ScubaRx

I wish we were sommeliers like you guys. We have trouble telling the difference between Diet Coke and Diet Dr. Pepper. Mike and Carol have quite an impressive wine collection.

Today I received the 2 5/16" Bulldog Coupler (their item #028462) that I had ordered thru WalMart. GTW rating for this coupler is 12,500 lbs vs 7000 lbs on the OEM one. Though many would say that is overkill, The Outlaw Oliver II weighs over 7200 lbs so this upgrade is warranted and anyway, I'm all about overkill. It was about $66.00 and change including shipping. This will allow me to take full advantage of the Weigh-Safe hitch mount that I've also ordered. Going from the 2" to the 2 5/16" ball will increase Max GTW from 7500 lbs to 14,500 lbs. This setup now also fully optimizes the capability of the new Silverado 2500 HD truck. If you are buying a new Oliver Elite II and your plan is to tow with a HD pickup, consider specifying the larger coupler for your build.

I also apologize but I would have to concur with John. Although it is an anomaly and our trailer weighs over 7100 pounds, yours will weigh well north of 5000 pounds and that puts you closer to your max tow capacity than I would want to be. I really feel you would have much better towing experience with a better equipped truck which would probably actually get better gas mileage also. We went from a 2014 GMC Sierra 6.2 liter gas burner to a 2017 Chevrolet Silverado 6.6 liter diesel. The old truck got <12 mpg towing towing and (at most) about 20 mpg highway. The Silverado is getting >14 mpg towing and on a recent non towing trip, better than 26 mpg highway! And this beast weighs 1500 pounds more than the Sierra. Something to consider...

PM sent....

Not sure if I understood all you said, but, IF "...I’ll bet that the light are fine.." means you think the lights are not the source of the water, THEN I bet that it is. There is a light over every window and it is a known issue (now resolved) they they were leaking around the attachment screws. You are correct that "...you can't imagine how much water can come in with no signs of voids..." During the toad strangler that they described, enough water could flow around the screws to easily flood the inside. The fix is easy, remove the screws (one at a time) and put a dab of 4000 in the hole and replace the screw. You don't even have to take down the lights. I went for over three years with the high light in the rear leaking and it exiting around the frame of the egress window below. It took a couple of years to find the problem as I kept blaming it on the window. Not the case. If your rear window is leaking, check the light above from the inside of the upper cabinet. There's where you'll most likely find your problem.

The blue sky system can be set up to equalize your T105 batteries. There is a dip switch that needs to be turned on and settings in the IPN controller that have to be activated. Bill, you might want to turn your voltage up in the controller.

For your build, you should specify the bulldog coupler #028462. This one is exactly like the standard Oliver hitch except it is made for a 2 5/16” ball. I’m going to buy this same ball mount and swap my hitch out. It appears you got the 6” drop? Did your truck need that much?

Update on Disc Brakes: It has now been more than 7 months since my install. We have pulled the OO-II about 13000 miles since then. From here to northern Washington and from here to extreme eastern Tennessee and a couple of trips back and forth to the factory with two different tow vehicles. The brakes have performed flawlessly. I did have to adjust the on board brake controller down a couple of points to keep them from locking up all four wheels at one time. I have crawled under it several times to make sure there were no fluid leaks. I had a problem at the initial install with a fitting leaking and it took replacing the fitting to get it to stop. Apparently, it was defective from the factory but it made me a little gun-shy about leaks. Not a drop since. I am happy with them.

Brad, I believe in Sherry's case the culprit was the fact the rear window was open with the exhaust fan (rather than the AC) running, allowing evil vapors to enter the coach and subsequently set off the CO detector.

Now you're talkin'. What color did you get? This will be everything you ever need (and more) to pull that Ollie in style anywhere you every want to go. That truck has enough umpf to pull a stump out of the ground!

During our 10 year ownership of two different Oliver's, we've used several different tow vehicles. We bought a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited with a 3500 lb tow capacity to pull our 2008 Oliver single axle. Wow, was that evermore a mistake. If you actually weighed those original trailers, it turned out they weighed a lot more than had been stated. At nearly 4000 pounds, ready to travel, we needed something bigger. We traded the Jeep on a Chevrolet Tahoe LTZ V8 that did just fine. We got about 12-13mpg. When we upgraded to the 2014 Oliver Elite II, we discovered that the Tahoe was not nearly as capable as it had been with the Elite I. Again we traded up. This time to a GMC Sierra 1500. This is the same size truck that Reed uses except with the 6.2L engine. It did have the NHT Max Trailering Package. It had more power and torque than the Tahoe but it was pushing it to get 12mpg. During a 10000 mile, 3 month long trip this spring and early summer, we started having overheating problems in some of the 11000 to 12000 foot passes out west. In the interest of pure transparency, our trailer weighs almost 7200lbs fully loaded. We decided it was time to move up again. When we came through Memphis on the way home, I traded the 1500 GMC Sierra for a 2017 Silverado High Country 2500 HD Diesel. We've only used it to pull the Outlaw Oliver twice. Once up to KY to view the eclipse and then up into eastern TN to a small rally. No hills larger than the ones found in and around the Smokey Mountains. We are getting about 14mpg. We had the largest gasoline engine available in a 1500 GM truck. It had the biggest tow package available. It produced 420 hp @ 5600 rpm and had 460 lb-ft of torque @ 4100 rpm. It struggled in the extreme parts of the areas we like to go. I could possibly have convinced myself that some struggling was OK since the distance traveled in these areas comprised a very small percentage of any given trip had it not been for the overheating issues. The engine in our new truck is the L5P 6.6L V-8 Turbo-Diesel. It produces 445 hp @ 2800 rpm and a whopping 910 lb-ft of torque @ 1600 rpm. As far as tow vehicles go, is the 2500 overkill? I suppose it depends on your point of view.

I had been seeing your posts over on FGRV and invited you to join us here. Good to have you aboard. You will be able to get any Oliver questions you might have answered here. So feel free to ask anything you like. Like yourself, Tali and I enjoy the National Parks. Hope to see you guys at the May Rally.

Our home is in Mississippi.

I've just never found the black tank dumping to be that big an issue. Now that ole girl's situation would be an issue. But what's up with digging a hole and burying it? I'll bet those critters that are hanging around her don't bury theirs. If I had ever been interested in a composting toilet, I wouldn't be now.

Me Li-keee...

Drive out the broken roll pin and replace it. Ten years with six different valves, I've never had one break.

Who would like to join us on a caravan to the Quartzsite, AZ gathering this winter? We plan to leave here (North Mississippi) in mid January, drop south to I-10 and travel west, meandering and stopping along the way as the mood strikes us. It will probably take us a week or better to get there. I want to arrive in Quartzsite sometime around January 24th or 25th so as to catch the end of the 35th Annual Sports, Vacation and RV Show. If you’ve never experienced the “Big Tent” it’s sure to be a memorable event for you. We will camp approximately 5 miles west of Quartzsite south of I-10, alongside the Dome Rock frontage road. This is where the gathering is held each winter. The gathering is for all brands of Molded Fiberglass Trailers! The dates for the gathering are: February 5th to 8th - Early bird Quartzsite Pre-Gathering (Monday thru Thursday) February 9th to 11th - Main Event (Friday thru Sunday) This is BLM and although you must obtain a free 14 day permit, there is no fee for camping here. This is pure boondocking, as good as it gets. There are no hookups of any kind, no parking pads, no picnic tables or fire rings. Just hundreds of square miles of open hard packed desert. Clear blue skies as far as you can see. February daytime highs are usually in the 70's and nighttime lows in the 40's. It must rain sometime, but we’ve never seen it do so. The wind can blow pretty good though. Water and dumping is available in town as are good places to eat, grocery stores and a laundry. There’s either plenty to do or nothing to do depending on your inclination. Currently there are at least four Oliver’s that have plans to go. Let us know if you are interested.

Although it doesn't apply to this Southern good 'ole boy redneck, for all you Yankees that have to winterize, don't forget your toilet valve.

This doesn't sound right, your water heater should not be heating to the point that it pops the pressure relief valve. We had one of these in our first Oliver Elite. I couldn’t tell that it made much difference in decreasing the run time of the pump. I still have it with all the hoses and fittings in a box somewhere. If you install one, you need to have EASY access to the air fitting so that you can fill and check the pressure without jumping thru hoops.

Doubtful, since Oliver buys these tanks with the fittings molded in.

Is it the Furion or the Jensen head unit and are you using an HDMI cable

Personally, if I leave someone a message and they've not returned my call in two hours, they're getting a return call. After two weeks, surely you've realized it has slipped between the cracks. Perhaps I was not clear earlier, Oliver had a breakdown in their phone system and NO MESSAGES were getting through. They disappeared into the ozone. For about 10 days. None. Now call back on the provided number. If they don't return your call in a timely manner, call me. 662-255-0181

That number should be used for all past, current and future service questions. I do not have Jason's email but convention should dictate that it's Jessary@olivertechnologies.com I realize some folks like emails and texting but personally, I'd sooner eat a frozen possum! There is a communication tracking system being developed that Scott can review and yes, Richie still works at Oliver.

There have been some changes in Oliver's service structure as of this week. Effective immediately, the number for scheduling service or ordering parts is 866-205-2621. This number will be answered and/or monitored by Jason Essary. All calls placed to this number will go to Jason's desk. After five rings it will transfer to his cell phone. If he is unable to answer immediately, leave a message and he will return your call. These changes are due, in part, to a recent problem with their VoIP system which resulted in calls to the service department going to an inoperative number thus not being answered. The outage occurred without Oliver having knowledge of it for a few days. They wish to apologize for all inconveniences that were incurred by the owners. Please do not call Richie Carroll's cell phone any longer to request service. The goal here is to have service requests responded to in a more efficient manner.

I am at the factory and have spoken to Scott about these issues.