Frank C

I'd like to see a forum page and/or Facebook page option that limited members to actual current verified Oliver owners for discussion of mods, experiences, problem solving, etc. I still think that both this forum and the Facebook page have many members that are just trolling (Airstream owners? 🙂), or scammers looking for personal info, because a lot of people, despite cautions, still will list their personal phone numbers or e-mail addresses in their posts. I do give a lot of credit to the Oliver owners for their patience in answering the endless repetitive questions from potential owners and newbies. "Is the Oliver better than Airstream?", "Can I tow the Oliver with a 1976 Ford Pinto?", "Should I get the composting toilet?", "How do I winterize?", etc. I belong to a few other FB pages and web forums for various pieces of musical gear/recording studio equipment, and the users are merciless when a newbie asks a question about something covered in the manual or a topic that's been discussed endlessly. RTFM is a very common response. 🙂

Hi Pat, What does your tow vehicle state on the tire/payload/cargo sticker on the driver's door jamb? You are right that 600 lbs. of tongue weight and two adults will use up close to 1,000 lbs. of your cargo capacity, and most mid-size SUVs have less than 1,500 lbs. as the limit. The sticker (usually yellow) will look something like this. Even some Ford F-150 trucks only have a 1,600 lbs. cargo capacity. I have a 3,334 lbs cargo capacity because we carry a lot of stuff with us on the road, and our bikes are mounted on a bike rack over the truck bed. We are around 2,000 lbs of cargo (tongue weight, people, camping gear, bikes, etc.) when all loaded up for camping.

We've never had any issue with the fridge (Norcold 3 way) in our Elite II staying cold while operating on 12VDC while towing, even in high 90 degree summer weather. The fridge stays cold on 12VDC when towing since the fridge door isn't being opened and closed while in transit. The fridge stays cold and the trailer batteries stay charged from the tow vehicle 12VDC supply as long as the tow vehicle is running. 12VDC is NOT recommended for cooling the fridge down at start up if it's been off and warmed up. We do switch it to propane if we'll be at a rest stop on the road for a long lunch or dinner break, and also switch to propane when stopping at Harvest Host stays overnight. We use AC shore power when available as the first choice when at campgrounds, and for chilling the fridge down before leaving for a trip if the trailer has been sitting unused for a while. It doesn't seem to use much propane at all. We've done two camping seasons now and still haven't used up our first 20lb tank of propane, but we don't use the stove or furnace at all.

Pat, Ditto to John and Russell’s comments. That bumper storage area is not roomy, clean nor sanitary. The “Stinky Slinky” drain hose (minimum 20’ needed, I carry 30’ to reach at some campgrounds) takes up almost the entire compartment. And even if you have the composting toilet, you’re still connecting that drain hose to empty your gray tank, and that means you are still connecting to the sewage dump connection at a campground or rest stop, so the end of the hose is still in contact with sewage from other campers that connected right before you. So you should treat the bumper storage as an unsanitary area. And it does get a lot of road dust/dirt accumulation as well just from normal driving. I only store the drain hose & connectors and the drain hose supports in that area. Potable water hoses, water filters, etc. all get stored in the either the basement storage area or back of my truck under the bed cover.

It’s not an exact number because it will vary with the trailer options (such as solar panels, 2nd awning, etc.) and how the Oliver is loaded up for camping (tongue storage basket with generator, tanks empty or full, etc.). But a starting point is around 10% of the trailer weight. The 490 lbs. number is 10% of the base Oliver Elite II dry weight without options. Most owners seem to be close to or over 600 lbs. If your tow vehicle only allows 600 lbs. of tongue weight even with a weight distribution hitch, I’d say you better get a bigger tow vehicle. Cutting it that close for tongue weight, payload capacity or towing capacity is not a good idea.

There will be headaches and a learning curve, and more than just routine annual maintenance. That’s just the reality of towing a small house down the road. But I’ll say that from what I’ve seen on this forum and the Oliver Facebook page, at least half of the issues that new owners have with their Oliver tend to be user error from just not understanding the Oliver or the general towing and campground hookup topics. Being prepared and having a good toolbox when traveling with the trailer means that headaches get solved a lot quicker and easier. So best to study up, watch the YouTube and Oliver videos, read the manuals, and be well prepared. A basic example is the refrigerator. At home you don’t have to worry about checking on 3 different energy sources to make sure your home fridge stays cold. In the Oliver (or most any RV for that matter) it’s a 3 way fridge that can run from DC power, AC power, or propane depending on the situation, so making sure each of those sources is available and working properly when needed is an essential. We’ve only had a couple very minor issues with our Ollie in two camping seasons now. More issues with the campground hookups. There was just a very recent example on this forum of a new Oliver owner that had never towed or owned an RV before, and “didn’t have time to read the instruction manuals”. They had some issues with their new trailer and their new tow vehicle, some due to user error and some legitimate trailer problems. They may have been expecting the romantic vision of life on the open road, but their reality was very different and they were not a “happy camper”.

No problems here. I’m almost always viewing and posting on the forum from my iPhone. Just posted this from my iPhone.

The original post author seems to have disappeared from this forum for over a week now after her initial posts about her camping experiences and issues after taking delivery of her Elite 1. She didn’t seem very happy and based on her posts it seemed like she was going to try to return the trailer for a refund. Just curious how things were going.

Oliver includes the socket for the trailer wheel lug nuts and a lug wrench as well. But if you really want to be prepared here’s what I carry. The extra socket sizes come in handy for helping other motorists. You’ll need the torque wrench as recommended by Oliver to make sure the lug nuts are tightened properly. And the breaker bar is for loosening / removing lug nuts since you should never use a torque wrench as a breaker bar. ARES 1/2-inch Drive 4- Piece Flip... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FT26IGS?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share Craftsman 1/2-Inch Drive 18-Inch... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00065T0MS?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share eTORK (C3250) 1/2-Inch... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BYG66BT?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Are you on shore power electric when trying to run the heat strip?

A loaded Elite II with tanks full can get close to 6,000 lbs so you should go higher than that. Higher rated ball mounts and balls are not very expensive so don’t cut corners. The standard 2” Bulldog coupler that Oliver installs on the Elite II is rated for 7,000 lbs. so that should be your minimum for the ball. I use this ball mount (rated to 18,000 lbs.) and this ball (rated to 10,000 lbs.) on my F-250. My F-250 has a 2-1/2” receiver Draw-Tite 45322 3" Drop Ball Mount https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003JID6U6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_T42XZANWWJY9CPSETZE2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1 CURT 40056 Stainless Steel Trailer Hitch Ball, 10,000 lbs, 2-Inch Diameter, 1-1/4 x 2-5/8-Inch Shank https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08557RHP1/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_89843RH9SB2F7D5XVSFB?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

The one statistic of this super bowl that amazes me is that this is the 55th super bowl and Tom Brady has now been in 10 of them! As a Steelers fan, I might finally have to admit that Brady actually has some skills. 🙂

It’ll be interesting to see what’s recommended, I wouldn’t think it’s as necessary on the trailer as compared to a car or truck. On a car or truck it’s done because the front tires wear much faster since they are doing a LOT more work with having to do the steering function and most of the braking, and the rear tires typically wear more slowly, so rotating the tires front to back extends the life of the whole set of 4. On a trailer, unless there is some really odd loading situation or alignment problem, they should all wear pretty evenly. After two years of traveling our original Ollie tires appear to be wearing pretty evenly all around. I couldn’t find any recommendation about rotating the tires in the tire section of the Ollie manual.

As I’ve been thinking about this for towing it seems that 3 recording cameras would be the solution. One forward facing in the tow vehicle, one rear facing in the tow vehicle that captures what’s going around the front of the trailer and along both sides of the trailer, and another rear facing one on the back of the trailer that records. (The factory installed rear camera on our Ollie that we use now while towing doesn’t record). Or maybe a single 360 degree view camera like some of the GO-Pro type sports cameras, mounted on top of the Ollie capturing everything all around.

My son installed front and rear cameras in his Subaru WRX (you’ll see the big rear wing in the video). And they proved to be very valuable. The video was used as evidence in an accident he was involved in. The other driver tried to give the State Police officer a complete BS story about the accident, and my son just calmly said “I have video”. I wish it would have captured the look on the other driver’s face when they realized they were caught lying to the state trooper. I’m considering adding cameras to my tow vehicle. IMG_2904.mov

A reason to celebrate, and also a reason to be cautious. This forum has been great for support and ideas. But considering that there are only something over 700 Oliver trailers out there now, a number that big of 5,000 forum members means actual Oliver owners are the minority, with the rest made up of future owners with orders pending (another 100-200?), plus those with a future interest in possibly buying, and also internet trolls and spammers as well. Even assuming all 700 or so current owners are registered here and double it for couples, so call it 1,400, owners are still the minority. And as it gets bigger it will get even more attention on the internet. So be careful about your posts and avoid including personal info such as phone number and e-mail addresses. Even posting your whereabouts in real time when traveling is a risk. I'm even starting to think that listing a hull number might be a bad idea as we've seen a recent example of a bogus RV Trader ad with a real hull number and contact info of a forum member here. But enough ranting. 🙂 A BIG thank you to the moderators on here for keeping the problems to a minimum.

That black component is the retraction weight on the water hose for the kitchen faucet head. The blue tubing is the cold water line to the faucet. The red tubing is the hot water line to the faucet. None of those have anything to do with the power to the fridge.

The Norcold fridge in our 2019 Elite II has smooth/flush membrane switches on the control panel, not protruding. We’ve never had any issue with bumping them accidentally.

If you are plugged in to AC shore power at the campsite, there is usually a circuit breaker on the post where you plug in. Make sure that circuit breaker is ON. Standard practice is to shut it off before plugging in, plug in your shore power cord, then flip the breaker on. And turn the breaker OFF again before unplugging when you are leaving. This practice prevents electrical arcing damage to the outlet and your plug. And some other trouble shooting suggestions: Since the fridge display is giving the “10” error code that means it’s expecting AC power and not seeing any. Are you sure you are in “AUTO” mode on the fridge? Sounds like you might be in AC mode, but not actually connected to AC. If you are in AUTO mode or AC mode and it’s still flashing 10 with shore power connected (and shore power breaker ON), try manually switching to propane LP mode (and make sure the propane is on), or connect to your tow vehicle with the 7 pin harness and start your truck and switch the fridge to DC mode to see if it works.

It’s only a single character display (at least it is on my Norcold fridge). How can it show a “10”?

Yes, a regulator is strongly recommended. Oliver provides a water pressure regulator at delivery but it isn’t adjustable and it doesn’t have a gauge. Get one with a gauge and set the pressure to 35-40 psi. Here’s the one I use. Renator M11-0660R Water Pressure Regulator Valve. Brass Lead-free Adjustable Water Pressure Reducer with Gauge for RV Camper, and Inlet Screened Filter https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N7JZTYX/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_7VKMEB2RZM3SRXQNCNCR?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

John, water ingress on the bike components is a bit of a concern with this setup if we end up driving in heavy rain, which I’m sure will happen at some point. I did get covers from Amazon for the handlebars to keep the hand controls and headset covered a bit on both bikes. And I’ll just have to make sure the rest of the components such as the brakes and derailleurs stay lubricated. The bikes are both new 2020 Treks that we just bought this past year to upgrade. Mine is a Trek Verve 2 and the wife’s is a Trek Verve 1. We’ve found them to be great bikes for getting around campgrounds and moderate trails. Vincita Water-Resistant Durable Handlebar Rain Cover Red Bike Cover for Road Bicycles, Mountain Bikes, Bikepacking Accessories https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HMRSBDB/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_K3X8PBYY688DVFC376JY?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

And here are the parts from Amazon for the bike: Fork Mounts (x2) Yakima - BlockHead Bike Mount https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0012SA4I2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_J1QMXDQ0DAZ78MXM7ZF8?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1 YAKIMA Boa Wheel Trays with Pawls https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001T86XXA/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_ES0SBG8WSYM8D14X76HQ?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1 YAKIMA 8880077 Wheel Strap https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001T831MG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_6DZADZ89ZJEE4HF362WV?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1 Delta Cycle Wheel Hitch , Black https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002OLX04Q/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_JK27NKKHR4QTPH9EYG6A?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Here's the general link to the T-slot framing section of the McMaster Carr catalog. I used the 1-1/2" size rails. Side rails (I ordered the 8 foot long, and then cut to length): T-Slotted Framing | McMaster-Carr Cross Rails: McMaster-Carr All the connector brackets and hardware for the T-slot framing are listed separately in the catalog. You’ll have to adjust the parts list, mounting hardware, and dimensions to fit your truck bed.

I'll put together a list. For some reason, a couple of the links for some of the parts on the McMaster Carr site aren't working.