FloraFauna

Smart move. Wish i had thought of this when i was working on mine.

My advice would be 3. Keep in mind, forecasts are often wrong and it could go colder than expected. And I agree with @jd1923 that 2 is the worst option for several reasons, the main one being nonuniform heating where a cold spot could cause a plumbing freeze.

This looks like a far better anti-vibration solution than the metal straps.

Here is the reply from OTT tech support concerning this issue: ********************* 1) Purpose of the strap: The strap helps reduce vibration on the water heater while also locking it down into the water heater mounting bracket. It is considered an inspection item and should be inspected anytime you inspect the water heater, and should be replaced as needed.While a broken strap does not prevent the water heater from operating, we recommend replacing it, since the unit is more exposed to vibration and movement while traveling. The risk of damage goes up with rough road surfaces, uneven campsite terrain, and hard braking. 2) How the water heater is attached: The water heater is attached at the front of the unit through the faceplate. At the rear, it is secured through the strap, which fastens through the water heater mounting bracket and into the water heater. The strap goes over the top of the water heater to the other side and is secured the same way. There are also a few spots where the plumber's tape attaches to the water heater around its back edge. ********************* This is helpful info. My only beef is the fatigue failure-prone strapping is the wrong material. @jd1923 recommended some engineered alternatives that will be more expensive but also more durable. Now with the OTT info, I will focus on a secure vibration control. Thanks everyone for your input.

Exactly! This will be my main question to OTT as well as how else is the water heater attached (as access and sight lines are difficult).

Absolutely agree! I would like to see rubber bushings in there and am contemplating my options to add a bit of shock/vibration absorbing/dampening.

Were you able to do this without removing or loosening the furnace (in the bottom of my photo and allowing very little clearance around the one side of the strap)??

Yeah I think so too which is why I posted. I am debating in my head whether locking it down to the bottom with angles in the corners as you suggest OR would it be better to have a slight flexibility? I am concerned the strapping was stressed to the extent of two symmetrical fractures - that's kind of weird. I have to look closer but yes perhaps it is only being held by the face plate now and the plumbing (not good). I am going to wait to talk to OTT service before pursuing a fix.

Will do so on Sunday. I assume over the weekend no one will see it. Your worst case fear is not unreasonable. But I have concerns now about how much movement was happening even when the banding intact. Obviously one doesnt want the unit bouncing around relative to the plumbing both gas and water but some of that is probably happening anyway. So how best to dampen out and restrict movement. I think the strap fatigued from repeated vibration suggesting things are bouncing around there. Just fyi, i am a pretty slow driver with no recollection of single severe jolts.

During winterization (which makes me sad but thats a different topic), I found the strap holding the Truma water heater had broken on both sides in very symmetrical locations. Easy to splice on a new strap but how did the failure happen? I suspect these are fatigue failures and thus that same strap material is the wrong fix. I also am not completely certain of the complete purpose of the strap other than to restrict the back of the water heater from jumping around. Thoughts?

On tricky zirks I do like the manual pump as I "feel" like I have a better feel for what is happening. I have an electric gun as well but have found the manual trigger gun is really easier to use.

I think I probably did choice 2 as well. Whether it was an M7 or the original 1/4-28, I can't recall. I know I had both on hand as I struggled.

I see our hulls were assembled in the same year. Hmmmm.

This happened to me a couple of years ago. There was no way to retap the hole without removing the axle as it was a top zirk and I was not prepared to do so. Eventually, i got a new zirk to somewhat thread into the existing hole. It was a real struggle, do to the limited access, and i recall i did remove both wheels. I cant recall but i might have used a metric threaded zirk of a slightly different size. I doubt its threaded in properly but it has held in place now for a couple of years. I am very careful when i apply grease through that one and i do not use a power grease gun on the oliver. Not a pretty or satisfying fix but so far it has worked.

I have been looking in Wisconsin. I ceramic coated my TV as a trial - its worth it in that case. On the Oliver it would make cleanup and annual maintenance so, so much easier. I have made a couple of local inquiries, sent pictures, the whole 9 yards. So far, they never call me back. I don't know but in retirement I tend not to chase after people. If they dont want the business or have the courtesy to reply then guess I am better off.

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.