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It's for those of us who live in rainy climates, and don't want a waterfall running down the side of the trailer, and soaking everything within a couple of feet. It has rained every single trip except one since we bought our trailer! ⛈️😠⛈️

Or you can go to O'Reilly's or most national chain A/P stores and borrow this same tool. They charge the cost of it to your credit card and bring it back in 1-2 days and they will refund/credit your card. We have an O'Reilly's 1/2 mile from home, and I have used their loaner program a good dozen times. I purchased a ball joint press that is much longer required for some applications, but I do ball joint service regularly having rebuilt 3 truck suspensions in just the last 4 years. For the Oliver, just borrow one for free if you need it!

Concur 100%. That's totally an element of our planning process - it starts with Rule #1: "One is none, Two is One". Then we go forward from there anticipating where the weak link is in whatever "complex system" we're dealing with....

Go to local auto parts store and get a can of 3M adhesive remover https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/b40070712/ Or order a can of ASI 0240 https://americansealantsinc.com/product/asi-0240/

In another thread, the topic of a winter trip to Quartzsite came up. Since it was a thread hijack there, I've started this one here. Sometime in January next, we'll leave for Q. As usual, we'll be camped out at Dome Rock about 4 miles west of town. This is BLM and is free. There are zero facilities except what you bring with you so you will be totally boondocking. Solar is obviously necessary, without it you will have to have a generator. There is water and dumping available in town. There will be a fiberglass rally (of such) that usually occurs the first week or so of February. Calling this a rally is quite a stretch as there are no organizers or agenda. There will be a mix of all different brands of FG trailers. We've made many friends through the years while attending. January 18th-26th will feature the Quartzsite Sports, Vacation & RV Show. Death Valley NP is an easy drive and that time of the year is the PERFECT time to go. Joshua Tree NP is also close enough to drop in there. Both NP's have free camping and there is never a crowd that time of year. If this type of atmosphere floats your boat, Vegas is north of there as is Hoover dam. Lake Havasu City sports the London Bridge having been disassembled in London, shipped across the pond and reassembled there. Since there was no river for it to cross, they diverted the Colorado River to restore it as a functioning bridge across water. This will be a lazy time with plenty of opportunities to do nothing, sitting around talking to old friends and making new ones. I've started a list of folks who said they would be there. Join us, won't you? Quartzsite 2025 roster: 1 - Steve and Tali Landrum Hull #050 Tupelo, MS (scubarx) 2 - Art and Diane FLYNN Hull #226 Placitas, NM (maxburner) 3 - Lance Smeltekop Hull #898 Nederland,CO and Traverse City, MI (mountainman198) 4 - Richard De Villiers Hull #1368 Guelph, Ontario (rich.dev) 5 - John and Wendy Register - Hull #996 Full Timers (johnwen) 6 - John and Chris Dokos - Hull #113 Prescott, AZ (jd1923)

That black trailer (Hull #011) was during their learning stage and were toying with the idea of painting the trailers different colors. It sits abandoned in Nevada from what I've heard. The Red one (Hull #10) 'Jellybean' is owned by Winston and Brandi Shaffer and is still on the road. They are at least the third owners. Here they both are in early 2008 bound for an RV show in Las Vegas.

Haven't missed ours either, Mike. Took me 2 years to finally make up my mind and mine was a real bugger to remove the residue.

I pulled ours off after 4 years, it came off cleanly with very little residue. Haven’t missed it…. Mike

Nicely said!

We keep two exact sets of TV/OTT keys on respective caribiners. One set stays in the TV - one in the OTT. We use Casablanca's main hatch combo lock exclusively when boondocking - so if one of us gets back to the trailer before the other, no biggie getting inside. Full Disclosure of a Lesson Learned: Magnus (knucklehead #1) locked us out of our TV during a roadside stop enroute to Pagosa Springs several years ago with the truck still running. Had we stashed another set of keys in the TT, we wouldn't have had to break the rear window to get access to the TV.... That was not a cheap date!

FWIW: We bought our front hitch from eTrailer about 6 years ago - used it on the RAM 3500 to get the AS into the cave. For us, it was an absolute game changer. Whereas backing the TT into the somewhat "narrow" 10-ft wide door it may have taken a few tries to get the perfect line-up. With the the front hitch it was "1 and done" - piece of cake. The 500# vertical weight limitation wasn't an issues for the 30-foot travel distance. We highly recommend the front hitch option for tight quarters.

I am towing with a 2020 Chevy 2500 Duramax. The ride is pretty good with a load in the back and the hitch weight of the oliver. The independent front wheels help the ride over Ram and Ford. With an empty truck the ride is still a bit rough compared to 1500 or Suburban, etc. That said, my 2020 rides far better than my 2006 Chevy 2500 duramax. With the 2006 my wife experienced discomfort after an injury. Although she has since recovered, the 2020 ride is far better. In general the 2500 mates well with the Oliver Elite II. Pulling is pretty easy and we have found no need for anti sway hitches and so forth. I have the trailering package so with cameras hooking up and turning have full views. Plenty of capacity in the bed to haul extra stuff which in our case includes an extra 30 gallons of fresh water. Hull 1394 Elite II with 2020 Silverado 2500HD duramax

We use the Calgon beads/Pinesol mixture every other full tank - seems to keep the gate valves lubed nicely.... Doesn't smell bad, either.

Same here - orange plastic razor blades and Goof Off worked for getting ours off...

I really like it down on the lower flat better than up on Oliver Ridge. The ridge got its name because all the Oliver's formerly parked up there. The last few years there's been some a$$hole redneck in a motor home parked on the lower flat across the way and harasses all the other campers with threats. @Mountainman198 went over and spoke with him and he calmed down somewhat. When you find out what the '198' means you'll understand. (It's not his weight). All in all, it makes no real difference to me. If we're all parked near each other, it will be a great time. For those that haven't been, I have the GPS coordinates for Dome Rock where we will be camping. I'll start a Quartzsite 2025 roster: 1 - Steve and Tali Landrum Hull #050 Tupelo, MS 2 - Art and Diane FLYNN Hull #226 Placitas, NM 3 - I’ll be back. Lance Smeltekop Hull #898 Nederland,CO and Traverse City, MI

I've had front I have had a front hitch on every vehicle I've owned since 1992. Some I made myself, but I've bought the last three. None I've bought are rated greater than 500 pounds of hitch weight. I just don't worry about it. My tongue weight on The Outlaw Oliver is probably in the 650 pound range, I've not measured it lately. But I am only moving the trailer about 100 feet to get it into its garage and, as everybody always says when describing their tow vehicle, it does just fine.

That was my thought too. I would think that their 500 pound limit takes into account the forces on the hitch of a static weight of 500 pounds hitting some movement. With highway movement that weight would be higher on the hitch. From physics the formula F=ma would explain it I would think. F is force, m=mass, a=acceleration. I would think that at driveway speeds it would be ok too. Thanks for your comment. John

Not a big concern at driveway speeds. Check with a local trailer shop. They would have a variety of choices and could weld the mount.

Hi all, I have a tight parking spot next to the garage and thought a front mounted hitch would make it easier to maneuver the trailer into the spot. E-trailer has one that would fit my 2017 Ford Expedition EL, but the specs say it's only good for 500 pounds of vertical force. If anyone uses a front hitch, what did you do to make it work? Thanks

Must be something with that Texas heat, took me a few hours of really messy work. You are lucky.

We would drive down for the week (2 1/2 hour drive), given the dates many of you would be there are dates I'm not teaching class. My timing for 2024 was off but got our Los Algodones dental visit in. I won't have my 2025 schedule for a while. Hope to see you there! I wrote this on the other thread, but worth repeating here. Buckskin Mountain State Park | Arizona (azstateparks.com) is a great spot on the Colorado River. Good campsites, calm river sounds and excellent bird watching. Not free of course. White Tank Mountain, Maricopa County Regional Park is a good stop on the way to the Q: Maricopa County Parks & Recreation | Maricopa County Parks & Recreation The Maricopa parks are often booked up during winter 6 months in advance. Sometimes a few days here and there free up and some of their parks have overflow/boondocking sites for $15/night.

Yep. I get home and spray all along there. Then follow up with mop and soap. I would never consider removing it. To each his own🙃

Winston and Brandi did a fabulous job of restoring Jelly Bean. If you ever see it don't be afraid to ask for a tour. Jim Oliver's Beast presently sits in the Oliver Service area. However, Scott Oliver has plans to move it to his home in the near future. Hopefully I can get some additional pics of it this afternoon. Bill

Hi, everyone. My wife and I, both in late 50’s and recently retired are looking for life’s next big adventure. We are considering an Oliver Legacy Elite II in the hopes of exploring as many National, State and here in Canada, Provincial Parks as possible over the next 10 years. We come from a boating background, so we are not complete newbies when it comes to onboard water, grey and black tanks and power management, however, we are 100% newbie campers. Beyond this incredible forum, I was hoping to connect directly with someone who would be willing to be both an Oliver and camping Mentor for us as we embark on this new journey. Ideally, a contact who we could have the odd Zoom call with and who would be willing to help us navigate all there is to learn when one is starting out. We enjoy hiking, biking and kayaking and are hopeful that we might be lucky enough to connect with another like-minded Oliver owner who can share how they transport their bikes, yaks and gear, and how they set up their Oliver to best meet an active lifestyle. Any help or guidance on this idea would be appreciated. Cheers from Kingston, Ontario (Canada)

Thanks for all the suggestions. Was able to remove it with bug and tar remover but still a lot of messy work. Will do a final clean, polish/wax later today if it doesn’t rain. Not sure why Oliver ever made the decision to install these things in the first place. All mine ever did was create a damn for debris and organic detritus. Thanks again.

When someone makes a different choice on how to do a job does not mean they cannot perform a job. Most folks here probably use a hammer, but there is another way.

Use a plastic razorblade in conjunction with a safe solvent. There have been several who have removed that gasket. Hopefully they will chime in.

Pins sometimes can be pressed in and out with something like a Ball Joint Service Kit if it will fit within the work space, but it's normally too expensive to justify for one job, unless a friend has one. This Maddox kit from Harbor Freight looks very similar to my Pittsburg kit, it's on sale until 8/29/24 for $44.99: https://www.harborfreight.com/ball-joint-service-kit-for-2wd-and-4wd-vehicles-63610.html

We had ours done at the Rally. No more smell from the gray tank😊

Yes I wasn’t at that rally but Kleen Tanks has some really good videos on their web site

I have one too. Don't unscrew and loosen the gripper too much as you can lose the little parts that grip on to the zerk. There are about three or four little pieces that will be lost. How do I know this? I did just that and had to buy another 90 degree attachment. Great tool though! John

This was suggested to us by the guys who were professionally cleaning tanks at the rally.

I have been buying Calgon beads on Amazon-along with the pinesol this works great. I mix up a gallon before a long trip

I have no idea what this means.

Yes, it has a pass-through basement.

Yeah, definitely not considering one behind the rear axle, though I think I could get away with one in front of the front axle where it would be close to the same level as the bottom of the axle itself. It's pretty obvious this LE was raised a little higher than factory and probably doesn't have the same clearance issues a rear mounted box could have on ours. .

No question in my mind… except the non-isolated vs isolated aspect. I still have not had the time to replace my alternator to a high output because I am not getting near the capacity with current setup. I used 4 awg wire from TV battery to Orion XS via Anderson connectors.

For those who are in the Midwest and near a Blain’s Farm and Fleet, they are having a buy three get one free sale on tires (including Cooper Discoverer HT3) right now. Even if you don’t buy from Blain’s, Discount tire will honor the pricing.

I tried ORielly's for the bulldogs first. They took my money. Then, without telling me, cancelled the order about a week later. They knew then what I found out later. That Bulldog did not have the parts. I had to request a refund. This is not anyone's fault but mine. This is not 1974. This is 2024. Without getting too philosophical, the Oliver is a complex system. Complex systems do not survive incompetency. Whether it is a space capsule or a travel trailer, you have to anticipate incompetency and plan around it. Parts, service, whatever. Every aspect of your life. Plan for it. I made the mistake of thinking that the Bulldogs were just magically going to be available.

Takes me back to my datacenter days. 🙂 "Why do you spin five generators when you can run the whole place on three?" "N + 1 and one to not spin up properly and get sent down."

I installed mine a few hundred miles ago...seem to be doing fine. Thanks, Steve, for the O'Reilly tip :) John

Looks like both Billdog and Monroe "Made in China" (So sad)

Welcome aboard, Mike! Tons of great OTT info in these threads - watch out, there's a few rabbit holes!

Oliver Service, named Jason, came to our rescue. I called and left a message with service at 8:30 Eastern. Jason called me back within a few minutes. He suggested the basement route. Lucky my son was here to crawl where no man has crawled before, and hopefully never again. It appears the default code would not work because the lock battery is low. LESSON LEARNED, and a huge shout out of appreciation to @JEssary at the mothership. BTW - What is "the override key"?

This would be unacceptable to me. When I decide I want/need something, I want it today or, at most, Amazon Prime quick. While installing our Alcan Springs, I discovered that two of my last set of Monroe's (bought from Amazon, about $40 each) had lasted less than two years. Needing to replace them that day, I went in search of a new set. I was unable to locate a full set locally but O'Reilly Auto Parts told me they could have a full set by the next morning. I decided that was quick enough. The only downside was they were about $60 each. After checking with Oliver, I was told that they charge $68 each, so I figured that was OK. When I went to pick them up the next day, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that a life time replacement warranty was included in the price. It is available to the Original purchaser as long as they own the vehicle. Additionally, you do not have to keep up with your receipt or proof of purchase if you have a (free) online account with them. Just bring the old shock back and it is replaced at no cost. I called around to the other local auto part players and they all stated the warranty was the Monroe provided two years.

I’m not aware of a default code for the lock. Do you have the override key? If its a LE II twin bed and (1) your basement door is not locked (2) you are agile and small and (3) you have the pass through door under the nightstand I have heard of people getting back in from there. We keep our physical key in the tow vehicle for this very reason. (Plus I am NOT agile and small….)

We are just a month into the Oliver journey. Seven years in a Casita and another seven in Airstream. I suggest you watch the videos on the Oliver website multiple times as they will answer many question and clearly explain procedures.

You are now connected with a large group of willing mentors who, collectively, have nearly encyclopedic knowledge of camping with Oliver trailers. This forum is one of the best resources on those topics available anywhere. IMHO, the forum is better than any one mentor. Ask away!

I have given up. The monitors never give accurate data and I have accepted that as fact.

You’re not the only person who has made that or a similar mistake. Dont beat yourself up. Bill’s advice is spot on.