Leaderboard

We are on the Oregon coast right now. On Monday we had a Mini-Oliver rally at a gas station in Boardman, OR, when we spied another Oliver. This is a 2014 Oliver that belongs to Mary and David from Walla Walla, WA. Mary and David were on their way to the Willamette Valley for some kayaking. David and Susan

UPPER SUNSHINE RESERVOIR. The area around Cody is insanely busy in summer, and finding a place to stay that doesn't require a reservation and $50 per night is very hard, especially if you do not have a fixed arrival date. It is one of the main "feeder towns" that tourists go through on the way to Yellowstone and Tetons. We wanted to revisit the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, and avoid the Parks, but we could not find a place to camp. A little research turned up this gem.... About 30 miles south lies Meeteetse WY, and due west are a couple of irrigation reservoirs; while both offer camping and water access, the jewel is the Upper Sunshine Reservoir, the western-most one. It takes about half an hour to drive there from the town, along a stunning valley with views of the jagged glaciated mountains south of Yellowstone. Most of the access road is high speed WY highway. The last 4 miles are well maintained gravel and dirt (possibly very slick when wet, definitely dusty when not). Location map: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Upper+Sunshine+Reservoir/@43.968422,-109.1090158,11z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x534c5725b1e82ec9:0x278afb15aaf5ba06!8m2!3d44.0490298!4d-109.0627262 Run by the Wyoming Department of Fish and Wildlife, it is a well maintained area with lots of dispersed camping, a boat ramp, pit toilet and lots of fish. It is definitely brown bear country, and you must take appropriate food precautions, but all we saw were antelope and a little Jack Russell terrier that repeatedly weeweed on Mouse's wheel. It is very popular on weekends. Midweek, it is not crowded. Most of the day-fishermen pack up and leave by 400 pm. We elected to camp on the shoulder near the (non-busy) boat ramp because we were worried about thunderstorms. Some of the dispersed spots would be very greasy after a heavy rain and we needed to be gone by 700 AM to get to the Buffalo Bill museum by 800 am when it opened. Even in summer there were a lot of birds including some American Avocet, which has a cool "Doppler Shift" call and curved up bill, and we had never encountered any of those before. The sky was threatening and overcast, and we had a brief downpour at midnight, so we could not do any star gazing, but it should be a great location for that in better weather. Timelapse sunset: https://youtu.be/N8ejZg49EWQ Highly, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED if you are in the Cody area! Five stars, well maintained, isolated, free. Meeteetse is a pleasant, prosperous little community with a Conoco and a chocolatier, so it is a good spot to refuel the truck and the wife before heading to the Cody Mess. The highlight of the Cody Firearm Museum for me was: The Colt Navy 1861 revolver, serial number 1: [attachment file=IMG_6752.jpg] ...and the Longmire tv show display. Here is Walt's badge: ...and the entire display with his Winchester and 1911, and Vic's Glock and badge; I need to rewatch the series now..... John Davies Spokane WA

As some additional food for thought, I just had my LE2 weighed. Oliver shows a weight on their site of approximately 4,600 lbs. Mine, with a full fresh water tank, empty grey and black tanks, weighs 5,600 lbs. We do not have an excessive amount of gear, just a well stocked pantry, food in the fridge, some bottled water, normal amount of clothes, cooking utensils, blankets, etc. That weight did not include the slinky, fresh water hose, tools or shore tie power cord. We have the 30 lb propane tanks. One full and one about 1/2. No Anderson hitch. I was surprised at the weight. I'm also carrying about 1,000 lbs of gear and passengers in the truck. That is more than it has to be, but not really excessive. Four chairs, floor mats, small folding aluminum table, wheel chocks, leveling jack stands and blocks, extra fuel, jumper cables, inverter and small compressor, bicycles, propane fire pit with 30' of hose, case of drinking water, bucket and bag of tools, small aluminum floor jack and various spare parts and equipment. This trip I had no outdoor stove, outdoor cooking gear or firewood which could easily add another 100 lbs. and I only had about a half tank of fuel. So by the time you figure a 5600 lb trailer, that would be more with water in the holding tanks, 1,000 to 1,300 lbs of gear, passengers, etc, you're looking at 6,600 to 6,900 lbs. I need a truck that can easily handle a 5,600 lb trailer and a GCVWR that includes the truck and 6,900 lbs. My truck is a Ram 3500 diesel. I weighed it when I weighed the trailer. It has a weight of 9,000 lbs all loaded and ready to go, including passengers. It's rated for 11,500 GVWR. The truck and trailer combined is rated for 17,380 lbs total and mine came out at 14,600. This seems like a lot of weight, but the margin of safety is comforting and noticeable as the truck feels planted all the time. It also helps me appreciate the simplicity of the 13' Cassita that folks can tow with a small vehicle. I didn't choose the Ram to match the Oliver, I already had it for other purposes, but it turns out to be a very good match except for it's rough ride. The rough ride shows up mainly on rocky roads, but highways are fine. Washboard roads are a problem for the Oliver anyway and just as rough on the trailer as the Ram. 3/4 and 1 ton Rams have very capable brakes and diesels have engine brakes too. So even though the truck seems like overkill, it has no trouble, ever, keeping the speed under control or stopping. It also makes towing a lot less stressful to be able to easily pass slower vehicles on the steepest of highway grades.

I also received prompt and friendly service, and good advice, when I asked for extra clips that secure the blinds to the window frame. Great company.

All I can say about this is that we have towed thousands of miles now with our 2013 5.7 4X4 Tundra without the Andersen, and without swearing (at least about the truck, trailer, or hitch). I did install the Hayes Sway Master, not because we had any issue with sway but as an additional safety measure. (It engaged once when I had to swerve to avoid hitting a teenager swerving into my lane while texting, and I was glad it did.) In addition to feeling stable, as far as sway is concerned, the Tundra always feels up to the task power-wise: I've been able to accelerate quickly when needed, pulled Ollie up some steep, unpaved hills using the 4x4 function, etc. When people ask how our Oliver tows, I say "Like a dream." Compared to other RV rigs out there, I feel like we are the luxury sports-car rig on the road. I haven't towed with anything else, so I can't compare towing experiences, but I certainly don't feel that the Tundra's capabilities are "marginal."

We tow our Oliver Elite with a Touareg TDI. With have a regular hitch. Have never had a problem with sway. The Ollie follows effortlessly.

I'm convinced that a straight pull to the rear with both brakes equally applied is the best approach. Whenever one brake is applied it tends to steer the trailer and pull the rear of the truck toward that brake. So the back of the truck would be pulled left and right as each brake was applied and let go. This is practiacally the same thing that is happening during a sway event. With both brakes applied evenly and at the same time a straight rearward pull is applied and the trailer stops swaying. It's also easier to wire because you don't have to wire each brake separately.

We use the Andersen hitch on our Elite II and like it. We tow with a GMC Yukon, so the springs are soft and the ride comfortable. I tried and continue to use a center mount method for installing the chain anchors onto the center spar of the trailer, which I think is better than the factory install. Easier to adjust the chains, mounted to the strongest piece of aluminum in the frame, and with a fair lead angle. My install is buried somewhere in an old thread. John Davies has also used this mounting method, and done and posted a much better description and set of pictures. We picked up our Ollie before installing the Andersen hitch. So, we had the experience of a comparison (albeit a statistically invalid sample of one). The trailer imparts less “bounce” and side-to-side tug to the back end of the Yukon with the hitch installed. We never experienced sway with or without the hitch, but take comfort that the friction cone is bleeding energy out of any developing sway situation. I fully load up the chains and believe that the extra weight on the front wheels of the Yukon ensures solid steering in bouncy situations where they might otherwise unweight. Like anything that requires care and attention, there is a learning curve in hooking up with the Andersen hitch. But after a few times you get the hang of it and the hookup is easy. I think the folks who tow with heavy full size pickups are right (for them) when they say the Anderson hitch isn’t really necessary. And the Ollie Elite II certainly has a reputation for being well mannered when being towed. But for we lesser mortals, with vehicles closer to the limit, it is a nice bit of comfort. Best regards, John Shkor, SailorsAshore