Galileo

Sounds like there are several good options - and - the failure of existing lights provides the opportunity to upgrade. Life is good(?)

We have the “Google” version of the Infotainment system. Whether that’s good or bad I can’t say. I’d -prefer- to have my vehicle system be as independent of my phone as possible. It would be great if there were great apps available to install on the GM infotainment system. There used to be better ones: Weather Channel, Audiobooks, etc. Now, there’s only some dodgy, no-name apps available. I’m looking at RAM for my next TV as they are coming out with the 2026 Ramcharger 1500 Hybrid. I guess I’ll check out their tech…

Same here. Will be interesting to see how the system runs the ICE. I’m wondering if a V6 is really more engine than needed. I would think an L4 would be enough. Maybe even a diesel…

See my longer post - you WON’T need a new hole for the switch! BTW - I don’t really like the light switch in the bathroom. I find it pops loose out of the hole easily.

We had an issue with the touch light over the sink. It started acting intermittent last season, and then pretty much stopped working. Then for some reason, it “sorta” worked, sometimes coming on when touched, other times not. Oddly, when it was “off”, it stayed on dimly all the time. It got to the point I’d have to shut off the lighting master. I just didn’t want a light kinda working, and perhaps doing something bad - like starting a fire. I ordered these lights from Amazon - thinking they were touch lights just as were already installed. https://a.co/d/cg5xSAf When I finally got around to doing the replacement a couple of weeks ago, I found they are NOT touch lights, having a physical switch in the same location in the center of the light as the factory installed lights do. They look pretty much the same, and the mounting holes are close enough that no new holes need to be drilled. You’ll need to drill out the three pop rivets holding the old light in place, and get a light duty pop rivet gun and the smallest rivers (1/16” I think) to install the new light. You’ll also have to pull out the rubbed rubber mat and thin plastic floor plate in the cabinet to access the wires. I used crimp-on butt splices to make the new connection. Though I intended to replace the defective light with another touch light, I think I’m happier with a real switch as it more likely cuts the power off completely when off - where a touch light has to always be energized to sense your touch. PS - I probably could have used the included sheet metal screws - or a bit longer ones - instead of pop rivets, as I don’t really like them that much.

I stopped at a RAM dealer last week to get the latest on the truck. What’s posted above is everything the dealer knew. “Probably available 1Q26” was about all they could add. I’m liking the looks of the 2026 Ramcharger 1500 “extended range EV” (series hybrid) I’d be a bit shy about ordering one now and getting in on the bleeding edge of technology with one of the first ones off the line - but I’m already thinking it will be our next TV. Will the range be less when towing? Of course - just as my 700 mile range TV would be pushing it to get 400 miles when I hook up the Oliver. I don’t really care to drive even 300 miles in a day if possible. I’m used to refueling before hooking il the trailer again, so again - no loss of utility there. I know the “if a little is good, a lot is better” mentality is too deeply entrenched to ever be put to bed, but I’ve done pretty well with the “minimalist” approach to tow vehicles. So since the specs on this vehicle are considerably higher than my current or past truck - I think it will do just fine. The regenerative braking will put it hard and shoulders above except perhaps a big diesel with exhaust braking. The small diesels in our current and previous TVs (2.8 and 3.0 liter) have more than enough guts to pull the Ollie up and over the continental divide multiple times - and the get phenomenal mileage with and without the trailer. I don’t need 0-60 in 4.4 seconds (nor would anything in the trailer be where you left it!) but that power means this thing has serious chops both going and stopping. Before the Oliver, my driver was a 2017 Prius. I thought the way they worked the hybrid was overly complicated - but I was pleasantly surprised to find the transmission was actually quite simple. Much less complicated than a typical ICE transmission. Still, I like the series hybrid even more.

…Including the egos…. (Chicagoan transplanted in Texas)

We’ve seen several in our travels. A couple in campgrounds we’ve stayed in, and two or three on the road. Apparently, there are enough folks on the Oliver Facebook group that if you call out a passing Ollie - you may get that owner replying. We’ve also encountered a couple of “Escape” fiberglass trailers along the way as well. It’s always fun chatting with another Ollie owner - or - one of those other fiberglass trailer owners.

Though I’m new to trailers and trailering, I’ve replaced wheel studs before. Though they may be pressed in at the factory - replacement ones can be “pulled” in using the lug nuts. I didn’t pull the brake drums when I had the wheels off. Duh. I should have, but it was hot and just jacking the damn thing up had me ready to be done. Next time. Next time I check the lug nuts for tightness, I’ll back them off and re-torque them to 100ft/lbs. The torque specs for our tow vehicle (2025 GMC Sierra 1500) is 140ft/lbs. so I’m giving my muscles and torque wrench a workout. Was the same for the previous TV…

I thought using the stabilizer jacks to lift the trailer - or even take much weight off the springs - was strongly advised against - if not outright “forbidden”. At least that’s what we were told at our delivery orientation. Along those lines, I’ve even noticed that even running the rear stabilizer jacks more than a split second after they start taking the weight of the trailer twists the frame enough to make the screen door bind in the frame.

After upgrading my grease gun to a “LockNLube Professional Series”, I discovered I couldn’t sneak the coupler behind the tires to get to some of the fittings, so I figured it was time to pull the wheels off to get to them. While I was at it, I intended to try the “unloading the suspension” to get some of the Zerk fitting unwilling to accept grease to submit. Then again, taking the wheels off without unloading the suspension would be more fun than I was up for. Anyway, a lot of realizations in what should have been a fairly straightforward operation: First off, getting a floor jack under the best lifting points on the axles isn’t very easy. That’s something an owner would have to do just to change a tire. What kind of jacks are people out there using? Related to the above, the marked lifting points on the frame require a jack that has pretty high lifting ability. So again, best kind of jack? (I currently have an AC “Racing Jack” - which is fine for most vehicle, easier than a hydraulic bottle jack, and a lot less effort than the mechanical jack that comes with your average TV.) I decided to rotate the tires - front to rear only - since I was gonna have them off. Seemed prudent. I had been naively been trusting the 120 foot-pound torque specs from the Oliver owners manual. I’d been re-torquing them periodically as advised by the manual. No issues until now. This was the first time I had a wheel off. So it’s the first time I’ve actually tightened a lug nut that wasn’t already tight. On the right side - aside from struggling to jack the beast up - everything went fine. However - on the left side - when trying to torque the lug nuts, I found that a couple of them didn’t seem to tighten. They didn’t feel stripped, just wouldn’t tighten. My wild guess is that the studs are pressed in, but don’t have splines to keep them from spinning - which would be unlike every other wheel stud I’ve replaced. (I had even snapped a couple off back in the old days when I tried to remove a lug nut on a ‘64 Dodge that had left hand threads on one side of the vehicle.) Once I searched here and found that 120ft/lbs is likely too high, I tried again at 100ft/lbs and I was able to torque them to that spec. (Kinda like that 80psi on the tires….) So does anyone know if the studs are not splined? Im sure I’ll have more questions as time goes by…

I know this is an old thread, but I needed to get information on lug nuts and wheel studs, and, thought I would offer John & Debbie an option I haven’t heard mentioned yet. Check with your friendly, local Snap-On tool dealer. They typically drive around in big truck full of cool (expensive) tools and make frequent stops at car dealerships and independent auto repair shops. They often have a torque wrench tester/calibration checker on their truck. I have Snap-On torque wrenches and had mine checked by my dealer last summer. They tested within tolerance. Mine are more like 40 years old - but have been treated pretty nicely. (Kept in cases, NOT dropped in concrete!) I imagine of you ask nicely, your local Snap-On guy will test your wrench regardless of who made it. They’d probably do it for the goodwill and hoping to snag a new customer. The real reason for my digging up this thread in in the next post.

As you point out - there is the entertainment value… Luckily, that bonehead managed to miss you. I typically just manage to get videos of idiots taking freeway exits from two lanes over, or blatantly blowing through red lights. OTOH - we did catch a bear loping across the interstate in Wyoming.

Yep - the challenge was finding a piece of material the right size and shape - made out of a material that the tape would stick to. Since I don’t have any kind of “shop” to work in, I’ve been roaming the aisles at the hardware store hoping to find something. So far, the only one I’ve found was too “greasy” to hold the tape. The quest continues…

I’d considered that - but with the Rove dashcam, the only surface on the camera would be the bezel around the lens. I’m not sure that’s enough contact area to assure it would stay in place. Especially since we tend to be in “hot” areas that cause even tough 3M “VHB” tape. That, and I’d have to create an open circle of tape to go around the lens. (in case I wasn’t being clear - I wanted to mount a cam to the rear window of the P/U facing to the rear, and one on the rear window if the Oliver. Being vertical, the mounts supplied with the camera don’t provide enough clearance to aim the camera level to the rear.)

We have a Rove R2-4K dashcam. Though by default, it plugs into a “cigarette lighter” outlet, our new TV doesn’t have one. Though the cable supplied with the unit will also plug into a USB-C receptacle - which our new TV has, I decided to buy the “hard wire” kit which lets you tap into your TV’s fuse block. I bought 2 additional units to add a rear-facing dashcam to the TV, and one for the rear window of the Ollie. A problem I have yet to solve is that the supplied mounts - both suction cup and adhesive mount - won’t work on a vertical window like the rear of a Pickup truck, or the Oliver. Has anybody found a way to mount a cam on a vertical glass?? I think I could just use a spacer of an inch or so, but curious if someone has already invented this wheel. (Apparently Rove hasn’t.) TIA, V

Hi all, Shopping for insurance (again) and trying to find out who the “best” companies are. We currently use GEICO for both TV and our Oliver. Maybe I’m just still living in the 80’s, but insurance has gotten rather pricey! I have to admit to not having read every jot and tittle of our policy - but you can be sure I will now! I hit a bit of a rude surprise when I found out “yacht” (Catalina 30 sailboat) needed a rudder and that our “cash value” policy through GEICO (Boat US) is paying for the replacement of the rudder - depreciated by its age. So they’re only going to pay 20% of the replacement cost of the rudder and other parts that are replaced. (Getting rid of the boat anyway - ready for that “other happiest day of a boat owner’s life”) Anyway, suggestions? Experiences? Geico has been great with our previous TV that got hit while parked when it was 6 months old. You never get it “all” back, but they didn’t squawk at the estimates, let us use our dealer, and paid instantly. I’m leery after the boat experience that they may not be as good should we ever file a claim for the trailer. That, and I think I owe it to myself to shop around since I’m thinking I’m paying too much. (And who isn’t?!)

I honestly hadn’t expected the bleach soak to get them as clean as it did. I threw the Dawn dishwashing liquid in just for surfactant reasons. I figured I’d have to do the scrubbing again - but didn’t have to. I wonder if scrubbing them the first time (last year or so) had a residual effect. At any rate, the bleach + Dawn + water overnight definitely got the gaskets to damn-near new condition. Pleasantly surprised they came out as well as they did.

Pretty sure every production-made ball mount/receivers are gonna have at least a little “play”. If I watch carefully when raising the front Jack when hitching up, I can detect when the point of taking weight off of the TV changes to lifting the TV. Then again, with our combo, that movement is pretty slight and under less than ideal conditions (rain, dark, rushing) I can’t see it. The “LevelMate” device and app will let you judge the height to 1/4”. Especially useful if you use the “set hitch height” function.

I was really hoping that I’d find wires for both side’s porch and courtesy lights at the switch panel. Nuts.

My intent was to try leaving it off, but after seeing how badly the curb side of the trailer streaks, I’m thinking now that I will install the new seal I purchased. The problem - as I see it - is that even with the seal removed, the awning creates a narrow gap that does catch tree debris. These are held here and create the streaks. The street side - in our case with no awning - has nothing to slow down the flow of water or trap debris, so everything washes right off. I was (un) pleasantly surprised to discover that after I removed the seal, cleaned off the whole roof and around the awning brackets, and cleaned and buffed away the streaks - it rained that night - bringing down tree litter - and re-streaked the curb side even worse than it was before!

This one looks pretty close if not the exact one. ITC -is- one of the suppliers Oliver uses. I purchased table pedestal caps from them, as well as two additional pedestal mounts. I figured I could use them to make a base for the table to use it outside. (Never did) Since people are talking about the porch lights - those things are DAMN bright! I’d like to dim them or even install additional switches to enable me to turn on just one or two of them to avoid ruining everyone’s night vision. (Same with the killer-bright courtesy lights.) guess I’ll check that link to see if it says they’re dimmable or not. (Listing says they are dimmable. Guess that’s a new project.)

OK folks, (TLDR - Stained window seals? Soak overnight in Dawn & Bleach water.) Now that I’ve got that whiny rant out of my system, I’ve come up with a solution that saves $100 and gives me some satisfaction. I had pulled the window seals out of all four windows last season or so, scrubbed them with a toothbrush and Comet, gave them an hour soak in bleach water, and got them somewhat clean. I even moved two of them to opposite side of the trailer so I could install them “upside down” so that the more visible part was clean. They hadn’t come completely clean, but were a lot less unsightly. As I mentioned before, because I scrubbed (abraded) them, I figured they wouldn’t come as clean a second time. I’m thrilled to report that I was wrong! I pulled them off again yesterday. Coiled them up in the bottom of a plastic bucket. I put a cup of household bleach and a generous squirt of Dawn dishwashing liquid, and sprayed about a gallon of water in the bucket. I let them soak overnight. This morning I was pleasantly surprised to find that they came even cleaner than the first time! There’s just a mere hind of a shadow of the old stain on just one small part of one seal. I would pronounce (nearly) “as good as new”! I plan to coat/seal them with the same treatment I’ve used in the nose of the trailer to make bugs release easier. So - for little more sweat equity than it would take to cut and install new ones - and $100 less - I have window seals I’m quite happy with.

Yes - finger slipped and spellcheck liked cooking. I just noticed that while-installing them the last time, that it’s pretty easy to stretch it as you install it. That could probably be enough to cause the gap as the material ages.

Yes, black seems to be the way to avoid the unsightly black mildew - or whatever it is. They’ll still get dirty of course, it just won’t be so obvious. I hadn’t thought about cooling (previously “cooking” oops!) the new seal material first. I was figuring that the stuff doesn’t really shrink all that much, it more likely gets stretched as it’s being installed. I was planning on kinda “compressing” it as I install it. Mine had those 3/4”-1” gaps, but I just made sure they were at the top when I cleaned and reinstalled them. I don’t think they really do anything at the top. They just keep most dirt and junk out of the bottom of the track.