ScubaRx

You should not have to add any weight up front. That amount of rear weight probably won't make over 60 pounds difference on the tongue.

When I had our Oliver built I instructed the guys to put in a second drain for the hot water system. Mike, being as yours is one of the early trailers that is most likely what the second drain is for. They quit putting the second drain in soon afterwards.

Anyone that attends the rally will be getting one of the plaques. I saw them a couple of months ago. They are NICE.

Interesting, I looked for something like that 5 years ago to keep the back bumper on the OOII from dragging on extreeeeeme breakover angle inclines. Finally designed my own.

I've got one just like that on the front of the Silverado, had one on the front of the Sierra before that and one on the front of the Yukon before that. I have an eight inch stinger in the riser position and our tongue weight is over 700 pounds. I've had to use it once in an emergency situation for about 1/4 to 1/2 mile and never had a bit of trouble with it. Personally, I don't worry about things such as this as much as others might. OTOH, my rear hitch is rated for 20,000 lbs because that's where I'd worry about getting into trouble.

You put the lever towards the tank that you are using from. The indicator shows green. When that tank is empty, the regulator will automatically swap to the opposite tank. The indicator will now show red. The lever does NOT move to point to the other tank. If you manually move the lever (no reason to) to the opposite tank, the indicator will show green. The idea (and the way I do it) is to leave both tanks open. That way, if you run out of propane in the middle of the night, you don’t have to go outside to open the other tank and manually swap the regulator over. Of course, this system requires you to be paying attention and not run completely out of propane. Through the years I’ve gotten a feel for how much is being used. Plus, I have the wireless monitors on the bottom of the tanks that transmit to a readout inside the trailer and to an app on my phone.

I agree that the info about the "curb weight" being 2500 lbs is wildly inaccurate and expect that by the time you get your Elite outfitted for travel it will weigh well north of 4000 pounds. With a towing capacity of 7600 lbs, your Canyon Duramax Diesel will do just fine. We own a Silverado Duramax and a Canyon Duramax. While I would not regularly tow our Elite II (it weighs over 7000 lbs) with the Canyon, I would not hesitate to head out anywhere in North America with your setup. Also, your fuel mileage should be outstanding, we can count on our Canyon to get 34 mpg on a road trip (not towing anything.) Yours will be a very cool setup.

Ed and Nancy, Congrats on the new Oliver. Don't get worked up about being new at it. Everyone of us was new at it at one time or other. And we're all still here. I've "only" been towing an Oliver for a little over 10 years and I feel like I'm close to getting the hang of it. Just kidding. You'll be a whiz in no time. If you have questions, your best advice will come from experienced owners and we're all here to help. Just relax and have fun.

Many of us have to use what we have. We are unable or unwilling to buy a new piece of equipment because it's lighter or more fancy. I love my EF3000iSEB Yamaha. Yea, it is heavy and it was expensive (sounds like all the other Fiberglass Trailer Owners describing our Olivers) but it's what I've got. It never fails to crank (it's 10+ years old) and it will run the entire trailer. I don't have or need the EasyStart system. It's ridden on the tongue of both our Olivers these past 11 years and I only take it out of the basket to service it. With a full tank of fuel it weighs over 175 lb. I couldn't begin to lift it so I installed a lift in the roof of the garage the Oliver lives in when it is (rarely) not on the road. The lift also serves to remove and replace the propane tanks for filling and the 250 lb tool box that rides in the truck when we travel.

I found exactly the same situation on our OOII when we got to Winnipeg for the Boler Rally last summer. A fellow that had been viewing the trailer noticed it and alerted me to it. I don't know which would be worse, 4 mph on a steep mountain road or 65 mph on the interstate. I'm glad that neither of us had to find out.

Steve As you probably know those are the same one that Oliver uses on the cabinet in the bathroom of the Elite II. This is where I first talked about them. There no modifications to the doors themselves. The holes were simply cut into the sides of the propane housing and the doors were glued in place. They have traveled 30 or 40 thousand miles with no issues. To cut the holes, I made a pattern of paper and taped it onto the sides. Using a hole saw, I drilled 4 holes for the corners. I don't recall the exact size for the hole saw, but I will be happy to look at them and let you know if you need that info. I drew lines along the edges of the 4 corner holes to connected them into a vertical rectangle. I then used a jigsaw to cut along the lines. If you need additional info, please feel free to ask. Interesting about your screen name, I once had a personalized license plate that was SCUBAS. All my technicians at work called me Scubasteve.

All of the first 43 units built were Elites. These were produced between late 2007 and early 2009 with all but 3 sold in 2008. In 2013, after a four year hiatus, Oliver made the decision to bring the trailers back online with plans to build only the Elite II's. They delivered the first one in early 2014. At the insistence of several future owners, they started again producing the Elites in late 2014, delivering the first one in early 2015. Since that time the Elite II has outsold the Elite by about 10 to 1. At this time there are probably about 80 or so Elites.

Really, the ultimate cool is to just get an Oliver Tractor to be your tow vehicle. It won't be as fast as a Chevrolet, but it'll get you up any hill anywhere. Kinda tough in wet, cold weather though. That's when I just ride in the trailer.

Sherry is correct here and this is important to remember folks. Covering even one cell on a panel with a shadow will reduce the panel's output to 50%. Keeping them clean is just as important. By the time we got home from Winnipeg this summer, our panels were covered with red dirt. They were hardly putting out anything. I had to get up there and wash them off in Quartzsite.

There is only the valve in the floor of the trailer that needs to be opened to drain the fresh water tank. Raising the nose will definitely help.

Well, to reply to the OP, over the past 10 years we’ve traveled from coast to coast in our Oliver’s. We’ve visited 41 of the 50 National Parks in the lower 48 and over 200 National Park units with never a reservation and have never failed get a spot. To me, making a reservation is tantamount to being told what to do and when to do it. I love the freedom to be able to say “we’ll stay a night” and then find that we love it and stay a week. I just don’t want or need that much structure in my life.

During our build I had an interior switch placed for the electric aspect of the water heater. The switch controls 12VDC power to a relay which controls 120VAC power to the heater. An LED illuminates to tell me the system is in the mode to provide power to the electric element and reminds me if I have left the system activated. Sure does make it easier than fiddling with a breaker or having go outside to turn it off or on.

I’ve swapped the tires and wheels on the last three vehicles we’ve had, always going smaller than what was delivered. Our Silverado 2500HD now has the 18” wheels from a friend’s 3500HD and he has my original 20’s. A young guy who is employed in his family’s 60+ year old tire store, thinks the 20” wheels and lower profile tires look cool ?. I like the 18’s better because you can get a higher load range tire in that size, it now perfectly match’s my stock spare, you can get that size tire anywhere (try getting a 20” or 22” tire at Walmart on a Sunday) and they’re less expensive. He’s happy and I’m happy. I think your plan to swap out your tires and wheels is a good plan and I agree that doing it sooner rather than later is the best advice.

You can have the same effect by simply turning the ceiling fan on while the furnace is running. It will literally suck the warm air into the bathroom.

Nan, don’t let the naysayers scare you away from your dream of owning an Oliver. There are many thousands of solo travelers out there right this minute happily pulling their trailers all over the Western Hemisphere. Most of them are women. Many of them of a certain age. I know quite a few of them and, to a person, they do not want to stop traveling. You can do this. We all had to learn to back up. Some folks are better than others, but it’s not gender specific. You don’t need someone to scout the road ahead on foot unless you plan to go down it. And, you could do it yourself if that is your plan. Remember this, most of us here will give you all the help and support needed for you to happily and successfully own an Oliver Travel Trailer. Most of the places you go will have a good Samaritin that will do the same. Get out there and “live the dream.”

I own both trucks. The Silverado 2500 HD diesel is our tow vehicle. The Canyon SLT with the “baby” Duramax is our daily driver around town. Would it pull the trailer? Of course it would. Would I consider using it on a 10K mile cross country trip or to go to Alaska? No way. You don’t NEED a dually to pull an Elite II. But it’s what you have. It would do a fine job with never a worry about weight. If you want to get another truck go to a SRW 2500. You will have the same capabilities without wearing out two extra tires.

Back to the OP’s original question, when traveling we “collect” National Parks. We are up to over 200 of the 400+ National Park units. We have been to 41 of the 59 National Park’s. This summer we will go to Alaska and see the ones there.

I plan to do our valves while we’re at Quartzsite. I will be happy to assist anyone here that wants theirs done.

Back at Quartzsite

I used plain WD-40 years ago. Recently, I’ve used spray silicone (WD-40 branded) but I plan to use this soon. Just take a rag and spray it liberally. Hold it around the cable as you insert it into the housing. Keep the rag wet with the lubricant as you push it back in. You’ll need help at the end to get it lined up and inserted back into the valve slide. Make sure the cable is pushed up snug and the valve is completely seated. Tighten the set screw and you’re done.