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djpinaz

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Posts posted by djpinaz

  1. 1 hour ago, SeaDawg said:

    That looks really nice. Have you had to do any tight turns yet? If so, how did that work out?

    Ps. Is that a jeep gladiator truck? Elite I or II?

    Sherry

    I placed it in a spot I felt would provide the best clearance. The 45 degree bracket can point backward or fwd, and you can also not use that bracket and mount it so the bikes are straight above the bracket. The way I mounted it and it's placement on the tongue pushed it back as far as possible while not interfering with the jack. I believe I would have to nearly jack knife it to kit the bikes. Honestly, I'm more worried about getting the Anderson Hitch "whale tail" off kilter by turning too sharp, so I avoid at all cost.

    Yes, it's a Jeep Gladiator, and it's an LEII. I've posted about this elsewhere, but I'll summarize by saying I love the truck,  but it's unlikely to be a long-term solution for towing the trailer. I had the truck before I got the Oliver, but wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to buy a used Oliver.

     

    Darren

    • Thanks 1
  2. On 6/16/2020 at 3:49 PM, djpinaz said:

    Here's another option. I posted about this rack a short while back when looking for options with our trailer. I planned to report back once I had it fully installed and tested, which I haven't yet. But so far I'm relatively happy with the bike rack.

    This rack can be mounted directly to its tongue bracket, or via an angled offset as show in the picture (I'm undecided on mine yet). If you're considering or have a cargo box on the tongue that would be additional consideration (room and weight). 

    https://www.lci1.com/lets-go-aero

    Darren

    IMG-3053.jpg

    Just a follow up to this post. Our first long distance trip with this bike rack. From Mesa, AZ to Davis Mountain State Park. I was very happy with the stability of the rack. I was concerned it would have some sway, but the movement of the bikes was minimal. FYI, this pic was at a Harvest Host stopover on the way (D.H. Lescombes Winery in Deming, NM). 

     

    Darren

     

     

     

    Pic.jpg

    • Like 4
  3. 2 hours ago, jordanv said:

    🤝 Apologies accepted lol! I do appreciate the advice though. If the responses were 50/50 I may have gone a different route. But the consensus from you guys seems to be over and above to NOT pull an Elite II with a Tacoma. At least not where we want to go.

    The story of how I got my Tacoma is a little interesting, it was also when my wife and I KNEW we wanted a travel trailer, but didnt know which one. We were thinking RPODs, TAGS, etc at the time.

    Now that I know we are going to getting the Elite II, this definitely threw a wrench in the gears. Fortunately, my 2020 Tacoma has only 5500 miles on it and is in perfect condition. For an F150 that can tow up to 10,000 I may have to spend a little more than my trade in value, but I am going to start actively looking, and no longer putting miles into the Taco.

    We were in the same boat as you last year. We started looking at RPOD's, then TAB's, and then as we learned more about quality started looking at the InTech SOL (Horizon). We purchased a Jeep Gladiator before buying the travel trailer, but assumed we were in the right ballpark as far as towing capabilities. My curse as my wife puts it is that I can't stop researching, and that led me eventually to Oliver due to quality. Knowing that a new Oliver (I or II) was more than we wanted to spend (and  could wait forever for a used Oliver, especially an LEI), we settled in on an InTech Sol Horizon. But we ran across a used LEII and couldn't pass it up. Now we're "stuck" with a Gladiator pulling an LEII. Luckily since this was our 3rd (i.e. spare) vehicle to be used for camping, the occasional need for a pickup, and some very light off-roading (think just dirt roads), we leased. So there's an end to this, but it will be painful until then. Last week we traveled up the "rim" from Phoenix to the Forest Lakes area (elevation change from 1900' at my house to 7500'). Not the first time I've done it with this combo. It's doable, but painful. This was the 8% grade John described above. A brief period of driving 40-45. No overheating fortunately. I watched the gauges constantly and it was ~100 out. But not a fun experience. I love the Gladiator, and on flat terrain it really tows well. I have to catch myself as it's easy to get in the 70-80 mph range and not realize it. But an under-powered tow vehicle will make you dread and think about every trip. We're going to Davis Mountain State park next month and I've already used Google Earth to look for the trouble spots that have climbs.  

     

    Darren

     

    • Thanks 2
  4. 2 minutes ago, DavidS said:

    Susan, you may want to consider the Jack-IT Let'sGoAero bike rack that @mossemi posted about in this thread

    LOL, you posted this while I was composing mine. FYI, I initially ordered that version of the bike rack, but it doesn't clear the Barker jack. @mossemi has his slightly modified to attach to the cargo box I believe. So I went with a different version which attaches to the tongue.

     

    Darren

    • Haha 1
  5. Here's another option. I posted about this rack a short while back when looking for options with our trailer. I planned to report back once I had it fully installed and tested, which I haven't yet. But so far I'm relatively happy with the bike rack.

    This rack can be mounted directly to its tongue bracket, or via an angled offset as show in the picture (I'm undecided on mine yet). If you're considering or have a cargo box on the tongue that would be additional consideration (room and weight). 

    https://www.lci1.com/lets-go-aero

    Darren

    IMG-3053.jpg

    • Thanks 2
  6. Susan, the first link provided above by Overland above is where I purchased our lagun table hardware and top. We’re very happy with it and the options we have with it. We fold the top into it’s smaller shape and rotate between us when we’re sleeping to make sure the walkway is clear for a middle of the night potty run, and it acts as a nightstand. During the day we rotate it to the hallway and open it up for coffee or while watching tv.

     

    Darren

    • Thanks 1
    • Like 2
  7. Thanks drfaux. I'll take a closer look under the propane tanks to see if there's at least a pre-drilled hole in the frame to install a bolt vertically. If the two forward horizontal bolts are for two pre-determined tongue lengths you would think there would be two vertical holes in the rear section of that tongue.

    I purchased the bike rack mentioned earlier in this thread and should receive it this week. I plan on installing it this week so I'll look at the tongue and bolt configuration more closely then. I'll report back as well as take some pics if I find anything of value.

  8. Thanks John. What would your thoughts be about mounting the bike rack pictured below to this extended (additional 10”) section?  Besides preventing corrosion between the bike mount and trailer, would this put undue stress on that section of the tongue? I’m trying to avoid mounting our bikes to the rear of the trailer so I’m looking at options for the front.
     

    https://store.lci1.com/hitch-it-double-bike-carrier-system-731138.html
     

     

    62DAB648-75EC-4BAA-B13E-773B3F94CCCD.png

  9. Attached are a couple pictures of the tongue on my Oliver. The 3” section which the bulldog hitch attaches to is 54” long when pulled completely out! Besides the hole in use for bolting that section to the frame in it’s shortest position, there’s another hole 10” back. Is it acceptable to extend and attach to the frame using the 10” hole? Is that there for for use when a customer selects the optional storage basket and therefore needing more space on the tongue?

    Are there any benefits or drawbacks when towing with a longer tongue?

     

    Darren

    35400EB7-A7DC-4EBF-9168-60F8CF0A081F.jpeg

    035B8B4B-6F3A-4852-B242-52CBA7F667D3.jpeg

    B2640222-6611-40BC-9495-7F1E945E591B.jpeg

  10. On 6/30/2019 at 8:51 AM, mossemi said:

    [postquote quote=178926][/postquote]

    Since you already have the bike wing rack, you might think about this mount.  It’s the Lippert version aka “Jack-It”.  I don’t think you can buy the tower alone, but you could think of something along those lines.

     

    Mike

     

    20190522_153445.thumb.jpg.c6d27b76e997e75f012b43204a2874e7.jpg

    Mike,

    Did you mount the tower under the jack as they intended or did you mount it to the trailer frame directly and in front of the jack? Looking at the specs of the tower it doesn’t appear to have enough room for the Barker VIP jack. Although maybe you rotated the jack to face towards the rear of the trailer and then mounted the tower to have the vertical pieces to the front?
    Also, how has the bike rack been since you installed?

  11. Thanks John. The box is bolted to the supports so using them would be a good option. I’ll see what I can find that would work.
    I didn’t weigh it but based on a sticker inside it’s a box from Tractor Supply and a similar box that came up in a search of the model number it weighs 40#. I would guess that seems right based on my moving it.

    It’s actually a handy size and when I’m not camping I store a majority of the items we put in the bed of the truck in it. For example I store 3 camping chairs, a portable grill, gas fire pit, a box of kindling and newspaper, propane hoses, etc. The previous owner also did a good job of integrating brake/turn lights along the rear of the box which connect with a 4-pin connector between the box and trailer as well as between the trailer and TV.

    My concern with using it was the forces you mentioned as well as the affect on tongue weight. I think we’re at the low end, if not under, what the tongue weight should be as a percentage (10% if not less). Although I haven’t traveled with both 30# propane tanks full so that could help offset.  However, then we’re pushing up the overall weight.  Until/unless we get a more stout towing vehicle I look to keep the weights down. 
     

    A couple additional pics attached. 

    6D7150F3-6ABC-44ED-9026-6B17AAE26BEE.jpeg

    046211B7-D150-4695-ABEB-EB642BF40E0A.jpeg

    • Thanks 1
  12. The used Oliver I purchased last fall was modified by the previous owner to accommodate a truck toolbox attached to the bumper. I’m unlikely to use it this way (for a several reasons), but wondering if the mounting brackets installed would fit the Oliver bike rack. I’ve attached photos. Feel free to chime if you have an opinion on using this. FYI, it was designed as 2” receiver hitches which are 45” apart on-center.

    Darren

     

    369ABFEE-5FF6-47DA-968A-7040FA213463.jpeg

    629CAB52-648B-4F81-A739-532414DA8A44.jpeg

  13. On 12/26/2019 at 11:02 AM, AndrewK said:

    After purchasing a standard floor plan new, we decided converting from a bed to seating and back again was going to be just more that we wanted to do everyday so, I converted it to a modified twin bed myself.  A little expense and a little effort and we love it!  I needed the extra width at the head of the bed so we added a 18" x 36" "fill in" mattress between the two twins.  Before and After pictures.

    Andrew

     

     

    IMG_0901.JPG

    Modified Twin.JPG

    Andrew, did you do this conversion yourself, or did you have Oliver do it? We would prefer to have the twin layout so would be interested in what it would take. It seems like I also saw a post of someone that made brackets to accommodate twin mattresses, but I can't seem to locate that post.

     

    Darren

     

  14. On 2/19/2020 at 5:33 PM, Overland said:

    I'd time how long it takes to open or close and ask others to compare that to their unit.  I think you'll get better answers if you've got hard data to work from.

    Well it took ~15 seconds to fully open the cover. After taking apart and lubricating I can now fully open then fully close in ~15 seconds. Before and after videos attached. Not sure how the noise level of the fan compares to others. 

    • Thanks 1
  15. Yes, that is what I'm referring to. In talking to someone today I was told they prevent the springs from "walking" and therefore getting out of alignment with each other. Without, if they do get out of alignment you run the risk of breaking a [portion of a] spring.

    • Thanks 1
  16. With starting to use our recently purchased Oliver I'm discovering some little things to get some thoughts on, which I'll post separately. 

    Our MaxxFan, even when on shore power, seems to labor when opening like the little engine that could. It does completely open and run, eventually... It's as if we're running on battery and it's not getting enough juice. Would this brief description be similar to others' experience with theirs or could there be an issue with ours?

     

    Darren

  17. 39 minutes ago, Mcmac said:

    Thanks Darren,

    I appreciate the offer for assistance... Odds are good that I'll have a question or two. Definitely excited to pick it up and start learning what I need to know to get the most out it. Going to be fun.

     

    Mike

    I'm still a little green having purchased ours in October, but I feel like I've read every thread (although only retained a fraction of the information). Depending on timing and location, I'm happy to meet you when you're picking it up to answer any questions I can. 

     

    Darren

    • Like 1
  18. 3 hours ago, topgun2 said:

    djpinaz -

    Drop Matt Duncan an email at - mduncan@olivertechnologies.com - I'm sure that he will be able to help you get your hull # plate.

    Bill

    Thanks Bill. I'll reach out to Matt. In their defense, each time I've asked it was a "by the way, any chance I can get..." while we were in the middle of discussing an issue or I was in the process of purchasing a part, so it most likely was just forgotten.

     

    Darren

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