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Just a little back story! I purchased Hull 193 in January 2018. Used Oliver's were hard to find in those days and I wasn’t really looking for a used Ollie, I wanted to order one just the way I had been planning to for over 2 years while waiting for retirement. When I found #193 on the Fiberglass RV forums in November 2017, it was by accident, my retirement had come 5 months earlier than planned and I was surfing the net and just stumbled onto it. So I ignored the ad for about a month because I wanted to order my own. So finally thought I’ll just go look at it, it might be too good to pass up, and it was. When we attended the 2018 OTTO's Rally, everyone welcomed us enthusiastically and we then went to Hohenwald after the rally and the Oliver Service Department fixed the fresh water tank pickup tube issue that a few LE2's of the vintage suffered from as a warranty issue. We dropped the trailer off in Hohenwald in August of 2018 and the service department converted our full size bed to a twin bed model. And we haven’t needed to go back since. I don’t know if OTTO's that buy directly from the factory get treated any better than we have been but I can’t imagine they do. Now I’ll give my thoughts on the death of the Classified Forum. 1. I appreciate the fact that OTT's has provided the general public and OTTO's a forum for us to talk about, seek advice and help from other OTTO's in a friendly and non judgmental setting. 2. OTT's has never asked for my opinion on how to run their business, and they don’t offer any advice on how I should run mine. 3. I am happy that they are receptive to new methods of running their business and hope they remain a viable company for many years to come. 4. They recently announced that they are moving to a dealer sales and service business model to supplement their present in house model. This should please owners that do not live in the southeast. I hope this new approach supports the sales and service for present and future OTTO's all around the United States. And if that comes at the sacrifice of the Classified Forum, that’s a decision that OTT's should make, it’s their money in the pot. And I support that decision. After all, my Ollie isn’t for sale! Mossey

See my post in another thread. My trust level over 16 seasons with the family is very strong. Please take a deep breath, and continue to have confidence in the Oliver family. They care about not only their customers, but their employees as well. I don't see that changing, no matter what, honestly. Back during the 2008 downturn, and the hiatus, Oliver continued to not only give gainful employment to all their employees, albeit often in other jobs, but continued to support our "orphan" trailers. And, they paid the fees to keep our then very tiny membership forum going. Som of us, like mountainborn and I, with more computer background, kept it afloat with our expertise, and no admins. (I do appreciate our admins.) Was I upset/angered by the decision to drop the classifieds?. Yes, of course I was. Absolutely. I was quite angry. But, if they feel that need, we'll figure out other paths. Will we continue to be the best possible group to join, for access to experienced Oliver owners, who actually have factual answers, based on experience? Yes. We will. It's not my job as a volunteer moderator to offer marketing suggestions. Oliver has a paid team for that. The benefits of having Oliver trained and certified service centers dotted about the four corners could significantly outweigh the loss of classifieds for many folks farflung from Hohenwald. We'll see. I'd encourage all of you to do as I will. Take a deep breath, and see how this works out. I know, personally, from my solid experience with the Oliver family, that the commitment to contiinued exemplary customer, and technical, service will not change. Its in their DNA. Sherry Oliver mod since February, 2008. https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/9710-classifieds-change/?do=findComment&comment=98284

Camping World description for Dometic Freshjet 3 states that Dometic heat strip accessory can be added with Universal ADB. It also mentions that Dometic SmartStart can be added to allow 2000W generators to be used. As already mentioned, the unit bolts right on without mods to the trailer body, uses the existing condensate drain lines, ADB, and thermostat, and is very quiet. Extensive dealer service network. I don’t need the heat strip as I use a small portable heater when on shore power. This checks all the boxes for me. Comments? Dometic Freshjet 3

For better or worse Oliver’s reputation will be measured somewhat by that of their associated appointed sales / service centers. Hopefully things will improve in the RV industry but currently there is a lot of distrust in this market, Oliver being the exception. Oliver provides a very unique purchasing, support, and quality experience which is what brought most of us to Oliver over the rest of the manufacturers. Oliver is growing as a result which is fantastic and things will have to change as a result understandably. Hopefully they’ll find a way to maintain a bit of that exceptional user experience.

With management, we can generally go longer (with substantially more small showers during this time) without needing to empty the gray water tank. We extend the gray-water tank in two ways. First, we use a solar shower bag (fill it with hot water from the trailer's tank or with water from campground faucet heated on the stove or by leaving it in the sun). This prevents the substantial amount of water that flows into the gray-water tank while adjusting the shower-water temperature, and reduces the amount of shower water needed. Second, we frequently fill tubs for dishes with hot tank water or heated campground water, emptying the tubs into the woods. Again, these measures extend our fresh-water tank and reduce the amount of water filling the gray-water tank.

To directly address your question Steve, I would recommend closing the trailer up tight if you are using moisture absorbing packs. If you leave the vent open, whenever the humidity level outside rises higher than that in the camper, new moisture will be introduced into the camper which the desiccant will have to absorb. These packs only have so much capacity. If the camper is closed tight and the humidity level is brought down, the camper should remain dry after that until it's opened up again.

I assure you Rich, Mike meant no disrespect to the great expanse of land to the North of the USA call Canada. I'm reminded of the time in the immediate post Hurricane Katrina days when a national news team was describing the damage done to our Gulf Coast. They went on and on about the loss of life and the great amount or property damage done to "...Louisiana, Alabama and to the land mass in between them..." Hello, it's got a name, we call it Mississippi.

….and Canada!

Back when we had our Class-C, and before we added solar, we would run a built-in Cummins Onan 4000 generator. The PD51 transfer switch automatically connected generator power to house "shore power." We would run ours only during the afternoons. I would start it when we were leaving on a hike. This way you don't have to hear it (even though it wasn't too loud), and neighbors are also usually gone for the day. After I added a small 400W Solar, 315 AH AGM, 1800W inverter system, we rarely ever used the generator. I would start it every month or so to let it run, keep the carb in fresh gas. We had a neighbor in Texas, who mowed his lawn 2-3 times a week, always about 6 PM, when we wanted to sit by the pool with a drink. Not nice, same goes for generators! Plan on enough available battery AH to last 24 hours for your needs. Your generator choice should be capable of recharging your batteries from 60 to 90 percent in a couple of hours, a couple more to 100%. For our Oliver, with solar onboard and ample battery bank, traveling mainly in the great southwestern US, I have no plan to carry a generator. We camp some in the fall, and mostly from Jan through April. We don't want to be out where we need the A/C running overnight.

"Nookie jacks"

I don't see that changing, no matter what, honestly. Back during the 2008 downturn, and the hiatus, Oliver continued to not only give gainful employment to all their employees, albeit often in other jobs, but continued to support our "orphan" trailers. And, they paid the fees to keep our then very tiny membership forum going. Som of us, like mountainborn and I, with more computer background, kept it afloat with our expertise, and no admins. (I do appreciate our admins.) Was I upset/angered by the decision to drop the classifieds?. Yes, of course I was. Absolutely. I was quite angry. But, if they feel that need, we'll figure out other paths. Will we continue to be the best possible group to join, for access to experienced Oliver owners, who actually have factual answers, based on experience? Yes. We will. It's not my job as a volunteer moderator to offer marketing suggestions. Oliver has a paid team for that. The benefits of having Oliver trained and certified service centers dotted about the four corners could significantly outweigh the loss of classifieds for many folks farflung from Hohenwald. We'll see. I'd encourage all of you to do as I will. Take a deep breath, and see how this works out. I know, personally, from my solid experience with the Oliver family, that the commitment to contiinued exemplary customer, and technical, service will not change. Its in their DNA. Sherry Oliver mod since February, 2008.

I just started using the Pine-Sol/Calgon solution that @HDRider suggested. I learned this from the Kleen tank guy: Kleen Tank, the nationally-recognized, independent RV tank cleaning service Not enough experience with it yet, but the idea is the Pine-Sol keeps tank surfaces clean and the Calgon Beads will keep tank bottoms and drainpipes slippery and lubricate the valves. Not just used for occasional cleaning. These are flush tanks and NOT septic tanks. Given this works, the idea is to have this in your tanks only and stay away from other cleaners and septic tank additives (which I never use, even in 3 homes where we've had with septic systems). Since having this in the Black and Gray tanks, I have not once smelled the strong smell of Pine-Sol in the Oliver. This means all inside is sealed well, venting off the roof as designed.

I use a number of forums and ad block works on them all. https://getadblock.com/en/

One of the great joys of using this forum is the absence of pop-up ads. Anyone operating a forum has to pay for server time and storage space, and the usual way that is accomplished is by selling ads. I, for one, will be sorry to see that happen.

I truly love this forum, but have to ask the question, is it time for a non Oliver controlled forum? Example gratis, Air Forums…

This post is offered in the hope it will help someone else avoid my dumb mistake. It has been my practice to flush the black tank after dumping using the black tank flush inlet port below the bathroom window. I carry a separate black-colored hose just for this purpose. In the past, I have always left the black tank drain valve open when flushing. At the conclusion of our most recent camping trip, after a first flush with the drain valve open, it occurred to me that I might get a more complete flush if I mostly filled the black tank with clean water through the flush port first (which required that I close the black tank drain valve) then let gravity force the contents of the mostly full tank out the drain. To avoid overflowing the black tank, I carefully watched the Seelevel monitor, then ran outside to turn off the hose bib when the Seelevel black tank monitor hit 90%. I then opened the black tank drain valve to drain the black tank contents. Out of an abundance of caution, I decided to verify that this process had caused no overflow from the black tank. I removed the access cover from the front dinette seat so I could see the aft part of the black tank. Good thing I checked! When I saw a few tablespoons of water in the bottom of the trailer just aft of the black tank, I realized that our Seelevel monitor is not 100% accurate, and that even though I turned off the hose bib when it read 90%, the black tank was actually full of water! Fortunately, the overflow was limited to a few tablespoons, which were quickly mopped up. When I got home, I sprayed that area, twice, with Lysol disinfectant spray, in case that bit of water leakage was contaminated. The moral of the story: when flushing the black tank, always leave the drain valve open. Fortunately, my momentary lapse of judgment (it seemed like a good idea at the time...) occurred after a complete drain, then a first flush with the drain valve open. So, the minimal overflow should have been mostly clean water, which was easily dealt with. I expect it would never occur to most people to leave the black tank drain valve closed to mostly fill the black tank when flushing, just to get a more complete cleaning. But if any of you folks, like me, ever think of trying that method: don't! It's not worth the risk of an overflow.

In my teardrop, I'd leave the lid on the Fantastic Fan open all winter for ventilation. Never had moisture problems, but it was completely different than the Oliver. I received a pack of the DampRid tubs and a pack of the IV bag style from Amazon today. I've never used them before, and to me it seems like they would counteract each other. One removes moisture, and the other allows air circulation, which would include moisture. Winters here are moderate, with only a few days below zero, maybe a couple feet of snow total, and plenty of overcast days. What's the recommendation on leaving the roof vent open? Thanks!

I had no idea this thread was here! We love it. 😃 I was stuck in the Oliver Campers section vs. this Oliver Camping forum. Thank you @Mike and Carol When we first brought home our Oliver, just this June, everybody kept asking, "Have you gone camping yet?" There was and is a lot of work to do, and the heat of the summer was coming, but it was time to try out the Oliver on a short local trip. Since the heat of the summer was coming, I thought let's head north and camp at high elevation. We picked Kendricks Peak Wilderness Area. It's a lesser-known northern AZ mountain, as compared to say Mt Humphries of the San Francisco Peaks north of Flagstaff, or Bill Williams behind Williams AZ, the gate to the Grand Canyon. We can see ALL of these peaks from our deck at home in Prescott, so I've had my eye on Kendricks for years now (distant view, as it is the furthest north peak in this volcanic range). To get there you exit I-40 just west of Flagstaff, head north and very soon you hit washboard dirt roads. We drove another 25+ miles of dirt until we found our spot. Arizona, and I believe other western states have Forest Service (FS) road maps. When you look closely at these maps (see pic), they show dispersed camping (camping allowed, not campsites) where you see the 'dots' left or right along the side of minor roads. You need to get these FS maps and quadrant maps for where you are traveling. If you do not yet have the Avenza Maps app, get it and download every map where you will travel before you leave home. The map picture is from my phone and the GPS blue dot is where we ended up camping for the weekend.

From Camping World- NOTE: For those who require a non-ducted heat strip application on the FreshJet 3 AC, it has been approved that you can use the Dometic Non-Ducted Heat Strip Kit (item 72431) installed in the Universal Air Distribution Box (item 69943). Camping World FreshJet 3 Series product info

I had 32.2 “ Ridge Grapplers on my LC200. LOVED them! They are a very soft compound, that is why they ride so smoothly and work so VERY well off road. I replaced them after about 30,000 miles of mostly towing, they were wearing reasonably well, but had gotten very loud and harsh by that point. The tire mileage warranty would have got me another Nitto set, at a prorated cost, but I decided to go back to Cooper AT3 XLT tires. Same with the Coopers, love them when fresh, but they get unpleasant after 50% tread wear. All these hybrids are crazy heavy in the LT tire sizes, and they kill your fuel economy in a light duty vehicle. On an LC200 they completely destroy that comfy OEM car ride quality. Since I am no longer towing regularly I am going to put a set of these on: Yokohama Geolandar AT G015 285/60R18 116H They are 48 pounds lighter (!!!), per set, and do well enough off pavement for my use. I have had these on two other vehicles and loved them. But they are not indestructible like a good LT tire. I am hoping to pick up 2 mpgs, maybe. When you are averaging 14-15 not towing, that is a pretty big deal at $5 per gallon. John Davies Spokane WA

Not a public campground (not a state park or NP campground), but we stayed at the Custer/Mount Rushmore/Black Hills KOA when we visited Mt Rushmore and the Crazy Horse monuments. Custer SD is a great little town and the KOA is convenient to all the sights in the area. And it's a very nice, well maintained KOA campground.

@gatorewc A really nice write up by your son! Very cool! We just completed a 6000 mile 42 day epic trip out west and are running the 35” Nitto Ridge Grapplers on our 2021 F350 6.7 liter Tremor. I am very pleased with how these tires performed towing our Ollie. I have them balanced and rotated every 5k. Based on your sons write up, I may consider the Nitto Recon Grapplers when it comes time for a new set on the Beast. Thanks for your post!

😢

Clamp on it is! Thanks 🙂

We have managed up to six nights camping with no gray water dump. Our first camping experience with the OEII was at David Crockett State Park which has no sewage connection on-site. We've done up to 3 consecutive days boondocking. We avoid making dirty dishes, and wash them outside using two dishpans. The most costly activity is showers, so we do facecloth wash-ups, and hair washes with wetting into a dishpan and rinsing into the sink drain, or use the campground shower if there is one. Soap water goes into the grey tank and some rinse water is disposed of outside. We also have the composting toilet, so no black tank dumps are ever needed.

Yes - just the trailer (RV). Even some take this to mean just the "box" and NOT from hitch to bumper as we Oliver people measure it. However, the term "always" bothers me in that I'm guessing somewhere out there in the universe there just might be someone that considers the TV into the equation. I've stayed at the Pole Flat campground and there is absolutely no issue with getting in or out with your Ollie. The best campsite is located at the top left of the "circle" in the campground. Since you do not fish then you would also enjoy the ghost town that is located further up the road past the dredge. Some of the repair work on the scar that the dredge left that Trout Unlimited has done in that area is impressive.. Bill

Congrats to your son, great article! I will say though, the Nitto Recon Grappler®, is about the most HD A/T tire you can buy! Some might call it a hybrid tire (AT to MT). Great offroad tire. I was aiming for something with better highway manners, which was the design goal of the Continental TerrainContact A/T.

The tip for using dishwasher pod(s) in the black/gray tanks has been around for some time. When I want a really clean black or gray tank, I'll add a pod to the grey tank, and two pods to the black tank. Using "Calgon" brand is not required. I buy the cheapest I can find for this use. As you suggested, a few miles down the road for it to slosh around and break down the solids greatly reduces the time flushing the tanks. This is especially useful at the end of the season. As somewhat of a minimalist on what I carry, strive to minimize using extra hoses, valves, flow meters. As such, your approach has merit IMHO. Especially for those without a black tank flush water flow valve, you approach makes a lot of good sense. That said, I would suggest a few cautions for learning the sound change: A. The sound of a flooded black tank nozzle may vary with the pressure/flow of the water source feeding it. So experiment with the hose bibb valve to recognize this. B. When learning the sound, get a helper inside with a flashlight to observe the black tank water level. Have them open a window or use you cell phones to facilitate communication. Then have them shut off the ball valve flowing water to the flush valve, and stand on the flush valve foot peddle. Their job is to advise you of the progress of filling the black tank. C. Before starting, make sure that all items on the bathroom floors (I.E. the lower one with the floor drain, and the higher one where the toilet tank sits) are removed from the area. One of my worst mistakes was having my dirty cloths hamper on the lower floor and flooding the area from gray tank goo. 😞 Cleaning a soiled bathroom floor is easy vs. dealing with 25 pounds of really really bad smelling wet cloths. While boondocking 40 miles from any laundry or water sources. GJ

I haven't read through the entire thread, so I'm posting this risking it's already been mentioned. In a comment above you mentioned risking running out of water in exchange for longer stays in beautiful places. One thing I strongly encourage is considering a composting toilet based on your travel plans. 1. You will in effect double your fresh water capacity in a way because you will no longer be sending half your fresh water down the toilet. And if you can transition to sponge bathing you will use very little for that chore as well. We can easily go more than a week using most of our fresh water at the kitchen sink. 2. The whole drama of dump stations sort of fades into the background. We have yet to get in line at the dump station. You have many more options for dumping gray only, including that in most states you are allowed to dump gray water on the ground. You won't be able to at a park, but elsewhere it's fine. Some states encourage this practice to increase ground water around plants, etc. 3. The solids side of the composting toilet can last several weeks or months depending on your usage. We set up our composting toilet when we got the Oliver in May this year and just changed out the media for the first time this week while winterizing. We only use the camper toilet about half the time when at campgrounds so our usage is relatively low, but the system works perfectly and the whole waste disposal thing is very no drama for us. And we don't even own a so called stinky slinky. Our gray water is drained through a 3/4" garden hose dedicated for this purpose. The composting toilet just makes dry/extended camping a lot easier. BTW you can quickly switch to a standard toilet in the future with very little effort if you decide you want to go that route.

Hiker Trailer uses a tube mount for their standard jack, and that's what was originally on mine. When I installed my ARK, there wasn't a tube version available, so I straddled the tube with the clamp version. Hiker now offers the ARK as an option using the tube version, so I've physically seen both in use. There seems to be a lot of slop in the tube to mound fit and in the cross-pin fit, resulting in a substantial amount of movement. One that I saw at the annual Hiker gathering had the jack tilted back 3-5° from vertical. There's also slop in the lateral direction. In hindsight, I'm glad that there wasn't a tube version when I got mine, because I don't think I'd be nearly as pleased with it as I have ben for six years. So my two cents would be to go with the clamp on version.

No, everything about sales and service in Hohenwald will remain the same.

Torque Wrenches......absolutely needed - BUT - make sure you check its calibration! Lots of videos on how to do this at home (ex. below). Mine (USA made) was way under (reporting 90 ft-lbs at 65) 😮

Superb point! I had not taken that into consideration and now retract my musings.

Also bad for potential buyers of used Oliver trailers. My contacts with car and RV dealerships have uniformly left a bad taste in my mouth. Conversely, my dealings with Oliver's management and service staff so far have left me feeling good about their commitment to their customers---until now. One must wonder if this signals the "end of an era..."

Wow! I almost ordered a flamingo.

What info? I don't see a post from Steve in this thread. Regardless of the reason, closing out the Oliver Classifieds is bad for customer relations. My opinion of Oliver Management just took a steep nosedive.

New 17" wheels, time to mount the Dodge Ram 3rd Gen 17" brakes, with my EBC upgrade parts and reman caliper brackets, that have been sitting on my workshop bench for a while now. Had time to get one side done today. All I can say is NICE! A shout-out to the members of the Cummins Forum to make me aware of this possibility! This is a more important upgrade, living in the mountains, than tire brand choice. Looking good so far, more to come after left side and test drive...

Thanks for the info Steve. Hopefully Oliver management will reconsider at some point in the future. The one unique advantage of used Olivers posted for sale here is that a potential buyer had a very direct channel of communication to a seller, including being able to see the history of that trailer through the previous owner’s posts. And in the case of John Davies recent sale, a LOT of history and background of the many great modifications that John did to show his incredible level of care taken with his trailer.

I have had a Bakflip MX4 tonneau cover on each of the Ford F-150's I've owned. Assuming that your tailgate can be locked then these covers offer a bit of lockable security and can be closed with the tailgate either open or shut. The cover also folds towards the cab such that basically the entire bed is available for things like carrying motorcycles, mulch or high items without the need to remove the cover entirely. I've also always had a spray-in bedliner in my trucks. This helps with grip, rust and cleaning (simply power wash it). However, I have also always then purchased a "bed-rug" for at least the floor and tailgate. These items reduce noise from the bed but more importantly make kneeling in the bed of the truck much easier on your knees. Bill

Does anyone have advice/opinions on tonneau covers and/or bed-liners? We have a Ram 1500 with 6.5 foot bed. Brand new, so just raw metal right now. (My son is screaming at me to get the MOPAR spray in bed liner.) We're thinking we want something lockable, but not necessarily heavy duty. There's only 2 of us. And the back seat space of the truck is quite large. So, we don't plan on carrying much in the bed besides a few campground niceties and "overflow" luggage. I can't imagine we would fill even half of it.

Yes, this a big concern. But only while stationary. Under tow being level not nearly as important. But....You can and should do a lot better that 18 inches out of level. At the risk of offending somebody's sensibilities about using something they would probably consider "overkill", try using the Curt 45926 Adjustable Channel Ball Mount. If you can't level the trailer with that, you need to buy a bigger truck.

We've found the Blue Sky equipment to be almost bulletproof (we did manage to short out our 2512ix around 5 years ago, but it was completely our fault.) Are any of the lights lit up on the 2512 controller? What does the indoor (in pro) panel tell you about charging? Do you have a battery disconnect switch, and is it on or off? If you don't have the manual you can download it on the sunforge/blue sky site. There are also great videos to assist you in troubleshooting. You probably want to look through the manual, and the videos, and send an email to Ryan Gurin at Blue Sky, or give him a call. He's an amazing tech, and very helpful. Ryan really knows his stuff. (Watching the videos and reading the manual first helps you gain familiarity, and you can probably eliminate a few troubleshooting steps before you speak with Ryan next week.) https://sunforgellc.com/learning-center/ Solar panels don't often "go bad." They may not generate all the power they once did seven years ago when new, but degradation would likely be less than 3 to 5 per cent. Because of the reliability of Blue Sky, and Ryan's great customer service and technical support, we kept our Blue Sky gear, and added to it when we upgraded from 200 to 400+ watt panels a few years ago. Before you do any actual "work" on the system, other than checking with your meter, I'd cover up those panels, as they are undoubtedly producing power. We use dark blue packing quilts to cover ours.

Wet batteries need to be checked when fully charged, using a cheap electrolyte hydrometer. Each cell should be close to each other. The acid should be clear, not dark grey. Even one low specific gravity cell will cause the other two to discharge. The two front batteries are probably damaged beyond repair - they must be strapped down solidly to prevent motion, which causes major internal damage to the lead plates. The exception is if the trailer was parked all the time, but if that were true, why even add a bungee? When you service them you should make sure that all the terminals and cable ends are very clean and all the hardware is tight. Clean the batteries with a baking soda mix to neutralize any vented acid. Never add tap water, distilled only. Have you read through the battery owners manual? All your manuals are available to download. Wet batteries are insanely heavy, a continual PITA to maintain, a risk of corroding your battery tray and the aluminum support structure, and are really are not suitable for RVs any more. This isn’t just my opinion. Consider replacing them with SLA. Upgrade the system right, don’t band aid fix an “older” design that isn’t ever going to provide peace of mind and low maintenance. Unfortunately lithium$ are very inappropriate for your hot desert location, if the trailer is stored outside, they do not tolerate lots of heat very well. It should be easy to relocate the remote solar display to head height. It will tell you exactly what is going on with the panels. There may be a loose or corroded connection up top. The terminals on all these parts should be cleaned, including the hidden ones inside the controller and under the master switch. Blue Sky is uber high quality, marine grade hardware. Better than consumer grade stuff from Zamp or Renogy. Have you verified that the solar switch is in the ON position? John Davies Spokane WA

I’ve had five different tow vehicles over the past 15 years of Oliver ownership. The second TV I bought was a used 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe LTZ. I bought it to replace a (very bad choice) 2009 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited that I had leased with the intention of towing our new 2008 Hull #026 Oliver Elite. It had 20 inch wheels and worn out passenger car tires when I got it in 2009. I went to purchase new tires at Walmart, and found out that they didn’t handle any tires larger than 18 inch and they directed me to Mac’s Tire, a local tire shop here in town. When I got there, I told them that I wanted a Light Truck tire as I would be using this as a tow vehicle. They informed that there was no Light Truck tire for 20 inch rims. Muttering under my breath, I said what I really would like to have is a set of 18 inch rims. He made a phone call and about 10 minutes later a guy shows up with an essentially brand new 2010 Tahoe LT with 18 inch wheels and brand new tires. I told him I would trade my fancy LTZ wheels and worn out tires for his not quite as fancy LT wheels with the new tires. Even money, he was to pay Mac’s for the swap out. I kept this vehicle until I sold the Elite and bought Hull #050, the first Elite II sold in 2014. The third TV I bought was a new 2014 GMC Sierra SLT 1500 with the 6.2L Gasoline engine and the Max Tow Package. I had found it on the internet at a dealer in Illinois right across the river from St. Louis and bought it over the phone. When we got there to pick it up I told them I wanted to keep my old wheels and tires. They swapped out the 20 inch wheels that had come on the Sierra for my old 18 inch wheels and tires and we were on our way. We kept this vehicle until 2017 slowly realizing that this was not a particularly great vehicle for an Elite II. The fourth TV I bought was a new 2017 Silverado High Country 2500 HD with a 6.6L diesel. It was only available with 20 inch wheels. Ironically, the 3500 HD was only available with 18 inch wheels. By this time our Elite II was needing new tires so it was back to Mac’s. The grandson of the original owner saw me pull up and he came running out to see my new truck. He excitedly pointed across the lot to his new Silverado 3500. We talked trucks for a few minutes and he said the only thing he disliked about his truck was he couldn’t get any wheels bigger than 18 inch and I told him I felt the same way in that I could not get anything but 20 inch wheels. We looked silently at each other for a few seconds and I asked, “Wanna trade?” And we did. We kept that vehicle for a few years until I realized that I was about 700 pounds over my cargo carrying capacity and to be safe and legal, I needed a bigger truck. The fifth TV I bought was a new 2022 Silverado High Country 3500 HD with a 6.6L diesel. I increased my cargo capacity by 1700 pounds and all was good there. But by the time I ordered my 2022 model, the 3500 HD had dropped the 18 inch wheels and only came with 20 inch wheels. So, I swapped them again. The reasons that I did all this was due to what tires were available with the properties I wanted at the times I was buying. In 2007, 20 inch tires were rare and expensive. I wanted a size that I could buy at any tire store anywhere in the country. Seventeen inch wheels were the most popular size for trucks and SUV’s at that time and could be had at a reasonable price. Between 2014 and 2017, 20 inch wheels became very common place but there was still not a great selection of heavy duty tires in that size. Eighteen inch wheels were the standard on all the HD trucks simply because of the availability of heavier duty tires in that size. I could have stuck with the 20 inch wheels on the 2022 Silverado. But 18 inch tires are still easier to find and cheaper to boot. Besides, I’ve kinda gotten attached to those wheels.

Thanks Mike! I'm probably the only one to read it wrong, but it’s easy to confuse me.🫤 Mossey

Yes, I can clarify. I’m running Cooper Discoverer AT3’s on my Oliver on the original 16” wheels in the original size. Sorry for the confusion, would 18” wheels even fit? 18” wheels and 35” tires on an Oliver would probably require major bodywork! 😆 Mike

As you know, this generator will run on either gasoline or propane. It is rated at 4500 Watts peak and 4050 Watts continuous running on gasoline and 3700 Watts Peak and 3330 Watts continuous running on propane. The difference is due to the BTU's of gasoline vs propane. There is about a 20% decrease in efficiency using propane. But, you have chosen a great generator and I think going to a Honda 3200 would be a step backward. That 3200 watt rating is contingent on using gasoline. You're much better off with this one as it will easily run your AC or charge your batteries, maybe at the same time plus electric and remote start. What could be better? Good choice.

We gravitated to Oliver because of the lack of pop-outs and build quality. This thing looks like a lot of leaks on wheels.

I don’t see an air conditioning unit but if it has one it’s too loud.

On our boat, and in the Ollie, out of season, we remove anything that absorbs moisture. Cushions, bedding, towels, etc. (Florida) Those items live in semi-comdtioned space, in the garage. We clean the heck out if the interior, before storage. And, I wax the interior walls and other fiberglass surfaces. The one year I didn't, I got som mildew in the bath sink top. (Not granitefiber-original white , that was a pita to remove.)