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After a great nights rest, we woke up to a 32d morning in our toasty warm Oliver. After a great hot breakfast, we loaded up in the beast and we were on the road to soak up America‘s first and oldest national park (1872). We are still pretty excited about being camped here inside the park. We enjoyed a day of touring and hiking around various areas of Yellowstone. We saw Bison, a wiley coyote, and a large black bear munching and lunching on a bison carcass from a distance (no pic as it was a blur from our vantage point) we saw lots of Osprey hunting. The mud volcanos were pretty impressive to say the least. The “Dragons Mouth” appropriately named was really just amazing.The falls were thunderous as millions of gallons of water crashed down into the canyon. My pics and vids are mere teasers as to what we saw. We have so much more to see and do in YS, we may extend, we’ll see. We have met and enjoyed so many nice people along the way. Tonight our temp drops down to 27d at 2am, no worries as our Oliver will keep us toasty warm. Get out there and travel and camp! If not now when? 😊 Our beast of burden and mother natures beast of burden standing super still and just sleeping. Full On!…..nap time. Kinda like us after our Bison corned beef sandwiches today. Ha! Our attempt at a selfie at the lower falls. We had all kinds of 2’ long lens pointed at our TV, this hot and tired coyote with a thick winter coat was just wanting to get away from all the peeps and the cameras. Us too! 😊 A closer pic of another lone bison just trying to put on much needed winter fat. The falls. Enjoy the what you can of my videos, no expert videographer here, just a work in progress.😊 IMG_1953.mov IMG_1940.mov IMG_1941.mov

Just to follow up on this post... I finally scraped away the caulking from the towel bar in front of the bath vanity to investigate whether I had a detached vent pipe. It wasn't nearly as much a chore as I anticipated...took all of 15 minutes! To my dismay there isn't any loose pipes or fittings. There is a faint black tank smell in that area but I was unaware that the space around the black tank is contiguous with the space under the dinette seat...so any smell I have there would also be inside the vanity. I'm still perplexed as to why there is a smell at all but I'm assuming my sniffer is just overly sensitive. I'm happy that I tackled this as I'm going to use a gasket around the towel bar (thanks Steve Morris) to prevent water intrusion and keep it accessible for the future in case I purchase a new faucet. I'm just going to use the original screws and snap caps to secure it down since I don't anticipate going in there very often.

Greetings to the Elite II seen heading eastbound on I-70 near Cisco, UT around 10:45am MT on Sun Sept 22nd. We were westbound, same location in an Elite I…

While you are "in there" - Put some foam insulation around those 1/2 inch water pipes and add another layer of insulation wherever possible. Bill

I tried to find one of my old threads complaining about leaking connections with those hand tight Oliver fittings. Regularly, on our EII, one of them would loosen up and I would hear the pump running or see water leaking out of one of the weep holes. Recently I tried something that actually seems to have stopped the problem. Kind of counterintuitive. I put food grade, silicone lube (typical use- servicing water filtration systems) on the threads and retightened. A couple of trips with no weeping holes and maybe a solution 🙂

Fishing Bridge was closed for a fair amount of time while they improved the facilities there. Glad that they seem to have completed a nice job. Enjoy what I believe to be one of the most special places on this planet! There is too much to see in only 5 days. When you do Old Faithful, don't miss the lodge and the boardwalk that extends out past Old Faithful. Also, to get a better view of Grand Prismatic, park at the Indian Trail trailhead (about a mile south of the main parking area for Grand Prismatic). Walk up Indian Trail less than 1/2 mile and look to your right for a great view. Less people and you look down versus trying to see it at a flat angle. Bill

My bad, the silicone hose is used as a gray water discharge on the cam lock end of the rear tank dump outlet. A 4’ length of clear PVC reinforced braided hose with a garden hose barb fitting is used for the water draw, silicone would collapse. Both PVC hose and fitting were from Lowe’s, silicone hose an Amazon purchase. PVC hose: Silicone hose:

It did, and I had no plans to remove or reuse it. Cash is king and I gave the guy a break as I pre-sold it to him like a month or so before I had our Truma installed and he kept his word on the deal. Oliver had stacks of old Dometics that folks left behind after the retro fit.

Hey Ya'll... Wonderful vids! What type phone are you using? Reminds me of our travels there last year, but without the smoke :) John

In the meantime, I suggest using OdoBan to mask the unpleasant smell. Spray inside the vanity, into the black tank area from within the forward dinette seat hatch and any other suspect areas.

I do that smile thing too sometime though I think it often comes off like this: I do my best to be sociable but I have to accept that I am more of an introvert. My wife is good for me though because she is the ultimate extrovert. She doesn't know a stranger.

In retrospect, the kitchen sink is one of the only areas where Oliver did not do a great job of designing something that worked well. The OEM sink is too shallow and shaped more like a bowl. The OEM full size kitchen faucet had a reach of 8-9 (should have been 7-8in to spray in the middle ) which caused it to splash water everywhere unless you pulled down on the spray head and let it dangle. The upgrade solves all that and most importantly matches the faucet to the sink so they work together well. Plus, I like the more modern design. Mods are so much fun. Especially when so many members lead the way. Just curious, does anyone know what happened to @Snowball ? Oh, I forgot to mention for anyone doing this mod and it necessitates removing part of the cabinetry. Cover the soft close mechanisms, I had a hell of a time cleaning out all the saw dust. Lots of small moving parts make that work smoothly.

We bid Teton Valley Resort in Victor Idaho, and the Grand Tetons a fairwell today as we headed to Yellowstone NP. We managed to land a nice 20X60’ concrete pad with FHs which we will enjoy for 5 nights inside Yellowstone NP at Fishing Bridge. Loops A, B, C, and D appear to older much tighter/cozy less desirable sites. Loop E is fairly new freshly paved, and very well laid out. It will make a great base camp for us to rest and enjoy the park. The cooler weather camping and hiking just works for us! Happy Travels from Hull #634 XPLOR My bride and awesome navigator. 😍 So long Tetons! A little interesting info about the glaciers. We had to pull over and admire Lake Jackson on our way to YS…wow factor. No complaints with regard to our 20X60’ concrete pad site with FHs! This is much more than we expected inside a NP. Happy Base Camp!

we just had our Dometic ac replaced with the atmos 4.4 unit and we are so happy so much Quieter now I am using the lithium batteries and I will attach a few pics. At least when boondocking we can cool down for a couple hours on a hot afternoon. for us it is a huge improvenent over the Dometic our Olliver Elite came with when th compressor cycles on each battery is showing 37 amp burn After 1 hour battery level down to 96 % IMG_1675.mov

Last year while messing around under the bathroom sink, I adjusted the weight on the “pull-down” faucet hose so that it would pull out far enough to rinse the toilet. That worked for awhile, then the hose started kinking when it was pulled all the way out. Rats! So while preparing for the next trip, I decided to try another approach. I found a 1/2” x 10” spring at the local Ace that fits snuggly over the hose (when little snap-on clip is removed.) The spring was tie-wrapped in place and it allows the hose to bend tightly without kinks. Now the hose easily reaches the toilet for better rinsing. This is a quick and easy mod, particularly if you have done the “Bathroom Vanity Cubby Modification” by Frank C. It allows cubby to be quickly removed without having to re-caulk every time. I was also adding a little water freshener today, so thought I’d share another idea that's probably not new. We always carry a 5 gallon bucket and tall kitchen bags to use as an outdoor trash can. If we want to fill the fresh water tank from the Boondocking inlet, we use the bucket with a new trash bag as a clean liner. We also carry a short piece of garden house for this purpose. Saved us a few times. Cheers! Geoff

I have been using this hose with a quick connect fitting and I love it. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0894GMDWP/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

Mine went while going 67 on I25. I suspected something was wrong because my spring-mounted led light whip affixed to the front box began waving wildly from side to side. I drove about 3 miles to a Love’s where I confirmed one broken spring and one flattened spring (same axle). The tires did NOT rub the fiberglass, but the ubolts were in hard contact with the frame above. After this I only pulled the trailer across the facility to the newly opened Love’s campground where I replaced the two springs to get me home. is your spring broken (pics please if so) or you are merely concerned that they will break enroute to the shop where you plan to have them replaced? I have read where someone was unable to stop following a broken spring and affixed a piece of a thick mudflap to the top of the axle between the ubolt and frame to soften the impact. Were I in your situation and I chose to drive to the repair facility I certainly would bring materials to do this ( e.g. heavy rubber matting and several heavy zip ties. If I had needed to transport my trailer with a broken spring I would consider a flatbed.

How far do you have to go? Drive easy and slow like a school zone over RR tracks!

My most inconvenient time to discuss 'Our Oliver" is when I am dumping/flushing. I was derailed in thought once, with a subsequent issue... Now I just ask if they would mind waiting until after I complete the dumping/rinsing process, they usually do not stick around. B~Out,

Hey John, We both have iPhone 14’s. And I use an IPad Air for most of my postings. Thanks for the kind words, I am far from an expert photographer or videographer, the iPhone does make us all look good. ha! 😊 31 degrees here this morning when I got a nice walk in at 6:45. The perfect time of year to be here in our experience so far. It would not be as enjoyable in the heat. David

I have topped these ramps a couple of times, that’s where the stabilizer jacks really shine to lift the body a tad more for level without lifting the tires anymore.

The Anderson Jack Blocks are great, like that they have magnets to ease attachment and centering. As for the front stabilizer, I use a Rapid Jack on its’ side. I have used it as intended to change a tire, despite claims it won’t work on an Oliver. It stows alongside its’ cousins in the garage!

I tried the remote when I bought it, thought it was great, then just used the manual start button from then on. I guess I just like tinkering with it and checking the gauges.

Another copy of @Snowball‘s mod just used different but almost the same components. Took a few pics. I was able to save about 2/3 of the upper front maple crossbar. Real trick since the sink is 2 in deeper was maintaining drainage grade. Had to remove metal tube securement (screwed to the back of the cabinet) and was able to reuse the 1 1/2 in ABS but may end up cutting it under road side bed to shorten a bit to get more of a grade. But seems to be draining ok… we shall see. Love the sink and faucet. SO much more useful. Just have to close up top left drawer with faceboard some how. Oh, I did shim the middle between the middle maple cabinet support and counter, the counter had small bow in it. Easily corrected, then was able to silicone the sink to the counter top. Amazon Links: Brushed SS Sink 17x19x9 18g sink, 11g sink rim https://a.co/d/ I wasn’t able to use the deep drain basket that came with it due to limited space. Grohe Bar faucet https://a.co/d/hK5IcRy Best, Mike

So sorry for your loss but how exciting to order a new Oliver! I went through a whole process with National General Insurance for Agreed Value and it took forever. I hope in the event of a loss of our ILOVHER that the insurance will be there. Good to note all of your documentation was helpful.

So, lucky you! Two great young assistant engineers. Your Ollie is full of great smiles! Great mod. Great look.

I would think the Tundra 5.7L would be a very capable TV for a 7K LB trailer. It's easy enough to add a trans cooler. Adam and I added one to his '97 T100. Our Lexus GX has one OEM. When I replaced the trans fluid there was a procedure to get to trans up to "temp" to fill the fluid to the right level. I thought it was 180F but not sure of the number. Keep in mind this was running the trans in neutral, certainly not towing. You have to imagine that I'm familiar with this stretch of road. Driven it some 100 times in the last 20 years. The Ford E450 Class-C 6.8 v10 we used to have would groan or downshift and scream, barely get to 40 MPH up this stretch! It appears you found a great cooling mod and love you gauges. I was never into gauges on vehicles past but went full route on our Ram which already had a trans cooler. I wanted to keep eye on all relevant temps while towing. Also, the 2nd gen Ram 5.9 Cummins in OEM form is quite detuned, so I also added a tuner for more power. Program #1 adds MPG efficiency when around town. Program #2 adds power for towing (amazing climb on this mountain road), and programs 3-5 are for the crazies that run at tractor pulls (I never use the extreme programs). The Edge Juice w/ Attitude included the tuner and all the gauges and a quality 7" display. TFT stands for Trans Fluid Temp, IAT is Intake Air Temp, ECT is Engine Coolant Temp, and EGT is Exhaust Temp (important to be <1200F when running hard or on tune programs). First need on a Cummins Diesel is to maintain 14 PSI in fuel pressure. Love this setup for towing power and monitoring vitals. This picture was captured towing our Oliver (I asked Chris while I was driving), a mild climb just south of Hoover Dam on N Hwy 93. It was high 90s outside and at 1728 RPM, I was likely driving about 65 MPH in OD. I have never seen numbers over 200F. Obviously, these are different designs in transmissions. The highest temp I've seen was 193F. Not while towing but due to the climb from Parowan UT up to Cedar Breaks NP, a 4000+ FT climb in 20 minutes.

This is very interesting data. I made a similar comparison before and after I had the hitch put on at the factory and found a similar result. I am surprised at how little weight "re-distribution" this "WDH" provides. I don't have the data, but my guess is that a hitch using spring bars would do much more than that.

@Rivernerd I had a very similar experience. Just like you, legendary reliability was one of the main reasons that I bought the Toyota. Having already read comments on the Tundras.com forum, I was aware of this potential issue. So soon after I bought the new Tundra, I did some testing and confirmed elevated transmission temperatures while towing upgrade. I purchased a complete installation kit from GenuineCoolingSystems.com and had a local transmission shop install the auxiliary cooler. The true test came when we drove N on I-17 from Phoenix towards Flagstaff on a hot day in June. There is a steady and steep (4-5%) grade for about 7 miles starting near Black Canyon City, exit 244. A sign along the way states “AVOID OVERHEATING TURN OFF AIR CONDITIONER NEXT 5 MILES”. With the ambient temperature at 100 degrees, we passed several overheated trucks and cars while towing our fully loaded trailer at 55 mph with the AC ON. The transmission temperature never exceeded 206. So I am obviously very pleased with that modification to my truck.

The people at OTT are some of the nicest, down to earth people. It would be easy to lose the kindness with a big business and I have known several who have, but they remain good folks.

I have used my "stabilizers" to level my trailer since I have owned it. They work great and get the job done. However, they are not built for it. If you are in a fairly level place, they will be fine, but once you start hanging the suspension with tires off the ground, you lose stability. In most scenarios, those won't hurt anything. Where it becomes an issue is with lateral trailer movement. At full extension, the stabilizers create tons of leverage which can damage the frame, mounts and even the tubes. I use two types of wheel levelers when I plan on extended stays. Both have their advantages and disadvantages, mostly as inconvenient. The first set are easy to lay down and include a lock wedge to keep your wheels in place but they are big. The second set stack when not in used and assemble to whatever height you want. Once I get leveled, I drop the stabilizers onto a hard block with rubber pad.

Yesterday it was time again for my Zerks to be greased. I asked my cousin to take a look at my L-shaped fitting, and advise me whether I was using it incorrectly (it didn't seem to engage the zerk the way the straight-line one did). He found that a spring inside it was stuck, and fixed it for me -- but it still didn't engage as easily, and I reverted to using the straight-line fitting that came with my grease gun. I was able to get this task done in 2 hours, including the time I take to haul out my tools and grease and then put everything away -- a record for me. I think it just took time for me to get to know the feel of those hidden zerks, to be able to connect to them without using a mirror or the L-shaped fitting. Happy Day!

She is definitely smarter than her dad! LoL. This morning she was complaining about the healthy cereal and I told her that her mom and I were trying to teach her to eat healthy. I said that things with a lot of sugar can cause obesity and diabetes, etc. She grinned and said “Have you been eating a lot sugar while looking at my belly!?”

Yes, I have. My 2008 Tundra 5.7L with tow package has a factory transmission cooler, and I was unhappy when I learned that my 2019 5.7L with tow package did not. After following a thread on this forum addressing the topic, I bought a Veepeak OBD II scanner that reports via Bluetooth to my Android phone. Towing our Hull #1291 up a long hill on a 100-degree day in August 2023 our transmission pan temp got up to 263 F. Although Toyota claims that up to 300 F is "o.k." with proprietary Toyota transmission fluid, a (2020, I think) Tundra owner who posted on this forum repeatedly overheated, and then blew his transmission, towing an Elite II across the USA in summer temps. I then considered replacing the Tundra with a 3/4 ton GMC. But last winter, I ultimately chose to buy and install an aftermarket transmission cooler in the Tundra, as I still love Toyota reliability. In July 2024 towing our Oliver up that same hill on a 98-degree day, the transmission pan temp maxed out at 232 degrees F. We are keeping the modified 2019 Tundra for now.

Congrats on your install and getting rid of your “Demonic penguin”. You’re going to love being able to talk on the phone, not use ear plugs to sleep, watch a little tele or listen to some music. Great mod! What BTU is the Atmos? Where you able to use the original condensate inner hull OEM Olive drain lines? Just as an FYI I sold my Demonic to a guy who needed an AC unit for his food truck. I put it on FB market place and it sold in 3 hrs for $600.00.

So, who is truly the brains of the operation? 🤣 I’m thinking we give you way too much credit! GREAT upgrade, Mike. Ty

Finished the top drawer mod. Keep the wood blocks on the end, they hook into to the end connectors for soft close assembly. You do have to trim them down like the rest of the drawer to make it fit under the sink. Happy that I got to keep the drawer for small things. Turned out better than expected. Had a little helper too!

Rich, you have what I was referring to as a late model HD beast! Not sure of our total payload, but with Chris, Charley and me inside and loaded with all tools and camping equipment, I weigh our TV at under 7400 LBS. Estimating 650 LBS hitch weight (10% of ready Oliver weight), and GWVR at 8800 LBS, it nets 750 LBS available payload. We can hit some flea markets along the way! 🤣 John, I went through the CAT scale in August when we went camping, fully loaded (like when we will go full time end of October) the numbers were: Truck: 8960lbs (gvwr: 10850lbs) Trailer: 6380lbs (gvwr: 7000lbs) Tongue weight: 700lbs WDH is the Anderson. I know I don’t really need it but it was installed for my Touareg before we upgraded to the Chev 2500HD so might as well use it. Interesting numbers with the Anderson and how weight is transferred from the tongue to the trailer and Chevy front axle.

You bet John. We are well prepared for the cool weather with a little goose down and LP tanks topped off. Ha! We will take the cool temps over heat any day! 😊 Talk Soon! Yesterday I saw a front headed for Colorado but I didn't see how far north it extended. Even if you get the snow that is forecast for Colorado, at this time of year you should only need to hunker down for a day or two. In any case - be careful on the roads. Bill

Three of the six Olivers in attendance at the 2024 Ohio Fall Annual Egg Rally, held at Cowan Lake State Park, in southwest Ohio. @Ollie-Haus @csevel Matt & Sue Jones, Deb and me, the folks with the micro-truck at the Oliver Rally, who I've *again* forgotten their name, and an unknown E1 that pulled in but was not found while riding around. Plus a couple who spent about an hour looking at our trailer and talking to Claudia, who have found a 2019 EII and are considering buying it. A fun time, and beautiful weather.

Hello to the Oliver I spotted on September 9th, heading west on I-90 toward Spearfish SD -- I was heading east. I've been on the road for five months and this was the first Oliver I've seen this year!

Bill, You were the only Oliver we saw until we got to Pagosa Springs, CO…wow! What are the odds? It sure was exciting for us to see you and Twist headed back to NC. So glad we got to catch up while we headed west. How cool is that? 👍🏻😊 David & Kathy

Bill, I always look forward to your end-of-fishing-trip wrap up. Great pics and it sounds like the fishing was great! Mike

As usual (19th year in a row), Twist spent two months in the western states enjoying the scenery while I enjoyed the fishing. This year I basically did a repeat of the past few years by starting the fishing west of Buffalo, Wyoming and exiting via Dubois, Wyoming. Stops (in towns) on the way included Ten Sleep, Worland, Meeteetse, Cody, Cooke City, Moran Junction, and Dubois. Rivers and Creeks included Ten Sleep Creek, Wood River, Greybull River, North Fork of Shoshone River, Elk Creek, Clear Creek, Clark's Fork of the Yellowstone, Beartooth Creek, Hoodoo Creek, Dead Indian Creek, Cantrell Creek, Gros Ventre River, Fish Creek, Torrey Creek, Horse Creek, Frontier Creek, etc. Trout landed ranged from 8 inches to 18 inches and were brooks, rainbows, brown, cut-bows and cut throat. Early in the trip at about 5:20am the Ollie started rocking! Checking to make sure I was alone I peeked outside thinking I might see a grizzly bear. Yes, the fur was black but it was only a couple of cows scratching their faces on the bumper. Here are a few pics from the trip. Bill

Oliver did ours and I checked the bolts on our way to East Tennessee at about 70 miles and then at about 120 miles. Final check was when we got home, a couple thousand miles. Each time some tightening was required. Not much on the final. I’ll probably check again before our next trip (Inks Lake Oliver Rally). Mike

So sorry for the loss but happy there was a good ending.

Yes - avoided a head on.