ScubaRx

If they're willing to do it for $375.00, jump on it. The company I spoke with in Weatherford, TX gets $2900.00 for the install. Of course this includes the equipment and installation all done in one day. For something I could do myself, I thought that was a little steep plus I would have to drive to Texas. For $375.00, that's a hell of a deal. I'm just way too particular (and cheap) to let just anybody touch my trailer. Justin Reeves at the factory is another story. That guy is a meticulous gifted craftsman that I can recommend without reservation.

In 2007-early 2008 all the Elites were sold with 3500 lb axles. Somewhere in middle to late 2008 problems started to arise due to the fact that these early trailers were too heavy for that size axle. The factory swapped out most (if not all) of them for 5200 lb axles with 6 bolt lugs and provide 3 new tires and wheels for each. It's doubtful, but there may be some still out there with the original 3500 lb single axles. During our Elite II build I asked for twin 5200 lb axles to be mounted on ours because that was what we had on the original Elite I. All the new Elite I's have been equipped with 5200 lb axles.

It does seem ironic that all of a sudden Oliver would be willing to install disc brakes instead of the supplied drum brakes. It could be that I was at the factory this past Wednesday where John Oliver and Jason Essary took a close look at my installation. They must have really gotten on the stick about sourcing parts and deciding on labor. I chose the Kodiak brand of calipers and rotors because that seems to be the industry standard. I suspect that Oliver would prefer to buy their Dexter axles already outfitted with disc rotors. I don't think that is a problem. I would, however insist on the Carlisle Hydrastar HBA-16 actuator and the accompanying HBA-CAM. This last piece of equipment is only necessary if you have a late-model General Motors, Ford or Dodge pick up. It allows the in cab controller to work with the Hydrastar actuator. The reason I recommend installing it no matter what is that it will allow your trailer to be protected against the future should you change brands of tow vehicle. It would be, however easy to add in the future if you so chose to wait. I went with the Dacromet coating because I determined from my research that it apparently represents the best value for dollar spent. Of course, stainless steel would be much better but the price was more than twice as much. Plus, as you pointed out, your tow vehicle will not be equipped with nearly as nice of equipment. I mounted the actuator in the front propane compartment just forward of the propane tanks. It fits nicely in this area. It allows easy access for adding brake fluid. If there is a drawback to mounting in this location it would be the distance from the brakes themselves. From what I read the closer it is to the brakes the faster the response time. My entire usage so far is a trip to the factory and back. For me that is about 250 miles round-trip. I found them to be much more sensitive than the drums. For anyone who would like to address specific questions you may feel free to call me anytime at 662-255-0181.

When our Oliver was built in early 2014, there were no "standard" tires or anything else, for that matter. I discussed tire selection with Jim Oliver and he suggested the Michelin® XPS® Rib™ LT225/75R16/E 115/112Q LRE. That is what we went with. I have been extremely satisfied with them.

Well I finally bit the bullet and installed disc brakes on the Outlaw Oliver. It was not a particularly hard task, not nearly so much as installing the Dexter EZ-Flex system. The cost was just under $1300. See the Oliver-Disc-Brakes-Chart.pdf for a complete break down of what I bought and where.

OK, Tali and I restrung the shade with the broken string this evening. Not the most enjoyable task we've ever done but it beats a sharp stick in your eye. A little complicated until you've done it a couple of times but once you "see" how it works it's really not too bad. I had to partially disassemble another one to see how much tension to put on the strings. I'll be happy to restring one for anybody for only $500.00 string included.

On our GMC Sierra there is about 5 inches of clearance from the top of the hitch lever to the tailgate when lowered.

I just walked in the door after being in Hohenwald since yesterday. I looked at the drawer problem and it has been corrected. It is my understanding that they are retrofitting all the ones that are still there on the lot to be picked up by future customers. Surprisingly there are about 12 finished trailers waiting on customers to come pick them up. I do realize that there are folks that live further away from the factory than I do but if one of them was mine I'd be on my way! Anyway, back on subject they have built a jig mechanism that aligns the longer screws and puts them in at a proper angle. I believe that this will end the problem coming out of the factory. For those that have the shorter screws it should not be a very difficult job to replace them at home.

Towing: 2014 Elite II, 5320 lbs factory weight at pick up (2 x 30lb empty propane tanks, no water, no cargo.) Weighed 01/27/2017 at Eloy, AZ on the Pilot Truck Stop Certified Cat Scale. Truck and Trailer together weighed 14,820 lbs. Two adults, 120 lb of dogs, Full tank of gas, full fresh water tank, some in black and gray tank, full propane tank and 1/2 full propane tank, Yamaha 3000 watt generator on tongue. Trailer alone weighed 7100 lb. about 800 lb tongue weight. Because of oversize axles my trailer has a GVWR of 10,400 lbs. Current Tow Vehicle: 2014 GMC Sierra 1500 SLT w/6.2L (420 HP/460 lb torque) and NHT Max Tow package, Trailer Tow capacity 11,800 lbs (based on SAE J2807). Hitch platform rated at 1200 lb.

Yvonne, your Magma set will store very nicely in any of the overhead cabinets. We store ours in the one right over the cook-tops. It fits perfectly thru the opening and I recommend you store it as far forward as possible so that it will not slide during braking.

I spoke with a representative at Oliver today and expressed concerns about several things including the difficulties a lot of folks are experiencing with the forum. I was told that Matt (and perhaps others) are working on developing a new forum. I asked if they were planing to use new software not based on WordPress and was told that 'the goal was to make it like other forums'. I'm not sure if this means there will be new software or not. It sure would be nice to get to a standard software format that most everybody else uses. Escape, Fiberglass RV and Airstream use vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1 Copyright ©2000 - 2017, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd. The Casita Club Forum and Casita Travel Trailer Forum use Community Forum Software by IP.Board. My personal favorite is vBulletin. I really hope that this is the case because there are people that have joined and then could not get on as well as folks that have become dismayed at the difficulties and just gave up. The forum is absolutely Oliver's best and cheapest advertisement and information dissemination service. At the very least it should be user friendly and fun.

Voices and Post Numbers are still there. It's just that now they are the same color as the background so you can't see them except faintly in the slightly darker every other thread line. I'll take up for Larry, if it were not for him and him alone, this forums would not exist - AT ALL. He started it back in 2008. I'm not sure if Oliver knows or understands how important these forums have been to their company's success and it's people like Larry and Betty Harmon that have made it great.

On our original 2008 Outlaw Oliver all the switches for the exterior lights were on the port side of the propane cover. Not only were they outside, they were on the opposite side from the door. This was not very handy for illuminating that strange noise in the middle of the night. One of my first mods was to add additional switches and convert them all into 3-ways. That way we could operate them from inside or outside. While I was running all those wires, it hit me that it would be nice to have control of the jacks on the inside also. More wire...and switches. During the build of the 2014 Outlaw Oliver, I directed the electrician to add remote wiring to the rear upper cabinet for future plans to add interior jack controls. Its nice to be able to control all three jacks from the inside. [attachment file=48112] [attachment file=48109] [attachment file=48115]

I agree, the forum has become/is becoming all but unusable with the slow connection speeds and the seemingly endless changes that pop up unannounced almost daily. So, would the keymaster Id'd as JWalmsley please step forth with a post and explain what your function is. We also need a direct contact cell number for you so we can contact you whenever there is a problem. Since the forum members generally consider this a 24/7 job, it would probably be wise to include your usual bedtime so we'd have an idea when it would be too late to call you.

Great job. I've got to tackle my broken one also. For some reason this intimidates me a hundred times more than drilling holes in the hull. Weird...

Those of a certain age will remember and his aversion to work.

I can't tell from the photos, but I would use VHB double stick tape.

Thanks Larry for sharing an insight into the earliest of Oliver's days. As the very first Oliver Owner, you and Betty paved the way for every one of us that have followed. Oliver has grown and changed thru the years and some mighty fine folks have come and gone. We all owe a debt of gratitude to your down-home wisdom imparted to us across the years thru your videos and posts. Thank you from each and every one of us......

John, I have that exact product on my existing hitch and will be transferring it to my new setup. Scratches are inevitable but they won't looks as poorly as my rusty old beat up steel stinger.

John, looks very nice. One thing I've discovered is that Fastway produces many fine products and that Tractor Supply sells and stocks many of them. Slight hijack of thread: I recently weighed the Outlaw Oliver and found it to weigh right at 7100 lbs with a tongue weight of over 800 lbs. Since my ball mount was only rated for 6000 lbs, I set about to find one rated higher. I had recently bought a Stainless Steel ball and I wanted the new mount to compliment its clean look (OCD and Anal Retentiveness are NOT real, I read it on the Internet.) Anyway, I found exactly what I wanted in a Fastway Flash Standard ball mount. It is machined from a solid piece of aluminum, has a tow rating of 14000 lbs with a 2000 lb tongue weight and is made in the USA. It comes in 2, 4, or 6 inch drops (1, 3, or 5 inch rise) and is sized for 1″ or 1-1/4″ hitch ball shanks. Their website states a tow rating of 10000 lbs with a 1000 lb tongue weight (plenty) but the mount comes actually stamped with the above stats. I ordered it from Wal-Mart (that now has Amazon-like 2 day free shipping with NO membership fee) on a Monday and had it the next day. Cost was about $65.00 for the model I bought. We now return to our regular thread.

I'll interject this in the Zamp vs Blue Sky discussion. Both brands have two components: controller and display. The controllers are merely the piece of equipment that is located under the bed and reduce the incoming voltage to a level that will not destroy your battery's. The displays are surface mounted somewhere inside the cabin and tell you what's going on behind the scenes between your panels and battery's. We have the Blue Sky setup. Our controller is the Blue Sky 2512iX-HV. Our display is the Blue Sky IPN PRO. This piece of equipment is very complex and it acts as both a programmer for the controller and a display for the system. The manual will show that it has over 40 different parameters to deal with contained in 4 ever-deepening levels of menus and for myself, I considered this to have a pretty steep learning curve. You do have the capability to see, modify and control way more things than with the Zamp display, but does (as I believe someone previously stated) the "average user" want to deal with all that. To say all that's "better" is definitely in the eye of the beholder because, in the Blue Sky system, many of these parameters have to be set up. Be it the ultimate consumer (you) or the factory personnel someone has to do it for this system to operate properly.

Don't forget to add Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina to your Avatar Map.

geO, By far the best idea is to never sit in one place long enough to need them... Let's get out there and go CAMPING!!!! Hope you have a wonderful season.

John, the mounting system is still basically the same as is shown in your old photo. The panels will still tilt in either direction just as is shown (albeit, perhaps not to the same degree of angle as could be achieved with that setup.) Don't worry, if you desire to get up there and tilt them, they will have the ability to do so. Since Oliver does not include any provision for holding them up, you will have to fab up some kind of support struts. When you see the way it is all mounted you'll see how easy this will be. During our build back in late 2013, I designed the way our panels are mounted in anticipation of tilting them easily. I really believe that the reason that you've never seen a camping photo with them tilted is that they works so well in the flat position that nobody has ever found the energy to get up there and tilt them. I know I haven't and you may find it to be the same. They are still mounting them in the same manner as mine.

Down the center of the roof it is 2 inches thick. I have seen two men at the factory carrying an air-conditioner while walking on the roof. The greatest danger of getting on the roof is an accidental fall. There is not a whole lot of available real estate up there and it would be easy to trip. In answer to your original question, we carry a 12 foot extend and climb collapsible ladder. When I purchased that ladder back in 2013 my original idea was to store it in the basement. It will not fit in that area but I discovered that it nicely stood against the wall separating the closet from the bathroom and that's where it has been for the past three years. We do not use it often but when you need to access your roof, nothing will substitute for a sturdy ladder. After meeting you in Sierra Vista, Tali and I felt sure you and your wife would soon be joining the family of Oliver owners. It is good to know you have made the jump. We plan to come back to the west in about a month or so and spend some time up in the north west.