ScubaRx

Welcome and for sure the Oliver will give you something to do with any extra time you're able to come up with.

We owned one of the original Elites (2008 model). We started out towing with a 2009 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited (4 door) that we bought for that purpose. It only had a 3500 pound towing capacity and was vastly under powered. We traded that for a 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe 4x4 with the 5.3L engine. We got much better results with that vehicle. The older Elites weighed about 3900 pounds ready to camp with full water and everything you would need for an extended trip. I don't know the camping weight on the new models but I would not expect them to be significantly different one way or the other. I would want a vehicle rated NO LESS than a 5000 pound towing capacity. We bought a 2015 GMC Sierra with a 6.2L engine to pull our Elite II. We get about 2 mpg better than with the Tahoe. Since all 2015 models are tow rated with the SAE J2807 Standard you are now comparing Apples to Apples... 4 Runner: The Towing capacity is rated at 4700 pounds (not a good contender) Touareg: The Towing capacity is rated at 7,700 pounds with the available towing package - you will want to spring for this package, as the Touareg is rated for just 1,650 lbs. without it. Nissan Pathfinder: The towing capacity is rated at 5000 pounds.

At about 60 mph, we are getting around 13.5 mpg. We have only been on relatively short trips so far (less than 1000 miles) so I hope for some better on longer hauls.

I posted a link to the manual above, hope this helps.

I looked through the service manual and I believe it details how to remove the panes.

Your windows where manufactured by Hehr. Maybe this will give you some information you didn't have: http://www.hehrintl.com/pdf/Hehr%20Service%20Manual.pdf

Where is the three inches of water?

And so the excitement begins to build even more.... Yea, another egg is in the incubator

Hello Sara and Andrew and welcome to the forum. We had some additional storage areas custom built under our bed platforms in our twin bed Legacy Elite II. You could store store a million miles of yarn in them. I would be happy to share what we have done if you are interested in the Oliver.

Hardrock Welcome to the forum and congrats on your recent retirement. I will be joining the ranks of the UN-employed the first week in October. Living in Alabama (right next door to us) you'll have plenty of great short trip opportunities. GSM in Eastern Tennessee, lots of places in North Georgia as I'm sure you're well aware. I would love to make that Route 66 trip, unfortunately it's not in our cards in the immediate future. Member Pete Marks (bugeyedriver) made the entire Route 66 sojourn a few years back going from East to West. He will tune in here soon and probably offer up some sage words of wisdom about his trip. He's logged over a parsec in his 2008 Ollie (The Wonder Egg) so he knows a thing or two about traveling.

I bought a 12 V water pump from Northern tools, then I just placed the "in" suction side of the hose into a 5 gallon clear used Ozarka 5 gallon bottle, then put the out pressure hose into the water fill connection on the Oliver and attach the 12 volt clamps to the pos and neg sides of the battery posts respectively and pump the potable water into the tank. Empty 5 gallon potable water jugs can be purchased from Walmart or you can use an old Ozarka drinking water bottle. During the delivery process did you not get shown the process of adding to the fresh water tank using the inlet behind the rear bumper and the on-board water pump?

Robert is out in Quartzsite, Arizona at the RV/Gem Show. I'm sure he'll get back to you soon. As Stan stated, weight distribution gets to be an issue whenever weight is added at either end of the trailer. If excessive weight is added to the front, the tongue weight goes up subtracting from the tow vehicles weight carry capacity and possibly overloading the rear axle. If excessive weight is added to the rear, the tongue weight goes down which can lead to towing instability in the form of the trailer wanting to "fishtail". These issues would be true of any trailer, not just the Oliver. That said, your ability to carry something hanging off the rear end is dependant on the weight of that something. Do you know what your mobility scooter would weigh?

You're not the ONLY one having login problems. I am too on, EVERY computer that I use (several at work, two at home, wireless ipad and iphone) has the same problem. I've done all the things others suggest (many times). There's something wrong in the software, it all happened to everyone at the same time and has cleared up for some but obviously not for everyone. It is VERY irritating.

We found that for extended trips (greater than a few days) the fridge didn't have enough room for food AND water/soft drinks. We generally carry one of our coolers also just for the water and soft/drinks. Plus you're not having to open the fridge as much.

Under the circumstnces you describe, with possibly just a small amount of help, you could easily move your Oliver with one of these: http://www.harborfreight.com/600-lb-Hea ... 69898.html Your tongue weight won't be anywhere near 600 pounds.

Hello Hardrock and welcome to the most exclusive molded fiberglass trailer club in the world. These trailers would be HEAVY to attempt to move by hand. That said, on a flat surface it could be done. I'd be leery of an incline, it might get away from you and run you down. I would probably try to use something like this: http://www.amazon.com/BAL-29041B-1000-W ... T80YZWYBDQ Have you considered a front receiver on your vehicle? I use one to push the trailer into tight places.

We had wanted to visit but had not considered traveling thru Canada due to their restrictive laws concerning firearms. About 6 months ago while reading about traveling on the , I discovered that Canada has apparently relaxed their stance on bringing handguns into the country. What you need is the Instructions for: Non-Resident Firearm Declaration. It comes from the RCMP.. I would have uploaded the interactive pdf file but the forum does not allow uploads of pdf's. What's up with that? We have since re-evaluated our view of our Northern neighbors and will be planning a trip to Alaska soon.

Yea, the search box is not black any longer...

I've not had any problems with the fridge not cooling in hot weather. I run it usually on 4, sometimes I'll move it to 5 if I (subjectively) think it needs it. The Oliver sign is not a high brake light. It was on the original 17 footers, but one of the inspection agencies told they could not get some certification or other with it functioning that way. Sorry, I don't remember all the particulars. It basically functions as a lighted advertisement. You can, however, get them to put whatever you want on it. Our original said "Outlaw".

Good morning Jim and welcome aboard. I spec'd a pair of 5200 pounders for our Outlaw Oliver build (gotta be able to carry all my stuff ). I took the info from the stickers stuck to the axles and called the manufacturer to get all the particulars. I "think" I remember they are just standard hubs. Now you've got me curious, I'll have to check my notebook of information to see.

There has been a lot of discussion on various thread about how the new Oliver performs in the cold. Since this has been the coldest weather any one of them has experienced so far, I decided to do a little testing. First some parameters and disclosures: I am in Tupelo, MS usually not one of the coldest spots in North America especially in mid November. However, as I am writing this, it is 28̊ outside with tonight’s predicted low of 18̊. As a comparison, on this day last year we had a high of 72̊ with a low of 64̊. Our trailer is inside a metal building. The building is unheated and completely open on one end. It does stay about 3̊ or 4̊ warmer than the ambient temperature inside probably due to the heated trailer sitting there. Although I do “winterize” our trailer, (I drain the water and blow out the lines, no antifreeze) I keep it heated with a small heater I got at Wal-Mart. It sits on the floor about half way down the center aisle pointing toward the rear. I like to keep the interior around 60̊. Sometimes I like to go out there and take a nap or read and I want it to be comfy. We have two digital thermometers inside mounted more or less at either end of the trailer. One is simply the remote for the http://www.amazon.com/Maxxair-0007000K- ... ds=maxxfan which has an onboard digital readout, the other is a http://www.walmart.com/ip/La-Crosse-Tec ... k/17378668 that you can easily deduce from whence it came. There was one remote transmitter supplied that we mounted under the propane cover outside and it sends the information on the exterior temps. We added another remote transmitter that is mounted inside the refrigerator to monitor the temps there. cpaharley2008 had tweaked my curiosity about the possibility of being cold sleeping right next to my windows. Since I had purposely designed our beds to top out right at the level of the windows, I wondered if maybe I’d not thought that through. We have double pane windows throughout the trailer. I used a http://www.harborfreight.com/non-contac ... 60725.html to measure the interior and exterior temps. This was all done within about a 20 minute period so there was little to no temperature fluctuation. Measurements: The two digital thermometers both read 61̊ for the interior temperature. All interior walls were within 1̊ of the above interior temperature. All exterior walls were at 31̊ (just barely warmer that the ambient outside temperature). All interior window panes were about 59̊ All exterior window panes were about 37̊ The interior of the door was 54̊ The exterior of the door was 31̊ The interior of the door glass pane was 54̊ The exterior of the door glass pane was 44̊ The floor was about 56̊ The ceiling was about 66̊ In the basement and between the shells (where all the plumbing and tanks are) the temps varied from 45̊ to 50̊ as measured on the foil surface of the reflectix insulation glued to the inside of the exterior shell. Deductions: There was a 30̊ difference in the temperature of the inside and outside shells. There was a 22̊ difference in the temperature of the inside and outside window panes. There was about a 2̊ difference between the interior wall and the interior window pane. The door is purchased as a standard RV model with a dual pane window and is not manufactured by Oliver. It is obviously not as well insulated as the rest of the coach, but it is at least as good as the coach windows. There was a 23̊ difference in the temperature of the inside and outside of the door. There was a 10̊ difference in the temperature of the inside and outside door glass panes. There was a 10̊ difference in the temperature of the floor and ceiling (heat rises). The reflectix insulation affords about a 15̊ temperature difference on either side of a single shell. Since each shell has its own layer of reflectix, this accounts for the 30̊ difference in the temperature of the inside and outside shells. Does all this qualify the new Oliver Elite II as having 4 season capabilities? I couldn’t tell you. But I do know that it’s below freezing out there right now and not even using the furnace I could easily get the temperature up to about 80̊inside with nothing more than that little cube heater. That’s way hotter than I want to sleep.

Some may be wondering the proper way to wire a solar system. I have a pdf of the diagram but don't seem to be smart enough to figure out how to make it attach. You can find it here: http://www.amsolar.com/shop/images/5-sr ... .v1.14.pdf

Very good.

Next, your going to tell us how cool the wine cellar is in the summer . . . Pete, funny you should mention that, I was thinking just the other day how long it had been since I'd been down there. I must remember to ask one of the staff to let me know what the temperature is and remind them to keep it at about 55 degrees.

We spec'd the Dometic Penguin II at 13,500 BTU's. It is a little under 10 inches high.