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(1) None, nothing... after two years of Off the Grid Boondocking and a third year begins next month. Zipidee Do Dah Wonderful! Our 2019 27 foot Airstream took some upgrading of hardware and additional brackets to toughen the Interior. It has sat in the RV Garage since the pruchase nearly three years ago of the Oliver Elite II. The Oliver Elite II has ALL the Upgrades, from the Factory by the original owner purchase. Upgrades, as Solar, four 6 volt Batteries and accessories that would work for Boondockers and RV Parkers. We enjoy both our 2019 Airstream, we upgraded over time... TO the 2019 Factory 'STANDARD' Build Benefits of our Oliver Elite II. I considered selling the Airstream, but it is solid and upgraded to compete with the Oliver. With three Blue Heelers, two pups and a 17 year old, they have their special spots and we lay their 'binky' once set up to camp. What do My Wife, Myself or any of the Heelers dislike about the Oliver? Nothing. The Truma Aqua Go never worked... but we never used the Dometic hot water to Shower in the 2019 Airstream, as well. And the Dometic works. Boondockers benefit from the Tent Camping lessons learned over decades. If YOU are thinking about an Off the Grid Boondocking travel trailer... new or used... we used 2019 technology as our Airstream. We spend most of our time in either trailer... cooking and sleeping. Otherwise outside and sitting on lawn chairs and ahhhhhhhh enjoying the fresh air and views. But... if you buy used... make sure the Truma works. We didn't. Next time... if ever, we will. Some photographs of Western USA Mountain camping. Unlimited, Off the Grid and you pick a spot and it is yours. 🙂

Hmmm....the new LE-III Lux model with inflatable slide-out...Nah, we will take our's just as it is 😁 @MAX Burner taking a quick shower?😳

So this begs the question, How did a 5k coupler get put on a 2018 Elite II. Is my EII the only one that was equipped with the wrong coupler. I am a huge fan of the camper and the company as a whole. But having lived through this harrowing experience with my family, my hope is they do a thorough investigation and reach out to owners. Again, hopefully this is a one-off situation but really unnerving. I will say the camper's build quality and durability has been phenomenal and my gut feeling (after all the great information from forum members) is that maybe, somehow BD sent over one in the mix by mistake and that this is an isolated incident. But because of the serious nature, it has to be investigated and quality control looked at. This has to be 100% correct every time. I am confident that OTTs will do it. I still love my Oliver and look forward to being back out on the road.

Hi Toni! We picked up Carlotta today! Spending our first night at campsite #1! First Gin and Tonic - which works as planned. Head to Asheville tomorrow via Uncle Nearest Distillery. Both puppies love their new twin beds.

Concur, 100%! Although it could use a B-17 Flying Fortress navigator's plexiglas observation bubble instead of the bathroom fan for us tall dudes.... just say'n

We have used these for the last six years. They last us about three years.

You listed this Suburban model SW6DE. I did not look it up today, but I recognized this number immediately. Not knowing your hull #, we're both 2016. I bought two of these last fall, going with the name brand: Amazon.com: SUBURBAN MFG Suburban 233514 AnodeRod Magnesium : Automotive

I have towed our Elite II about 3K miles with an Andersen WD hitch. In my experience, so long as both chains feel taut, the Andersen hitch works just fine. "Perfect" is not required; close is good enough.

Did you guys not get the optional Jacuzzi tub, the crystal chandelier and the other items in the "luxury" package?

How about, "Tough", "Made-to-last", "Resistant"?

Is it my imagination or is there a new main page for the OTT website? I have mixed feelings about hauling around a "luxury travel trailer". Of course it costs enough to be in the luxury category, but the trailer itself is so understated. Not flashy. Not glamorous. Unless you know what you're looking for, you might not see what makes it a luxury trailer. I'm going to be self-conscious now. Lol.

Last summer project that has enabled me to carry bikes much easier. I got the aluminum 2x2s, T-slot material online and the 2x2 sleeves and hardware from Oliver. Local guy in Nashville welded up the tray and cut out the slots to slide into sleeves clearing the bolts. Install was harder than I thought (you have to be very careful drilling the rear hole both sides to go in between downward slats on bottom of frame). *** For transparency, I found this while going over things related to the front coupler failure. Got me thinking more about a WD system. Best, Mike

Not if you were a tent camper for 67 years. It is pure pleasure! PS: I'm 6'3 225 and love our wet bath! 🙂 GJ

Towing an Oliver into the unknown for the first time may be the BEST CHOICE for those tired of crowded RV Parks. Much like taking swimming lessons at five years old. Fear becomes... comfort and confidence in your ability to adapt to any situation. I did not drown. A minority of Travel Trailer owners and RV's... take the least traveled roads towards the unknown. We call it exploring. Gradually going further on unpaved mountain roads and gaining confidence in the experience. Also 'testing the construction' of your Oliver or any other Travel Trailer. Many Airstream owners would never imagine an Airstream off the road. They would be surprised what is possible, if prepared. Most are not prepared. They lack confidence in themselves and the ability of their trailer not to drag or catch branches of low hanging pine. Eyesight is necessary, as well. As Spring arrives in the Rocky Mountains, we are ready. Pushing further into the Frontier for travel trailer experiences. Not concerned about Television reception, or being able to run the Air Conditioning. We need neither at elevation. Possibly the furnace at 10,000 feet in July. As you increase elevation from 1,200 feet to 5,000, your body will adapt to 7,000 and 8,000 feet of thin air, as your lungs and body adjust. One step at a time and then more steps to find your body is improving with time... a shock to some. We easily go from 1,500 feet elevation to 8,500 feet without headaches or discomfort. We walk our Blue Heelers every day at home and intend to maintain our lifestyle of actually using our Travel Trailer, which needs no R V Park hookups... on purpose. It is our intent to use either the 27 foot Airstream or the Oliver Elite II as often as we can. If, at 90+ years, possibly slowing down a bit into a more... casual experience, closer to a civilized independent life style, whatever that may be. I add some signs we have encountered the last few years. At worst, you disconnect the trailer and drive into the unknown. Once confident that this is not a problem for us... we hook up and go forward. Some day an Oliver owner will offer to take some other travel trailer owners into the 'unknown' of Off the Grid Boondocking. Most travel trailer owners will not make the choice, due to not being comfortable in the remote experience of 'what do I do now"? It thins out those who are cannot do anything outside their comfort zone. We have our own reasons to explore and find success in what we do. Returning home is to sit back and plan our next adventure. It is a gift becoming... old and experienced. Try it some time. Life is too short to have tried nothing, and succeeded. Signs are meant to put fear into the unexperienced.

Can't agree more with Bill's comment above. @jd1923 - John, suggest reaching out to Colin/CGI at 615.900.0648. He shared his oxidation removal process with me when we "peeled" off the Oliver nose graphic... Being previous vintage AS owners we had all the same polishing tools CGI uses, but didn't have the wool buffer heads and compound they prefer. So, we've effectively converted the AS polishing kit into one for the OTT... Very helpful young men at CGI - worth the time to chat with them, IMO. Good luck, brother!

Oh....the wonderful memories! Enjoy the great experience. Despite similar wise counsel, we did not test "everything" - specifically how to dump our gray tank. Went to dump it the first time at about 50% full and nothing would come out. Oh dear.... After a frantic call to Service, we came to realize we were pointed nose first downhill at this particular dump station. Whoopies! Fortunately for us, we had no Oliver flaws - only our own! We will not forget our great pick up experience and pray yours is even better!

Did our first night at #1 25F!!! Nice and warm inside.

I would call suburban customer service, for most recent updates. As your Ollie is now past 7 year mark.

We did this about a year and 1/2 ago because we had some melted wire at the connection interface while running the AC with a 12 gauge extension cord. I like it and have had no problems since converting to it. Fairly easy install. The connection is more secure IMO and easier to connect/disconnect.

Same here!

On our Grand Cherokee with the auto leveling system, the manual wants it turned off until you are hooked up and then turned back on. We don’t tow the Oliver EII with it but have towed other trailers with it. Maybe look in your manual to see if it talks about hooking up the trailer with auto leveling. Just a thought. Congrats on your new trailer.

We only color in the states we camped overnight in.😊

6’2” + ollie2 wet bath is NOT luxury. still the best product on the market despite that 😀

My rule is only if my Oliver spent the night!

5 nights in the camper so far. 1 @ mothership 2 @ Falls river - major storm No leaks! But the campground threatened to flood. So back to the mothership. 3 @ mothership 4-5…babbler State Park outside of St. Louis. Just electric. Subfreezing nighttime temps. All systems working as designed comfy, cozy. 😀 only two issues to speak of. 1 we seriously overpacked clothes. Whatever 😂 2 hooking up the Anderson to a ram 1500 with airbags suspension that keeps changing levels. Rereading the owners manual on how to do this. not fun. might lead to a different truck. This is day five of what we hope to be 60-ish for our first trip. Thanks to everyone who help us prepare so thoroughly. Your advice was very valuable. Hope to see you all at the rally.

This piece of evidence suggests that Oliver uses 5K Bulldog couplers for Elite I builds. It supports the conclusion that mounting a 5K coupler on Rideadeuce's Elite II may have resulted from simply pulling the coupler from the wrong parts slot. Given the potential consequences, Oliver would be well advised to physically separate the 5K Bulldog couplers from the 7K couplers, and to add redundant verification that the correct coupler was installed on all Elite IIs.

We’re all thankful that the mystery of the failed Bulldog coupler was (at least apparently) solved and without serious issues. I was beginning to wonder if there was going to be a sudden rash of coupler failures coming our way. Like several others have said, we have never heard of any Bulldog failures. When I purchased my trailer I didn’t select the axles, springs, or coupler at the time of order. Thankfully, I’ve not experienced issues with any major Oliver supplied components. Probably can’t say that for the majority of stick built campers. Although with lack of maintenance I think that I have heard of even a heavy duty axle having bearing failures.

We were going to, but it would have put us over our GVWR with our golf cart in the rear garage.

"High Quality," yes. Luxury? Not like many shoppers would define it, I think.

Maybe “Rugged” or “Durable” would be better?

On the road at Kartcher cavern SP in AZ. Since we are here for a week, I decided to Replace all tires and installed 4 new shocks at 50k miles. At same time checked springs for wear /cracks and re-lubed all Zerks. The tires had simply aged out but one in particular had an odd scalloping wear pattern. (Cause was a slightly loose bearing castle nut on that right/front wheel.) The shocks were getting a bit rusty and I decided to change as prevention. ( All 4 seemed functional upon removal.) Since the original tires were 16” LT Michelin, I stuck with the brand and now run: Michelin Agilis Cross Climate LT225 /75 R16 115R E1 BSW Shock replacement is: Monroe Magnum RV 555001 I was able to get the tires at a local Discount Tire in Sierra Vista. ( took 3 in one day and 2 the next as we had chores in town. ) Ordered shocks online and shipped to my sisters who we visited on the way here. Shocks went on quickly once the unit was jacked up so suspension was hanging. All set for the next stage of our trip where we will meet up with several owners at Ladybird Johnson for the Eclipse.

Magnesium for sure. GJ

Safety John says when hooking up, the TV should be off, in park, and with emergency brake set. GJ

I don't honestly know how the ram 1500 air system works but on my truck I can select "manual" mode to prevent the air suspension from auto-correcting. The other method is to turn the ignition off thereby deactivating the air pump.

i have not run into this problem yet but I had planned to just put in under the pop-up canopy we have. Might not be the best option but will let me spend that money on other camping items I may or may not need.

When painting our 2015 LE2 7000# BD hitch, always tape over the hitch label. In addition to the towing capacity label also shows maximum hitch tongue weight.

Too late - this has already been done (multiple times). Bill

THAT's what I'm talking about - definitely prefer the twin-.50CAL option!!!

The earliest model elites (2007-2009) were equipped with the 5000lb Class Two BD couplers. That is no longer the case. All the current Elites have a 7000lb BD coupler.

2008. Times change, equipment changes. My guess is, a one off error We'll see.

I carry a pair of Robogrips in the bed of my Tundra for this purpose.

Perfectly can't happen, but the WDH works best when set properly. Reading page 11 Section 5 of the Andersen WDH, "HAND-TIGHTEN both Tension Nuts as much as you can... using a socket... tighten both Tension Nuts another 3-4 threads." Later they write, "Although it is not crucial" tighten or loosen each the same amount. When you get hand tight, the # threads left and right may not be the same. Could be the bomerang mount is not even and the bracket installation might not be equal left and right. Drive down a straight road a mile +/- and keep the steering straight ahead for 100 yards just prior to parking. I have a favorite street in our neighborhood to achieve this. You can start over with the hand tightening... Or just make sure each red rubber bushing is slightly bulging the same small amount. Eventually you should know for your hitch what is the correct number of threads left and right, and just do that without thinking. You want to see that level line, from the front wheels of TV to rear bumper of TT. How tight depends on how much weight distribution you need. Tighten the two nuts some MORE equally and the rear of the TV will come higher, nose more down. Loosen and the opposite. They cover this in the next section 6 of the instructions. None of this will work right if your Andersen hitch is not mounted at the proper height. Start with Section 2, regarding hitch height. When set properly, ours runs so nicely down the road. I can certainly feel the difference when I tow without using it. A lot of bouncing in the rear.

Especially the last one! Framable, that one! Thanks for sharing... Cheers!

You might consider replacing some of the extra chain links required to connect the Andersen WD hitch to your Oliver with turnbuckles. If the truck changes height on you, you may be able to simply adjust the turnbuckles to compensate. Although I tow with a Tundra that does not have an airbag suspension, I find it easier to attach the Andersen with the turnbuckles loose, then tighten the turnbuckles to make the chain assembly taut. See this thread:

The boys at the mothership struggled when hooking up the Anderson to my Ram. It kept bouncing up and down on them. Next day, When I tried to do it myself I failed. We were still at their campground, so three or four of them came out and 30 minutes later we had it hooked up again. I was so afraid the next morning when it was my turn to do it by myself, but it worked perfectly first try. my confidence was through the roof. The next day we were leaving Hohenwald for St. Louis. It was a Saturday morning so no one else was around from the staff. Took me an hour, including loosening the chains and retightening by hand. I am very concerned where this leads. On the plus side, the truck and trailer handled wonderfully for the 350 mile trip. I hope to figure out the procedure that makes this trivial. But if not, I may detach the chains and see how the truck handles without them. I like the idea about contacting Anderson. I’ll reach out to them in the next couple of days. Thanks.

I justed checked my coupler.. 2 inch 7000 lbs, it has the gusset.. we got our LEI in july of 2022 . No problems. I think they are using 7000 lbs bulldog on all the units. I guess if you opt. to get a 2 5/16” with the highter GVWR..

Arronorange....followed the instructions and all is well now. Thanks again.

We lived in Sierra Vista many years and have camped at Kartchner Caverns a lot too. Your Ollie will be riding smooth on the way to Texas! Mike

Is there a plan for adding rear lighting (i.e. brake and turn signals)? And license plate location?

Be careful if a shutdown happens it can close National Parks Oct 1. We are heading to mighty 5 in Utah soon and the Utah Governor stated yesterday that Utah plans to keep their NP’s open by paying the operating costs from Utahs budget. 90% of Utahs campgrounds are Federal Parks and many communities rely on camping public to survive.