BackofBeyond

Congrats CMDMOM, You will enjoy the Ollie Perhaps we will see you this summer in CO. Wow, any slicker than the Rejex I put on my Ollie and it would almost be invisible. I will try it after I use up all my rejex RB

Oliver owners, and other RVer's I am curious, once you have finally arrived to the desired location, what type of activities, other than just chillin, do you folks enjoy. For myself, I am not very good at "chillin" as the younger crowd calls it- seems I need to have done something with physical activity, before I can chill. As a couple we like to hike, ride bikes, swim, paddleboard, meet new folks, etc., and for me, some WW activities, perhaps get into fly fishing, and almost anything else that gets the heart rate up. My wife enjoys the sightseeing aspects more than I do, I'm more participatory. We would love to discover yall's interests. Thanks RB

Or as my boys and I/we have discussed, I will try to time my passing with a zero balance in the savings accounts. I must admit, I am very pleased with my 2018 GMC. It appears GM is really pouring resources into developing their truck products. Sweet looks, great powertrains, and too many bells and whistles. The Ford larger gas engine looks promising. RB Die young, as late as possible

Sweetie Pie, Welcome to the Oliver forum. The folks on this site are very generous in sharing their knowledge. As you investigate the Oliver products, I would also encourage you to consider your tow vehicle. If you currently have one, it will be important to match the vehicles ratings with your trailers ratings. Or perhaps, you plan to choose an RV, and also match the appropriate TV with the new RV trailer. In any case, please ask any question - there are no wrong or stupid questions, Oliver owners love them all. Good hunting, RB

In the addition to the above ideas, if you still have the problem, I would remove the access covers on both sides, and place some sort of small electric heater directed forward. At some point enough heat will solve the problem.

No, I wouldn't agree, but then, quality is a subjective measurement to many. If one has truly gone through, with a keen eye for detail, several of the RV products touted as a quality product, most will prove to be cheaply made, thrown together, mass market representations of what a quality built RV would be, if it were an Oliver. Airstreams demand a premium price, but the real world experiences of their customers seem less inclined to support the notion. Option for option, the Airstream can't touch the Oliver's. I'll grant you their interior fabrics and such are appealing. Airstreams do well in a park and play world. Lots of miles, in and out of off the beaten path campgrounds, boondocking, and the like, are not their design intent. As far as your current TV, you are constrained by the vehicles specs. Can't get past them, real world, most tandem axle trailers, loaded as you indicated, are going to be on the bubble. Unless you go with a light weight - ultra light- and watch what you put in the TV. If as you say: I don't know how you get there, unless you go smaller, and as JD commented, the smaller Oliver would fit the bill. Physics is not a soft science. Wish you well in your search. RB

Nathan, A quick reply on your van comments. I put 60K miles on a Sprinter, loved it, towed a few times with it, but finding a Sprinter service center when your "back of beyond" is a no go. I know, wasn't going to happen twice. I then purchased a Transit XL350 passenger with 3.5 ecobost. Great van, great powertrain, but not tow rated to pull an EII Oliver. (Unibody) So it went, and a new GMC 2500 truck replaced it, happy now. If your not any a big hurry, you can find some really cool 4x4 E250/350, hard to locate, but they are out there. Probably like the one you didn't pick up. I had one in my sights years back, should have grabbed it, would have saved me on the next two! RB

Overland - Yep, nice. Certain I couldn't stand the SO's rebuke. :-) I did Amazon a nice zero gravity lounger. Will post a review when its gone thru its paces. Thanks Hobo, you read my mind, RB

Welcome to the family! I can't think of any one thing. Experience will be the best teacher, and it sounds like you have a good plan. The delivery walk through is a perfect time to learn about your Oliver, but it will be later, when your alone and doing it by your lonesome when you really figure it out. No worries though, Oliver owners are here to help, and we are not shy! Good luck Nathan, hope to meet you soon.

Hmmm, I'll put in my two cents, just cause. Relative to the inherent strength of the rear bumper support - left and right 5" x 2" x 1/4" aluminum tubing, it is well within the design intent of the Oliver specifications. Oliver told me it was rated to 100 lbs. (I won't get into names) but it was someone in the know. I have tested to about 300 lbs. with no issues, in fact, the effect is to unload the tongue somewhat, and the axle assembly "spring" soak up a good part of the stress. ( myself and two 40lbs dumb bells). I don't regularly load it any more than 100lbs. In my experience, the trailer is not affected by this weight in the least. As for designed in "crunch" failure feature, I'm not worried, enough force to do that much damage, will have so much collateral damage to have ruined my day anyway. For the design intent, I concur. I am also privy as to why the rear bike/platform mounting, was deleted as an option (well at least what I was told). It wasn't due to strength or frailty. I actually described to "Oliver" a design I was considering (very similar to what they offer now), but I asked if I could purchase one of the left over "deleted" rack/platforms, and they sold it to me as a loose parts purchase. As I already had a very good Thule bike rack, I intended to use parts off of it, combined with the platform from Oliver, and presto, I had a very sturdy and workable bike carrier. As for inserting the rack into the mounting channel, and removing it, now that - is a chore. I am in the process of reducing the surface area of the platform male "square tubes" just enough to ease the sliding in/out of the rack/platform. Perhaps a little lube will help. With the platform mounted, you must remove it rearward a few inches to get the spare tire off of the Oliver. If you have the old set-up, and haven't tried to remove the spare - I suggest you have a go at it, consider yourself warned. In 2500 miles, the bolts have not loosed one bit, but then, I also use a little Loctite thread locker. I didn't put a torque wrench on it when I tightened the nuts/bolts, but with an 16" handle, it was plenty tight. Were I to design another rack platform, I would use a top mount design, just as the original design. It works well, is a sturdy and solid mounting location. Well, in my shade tree mechanical engineering opinion - anyways. RB

When you order your Oliver, add the Anderson WD hitch system, it works well with the Oliver. From my perspective you will be at the upper limits of your vehicles tow limits. Try out your set up, if you like it, great, if not there are zillion choices out there for the TV. Take a look at the thread title 1/2 ton truck. Welcome to the Oliver world. RB

JD, I don't know about Ebikes - however, there is plenty of room for the bars, if you can see on my pic, there is a good amount of space left between the bumper edge and the outside of the Ollie - at handle bar height. I would think 9" would be close - I would think the pedals would be an issue first, just have to rotate them to put them out of harms way. I suppose you could mock it up, and measure the distance. I'm sure an ebike's stats can be found for the handlebar width. RB

Living here in the SE, ticks are just expected. We spend a lot of time in the forest/brush/tall grass. In season its normal to do a tick inspection at days end. A good spray of Cutters helps, but is not fool proof. My dog gets special treatment - an oral pill every 3 months - works very well, but not on humans, alas. Quite honestly, its not something I worry about, I should, I suspect. After 30 plus years in the area, I just accept it and go on. I never worried about it when out west - didn't think Lyme had spread that far, perhaps the spotted fever is there however. Weird, in my younger days I spent a lot of time working in and around the swamps of South Louisiana, and I don't remember ticks being an issue, snakes and alligators, yes, ticks no. Oh, and mosquitos the size of hummingbirds..... The good old days.

John, On my set-up it is 11" rear bumper to c/l of the first wheel channel. I can adjust each bike mounting in or out a few inches if needed, The current set-up works fine with road and mtb bikes. The bars clear the tire cover with no problem. Peddles also - just rotate where needed. Pic for reference.

Please excuse the drool - I am a sucker for the old Power wagons, any old vintage workhorse 4WD of that era. I've almost always stop and inspected them every time I drive past one. I remember a few in CO, a couple between here and there, and a really cool one - somewhere in AK.

So, you've met some of my kin -.....seems to be one of the better redneck engineered ideas - I know I had an old Ford truck that seemed to last forever due to a judicious application of road tar. ;-)

In the outback of TN, usually only on the country roads, out in the sparsely traveled areas of our area, and for short term repair. Mostly they do a real overlay, but I find that to be almost as bad - as the trucks feeding the asphalt machine track the loose oil/tar all over the other roads. I'll drive into the weeds to avoid it if possible. However, my wife seems to know where these spots are located - she waits until I have washed/waxed/detailed her CRV, then when she returns home with a Leopard looking vehicle, she asks me how to get the mess off...… happy wife, happy life.

WOW! Great job. I thought I had about what I needed, you have given me some additional ideas, I try to balance between having everything I could possible need, and then understanding what I'm really gonna tackle on the road. Vice grips - the handy dandy multi tool - I can fix/break/strip almost anything with a set of them. I didn't see where you referenced replacement parts/fluids/grease - I carry a few tubes of grease (no 2 Hi Temp Mystik JT6 ) , a dedicated grease gun, a wheel bearing kit (and appropriate tools) and replacement fuses. And some good ole WD40. I'm sure there is more I need, time will tell. I try to keep it all in a simple canvas type carry case (an old Makita tool case), it goes in the back of the truck, in the big plastic carry all BOX under the camper top.

Funny - the references to cruising ranges - seems each additional year I'm around - my personal cruising range decreases - however, having the option is nice, especially in BC , the Yukon, and AK. Fuel stops are not always --- fuel stops. I got to believing 1/2 tank was almost empty, and went from there. Just to clarify - I chose a GMC, but the Ford was right there, Ram, I'm just not a Ram fan, nothing wrong with them. If and when the big T offers a 3/4 ton, it will be an interesting choice. I doubt it ever happens, seems they are content with the current line up, but you never know. As JD ponders, a well thought out, diesel HD version of the current truck would be in the cards sooner than a whole new truck.

It is a tough thing to do - replace a truck you love, especially one so close to meeting the demands of the task at hand. However, once I decided my old truck was just not up to the task - hauling my Oliver EII around North America - I mentally moved on to finding a replacement. The old GMC brought a nice return, and the new owner was very happy. Some of the new 1/2 ton trucks are fine hauling a EII, I wanted a 3/4 ton - payload was why. Planned to add a camper top, and haul around all our gear, boats, bikes, a menagerie of play toys, and the ever present cool and (un) necessary camping "stuff". Gas? - Diesel? Ford/GMC/Ram?, or something else. $70k+ wow, jeeze, really, that's a lot of $$$, for a truck... Like every purchase of this magnitude, you go do the research. $10k for the Diesel over gas, but performance is almost twice that - for towing, fuel mileage when towing also better, fluids more expensive, more complexity, OK, really look at a gas truck. I did, towing fuel mileage, was horrible, run the numbers. If I keep the diesel for 100K miles, the extra $10K starts to approach $$ parity. Diesel it is. Ram - not in the game - my choice. The other truck mfg. DO NOT build a comparable truck - 3/4 ton- anything less is not the same. Take a look underneath, chassis and axles are not as HD. Close, but not the same. I love Toyota, helped build Nissans, own a Honda, but they don't build a 3/4 ton truck. Not going to argue GM over Ford. I test drove both - several times - over several weeks, knew everything about them - everything!. I finally went with the 2018 GMC 2500 Duramax, with Allison transmission. Proven powertrains. I am very happy with my choice. The WWW has enough info out there to make an informed choice, real world testing just reinforces what you read. Salespeople, usually are just ignorant on their products - my observations. I'd prefer dealing with a robot. In a GMC, the SLT is the sweet spot, no need to go upscale to Denali, same with Ford - the Platinum is more bells and whistles, $$$ for stuff I didn't need or want. I found the GMC I wanted, for <$60K. Took some effort, but it was worth it, and my SO was happy - win. Ultimately, it was a leap to pay up for the Oliver, but once we did, it did not make sense to purchase a TV that was not similar - tops in its class. Several thousand miles and multiple trips more than confirm the choices - I love the Oliver, and getting to and fro, in the GMC, is just a comfortable, easy feeling. We are happy. As has been stated, take your time, tow with your current set-up, evaluate, discuss, really understand where you plan to go in this vast country, how often, and once you feel comfortable understanding the variables, you may be content with your current TV, if not, well - the rest is just money (ha ha) and decision. Hope this helps, enjoy the process, have fun, May the force be with you... RB [attachment file=20180820_162145 (693).jpg]

John's mod is well thought out and sound way of achieving the desired result. It may be beyond the skills of some, but switching a low amp relay on and off is a much saner way of powering the jacks on and off, without affecting any other system. One could also use one relay to power a buss - which fed the jack circuits, or use a 3 pole relay or, well you get the idea, several solutions, I tend to choose the less complex. I suppose the simple solution is to just remove the fuses. I'll just use my hitch lock for security. At some point, short of an armed guard, crooks are gonna do what they do, hopefully they move on to an easier target. RB

CPTdondo: Between our EII and my truck with the Leer camper top I carry a similar amount of "Stuff". Your list - in my mind - is not excessive. As the tailgate and the camper top are lockable - I leave most of my stuff loaded all the time. I have a large storage container (with a lockable lid) where I store loose camping gear, tarp, tools, stove, charcoal,... - just stuff. I put the camp chairs, roll up table, EZ-UP, backpacking gear, and other "stuff" off to the side. Its not a ton of weight, and given the payload capacity of the GMC, its not an issue at all - with or with out - the truck performance stays the same. And there is plenty of room for more "stuff" That's why I went with the GMC 2500 Duramax diesel - it just doesn't care - don't worry about the mule - just load the wagon. My older 2004 gas 5.7 ext. cab - no way - safely or otherwise. When I get back to kayaking, the boat will go up on a roof rack (on the camper top), and my paddling gear in with the other "stuff". Mountain bike, road bike, and such are on the rack in the rear of the Ollie. I'll also carry an ARB portable freezer/fridge that runs on DC/AC. Most likely the ARB will go in the rear seating area of the truck - along with our 90 lbs. Chessie - Harley. (He thinks the entire rear seating area is his - spoiled) Now as for what's in the Ollie - that's my wife's area - I hate to get into that - lets just say - its more than I think we need - but happy wife - happy life. I've pleasantly discovered there is more storage room in the Ollie than I thought. Lets just say, with judicial planning, we have enough room for everything. - Needed or not :-) I published our scale weights in another post, and they were within the bottom range of the Ollie and the truck. Cat scales work very well for understanding your loaded weights - I would have no reason to use another service. I'm surprised - loaded, with the Ollie in tow, running down the road at 70, the rig averages 14 -15 mpg, manually computed. I expect that to go down with a boat or two loaded on the roof racks. Maybe. Ok, have fun all.

Ahh, we share similar goals ….. Die young, as late as possible, money is useless below grade. See you at the Rally...

Ken & Karren Richardson, See my post above. I have spent time in the Toyotas, my son has similar set up as you, but his is the Toyota Sequoia 4WD. he has done all the engine mods to gain power, etc., I doubt I would be happy towing my Oliver with his truck. If you stay in Fla, it would do fine, big grades, questionable. Try it out, make your decision later. That's what I did. As for brand, I test drove Ford F250 and GMC 2500 (a lot) - very similar options, I ultimately went with GMC, personal preference. The Ram was never in the hunt - for me at least. As for performance, warranty, and such, not any real difference that mattered between the Ford and GMC. I don't like the styling of the Chevy, but is basically same truck. Good luck I added this edit - the legal world being what it is, if your overloaded, have a wreck, you know who's libel…..

You didn't indicate year or engine, so I can't really comment on your set-up. However, I had similar situation with a 2004 GMC 1/2 - 5.7 liter. I towed my EII home with that truck - 90 miles later I knew I was going to need a 3/4 ton and more torque. The difference between my new 2500 Duramax and my old truck is huge, not in same universe. Despite the additional cost, I am very happy I made the switch. I added a Leer top, and can now load up anything I want, and never worry about payloads. Driving is a pleasure, fuel mileage is great (and improving). Hope this helps.