Geronimo John

Trainman: My 2017 Legacy Elite II does not have solar. I chose not to get it for several reasons. Some are: A. The cost. B. The aerodynamic drag. One of these days Oliver will be able to offer direct adhered solar panels that will eliminate this reason. I am told that currently the flexible panels on the market will not make the radius curves of the roof. So aerodynamically speaking, the existing "Dirty" panels must be used. Of course, an option would be to modify the roof curves to reduce the radius so that they could. I think it wise that OTT is waiting for more flexible panels vs. changing their roof profile. C. The compromises needed to make a solar generator free system work. Reasons A and B speak for themselves. So, the following attempts to address Reason C. Unlike your camping style, we are boon-docking 75% of the time at locations that have no hookups. Sure, we take advantage of hook-ups when we can, but frankly I agree with the above owners that it is rare out west to be able to do so. So, to take care of our power needs, we have the 2000-watt inverter, the EZ Start option on the A/C, and a Honda EU 2200i generator. With this setup we can run the microwave every day (and yes, it is "a battery killer"), occasionally the A/C (when the MaxFan is not enough cooling). We typically make our coffee (electric pot), make breakfast using the microwave and stove. Then later in the morning we run the very quiet Honda generator for an hour or so. Then if needed, during the evening will run it again for about 90 minutes or less to fully charge our batteries. This setup works very well for us and we have avoided Reasons A and B. After 50 years of sleeping under the stars and tent camping, we very much enjoy the comforts of our Ollie. Especially when we find ourselves out west at an extremely hot site. Most of the time, Ollie with its white color and well insulated walls does very well with the Max-fan. But there are a few times that we just have to run the A/C. I suspect that this is the case with most of our Oliver peers. It is the A/C that drives this issue in my opinion. I would love to hear how the Oliver Solar Owners address running the A/C when needed when they don’t have a generator. How long will the batteries last when doing so? I suspect that if they have a need for A/C, the limitations of power storage and sunny weather pretty much requires them to also have a generator handy. If not, what compromises are needed to make a solar system work with A/C loads without a generator in the game plan? Geronimo John

George: I think that leaks are one of the most frustrating elements of owning a trailer. I can only imagine your frustration. The nice thing about gravity is that it rarely lies. :-) But our eyes often do. If the leak is from upper window seal, then a single line of duct tape, horizontally placed on the outside of the hull, spanning the seal, from the fiberglass shell over the seal to the glass below the seal would be a simple garden hose test. If it still leaks water into the interior, then it would seem that the water is coming down the interstitial space of the hull from above. Unfortunately, you'll need either a dry day, or a covered space to let all the trapped water in the hull excape.... then to test it. That could take several days. As Dave P. (above) mentions, and I suspect is the case, the leak may well still be coming from above, and the upper window seal is just the location the water is leaving the inter-hull space and entering the interior of the trailer. If the above is the case, the water from above will find a place to exit the space between the hulls, exiting either inside, out, or both. One other consideration, or test, would be to turn off the A/C and allow all the water to leave the hull wall cavity. Then garden test the exterior. If no leak, the run the A/C looking for it to appear. This too would require a lot of time. The above does little to solve the problem, but at least it could possibly help in understanding it. Good luck. Geronimo John

Bill and Bob: I very much appreciate your insights and responses. My past boat trailers always got an annual spring "Full Monte" when it comes to bearing service. I also always carried two sets of spindle rehab spare parts just in case. I know for boat trailers, the issue water intrusion. Especially in Utah with altitude, high speeds, and extremely hot sun heated bearings getting quenched into a chilly Lake Powell. Add to that winter salt and you have the perfect conditions to eat seals and bearings. Hence the annual Full Monte. Without inspection ports and flow-through grease replacement, I will follow your advice and pull them all the way down.... and my gut to have a Dexter repair kit in the boot as well. The PITA of being on the side of a highway 95 miles from anything makes the service effort seem really easy. Thank you again, John R

For a portable BBQ, I like the Viking "See Inside" the cylinder to see how much propane is left. However, I don't use them for my trailer. There I want steel or aluminum tanks. Too many OOPs, or an accident could more easily rupture the fiberglass Vikings. I would not recommend the 30 pound cylinders due to their weight. I do like Dave Phelp's recommendation of carrying a third 20 pound tank if you really need more fuel unless you are boondocking very high with extreme cold conditions. For three season camping, I personally don't think it would be needed. As such, recommend you try the two standard tanks out for a few trips. Mahalo, John

Jaque: Welcome to the Oliver Family and our Forum. An item not yet commented upon is your concern with not wasting water while boondocking. Spot on! Solution: Cut the top of a plastic milk jug above the handle in an oval shape towards the opposite side so that the sink faucet handle/shower head can slip into the jug but leaving the jug handle intact. When you want hot water at the bathroom or kitchen, use the jug to collect the cold "Hot water". Place it by the toilet for future flushing. I also encourage you to scour the Forum and Oliver University sections of this site. The owners and OTT have an amazing amount of info on line that is invaluable. John TOM: Thanks for the reminder that the hot water heater indirectly also assists in keeping the inner hull space warm. I had not thought of that before your post. Mahalo!

The 3.0L Eco-Diesel engine has not been discontinued for model year 2019. According to two blogs, it will enter production during the summer of 2019. To keep up with the competition, it is rumored that the output of the 3.0 Eco Diesel will be on the order of 260 HP and 442 lb-Ft of torque...... and still get great mileage in a big truck.

Jim: I'm also looking at the used market for a Ram 3.0 Eco-diesel. Impressive in the 4X4 version, puts out 420 ft-lbs of torque and is EPA rated a combined 22 mpg (City 19 and Highway 28 MPG) for the 2015 model anyway. Some of the blogs indicate that the owners of the used ones are getting way over the EPA ratings. Also, the 2015 version has an eight speed transmission, and I believe two of the gears are OD. The combination absolutely kills the ten MPG I got last summer.

At the top of the page where the Blue Bar is located, on the right side select Forums. The drop down tab "My Profile". Select and update.

I have very positive experiences with the Honda 2000 watt inverter generators. They are the top of the line series. But I share your thoughts about the much lower cost of the Yamaha line. For my Oliver Elite II, I do not have the solar option. I carry the Honda new version, the EU2200I. With the OTT option for the soft start kit on the A/C, the a 2,000 watt generator will run the A/C. I prefer the Honda EU2200I as it easily handles the A/C and has some excess capacity. If you don't mind "actively managing" your loads (Microwave and battery charger being the two main ones) the EU2200 is a perfect match. If cost is an issue, then the competing 2000 watt inverter generators such as the Yamaha is a good choice, but you will have to really manage the other loads if running the A/C. What do I mean by "actively managing" your loads? When you arrive at your camp site, often our batteries are not at full charge, the trailer is hot, and use of the microwave is in order, hot water is needed, and the refrigerator is activated. Before starting the generator, you would want to make sure that your hot water and refrigerator are both running on gas. Then you must make a choice between A/C or other loads (Battery charging or cooking). I open up windows, turn off the A/C and turn on the battery charger and power up the microwave and MaxFan. After some time, the battery charger ramps down. This would allow use of the microwave. When the microwave is not needed, I can then fire off the A/C. With solar panels, the above generally would be modified as your batteries likely will be at charge. If so, you can modify the above "active management" routine, but I still doubt that you could run the A/C and main battery charger at the same time even with the larger EU2200i and solar panels. (I am sure that this thought will be clarified by OTT solar owners.) I know from experience that the Honda 3000i is a fantastic unit as well. But it is very expensive, heavy, and uses more fuel than the smaller Honda's. For several reasons, I would not recommend mounting it on the tongue of your Ollie though. It should reside in your truck bed for several reasons. Just be smart and ensure that it's height will fit under your locking cover. If you do not want to be actively managing loads, then this beast is the one to go with. One more thought on this generator is that it takes two strong guys to lift it into or off your truck bed. So using your truck while not towing Ollie puts the camp in a solar system off grid mode. Which many owners do every trip by "actively manage" their power supply and loads. Even though I have strong bias in favor of the tried and true Honda inverter generators, if I had your OTT solar system and the soft start on the A/C, I would actively manage my loads and get the half price Yamaha and only use it when A/C is needed. Save the $500 and buy a tire pressure monitoring system and a back-up camera from Amazon! Welcome to the Oliver family! JPRussell

As some of you know, my Ollie is in cold storage in a shed up in the OK mountains. I plan on traveling from the Islands and giving Ollie a visit and am planning from long distance on what I would like to do while there. The above thread has generated some questions. As I had not heard or seen the Dexter EZ Lube Spindles before this morning in the above thread, it generated some questions. So, here goes: A. Would my 2018 Elite II have the EZ Lube Spindles? B. Assuming that I do have them, also assuming that I have raised Ollie off it's tires, inspected all four wheels and found no concerns with wobble, bearing play, sticking spots (Brake Shoes or Bearings); would a bearing flush be adequate for service after my summer's 8,000 mile travels? C. I would like to check on the brake shoes. Are there inspection ports on the brake plate that would would allow inspection of the brake shoes in lieu of pulling the drum? D. If not, than I will need to pull the brake drums for inspection. Does just pulling the drums necessitate replacement of the rear seal? Even it it looks good after I have inspected it? I have a pretty good idea what the answer will be for this one..... E. Assuming that none of our trailers had submerged the axles, have you had an axle bearing failure? If so, what kind of service had it received? Do you have any idea why it failed? F. Do you recommend having a couple sets of brake shoes in your road tool chest? G. Do the brake shoes tend to wear evenly on the tandem axles, or so you see one or another shoe pulling more than it's share and there by wearing more quickly than the others? Thank you for your time and for sharing your expertise. John R.

If you don't figure it out, an alternative is to step on the toilet flush valve and run a garden hose into the toilet. It feeds directly into the black tank.

Dave: Good news on the extra 400 pounds. OTT will have inspected and checked all they can. One item I do recommend YOU do is to connect a 4,000 pound trailer to your Audi. I am not questioning your driving skills. But I am suggesting that the new brake controller will need to be calibrated. Yes, OTT will work with you to do so, but it would be far better if you had worked with YOUR controller on the Audi in advance. One way to do this would be to ask your contractor friends to borrow a loaded trailer for an afternoon. I too have pulled loads for most of my life. But not with a new brake controller on my current TV. If you get there and yours is defective for some reason, you are stuck with a difficult problem that you should have known about in advance. Best wishes and good karma for you and Donna. PS: Ollie and I will be in Ruch, Oregon in early June for the ten day Applegate Open Paragliding Championship. If you are in the area look up I'll be flying a Red and Blue glider!

Donna and Duane: In your response you indicate you have purchased the Elite, not the Elite II. The OTT Elite dry weight is listed at 3,400 pounds with 340 pounds of tongue weight. I do not know what year your TV (Tow Vehicle) is, but guessed it as a 2017. The 2017 Guide to Towing lists all Audi Q5's as having a 4,000 maximum tow weight. That's the "all in" weight of your trailer, its added loads, plus the additional loads you have in the Audi. So to the 3400 pounds you must add water, fuel, passengers, luggage, stores and additional equipment (Generator, chalks, BBQ etc.). So even if you are traveling with a "Dry Trailer", if I am reading the tea leaver properly, you will have plenty of horsepower, but you are pushing the envelope of the Q5 when all other weights are considered. An additional concern is the short wheel base of the A5. My point is that you need to be cautious on your 500 miles or so while the brakes on the trailer "burn in" and you get to really understand how your controller work as that process changes braking results of your vehicle and the trailer. If the roads are wet, hilly snow or iced, this process can be "hair raising" if your are pushing the envelope speed wise. But my biggest concern is that I see no time for the delays that you likely will encounter . Some of them are: A. TRAILER TRANSFER AND BRIEFING: The OTT new owner briefing will take most of Thursday. As you are STRONGLY encouraged to spend the night at the OTT provided camp ground, that process will likely not be completed until Thursday evening.. You need to do this to verify you really do understand how your Ollie works. Bring a steno pad to write down questions as your evening likely will result in your having questions that you will want to get answered at the factory on Friday morning. This in one of the reasons that OTT does not do trailer turn-overs on Fridays. They are not available on Saturdays for your follow-up questions. B. FACTORY TECHNICAL ISSUES: Despite a great QC program, the Oliver is a complex system of systems. Invariably new owners will run into an issue or two that needs to be corrected. In my case, the Oliver brakes were not seating properly and in fact were not working well at all. Without them I could not depart the factory on Thursday as I had hoped. We worked much of Thursday afternoon, and I ended up staying in my trailer at the OTT office so we could jump back on it early Friday morning. We worked all day on Friday and the results were perfect. So basically I left OTT Friday evening, a full day after my plans would allow. Another example of why OTT does not do trailer turn overs on Friday...... C. YOUR TECHNICAL ISSUES: Once you get on the road, you will ultimately find holes in your knowledge, even of things that you thought you understood. Those issues will slow you down as you have to figure out how things actually work. My first night away from OTT resulted in an additional four hours at the Navy Family Camping ground in Memphis because I could not figure out an issue. I finally called Phil and he talked me through it and I was rolling again. But it took time and put me further behind the eight ball schedule. D. FACTORY PICKUP: I strongly suggest that you BOTH be involved in picking up your trailer at the factory, and to doing so together in person is really important. My wife could not make the trip from Hawaii so I did it solo. Even with a list of topics to discuss at turn over, and pages and pages of notes, I still ran into topics that I was unclear on. I wish that I had her second opinion at those times as it would have been very helpful. I often refer back to my pages of notes from the trailer training and marvel at the great job that Phil did in teaching this new owner. Faced with what I know now and your schedule, you realistically can either ship your Ollie, or delay pickup until your joint schedules can allow you both to pick up your Ollie it in a more relaxed and safe manner. I recommend the latter.

Welcome to the Oliver Family! Some thoughts from a first year OTT owner: First the comments by Top Gun are spot on. When time permits, slowing down and enjoying the ride is THE way to go. But, at times that approach is not in the game plan. During summers, I am generally "On a mission" to get to paragliding competitions and fly-in's that are scattered across the continental USA. When possible , I love to stop at National Parks (using a Senior Pass of course) and to explore small towns. However, at this point in life, such is not my norm. Generally I have not enough time between distant events and covering those miles requires me to roll. Below are some thoughts and trip planning parameters: A. Are you team driving or solo driving with a navigator? Even with all the electronic maps and tools, having a navigator and partner is really nice. Having a partner that also is good with driving with a 5,000 + trailer is fantastic. B. What is your tow vehicle rating? What motor are your running? What is the size of the fuel tank? These are considerations that can help or hinder your goal of covering a lot of ground. My Toyota Sequoia with the 4.7L rolls great on the flat lands, easily running at the posted speed limit or above. Our Elite II tracks exceptionally well and due to its weight and shape behaves very well with faster truck and cross winds. But on mountain climbs, my small motor requires use of the 4 way flashers and generally relegates us to the right lane. C. The Sequoia fuel tank does wonderful solo (18 MPG), but with Ollie in tow we are running about 11 MPG or so. Seems like a lot of extra fuel stops that requires more time than they should. D. Especially out west, the distance between fuel stops can easily exceed the range of my vehicle towing Ollie. I carry a 2.5 gallon fuel can in the front tray of Ollie. Have not actually needed it, but I sure have been worried on more than one occasion. E. Regardless if your tow vehicle is on the wimpy side, as mine is, or a diesel monster, you'll likely not cover the ground as you are used to towing a trailer of this size. For planning purposes, I recommend an average speed of just 50 MPH. At ten hours it is 500 miles. With a partner it is feasible to do so for three or four days. After that, rest is strongly recommended. F. Hopefully you will have the time to really explore the OTT Forums and also the Oliver University. There is a huge amount of good information in both. Highly recommend you download all you can from these sources. G. Finally, if you run into a problem, try to figure it out from the Owner's Manual before calling OTT. If it is not covered therein, search the Forums. There are thousands of topics covered in the OTT Forums. If you strike out and still don't have the information you need.... post a note to the forum. There is a herd of OTT owners listening every day, and several of them likely solved the same problem in years past. When I made the decision to buy an Oliver, it was the welcoming and positive responses I got from the owners and the OTT team that made me confident in my purchase. So bring your laptop and use these tools to help you through the learning curve. Good luck! Geronimo John

The only problem I have had is when camping in grass or weeds that reach up and rub on the steps into Ollie. My solution was to stow the steps, turn our outside mat 90 degrees, and slide it under the area under the steps. Step on it a few times to crush the grass/weeds down, re-deploy the steps and pull the mat out a bit for wiping our feet of debris. This eliminated the ant superhighway into our Ollie.

I had heard of E-Bikes, but was not aware of how advanced they have become. Thank you for your posts. Question: Do E-Bikes have regenerative braking? If so, how is it controlled? Mahalo!

I like the small solar panel over the winter charging approach for locations without house power. However it requires attention and care during the winter. My Elite II is in a shed, covered, out of the sun, wind, rain and snow. As house power is available, I have options that would not apply to many Oliver owners. I have heard that some owners will leave their trailer connected to house power, and will use the on-board charger to maintain their batteries over the winter. My preference is to not do so as I have some concern with having a large charger on line in an unoccupied out of sight situation. As such, I purchased a small 1.5 amp Tractor Supply battery maintainer. I have mounted this unit on a vertical wall of the shed directly above and adjacent to the battery compartment. I then extended the maintainer cables so that they would go up to the rafters, across the access isle by the battery box, and then down to the battery box. For safety, I turn off ALL Oliver systems (Both 120V and 12V) and also trip all breakers. (Note: I do this so that I can power up systems one at a time in the Spring, and I know that regardless of what happens over the winter, I have no power in the trailer that could cause concerns. Over kill, maybe, but an extra layer of safety costs nothing and may prevent an issue. For example, a mouse having lunch with one of the larger electrical wires certainly could cause an issue or two). With the batteries in a cold state (I.E. not on a charger for at least 8 hours), I adjust the battery water in all cells to full. I then disconnect the positive terminal of the Oliver battery set, and connect the battery maintainer. It will generally give a yellow light indicating that it is working, but the batteries are not at FULL charge. After a few days, I have a friend verify that the maintainer has gone to "Green Light" (all is well). I rest well until mid-May when Ollie and I restart systems, grease bearings and zerks, fill tanks and supplies, and roll another 12,000 miles chasing the wind. The unit I recommend is the Tractor Supply heavier duty model: Schumacher 1.5 Amp, fully automatic battery maintainer. It costs $24.95 at Tractor Supply, and occasionally at Blaine's Tractor Supply for $19.95. I know that there are a lot of these units on the market. This one is my preference as it is self protected, stoutly built, and has been proven by many years of service. EDIT NOTE: For some reason I can't delete the below picture. This is the charger version. The unit I purchase is a Maintainer/Charger. Be sure to get the Maintainer one.

JD: I think we ALL agree with you on the backwards hinge/removable cover issue. What a PITA!

I'm not so sure that "ants love termites". What I do know is that after a termite colony is eliminated, that ants LOVE to take over the tunnels that termites make in your wood. It not only saves them a huge amount of effort in making their colony, but it also provides them protection as well. Since termites tend to reside where there is a water source, the ants have almost all of the elements they need to thrive. The last is food, and that's easy to find where we humans live. I do not recommend spraying for pests inside a trailer. Especially an Oliver as it is a very well sealed environment (Four season reason). Hence we are encouraged to open windows and/or use our MaxFan. What I do recommend is trapping (Mice, rats etc.) and baiting (Ants, termites, etc.). Trapping (Sticky boards, spring traps, or enclosed traps) mice and rats "captures" the body thereby preventing a poisoned and dying critter from hiding in an impossible location and stinking up our trailer. Better to know where he died (in the trap) and removing him with the trap verses looking for hours for the source of the stink. For ants, I recommend Tarro. Ants take it back to their nest and in short order it dies too. I have found that some ants will ignore Tarro. In such cases, try another brand. But the best overall inside use first choice is always Tarro.

In my dreams, I would go for this vintage Dodge tug. It may even be able to keep with John D's Super Toyota!

Sherry: Thank you for posting the instructions! Working on mine now. Geronimo John

Mike: One item that Airstream owners hate is hail. I've seen the results of that combination and it was not pretty. This influenced my decision to buy OTT Hull 342. Geronimo John

I purchased for my work four 2018 sprinter vans. Love them. But loaded with the turbo diesel they are certainly not "Over Powered". Be aware that starting with model year 2019, MB has shifted production from Germany to Argentina. My gut says that with any model year change, especially one involving a change of factory, and ESPECIALLY with a change of country..... delay a year or two to allow the bugs to be worked out. The sage advice of going with what is proven is also a key consideration.... especially at $150K. My three recommendations in no particular order would be: Used Toyota Land Cruiser (Big wink to John D.) Used Ford/Ram 250/2500 with diesel Used Nissan Titan with Cummings Diesel For those that would like a less expensive option, the Toyota Sequoia Gen II with the 5.7L would be my choice. You can get into a very nice used one for about $15K. Geronimo John

Thanks John D. I agree. I looked into the turbo/super charger mods and due to cost fell as you do that it is not worth the effort. Basically prior to this summer, I updated all the maintenance items and replaced the rear bearings; so I have quite a bit of time and costs into it. Body is still real good and interior is as well. My 2018 Summer trip is completed with 14,000 miles on the TV and 8,000 on Ollie all in 13 weeks double crossing the USA chasing paragliding sites and competitions. Overall the Sequoia 4.7L managed and ran perfectly with zero problems. At this point on trade, it is only going to fetch $2 or so. Outright sale a bit more I suspect. My strategy is to run it another year (Summer 2019), or until I lose any major component. Thanks again for all the inputs you have been spot on every time. Geronimo John

I am on a very weak internet link, so my apologies if this response gets garbled. I purchased the Telesteps 1600E OSHA Compliant 16 ft Reach Telescoping Extension Ladder via Amazon.com Services, Inc. for $172.31. It is a 12 foot ladder, advertised as a 16 foot reach. I have used it extensively during the past month on a construction site. I am about 240 pounds and have made at least 300 trips up it. It is well made and fits EASILY in my Oliver Elite II closet at the front door. I would buy this ladder again and recommend it for use on our OTT's. Geronimo John