jd1923

We enjoyed the beautiful drive up from Albuquerque, and had a great hike the next day to the edge of the park and then some into the Cibola NF. You can only see edges of the mountain range from the campground. Most of the campsites are difficult. We backed in first and found our entrance would be on the wrong side and steep downhill. Then I drove in head first, unhitched and lifted the tongue a foot high to get level. We didn’t want to drive the truck anyway. Tonight we’re at Hannagan Meadows south of Alpine AZ at 9130 ft. it’s cold up here, will be high if 42F by Monday! Stopped to visit with these bull elks on the way. Wow!

Too bad it rained/hailed on you guys. Pictures!!!

Next stop the Manzano Mountains NM SP…

Yep, always look at the most recent service for a current issue. Good you found it quickly!

Given only FRONT with rear trailer brakes working, I cannot see you'd have open wires inside your hull. I would get under your Oliver and check for any visible damage to the wires. Check for voltage there, with either TV connected and truck brake depressed, or by connecting 12V at the harness, B+ to blue/brake wire) and B- to white/ground (if I'm remembering the colors correctly). If you have voltage there (which you should have given the rears work) then you have confirmed wiring internal to the hull is good. Then check for voltage in-between each brake drum. Could be an open ground to the front brakes too. You could also have a burnt magnet or wire harness internal to one of the front drums, so next step is to get inside and test for voltage and ground inside each front drum. While you're in there set your self-adjusters to get the brake shoes nice and close!

It's always best to take pictures of wiring before disconnecting as Rideandfly had. Then connect new wires to the same locations. I would say, given you have the black and white wires connected as shown in the picture, trip the breaker for the converter, plug into shore power and then switch the breaker back on. If you have the AC wiring wrong the breaker will trip and then continue reading... For 120VAC: Residential 120VAC circuits ALWAYS use the same wire color conventions (RVs and TTs too). The HOT is Black, the Neutral is White and the Green is Ground. The Converter needs AC power in from the shore connection. First trip the 30A main breaker, top left of the 120VAC breaker panel, connect the green wire to the ground bus which is easy to identify since there will be many other green or stripped copper wires connected to it. Connect the white to the neutral bus where you see nothing but other white wires. Then remove the circuit breaker for the converter/charger, wire the hot/black wire to it. After you wire the DC side, plug the breaker back in as the last step. Then turn the 30A main on, followed by the 20A converter breaker. This order of wiring these connections is most safe. When you see a red wire in AC Residential wiring it's either for a "switch-leg" to power on a switched light or appliance or used in 240AC as the second leg using 10/3. There are none of these in our Oliver where OTT uses only 12/2 or 14/2 wiring for 120VAC circuits. Class A RVs use a fourth wire (10/3 cable) for 50A shore power connections. For 12VDC: There are common wires used in RV and Automotive DC wiring (e.g. red/black, black/white) but not a single standard as is residential AC wiring. Oliver uses RED for B+ in their 8 AWG wiring and OTT uses both YELLOW (as in the picture above) and GREEN wire connections for B- (see picture). I've read some about neutral wires in DC, but not sure if there is any merit in this discussion. The bottom-line in DC wiring is that batteries have only two connections, B+ or battery positive and B- battery ground.

Me too, though I'm not sure we could ever make this trip, so far east, and at this time of year when work (and yardwork) is plentiful and when it's spring in the high desert! Loved the 2024 Texas Rally, meeting so many 40+ Oliver owners, and only 1100 miles away. Your rally should certainly be AWESOME! A big shout-out to @Steve Morris for his efforts each year. Even though we cannot be there, I've saved a copy of this special listing of Oliver Owners so I can learn of new members on this forum and in hopes to meet y'all "on the road again." Best wishes to all, and Hello to all from John & Chris of Prescott AZ, yet currently at 7200 ft at the Manzano Mountains NM SP (It's Ok, but certainly not Lake Guntersville AL)! Check out my lunch partner during my lunch break yesterday! PLEASE, please post 100s of great pictures on this thread! We would view and enjoy each and every one on them! Thank you...

Yeah, I left our mounts in place too, for the same reason. Prior owner had broken the hook and replaced it with a wire hook that could not possibly hold the door. 🤣 I purchased ours Feb 2024, thank you again @Ty J, and I got lucky to get one Amazon used for $15 with tax, shipped. Though certainly with $40 or more, since ours has proven itself ever since!

Year+ and A+. We can be be in the SW winds 30+ MPH and the door sits still! Gotta have these and I will never hook a door again, or have the door bang on my @ss, nor will I lean over and hurt myself fighting with the door and its hook! 🤣

You can put lipstick on a pig! 🤣

I installed these and removed the PITA hook. https://a.co/d/iRUPdu4

Congratulations! Like a good bottle of whiskey, some of us believe our hulls get better with age! You will love yours and make it your own as we have over our last 2 years of ownership. I think we’re 4th owners too. Best wishes and hope to meet you on the road!

One of these years…

Ollie in Albuquerque, we’ve been here a half dozen times, but first time I came for work and not stayed at the event hotel. Family with, good meals after work, staying 4 nights at Isleta Pueblo lakes and RV park. Amazing full hook-up sites designed for the Class-A gambling types entertained at the Indian Casino. We look like a little egg in the big RV park, though I’m happy to be in our home away from home, in our Oliver!

So what’s it like placing a phone call from this device?

Day two, 244 miles in under 4 hours, mostly on I-40 at 70+ MPH. SOC increased from 56% to 82% (26%) or 156 Ah. Tonight and last night we ran our Emeril Air Fryer for 20-30 minutes (too windy to cook outside), fridge on DC most of the time which brought 600Ah down to 56% (fridge on DC overnight SOC would have been about 50%). Today on the road we charged 40Ah per hour. Yesterday it was near 42Ah. Likely 40Ah gained per hour is something I can count on with the Orion XS 50A DC-DC charger as I have it wired. If you drive a long day (7.5 hours with engine running) you can charge a full 300Ah! That and 720W solar, I'm thinking we no longer need 30A hookups. Very nice not to need to plug in. Carrying 35-gal extra water in the TV and it's only time between dump stations that bring us back to civilization, that's amazing. 😂

Enter you 6 times! 🤣

Looks like a great drive along the Clearwater River. We have Idaho on our short list, this fall or late spring 2026. Interesting that Utah Hwy 12 is also a scenic drive!

First highway test today. Left home today and drove 175 miles to Holbrook AZ. We went mainly state highways, drive-time of 3:10 hours, an average of 55 MPH. We started at 59% SOC (600 Ah total) since we had started the fridge on DC about 40 hours before departure. Just after we arrived we had 81% SOC. That's +132Ah in charge or 41.7Ah per hour charge rate. However, the Orion on the Victron app never got above 38A and was more often running at 35A. This means the Blue Sky SC and 320W solar was supplying the DC power to run the fridge and net close to +7Ah. This is so cool! Tomorrow we will arrive in Albuquerque and since it is about 240 miles I'm thinking will be pretty close to 100% SOC. I'm never going to worry about our batteries when we have a half day or more on the road again!

Good point. We need to be 100 ft from my truck or carry the Starlink with us which we would not do on the short hikes we walk these days.

Welded to the wrong height is a worse manufacturing defect than a weld failing after 5 years use. You’d think they would have a jig to hold the two parts at a consistent height. Probably do and the tech just got sloppy. Good find!

We use WhatsApp Messenger on Starlink for calls to family and for emergencies when off the cell grid. This app is becoming quite popular: https://www.whatsapp.com/stayconnected

This is a bummer Dan. I see a few issues. In your very first picture there is a grease stain on top of the jack. In your last picture, the jack head looks somewhat cock-eyed to the post assembly and even more so to the fiberglass opening above. Neither picture looks normal, as I know for a fact that the tops of both of my rear jacks are bone dry/clean shiny paint and they are level, square to the cover that sits above them. I measured both of mine and they are left-to-right side identical within 1/16". They both measure 3 and 9/16" from the fixed post section to the bottom of the aluminum mount, where yours measures 4" on the good side and about 3" on the other. Your hull, 4 years newer, could have a different measurement but of course both sides should be equal. My feeling is the weld of the mounting plate to the post assembly has failed. Not sure, but these mounts were likely fabricated and welded by OTT, as they do not look like off-the-shelf jacks like our standard front jack. Given the age of your hull, likely it would no longer be under warranty. You could remove the bad side, simple enough by removing the two nuts you tried tightening earlier and pulling the jack out from above. When it's out, you'd quickly see whether a weld has failed (please post picture when you do). If so, then choices would be to get it welded locally and service the head <OR> enter a Service Ticket with OTT. If they did fab the mount and weld it, they may replace it for you or in lieu of a local repair, OTT could supply the replacement part. Again, don't use it until corrected as it would soon cause much more damage than the rub on your basement cover. I could be wrong but this is my best guess from looking at your pictures and measurements. You've taken all the right steps.

I was bending over too, never on knees, but now with these shorty extensions I do not have to crane my neck. Not truly risky. Check out the picture for perspective. The trailers tires are much further out and so is the rear bumper. They are also flexible so if something was to hit them they would just fold back. If something was to het them it would also hit the rear bumper which would be a big owie! I've loved them ever since adding them. Lead-free brass, good for drinking water (not that we drink water from the Oliver). https://www.amazon.com/Fevone-Extension-Flexible-Protector-Drinking/dp/B0BFWPFTFH/ Then I got these simple 1" chair leg caps for the Eley male ends which are inexpensive and fit nicely snug. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000SKXR0C/?th=1

On your knees to connect a hose! 🤣 Sorry, not on my knees. I'm only getting on my knees for necessary repairs under truck or trailer. These make it easier and thanks to @Patriot the Eley connections can be put on and taken off one-handed (off pressure released).