KenB

I have several grease guns with that connector. Have you tried to grease the EZ flex suspension with it? I believe there are clearance issues with the LockNLube connector and the stock grease fittings. I don’t remember what the exact clearance issues were, but on a rainy day last June I left the campground, went into a farm supply store, and bought enough 90 and 45 degree grease zerks to replace all of the straight originals. Now I can easily reach all the zerks and hook on with the nifty LockNLube fitting. You should confirm that everything fits before planning a chassis lube midway on a long road trip. I don’t think the LockNLube will work with the stock grease fittings. HTH. Ken

I live in Minnesota and it does everything I’d like it to do around here. Twice I’ve taken the rig up and over the I70 pass west of Denver on trips out west. I had to downshift hard both going up and down. The motor spun fast and the brakes got hot, but it was all fine. The second experience was better than the first because I knew what to expect and had faith in the LC. Mine also has 33” tires and airbags. Though an E2 is still under the max bumper weight, I think it squats too much without airbags. Realistically I tow the E2 10% of the time and the other 90% of the time my ‘13 Land Cruiser is a daily driver or solo bird hunting rig. It always does 95-100% of what I ask it to do, regardless of the terrain. The last five percent it’d probably do, but I’m cautious about that last fraction when I’m by myself 10 miles down a two track logging road without a cell signal. So I turn around. Our Land Cruiser is all pinstriped up from the brush and driving narrow unimproved roads. I also need to pull both the bumpers and pop out two of the corners from dragging them in a ditch this past fall. I use the vehicle quite a bit for it’s intended use and am quite happy with it. Not happy enough to pay full retail, but I bought ours used. I’d probably buy another used one if this one was in an accident and was totaled, but it’d take me awhile to find the right one at the right price again. Other than three sets of tires (all season, all terrain, and snow) and rock sliders, mine is stock. Tundras and Sequoias have the same sized engine too. Several on the board are happy towing with newer Tundras. The Oliver brochure used to show towing with a Sequoia. And one early magazine article showed towing an E2 with a Tacoma, which is just silly. I also have a 1st gen Tundra and wouldn’t consider towing the Oliver with it as is. Too softly sprung and the shocks are shot. HTH, Ken

I agree with John on these points. I have two #40 English Setters that are hunting dogs. I spend weekends all fall with the two dogs in the Oliver. Most of the time I’m solo and the dogs get the other bunk at night. When my wife is along (mostly in the summer) the camper can get tight with 2+2 in the camper. Once it starts raining the dogs get moved to their kennels in the back of the Land Cruiser. Two wet and muddy dogs get to be too much. Often at the start of the day when they are rested and wound up they are too much and I put them in their kennels just to get a break from their constant energy while I get ready for the day. They also get left in the kennel until I can go over them well for ticks. Even though I have a tick plan, on a good day they can each carry a few dozen ticks into the Oliver. Yuck! Have a plan B for kenneling the dogs if you decide to get an Oliver. In my situation its too small for two active dogs and two adults 100% of the time. HTH, Ken

After a few nights you get a feel for the balance between fresh air, condensation, and heat loss through a cracked vent or window. You’ll have to experiment I also played around with the heat vent balance. My water system was drained and I only use the bathroom for the composting toilet so it doesn’t need to be heated as much as the main cabin. The floor is much warmer than the old wood uninsulated floor that was standard on our old hybrid camper. Rugs are still nice to have. If it’s not windy the furnace will eventually catch up and shut off, but it’ll still be running much more than not. Plan on lots of propane.

I drove I70 west through Denver and up and over the Rockies last March on a trip from Minnesota to Moab, Utah while towing our Elite II. Had to drop down to Kansas to avoid ice and snow in Nebraska. I70 was shut down to clear avalanches for an hour or so someplace around Silverthorne, CO. Parked next to lots snowmobile trailers in the CO mountain pass rest stops. There was packed snow and ice on the pass everywhere. The Oliver behaved itself and stayed back behind the truck where it belonged. This winter driving was in addition to a few trips towing in snow during hunting season in MN. Being from Minnesota I’ve driven on ice and snow my whole life. Towing the Oliver, or any travel trailer, in the winter isn’t exactly routine, but certainly possible. My 200 series Land Cruiser had AT tires at the time with the mountain snowflake rating. It would have been even less stressful with my current set of dedicated snow tires (I have three sets of tires now; all season (daily driving), all terrain (trips out west, hunting season), and dedicated snow). My Oliver has the Michelin tires The worst part of driving in the winter is the road chemicals. All the alloy on the trailer frame/bumper/storage basket has lost some of its luster. One of the stainless handles on the propane cover has started to corrode. The coupler and shocks are showing rust. Its not horrible, and it still looks good, but it’s not new looking anymore. The fiberglass and anything above the belt line is still as new. It might bother some people, but I Just see all the fun I’ve had with it. If you need it to look like new, leave it parked. Otherwise go have fun. Obviously I’d rather use it than keep it pretty while in storage. My camping season would only be six months long if I didn’t risk winter weather. It tracks fine on winter roads if you drive according to the conditions. hth, Ken

My first thought is the sail switch has some fibers or hair stuck to it. I was going to pop the cover off and take a picture of the location for you, but there are eight screws holding the cover on and it’ll be dark before I find the tools get it apart. My furnace was acting similar this March while camping in Moab, Utah. After an internet search I took out the sail switch in the campground (while it was snowing) and found a few long fibers hanging off of it. Pulled the fibers off, reinstalled, and the furnace fired back up. I found that it takes VERY little interference to affect the proper operation of this microswitch. Pull the cover, look for two wires leading to the back of a micro switch. I think it’s on the lower left side looking in at the furnace from the outside. Remove the micro switch with its long metal operating arm and clean it off. Make sure it’s switching smoothly. Be careful removing and replacing so you don’t bend the sail part Good luck. HTH. Ken.

As we were packing up our Elite II today (hull #351) to leave from Ridgway State Park, just north of Ouray, CO, the owner of hull #2 rolled up in his pickup the say Hi. He said that he first saw his eventual trailer (hull #2) when Jim Oliver was camping in it at Quartsite. He later visited the factory and bought the exact trailer (hull #2) as a demo unit from Jim. When he went back to the factory in the early days for a few issues, he said that Jim would ask him to stay at his house as a guest while waiting for the work to be completed. It sounds like he lived in it for a few years when he first bought in, now it’s just for recreation. I asked if he’d had any issues I should look for and couldn’t think of anything except a leaking double pain window seal. He was very nice and look forward to meeting him on the road again. It sounded like he spent little if any time on a computer and won’t stubble on this thread. I thought I’d add to the story by letting everyone know hull #2 is still in service.

The sculptures are interesting, but the two ends of the hi-way are tough points to work into a trip. There isn’t much of a draw to the area, hence the construction of the sculptures to draw tourists off of the freeway. I was checking out pheasant hunting spots for a fall hunting trip when we drove it last summer. Stopped to look at these birds too.

I’m not participating in that event. This one for the 200 series. It’s goes Wednesday pm to Saturday pm. +60 200 series LC will be there. Check out ih8mud.com for +40 pages of discussion. It’s based out of Ouray this year. It’s my first organized LC event. We’ll see how it goes. Ken

Not really on topic, but Ouray was mentioned in the title. I’m currently in the Ouray area for the week with our Elite II to attend a Land Cruiser event. Last night we camped in the Denver area. On our way here today we came across on I70. In Copper Mountain we had our first ever Oliver sighting! Someone was driving across the overpass heading south as we were heading west. It all happened too quick to see the tow vehicle or colors of anything. About the only thing I noticed is that I think there were dual awnings. You’d think that in maybe 8k miles of towing our Oliver in the past year we’d see more than just a passing glimpse of just one. Tonight at the state park there are three Casitsas and one Escape in our loop, plus myself. Practically a mini rally.

I recently called Andersen about getting a new friction cone. They sent one out immediately with few questions. The one year old friction cone was white, the newest version they just sent me is light blue. One of the videos on their website says it’s acceptable for the friction material to start protruding out the top, but should be replaced if it exceeds 3/8”. Mine was sticking out 1/2”. Really the only question they asked was what is the color of the whale tail. Mine is silver. I see John’s is black. Our trailer has maybe 10k miles on it. I haven’t replaced the friction material yet. I had no complaints about the white cone (other than it squirting out the top), hopefully the blue won’t be a step backwards. Hth, Ken

I didn’t use screen. I used a block of open cell foam roughly 3 inches cubed that was a scrap from a large fish tank filter. I believe the pores are small enough to stop the gnats, but air still passes through easily. I trimmed it until it was a snug fit in the stack pipe. HTH, Ken

I climbed up on mine last week to do this same job. There is just one Philips screw holding the vent cap in place. Very easy to remove and replace. Add your screen to the top of the stack and replace the cover. Done. I was prepared for much worse. HTH. Ken

I bought two of the same fan sometime this winter. They are currently sitting out in the camper. Occasionally I hold them up to the wall, try different mounting spots/orientations, and then try to work up the gumption to drill new holes into the fiberglass. Still hasn’t happened. Your location is one of my prime choices. Seeing the base mounted perpendicular to the side wall makes sense. You can easily see the controls and LEDs in that orientation. My plan was to mount it with through bolts using the two counter sunk holes provided and a backing plate on the other side. Your six rivets are not part of the factory mounting suggestion, but should be good insurance against coming loose while the trailer bounces down the road. I wonder which is worse for loosening mounted fixtures like this fan, pounding waves in a boat, or bumpy roads? Thanks for the ideas. Ken

I had a base model Parkit360 that I’d bought off of Craig’s list for part of a season. It wouldn’t handle the 3500 lb trailer I had at the time. Since I knew we were getting an Elite II soon, I put it back on Craig’s list and sold it again. No way it would have handled the 5000 lb + of the new trailer. It was far from the effortless hookup and moving around they show on the videos. Now I have a front mounted hitch and all is well and for far less money too. HTH, Ken

I have the same front mount reciever that you’re looking at mounted on the front of my ‘13 Land Cruiser. Or I should say it was. I took it off before driving to Moab last week with the Land Cruiser and the Oliver. Later this week I’ll put the front reciever back on so I can easily back my LE II back into its winter storage spot for another month or two. Its great for moving the trailer around the yard. The rise on my drawbar might be even taller than the one you show. No issues, I’m just glad it goes on and off easily. It hangs pretty low. Fine for pavement, but for even mild off road it’s too low. Can’t comment on changing the oil with it in place, but that might be an issue. Just moving the trailer around your yard or a campsite? The hitch and drawbar you show will be fine.

We spend a few weeks each summer at Minnesota State Parks. They have a rule to head off at least some of the reservation nonsense. You MUST occupy your site on the first night of your reservation in Minnesota State Parks. There is no ability to change the first date of your reservation once it is made. If you try to change the first day, or don't show up the first day, the whole reservation is cancelled with a loss of funds. This is key to stop one type of gaming of the reservation system. For those who understand why this detail makes a difference can get a site of their choice and date of their choice before many others. I want to acknowledge that this happens, but don't want to document a how-to for those who don't understand. It'll just make it worse. HTH, Ken

With a bunch of motorcycles in my garage (currently down to seven) and a couple of bicycles, I have some experience maintaining control cables and using the cable lubricating device you mention. Tri-flow aerosol is usually the preferred lubricant. WD40 should be avoided as it eventually dries into a hard varnish. If the inner cable is kinked or the outer is smashed, a replacement will be necessary. The cable lube device is dependent on the outer cable sheath being intact the whole length. A nick in the sheath allows the lubricant to take the path of least resistance and the whole cable doesn’t get lubed. Make sure lubricant comes out the far end. Start at the highest end. It makes a mess. Have some rags ready. HTH. Ken.

I had a parkit360 that I bought and later sold for same money on Craig’s list. Can’t remember what model it was, but it couldn’t hardly move my old 3,500 lb hybrid trailer on the slight incline in my driveway, so I thought I might as well sell it off. It wasn’t going to have a chance with our new Elite II. After selling the Parkit360 I bought a front mount hitch for our 2013 Land Cruiser. It was an easy install that took only about 30 minutes. Inexpensive too, barely over $100. The winter storage spot I have for our Oliver is up a steep driveway, around the side of the garage, through another bend, before ending under a carport attached to an outbuilding. This fall was the first time I used a front mount hitch to put the Oliver to bed for the winter. My son was spotting from the top of a ladder to make sure I didn’t hit anything on the roof of the Oliver on the underside of the carport. My father and wife were watching the sides of the camper and the building since my view from behind the wheel is obviously very obstructed. It didn’t take long to move the camper into position, probably the quickest I’ve ever done in the 14 years I parked various campers in the same spot. I did get out a few times to look at the progress with my own eyes. All three of the spotters kept giving me the thumbs up, so I just kept moving. Positioning the trailer around the garage, into the back yard, and under the carport was EASY with the front hitch. The fit is so tight, but was so under control, that I’m going to need to unscrew the lightbulbs that hang down from the carport ceiling so I don’t break them off on the top of the Oliver on the way out. My spotters guided me around them on the way in. Everything was that close. And all easily done with the front hitch on the Land Cruiser. Unfortunately the front hitch hangs down so low I’m going to need to temporarily remove it for two 4x4 trips planned to Utah and Colorado this year. I’m sure it’ll drag when drving off improved roads. HTH, Ken

According to the manufactures website, the inverter draws <.8 A at no load. For easy math lets call it a 1 Amp hour draw or a 10W idle load. Leave it on constantly and it's going to draw 24 Amp hours per day just doing nothing. What is the usable Amp hour capacity on an Elite I battery bank? I'm not sure. With two six volt AGM batteries I believe it would be 200 usable Amp hours. If that's true (and it could be wrong) leaving the inverter on will use up the usable capacity of the batteries in eight days. On the ninth day you'd be drawing down the batteries lower than designed and potentially start damaging them. Get in the habit of turning off the inverter when you're not using it. You might avoid damaging the batteries by accidentally over discharging them. HTH, Ken

Hi Russ, Glad it worked out for everyone. Wayne and family at Mike’s LP are good, hard working people. They are easy to recommend.

Hull number 351 that was picked up this past June has the original style trim, or at least not the trim style shown in the amazon link. No trim issues to report yet.

Try Mike’s LP and RV in Maplewood, MN. It’s a family run small business. Don’t expect anything corporate about them. Father and son do the repairs. Mother keeps the books. Grand kids running around. It’s nice to see them make it work. I teach high school in the area and two of their boys spent a considerable amount of time in my shop. Great people. Mike’s replaced the refrigerator on my EII when Oliver sold it to me with a unit that was dead on initial delivery. Oliver wanted (and got) a full day for issue diagnosis from me, plus they wanted me to stay at least another two days to get the replacement unit installed. I called Mikes LP from the parking lot in Hohenwald, made an appointment, and hit the road back to Minnesota without a working refrigerator on my brand new travel trailer. I had places to be and was so ticked off at Oliver for delivering a unit with a totally dead refrigerator, killing two days at a hotel in Hohenwald was unacceptable. How could the both factory QC checks and delivery prep miss that the refrigerator was DOA? Mikes is an authorized service center for just about everything in the RV industry. Mine was the second Oliver they’d worked on. And the refrigerator replacement only took one day at Mike’s. HTH, Ken

Hello All. A few observations some might find interesting about condensation under the mattress I noticed on our twin bed 2018 EII this fall while out ruffed grouse hunting in northern Minnesota. Observation #1. Outside temp were in the 50's. I slept on the street side twin bed, two English setters slept on the other bed. A window and the roof vent were cracked open. No heater. Inside temps in the 60's. A small fan next to the sink was circulating air all night. I checked under the mattress in the morning, there was condensation on the fiberglass and the underside of the mattress was wet. Decided I needed to try something else to reduce the condensation. This isn't acceptable long term. Observation #2. Next night. Same outside temps, same inside temps, same air circulation, same blankets. I slept on the curbside twin bed this time (dogs on the other) thinking that side of the camper was better insulated since it doesn't have the outside storage locker under the curb side bed. No heater again. A small fan was running all night next to the sink. Same issues with condensation. Wet fiberglass and mattress in the morning again. Observation #3. Flip forward one week when I went hunting again and outside temps were in the low 30's/high 20's. Slept on the curbside twin bed (dogs on the other) again. This time I ran the house propane heater and the water heater on electric (I have access to AC power) all night. A small fan was running all night next to the sink. No condensation under the mattress for two nights. The two appliances running in the space under the bed keep the fiberglass warm to the touch and prevented body moisture from condensing on the cool fiberglass. Success! Conclusion? I'll sleep on the curbside twin bed when I'm solo and at least run the electric element on the water heater to keep the under mattress body condensation under control. What am I going to do when I have company and someone (other than dogs) is sleeping on the other bed? Or when I lack an electric outlet for utility hookup? Not sure yet. Next is to try my corrugated foam backpacking sleeping pad under the mattress. If that doesn't work, I guess I'll buy one of the many RV/fiberglass boat specific products that go under a mattress to provide air circulation and prevent condensation. Coming from a hybrid camping trailer with drop down tent ends with constant moisture problems under the mattresses, I guess I was hoping for much less of an issue with condensation in the new camper. Overall I'm very happy with the Oliver, but disappointed that I still need to deal with potential mattress moisture and mold issues due to condensation. Hope this helps someone else. Ken

If you decide to visit the North Dakota badlands, the south unit of TR National Park, and the Medora, ND area, there are a few options for camping. The National Park campsites were full in July when we were there. October should be better for finding an opening. Most of the National Park sites we saw in the South unit campground were shaded. By October the leaves should be down so the solar should work better. Avoid the RV city park in Medora. They were literally stacked slide-out against slide-out. We drove out of town to check out Sully Creek State Park. It was wonderful and I can’t imagine why more people weren’t there. Downside was no electricity or flush toilets, though they did have showers, water, and a dump station. Our Campsite was marked by a stake on the edge of a field with the bluffs in the background. I think it was site #8. Our nearest neighbors. There was some generator noise off in the distance. Our camper is the one in the far middle of the photo. Neighbors look closer that they actually were.