FloraFauna

This makes alot of sense. It is far easier to grease and visually observe how the chassis is functioning/wearing with wheels off. But it is a royal pain as every time i take the wheels off the ez-flex inverts on me and then in addition to remounting, and retorquing, there is the jacking to correct the linkage inversion, once on each side. I guess no pain, no gain.

Prefer not to have that experience and thus lean toward the complete replacement route so share your cautious approach. But in all of this it is not obvious to me how the tire pressure monitor helps prevent a catastrophic blow out versus frequently visually checking inflation and watching for bulges or tire issues at every stop - only takes a minute. Seems like tire temperature might be a more important indicator. So do you see TPMS more as a convenient way to watch your tires or an actual safety feature? Obviously before a blowout the pressure is a number and after a blowout its zero.

TPMS are nice but the batteries do die and then it one more thing to replace. I have them on my tow vehicle and premptively replaced them because they are pain when they die. Been there with a different vehicle. Like you, a good, frequent visual check plus putting a pressure gage on once in awhile is my prefered method. Like Russell explained, having 4 pressures in your face all the time can be an unwelcome mental distraction for many of us.

I live in Wisconsin and camp mostly in Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota. We think of ourselves as 3-season campers and based on our experience consider the Oliver a 3-season camper. So for us it works just fine because we value our plumbing and hot water while we are camping. To be more technical, from our experience and what I have read, the Oliver is good down to about 20 degrees F. If that is full winter for you, then it is 4-season. It is not for us, and we don't want to be camping when it is less than 20 degrees F, so all is good!

I don't but I do check them regularly. Thanks for your suggestions - they make sense to me. Love your tag line by the way "die young - as late as possible".

While camping this week I noticed a slight sidewall bulge on my streetside rear tire. I just replaced all my tow vehicle tires so was not excited about buying more tires right now, but a sidewall bulge is never a good thing. I have the Goodyear Endurance ST tires on my Oliver and with the trailer only 3 years old and less than 10,000 total miles on the trailer, I was disappointed in the tire longevity/durability. I have been running about 55 psi in the tires as a compromise on ride quality vs tread wear/mileage. I know some of you run even less pressure to save the springs, but lower pressures do stress the sidewalls more. I then looked closer and the date stamps on the tires are late 2021 so the tires are actually about 5 years old, not 3 and 5 years is about the life of a trailer tire. So despite low miles and inside storage, I am leaning toward replacing all 5 tires (including the spare) and increasing my running tire pressure some. I abhor the idea of changing a streetside tire along the road on a trip after a blow out. What would you do? And don't assume your tires are the same age as your trailer.

As a first step, i wash off with alot of sudsy soap water and sponge bath, letting it soak the bugs, then go bug and tar remover for the relatively few that persist.

This is my thought too as long as it being turned in the right direction as suggested. It's a brass fitting on my Oliver so not easy to break and mine is stiff but it turns.

In some ways this captures the aging process for us all! Hang in there Ron. Caregiving is a tough road.

I agree but would double jd's numbers. We have 640 Ah Lithionics. I feel i have maybe 5 hours of ac, maybe a bit more but unless you have the capability to recharge, you wont have sufficient power for the rest of your trip. 400 watts of solar probably will take a very, very long time to recharge given your power draw for lights, fridge, etc. I have the truma aventa ac.

Here is the Cp plus manual (2023 version - yours may be different). Although resetting is a recommended step, it has never resolved my CP plus issues. CP Plus Manual.pdf

I have had this problem on and off. First time was a wiring problem from the factory which was resolved. With that resolved, if you forget that the inverter is off and you are not on shore power, of course, you wont see the ac unit. I find that sometimes it takes awhile after the inverter is on for the ac to "reappear". Must say i havent figured it out yet since it comes and goes. Certaintly a communication error is suspect and probably a connection or wiring issue up in the ac since the furnace and water heater are reliably present in cp plus.

In 2023 (I assume it was the same in 2022) I purchased the optional 230-watt Zamp portable panel from Oliver with the trailer to add to my two 200W panels on the roof. I think 2023 was the last year they offered this panel and I believe Zamp moved toward smaller panels. The 230W suitcase is a bit of a beast to lug around, so I don't use it all the time. Of course, this plugs into the side port that you mention. Interestingly, because you can direct the portable panel toward the sun, it will often supply as many watts as the two roof top panels combined.

Yes, yes, yes. We have a composting toilet and actually carry 35 gallons of extra water. Preferred camping times are spring before school is out and fall after school is in session. We do about 7 trips per year now but are rarely out more than 5 nights. Short trips keep it simple.

We find it reasonably easy to escape crowds but it depends on your style and setup. A few of our rules that have led to success. We almost never camp on friday and saturday nights. We rarely hook up to anything ( water, electricity, etc). With these two alone we find crowds are easy to avoid. We purchased in 2023 and it was pricey then but its all a matter of perspective. Alot less than a class a, b or c and we already had our tow vehicle. So all in all the quality and manufacturer support structure make it worthwhile for us.