SeaDawg

Glad you enjoyed it! Let's ask @topgun2 to rotate your photo. Did you drive the Denali across? How was it? That's an amazing (but slow) stretch. Lots of great scenic pullouts for free dry camping. We often take two days to drive the Denali highway. Or which highway did you drive? Probably the Glenn highway? It's beautiful too, and most direct, probably, from kennicott. if you're staying in palmer long, there's a really good carwash with an rv bay if you need it, after Denali highway. And better prices on groceries than the smaller towns,, though not as good as Fred meyers in Anchorage. Not much for provisioning between Palmer and Denali. There's a newer three bears grocery in Healy, though, with decent prices, and variety, by Alaska standards. The laundromat at the cantwell rv park at cantwell is nicer than the one in most towns, fairly reasonable, and you can take a shower while your clothes wash if you're longing for a long hot shower, as I usually am, by that point. No timers, just a note to please be considerate of other campers. Showers are just in the hallway by the laundry. (Also a couple of good thrift shops in Palmer where you might find a replacement tray for your microwave, if you're lucky.) Free dry camping at pullouts was our weekend solution.

I just bought a spare switch to carry, instead. I've fortunately only had to operate any of the jacks manually a few times over the years, and it's slow, but doable, even with my upper body/ arm strength. I like the ratchet idea a lot, though. More like a bi-directional winch on our sailboat. Every time for us, it was a fuse or a switch causing the issue. And, one time a bad ground, on a friend's front jack that we helped repair.

Glad you ( and the turtle) are all ok. Thanks for the report. Might just have a little to do with your driving skill and experience, too, 😃 but we feel the same way, towing our elite. 2008 ram 1500 4 x 4.

When we picked up our Oliver elite, February 2008, we towed it back to Florida with a 2004 Volvo xc90. Probably 70 to 80 per cent of rated capacity, and it did fine in flats, struggled a bit in the hills. But, it was fine , for that trip. We used it a few more times, for short and local trips. It was not a mountain vehicle. Did that once, only. I'd not buy a vehicle under rated for what we often do (mountains, severe elevation changes), but hey, if you're towing mostly short trips without major elevation changes, within tow ranges, what's the opinion? Plus, an enjoyable daily driver with decent mileage? (Not to mention, fun daily driver?) Sometimes, it's nice to use what you have, multi purpose. Not stretching, too much. Been there, done that.

I use a number of griot's garage products. I especially like their leather cleaners and conditioners for car seats, and my leather furniture in my home. Not greasy, and easy to use. Do they have a recommended orbital polisher? I've never used any of their products on or in my trailer.

Yup, spreadsheets work for us, @Mike and Carol. I think my husband could run a total of every part and enhancement we've done since picking up #12, in February 2008, from our spreadsheets . Me?. I don't really want to know. Fun and friends and our adventures outweigh those $$$ , every time. Yolo.

So, @ScubaRx, your truck recognizes the attached trailer, and records its mileage, separately? That's pretty cool. Our newest tow vehicle is a 2008,,and doe not have that feature.

Let's tiptoe a bit, and keep this non-political? Please. And, stay on topic? Op is asking only for opinions on gladiator, gas vs diesel, as an appropriate TV for his le2.

Is what it is. Relative to the 70s, probably not so bad. We'll get through it. We always do.

@Mike and Carol, we painted stripes on our jacks back in 2008. Great advice!

Diesel is $6 here, plus. Regular gas, $4.50 or a bit more.

Me, too. It's ok. We have a wealth of experience to draw on, right? 😅 My daughter loves hearing about that, and learning. It's all a balance.

We had a problem with the curbside jack, recently, in our 2008. It would come up, but not down. Operating the manual alternative is a pita, to say the least. Tear up the bed, the handle only goes about 90 degrees, you get the picture. Since it would work one direction, we hesitated to tear out the switch, which we suspected to be the culprit, and have it work then in no directions. I contacted service, and @JWalmsley with his great memory, directed me to a replacement switch on Amazon. 5 minute replacement. Full operation. Thanks, Jason! You are the best, even for 15th season trailers.

Your shiny new Oliver is not the place to learn how to use an orbital polisher, imo. Practice on something else, first. Learn how to handle the speeds and products. Just a cautionary advice. There are some great articles available online from practical sailor, basically the consumer reports of the marine fiberglass world. (BTW, they have recommended the dewalt and shurhold many times.) Just like anything else, it's not just the tool you own, and the products you use, it's the proper application that gets the job done with best results. The gelcoat Oliver uses is marine grade, and a good layer, but it's still gelcoat. Don't abuse it, and it will give you a long lasting, beautiful life. Our motto is, take care of your stuff, and it will take care of you. Our sailboat is 40+ years, powerboat 20+ years, trailer 14+ years. (We do love fiberglass...)

There are so many factors built into our Ollies that provide that stability and handling. Tires, certainly, are a part of it. Cheap tires can certainly mess up a good plan, right? A few years ago, I was thinking I'd be trading my Silverado soon, and since I usually don't leave the county, just use it for short trips around town and trips to the lumber yard, garden center, and mulch yard, I bought cheaper tires for the first time in my life. Totally false economy. They were horrid in rain (despite reviews), wore quickly, and I was glad a few years later to find pirelli at tires on sale. Never again.

Oliver has never installed junk tires, like some other sob trailer manufacturers. Our first tires (st) were duros, if I remember correctly, in 2008. Some of the very best st tires available, at the time when goodyear marathons (nicknamed explodathons) were on pretty much every other trailer. We got five years and full life out of those tires. Just a few years ago, my sister was looking at an sob teardrop, a year or two old. It had load range c cheap Chinese tires. I told her to ask for new tires, at least load range d, before even considering signing. Many sob trailers leave the factory with the bare minimum tires, often unsafe at normal highway speed. But, not Olivers. @John Welte asked a valid question, considering the general market..

What do you use now? Anything? The yoga mats some people have used with nonresidue duck tape looks like an economical and effective solution, to me.

Rock tamers, properly installed, do the job for us on slow speed gravel roads. (5 to 25, maybe 35 mph, campground and entrance roads). We only have a very few chip marks. Beyond that, you'll want some frontal protection. Typical campground entances have slow speed limits. If you want to get out there, check out the Alaska threads. That's where it gets interesting.

That thermostat has some tricks. Do a search. I'll see if i can find something for you. Most reported problems are furnace running.

Would you mind if I edited the title to something like add info to signature? This comes up a lot,,and it's definitely not intuitive. Takes a bunch to get there.. glad you did. Might help others

I think you're in an appropriate spot. Let us know what you find.

I think we were able to access the plug from the inside. Paul and I were talking about it. We "think" we stuck a long tie wrap (24") through the drain tube , and cleared it. We so seldom use ac, and that was at least ten years ago. Maybe more.

The manuals won't help, because (i think) it's the Oliver drain tube is plugged, or kinked.. Just be glad you have twin beds. In the standard configuration, it would be dripping on the bed. (Ask me how I know.)

@John E Davies, I haven't found the easter eggs. 😐 But here's my "smile photo." I call this tree on our property in NC my t-rex tulip tree. If you squint, you can see the open jaws, and neck outline. This time of the year, the tulip poplars are in bloom, near the top, where the little blooms kind of look like tulips. In the lower branch/bottom jaw, you can see the blossoms. They look like teeth from a distance. These trees are usually kind of cone shaped. T rex is reaching for the sun, obviously.

Great looking tires, Mike. How do they ride? Love the sidewall protection.