source3

Lime Creek is only 25 minutes north of my house. A few dispersed campsites at the north and south turnoff along Highway 550. The road is narrow with sharp turns. There is a small dispersed campsite halfway. Portions near halfway point where the campsite is will ill chatter your teeth, even with modified suspension.

Something to think about. I imported an iSi bike rack. I beat the heck out of it offroad. Bikes are well secured. http://www.isi-carriers.com/ . Their trailer tongue adapter may be a good option. Bike rack in action:

Weight is something I am thinking through. I am moving away from the offroad adventures and getting back into cycling and fly fishing so the Black Bear and Conqueror (https://conqueror4x4usa.com/) is overkill. Stock gearing in GX470 is 3.73. Stock tire size is 265/70/17. I only went up to a 265/70/17 so I could still fit the spare in factory location. The local RV rental place in Durango actually has an Alto Safari Condo F1743 for rent. When I get back home and winter has not set in I may take it out for the weekend for a test. If I can pull a loaded down Alto up and over Coal Bank, Molas, and Red Mountain passes with little effort that will give me more of a relative idea what a dry weight Elite would feel like. John: try towing with an FZJ80. 3" inch lift. armor all-around...very painful when semi trucks are passing you up the grade. That is why I bought the GX470 with the V8 for the T@B. If you are looking for a GX470 check out the GXOR forum on Facebook. Or the ih8mud 120 group: https://forum.ih8mud.com/forums/120-series-toyotas.207/. I am source3 on ih8mud. Ih8mud also has a great classified section. Cheers and thanks for the input.

Hello Folks: It has been a great distraction from real life reading about Oliver Trailers. Thanks to all for the wealth of information I have been reading on this forum. Now my dilemma. Which trailer to upgrade to? I am not ready to upgrade tow vehicle, which limits me to an Oliver Elite or similar weighted trailers. The Elite II is just a little to heavy for the GX470, which has a towing capacity of 6500#. I did a suspension swap on the GX470 that includes : (...for the gearheads) 32" tires, 2.5" lift with factory airbag delete Dobinsons suspension with HD suspension front; rear with HD shocks and medium progressive coils. Airlift 1000 airbags. My wife and I currently tow a 2015 T@B Outback (see photo below). Routine outings typically include 1) driving over 1 to 2 mountains passes of 10,000ft within the first hour of leaving our home and 2) traveling on 20+ miles of washboard roads on some of our outings (we looked at offroad teardrops before buying the T@B but liked the inside kitchen of the T@B). Encountering freezing temperatures is not uncommon. My wife and I typically limit our towing to maintained forest service roads and getting into tight little camp spots that is perfect for the T@B. We tend to travel light and can boondock with our 140W solar and a 20lb propane for 3+ weeks. We love the T@B but would like something with a permanent bed and a side table as we are planning to extend our travels up to 2 months at a time. I am not too fond of the new T@B 400s, which brings me to look into other trailers (in order of preference): 1. Elite (single axle) - would like a little more room like the Elite II, but still bigger than the T@B. Is within towing capacity of the GX470. 2. Alto Safari Condo F1743. Like the layout and european styling. Concerned about the structural integrity over time. Concerned about the plumbing underneath. (https://safaricondo.com/en/caravanes-alto-serie-f-1743/) 3. Escape 19. Dated interior, even with the available upgrade options. Will the cabinetry hold up on washboard roads? And the drain valve on the holding tank is very vulnerable to road debris. With all that said, I am looking for comments on experiences taking their Oliver off-pavement (I consider off-road a whole different category). And how about the jack foot hitting the ground when going over uneven ground (ie driving through a gully or a dip in the road; I know I can put rocks or shovel dirt into the gully to get across if it comes down to that). I installed a swivel jack on the T@B to eliminate this issue. In the photos the electric jack foot on the Elite looks pretty high, but still protrudes down a little. Thanks for your input.