ScubaRx

You are correct about more amp hours, but realistically there are only 25 more usable. This would work out to about one nights use. You are correct about the weight T-105's weigh 62 lbs, AGM's weigh 65 lbs. That is 12 pounds difference, I doubt you could tell the difference. You do have to check the water levels in the T-105's. Is it "...so onerous that it justifies the higher cost and lower AHs?..." to me, absolutely!!! Both of these systems include greasable wet bolts, the difference is the heavy duty compression rubber in the center of the equalizer in the EZ-Flex. Most of us have the EZ-Flex, but some have suggested the other one. I think the choice boils down to personal preference, but you should definitely opt for one of them. I installed the EZ-Flex after delivery (my trailer is the earliest one built-no available options at the time) and having the factory do the work is the way to go. Sorry I can't help you with your tow vehicle question. Congratulations on your new Oliver and welcome to the club.

Scott told Tali that Oliver has contracted with a local vet to keep your dogs free of charge while you are at the factory.

There are many fine fiberglass trailers on the market. They span the whole budget range from economy to luxury. Try attending a rally or two and you will surly see a brand that suits your needs in functionality and price. The search is a lot of fun. We are here to answer any questions so fire away.

You do know you don't have to remove the jack cover to use the manual handle.

Tali likes an Oasis of Olivers

OK boys, play nicely or there'll be a smackin'...

Thanks Rob. You are correct, of course, and I was not very clear the way I worded that sentence. What I should have said was: If your trailer has been sitting for “a few months” with no power input to your batteries and they are still connected to the trailer, due to all the parasitic draws, they were probably dead. Short of disconnecting them, I have no way to isolate our batteries. In our trailer, with all the miscellaneous idiot LED's that are always on, CO detector, refrigerator board, etc. I have a phantom draw of 0.4 amps/hour. That's a little over 9 amps/24 hours. Left alone with no voltage input, I would be at 50% battery in less than 3 weeks. Of course, with you wisely removing your parasitic draws, you avoid that plight.

If your trailer has been sitting for "a few months" with no power input your batteries were probably dead. You state you plugged it in and is now reading 13.x volts so apparently you lucked out and they came back to life. Just the normal parasitic drains in the trailer would draw over 5 amps a day from your batteries. You don't say which batteries you have but they also have an additional monthly self discharge rate of up to 12%. Every time the batteries get depleted they loose some ability to recover. Several depletions will ruin them so you should never leave the trailer without a power source be it plugged in or out in the sun. If you have to store it covered and without access to 110VAC you should unhook the batteries to prevent them from draining so fast, though they will still go flat over time - NOT GOOD. The IPN-Pro is only reporting what it knows. In order for it to accurately report amps going into the batteries from your converter, the negative wire coming out of the converter MUST go directly to the shunt and then from the shunt back to the grounding bus bar located under the rear most dinette seat. If you look inside that area you will see that the negative (yellow) wire coming out of the back of the converter is connected directly to the bus bar thus bypassing the shunt. The converter in your trailer was not wired correctly to be able to interact with the IPN-Pro (all of the trailers at that time were wired this way.) So all the amps going into your battery via the converter after you plugged it in were not registered by the IPN-Pro and it thinks they are dead. There is nothing wrong with the IPN-Pro, so pull the trailer into full sun and the meter will reset itself in no more than a day, probably just a few hours since your batteries are back up to charge. I can help you fix the wiring issue if you wish.

Thank you John, that's exactly what I expected to see. Although it would not remedy your hardware connection issues, for those of you that have this type of drawer you could make it structurally twice as strong. Remove each drawer and place it upside down as shown in John's photo. Use any good type of wood glue and run a bead around the perimeter where the bottom goes into the side pieces. Leave the drawers sitting upside down overnight to allow the glue to set. This will dramatically strengthen the drawer. If you would like to, you can do the same thing on the inside of the drawer.

Very good, also Fleet, Armada, I like this theme.

I kinda like: Pack (as in Wolves) Pod (as in Whales)

Reading a post in the "Sightings" thread over on the FGRV forum about seeing 7 Oliver's at one time (albeit at the factory which really shouldn't count) gave me an idea. We owners should come up with a collective noun that is indicative of a group of Oliver's. Think: Covey of Quail, Span of Mules, Pod of Whales...you get the picture. I figured this had been addressed at some point in the past so I did a search on FGRV and found a 14 year old thread that playfully addressed group names for different brands of trailers at that time. Of course, that was long before Oliver was hatched and many of those brands have slipped into obscurity. Only Casita, Scamp and Bigfoot are still current. So, lets put our thinking caps on and come up with a really cool moniker for a group of these unique trailers. For our purpose here anything more than one qualifies as a group. When we come up with a list, we can vote on which one we feel is best. For those of you who are interested in seeing names for the different groups of animals here is more than you probably ever wanted to know.

I don't have the beautiful dovetail drawers in the OO but I do have a question about them. Are the bottoms captured in a groove near the bottom of the drawer sides?

During a phone conversation with another owner today, your name came up and we wondered how and what you were doing. I commented that you hadn't posted on the forum for some time but you were probably busy with life. I'm so very sorry the disruptions were tragic. When things are sorted out, please come back into the group. We've missed you!

In the early days Oliver toyed with the idea of different colored trailers. They abandoned that idea due to the difficulty of painting every exterior item to match and the additional cost. However, there were two early Oliver's that were painted and sold. Hull #010 is red and currently owned by our forum member bshaffer. I'm not sure of the Hull # of the other (probably #009 or #011) but it was black and dubbed the "Gamblers Edition" due to the unique graphics and interior upholstery. After construction, both of these units were loaded onto a flatbed truck and shipped out West (Jim Oliver has a house in Lake Havasu, AZ) where they were ultimately sold. They also had a partially painted hull section that was blue.

Ditto, you can barely feel the mark with your fingertip.

Larry (mountainborn) and Betty Harmon bought the very first Oliver (Hull #005) sold on 11/08/2007. There were four units produced prior to this one and three of them were ultimately sold to other owners but when Larry and Betty drove out of the factory nearly ten years ago pulling the first one, they started the parade that we've all joined since then. Of the members still active on our forum, Paul and Sherry (seadawg) left with Hull #012 on 02/22/2008, then Pete Marks (bugeyedriver) in Hull #014 on 03/24/2008. We bought Hull #026 on 06/20/2008. All of these hull numbers were for the original 17 (now called 18.5) foot models produced in their first run and they continued until the last unit (Hull #044) was sold on 08/21/2009. During the last few months of the original production run, the molds for the Elite II had been bought with the intent to begin production of a larger model to augment the lineup with the choice of two sizes. As we all remember, the downturn in the economy in 2009 caused many businesses to fail and Oliver Travel Trailers made the very difficult desicion to cease production until better times could prevail. The plans for the larger trailer (and more expensive) seemed destined to failure. Three units were produced in 2009 and 2010 - Hulls #043, #045 and #046. One unit was sold to a customer (Hull #045) and became the only unit delivered with the official model year of 2010. The other two remained in the possession of OTI although Hull #043 was ultimately refurbished, updated and sold during the present production run. As a side note, no Oliver employees were laid off or lost their jobs because of the ceasation of trailer production and many rejoined the trailer line when it restarted. On 03/03/2013, I was contacted by (then production manager) Robert Partee and asked if I would be interested in owning one of the "big" trailers. He knew we were looking for something larger than our 17 foot Oliver and after talking for about 5 minutes with him explaining that the plan was for restarting production building only the larger unit, I told him I would take the first one they built. Their plan was to build three "prototype/demo" models to get back into the swing of things. During the production of these three, my unit was begun somewhere around the end of the year (2013). Since none of these four trailers had been sold, and upon completion of our unit, I was given my choice of the VIN's that were available (#'s 047-050.) I choose Hull #050 because that was the year I was born. Every member (present and future) owes you a debt of gratitude for your initiative and inventiveness on this modification. I had mine done at the factory during the "eclipse weekend." Thank you very much. The brakes have been wonderful. Not too difficult to install, but obviously more than some folks would want to tackle in the driveway. I have found that they are much more aggresive than the drums, requiring a lesser setting on our brake controller to keep them from all locking up and sliding down the road. Incidentaly, I discovered the locking up when I glanced in the side rear view mirror during a reasonably emergent stop to the side of the road and noticed blue smoke coming from under the trailer and two black streaks behind me. It surprised me and for a second, I could not figure out what was going on because I did not feel any abnormal trailer movement. We do not use any auxiliary towing equipment. Our Oliver's are truly VERY stable behind our tow vehicles. We do not use any axuallery towing equipment.

John, my 5200 lb axles were not the result of any changes by Oliver. Our trailer (Hull # 050, delivered in early 2014) was the first Elite II built for a customer. They were trying to get back into the swing of building trailers (after their 4 year hiatus) and had yet to decide on exactly what they were going to use for everything. At that time there were no standards for anything. During the build, I was allowed to pick and choose the components I wanted from the air conditioner to the (now standard) fold down center TV mount. I specified these axles as well as Michelin XPS Rib LT25/75R16/E 115/112Q LRE Tires and 12" brakes in order to make it as heavy duty as possible. The idea of assigning a GVWR was not thought up until after mine was completed and the assigned 7000 lb figure was based solely on the twin 3500 lb axles that they had decided would be standard. My stated 10,400 lb GVWR was entirely fabricated by me based on the same criteria they used, 2 x 5200 = 10,400. Our trailer, ready to travel with food, full fresh water tank, clothes, full 30 lb propane tanks, 3000 watt generator on the tongue and all the other stuff that I think I can't live without weighs well over 7000 lbs (no minimalist here.) I did swap the drum brakes for discs and installed the Dexter EZ-Flex system earlier this year. There are indeed 5 springs in each pack with a 1.875"clearance between the top of the 0.5" U-Bolts and the bottom of the frame. Like yourself, I have slight indention's in the bottom of the frame where there has been contact.

We have recently changed our tow vehicle to a 2017 Silverado High Country 2500HD w/the 6.6L Duramax Turbo-Diesel (445 HP/910 ft lb torque.) The Trailer Towing capacity is 13,000 lbs with a Gross Combination Weight Rating of 25,300 lbs (based on SAE J2807.)

At this point (0150 - 09/08/2017) Central GA and the Metro Atlanta area in general are expecting tropical storm winds between 40 and 60 mph with gusts up to 70 mph to occur starting about 2000 - 09/11/2017 (Monday). Based on the predictions as of this morning (Friday), I would be remiss to stop in Atlanta, rather, I would plan to continue West at least another 150 miles. My greatest worry would be the tornado's that are often spawned from these tropical storms. A 70 mph broadside gust of wind on your Oliver might not put it on its side, but a tornado would. Good luck and please stay safe...

Unless the method of mounting the battery tray has changed since Hull # 50 was produced in 2014 (and I doubt it has), the tray is not attached with machine bolts and nuts but rather large self tapping screws. These screws go through the tray frame and the fiberglass on the bottom of the battery box. If you go into the trailer, remove the cushions and hatch from the rearmost dinette seat, take a mirror and light and look at the underside of the box, you will see a 4 or 5 inch wide piece of diamond plate aluminum fiber-glassed into the bottom of the box. The screws go through this plate to hold the rack in place. No nuts, no bolts, just screws. You should be able to easily remove them and put them right back into the same holes to install a new tray. If this is how yours is constructed, it should be an easy fix. And, you are spot on about Richie Carroll being a super guy.

Very clever and tasteful. We like this.

Tom, Living in North Mississippi, it would be difficult for me to address the possibility of snow damage on our Oliver travel trailers. Around here an average snow fall will probably barely cover the ground and that might not happen every year. A really big snow might drop 4 to 6 inches and that might not happen every decade. Ice is another story altogether as it regularly brings down trees, limbs and powerlines. All that being said, if you can afford a carport, then by all means I can highly recommend that route. Not only does it protect from snow and wind in the wintertime, but also the rain during the rest of the year. A carport would also afford you protection from the sun and it's damaging effects on our beautiful gecosts. In addition, you do not have put forth the effort of installing the cover after each outing. All this obviously depends on whether or not you have the financial resources and room at your house for an enclosure and it assumes that there are no restrictions in your neighborhood against such. I am not sure if a marriage could stand the putting on and taking off of a cover too many times!

Several have asked about costs and a parts list. I installed disc brakes on The Outlaw Oliver this past March. I posted about it in my thread "Mods of The Outlaw Oliver." I chose to use the Hydrastar/Kodiak products and a list of all parts, their costs and where I got them is listed in the included pdf.

Tali and I participated in the original design conception for the Oliver Elite II. We had previously owned one of the original 2008 smaller Oliver elites with the stove turned vertically. I suggested at that time that the stove be turned horizontally to create more perceived counter space. That is how it became the "standard." I did not like having to reach across the front burner to the rear. All the observations made by everyone else are valid and it really boils down to which is your personal preference. The amount of counter space is exactly the same no matter which way the burners are turned.