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XPLOR in The Great North Woods. Nothing like New England in the fall of the year. Landed several nights at Pemaquid Point Campground in New Harbor, Me. https://www.pemaquidpointcampground.com/ Large sites and most if not all are W/E only. The fall foliage is slowly beginning to turn and the night temps are perfect sleeping weather. We would highly recommend this family owned CG. We always try and enjoy a nice campfire every evening. Tomorrow its will be time to sample some of the local fresh seafood. 😋 Lobsta!! 🦞🦞 rolls! Happy Travels! Large sites! Perfect northern exposure for our SL mini deployed on the table.

@Rivernerd FYI: I do not have any experience with the 1up QuikRack so I can’t comment on it’s usage, but the attached chart indicates that the QuikRack is not approved for use with an RV or Travel Trailer. Mossey

Just a nudge in case other Oliver owners are hesitating on the desirability of upgrading from the twin 3500# Dexter axle / springs issue which has been bringing Oliver owners such joy of late. I have been considering this upgrade since the forum started following the Dexter leaf spring issue. Less than a week ago I was talking this over with my wife Chris on the way into Walrup Lake, a beautiful, remote Forest Service Campground in the WA Cascades. The beginning of a three week vacation found us 36 miles and a couple days of wonderful day hiking into our first destination on this trip when I noticed the rear streetside spring had disassembled itself and had assumed another, non-optimal position. I should have listened to myself earlier. A long day, a $1770 tow and a shortened vacation later I have ordered a set of heavier Alcan springs with hopes to quickly replace the broken spring and also plan on changing out to heavier 5200# axels later this coming March in Grand Junction, CO, home of Alcan Spring. We have around 40K miles on our Oliver and have been generally pleased with the rig. The Dexter axles / springs are another story. Hot bearings led us to change out the cheap Dexter bearings for Timkens at around 5K and now a broken spring has left me less than impressed with the Dexter product and perhaps the thinking that led Oliver into using then on an otherwise top notch trailer.

Until now I have never heard of nor seen curly cable safety chains. Had to look it up to see WTH this was about. Our Ollie #70 came with traditional linked chains but after implementing the Andersen hitch they were too short. Went to the local farm and ranch supply store to purchase a longer set which ended up being considerably heavier duty and also heavier to boot. A mixed blessing I guess. Really appreciate @topgun2 explanation on why one should cross their cables which makes total sense, but never bothered to investigate the reason.

I've always placed my cables/chains below the whale tail. My reasoning is that since the cables/chains are there as a safety measure in the event that the trailer (in some manner) comes unattached from the tow vehicle, the cables/chains will be the "last resort" of attachment to that tow vehicle. Then, assuming that you have crossed the cables/chains the tongue should rest on those cables/chains as the trailer slows - this is particularly so assuming that the emergency brakes are applied on the trailer due to that ty switch becoming activated. Meanwhile, the whale tail would serve as a wide surface area that those cables/chains could "catch". Obviously, this crossing of the safety cables/chains has the effect of holding the hitch of the trailer off the ground so that the trailer hitch does not "dig" into the road thus possibly "flipping" the trailer. Bill

When I did my factory tour before buying my Oliver, they had an Elite II that had flipped and was being repaired. They told me the owners had towed it to Oliver for the repairs.

Check out the hitch. Either the stock hitch broke during the accident or it was changed prior. Where is this located?

Landed at an old favorite CG in upstate NY near Rhinebeck called Interlake. Took a few photos of XPLOR with the “blood moon”. I can’t say we actually saw a total lunar eclipse. However the moon was really really bright and beautiful as ever. An AI take on the Blood Moon. 🤷‍♂️ The "blood moon" on September 7, 2025, refers to the reddish appearance of the moon during a total lunar eclipse, a phenomenon caused by sunlight scattering through Earth's atmosphere. In astrology, this event signifies a powerful time of revelations, emotional breakthroughs, and accelerated change, particularly in relationships and personal paths, as it occurs in the intuitive sign of Pisces. It is a significant astrological event, seen as a "portal of change," that challenges individuals to balance fantasy and reality while fostering spiritual growth and authenticity. What is a blood moon? A blood moon is a total lunar eclipse, where the Moon appears red or orange due to sunlight passing through Earth's atmosphere and casting a reddish glow on its surface. It is a striking visual event, often described as a fiery or copper-colored moon. Astrological significance: Time of Revelation: Eclipses are powerful moments for breakthroughs, bringing hidden emotions and long-held truths to light. Pisces Energy: This eclipse falls in the mutable, intuitive sign of Pisces, emphasizing themes of healing, empathy, compassion, imagination, and spiritual growth. Balance of Opposites: Occurring in Pisces and opposite its opposing sign Virgo, this eclipse highlights the need to balance intuition with discipline, fantasy with reality, and creativity with responsibility. Accelerated Change: Lunar eclipses are seen as agents of upheaval that accelerate personal and collective transformation, dissolving stale patterns and demanding action. What to expect: Emotional Intensity: You may feel a heightened sense of emotion and intensity, with significant shifts in relationships and personal dynamics being almost inevitable. Personal Reflection: The event encourages shedding old habits and beliefs, fostering authenticity and courage to embrace your true self. Spiritual Awakening: The energy of the eclipse promotes deeper spiritual connections, trust, and the ability to surrender to the flow of life. Karmic Adjustments: This eclipse is seen as a major checkpoint for karmic adjustments and potentially, grand finales or new beginnings. This photo of XPLOR and our TV was taken while sitting next to our campfire. A peaceful evening for sure camped in the Hudson River Valley.

Hopefully you will never need this, but I would like to recommend a fiberglass repair shop in the Pacific Northwest. Chapman Boat Repair, Inc. (208-323-2484) does fiberglass repairs for many of the local boat dealers. Chapman just did a warranty crack repair in the hitch platform (below the doghouse), which involved grinding out the crack area, reinforcing it with fiberglass, spraying gelcoat, and sanding and buffing the gelcoat. No spray paint was used, which does not age like the rest of the trailer's fiberglass and will eventually stand out. The resulting repair and color match is perfect. I heartily recommend Chip Chapman should you ever be in need of fiberglass work.

Unity Reservoir -Oregon Electric & Water Sites Great spot to watch migratory birds. Bookable on Oregon State Parks

Next step was disassembly and removal of the original suspension. This took about two hours on a first afternoon. The Oliver should be connected to the tow vehicle when doing this, so given our short driveway the truck had to be in the garage with garage door half-open for a few days (TG no Pack Rats in the garage)! I used the rear stabilizer jacks to lift wheels off the ground and then placed jack stands at the front edge of the steel subframe, and lowered the rears to balance the weight of the hull front to back. Thinking this through a few days prior, I realized a pair of wheel dollies would allow me to do this work without a helper to carry axles. Picked up a pair on Amazon for a little over $50. It was great to roll out the old and later roll the new axles into position! Since I've done this work at home and replaced an entire working suspension in relatively good shape (no flat spots in the OEM leaf springs), I have the original suspension listed on Craigs, hoping to get $800 on the entire setup. There are a lot of guys in Arizona that build homemade ATV trailers and this would be perfect for that use vs. spending $3K for new. Wish me luck! 🤣

Agreed, it seems to fit this way.

Reviving a moderately old thread. Our 2017 Ollie also has the curly safety cables and I agree with @jd1923 in that, changing to chains is not liability I want to take on. A bonus with the cables is I am able to secure the cables inside my Paclock coupler lock. Chains wouldn't fit. I tow with the Andersen WDH. My question is should the cables be above or below the whale tail? I haven't found any info on this in the owner paperwork. Both kind of make sense to me. How do owners with WDH's and cables route the cables? Thanks, Tony

I get that. On the other hand, I had to replace the lock anyway, so keeping in mind resale, I decided to upgrade to the keyless entry lock which many people like. When I sold my previous camper, the buyer told me that all the accessories that I had added was a key factor in their purchase. Plus the lighted keypad looks really cool! 😂

We wanted to make you aware of what appears to be a conflict regarding reservations for site 61. We made our reservation for the rally this morning (18 September) and were assigned to site #61. However, the Rally spreadsheet from 3 September shows a different Oliver in that site already. We called the park directly and they confirmed that the reservation for site 61 for 20-22 Oct is in our name. Not sure how you want to proceed?

@ScubaRx forgot to mention his trick about leaving a piece of string trimmer line in the rear port side corner for future wire pulls! Mossey

WATERTON!!!

As we make our way north, we booked a few nights on the fly here at Promise Land SP near Greentown, Pa. A really quiet and well kept park. Nice clean bathhouses too! Our low tonight it will be 60 and breezy. Perfect with windows open wide for great sleeping weather! $27 a night electric only. The Pennsylvania Pocono Mountains have a special beauty about them. This pic was just a quick ✅ of our courtesy lights before dark last night. Love the Oliver exterior lighting when its needed. Spicy Kickin Chickin on the grill!! 🤪

Yet another Ollie "in the wild" - This time it is at the Box Creek Trailhead due west of Moran Junction, WY. Bill

Same here, we abandoned the Curley Wires on our 2017 and upgraded like you did a couple years ago...

Saw this 2025 E2 in a salvage yard. Hoping everyone is ok. Hard to imagine a SOB trailer surviving a roll-over as well is this Oliver did. The Solo Stove in the tongue basket did not fare so well.

When we took delivery of our #1403 Elite in mid June of 2023 there was another Elite inside the gates that had been rolled and it was like looking at an absolute disaster. It did not disintegrate as a stick built would have but it was bad. The entire trailer was wrapped up up in plastic. We were told that the guy had dropped his cell phone and was reaching to retrieve it.