ScubaRx
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Posts posted by ScubaRx
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What are Oliver Owners called? This was discussed at the rally several years ago. If I remember correctly, "Otters" was the front runner. I believe we said that the Owners rally could be called an OTTOR - Oliver Travel Trailer Owner's Rally.
What does everyone think?
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2 hours ago, Pookies said:
Scuba RX,
Scuba, I love this idea where you added the extra storage under the twin beds. Do you know if this is something Oliver is still willing to do? Also how much did it cost for this modification? We have one that is being built starting in December and I would love to add this modification.
The factory quit offering this as an option several years ago. They have also stopped doing custom work during the initial build. These would be incredibly easy to add after the fact...if they would be willing to mold them for you. Who is your salesperson?
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Well, it is solar ready...
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Right before my junior year at Ole Miss a group of friends and myself borrowed a neighbors pop-up camper and I pulled it to the Great Smoky Mountains to camp for a week. I wonder if my old Vette would pull the Outlaw Oliver? Doubt it.
But, I did see this at the Winnipeg Boler Rally in 2018.
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First gear, it's alright
Second gear, I lean right
Third gear, hang on tight
Faster, it's alright...with apologies to Brian Wilson and Mike Love
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2 hours ago, jordanv said:
Well dang. What should I be looking into then? I know the F150 3.5L V6 can tow 11,000 I believe.
What towing max wouldn't struggle going up a mountain?
Torque, more is better. All the 3/4 ton diesels will have more than twice as much as their gasoline powered counterparts. The Big Three’s diesel’s torque will range up to over 1000 lb/ft at a cruising rpm of less than 2000.
These trucks won’t struggle going up or down a mountain.
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All we have to do to keep the bathroom warm is leave the door open. No tricks with the vents or fan. If we're taking a shower, we keep it warm in there with a small electric space heater.
Just messin' with you about that space heater...
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1 hour ago, Susan Huff said:
...the standard heater will do fine. We only turn it on our water heater when hot water is needed. We'll just have to remember to do that a bit sooner. I also like that we can use shore power to heat water where the Truma is only LP powered.
I figured out what the optimum water temperature is (for us). I placed a temperature sensor from our suite under the insulation of the water heater tank. When we need hot water, I just watch the temp monitor until the water heater measures the correct temp and then we know it's ready to go. It takes a lot less time to heat up and doesn't use as much propane.
Full disclosure: I got that idea from topgun2.
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On 8/13/2020 at 11:55 AM, Susan Huff said:
Interesting . . . . . we have a 2013 F350. I don't know if it has the RVC and we have not towed with it since trading our 5th-wheel for a camper van. It does have towing mode...
Our 2014 Sierra 1500 had it. I panicked on a trip when I glanced down at the Alternator gauge and saw it was not putting out anything. I stopped at a GMC dealer in some little town and was informed about what was going on. Turning on the lights or tow/haul mode will initiate it, but it is not instantaneous. It took about 10-15 minutes for the needle on the gauge to register an increased output. I suppose the Silverado 2500 has it also, but I've never noticed.
I would be remiss to recommend not using your vehicle to add to your trailer battery charging and just relying on solar. Like Mike stated, the sun does not always shine and a few continuous dark, cloudy, rainy days will necessitate turning to other means of charging such as putting the generator out in the rain and getting it running or (horrors) driving somewhere you can pay for a hookup. Or, you could always just go home.
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24 minutes ago, beaker said:
This will be our first Rally and only our third trip in our Ollie. We’ve kept our reservations and hope to (safely) meet some fellow Ollie owners.
We'll look forward to meeting you.
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Out Hull # 050's 2013 era AGM's are still cooking along. When they go to battery heaven, I'll replace them with Lithium.
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Mike, as your Oliver is one of the early ones, it likely has two 3-way valves instead of the 4 on-off valves of later builds. The is the original (as delivered) valves in our Hull # 050. Maybe this will help trouble shoot your valve positions.
This a photo of the later valve layout. They both do the same thing, but the factory altered their manufacturing plan.
I removed my manual valves and replaced them with electric ones. Now a flip of a switch takes me from "Normal" to "Auxiliary".
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Glad you've gotten squared away, it would take a very large gennie to run the A/C and the Water Heater. Ours is 3000 watts and it won't do it. I believe you will be fine now. Switch the water heater to propane and everything will be right with the world again.
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You're overloading the generator it appears. That will shut off the electricity coming in (without killing the generator.) Make sure your water heater is not on electric. Check your generator for an overload indicator or reset switch.
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The only thing I know that would cause a complete shutdown is no power coming into the trailer.
I assume the unit is unplugged?
Electric water heater off?
Does the EMS reset itself and do all that a second time if you restart the generator?
Are you getting an overload warning on your generator?
I've never had mine shut completely off.
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Head toward the front so we can watch TV. Wait, that TV has not been on in years.
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We've always just poured the bleach into the other end of an attached hose prior to attaching to the spigot. Turn on the water and it just washes right into the tank.
For sanitizing, NOT drinking, we use 1/2 to 2/3 cup of bleach for the 30+ gallon fresh tank and all the associated pipes. Just run each faucet until you can smell the chlorine. We usually let it sit overnight and then drain and rinse. Don't forget the outside wash station.
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I looked back to see how that trip's mileage turned out. We did a lot of driving around in town once there and it brought down our average. Still not too bad.
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On 8/3/2018 at 7:52 AM, DavePhelps said:
...If the new Chevy/GMC 1500 with the new 3.0 Duramax Diesel has an exhaust brake like the 2.8 does, I would be very tempted to go that way...
Dave
Dave maybe this will help with your decision:
From: https://gm-techlink.com/?p=12048
3.0L Diesel Engine
The diesel exhaust brake function on the 3.0L diesel engine is part of the Tow/Haul Mode Grade Braking system. Tow/Haul Mode Grade Braking is only enabled while the Tow/Haul Mode is selected.
On vehicles equipped with Driver Mode Control, Tow/Haul Mode can be activated/deactivated by turning the Driver Mode knob to the left. When selected, the Tow/Haul Mode symbol will illuminate in the instrument cluster.
If the vehicle is turned off with Tow/Haul Mode active for less than four hours, Tow/Haul will remain active after the vehicle has been turned on again. Otherwise, the vehicle will start in Normal Mode.
For vehicles without Driver Mode Control, press the Tow/Haul button on the center of the instrument panel.
TIP: The Automatic Engine Stop/Start system is unavailable when the Tow/Haul Mode is active.
BONUS: Turning tow/haul on also disables the auto stop/start.-
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I'm really glad you asked...
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On 8/5/2020 at 6:04 PM, jordanv said:
...in anticipation of purchasing a light camping trailer. My wife and I decided on the Elite II and although the weight is under the Tacoma’s Max (6,400lb) I believe...
There is a statement with two caveats that I've heard hundreds of times over the past 12 years. "Oh yeah, those Oliver's are nice and all, but they're expensive and they are heavy."
We bought our first Oliver in 2008 and I thought that the coolest looking combination would be to team it up with a 2009 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited. It had a 3500 tow capacity and the Oliver was stated to weigh abut 2400 pounds dry (what the hell did that even mean?) Well, who knew that with the options that were added and the water, food, clothes and all that stuff would make it weigh 3900 lbs. Jeep, big mistake. Our first trip to the mountains, by the time we got to the top we were pedal to the metal, in second gear going 20 mph. Traded it in on a used 2007 Tahoe taking a $7000 loss.
There are plenty of Elite II's out there that will easily weigh >6000 pounds. Mine comes in at better than 7200 pounds. Before we got our second Oliver, we did a nationwide search for what I believed would be the perfect tow vehicle. We went to Illinois to buy a very nice Sierra 1500 6.2L with the Max Tow Package. There are many here pulling with a 1500 pickup and are very satisfied. There's also a group here that ended up trading to get diesels because they were not satisfied with their 1500's. I am of that group and bought a Silverado 2500HD Diesel. Now, we are very satisfied, but I wish I had not spent the $$$$$ on the Sierra.
I don't have a dog in your truck selection race, but I just hate to see someone making the same very expensive mistakes that I made.
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I've st
On 8/3/2020 at 9:45 AM, Brian and Maria said:...I'll eventually have the zerk fittings switched towards the inside...
I've struggled with that choice since I first installed the Dexter EZ-Flex system on Hull # 050 back in 2016. First I installed them to the outside, ignoring the advice on YouTube to put them to the inside. I found (as you did) the tires made access to the zerks difficult.
During some axle work at the factory, I had the zerks turned to the inside. Then I found that although the zerks were not blocked, they were still not easily accessible. Scooting around on the ground under the trailer (even on a creeper) is not fun unless you're maybe 25 and weigh 125 pounds.
So at some point, I reversed them again so the zerks are toward the outside, but I replaced all of them with 45º angled ones, pointed in the correct directions for easy access.
That has been my experience with inside/outside. For yourself it would depend on how easily you can scoot around under the trailer.
If you decide to do it yourself, it has been my experience that it is hard to make every thing line up. Advice: use a couple of hydraulic jacks and do one bolt at a time, things won't shift so much.
Hope this helps...
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There should be another wet bolt at the opposite end of the leaf spring making 3 per side. The Elite II has 8 per side.
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On 7/28/2020 at 11:16 PM, Susan Huff said:
So, tell me about tornados . . . . . we will be picking up our Oliver next year, the first part of February. Traveling from the Pacific Northwest. The plan is to take I-40 on the way East, going either through Reno/Las Vegas (weather permitting) or S. California (prefer not to make the boring drive down I-5 if at all possible). We aren't worried about the passes on the trip to Tennessee since we will be driving an F-350 4WD. The route home from Tennessee, towing our Oliver, is still in question. Mom and I drove from Oregon to Memphis years ago, the first part of March, straight across country via I-40. I recall only hitting one delay, I think at Albuquerque or maybe Amarillo (snow or wind). We definitely want to stay North of I-10, to avoid Dallas-Ft. Worth. Maybe I-20??? At any rate, we can take our time and take shelter in our new Oliver, if necessary.
Would appreciate advice from anyone who has traveled from Hohenwald westward, especially towing. I know weather can be very unpredictable but we hope to pass through the mid-west before tornados become active. Also advice from those who have towed an Oliver with snow chains. My husband is a retired truck driver, but only drove the West coast Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and California. Last year we made two road trips - one to Nevada, Arizona, Utah and Idaho. the other Wyoming, Nebraska, Colorado, Idaho and Eastern Washington.
We, too, like the road less traveled and prefer staying off Interstates, when appropriate. We are looking forward to the adventure of driving cross country to take delivery of our 2021 Oliver Elite II!
You’re more likely to be hit by a tornado in the deep South during December, January or February — meteorological winter — than in June, July or August. But they are few and far between. We've encountered them several times in Arkansas but its usually been in March or April. Any traveling on I-40 in the Western US in January runs a risk of running into ice or snow. It is (somewhat) dependent on altitude. We've made the trip westward many times in January and February while traveling to Quartzsite. We've hit ice once as far south as San Antonio. We've taken I-20 several times and, as it runs well below Dallas/Fort Worth, and we never had any problems.
I've never used (or even seen) snow chains. I read somewhere years ago in a forum that they were not generally recommended for travel trailers, anyone with experience feel free to correct me.
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Year-to-year changes of Elite I
in General Discussion
Posted
Daniel, the first 49 trailers that Oliver built were all Elites. This was between late 2007 and early 2009. As you recall there was a downturn in the economy about that time and Oliver made the difficult decision to halt their trailer production. There was no layoff of personnel.
In 2013, they decided to reopen the trailer line but their plan was to only make the Elite II's. After many requests from potential customers, in 2015 they reintroduced the Elite.
The general layout and floor plan is essentially the same. In the early Elites, if there was ever a problem with the refrigerator, the entire front wall had to be removed in order to get the old one out and the new one in. I'm not sure if that ever had to be done, but it would have been a lot of trouble. That problem was fixed in the later models.
The early Elites had the furnace mounted in the cabinet facing along side the drawers. It is now moved to beneath the forward most dinette seat and is ducted into the cabin and bathroom.
The upper cabinets in the early Elites had sliding doors while the later Elites have drop down doors like in the Elite II's. The cabinets are somewhat larger on the latest ones.
Beneath the benchs and dinette seats of the older models were custom molded inserts that dropped into these areas for storage. These were eliminated in the newer models.
On the current Elites, the suspension has been lowered, the air conditioner is a smaller model, there is more storage (both more drawers and the aforementioned larger upper cabinets), the bathroom window is larger, all lighting is LED and the shower drain system is greatly improved.
There are probably more changes that have been made. We owned hull # 026 from 2008-2013. We bought hull # 050 (Elite II) in 2014.
Others will chime in perhaps, if I have misspoken anywhere, please feel free to correct me.
Happy travels...