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I chimed in on the topic of transporting bikes on the rear of the trailer last year. My Background/expertise comes from being an executive at Yakima Products for 20 years. I'm impress with some of these creative and eloquent solutions. I simply want to voice to proceed with an abundance of caution when engineering bike soultions that attached to the rear bumper of any trailer. As I stated before, the forces at the rear of a trailer are magnitudes greater than at the hitch of your tow vehicle. The axle of your trailer is a giant fulcrum/pivot point and the rear of your trailer is the launching point. There are very few products designed to withstand the forces generated at the rear of a trailer. At this time Yakima only makes two hitch mounts that are approved for use on the rear of a trailer. LongHaul - https://yakima.com/products/longhaul?_ga=2.263397708.1569403010.1602517930-2113444950.1601489236 RoadTrip - https://yakima.com/products/roadtrip?_ga=2.263397708.1569403010.1602517930-2113444950.1601489236 This means that none of the other 50+ bike racks made by Yakima are approved or designed to be used on the rear of a trailer. I would go as far to say that most of the bike systems being used on the rear of trailers are not rated for the dynamic forces being exerted on them. The majority of these bike systems are being miss-used and are at risk of a catastrophic failure. I have never spoken to the folks at Oliver but I trust you should not exceed the recommended load limits specified by the factory. In my early years at Yakima, I always felt that engineers were way too conservative resulting in not being able to make product to carry loads in ways that seemed fine to me. This was based on my own extensive experience using our products. It was the classic conflict between the marketing team and the engineering team. Fast forward many years and one of my roles was being responsible for all the warranty and customer service activities. At the time we fielded in the range of 500,000 calls per year. Every Monday morning after our customers spent the weekend transporting their toys, the phone lines were jammed with every situation you could imagine about gear that had fallen off and hit the road or got scrapped off from a low overhang or what ever. 98% + of the gear that found its-self on the road was due to consumer installation errors, miss use and overloading. My point: your personal experience and general judgment of what will work should not exceed the engineering guidelines. You can get away with exceeding these guidelines for a long time until that one compression, bump or off road water bar will get you. Now that catastrophic failure is happing to you. All you need to do is spend one day listening to the Monday morning calls coming into Yakima. The call starts with, "I was just driving down the road and my rack and bikes came off my car and were run over by the car behind me". After, learning more about what actually happened, 98% of the time, the products were WAY OVERLOADED or MISS-USED in some way. The final story I will leave you with is when I was driving north on California highway 101 earlier this summer. The road is rough and curves through the giant redwoods. I came around a sharp curve and came upon four bikes that were attached to an entire fifth-wheel ladder laying in the middle of the road. About a mile ahead was the first safe place to pull off the road. At this point was an enormous fifth-wheel trailer with holes ripped out of the back of the trailer where the ladder was once attached. You see bikes on fifth-wheel trailer ladders all the time. It's one thing for a 250 pound person to climb that ladder when the trailer is not moving. Its another to load that ladder with a 100 pounds of bikes that are getting tossed and flung around mile after mile after mile.

To update on all of this, last week I noticed that my newly recaulked rear window was leaking. Of course, after some inspection and head scratching, it turned out not to be the window, but the Oliver light in the attic above. So I recaulked that, along with a few other roof items. Interestingly, though - when I scraped off the old caulk on the Oliver light, it was the same gummy stuff as above. And since I hadn't cleaned that with the Duragloss, that doesn't seem to have been the culprit. Instead, I think it must be just how the original caulk aged. Odd.

FYI, Here's a photo of that space, duct removed and pipe insulation added, taken from the new access panel under the fridge, looking forward. This was a test fitting - in the end, I cleaned that space up a little and wrapped the pipes together in a blanket of reflectix before sliding them back through.

We have traveled 130,000 miles in our two different Oliver's over the past 13 years. We have always had 3 dogs with us, although only one of our current three has made every trip. Unlike your Oliver you are not dealing with a car or van that will heat up dramatically. If the outside temperature is above 45° F and under 85° F, the inside of the Oliver will be very comfortable for them. If the temp is toward the upper end we will leave the Maxxfan running and the windows open a bit. We always leave plenty of water. Our personal rule is that if the temp is above 75° F we will not leave them in the truck. If it is extremely hot (>90° F) we will leave the AC running on the generator. The longest we've ever left them was about 13 hours while we rode the train from Williams up to the Grand Canyon and back. They were fine and very happy to see us and ready to go pee. Usually, it's not more than 2-3 hours. This issue has been cussed and discussed several times here and in other places through the years. As technology has progressed there probably have been some electronic solutions, I'm just not personally familiar with any good ones. Please follow up with your findings.

According to NCDOT regs tire chains are not required but may be used when safety conditions warrant. So, I'm guessing that there are areas of the State where chains are recommended and certainly there are areas of the State where one would be a fool to drive without them under and there may even be some private or semi-private areas that may require them. Bill

I heard from Oliver, regarding the use of chains on the Elite II. I sent a link to the Z-chains suggested by @John E Davies. Here is Oliver's response: Those should work fine for our trailer. There will be plenty of clearance for them to fit.

If you tape around the joint, use a gloved finger to press and fair in the edges, then pull off the tape, the 4000 UV gives beautiful results and is not at all difficult, Lots of pics here: https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/2082-how-to-install-a-big-bubble-level-no-drilling/ I resealed the roof fan over the summer, no worries. John Davies Spokane WA

Thanks, @John E Davies I kind of expected that . . . . . . a bit like finding an air conditioner in Siberia. Will buy them at Les Schwab where we can return them if not used 😁 Might not be on sale, but probably won't use them anyway.

I saw this system and it’s on the list for sure. Thank you VERY much for first-hand experience/info!

I have asked this question as well. Wheels may have changed and the tires have, but are they the same size as previous models? Has anyone out there used cable chains on the Oliver? As for clearance between the tire and fender, we used cable chains on a previous Mazda Sport Sedan with low profile high performance tires and very little clearance between the tire and the fender well. Of course , you want to drive slow, but that's the case driving any vehicle outfitted with snow chains. . . . . . Except maybe for those skiers rushing to be first in the lift line . . . . 😵 Not ordering chains for the Ollie yet. Will wait to hear what Oliver (and others) have to say. We might just wait until we get to Hohenwald and pick them up locally . . . . . after the drive out, we will have a better idea of road conditions and whether we need them.

Just picture the captain of the starship Enterprise asking the computer for "tea, earl grey, hot" and getting a plate of succotash from the food machine.

LOL, my RV660LMT is indeed half useful. “Stop route”, any of the canned commands, work 95% of the time without having to repeat yourself. It is the next step that often tanks, completely. “Find city.” ”What city please?” ”Republic Washington.” ”Did you say Tacoma Washington?” ”Republic Washington.” ”Did you say Wilmington Delaware?” She continues to give increasingly ridiculous suggestions... ”#%*+#£#!!!!!” Types in REPUBLIC while trying not to crash..... There have been some pretty harsh comments directed at Ms Gerty Garmin. On the one hand, it is more than a little entertaining and breaks the boredom. On the second hand, it is a distraction. On the gripping hand, it is dangerous. But I am sure the voice recognition firmware continues to get better. I really would prefer, in my next vehicle, to have Apple CarPlay sync with my iPad Mini 4, so I can use GAIA. But Apple forces you to use a phone instead. GAIA on a phone is harder, less intuitive, and there is way less storage for maps. Apple’s decision doesn’t make any sense at all. John Davies Spokane WA

I use this in our Sprinter. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M1OPOZB/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_porHFbQRBV7JV The van is black and heats up like you wouldn't believe without the AC running. The only downside to the Temp Stick is that you need to have access to cell signal because it relies on wifi to transmit temperature data. And even if you camp with some signal (and have a cellular modem), it doesn't do you any good if where you are going without the pups puts you out of cell range....that happens all the time on some of our cycling adventures, so it isn't a Fail-Safe system. In reality, when we are out of cell range, we don't leave the dogs in the van unless it is parked 100% in the shade and we can leave the windows open and the Maxx air fan going. If someone has a better system I'd love to hear about it.

The website email address is listed incorrectly. I talked to them last month. The correct email is southernmattress@embarqmail.com The information below is for the Oliver Twin Sets: The mattress is 8.5" with a 5" foam base, 2" memory foam that is laminated to the base foam and 1" foam that is quilted in the topper that is 1/2". The twin mattresses are $795 for the set of 2 plus 7% sales tax and shipping to Hohenwald is $148.78 for the set. They need a 3 week lead time for production. The first time I called they did not answer and I think it might have been a Friday. We planned to go with them but are planning to upgrade to the ultra fabric. So if we kept the regular cushions the upgrade would be more than buying the KTT and and only paying $299 for the dinette and adding the price of the Southern Mattresses. I didn't ask pricing for the king set since we are going with the twin floor plan. Hope this helps. Cindy

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

Titan recently released this gem for the 2020+ Duramax HD Trucks with 6'9" beds: https://titanfueltanks.com/products/xxl-replacement-tanks/2020-gmc-2500-3500-crew-cab-short-bed-7010220 36 gallons to 56 gallons. Keeps spare tire and all the bed space. I think I could squeak out 1000 miles with the Oliver behind me on one tank.