jd1923

Please read again. This is the MAX PSI rating of the wheel. Margin being that he runs 40 PSI in the Oliver!

Didn't want a different hue, nor less light, just not direct light (but also good comments/ideas)! This solution allows for full light without direct exposure to your eyes. I've been asking our Pickleball center to shade their lighting in a similar way. We want all the light, just not staring in our eyes. You can lose the ball when your opponent hits a lob, like your playing outdoors in the sun! At home we have dimmers, but instead of dimming a 100W bulb, generally I'd rather replace it with a 75W or 40W bulb. I bought a cabinet full of GE Reveal incandescent lights before harsh LED lights is all you can find on the market (thanks climate nuts)! Adding a dimmer? Would there be a convenient location for the switch? This upgrade is the best cosmetic upgrade I've done for only $24, plus the cost of glue! 😎

Six weeks later, after a lot of local camping this spring, I got the lamp shade installation done! 😎 Drilling 5 more of these, I found the large hole saw was binding hard. So I put the drill in reverse and it cut clean through the soft PVC in seconds, nice! I installed them over the Main Cabin and Dinette lights. I didn't want lamp shades over the beds, or the kitchen, since they are low enough and want the light to spread horizontally. So, we went with 6 shades total. I used the Gorilla Clear Grip that @Hokieman suggested above. The instructions state to apply glue to both surfaces, wait 2 minutes and connect, but it would be very difficult to apply glue to the Oliver ceiling! In a PM from Mike, he suggested putting glue on the shade part, placing it up on the ceiling to get a circle of glue up there, then remove it for 2 minutes and reapply. Great idea! I tested the glue first with two random PVC parts. The next day they held strongly together and after I broke the seal, the glue residue came off easily, cleaned up nicely, way easier than removing spent VHB tape. This will be a new sealant in my Oliver toolbox and I cannot believe I got a 3-pack on Amazon for $9! I placed the parts, eyeballing center with about 1/4" free-play, rotated the shade to spread the glue, spun off to remove and replaced each in two minutes, again rotating the shade until it felt firm. I did the next 3 Cabin Lights in series, 5 minutes for the entire job given the parts were prepped. On the first one, a little glue squeezed out. It was easy to remove excess glue merely rubbing with a paper towel while it was still pliable. The PVC parts have embossed model # lettering on the glued surface. I used a razor blade to remove the lettering to level the mating surface, but you can still see a hair of light coming through since the glue is clear. White glue would eliminate this but it's not bad at all. It's hard to take pictures of the shades on Main Cabin lights! The beautiful Oliver ceiling, still shiny at 10 years old, reflects like a mirror (see pics). In three years, we've only used the Main Cabin lights when cleaning or I'm working mods inside the Oliver. Now, we should use them often. And it will also be nice to sit down to dinner and not see that bright lamp glaring in front of Chris across the table. Basically the same amount of light is present, it's just not hitting us in the eyes anymore! 😎

Do they also print a weight rating? The OEM wheels are rated for 80 PSI, but 60 is all you need with margin. The OEM wheels are weight rated, don’t remember exactly, but the 4 added to 11K+, so with D52, Alcan springs on Load E tires and OEM wheels, it’s only Oliver frame capacity keeping these from being actual (not legal) 10K GTWR! I would hope the frame is also over-engineered! If it were me (not me, since our wheels living in the dry SW are very nice after 10 years), I’d buy these on Tire Rack, choose tires, have them mounted and Hunter Road Force balanced, shipped as a unit, 2-year hazard protection and shipping included! Then nothing easier than changing a ready-mounted wheel on an Oliver! https://www.tirerack.com/wheels/brands/sendel-towable

And you can likely get $100 used on the old set locally, or maybe an Oliver owner needs one?

The new wheel looks great! It actually has a simple, cleaner look. If quality and weight rating is equal, buying 4 is likely lower cost and longer life vs. refinishing. Having 5 like wheels is a certain advantage vs. a temp spare that we must change twice. The 1/2” drop matters not on paved roads. Lower center of gravity another benefit. Thanks

I'm sure the tires Gary originally ordered were fine, but... Discount Tire irks me in so many ways! I used to be a good customer of theirs but after so many know-it-all 20-somethings treated me like I was an ignorant newbe, and how they over-charge for "mount & balance" and overcharge for "hazard protection," I go anywhere else these days. 🤑 If they told me they would not mount LT tires I ordered on their website, but only ST tires, I would reply, "Sorry, not on mine! Please cancel my web order." (while walking out the door). For best overall price, I go with Tire Rack most of the time. If you're buying a wheel-tire set, they mount and balance, no additional charge. They include a 2-year hazard warranty, no additional charge. This add $200 +/- to the cost of a set of tires! The only benefit of going to DT is if you are the person who goes back for tire rotations or worries about service when out-of-town. They do have locations everywhere. Tire rotation on the Oliver is a 10-min job per side in my driveway. The Oliver stabilizer jack lifts both tires in a minute, grab the impact, run the air hose, and repeat on the other side. I always do the simple 'H' rotation vs. 'X' and the spare is a different profile tire. So in a way Gary got forced into his ST tire purchase and they are fine as designed. I purchased 15" ST tires for my flatbed trailer 5 years ago. I found there was ONLY one brand of ST tires NOT made in China, a Goodyear model, so be careful of this! We do enough on washboard dirt, so I'm always towing on LT tires. It's night and day with corner protection on these tires. If you're the Interstate driver heading to a campground with a paved pad, then ST tires are just fine, designed for towing on paved roads. Lastly, I'm wondering why Mike @Mike and Carol and Bill @rideandfly are both choosing to move to ST tires? What criteria makes you prefer ST tires?

That's what we had when purchased Hull #113 June of 2023. Except for a trial weekend, we did not start camping 'til 2024. I needed time to restore truck and trailer. In a little over 2 years, we have 180 overnights in our Oliver! 😎 Epoch Essentials and the Victron Multiplus II was our first major upgrade, cleaned up most of the electrical wiring. We keep our Oliver outdoors always. With our recent Chill Cube upgrade we can run the A/C late afternoons into the evenings using only 2% SOC. Our inverter is always running (-1Ah standby). We do not store or winterize and are not connected to shore power 98% of the time. The rooftop solar keeps us up when parked. Our Orion 50A DC-to-DC charger adds +200 Ah every half day towing. Have a 400W suitcase but rarely need it since we don't often stay put for more than a few days. Charging your EV truck towing downhill and charging your Oliver from the EV sounds pretty cool. I sold 4 LA batteries for $300 to a local who runs solar and about 60 old LA batteries for his off-grid mountain property. This is no time for LA batteries except for starter batteries on a diesel truck! 🤣

Yes Sir, I'm with you on this one! 😂 In 2019, I was outfitting a Bigfoot Class-C with solar, inverter (it had none) and new batteries. I looked at Battleborn at the time and it would have been $3,500 for 300 Ah ($11.67/Ah). I went with 3 AGM 105 Ah batteries for $800 ($2.54/Ah, $5/Ah usable). It was a different day. Five years later (2024) I went with 600 Ah Epoch for $1,800 ($3/Ah). This was certainly worth it! Price has gone up some since. Last fall I added another for a total 900 Ah, all tucked into that Oliver battery bay (removed the tray to fit). 😎 If you need something more economical, check out the new LiTime 320 for $770 ($2.40/Ah), or get a 2-pack, 640 Ah for $1,494 (2.33/Ah)! Two won't fit in the tray, but 2 Epoch 300s do for quite a bit more $$$. Search for keywords Epoch or Litime to see several owner installations. LiTime batteries have been installed in a few Olivers. These appear to be good batteries at a very good price. https://www.litime.com/products/12v-320ah-mini-bluetooth-lithium-battery?variant=46648243912924

You're cracking me up, Scotty! 🤣 I swear when we had the OEM suspension, every time I stopped for fuel the top of the Oliver would pendulum 1-2 FT left and right, again and again. BTW, our shocks are under-engineered too. I've been looking for a stronger substitute but so far the specs are not lining up. The Bulldogs are likely somewhat better, but not heavier in rebound specs.

Only because of time! The older hulls have more miles, more failed leaf springs. They are the same spring, but on a heavier axle. When I replaced ours last year, the originals were still nicely arced. Steel from China is likely not getting any better.

You can follow the 80 PSI MAX spec on the Load Range E LT tire, the 65 PSI rating OTT prints on their DOT label (they used to print 80), or the PSI recommended by the tire manufacturer, based on actual GTW on their load/pressure tables. I/we, most of us, follow the latter. I use any PSI over 45, less than 50, to set them all equal in that range. These numbers allow for 7,800 to 8,360 LBS GTW. On long trips, we carry max 6,600 LBS, so in this range we have spec plus a 20% safety margin. If you run at 65 or 80 PSI, you will cause internal damage to your Oliver. Regardless of brand, LT 225/75R16 tires will all be very close to the numbers you see here. I understand new hulls to have 15" wheels, so get a table for your size. I must have posted this table 6 times now...

When 2x 1750 leaf springs are installed on D52 axles, the assembly is rated at 3500 LBS.

Your experiences may be different after more miles on your new hull. Ours waddled greatly and porpoised when not using the Andersen WDH. Awesome towing with the 5-leaf Alcans! 😎 Same leaf springs, given the D35 rating. Many Dexter 1750 LB leaf springs have failed with time. Keep an eye on the arc of your main leaf springs! When one starts to flatten, replace them.

Reading more carefully, “except perhaps the Pacific coast.” We won’t even cross that state line in what used to be such a beautiful state. AZ is full of EVs and there’s enough ex-Californian issues here in politics, traffic on our roads… If I still had a commute, I’d buy a Tesla S (sorry, last time I purchased a GM product was so long, long ago)! And there’s no such thing as FREE! I prefer to use the term included. Shipping is included in the asking price and a charge station at work is a benefit included in your employment. Your company pays utilities. You can argue the life of systems. BTW, at 180K our Cummins is just broke-in full efficiency! I believe @Rivernerd in his $50K quote! If that investment was to save $200/mo, if that, it would take a 21 year payback period. We’ll keep paying our electric monthly. If we were a young couple, growing up with the technology of the day, there would be other considerations. Heck, $50K is a good cash price for a used Oliver! 😎

Yeah, we have a their Cali-King in the master plus a queen at home, two singles in the Oliver! The factory is in the valley west of Phoenix. We drove down with a flatbed trailer for the king (solid frame hybrid model), but the foam models are rolled up and shipped at the quoted price, always 25% OFF! I was guessing a custom shop in CA would be $$$! We got 30x75" mattresses, pulled the stitching on one corner and I trimmed the radius with an insulation knife after cutting a cardboard template. Tacked the corner together in a couple spots and the mattress pad holds it nicely together. We got the 12" for more comfort, but it's a bit too tall if you like to sit back there (we don't). The height also makes the window blinds too close when laying down. But the good news is the extra height keeps our old Springer off the beds! 🤣 Two 12" mattresses for under $1000 shipped to you door, and they have 6-8-10-12" heights. Less height is more firm and less money. https://rvmattress.com/products/brooklyn-chill?variant=46206649139399

I bought a gallon when Bill suggested it last time, June 2024. Amazon says unavailable today. We keep a small spray bottle with other cleaners in a tub behind the toilet. If y’all were nearby, I’d fill a bottle for you. We’ve only used less a pint so far! https://a.co/d/0gKeh4Do Also per Bill’s suggestion, got some 303 protectant. Use it more on our trucks than the Oliver and it does the job! https://a.co/d/0hAiMh3M

Same here, even in the Arizona sun. 90% of our roof is facing east or west. It may have made more sense if we had a large section of roof facing south.

Beef up the leaf springs on the Oliver and ditch the Andersen ASAP 😎 (given a 2500+ series truck). Yes, as Chris noted, only with proper tension is it a WDH. And if OTT is still installing Dexter 1750 LB springs, the hulls waddle like a duck! 🤣

Still is out West, except perhaps the Pacific coast. Interstates, campground hookups and generators just aren’t cool. 😎 They just installed a slew of Tesla charge stations at our mall here in Prescott. We could charge while shopping or playing pickleball, but the stations have been mostly empty since most mall-goers are only minutes from home. Don’t know of any others in our grand Yavapai County and the Prescott National Forest which equals the size of New Jersey! None in the public lands, meaning 85% of this very large state. When you get off the interstates, going downhill you have to drive more safely, slow down for steep curves, other drivers and stop at intersections. 10% to 8%, must be ideal on interstate roads.

If you want things done right, … (you know the rest)!

Does it actually turn the EMS off, or just the display?

Get 4 new shocks and you may want to go Bulldog brand vs. Monroe. https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/c/bulldog-hd-suspension/bulldog-hd-suspension-shock-absorber/bul0/hd12130656/ https://www.4statetrucks.com/bulldog-hd-shock-absorber-replaces-555001-19-050000007 From what I can tell in your picture, the upper bushings on the original shocks were badly over-tightened causing the rubber bushings to fail prematurely. Your picture shows too many threads up top leaving very little spacing for the rubber. You want to tighten these so that the rubber is just mushrooming and not much more.

Thanks, Bill & Martha What Mike explained in the first paragraph of this post is he was pumping water into the black tank, as part of a cleaning process. He got distracted and left the water running. In this case the toilet bowl dump valve was closed. So the water could not go up into the bowl. The pressure from the hose after filling the tank to capacity, would then push the water up to that vent junction and into the gray waste system. This is an abnormal use-case where this occurred. Operator error, and hose pressure forced the overflow. Normally, this would not occur when operating the Oliver waste systems as designed.

I'm having trouble seeing how this could occur. But given this "has occurred" in your experience, please elaborate. Wouldn't the toilet bowl overflow first? We had our black tank once right up to the top, tank full and up the neck, 1-2" below the bowl. Had to stop using it until we towed miles to dump tanks. There was no black waste in the gray water. We also had the grey fill once to where it came up on the shower floor. In this case, we dumped some gray while boondocking since this is legal in in the SW National Forest lands when 500 feet from others and water sources. In neither case did waste of one kind go up the vent and into the other. I'm failing to see the physics that would cause water to get up to knee height which I believe is the approximate height of the sewer gas vent junction. Let us know. Thanks