jd1923

Ron sir, you are the king of mods, having something for everything. Reason why your HD van was the right TV upgrade for you. When are you going to add solar & charger and a small cooler to those e-bikes? Think e-bikes that never run out of juice and a cold beer while coasting on your e-bike. You're also going to need one of these: https://www.amazon.com/RAM-MOUNTS-RAM-B-132-400U-Tough-Claw-Self-Leveling/dp/B00PAQKQH6/

Us too, last trip in the high 9K elevation of the AZ White mountains we turned the fridge down from the 4 setting (of 5) down to 3 because the fridge got down to 29F. Ours also runs stronger on LP than on AC/DC which is a plus for use boondockers. We do not travel in summer, unless like @Mike and Carol we are leaving to head north or high altitude. Last on the way to St. George UT late April, we ran into high 90s once we dropped altitude and and into Nevada. IT was the only time the Dometic Fridge got warm, over 40F and it was before I added the Beech Lane twin fan that really pulls a lot of heat out of the rear vent cabinet required for an absorption fridge. Hopefully none of have to take Ken's lead @mountainoliver, though I would start with a 5 LB hammer! To date all systems, buttons, freezer hinges and everything else is working, knock on wood...

Thank you @ScottyGS for the reminder re this Sirocco II fan! OTT had drilled a HUGE hole in the back corner for TV cabling, so I was able to install ours without drilling any holes. If this hole was not already there, I would have drilled a 9/64" hole for the wiring, centered to the mount so no wires would be visible. Instead you can see about 3" of wiring coming out the the side wire channel of the fan. They provide 2 screws and nuts to secure the mounting plate to the fan. Wire first, then screw the plate, then add the tape. Wired it to the 12VDC present above and the whole job took an hour. It's rather hard to square up the fan in this location, since the back wall is curve. To line it up, I laid on the bed looking up, let one edge slightly touch and when sure of its alignment pushed up. Then push up on all sides, rock it, twist it so the tape will bond. The down side of VHB tape is if you do not get it straight on placement it will forever be installed on an off angle. Be patient. 3M VHB 4950 is a great product. I've used it to install rooftop solar panels on our old Class-C, on the new antenna I installed on the Oliver and in dozens of installations. Some do not trust tape but it is amazingly strong. In fact I will be very sorry if I ever have to remove it. Likely for this fan, I could have used half as much tape. I ran one length of tape right down the middle and then two more and used a razor blade to trim it to a fitting oval (pic1). BTW, do not purchase the tape I linked above which is 3/4" and a mil thinner (another Amazon return!), pay more and get this product instead. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007Y7GIKI/ If you prefer to use screws, do it correctly as Scotty demonstrated, machine screws with nuts and make a backing plate. I used that kind of installation for our TV mount. Never use wood screws into fiberglass as OTT does in way too many installations. I wanted the fan far back and pretty close to our TV to make the most room possible for our PJ baskets (pic2). Also, in this location the rear window can be cracked on that side to bring in cool fresh air. Chris will be VERY happy on our next trip. We're leaving next week to MN, ND, SD, WY, and the Western Slope of CO!

with 80” long beds! (1/2 a queen)

Sorry to have ruffled some feathers here. I did complement the work! I'm just so rarely amazed with product designs and engineers that have rarely used, installed or maintained the products they design. Our Dometic freezer is 6"H 8.25"D and 17"W = 841.5 cu in. Using GJ's measurements the Nova Cool freezer is 676.5 cu in. Correction: not half the size, though it looks that way in the view, it's 20% smaller. And I believer there is more benefit to 7" greater width vs. 3" greater depth. This is an expensive unit ($2K or more with tax and shipping?) and after this a suggestion is to add another fridge/freezer in the truck bed? No thank you. Thank goodness ours as-is, but with addition of the Beech Lane dual fan for the hot days runs this efficiently. Picture shows average fridge and freezer temps, late morning and evening on a day where cabin temp if 80F. Not bad for a 10-year-old POS! 🤣 Perhaps I need some time away from this forum...

Not viable for those of us who want to run A/C via inverter.

New fridge, but you lost half of your freezer space. Excellent installation work though, just wish some manufacturer would design and offer a compressor fridge with a full-width freezer. Love the freezer space in our old Dometic absorption fridge and glad it still performs well. Don't want a fridge like this and then have to buy another freezer for the TV.

Thanks @John and Debbie for bringing this to my attention. We have the Dometic vs. Norcold, but when I noticed the $40 for the screen, I thought I could easily fab one. I had purchased this 6" roll of metal screening from True Value years ago to bug/rodent-proof our home, so this time there was zero additional cost. Turns out 6" was just enough to cover with a 3/4" bend on three sides. It takes a bit of measuring cutting and bending to get it right. Be careful, the screen will draw blood. To attach the screen to the cover I used 2 rivets on each side. When done I had a small hole on each side so cut a small square of foam to fill in these gaps. I think it turned out well, in fact these covers used to be lose even though I purchased new OEM plastic mount screws. With the screens on it took a little push to get into the recess but it's in there tight, no more wiggle! Second pic shows the tools required and then vent cover installed. If you zoom into the second picture you can just see the rivets on the end and zoom in on the last picture and you can see the screening inside the vent cover.

I figure if Ron's Velcro works then 3M VHB will work equally well for a permanent mount. I'd want it hardwired and not interested in moving it from Chris' bed area. Mossey's mount is very good looking but then you'd always need to store it somewhere. We usually have one of these on our nightstand. I use it for the stated purpose of a laptop desk and Chris uses it when we watch TV as a headboard. https://www.amazon.com/Sofia-Sam-Purpose-Sparkle-Supports/dp/B015QLBNQ2/

Amazon delivered ours today, but I’m waiting ‘til Monday or after since I’m getting a fresh batch of 3M 4950 VHB tape (stored tape and glue dries out, goes bad quickly out here). I strive for minimum drilling, one 1/8” hole max for the thin wires. I’ll post my install in a few days.

No f’n way. Texas has pride in country, pride in their great state. The only thing Texas coulda done better was to stay the Lone Star state! If they had, we would have stayed there, for sure, but since the last few months of 2025, Made in America is getting great again…

We moved to Texas in 2006 for work, lived there 9 years. No better state of the Union than the Great state of Texas to work, period!

Yes for sure. Our 2001 first twin valve Cummins, no DEF, no BS, can idle all winter!

When we lived in Georgetown, one of my son’s baseball coaches was from Beaumont, great coach! He often said “nothing but swamp-@ss down there!” I understand you’re a bit north/NW of there, up in the woods, but it’s 20% RH here today and it could be single digits. We don’t have this on my wishlist, although if we were to ever make it to an OTT Rally, I’d buy one just for the trip!

Jason, in your beautiful East Texas, buy a couple!

But could be in a pinch. I get 40A when idling, and with a diesel you can idle long, as long as you’d stand hearing the engine. Under idle, we can run A/C at 60% consumption, and if I had the wonderful Atmos unit Ron has it would be closer to 40%!

Yes, boondocking means no electricity unless you bring it with you. Generators aren't campsite cool any more, and more so for EV owners. Many of us use solar and the alternators on our combustion engines to charge the house batteries. We enjoy time at the campsite, and it's hard enough to find a good one, without worrying about where to charge in-between. EVs are great for commuting and for trades people who drive 100-200 miles on the job and come home each night. They are not practical for travel, let alone towing a trailer for weeks at a time. OK, I'm done having fun and will stop, so that we stop insulting one another. I wish you the best with your new Sierra and Oliver when the time comes for you.

Thank, Bill. I stuck product label onto the Bulldog paperwork and placed it in my Oliver file. I definitely always remove and trash those stupid warning labels, added for .gov regulations, for the sole purpose of dumbing-down the American people. 🤣

Yep, no Boondocking in store for @DanielBoondock! 🤣 Get a Tesla Model S to scratch your EV itch. Then after all the nonsense, being a GM guy, get the GMC Sierra Denali with the 6.6L Duramax Turbo Diesel and 10-speed Allison. 😂 When I win to the Lotto, I'll get one too (though I'd have to buy my first lotto ticket)! Daniel has not yet responded to the dozen EV TV criticisms posted in this thread and the first one he started. So Daniel, especially since you've updated your forum signature, I'm asking and I'm not alone. I'm not interested in performance specs, blah-blah-blah, instead wondering how you believe you can charge while traveling across the country, even boondocking, going anywhere you want without the chronic worry of the next charge station. Those of us with diesel TVs can drive 300 miles one-way up a dead-end road, boondocking along the way, we have enough fuel to return. You cannot make that claim with any EV. Likely your one-way trip towing will be limited to 100, 120 miles or so. And when you run out of power on some stretch of highway, you cannot merely grab a gas can and hitchhike down the road or walk to a local farm where there's always some diesel to borrow. You'd need a tow. Most Oliver owners worry enough about SOC% on their house batteries. We carry enough Ah, fresh water and fuel to camp 10 days off-grid.

And I thought we were the only ones to do this! 😂

And here is the Bulldog before and after pics. The OEM gray matches my truck and the labels came off easily. Not easy to drill these holes. They used 1/2" 4" #8 bolts and OTT had drilled 9/16" holes, so I did the same (started with a 1/4" hole and stepped up, using a HD Unibit to finish). I placed them on the workbench side-by-side and used a Sharpie to circle the hole position through the old coupler onto the new one. I was so happy that both bolts pushed through first try! Torqued to 86 lb-ft (11Kg-M), DONE!

After I got done, I emailed the Andersen rep again and asked if she would mail me a new Andersen label and she replied the next morning, "of course." Now that everything is clean (used 3M Skotch-Brite pads to sand), you can push down the ball and it grabs with friction. And you can pull it up and it turns easily (about 4mm free play to the snap ring). If this persists after towing some it will allow for any hitch angle, just lift and turn. I'll let you know. No grease going on this new build and it doesn't matter if the ball looks like it's wearing, it's all solid steel at a rating 2x the GTWR!

For 2 years, I've been wanting to lose the Andersen WDH. I have an older Ram 2500, unlike newer HD 2500s the user manual for my model states to use a WDH hitch when towing over 5000 LBS. Also when I hitch the Oliver, the rear hitch drops 2". Though tighten the WDH and it raises the rear back up to level and it keeps the trailer from “porpoising” from the light Oliver tongue weight. My Ram has helper springs, part of a Camper Special option, but after a few posts on the Cummins Forum, I found out that this option was made for truck campers and does not engage when pulling a relatively light trailer. The 25-year-old rear leaf springs are perhaps worn out. The easy out was to continue using the Andersen WDH (for now). However, I wanted to upgrade to a 2 5/16" and our 10-year-old Bulldog and Andersen had seen their better days. I'm an old-school critic of ridiculous prices today, but I truly believe a total of $200 for this upgrade is very reasonable, for both a new coupler and Andersen ball, It's nice that with Andersen you can upgrade the ball without having to replace the entire hitch assembly. Pictures show the old parts and new. Do what Andersen suggests in not greasing the ball, since it became obvious that grease on the ball worked is way below bringing dirt along for the ride. The friction cones had flakes of residue and horizontal striations which put wear on both the ball cone and the friction cone. $90 for the Anderson parts and $110 for the best price I could find on the Bulldog from a seller that included free shipping and did not charge out-of-state sales tax! https://andersenhitches.com/product/wd-tapered-replacement-balls/ https://www.trailerjacks.com/bulldog-collar-lok-trailer-coupler-2-516-ball-12500-lbs-3-channel-tongue-w-high-profile-latch

I think that was back in the @John E Davies days, many years ago! I just purchased the 2 5/16" ball and friction cone. It is the friction cone ONLY that has a lifetime warranty but you must pay shipping ($18 part and $13.50 for shipping)! 🤣 My total was $90 just purchased this month.

That would be my Chris too! I’m not into fans, so for me just one fan is needed on her side. Thanks