KountryKamper

Darrell/Kathy I sent you a PM.

We saw the same thing in Colorado last June. I could not belive the guy had a chain saw and got up on top of the camper and cut a limb off a tree. Must be a necessity 5th wheel people carry. It's also scary to see them coming up behind you at 80 plus MPH and buzzing by on those 65 MPH tires. Twice recently after they have blown by we saw them a few miles later on the side of the road with a blow out. I feel like stopping and saying that's what you get for driving like a jerk.

Then while driving home I think one of them coming at us the other direction everytime I see a oncoming camper.

We will be in Acadia early September then heading up to PEI and Nova Scotia for the rest of the month. Maybe we will see you along the way.

It basically depends on your vehicle. 3/4 or 1 ton truck will not drop much, a SUV or medium size pickup may have a lot of rear end drop when attached to the trailer. WDH hitch or no WDH hitch? If your using a WDH hitch it should bring the back of the vehicle up some if not all the way. 23.5" is a starting point like was mentioned above. Mine is at 23" and is level when towing but we have a 3/4 ton truck. With our old Tundra it was also at 23" and was level with a WDH. Oliver says 23.5"-24.5" but I find that too high for me. They set our hitch at 24.5" when we picked up our trailer and I had to lower it because the front of the trailer was high. Its better to have the front a little low then high. High in the front could cause sway. Figure 500 lbs of tongue weight until you know for sure. Ours is 480. John E uses rear airbags to raise the vehicle as he mentioned but I don't think you will find very many people use them now days or find them necessary. We had Sumo springs on our Tundra to help. They make them for most trucks and you might want to read about them. They will help with the sag. There are many ways to skin this cat.

Ours was the same as Bill's. Never asked for measurements, Just wanted to know if it was a Elite or Elite 2. Here is his response "I presume the address you provided below will be the ship to address ? I will need to know the model you have - elite 1 or elite 2"

Any 2500 can legally pull a E2 without a WDH. On a 1500 you better check the manual because most say anything over 5000 lb use a WDH.

Its before you hook the trailer to it.

With our dog inside we always put our Maxx fan in the auto position in case of a power failure or A/C failure. The fan runs off the batteries and when in auto will come on at 78 degrees (factory preset) or whatever temperature you have it set at. In case of a power failure the fan will start at the preset temp and come on. We leave the bath fan vent open so it can suck some air in through it if needed.

Trainman I fell your pain. We just upgraded a 2016 Tundra with 20K miles for a GMC 2500HD diesel. Our payload was maxed out and I wanted to add a camper shell. Also on a recent trip out west, the downhills with the Tundra in some really steep areas was not what I hoped it would do. 2nd gear and 4000 RPM just so I did not have to ride the brakes all the way down. Power on uphills was not a problem. The 2500 is a beast of a truck and does not have the car like ride a 1500 does. When hooked to the trailer it is such a relaxing tow that it makes our trips much easier and I arrive more relaxed. The exhaust brake makes downhills effortless. A 2500 brings other issues to get used to like parking and turning radius. It does get better gas mileage then the Tundra and has a longer fuel range. We travel light compared to most people we know and our 2018 E2 with most of our stuff except clothes weighs 5300 lbs without any water onboard, 20 lb propane tanks, 4 AGM, and no solar just to give you a idea. Fully loaded on long trips it's around 5400 lbs.

We just upgraded from a Tundra to a GMC 2500 for increased payload capacity. I wanted to get rid of our tonneau cover and get a topper for the bed (so we can haul more stuff we will probably never use ?). We were already slightly over the GVWR of the Tundra when loaded for long trips. I have used the Anderdson on both trucks and well as our previous camper (Escape that had a heavier tongue weight). I use it more to smooth out the ride then for weight distribution. I feel it is a more comfortable ride with less bounce/bobbing between the truck and trailer. There is a little learning curve to the Anderson but its really no big deal once you understand how it works. If your not straight backing up to it you can just loosen the chains then retighten after you get straighten out. There is also a trick of backing up a little past the hitch without hooking up then connecting the whale tail then pulling forward and hitching. I dont believe any other WD will work with the Oliver because of the length of the chains and where they attach to the frame. Be careful with add on electric sway devices if your truck has electric sway control built in. Our truck warns not to use them. Just my 2 cents and everyone has there own comfort level of how they perfer to tow.

Ok, you got us! Hope Tali enjoys it!

Probably best for all parties.

I went the other direction. Payload is why we just upgraded from our Tundra to a GMC 2500HD. If you start weighing on scales you might find how fast you can go over payload capacity. I wanted to add a topper and get rid of our tonneau cover but we were already maxed out on payload. The 2500 is way over kill on tow capacity but no longer have to worry about overloading it. Also 910 ft lbs of torque and exhaust brakes sure make the drive easy and fun. ?

That's what I was thinking too. Such dedication Steve. But where are the dogs going to ride. :-)

If you are not close enough to the factory to make a visit and go on the tour, a good start would be to contact Oliver who will put you in contact with a owner that you can visit with and see a Oliver for yourself. http://olivertraveltrailers.com/see-an-ollie/

We have had a couple small problems (switch, water heater board) that I was able to get Oliver to ship me the parts and I replaced them myself. They have always been quick to respond to my questions. It was 8 weeks from when we put down our deposit down before production started. It was 10 weeks for delivery once we entered production. This was last September. I think delivery times have improved since then and they even have some available now.

What about running a flexable dryer vent brush through the duct by hand before you try to replace it. I have used one on our dryer vent with a drill but would do it by hand with the small brush. If you remove the vanity you could go from both directions with a shop vac hooked to the other end. https://www.amazon.com/Gardus-RLE202-LintEater-10-Piece-Cleaning/dp/B0014CN8Y8/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1530406803&sr=8-7&keywords=flexible+dryer+vent+cleaner&dpID=41HEDgikEtL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

Ww also received our replacement shades yesterday and from what I can tell they look good.

Our Suburban water heater board failed too on our recent trip out west. I contacted Jason at OTT and he was kind enough to send a replacement board to the house. It was a easy replacement, one plug, one igniter wire and 2 screws. I had to return the old one to OTT with the model & S/N so they could process the warranty. The new board on the bottom was different from the original on the top. [attachment file=Water Heater.jpg]

I always like to see whats sitting around there.

Oliver does build the sub frames and here are pictures of them. Looks like the holes are in the sub frames on the floor before being sent out to be galvanized. They probably just need to build one and move the holes back one inch. Good to hear they came up with a fairly easy fix.

They are still on Facebook.

This is Walters rig.

Yelp, same effect.