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It’s doubtful that there’s any kinks in your cable. It there were, I don’t think you could have ever moved it. It only need lubricating. Disconnect the valve, pull the cable completely from the sheath, lube as it goes back in. You will never be able to properly lubricate the entire length without removing it and it’s a four handed effort. I’ve done it several times over the past ten years of ownership. It will be better than new. This is not an Oliver quality control issue. I doubt they are lubed very well when shipped.

I used plain WD-40 years ago. Recently, I’ve used spray silicone (WD-40 branded) but I plan to use this soon. Just take a rag and spray it liberally. Hold it around the cable as you insert it into the housing. Keep the rag wet with the lubricant as you push it back in. You’ll need help at the end to get it lined up and inserted back into the valve slide. Make sure the cable is pushed up snug and the valve is completely seated. Tighten the set screw and you’re done.

John, We carry less LP gas, so keeping Ollie's spare tire in the pick up bed with reduced LP gas load, reduces Ollie's weight. Tongue weight is at 460lbs, still within Tundra's recommended trailer tongue weight. Keep Ollie's fiberglass spare tire cover installed for looks even though there's no longer a tire under the cover. We don't carry gear on Ollie's rear bumper. Could also mount a full size spare tire while keeping Ollie's spare in the back of the pickup bed, but have not acted on that idea, yet. :)

No, we do not use the Anderson WDH. Our LE2 weighs close to 4950lbs with 460lb tongue weight, empty water tanks. The Tundra's operators manual requires WDH when towing trailers above 5000lbs. Guessing the majority of LE2s come in over 5000lbs to 6000lbs ready to camp, maybe heavier. We do not have solar panel system with 4 batteries and do not carry as much LP gas as most folks. We use 110V portable induction cook top, 110V 1500W portable heater, and rarely use LP gas. We're not Boondockers yet, camp with shore power 99% of the time while traveling around the nation. Keep Ollie's spare tire in front portion of the pickup bed with Tundra's spare tire. We use the Hayes electronic Sway Master and it activated (applied trailer brakes) a couple of times when traveling down mountains entering curves too fast, learned my lesson and slowed down. The Sway Master cannot be used on all vehicles. Weight is balanced nicely between the front and rear axles of the 5.7L 4X4 Tundra with Ollie connected with 460lb tongue weight and full 38 gallon tank: Maximum Front Axle Weight 4000lbs Actual Front Axle Weight With Ollie connected and two people on board: 3420lbs Maximum Rear Axle Weight 4150lbs Actual Rear Axle weight with Ollie connected and two people on board: 3460lbs Plan to install rear axle air bags on the Tundra next.

Do you use the Anderson hitch? (We also tow with a Tundra and own an older Tacoma. Love them both.)

Please excuse the drool - I am a sucker for the old Power wagons, any old vintage workhorse 4WD of that era. I've almost always stop and inspected them every time I drive past one. I remember a few in CO, a couple between here and there, and a really cool one - somewhere in AK.

It is a tough thing to do - replace a truck you love, especially one so close to meeting the demands of the task at hand. However, once I decided my old truck was just not up to the task - hauling my Oliver EII around North America - I mentally moved on to finding a replacement. The old GMC brought a nice return, and the new owner was very happy. Some of the new 1/2 ton trucks are fine hauling a EII, I wanted a 3/4 ton - payload was why. Planned to add a camper top, and haul around all our gear, boats, bikes, a menagerie of play toys, and the ever present cool and (un) necessary camping "stuff". Gas? - Diesel? Ford/GMC/Ram?, or something else. $70k+ wow, jeeze, really, that's a lot of $$$, for a truck... Like every purchase of this magnitude, you go do the research. $10k for the Diesel over gas, but performance is almost twice that - for towing, fuel mileage when towing also better, fluids more expensive, more complexity, OK, really look at a gas truck. I did, towing fuel mileage, was horrible, run the numbers. If I keep the diesel for 100K miles, the extra $10K starts to approach $$ parity. Diesel it is. Ram - not in the game - my choice. The other truck mfg. DO NOT build a comparable truck - 3/4 ton- anything less is not the same. Take a look underneath, chassis and axles are not as HD. Close, but not the same. I love Toyota, helped build Nissans, own a Honda, but they don't build a 3/4 ton truck. Not going to argue GM over Ford. I test drove both - several times - over several weeks, knew everything about them - everything!. I finally went with the 2018 GMC 2500 Duramax, with Allison transmission. Proven powertrains. I am very happy with my choice. The WWW has enough info out there to make an informed choice, real world testing just reinforces what you read. Salespeople, usually are just ignorant on their products - my observations. I'd prefer dealing with a robot. In a GMC, the SLT is the sweet spot, no need to go upscale to Denali, same with Ford - the Platinum is more bells and whistles, $$$ for stuff I didn't need or want. I found the GMC I wanted, for <$60K. Took some effort, but it was worth it, and my SO was happy - win. Ultimately, it was a leap to pay up for the Oliver, but once we did, it did not make sense to purchase a TV that was not similar - tops in its class. Several thousand miles and multiple trips more than confirm the choices - I love the Oliver, and getting to and fro, in the GMC, is just a comfortable, easy feeling. We are happy. As has been stated, take your time, tow with your current set-up, evaluate, discuss, really understand where you plan to go in this vast country, how often, and once you feel comfortable understanding the variables, you may be content with your current TV, if not, well - the rest is just money (ha ha) and decision. Hope this helps, enjoy the process, have fun, May the force be with you... RB [attachment file=20180820_162145 (693).jpg]

I seriously considered a BigFoot 25 foot trailer but after actually looking at one, although good sized, it is your traditional wood frame, wood this, wood that...ect. trailer. Wood floors with vinyl covering. It's also wide. When I looked at the underside it was a mess. All in all, a heavy duty version of a traditional maintenance plagued trailer. The unit I saw was less than a year old and there was rust and peeling paint on the frame already needing attention. I was leaning heavily toward the BigFoot until I saw an Oliver. Game over. My wife and I both agreed immediately that the Oliver was a much better product. Also, the BigFoots are built in Canada (west coast) so support would be poor for those of us on the east coast. NO CONTEST! Oliver is a much better unit at the start and will be so for many years to come.

Spike, The wife and I agree about the density of the cushions. We both bottom them out. I understand that happening for me at 235 lbs. but, she is 115 lbs. Anita from Oliver gave me the name and number of the upholsterer they use and suggested I contact him. His name is Richard Johnson (662) 706-1873. He is in Mississippi. I have yet to contact him but need to very quickly as we are a month out from the beginning of production of our Elite II. I am going to ask for either 1.5" of memory foam and 2.5" of a denser foam, than normally used, or just 4" if denser foam. When I call him, I will update you on what I find. If you call, please do the same. Andrew