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I shudder to think of the $$$$$$$$$$$ we've spent over the past 14 years on two different Oliver's and five different tow vehicles. Saying nothing about all the mods to both trailers and the five trucks. Aw hell, it's only money and you can't spend it after you're gone.

I had a unique opportunity on a recent trip we took while towing our Ollie down to the Chesapeake Bay for a little vacation. Actually observed a trailer tire failure in real time. Driving in moderately heavy traffic on an interstate at 60-65 mph, we were a bit behind a pickup truck towing an SOB dual axle travel trailer. It was a section of the interstate with 3 lanes in each direction. I was in the far right lane as usual, and the pickup truck/TT ahead of us were in the center lane. My wife and I both noticed that the forward tire on passenger side of the trailer ahead of us was low and the sidewall of the tire was oscillating side to side noticeably. Our position to the rear and right of the other trailer gave us a great viewpoint. The oscillations were getting worse, but the pickup truck driver was showing no indication he noticed anything at all as he happily maintained his speed. I tried to speed up an little to get alongside to try to honk/wave to warn him, but traffic opened up a bit at that point and he actually sped up significantly, so I fell pretty far behind. At this point, small chunks of rubber were now being thrown off the tire, but the driver continued on at speed. I gave up on my attempt to get alongside to warn him since I didn't feel safe getting closer, and actually backed off a bit further. Within another 30 seconds larger chunks of tire started coming off, followed by pieces of aluminum siding from the trailer side wall around the wheel well as the entire tread started coming off the tire and whipping around in the wheel well. So I slowed down even more to get a very safe distance behind from the impending disaster. Incredibly, the driver was still maintaining his speed! Probably doing 70mph and in the middle lane of three lanes of traffic! The full tire tread soon came off, fortunately I was far enough behind to avoid it easily along with all the other debris laying in the road at this point. By now other drivers closer to him in traffic were honking & waving at him, and he probably felt some drag or vibration at this point, and he finally figured out something was wrong, but because he was in the middle lane of the three lanes, and with the traffic, it took him quite a bit of distance to finally get over to the far right lane and he exited at an off ramp and pulled off on the shoulder there. By that point the tire was completely gone, but fortunately since it was a dual axle trailer, the driver never lost control. Some lessons learned, and/or reinforced. A very strong reminder of the need for a good TPMS system (I've had one since day one with our Ollie Elite II). A great demonstration of the advantage of a dual axle trailer for stability. And also a reminder that keeping to a reasonable speed and staying in the right hand lane most of the time are good practice.

We purchased and Oliver Legacy and Elite II from a great couple yesterday! Got an excellent tutorial and then out into 80 miles of bumper to bumper traffic. It was a good experience because almost everything to come will feel easier. I have gained a lot of great information out of this forum and I will now be needing a lot more in the future. (Hull 141). Jeff.

Add up the RV's, motorcycles, boats, and associated hardware and soon your talking real money. Please don't mention the added $$ spent "improving" -- that makes it look really stupid. There was this one race bike, well... never mind. But - in almost every case -I would do it all over again. Our Oliver experience was certainly one of the better value plays overall. I never really tallied the costs and time/labor ( I'm not a fan of Horror moves) - but after 3 years of great experiences, and resale to a wonderful couple - we felt like it was a bargain. Of course my daily farm/daily driver is the former TV GMC 2500 - to replace it - well although it will bring almost what I paid - there is nothing to replace it with - have you looked lately - wow. - that and I really like driving the beast. Few if any have passed wishing they had left more $$ unspent..... Die young - as late as possible. Have fun Oliverites. RB A former Oliver caretaker.

I did the same thing with my Casita (OCD) by keeping a spreadsheet of what I was actually spending on my hobby. I came to be known locally (our tiny OH rally) as the 'Mod Queen' I didn't do it for notoriety but to substantiate my selling price if I were to sell. It worked well in my sale but also allowed me to share all I learned by logging websites, videos and sources to share with others. I haven't done it with the ILOVHER because I'm fairly sure this is will be my forever trailer!

Put your neutral ground bonding plug into one of the outlets on your generator. Start it up. Go into your Ollie and make sure there is no load on your 120v circuits (TV off, AC off, refrigerator on LP and nothing plugged into your outlets). Plug Ollie into your generator and go fire up the air conditioner. This procedure is what I did the first (and only) time I used my 2200i and everything went without a hitch. I have the micro-start option and I assume that you do as well. Stay cool, Mike

So, I read in another thread that you're hoping to leave for Whitehorse next week. That's awesome. Whitehorse is a lovely community, and a number of nice campgrounds outside Whitehorse. There was (probably still is) a free dump station at the Petro North if 60, near the Walmart supercenter. Don't remember if it required a fill up, but we found their prices good, anyway. Speaking of the Walmart, skip it, as it's pretty small, very crowded,, and poor food selections, and go instead to the Real Canadian Superstore. It's big, clean, great selection of meats and produce, and reasonable prices, for the Yukon. It's a good stock up spot for the rest of your trip. While you're in Whitehorse, check out Alligator's gourmet grilled cheese food truck, on the wharf in downtown. It's a pretty walk along the park, too. Yukoners are big campers, so expect closeby campgrounds to be full, or nearly full, in nice weather, and especially weekends. Yukon territory campgrounds are $12 Cad, cash, with no services, spotless pit toilets, and free firewood. No reservations.

John, I agree with you regarding the dangers a bad road poses to the trailer. There've been a couple times when my spidey sense told me to stop and not go any further on a road. Once I somehow I backed out about 50 yards until I could turn around, which wasn't easy! What I like to do (and what I did at the Plumb Valley campground) is get out and walk the road, walk the campground to make sure I feel comfortable entering. If the road is too narrow (don't want scrapes!) or the rocks too sharp (don't want to change a tire!) I say no and keep going. One thing on my list is a little electric bike so I can zip ahead and scout out boondocking spots before committing to driving too far. Carl, if the road has good gravel and seems to get regular traffic, I think you'll be OK. The trailer can handle it. Go slow. Make sure everything inside is secure. Oliver markets their trailers for people who like to boondock (solar, lithium, big tanks, composting head) and usually boondocking involves getting off the asphalt.

We've camped at that very same site, although it was when we had our T@B teardrop camper. Hoping to get back there again with the Oliver maybe later this year. It is a rough long road in there for sure.

Good comments. Just to add one - light truck tires on the Oliver are probably less susceptible to issues than most trailer tires. Mike

Plum Valley campground, Davis Creek, CA, in the Modoc National Forest. I had to put it into 4WD at one point, and the road had a little stretch with rocks and roots, but it was a good test of the Oliver in a real off-road situation. Had my co-pilot get out and spot me as I maneuvered through some pines. It's a tough trailer!

I am not referring to member Overland, though I bet he has spent even more than I have on his Ollie and Raptor, but to the huge financial hole you dig for yourself when you transform an off-the-shelf truck into a capable overlanding/ adventure vehicle. It is way more costly than doing the same for a motorcycle, that term is "fully farkled" F.A.R.K.L.E. -- Fancy Accessory Really Kool Likely Expensive I keep track of everything I do to "Mouse" in a road travel log/ service spreadsheet ... https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/2774-how-to-davies-rv-travel-log-service-inventory-spreadsheet-excel-numbers/ .... mostly for when the time arrives to sell him; for that I created a simple "For Sale" doc that lists everything, as it might appear in a classifieds ad. I have resisted until today in adding everything up. I knew it would be pretty high. An RV is not as bad as a boat AKA "Hole In The Water That you Throw Money Into", but still.... this excludes any labor time, it is parts only.... nor does it include any special tools or materials that were needed. If you would like to see the entire doc, for entertainment purposes, or if you would like to use it as a template to make your own sales ad, feel free: **2017 Oliver Legacy Elite II “Mouse” Hull 218 FOR SALE Info Rev 08:06:21.pages.zip FYI, I do not have any plans to sell "Mouse" any time soon, and please do not tell my wife about this thread. John Davies Spokane WA

Congratulations! Looks very nice! Enjoy your travels. Let us know when we can help. I fixed your upside down photos.

I love that generation of MDX, we had a 2010 TL with that engine and SH-AWD. And a six speed manual transmission, we had to sell it because my wife’s left knee blew out. We have been thinking about getting an MDX, sort of, maybe. These are absolutely wonderful vehicles, and really bulletproof as long as you are diligent about doing the required maintenance. I would definitely give it a try, the LE1 should be fine as long as you don’t go cargo crazy. I found this thread that will answer your questions…. https://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f10/towing-with-2008-mdx-9867.html It looks like you will need the typical accessories if they are not already installed, 7 pin wiring, brake controller, 5000 pound rated 2” receiver, and a transmission cooler. I don’t know about a WD hitch, that would be something to research, what are the tongue weight limitations? How many miles on it? Considering its age, It needs fresh shocks and new fluids, especially the transmission fluid and differentials, and do the timing belt and valve adjustment if they are due. Brakes, obviously. I can’t answer your question about braking, that will take some research, but I would think using your gears for engine braking would be plenty adequate. The trailer brakes are an assist, but you can literally burn them up on a long mountain descent if you abuse them and don’t let them cool. Of course, then you could install disk brakes, no worries then! The LE1 has a 5000 pound rated axle and 12 inch brakes, which are quite large for the trailer size. (The LE2 has two sets of 10”.) One thing you can do if you are running into your payload limit is remove and store the third row seats, for sure, and possibly the second row ones. That will give you a fair bit of extra weight capacity, plus lots more actual volume. It is not a huge cargo area to start with…. I don’t have any idea what they weigh, but the ones in my Land Cruiser are really heavy, 70 pounds for the two in the third row. The middle ones are even heavier. I just removed the left one to install a fridge, and I can barely pick up that sucker by myself. Good luck, if you do this, please post pics. I would be very interested to see the setup. John Davies Spokane WA

If we used our Oliver full-time, we would certainly have a ARB to supplement the Oliver fridge and for a backup. However, for routine camping, we like to keep things simple. We always take along a good cooler for produce, cold drinks - any food that doesn't require refrigerator temps to be safe. In the case of fridge issues, the cooler is a backup. Having had other Dometic absorption fridges, we are pleased that our 2021 Oliver came equipped with a Norcold. IMO it is far superior to our previous Dometics, with the exception of an older, basic, non-electronic model in our 5th-wheel trailer. We have not experienced any problem with function at high altitude. My only complaint is that the fan runs a lot, and is noisy, but is only noticeable from outside.

I will call around locally and see if an rv place in bozeman could find time to adjust the norcold

Did the same at Discount Tire, never getting under any part of the trailer, leaving TV connected lifting one side of trailer at a time.

Oliver used to say, no worries, lift the tires completely off the ground, then the lawyers stepped in and suddenly it was “stabilize only”. The same thing happened with the generator tray, it suddenly became a cargo tray - “You’ll gas yourself!”…. Use your common sense, nothing has changed about how the jacks are installed. Just keep everybody out from under the axles and frame, so if something should fail, it won’t kill you. When taking off wheels, consider adding four low jack stands to support the axles, so the shackles do not flip over center. That can be problematic to correct. These work well. (Never actually jack the trailer from the axles.) https://www.harborfreight.com/automotive/jacks-jack-stands/jack-stands/3-ton-aluminum-jack-stands-91760.html I did not say this, forget I said this. Do not do this…… Never take a risk. You will shoot your eye out! “Unjust laws exist; shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them, and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at once?” Henry David Thoreau John Davies Spokane WA

@Ray and Susan HuffIf you don’t mind look at the back of the detector and see what the “born on” date is and what part number it is.

MB Sturgis sells a kit with all the parts and a video of the retrofit for the Q series is here:

Tejas Smokers is another company I worked with to get the tubing and quick disconnect fittings replacing the regulator on my grill. They were very helpful in getting it figured out and working great! https://tejassmokers.com

Adding to this . . . . it is not advisable to DIY most propane installations as they need to be tested for safety. Routine cleaning is fine, but making adjustments might just be asking for trouble. . . . . . . . remember the Hindenburg 😲

Skipper, I think our manual said "may not, " not will not. We haven't had a Norcold in 9 or 10 years. Most people have no problems. I do remember issues at elevation over 10,000 feet, as I mentioned At lower elevation, how many attempts does it take to light the fridge? Most try three times before you get a fault code . Try running the propane burner first, to fill the line with gas. Also, even before that, open the lower vent/burner compartment and look for a mud dauber nest. A small one could block enough air to let your fridge light at lower elevation. But not at altitude. Our old (2008) Norcold gave us an extra year's warranty if we had the unit professionally serviced /cleaned annually. As Jim_Oker said, the gap may not be set correctly on the burner and igniter. Not something you should do yourself.

We are physically changing it to propane to drive because on auto we couldn't tell what power source it was using.

If you need to change a tire just use the onboard jacks. Put some blocks under the jack to limit the travel and go for it. I just got four new tires at Discount Tire and we used my onboard jacks, one side at a time, to get ‘er done. Mike