Frank C

I have a set also and they are for stabilization per the instructions. Probably because of lawyers involved but they are not meant to be used as a replacement for chocks to prevent rolling. “Not to be used as a parking brake”. Here are the instructions. I use rubber chocks on the tires as well.

Best low cost addition to the Ollie that I’ve made is this plug holder for the 7 pin connector. Keeps the plug off the ground and dry when set up at the campsite. Purchased from etrailer.

We have the twin bed Elite II and use the dinette often for meals. We didn’t get the Lagun table because we got the basement access door option under the nightstand drawer. We use that door for putting shoes in the basement storage area.

If everything was working properly before the 7 pin plug was damaged and subsequently repaired, that’s the first place I’d check to make sure the new plug was wired correctly.

I use these wheel chocks. Very solid and they work well. MaxxHaul 2 pack 70472 Solid Rubber Heavy Duty Black Wheel Chock, 8" Long x 4" Wide x 6" high-2 Pack, 2 pack https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CGU14T2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_B5StFbY86NJBX

I have them on my truck and have been very happy with them. They seem to do the job well. The front of our Oliver is still like new. I don’t drive at high speeds on unpaved or gravel roads though like some of the more adventurous members of the Oliver family. Our driving is typically all highway driving. The only gravel roads we typically encounter are usually just the KOA campground roads which are very low speed limit. I do have mine angled slightly as John mentioned above. And I had to order the 2-1/2” hub for the Rock Tamers since my F-250 has a 2-1/2” receiver and ball mount.

Good luck on your new travels

Ditto on the Thetford drain valve lubricant. We've been using it for the last year on our Ollie. I typically just pour a bit down the sink drains on each camping trip. There is also another lubricant from Thetford specifically for the seal on the flush toilet that you pour in the toilet and let sit for 8 hours or so (Thetford RV Toilet Seal Lube & Conditioner). I use that as well on the day before we leave for any of our trips and let it sit. So far no problems with any of the seals or valves.

Great post. Good to see the details of the install. What do the mounting screws thread into? Just the fiberglass? (and if so, what screws did you use?) Or is there a wooden backing block behind the fiberglass?

Strangely enough, I have about 3 feet left over, so I think Pelland was a bit generous with what they sent me. I didn't measure how long the bulk length was that I received before I started cutting it, but Pelland must have sent me ~20'.

I just updated mine yesterday from white to black because the white ones were showing some mold/mildew stains and were getting hard to keep clean. For all 3 large windows and 1 small bathroom window on my Elite II, I ordered 18' of the weather-stripping (H109-376 from Pelland Enterprises), just to make sure I had a little extra. Before and after photos below. It cuts easily with a new, sharp utility knife blade. Use a carpenters square to get a nice perpendicular /square cut end. And note that each window gasket on the 3 big windows is a slightly different length since the center vertical upright is a little different location on each window. So use the original gasket from each window as your starting point. I made mine a little long to start and then did a couple of install, check, remove, trim, re-install go-rounds to get mine right. My original white gaskets were cut a little short and had a gap at the ends, as you can see in the picture of the original white gasket. There was a gap at top and bottom at each end because they were cut a bit short at the factory.

I sent an email to Timken about their bearings showing up on Amazon and I specifically asked about the seller RDV and this is the response I received from Timken: ———- “Thank you for your inquiry. We do not recognize the Amazon seller you referenced in your email. “ ——— Maybe RDV is getting them from another Timken distributor so they may be legit. In Timken’s reply, they did point me to an authorized dealer here in Pennsylvania: ”Please be advised that the following is an authorized automotive aftermarket distributor in Somerset PA. “

Here's a link to Timken. They are well aware of the bogus bearing issue. I'm sure they would be happy to provide info on their authorized distributors. I'm going to contact them to get some authorized east coast distributors. I'll post here if/when they reply. Contact the Company: Program Manager Timken 1835 Dueber Avenue, S.W. Canton, OH 44706 United States (330) 471-6829 https://www.timken.com/contact-general/

I don't have the satellite receiver so I tend to use the 10' rule in most cases. When in doubt, stop and triple check. From the Oliver site for the Elite II specs. Outside Height 8' 6" Outside Height to Top of Optional Roof Mounted Satellite Receiver 9' 10.5" Outside Height to Top of A/C 9' 7"

The Chinese are great at copying product, all the way down to the packaging details. I've had personal experience with one of my own medical device product designs being counterfeited in China, right down to copying all of our packaging, labeling and company logo, same font, etc. and even still being labeling as "Made in USA" with our US factory address, and even with a UL approval mark on the labeling, etc. All bogus and a cheap copy. It took a visual inspection of the internal parts of the device to see the difference, so a user would never know, until it failed. I've worked with Chinese suppliers and factories for many years, including spending a lot of time there doing a joint venture factory setup, and one of the lessons I learned is that the Chinese companies have no qualms at all about stealing intellectual property (patents), cheating on specs, bribes to local officials, falsifying test data on safety agency reports like UL, etc. I've always said that China has become the worst possible combination of communism, capitalism and corruption all rolled into their way of doing business. I wouldn't trust any "Timken" supplier on Amazon unless they were verified as an authorized Timken distributor. Here's a link specifically about fake Timken bearings. http://www.thecounterfeitreport.com/product/271/Timken-Bearings.html

Calmark uses the Sunbrella fabric. It’s breathable. And the whole thing is open underneath so there’s plenty of air circulation. I’ve been in and out of the trailer many times in the 5 months it’s been covered (since October) and I haven’t had any issues with condensation. Haven’t seen any issues either with chaffing where it touches the fiberglass. As far as washing, I have no idea yet.

I have the Calmark cover for our Elite II. Very happy with it. Not cheap though. But worth it for protecting the Ollie through the winter.

Will it crank manually at all? Or is it locked up?

Thanks for this idea! Time for another update to the Ollie. I needed something to tinker with during the winter. 🙂 Found these on Amazon (of course). A couple small eye-bolts and a small swivel (to allow unscrewing of the port cover without twisting the cable) should do the trick. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QKWXGL1/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_jyPrEbHM3TRKR

Wow, that is scary! Glad you and your wife are ok. Things can be replaced, people can't be. What is the black spattering on the front of the Ollie? Moose residue? Jeep shrapnel?

My OCD compelled me to run the molding all the way down to the tangent point of the lower curve of the frame. 🙂

I installed the gutter molding as well. It helps in light rains and also keeps morning dew condensation from running from the hull down the windows. And I figure it will also help cut down on the chance of water leaks around the window frame. Definitely install it on a hot day. I unrolled the molding and let it sit on my deck in the hot sun for a few hours to get it straightened out before installing. Clean and prep the Oliver fiberglass surface with iso-propyl alcohol first (here at work we refer to iso-propyl alcohol as IPA in a lot of our documentation, and it causes confusion with the beer drinkers 🙂). As you can see from the pictures, I ran mine farther down both sides of the windows since I had heard from some owners of problems with the molding lifting loose around the corner bend if it was cut too short on the sides. I needed 4 of the 10' rolls to do it this way though on all the windows. And yes, I did clean, polish and wax the Ollie after this photo to get rid of those ugly black streaks under the windows that always seem to show up on our beautiful white trailers. And if you do order the molding, make sure you get the "Polar White" color to match the Ollie white. I ordered mine from Amazon. Esssentials UW01004 Polar White 10' EZE RV Gutter

Yes, if there is a thief wandering around with a spare hitch that fits the Ollie frame/bolt pattern, mounting hardware and tools, then yes, they could unbolt your hitch and bolt on a new one, but that means they are probably specifically targeting your Ollie trailer and would need to make the investment in the new hitch and tools to do it. No system is completely theft-proof. The point is to slow the thief down or make it so much trouble that they find an easier target. But at least the Proven lock used on the Bulldog can't be defeated by a simple pair of bolt cutters that most thieves carry. Other cheaper hitch locks are 10 seconds or less to defeat with bolt cutters.

And even better, the answers are usually correct! 🙂

"And now for something completely different....." Seems that most Ollie Elite II owners tow with a pickup truck, but I prefer an SUV to have the extra interior space in the TV. I have an Ollie Elite II and was towing with a 2017 Ford Expedition EL with the 3.5l V-6 Eco-Boost. Plenty of towing capacity (over 9,000 lbs. with the WD hitch), but the Expedition EL version was just a bit too long to fit into my garage, so I recently traded it for a 2019 Nissan Armada. Still a pretty big beast but it's just the right overall length to fit into my garage with the Anderson hitch installed in the receiver. Ollie Elite II - We always travel pretty light when towing, empty tanks, no generator or bike rack, no solar, only one awning, no other mods that have added any weight. I haven't actually weighed it but probably around 5,500 lbs. loaded when traveling, 10% of that as tongue weight. Armada curb weight of 5,900 lbs., (I too believe that the tow vehicle should weigh as much or more than the trailer being towed). Armada cargo Capacity 1,583 lbs. Big honkin' 5.6 liter V-8 engine. 390 HP/394 lb-ft Towing mode for the transmission. 8,500 lbs. towing/850 lbs. tongue weight capacity with a WD hitch, so it's plenty for the Ollie II, and the V-8 never feels like it's straining at all. Body on frame construction with galvanized steel body panels (so hopefully no rust in the long term). Factory hitch receiver and wiring harness but I had to install a trailer brake controller (Tekonsha P3). Gas mileage has been the downside. The big V-8 is a gas guzzler. About 16 average when not towing. Haven't done a long trip yet with the Ollie but expecting around 11-13 when towing. All the creature comforts in the Armada interior, plenty of interior storage, 360 degree cameras which are very handy for getting into campsites, and also auto-leveling suspension so it levels out nicely when the trailer is hooked up. So far I'd give it an "A". I am surprised sometimes by people towing Ollie IIs with smaller SUVs. They seem to do ok in standard flat land towing situations but may eventually run into issues on extreme uphill or downhill stretches if towing out west, and a heavily loaded hitch puts a lot of stress/strain on the sheet metal of a uni-body vehicle, to the point that some manufacturers say to NEVER use a weight distribution hitch on certain small uni-body SUVs. I feel strongly that only vehicles with body on frame construction should be used for towing something as heavy as the Elite II.