bugeyedriver

Along Route 66, in Wilmington IL........ Oscar and I visit The Gemini Man!

Overland, Bwahahaaaa on the mumbling comment! I like maximum flexibility while camping. One time I was camping high in the Rocky Mts, at a federal park where Mountainborn and Butcherknife were camphosts. There were no hookups, but water was available at scattered points. The source of water closest to me was across the street, about 125 feet from my trailer. If campground rules permit greywater discharge, it is convenient to have water hoses that can reach a distance. I now carry 175 ft of water hose. Two 25' coiled hoses and three collapsable hoses ( two @ 50' and one 25'). These take up a very small footprint in the bed of my truck. Pete

Overland, While it is technically possible for OTT to produce a trailer of a different color (they did two of them back in "the early years") it is extremely cost prohibitive. In order to prepare the pressure hoses and guns for a different color, they would first need to be totally rid of the previous color via a deep internal cleansing process which is very time consuming, involving huge labor costs. And after the unique trailer was produced, the cleaning process for all of the hoses and guns would have to occur again in order to get ready for normal production. I don't know the figures, but I daresay it would cause a prospective buyer to say "Ya know? White ain't all that bad after all." The capital investments of complete sets of hoses and guns for all potential customer color requests would not pay for itself due to the infrequent times they would be put into use. If they sat around for a long time before use, they'd need to be cleaned too ensure a smooth application, without goofy glitches from dried debris in the lines. Now, if some new owner wannabe said they would pony up $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ just to get a chartreuse trailer, OTT just may oblige them. Ya never know. Pete

Overland, Perhaps they can hold a timed fire drill event at the upcoming Ollie rally, where the winner gets one of those fancy fire alarms with a ten year battery. It would make for an interesting video! Pete

OPEN.....DROP.....JUMP !!!!! OPEN the escape hatch DROP Bosker out the window JUMP out after him (assuming, of course, that we cannot simply walk out the front door)

Well, if anybody could pull this off, it's Steve. And no, Steve, we don't need to see the video.

Alright now. This has been an interesting exercise in communication. Thanks to all who participated. There were several opportunities for misunderstandings and I think we managed to hit most of them (to include my outdated information on the way it used to be 7 years ago). I caught the joke, Overland. It was a subtle one and I understand how it might be mistaken. Thanks to Jason for filling in the historical background on the numerous changes to the axles over the years and for committing to have the current website information corrected. I believe this topic has nicely been put to bed. Now, lets all join hands around the campfire and break out in a rousing verse of Kumbaya . . . .

Ahhhhhh, those were the days . . . "stripper pole" conversations. Ha! I had just gotten over the occasional nightmare envisioning Mountainborn, camo-thong and all, using the stripper pole for his middle of the night walks to the front of the trailer. (shudder) Thanks a lot, Overland.

Malcom, you are not disturbing the flow here at all. This is a place for sharing information and asking ANY questions so we can all be assured of our Ollies' ins and outs and learn how to enjoy it to the fullest. Chances are, if you had the question, others did as well. Thanks for your participation in the forum and helping us clarify any issues you may have. Your job is an intense one, requiring precision. It is logical that you would want to know specifics about your investment. Feel free to ask away, anytime. You are going to LOVE your Ollie!!!

Malcom and others who may be concerned, Elite II owner "rideandfly" states his ready to camp Elite II without water weighs 4690 lbs. If you were to add the 32.5 gallons of fresh water you would have an additional 260 lbs, for a total weight of 4950. This is still only 2/3 of the capacity of twin 3500 lb axles, giving you a 34% overhead margin for safety. As for brakes; Having four 10 x 2 1/4 inch brakes gives you 180 square inches of braking surface for stopping your heaviest Elite II (supplies & water on board) of 4950 lbs. My Elite I weighs in at 3900 lbs with stores and full fresh water tank. With it's single axle and 12 x 2 inch brakes, it has 96 of braking surface and I will attest (after 99,000 miles) I have found it to stop just FINE in all conditions and grades of roads I have thus far encountered. Rest assured, whatever brakes and axles your Elite II may have, safety is definitely not an issue to be concerned about. Pete

And yet.......if you look at today's Ollie website page listing the standard features on the 2017 Elite II, you will read: CHASSIS Quad Shocks on dual Dexter leaf spring axles with “Nev-R-Adjust” 12″ electric brakes for exceptional control and braking Quite a muddled issue here. Jason, can you get this corrected, for clarification?

Randy, that is an awesome "hat" you have made to protect your Ollie. Likely the best bang for the buck possible. Is it secured so it won't blow off under high wind conditions? If you do a Google search, using "metal ; RV ; carport ; kit" you will come across numerous options, everything from a tent covered, do it yourself structure for $995 (not sure how many seasons the tenting material would last) to metal roof structure kits under $2000, to some $6000 or more stout structures they will erect for you. You can save money by putting down a gravel base instead of concrete You can also go overboard . . . I designed a shelter for protecting both The Wonder Egg and my truck and had a contactor build it on my property. They ran electricity from the house, built a foundation and poured a 17' by 50' slab of concrete. The back part includes a 10' by 17' storage shed and the front 40' is a covered area with 30 amp service and a 12' tall opening (in case I ever got a larger unit, which is unlikely). The walls only go down 6' to afford great protecton from the Texas sun and a cool space to wash & wax. There are long florescent lights so I can easily work around the trailer after the sun sets, as needed. The gate operates remotely, using solar power and weighs about 600 lbs. I'll take a picture of it tomorrow to attach to this post. EDIT: 19 Jan 8:59 am

Randy, if I understand the tax issue, your neighbor with the RV cover is "assessed" $4000 each year with is added to the appraised value of his property, right? (Surely it is not a $4000 increase in taxes due!!) If so, the actual amount of tax increase he must pay would be based on his property tax rate. NH property tax rate averages 2.05%, so a $4000 assessment increase would result in an increase of $82 each year to his tax burden. Put another way, that's $6.83 per month to protect his RV from the elements. Might not be so bad after all to help maintain the value of your trailer if you look at it this way.

Bosker and I shall be there, 4-7 May. Looking forward to meeting more of the Ollie family and other fiberglass enthusiasts.

Love the picture. Too bad about the tax hit for a nice carport. Could you put up a minimalist cover like this and avoid the tax issue?

John, thanks for the correction. Sorry about that. I was working on information of how it was back 7 years ago when only the single axle Elite was in production. My apologies to all for the misinformation. Pete

Count the number of lugs on your wheels. If you have 5 lugs, you have the 3500 lb axle. A 5200 lb axle will have 6 lugs. (CORRECTION: ERROR.....see Raspy's reply to this at his 11:29 posting later today)

They are welcome to it. No dogbones requred. Ya listening, Anita? Use it as you wish . . .

I camped near the giant General Sherman tree, at Lodgepole campground. The picture was taken during my descent to the southern exit. It is very very very winding road with many miles of hairpin curves. You folks in the Ollie II should call ahead to make sure they'll allow you on that route. Here is a comment from the park's information: Generals Highway The section of the Generals Highway leading from the Sequoia park entrance to the Giant Forest sequoia grove was built in the early 1920s and connot accommodate longer vehicles. Vehicles longer than 22 feet (6.7 m) are not advised between Potwisha Campground and the Giant Forest Museum in Sequoia National Park. Good luck . . . (sometimes being short comes in handy)

Sequoia National Park, 2008

Heres a listing of approved lubricants from the Dexter company: Approved Grease Sources Chem Arrow- Arrow 2282 Chevron Texaco- Chevron Ulti-Plex Grease EP #2 Texaco Starplex Moly MPGM #2 Citgo- Lithoplex MP #2 Lithoplex CM #2 Mystik JT-6 Hi-Temp Grease #2 ConocoPhillips/ 76 Lubricants/Kendall - Multiplex RED #2 L427 Super Blu Grease Dexter Company- Lithoplex Red MP #2 Exxon/Mobil Company- Ronex, MP Mobilith AW 2 Mobil I Synthetic Grease Fuchs- Renolit Uniwrl 2 Great Plains Lubricants- Lithium Complex EP #2 Oil Center Research of Oklahoma - Liquid-O-Ring No, 167L Pennzoil-Quaker State Company - Synthetic Red Grease Royal Mfg. Company- Royal 98 Lithium Complex EP #2 Shell - Gadus S3 V220C Gadus S5 V220 Rotella Heavy Duty Lithium Complex #2 Valvoline - Valvoline Multi-Purpose GM Valvoline Durablend I buy the Mystik JT-6 Hi-Temp Grease #2 (red stuff) from my local Napa store.

Buzzy, so sorry for your loss. I totally understand where you are, as my 13 1/2 yr old buddy, Oscar, passed two weeks ago of congestive heart failure. May your healing be easy. Pete

Highest point in NC, Mt Mitchell - 6684' Highest point in TX - Guadalupe Peak - 8751' ! Welcome to the Ollie clan, TexasMarshall! When you are not out wandering across the country, you will find that Texas has a well maintained and diverse State Park system as well as an active fiberglass trailer community. I live in Mike & Carol's neighborhood. If you both head up this way, I'd enjoy meeting you both. After all, we're gonna be "kin". ps Everything is bigger in Texas.

John, I've been in that workshop and Steve has the tools and gizmos to create just about anything. A master craftsman, he is. Now if he can only turn that rig into a giant smoker, he'd really be in demand at all the rallies. Well, Steve, how about it?

Bwahahahahaaaaa, no doubt! Great comprehensive report, Overland. Looking forward to "the other stuff" report. It is nice to have a company that is mindful of continuous product improvement and to get a glimpse into the future of the Ollie.