hobo
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Posts posted by hobo
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Take some extra time and do it the way it should have been done at the factory….
Good luck.
John Davies
Spokane WA
John, I agree. I recently re-wired my BriMar equipment trailer removing all original wires, replacing all lights with LEDs and best of all, replacing the crappy little house-hold metal junction box (yes the factory did that) with the box you used above. Neat, easy to read what goes where and not a box full of wire nuts, weird colored wires, and who knows what. else. Nice job.
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We are the proud owners of hull # 414 which was the very last 2018 model produced. We however, won't take delivery until 1 May due to some scheduled medical procedures (hip replacement) that will put a "hitch in my giddy-up" for a couple of months. We're excited to see others taking delivery of their units and having such good luck. We too plan on being at the rally in May.
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Certainly I feel your pain. When one reads the story about the Outlaw Oliver and the “custom” work that was done there (and elsewhere) and compares that to what appears to be the current situation, I’m sure that it can be a bit frustrating. Even what appear to be fairly simple requests are met with the same response – “no”.
However, it seems to me that this looks like a case of “be careful of what you ask for”. We, as a group, clamored for better quality and subjected the Company to a fair amount of abuse/criticism (justified or not) over these types of issues. Then, when the Company decides to concentrate on quality by limiting the number of deviations from the norm (custom work), once again we find ourselves in the position of not liking the result. Hopefully, one day, the Company will once again find itself in a position where they can accept custom work. I believe that I have a better, more comfortable and enjoyable camper because of the suggestions of the owners that came before me. But, in the final analysis, I’d rather have a quality unit that I can then modify and or customize later than a lesser built unit with a bunch of bells and whistles.
Bill
p.s. cool logo!
Absolutely agree with topgun2's assessment. Oliver's first priority must be to ensure a consistent flow of the production of a quality product for their own survivability. I think we can all agree they build a superior product as evidenced by our purchasing them. They in fact offer several factory options when ordering to tailor to the needs of most folks.
I personally wanted a 2 5/16 inch Bulldog hitch on my trailer and was told that they wouldn't do that as a factory item during production but I could have them do it as an after-the-fact speciality item. It cost me $261 to have them remove the factory 2" coupling and put on a larger one that they purchased separately. (Now I will have both as I paid for the original one and therefore want it too.) I have zero need for it, but I did pay for it. (Anyone need one?)
I have noted too, that Oliver is VERY careful to research from an engineering aspect, any and all changes or upgrades they make to their trailers. I am sure due to the litigious society we live in today, if they added (for instance) a custom shelf extension or a different appliance and it failed for some reason, or someone cut themselves on the bracketry, they would potentially find themselves liable for damages. Not necessarily from the Oliver owner but perhaps from someone visiting the trailer. For a small time operation like Oliver, one such lawsuit could be financially devastating.
I can fully appreciate Oliver setting a single standard and sticking to it for production efficiency. In 1909 Henry Ford advised his production and management team that the consumers could have “any color - so long as it is black.” Kind of what we're seeing here.
Can't wait to take delivery of our unit this spring and take advantage of all the great ideas the current owners have offered up as upgrades and additions.
Hobo
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Thanks to all who contributed.
This looks like an easy fix if and when the pump (or fuse) goes down. Probably will get a spare to carry with me. It's cheap insurance in my mind.
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The paper towel holder is this one. We really like it – it has a spring that keeps the roll from unrolling while traveling, which also gives it just enough tension to make it easy to rip of a sheet one handed.
The nets I’ll need to take some photos of and post about. It’s a simple mod that has really helped out day to day organization. We have them over the front door, over the beds, etc. I’ll see if I can take some photos and maybe put them into the Snowball thread later today.
Love the paper towel holder too. Is there a double faced tape that would secure this well enough to avoid drilling holes?
Also, I noted the towel bar across the face of the surface just below the counter top. Can you advise on that also.
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Overland: What's involved in replacing the pump? (Not having my unit here to look at, I'm at a disadvantage.) That might not be a bad idea.
Are the pumps used in the Ollies readily available?
Thanks
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John,
Quick follow up: When you disconnect everything for travel, do you leave the 90 on the trailer or do you remove everything? It looks in the pic like your cap chain is now affixed to your 90 elbow. Maybe it's not but that is what the pic looks like. Thanks again.
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John,
PERFECT!
Thanks for the pic. I'm a very visual learner. I am ordering the parts as we speak. We take delivery on "2 Hobos" in May but I want to gather enough most of the basics over the winter.
Thanks again.
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They may give you one of the cheap cylinderical regulators that is not adjustable and in reality just restricts water flow. It works but I would rather know what the pressure is and not restrict flow… one of these screwed into a disposable blue Camco water filter works great. Hook it up at the trailer, not the faucet, and you can add a 90 degree brass elbow at the outlet end, and lay the hose on top of the bumper to get keep it all off the ground and out of the way. It allows access to the rear compartment without tripping over the hose and other parts. It looks cool too, if that matters….
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B003YJLAIK/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
John Davies
Spokane WA
John, Could you possibly snap a pic of your setup? I want to make sure I do this correctly.
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Hobo –
PM sent re editing profile.
Bill
Thanks Bill.
Per your instructions, I think I just fixed it. Thanks and if someone sees it's NOT fixed, please let me know.
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OH, I do in fact tow with pickup truck so space, although not unlimited, is less of an issue for me than some.
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@ HOBO:
Welcome to our Forum! You may want to fill in some info in your Profile, such as your tow vehicle and which Oliver you are purchasing.
IF you don’t have a pick-up style tow vehicle (TV), then you are most likely going to want to carry your grill in/on your Oliver. If that is the case for transporting your grill, four options come to my mind: Jerry rig a mount for it on the bumper (Ugly), the rear storage compartment, in the trailer tongue box or get creative with another option.
You will find that very quickly you will fill up your rear storage space with items that need to go there (Search: “Milk Crate” or “buckets”). The front tongue storage “box” for owners that have not yet converted their TV to a pick-up, generally use the front box for muddy things such as “dunage” or “Chocks” (Lots of discussions on those two topics can be searched), maybe their “generator” (Another great Forum topic to search), or possibly a 2 1/2 gallon “gas can” should you be a boondocker or not have a mega gas tank in your TV. And some of us use the front tow box for all of those items.
Problem is that most of the popular grills take up more space than is available to those owners that don’t have a pick-up style TV’s. I quickly found that the obvious spaces get filled with other higher priority things, or take up space (Front storage box) that is needed by things that get messy. I am now thinking of a grill that can be put into a storage case and sat on the floor of the bathroom for transport! That way if it “leaks”, the impact and clean-up would be contained and easy to deal with. I would be very interested in hearing what other creative ideas our Owners have come up with for their grills.
Should this be your situation, I recommend that you not “pre-buy” a grill, but wait until you shake out the storage spaces first. Then buy a grill that is sized to fit the place you plan on transporting and storing it. Sort of a “Measure twice and buy the grill once” approach.
Dog gone it; I was sure I filled in my profile because someone made the same suggestion a little while ago. I must be doing something wrong. Can someone give me a refresher on this? Thanks for noticing that. Hobo
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I'm sure somewhere on this forum, this subject has been addressed but for the life of me, I can't seem to figure out to do a "search" for select subject matters.
In any case, the existing info might be a little dated anyway so I'll just ask the collective for suggestions.
Looking for specific recommendations for a grill as we plan on doing as little inside cooking as possible, weather permitting.
We do have the external propane ports on our trailer (to be delivered 1 May).
Thanks for any insight.
Hobo
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The other drawback to these types of units is that you can't park it and leave in your vehicle. That is precisely why we decided on a pull trailer vice a motorhome.
Hobo
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We have not taken possession of our 2018 Oliver yet but this morning, my wife asked if we were going to install a safe of some nature inside the trailer to protect valuables (cameras, binoculars, jewelry, etc.)
I know there are "hiding" places within the trailer but can anyone recommend a product and mounting location within the trailer to secure items?
Thanks,
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Having received great suggestions about items to procure before our delivery of our Elite II, I just realized that I am perhaps mixing apples and oranges in one arena:
Many have suggested the CAMCO stackable blocks but I'm beginning to realize that some folks are talking about blocks to put under the levelers while others (I believe) are talking about blocks to put under the wheels/tires. To be honest, I was thinking in terms of the levelers. Do I need to have blocks of some nature for both?
Again, I'm a rookie when it comes to travel trailers so pardon the basic questions.
Thanks, Paul (HOBO)
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Hobo, sorry about the slow response, I went with the air lift brand. It’s a simple set up, no compressor, I just air up as needed. They only took about 1 hour to install on my F150.
steve
Thanks Steve,
I was moving in the direction of the Air Lift brand so you just confirmed my thoughts. Did you install yourself or did you have the dealer do that? I am thinking of installing myself. It looked pretty straight forward.
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Initially don’t over think this. Prior to delivery simply get your hitch ball height to between 23 and 24 inches on level ground. At delivery your Andersen will be set up for you with (probably) 6 threads showing beyond the nut (which is to the rear of the red bushings). Then after delivery you can use John’s guide above for tuning it to your liking.
Bill
It's been a long thread but to get back to basics, I won't be using an equalizer based on the recommendations early on in this discussion and based on the recommendation by the Anderson rep at the rally last year. (One ton Dodge diesel truck). Based on that, I think John's note above and your suggested height will suffice for my purposes. I will arrive with my hitch set up at 23.5" and then let my airbags level out the trailer and truck which should be minor. If after using it and tweaking ride height for a while, I find any handling issues, I can always move to the equalizer. Thanks again to all. This is a great forum.
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Bottom line, save your money, you do NOT need the Andersen. I think everyone here will agree with that. For a half ton, the answer is you need one. The Elite II is fairly heavy for its size (especially fully specced out and with full tanks) but it tows way WAY better than any of your buddy’s stick built trailers. Your truck will know its there, but the trailer is extremely well behaved, with NO sway issues whatsoever. Your (stock) 5.9 Cummins will do fine until you get onto 12% grades above 10,000 feet, then it will start to feel it a little.
Airbags are a fine idea, but you won’t need them for the Ollie just by itself. Expect a couple of inches of rear sag at the most, depending on the trailer’s tongue weight. I towed for a year with a ’06 Ram 3500 Cummins Quad Cab 4wd and a dead weight setup, I had no issues whatsoever except for a little coupler noise on really nasty concrete.. The Andersen would have silenced that. You probably need a ball mount “slop stopper” or silencer. I used the U-shaped one that is available at any RV store and it worked great.
I used a 2 inch ball with extended 1 inch shank (intended to go through a thick truck bumper) with a regular drop bar with 1 inch hole. I bought ten hardened Grade 8 flat fender washers (large outside diameter, a little over 1/8″ thick) at the bolt supply store. The washers are for fine tuning the ride height: add some under the ball flange as needed to raise it, and stack the others underneath to take up the space of the long shank. I have done this for decades with no issues. I actually did not have to raise the ball, but I liked having that option. See pics.
https://www.etrailer.com/Hitch-Ball/Curt/40038.html
I don’t know which mount you will need, mine was a 2.5 inch rise but I was running 33″ tires. If you need help figuring this out, just ask.
BTW get some big mud flaps on your truck, if you don’t already have a set. Rock Tamers are fine if you don’t venture off pavement too often. Make sure they are rigged correctly – with a 30 to 45 degree rear sweep.
Did you order the cargo basket? The reason I ask is that without it you can carefully jackknife the trailer a little further and unload your ATV without disconnecting the trailer. If you should hit, it will contact your steel bumper, not the fender. With the basket there you would need to disconnect.
John Davies
Spokane WA.
John, can you (or anyone else) tell me the height off the ground that the top of my ball needs to be in order for the trailer to be level? Or maybe a cleaner way is to tell me how high off the ground is the top of your hitch when the trailer is level? Thanks.
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I agree with Randy and Overland, I wouldn’t buy anything unless you’re sure it can be returned. I tow with an f150 with a ladder rack with 2 kayaks on top, they extend at least 2 feet past the rear of the truck and don’t come close to the trl.
As far as weight distribution, I would hold off on that too, as long as you don’t exceed the rear axle weight rating the oliver will pull fine without it. If you go over the axle rating, too much weight is removed from the front and your steer axle will be too light, hence the need for weight distribution.
Air bags will level out the truck but they don’t redistribute weight, I use them on my truck.
Steve
Thanks Steve. Just wondering which air bags do you use? I'm pretty sure I'm going with the Air Lift brand but also see good things about the Firestone.
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OK, now I see his point. You and he might be right. Nice catch.
In fact, it would be awhile before we did the ATV and trailer combo thing and we could do some further evaluation after we have the trailer hooked up. Initial trips will be sans the ATV.
Thanks for the input.
Hobo
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Randy, Thanks for the input.
Maybe I wasn't clear in my description above. The ATV rack extends about 12" past the tailgate (in the closed/up position). The extended hitch puts the receiver 21" past the bumper which equates to the distance covered when the tailgate is in the open or down position.
In effect, the back of the truck is now 21" further back or at the point where the tailgate is open. At that point, the ATV rack is actually about 10" shorter than the tailgate. I see no way that anything on the tongue of the trailer is in jeopardy of getting hit by either the ATV rack or the tailgate (if it was down).
Am I missing something here?
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Update provided in note above.
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[attachment file=1. SUPERTRUSS EXTENSION.jpg]
John; All good points to ponder but I have previously investigated the extended hitch and you're right, as the hitch goes out, the tongue weight allowed goes go down dramatically. The SuperHitch however has taken this into account and provided the additional construction and engineering to specially account for this scenario. If you read the data available from the linked website, you can see how they did this. They in fact use a chain system similar to the Andersen equalizer as well as using a second 2" receiver, one on top of the other. That is why they rate the system at 2K tongue weight and 17K-20K pull weight. It's an interesting system that was suggested to me by a very reputable off-road fabrication shop that specializes in unique towing issues. Superhitch in fact, has systems that extend out to well over 4' that are engineered to handle 30K lbs.. The one I'm looking at is the shortest one they make.
Now, you're point about total weight on the rear of the truck is valid and I'll look into that.
You are correct about the extension being a knee knocker so when disconnected from the trailer, I would simply remove the extension and put in the rear of the truck or otherwise, drop the tailgate which covers the extension. When I'm not hauling the ATV, the standard hitch goes in vice the 21" version.
As far as having Oliver extend the frame, I think we're too far down the road for that one. The trailer has been in productions since mid-Oct.
Interesting discussion and I'm open to other suggestions or concerns.
Thanks again.
Here is a link to a picture of the SuperHitch set up with the extension in place https://www.torklift.com/automotive/supertruss
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Bigfoot to an Oliver
in General Discussion
Posted
I seriously considered a BigFoot 25 foot trailer but after actually looking at one, although good sized, it is your traditional wood frame, wood this, wood that...ect. trailer. Wood floors with vinyl covering. It's also wide.
When I looked at the underside it was a mess. All in all, a heavy duty version of a traditional maintenance plagued trailer. The unit I saw was less than a year old and there was rust and peeling paint on the frame already needing attention.
I was leaning heavily toward the BigFoot until I saw an Oliver. Game over. My wife and I both agreed immediately that the Oliver was a much better product. Also, the BigFoots are built in Canada (west coast) so support would be poor for those of us on the east coast.
NO CONTEST! Oliver is a much better unit at the start and will be so for many years to come.