Galileo

It is a challenge for some folks - typically men - who often derive their identity from their profession. I don’t think that ever applied to me. I worked to live, not lived to work. My old day job changed, the company changed, and I realized I didn’t belong there anymore. I was happy to accept an early buyout and “retire” at 50. That company is now a shadow of its former self. (Think of a big Chicago based media company that used to have a “tower” on North Michigan Ave.) Corporate wife and I escaped to rural Texas to get away from Chicago winters, congestion, pollution, and politics. Became hobby farmers. Changed our lifestyles dramatically. But, we were still too tied-down to the property. It “owned” us - so it had to go. We enjoyed 10 years of the best organic pork, poultry, and veggies. The freshest eggs - but - we moved on. Will we do this forever? Probably not. We may end up in a “tiny home” (without wheels though) but probably keep up the international travel. Can’t beat Italy and France for food and wine. The UK & Ireland for beer. Scotland - well, you know. (Actually, the food is really better than most people are led to believe!)

We have similar backgrounds. I too was the “new car prep” guy at the Buick dealership. Radios, cruise controls, defrosters, and everything else to make sure the salesman could get the car out the door. I did the motorcycle thing too. Rebuilt the engine on a ‘77 XS750-D including a big-bore kit. Funny, in the year 2000 - an 815cc motorcycle was pretty “small”. I had the smallest engine in the advanced motorcycle safety course I took before I got back into riding. I ended up selling all the bikes - I got tired of every driver on the road in Chicago trying to kill me. I’ve even been known to buy “broken” stuff off eBay to fix and own it cheap. It’s amazing how many people can’t (don’t) read instruction manuals and think something is broken - or can figure out how to put batteries in properly.

I am definitely feeling what you’re talking about. I all but gave away the roller chest and top box I bought when I first started working as a mechanic - 1978. Sold it and two other hardware store roller chests I kept plumbing and carpentry tools in for a song. I took most of my tools “portable”. Wrench rolls, soft toolbag, threw in enough of my hand tools to do most repairs. I couldn’t bear to get rid of my tools though. Most is in storage. Yeah, it’s hard to divest yourself of “everything” when you decide to go mobile. We still have a storage unit in Texas. We donated $1,000’s worth of furniture, books, DVDs, etc. It’s amazing how nobody wants furniture - even nice stuff in good condition. Cleared out TWO homes - the “suburban”home of 38 years and the farm as well. All we kept is stuff that’s sentimental, some clothing, or stuff that’s not valuable to anybody but us, so not worth trying to sell. The problems with wanting to travel AND have a fixed base are bigger, especially if you want to take a long trip cross-country or an overseas trip long enough to be worth the air fair. I gave up trying to find somebody reliable enough to watch the farm. Even after you get rid of the critters, you’ve gotta have somebody visiting the place or you’ll have squatters or a meth lab in your cabin. That, and the property taxes on the place in the suburban had far exceeded the amount that I had been paying for mortgage. Add regular maintenance, insurance, and utilities to that and it’s easy to divest yourself of that kind of financial burden. It’s also the reason we can enjoy our new lifestyle. We just came to realize that we always had more fun “on the road” than we did married to a home or property. Anyway, I try to keep my hand in it as far as repairs and improvements go. I can pick and choose my projects. I leave the messy, mundane ones to the others. I guess I’ve done enough oil changes and tire rotations that the meager amount of money I’d save by doing it myself isn’t worth the thrill.

A comment by KatanaPilot mentioning his profile picture made me away of that feature that I had not previously noticed. I thought “cool! I can add a profile picture.” I did. Unfortunately, because of the member name and other stuff the system places over the top of the photo, you can’t see what’s in the center of the photo - like where most photographers put the subject of the photo. I tried clicking various things to see if the system would let you uncover the photo or have it pop up in a separate frame, but so luck. I guess I can go in and resize and crop the picture to move the subject off to the side. That would make MY profile picture more effective, but I wanna be able to see the planes on KatanaPilot’s profile picture! (I like planes.) (Hopefully the examples below illustrate my point.)

Wow. Truma doesn’t seem to be winning many hearts and minds here. I’ve read seemingly very different impressions of Truma’s customer service. Some say they’re great, others - not so much. My only attempt at contacting them didn’t even get the courtesy of a reply.

I can’t speak to Goodyear, Pirelli, General, etc - but just out of curiosity, I contacted the friendly folks at Bridgestone - the main “corporate” office, not a dealer. They assured me that a given Bridgestone model is made exactly the same whether it is shipped to a GM assembly plant or a aftermarket dealer. (They were pushing Firestone service centers.) No different rubber compounds or other manufacturing differences. They DID say that tires from the GM assembly plant (and ones GM dealers sell) are stored - sometimes for quite a while. They said that this is why tires on your new vehicle can have shorter service lives. They said Firestone service centers get “new tires straight from the factory”. They went further to suggest those who are concerned should look at the DOT markings on the tire to find the manufacture date. Since they were Johnny on the spot with that storage factor information - I’d wager it’s not the first time that they’ve been asked that question. They suggested that how long a tire has been in storage could have a fairly pronounced effect on its life. I had to assure them that no, I was not contacting them to complain about my tires. They offered twice to set up an appointment to start a warranty claim! I can’t really even imagine the logistics of making the “same” tire with two different rubber compounds depending on whether it gets shipped to an assembly facility or to a tire dealer. It would also give a given tire a bad reputation - hurting future sales: “I had those tires on my new car from the factory. They wore out in 20,000 miles! I’ll never buy them again!” I would think that it could even cause safety issues - you tear up a tire and replace it with “the same” tire - but it’s different from the one on the other front wheel and it causes a traction difference that leads to loss of control. “Hello ambulance chaser? I’d like to sue Goodyear for $5 million!” Id be curious to know if other tire manufacturers will come out and say that “yes, we make the same model tire with two different rubber compounds depending upon if it’s shipped to a car assembly plant or to a tire dealer.” I won’t be doing that research though. I don’t know where “AI” got its information from, but AI does nothing but lift existing information from the web. And we all know that “if I read it on the internet, it MUST be true” right? 😋

Please don’t misunderstand me. I totally agree that having dealers - or even independent shops - do ALL of the maintenance would be too expensive. I pick and choose my battles. When Oliver Service said they could replace the black tank dump valve with an electric one for $900 - I said no thanks, bought one off Amazon for $200 and put it in myself. When Oliver sent out the new tire valve stem cores for the tires a year or so ago and suggested taking the trailer to the tire shop, I snorted and did it myself. (Almost) Any idiot can replace a valve stem core! ( the gift card they sent for $25 or $50 or whatever it was wouldn’t have covered having a tire shop do that anyway.) Likewise - for expediency sake, I addressed my own issues with the Truma water heater. I had neither the time nor desire to seek out a Truma dealer, wait for an appointment, and haggle with the shop and Truma over who pays for the service. Frankly, it was faster and easier to do it myself. I LIKE fixing things! It’s why my first job was as a mechanic and I worked on my own cars and houses for decades. Money is certainly a factor. These days, I’m in a little better situation financially than I was when I was younger, so that has changed my decision making process when it comes to maintenance and upgrades. As I get older, my TIME has become more valuable. There’s also another factor in play. My wife and I have sold all of our property and are on the road - domestically or overseas - pretty much 100% of the time. We’re “homeless”. Sure, we have an “official” place of residence, but it’s a studio apartment (kinda) above a friend’s garage that we crash in a couple of times a year between road trips and European vacations. That means that I don’t have the facilities to do much vehicle work. Sure, I could do an oil change in a friend’s driveway, but there’s no place for me to do much involved or extensive work. We also don’t have multiple vehicles these days. So I can’t put one up on jack stands and drive the other one to the auto parts store for brake pads. As I said earlier, oil and filters have gone up so much that by the time I buy six or eights quarts of the increasingly special oil my truck uses, I’m not paying that much more to have the dealer do it. That, and I don’t have to drag out the floor jack and stands to rotate the tires. I’m in and out in an hour or so with no dirty clothes, oil to recycle, or bruised knuckles and sore back. So sure - cost is always a factor, but so are time, effort, and convenience. I do try to weigh all the factors and select the one that best fits the specific situation. I’ve become a little more cautious over the years, which is why the current and previous trucks were purchased new. No, a new vehicle with a warranty is no assurance of freedoms from breakdowns, but it not only takes the sting out of a breakdown, it also takes advantage of the odds that a newer vehicle has fewer aging parts to fail. (Though “infant mortality” needs to be considered.) I forget exactly where it was - someplace between the Grand Canyon and Lubbock Texas - where we were driving (towing) on mountainous, winding, narrow roads with no shoulders and no “civilization” for miles. That would be a REALLY bad place to have a mechanical issue. Motor club be damned! Right about then I started thinking about Endurance or Ox extended warranties vs the cost of a new vehicle with a new warranty. At one point I had to eat a $500 out of warranty repair for something that failed -just- a few miles too late. I wouldn’t have had the knowledge or specialized equipment to do that repair.

Generally speaking as stated, yes. I can not comment on what your dealership sells. Because I never buy tires from a "stealership Huh - definitely news to me. In the spirit of “trust but verify” - could you share the source for your assertion that a tire put on a car at the factory -isn’t- the same as a replacement tire of the same manufacturer, label, model, and size? That definitely sounds like a hairball for tire manufacturers to manage to me! Though I worked for a (Buick) dealership as my first full-time job, I too was loathe to ever take a vehicle to a dealer for repairs or maintenance. These days, NOT wanting to do all of my own maintenance after having done exactly that for 40+ years - I take my vehicles to the dealer. There are several good reasons for this: They know the vehicle considerably better than I do. Especially important in these days of fuel injection, 15 computers under the hood, and not wanting to buy thousands of dollars of special equipment. Sure, I have my trusty OBDII scanner and more hand tools than most professional mechanics, but these aren’t the days of points and condensors any more. I served my time under the hood, fixing up rusty old beaters, and all the rest. Frankly, ANY service shop is charging exorbitant rates these days, so there’s not a lot of qualified, “inexpensive” places to get your vehicle serviced. My last two vehicles were purchased new, with factory warranties. One more reason to take it to the dealer than Joe Blow shade tree mechanic. I’m a little older these days, and frankly, don’t feel like having to crawl under my vehicle unless it’s just me in the middle of nowhere. I CAN if push comes to shove, and I carry enough tools to pretty much repair most things on my truck or trailer, I just choose not to. I bought my last tires from the dealership(s) because they BEAT the quotes I got from competitors. I also don’t think it’s a bad idea to throw your favorite shop (or dealership) a gravy job once in a while instead of just the warranty stuff. We travel all over the country and Canada as well. I had my truck to at least half a dozen dealerships in as many states for routine service. That said, I take my truck to my “preferred” dealer for as much as I can. I even bought my replacement vehicle there -because- they treated me right. Finally, unlike days of old where I could buy quality oil for under a buck a quart, and pay $2 for a filter, these days, by the time I buy the stuff to change it myself, I’m not saving anything. That, and we’re back to crawling under the truck, getting dirty, having to collect, bottle, and tote waste oil to a recycling point. I also don’t fly coach on discount airlines anymore.

It’s really quite simple and well within the skill set of anybody who can change their engine oil or a set of spark plugs. You WILL need a couple of Torx wrenches. I forget the size, but both/all were included in a small Elkind folding set, I’d guess a T-10 is one of them. Two open end wrenches to remove the gas fitting. (I don’t think there’s room to use flare nut or “line” wrenches.) About 5/8 or 11/16” I think. Also the big wrench for the nut holding the gas line to the manifold. Other than having to ease it out and caress it back in is to pull out the black control box at the top right of the heater enclosure when you open the access door. Easier than removing the ignition and flame sensor leads and less likely to break them. DO take the picture as Galway Girl suggested to put the disconnected leads back in the right place. Turn off the LP first of course. Once you overcome any trepidation about working on an unfamiliar piece of equipment, it’s a pretty simple job. As others have pointed out - if you fiddle with it, you likely void your warranty.

DEFINITELY worth looking into MountainOliver!

All interesting stuff of course, but you lost me on the above. You’re saying the replacement tires I purchased for my vehicle with the same manufacturer, model, and size as the ones the truck came with aren’t the same tire? Even when I get them from the dealer who sold me the truck?(!) If that’s what you’re saying, how are the tires that Bridgestone sends to a GM assembly plant as “tire A” differentiated from the tires Bridgestone sends to a GMC truck dealer as “tire A”? It may just be my non-aggressive driving style, but I always get considerably more miles out of my tires than they’re typically rated to deliver. That’s something that I’m fine with. I got 70,000 miles out of the original tires on my previous truck - and I replaced them long before they were near the wear indicators. I credit that to the fact that I’m a fanatic about monitoring tire pressure, alignment, and rotation. Actually, it’s surprising as I drive on rural Texas roads a lot. They’re “chip seal” surfaces which is reputed to eat up tires pretty aggressively.

Let’s hope it’s not that - otherwise you may not wake up one cold morning. Anyway - it’s still a scavenger hunt. Definitely coming in under the aft curb side though, as the street side doesn’t have the issue. Counterintuitive as the curb side has the outside access door to the “basement”. Seals around the water heater and furnace are still on my top ten list as those are in the area most affected. I suppose the right taillight also needs to be scrutinized.

Thanks for the history lesson! (I don’t mean that sarcastically btw!) Now that you mention it, I do think I remember low tire pressures leading to overheating leading to failure being a factor. That said, I thought I had also heard that at least some of these failed tires had rust on the steel wire that was woven into the belts. Apparently that didn’t allow a good bond with the rubber - leading to the delamination. As with many of these big legal cases, you really can’t be sure of all the facts. It all comes down to what the lawyers can sell to the jury, and how deep the respective pockets are. I didn’t know the Ford/Firestone connection. Ironic that Henry and Harvey were so closely associated, and Henry’s offspring and company brought about Firestone’s demise. Funny that the “Firestone” auto service centers are still (apparently) going strong.

I’d lean towards “poor quality” as these are the “new” receptacles & plugs supplied by Oliver and the component manufacturer. I don’t think that the familiar 3-prong grounded outlet that we all know and love was intended for use in mobile applications. At least not ones hidden under drawers or access panels for items that aren’t often unplugged. Sure, if you wanna plug your Keurig machine on the countertop on your RV, go for it - but that’s a completely different application. I agree 105 to 125 volts, I mean percent that loose connections are dangerous. I’d prefer not to resort to bending prongs. I guess I -could- replace the receptacle under the sink with a new, name-brand, specification grade outlet - but that’s still a halfway solution. I think a more craftsmanlike repair would be to eliminate the receptacle and plug and “hard wire” it in. That’s really how installed - as opposed to portable - appliances should be wired. (Look at the furnace or AC in your home.) The battery charger is a different story. The outlet it’s plugged into is a snap-in receptacle on the back side of the A/C breaker panel. There’s a 10-12” unsupported run of power cord that looks designed to pull the plug out with jouncing down a bumpy road. Anyway - just questioning the rational and wisdom of the power connections on these two items. I guess I’ll have to expect more failures from similar connections that I haven’t experienced yet. As it was, I found two or three 1/4” spade disconnects on the back of the D/C panel that had worked themselves halfway off already. Luckily, none of these failures have been mission-critical. “Hohenwald, we have a problem……”

I’m with you 98% except for tires where often OEM is satisfactory and better performance can be found easily. True - OEM tires can be “just OK” and I’m sure better ones can be found - usually for more $$$. (Which explains why the factory put on the ones they did!) OTOH - pretty sure those Firestone Transport 500 tires that failed and caused several fatal rollover accidents were OEM - but I think they traced that to faulty construction that allowed the belts to delaminate. I guess the times I’ve put tires on newer vehicles, I just hadn’t done adequate research into the “better” tires, so I defaulted to the research that the factory did. Call me lazy. Previous to my two tow vehicles purchase new, my old vehicles were second, third, who-knows-how-many owner vehicles. For those, anything remotely round that held air was deemed “tire”. 😋

On a whim I occasionally press the “Battery” button on the see-level display. Usually I see 13 point something. Last night, plugged into shore power with all AC accessories working and no error messages, with the furnace fan running, I pressed it and it read “12.3. I thought - seems low, but don’t panic. When the furnace fan shut off, I pressed it again and it had come up to 12.4. Still low, but not knowing what strategy the battery charger uses, I let it go for the moment. About six in the morning, a memory of this happening previously came to mind. That time I pulled out my Fluke 77 and checked the actual voltage at a few cigarette lighter sockets and they all agreed with the see-level display. I checked the battery charger breaker and it was on. I pulled the cushion off the rear dinette seat and lifted the access panel… Battery charger unplugged. Sure enough, when I arose and looked - same thing. That’s twice for the battery charger. First season out, the Norcold fridge wouldn’t automatically switch to AC when we arrived at our campground with hookups. It stayed on LP mode. I pulled the outside lower cover and found zero voltage at the AC connection. About the time that Oliver service got back to me, I had found the AC plug under the galley cabinets had come unplugged. I think that’s when I asked myself “why isn’t this hardwired?” Now I’m asking the same about the battery charger… Only reason I can think of is “Manufacturer’s warranty”. So - check those plugs! Anybody address this issue?

As I said - it’s your trailer, TV, etc. I’m an OEM kinda guy. I use genuine parts on my truck, replace the tires with what the factory originally installed, and follow the manufacturer’s instructions for installing and maintaining their equipment. As my old HS auto shop teacher used to say “when you modify a vehicle, you become a test pilot.” There are enough factors when you’re on the road that you can’t control. I don’t feel the desire to add another one. So, when Andersen says not to lube the ball because the lube -could- seep down into the friction material - I take them at their word. After all, they designed, built, and tested the thing. I figure they likely know more about it than I do. Besides - with the Andersen design - where the ball turns with the coupler, and the amount of vertical angle change between the TV and trailer are greatly reduced, the need for lubrication as with non WD hitches is pretty much gone. That, and no greasy mess to add to the bruise and cuts you get when you walk into your hitch. 😋 That said, old habits die hard. People are gonna do what they’re gonna do. I don’t see much benefit to trying to lubricate two mating surfaces that aren’t pretty precisely fitted to each other. In fact, grease is more likely to catch grit and dirt that will be held in place and act as grinding compound. Andersen says don’t lube - I don’t lube. It could even affect a product liability claim.

BTW - I found this to be a pretty convincing test and endorsement of the SmartPlug from a marine electrician. https://marinehowto.com/shore-power-cords-smartplug-vs-1938/ Also - folks that have been around a while and remember when cars had real chrome bumpers, mirrors, and door handles will likely remember that not just boats are subject to corrosion from sea air. Just finished a circuit through the whole of Florida (it was cold…) and I saw some campground toilet and urinal flush valves that had pretty much every bit of the chrome eaten away. That was a first for me, but a good indicator that RVers who hang out in coastal areas need to be aware of corrosion!

Thanks ScubaRx! Makes sense. When I was musing about adding solar to our cabin, I learned all about making sure you don’t fry a lineman - or - have two sources trying to feed the same load. Right now, I do all of the above manually. Then again, with just one power connector, it’s pretty hard to mess up. Yeah - I discovered grounding plugs for my generator as well. Also discovered that the power monitor does not care for older, 2-wire service!

Thanks for the link Tom & Doreen! I had hoped that my maintenance would be so straightforward, but, it appears that I should have done it sooner. Then again, four years pulling a Casita is just a mite different than an Ollie LEII! I wonder why the Casita would even need a WD hitch…. Prolly for the sway control. Also - I want through the Andersen hitch instructions front to back and back to front. “Maintenance” isn’t really addressed. Oh sure, they say use a bit of lube on the chain tensioning nuts. (I use “Never-Seize” on the threads as well as the thrust face of the washer. Zero galling and a LOT less force to load the WD!) Anderson DOES mention not to use any lube on the ball, lest it contaminate the friction material sleeve. I’ve read some folks doing that, but hey, it’s your trailer! Do what makes you happy. Really too bad one has to look to YouTube and not an Andersen source to get intel on maintenance…

The reprint of the Andersen WD Anti-Sway Hitch instructions doesn’t say much if anything regarding periodic maintenance. Though ours has been fine for most of three seasons with no real issues or noise. I did notice that the force put on the ball & taper through the coupler and the “whale tale” looked to be causing wear that I would think was fairly predictable. After all, the friction material is only “plastic” and I’d guess the tongue weight and the force of the WD chains - and heat from friction - are going to take their toll. Anyway, my thinking is that three seasons (long seasons!) are too long to go between periodic maintenance. I had purchased a spare friction material sleeve and a few other bits that I thought would be likely replacement items, so I had it ready. My plan was to disassemble the unit and replace the friction material and reverse the ball to equalize the wear. What I found when I took it apart was a bit more than I expected. The plastic friction material was worn thin - practically all the way through - where you’d expect - forward at the top and rearward at the bottom. Unfortunately, there had already been some metal to metal contact between the cone and the housing at both the top and bottom ends. I also found the most forward screw holding the top plate on was bent. Not sure it that was a result of wear or force, or from original assembly. Anyway, pointing out that there really ought to be some guidance as to recommend replacement of the friction material to catch it before metal gets to metal. I got mine back together, but not really happy with it, so I ordered a replacement to the tune of about $300 by the time you roll tax into the equation. I didn’t see a lot of posts about the Andersen WD hitch, so just curious who else may have run into the same issue I did.

Thanks ScubaRX, The thought behind a second connection up front was to use a generator. I’ll have to dig deeper into the “transfer switch” as that’s something I’m not up to speed on as of yet. When you say “electrical problems” do you just mean the monitoring and control the existing power monitor does? Guessing the transfer switch is to ensure someone poking their fingers into power connector 2 while power connector 1 was in use didn’t get a shocking surprise?

We installed a SmartPlug on our ‘92 Catalina 30 sailboat years ago and never looked back. Installation was dead easy and there’s no issue with the flimsy and hard to thread plastic lock ring as there is on the 30 amp twist lock. From my reading - primarily on marine forums - the so-called 30 amp twist lock plugs used on many sailboats - and our Oliver - is just -barely- capable of handling 30 amps. That assumes clean, tight, good condition contacts. Wear and tear, dirt, corrosion, damage, overheating will degrade the current carrying ability. Sailboats occasionally “burn to the waterline” - and the cause is often overheated “shore power” connections. I was actually a little surprised to find the Oliver had a detachable power cable. Our previous three motor homes (all 70’s-80’s vintage) had cables that pulled out of a port - but were permanently connected at the vehicle end. The only time that this arrangement has been a serendipitous advantage is when we camp out at our marina - where all of the power outlets are twist-locks. We used a shore power cable from our boat to hook up the Oliver. Without that marine cable - we’d have been out of luck. IMHO - the twist lock connection on the side of the trailer is a nuisance. That silly plastic lock ring takes several tries to get started properly because of the interrupted thread, and I’m sure that my other half has cross-threaded it a few times. It’s rare to see a boat with the lock ring still intact. They crack off. Movement of a boat vs a trailer shouldn’t be an issue. Good practice dictates securing the cable away from the connection to make sure the outlet and plug don’t take the strain. Anyway - just look at the contacts on a SmartPlug. They’re much more substantial than the flimsy contacts the twist lock uses. Wider, thicker, more rigid. As for being able to find spares while camping - I don’t see that being an issue. The only way it’s going to fail without warning is if you drive off without disconnecting and shear it off on a post or some equivalent mechanical event. I haven’t upgraded the shore power connector on the Oliver to SmartPlug - but it’s on the list. I may just install a second power connector - probably up on the nose by the tongue - and leave the old one there. Best of both worlds.

Though I’m sure this stuff is great for lubing the valve blades/gates, I’m convinced that the issue I experienced was because of the l-o-n-g cable and the two 90 degree bends, not the valve itself. The valve I removed also showed zero signs of wear, buildup, deposits, scoring, etc - it looks new and the seals were fine. My original symptoms were a black tank T handle that was VERY hard to pull out - to the point I was sure that the plastic T handle would break off. OTOH, it pushed in very smoothly and easily. From past experience with cables of this kind, the cable “core” wears into the cable housing or sheath. This wear happens on the “pull” stroke to the inner radius of the cable bends. There are two 90 degree bends in the blank tank dump cable. Anyway, since I wasn’t keen on temporary fixes like lubing a compromised cable, I opted for the fix OTT suggested: installing an electric valve. Problem solved.

That reminds me that there are a few automotive designers that need to be slapped around a bit….. Having to pull an engine to change a spark plug sounds like a good reason for capitol punishment. One shouldn’t need to be double jointed and have eyes on one’s fingertips to do periodic maintenance on any device. That said your suggestion of “well you put it there” is unlikely to phase anyone.