Galileo

Read it - twice. Nothing I saw explained how to service anything except the “power head” of the jack, and the pin that engages the shaft below it. Those parts are just the ones that power the jack - not the actual jack itself.

A couple of things: First - I agree with your assessment of the video. They only show inspecting and lubricating the electric drive part of the jack. You could take that whole part off and throw it away and just use the crank if need be. (No batteries?) Now I’m unclear on the “over-extended” comment. During our deliver orientation, the Oliver employee had us run the jacks up (retracted) until there was a “ratcheting” sound. I assumed that was a torque-limiting device. Or is it the gears stripping themselves?(!) (Since my tongue jack got “jammed” in the fully retracted position once, I no longer run it all the way up! I guess I’ll start doing that with all three jacks.) My front jack is occasionally a little noisy - but I think this is more due to the jack getting some side force on it more than wear or lack of lubrication - at least lubrication of parts lived in the OTT or YouTube videos I’ve seen. Not sure where you mean when you say “page two”. Do you mean the second page of comments on this thread? If not, where? (Thanks!) I did run my question about servicing the lover end or “guts” of the jack by the folks at Barker. They invited me to call and chat, but I haven’t circled back that way.

I also got the Sherline scale from Amazon and got results within about 5# of yours. With the Andersen “No-Sway” WD hitch, I don’t think being a hair under the “10-15% of trailer weight” is a problem. Zero tendency to sway even if I antagonize it to test it out. I AM taking the Sherline out of the basement and leaving it in the Bus Barn though. That thing is solid metal! I don’t need to tote around any more weight than I have to, and we’re not changing the W&B of our trailer significantly by adding bikes, scooters, etc anywhere.

I haven’t needed - or wanted - to remove the jack motor yet. That said, I did have to tighten up those Allen screws on the front jack when they weren’t tight enough and the whole top end of the jack spun around when I tried to level the trailer about 6 months ago. Luckily, it isn’t smash my hand against the propane five -too- bad… I did go through the whole video that illustrates servicing the Jack. Unfortunately, I find that the most important parts of the Jack - the parts that do the actual lifting - don’t appear to be serviceable. Only the gear reduction that turns the main screw inside the Jack body. Seems silly to me. Looks like the real “Jack” just goes without TLC - or lubrication.

I think if a jack motor went bad, I’d go with the hand crank. Hopefully the PO of your trailer included it. I needed to use mine once to “break loose” the front jack when it jammed in the fully-up position and the motor just ratcheted the torque limiter.

Yikes! I read that whole thread and my head is spinning about 3,000rpm. We have the NOISY Dometic unit from the factory that pretty much everybody loves to hate. We heard that OTT offered to replace it with a Truma for too much $$$. Heard that others thought Houghton was superior (quieter). Had planned to go that way once I’m someplace I can work on the trailer. After reading the above, not sure which way to go. Our short term plan - from now until “summer” is to camp where we won’t need the A/C that much (July-August in Minnesota), and then the trailer goes back to the Bus Barn (the real company name) until Christmas. On one of the (many) threads lamenting the sound level of the Dometic and plans to replace it, someone mentioned yet another brand of A/C that they implied was even -better- than the Houghton. Between condensate drains, fans running all the time, thermisters, humidity, and all the rest - my big concern is still the “shim” or support to assure -whatever- unit replaces the Dometic is solidly supported and doesn’t tear up the roof of the trailer. I guess I’ll be scouring the forum to find the name of that other A/C and doing research until I’m ready to pull the trigger. THANKS to all of the contributors in the above thread! You’ve literally overwhelmed me!

Some of those stops look familiar. I’m sure I have pics somewhere. Did the NOLA to Grand Canyon route last year and hit Winslow, Homolovi, Church Rock, Palo Dura, Sedona, Carlsbad, et al. We didn’t really follow Rt 66 - but did bounce on it a few times. (Watch out for that black wasp with the bright orange wings! A “Tarantula Assassin” I think they call it. Reputed to have the most painful sting known. “All you can do is lay there and scream”….)

I think this is a huge factor. Of course, a really attentive person or crew doing the work for you could tell you everything they found, but seeing, touching, feeling everything for one’s self is huge for a DIYer. Last trip on top of the Oliver was to do a detail wash after being up there to rescue the bolts that had vibrated out of the fan motor on the Dometic A/C. (That unit is SO loud and obnoxious that it needs a nickname - like the “Vultee Vibrator” or the “Piper Traumahawk”) That little exercise got me familiar with the crud buildup by the awning brackets, weatherproofing around the various gadgets attached to the roof, and an as yet unexplained stain on the roof caused by something leaking of that dang A/C. Even from inside, I can see the MaxxFan needs to come OFF the roof to detail clean the inside of the translucent dome. I thought I was being anal when I removed the fan blade for a proper wash rather than just a quick wipe-down. We use the fan A LOT (probably because the damn A/C is so freaking loud - have I mentioned that before? 😋 ) so dirt, dust, cat hair, etc build up on the fan parts and can’t be cleaned thoroughly from inside. We don’t even cook much inside, but something being drawn out of that fan is acting as an adhesive to hold that dirt. Anyway, here’s to getting intimate with our trailers…. Oh, and I can’t find the bottle at the moment, but I’m using some expensive, highly-recommended milky-looking spray on the front of the trailer and TV to help the gozillion “love bugs” - that completely coat the front of vehicles driving through Louisiana - slide off as opposed to needing sandpaper to remove them.

Salt is extremely water soluble, so in my experience, just hosing off your vehicle should remove salt. I spent my youth in Chicago where 120,000 TONS of salt are used on the roads every winter. I never got 100,000 miles out of a car before rust doomed it. Salty, slushy water and snow get into crevices that defy washing away. We can try, but it’s a losing battle. As for the urine bottle on Nature’s Head (or anywhere exposed to urine) any deposit is more likely akin to “stone”. Whether it’s something like “lime” or some other mineral like in hard water I can’t say. Even the rubber seal in the porcelain toilet can get a whitish deposit that can build up on it. I find that plain old distilled white vinegar is extremely effective at removing it. I guess you could use CLR.

Oh, I’ve “upgraded” from the baseball bat…. It was hard to break the habit of locking car and home doors when I moved from Chicago to rural Texas. OTOH, leaving doors unlocked means that at least I stand less of a chance of having somebody break a window or kick in a door to steal stuff…. 😋

If you or I tried to sell a spare, mounted trailer tire - even a new one on a nice rim - you’d be right. No one would give us $5 for it. Unfortunately, the types of amateur thieves who steel anything not nailed down, don’t know what the street value of stuff is. They might toss it away after not being able to sell it for a fix or a drink. That still leaves you and I picking up the pieces and repairing the damage they do. I once made the mistake of leaving a tote bag in my car that -looked- like it might have a laptop in it. Some knucklehead broke my window to steal it. They were likely quite disappointed to find out they stole a bag full of Libertarian party literature. I, on the other hand, had to drive home 15 miles in the dead of winter with no passenger door window, and spend $60 and a day chasing and replacing a window from a salvage yard.

True - but until I got out the real level and tweaked my LevelMate Pro+ it sometimes wasn’t perfect. That, and the cats require that I have a positive way to keep the door open. (Yes, just as in Jurassic Park - where the Velociraptors learned how to open doors…..)

Johnny Carson fan? 😋

I figure a “professional” thief is kinda like a squirrel going after your bird feeders: That’s their business 24/7 and they’ll outsmart pretty much any “squirrel proof” feeders you have and find a way to chow down. Luckily, crooks that dedicated don’t waste their time on spare tires or propane tanks - they go after art, diamonds, and gold - or - they run for state or federal office.

Dunno how big that nut (hex) would be, but based on the cars I used to see sitting up in milk crates, the crooks come with lug wrenches…. As always, locks and other measures “keep the honest people honest”. The only added “security” device I’ve added is the locking receiver pin holding the Andersen WD hitch in place. I actually chose a less common one, as the common ones have an undercut right where it counts that weaken the pin and make it easy for crooks to snap off the end. I don’t use the cheap Camco hitch coupler lock because it looks like a weak die casting that could easily be broken. I saw a fabricated steel one at Camping World - but it was kinda pricey. When I’m feeling flush, I may buy one.

Well hell, that’s simple! Your spare tire is secure because it’s impossible to ride off with a heavy tire and rim on a stolen bike! 😋 But seriously, we might want to add bikes to our camping gear, but it’s one more toy you have to keep safe…. We generally find that campgrounds are pretty safe. That said, some parks aren’t as well-secured as they should be and vagrants of a sort seem to show up late - after the staff is gone. They shower, crash, and depart before the staff arrives. I’ve seen beater pickup trucks cruising through campgrounds and marinas looking for anything that’s not bolted down or attended to. (The assortment of mixed booty tossed in the back is a clue.) Had to scare off a few suspicious looking characters in the past couple of years. Generally, eyeballing them really good tends to get them to speed up and depart .

Curious how that worked out….. We opted for the Oliver after deciding upon a fiberglass trailer, discovering that the Casita was too small, and not wanting to venture to the PNW or BC to look at the other FRP trailers. We had looked at cheap “Coleman” trailers (like $12,000 at the time) but we’d had bad experiences with typical “built-up” motor homes that that shake themselves apart and leak after 3 weeks. (The last one we literally had to give away.) I am and remain impressed by the construction of the Oliver over the stick-built, aluminum covered trailers. Anyway - we heard that Oliver resale values were “high” or “great”. Salesman even said you could sell it used for most of what you paid for it. That said - just curious what people have seen used Olivers going for and/or how much people bought (or sold) their used ones for. BTW - saw my first “Bowlus” trailer today. I looked them up and they’re gosh-awful expensive. I don’t care for the looks, and that pointy back and and flimsy bumper look like they’re inviting a rear-end collision by one of the many tailgating drivers out there…..

THIS is why I feel the need for R/O in the Oliver. Wife and I TRY to drink more water (except in Italy or France of course - where wine is less expensive…) and I was literally alarmed as I saw we were going through a 24 bottle case of water every day or two. The gallon jugs cost more than the equivalent number of 16.9 oz bottles, and the 2.5 gallon jugs are even higher - and still add to the plastic in the ocean or landfill. I had this issue licked last season with my portable (no tank) R/O system. I’d fill 8 1-liter recycled plastic bottles and fill our totable water bottles or coffee maker from those. Unfortunately, I seem to have left my R/O system (and my pressure regulator) in storage in Texas. So we’ve been pretty bad for the environment lately. 😥

Thanks! I’ll try to keep the wild(er) conspiracy theories to a minimum. Since I’ve sworn off Facebook, quit using LinkedIn, never tweeted in my life, and don’t know nuthin’ ‘bout Tik-Tok, Instagram, or Etsy - this is pretty much my only “social media”.

I guess I’m in the other camp - using the FWT only when I can’t get a water hook-up. Downside, of course, is unless you’ve done research, you don’t know what you’re gonna get out of that campground tap. I always travel with all tanks empty. Primarily for the weight savings. That way, I can feel better about my cast iron cookware and my wife’s skin care products….. If we camp at an “electric only” site, there’s always been a potable water tap on the CG someplace. So I’ll stop on the way in and put in maybe 25% in the FWT. Once I had to stretch 200’ of hose to fill after I forgot to tank up. I carry a collapsible 5 gallon potable water “tank” that I -could- use to tote water if I had to. I’ve found ways to avoid carrying 40# of water though.

Back in the bad old days (late ‘70’s, Chicago) my father’s moto home had the spare tire stolen off the rear bumper bracket more than once. He - a machinist - made a pretty involved stainless steel bracket and lock that finally solved the problem. Though I haven’t done it - yet - I plan to (better) secure our Ollie’s spare by drilling a hole through the end of the stud behind the license plate and running a lock through it much as you describe the LP tanks. I guess I’ll do the same for MY LP tanks - even though they’re the “ho-hum, just a plain old 20# steel BBQ tank”.

We’ve been using bottled water as well - but it’s frightening how many bottles you can go through. I bought a stand-alone R/O system to refill liter size water bottles. At least that way, I could claim a little of that “saving the planet” karma. Yes, R/O does pretty much remove everything from your water (not PFAS perhaps…) but I figure there’s more potentially bad stuff in water these days than good stuff anyway. As for R/O “waste” water - if you shower in campground “city” water, or local water that you fill your FWT with, then R/O waste water likely only has 20-25% more “bad” stuff than the water you’d normally be bathing or dishwashing with. (Figuring 4 gallons for every gallon of R/O water produced.)

Guess it just depends where you (like to) travel. Cold weather isn’t our thing. That said, our “escape” to Florida was less than optimal as the record cold weather and rain followed us. We rarely use the cooktop. I got an inexpensive induction “hot plate” that I can use outside or inside. We’re stingy with hot water, and I’ve only run the furnace a dozen ”cycles” in two months (Jan-Feb). I contemplated the 30# upgrade when we bought, but didn’t think it was critical for us. That, and we seem to be near enough to places to refill propane that we can refill one as soon as it goes empty and gave several weeks (at least) leeway before we’re even close to using the second. I guess if we boondocked more (or at all really) it would be an issue. Seems we’re almost always near or passing through a town with a hardware store that sells propane. That without even stopping to do a short-filled “Blue Rhino” tank. (Only 15# of propane in that 20# tank!) For us, being without electricity is a bigger deal - but not to the point we opted for Lithium or Solar.

I’ve got a few nits to pick about the LEII - but not sure either of these would make my top ten list. The only thing we thought the bathroom door needed was something to hold the door in the open position. For this, we added a simple magnetic cabinet door catch. Come to think of it, I think we only wanted to keep it open was because depending upon how level the trailer is, it tends to close even if you want it to stay open. (Probably because we didn’t want a cat trapped in there.)

Though we’ve run into a few rude, noisy, encroaching, obnoxious folks -luckily not too many. Sometimes, it’s the result of a poorly laid-out campground. When the fire ring, picnic table, or grill are on the street side - sometimes people don’t know which is theirs. There’s a few sites like that here at Fontainebleau State Park in Mandeville, LA. Those are perfect when two families wanna bring their trailers and share the space between them. Otherwise, not so much. Most obnoxious ones are when folks totally blow off the people/vehicle limitation. At Flamingo Campground at Everglades NP - there were no fewer than twenty trucks with boats on trailers congregating at one camp site - drinking and guffawing late into the night. Camp host? Safely segregated far away from all campers. They finally departed about 11:30pm. Still, the mosquitoes are the reason I won’t be back there.