have Fry's here in AZ and it's a Kroger company. No fees on this card. Kroger Rewards World Elite Mastercard® | Home 1-2-3 REWARDS Credit Card (krogermastercard.com) SAVE AN ADDITIONAL 55¢ PER GALLON OF FUEL! Each time you redeem at least 100 fuel points at Kroger Fuel Centers for the first year! After the first year, you get still $.35 off instead of the $.10 per 100 grocery points. We could not survive the current inflation/economy without it!

So, we only have a couple hundred miles on our new-to-us Oliver and TV. It's 100 degrees outside, not motivating for maintenance activities, and likely we will not travel again 'til October or later. We usually camp Oct-Apr down here in the SW. Of course, the '01 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins pulled the O with ease, with 4-5K lbs more tow weight capacity available. We did have some sway on I-40, with some wavy asphalt, many semitrucks and wind. The Anderson mounted easily a couple of times, but one time not so much, causing a few foul words, and yes, I watched the video. I've only owned this Ram for a few weeks and have not yet had time to check the front end or much anything else, and at 22 years old and 161K miles it may need a ball joint, tie-rod end or something. I've read here (that's all I've been doing lately) that most of you with newer Rams or F250s, ditch the Anderson WDH and all is good. I read some of you are using helper springs. My Ram dropped rear height quite a bit mounting the 6K lb TT, more than it should. The Anderson did correct the front-to-rear height a bit, though I felt the same minor sway, with the chains tight or loose. It does not appear the WDH changes anything. I really want this ride to feel solid as a rock at Interstate speeds. The Ram has a ridiculous rear sway bar. Without measuring, it's looks like 7/8" diameter. I can replace it with a Hellwig sway bar and that's one option, but that will not correct sag. When I clicked on an e-Trailer link, one of you with a newer Ram supplied for a helper spring, it stated it would not fit my older Ram. When I queried, what will, this came up: 2001 Dodge Ram Pickup Vehicle Suspension - SuperSprings Intl (etrailer.com) Reading the description, it states; "They significantly reduce sway and prevent sagging, which is perfect for towing" and "to compensate for minor spring fatigue in an older automobile." It reads like it's everything I need. Reasonable cost and easy to install. I will do some research on Ram and Cummins forums. Though can anybody here help? Do you have experience with this kind of product? Or do you have other suggestions?

My Mom bought a '70 Maverick new, in awful mustard, when I was 15. I always preferred to borrow my stepdads '67 Catalina. 3-4 years later, it burnt more oil than gas. She was happy, when I called her from the Ford dealer, who offered us a check for $600 to buy it back! Probably be worth much more than that now.

BTW, our Olivers look way better than the silver-looking stuff in the first photo.

What you cannot tell from the picture is what was the road up, to get to the campsite pictured. I may have a rivet loose too, but I prefer climbing a steep dirt road, than driving a rig 75 MPH, the speed limit, on our terribly maintained I-40 in Arizona!!! Maybe it's the old biker in me, dirt-riding these trails for years, but who knows. Looks like they found a level spot. My spot pictured, was quite a climb. Once your parked and level, all's good. Finding a level spot, priceless!

Do you mean the original Ford Maverick?

Growing up in Chicagoland, when winter was coming, you'd put 600 +/- lbs. of whatever you could find in the truck bed (wood, rock, sand, softener salt) and your 2WD 1/2-ton truck would make it down the road and through the season!

Yes, for sure SeaDawg. The extra weight of the diesel up front and hitch weight in the rear creates an excellent balance, rarely requiring 4WD. These Ram Cummins by far ride better pulling a 7K Lb trailer, than riding empty!

BTW, when bearings are packed properly, they should last for 1000s of miles! There are some that neglect maintenance and some that over-do-it on their toys. I've certainly worked over 20 brake jobs in my life; disc and drum brakes, on cars, motorcycles, trucks & trailers. I will not complete an automotive front-end brake job w/o repacking the bearings. Brake shops do not do this. 98% of the time the old bearings are fine, need repacking, not replacing, unless they're loose or dry when opened, or seal contaminated. I rinse/spin the bearings in old gasoline, then sometimes in a Dawn-water solution, using compressed air to clean each time. I have the nice repacking tool, but back in the day just palmed a swab of new high-temp wheel bearing grease. I expect my new brake pads to last 30-60K miles, depending on application, and I expect to see the bearings still fully packed with grease the next time around.

Something as simple as these work just as well. I bought these for when I do brake jobs: Amazon.com: 18 Pieces Brake Bleeder Cap Grease Fitting Caps Rubber Zerk Covers Brake Caliper Dust Cover Brake Bleeder Nipple Cap for Cars and Motorcycles : Automotive

Oversized wheels, yes agreed, not on a TV, those are for kids and looks. Do they really look better? Sometimes I see truck and cars this way that look awful, but to each their own! Also, stay away from anything lifted, since this truly thows off the suspension geometry, not for towing. I had a 4x4 Ram Cummins for 18 years, and the 4WD came in handy at times (living in VA, TX and AZ). I just bought an older 2WD Ram Cummins, solely for the purpose of an Oliver TV, knowing well the difference from years of experience. I was looking for more highway stability. When you consider a TV, the majority of weight is on the rear axle, making 4WD an option used less often. The 2WD model sits approx. 6" lower, so it's an easier climb to get into as we get older. The lower profile certainly provides more highway stability. We just climbed up to a 7600 ft elevation campsite in AZ, crossing 25 miles of washboard dirt roads and the final stretch included off-road riding, with no issues. But yeah, I will admit I miss the 4WD low-gear setting! We don't RV in bad weather by choice. When the weather is bad, we'll just boondock another day. We have our wonderful Lexus GX470 at home with AWD for off-roading around AZ and for when it snows.

I did just read another post about the MAXXAIR where it stated there was no fuse for the fan! Why in the world would any manufacturer do that? If yours does not have a dedicated fuse for the fan, then what Charlie suggested would be required, turn the battery master switch to the open position.

Agreed, we have a lot of washboard dirt roads out here too! I have the 2" model and the first thing I did was to remove it! It blocks easy access to the bumper and tank hoses too. I can fit a couple of bikes in the truck bed easy enough and they would stay secure. Not a bicycle guy, since we moved to the mountains, but I take my Honda dirt bike often and at 238 lb dry weight, it ties nicely in the truck bed and would be too much weight for the rear rack anyway.

I take pics of things I have trouble seeing, and after crawling on the floor to get to the fuse panel, I took a pic for future reference (attached). Yours may have a different layout, but on mine it's the 20A DC fuse #3 that feeds both fans. It actually doesn't matter whether solar, generator or shore power is connected, the DC branch circuits feed off the batteries. Pulling this fuse will remove "all energy" to the fans, no matter what incoming power feeds are connected. This is true of all fuses and breakers, whether it's an automotive DC fuse box, and AC panel in your home or an RV which has the combined AC/DC panel. The only power getting to this fan is through this 12V fused circuit. The only reason to throw a main switch is to disconnect all power, coming from the batteries and any connected sources. This would only be necessary if you need to replace the power panel, add a new run for an appliance, wire a new breaker, or other major electrical surgery!

We bought our Olliver just 5 weeks ago. We went to see it solely because it is so unique, and after selling our Bigfoot Class-C I thought we should instead buy a lite TT for the seasonal camping we do. Ours was priced quite a bit less than your asking price, and even so, I thought, "no way we're buying this, spending over $50K on any TT! We always joked about the $100K AS TTs we would see at campsites. Thought, why do people like these and spend so much money? Then ours was for-sale locally. We liked the owner who is respected in the community, it appeared well maintained and had the features we required (solar, inverter, mega Ah battery bank, Sat dish, etc.). With a little research, it appeared if we passed on this, we would have to research online and long-distance and likely not do any better. The prior owner even dropped off our Oliver, parked it in our RV space and connected the shore power! LOL I rarely buy new, when good used is available. Like I've bought over 50 used cars or trucks in my life, and I can only remember buying 4 new cars. Would not have a custom home built, though prefer to find the perfect old house on a beautiful property, even if it will require 100s of hours of my own effort. I would prefer to spend less used and provide the M&R work myself. But that's me, as I have the tools and skillsets. However, I'm an odd-ball and I realize 90% of people buy new, especially at this price point, and "call the guy" when service is required. One suggestion is to simplify your ad. Write up only the big options and improvements and less of the little ones (e.g. the Zerks). I write like you do, but I see the guys who sell vehicles in 1-2 days, writing little to nothing in their ads. I had a party overlook my Bigfoot, because as he said, "We're looking for something more original" (the guy had no understanding of RVs.) While I had completely rebuilt the Ford suspension, did all maintenance replacing all fluids, belts, hoses etc. on an 18-year-old rig. Designed, sourced and installed a solar-inverter-battery system from scratch, new large-screen A/V system, new AC, 2 new fantastic fans where they had vents and no power, and the list went on-and-on! I had volumes of posts on their BOCI Forum, 8 pages alone on my solar upgrade project. Yep, over-modified for some. The man who bought our unit low-balled me and he was not at all interested in upgrades I had made. I did OK, but lost some money since he did not see value in the upgrades. I thought, how long to our next offer. I got him up $1500 and we ended up $4500 under my asking price. In seeing your ad, understanding the perfection of your unit, I thought this... It must be worth it (as others here have confirmed). Given prospective buyers with available cash for such a considerable purchase, would these buyers prefer to spend $75K for an extremely well-maintained unit, or go directly to OTT and buy a new one for $100K, while enjoying the new-buyer experience, having the warranty and manufacturer support? Buy new? Or save a lot buying one that will likely need work. Your Ollie sits in the middle. And this creates a very small market niche for your unit, and it will take time. My Bigfoot was on the market 5 months and the dollar loss upon offer seemed better than waiting another month or more. Best wishes and GLWTS!

Thanks guys, I guess I was not wasting your time. We all love writing and talking about our toys, the Ollie being new for me, for sure! I wonder could the IR from one of our cellphones (mine is a years old iPhone, but Chris has a brand-new Samsung) was what caused the MAXXAIR to get confused in the first place?

Thank you Bill, for your very kind offer! 🙂 Turns out, I'm good now. Please allow me to start by apologizing for wasting the time of those reading. I should have thought to reboot first, like when your PC is acting up. The reset function only resets the fan turn-on temp to 78. So, I climbed down to lay on the floor (Why did OTT mount a power panel, designed with the door opening in the wrong direction? Where you can only see and access the 12V fuses with your head down by the table post?). Quite painful. So, I pulled the 3rd fuse, and power to the fan cutoff. Laid there another half minute and installed the fuse. When I got up, I was very happy to see that the remote was able to power the fan and all functions worked! Set the turn-on temp and fan speed and it appears all is working again as designed.

Thanks SeaDawg, I appreciate your help and quick response! Of course, you're not here and cannot see what's going on, but I don't think it is the remote, unless the IR output of the remote has failed. The remote is extremely clean, no dust around the buttons, like it has hardly been used at all. Every button works, and as you click the various buttons the large LCD screens respond in changing the icons and numbers up and down as it should. When we got home, it was the first time I used the buttons on the fan to control it. I was wondering if there is something I could have done, in working the main controls to disconnect the fan from the remote. Is the remote not sending the IR signal, or is the fan not receiving the IR signal? I get no fan control from the remote, but it makes the changes on the screen, and I get no fan beeps in using the remote. I've read some issues here with the control board of these fans. I'm going to try a fan reset. Though, it is 95 degrees here today at 5400 ft in Prescott AZ, so I will have to brave out and run the "got earplugs" AC for a while first! Not sure a reset will change things. I'll pull the fuse too. Keep you posted and other ideas are certainly welcome from all! Thanks again.

All was working well until we got home from our camping trip. Now the remote will not activate the fan. Changed the batteries, but old ones or replacements both show full charge on the remote LCD screen and all the functions show on the remote LCD screen. The little transmit icon goes on as well, but no BEEP and no response on the MAXXAIR fan. Any ideas? Thanks

Thank you, Mike & Carol. I get it now. This also validates my wanting to purchase a new AC unit to install ourselves.

Thank you so much Ralph, as this is truly helpful! Your first sentence surprises me, since OTT should be able to remove an AC they installed, so many times in production. I have not seen drawings, or installation documentation of either unit yet. I just figured that all RV AC units should mount with 4 bolts in the standard RV 14x14 square opening. Yes agreed, if we need custom fiberglass work to retrofit these units, the Truma brand is not for me. Thanks again.

Since the OP's question has been answered, and I see several of you have retrofitted yours to the Truma A/C, could I ask a question related to Truma? Have you all gone to OTT for the retrofit? Anybody had one worked locally? I would love to visit OTT one day, and fortunately a prior owner did a whole lot of service there just 2 years ago, but a quick tow from AZ to TN is not in our near future! I visited the Truma website, and it appears you must purchase and have it installed by an authorized service rep. There is some service organization, mobile install for FL, TX and AZ. Can you purchase the Truma A/C without paying for installation? For me that would be the only way to afford it this year (after just buying our E2 and TV!). With my son's help (he's strong and the rooftop guy) we could install it and a new thermostat in a weekend. We did this 2 years ago on a Class-C, replacing a failed Dometic with a Furrion (great improvement in cooling efficiency, but only slightly quieter). Would love to purchase the unit, but afraid it's not possible. Thanks for your help and advice.