Ray and Susan Huff

Same for us . . . . . but we will certainly appreciate the extra bit of cushion the cold weather tolerance, even if it's just while it is sleeping in its carport during a spell of cold PNW weather while we are cozied up to the fire with a good book and a cup of hot chocolate, or other beverage 😁

Don't you think the reason RV antifreeze is rated to -50 degrees is to account for some dilution caused by residual water in the plumbing?

I'm just wondering . . . . we have always had pickups with full size (8') beds. What do you gain with a short bed, other than easier parallel parking? For how we use our pickups, a short bed is somewhat restrictive.

Thanks for the "tour". Only 53 days till we see it for ourselves. I'd better get packing 😵

If possible, park the Oliver so it is in the shade during the warmer part of the say, close the shades. Make sure the dogs have water available.

??? Until someone goes in and shuts the door . . . . locked in again!!!

Thanks . . . . . found it on the map. Google maps labels it as "Oliver Travel Trailers - RV Repair Shop". Is the larger building to the east labeled "Oliver Fiberglass Products" where the trailers are built? https://www.google.com/maps/place/Oliver+Travel+Trailers/@35.5635984,-87.5361372,824m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m12!1m6!3m5!1s0x88634aeabfe8022d:0xdad0835a06a7b88e!2sOliver+Travel+Trailers!8m2!3d35.5634598!4d-87.5188928!3m4!1s0x88634b922967f19f:0xeb9bdd2a40202cc9!8m2!3d35.5618843!4d-87.5375551 In addition to fiberglass bathtubs and travel trailers, Oliver also designs and manufactures foundation materials for manufactured homes. https://olivertechnologies.com/

Or as late as May and June; Northern Arizona as well. In 2019, we took our very first RV road trip to the SW. We left Oregon Mid-May. Planned to head East on I-80 then south the N. Rim Grand Canyon (which was scheduled to open mid-May), then on to Sedona and finally back north to Valley of Fire SP near Las Vegas. We began our trip without reservations - good thing. A snow storm moved into the higher elevations of Nevada and into northern Arizona (the same storm that cancelled hundreds of flights at the Denver airport). We reversed our route and headed south, to miss the storm. visiting Valley of Fire, then on to Sedona, which wasn't ideal since it was then the week prior to Labor Day (we were detained in Reno due to a breakdown on our camper van). We were lucky and found a one night vacancy at a private campground, Lo Lo Mai Springs, just outside Cottonwood. We intended to scout around for boondocking spots around Sedona but got lucky and the Lo Lo Mai owners found us a site for the weekend. A caution: do not expect to explore the town of Sedona on Labor Day weekend; what a mess. The town is all roundabouts and streets were congested with RVs and pedestrians. We drove through, then went on to explore less busy sites in the area. After seeing some great Native American ruins, the Copper Museum in Cottonwood, and biking the red rock trails, we decided to drive to Payson (where we spent the night at a USFS campground) and then up to bike along the Mongollon Rim - another amazing place. Since the storm had passed, we headed north; explored Winslow, AZ; camped at Homolovi Ruins SP, hiked the Walnut Canyon, then spent a couple of nights camped at Lee's Ferry (along the Colorado River). By now, the road to the North Rim had opened, though it did snow on the way in. After a day at the Grand Canyon, we started home with stops at City of Rocks and Three Mile Crossing, both in Idaho. It was a memorable trip; we saw some amazing landscapes and geological sites. A couple of weeks later, my husband left home on his motorcycle (tent camping on the way) to visit a navy buddy just west of Oklahoma City. He was forced to get a motel room at Gunnison, CO when, on the first day of Summer, another snowstorm dipped south dropping over 2" of snow on Monarch Pass.

I agree. . . . . ours will hopefully ride behind the pickup.

Is the new sales center at the same location as the old, just a new building?

So here's what we are going to do: I stopped at Les Schwab today and they have the chains for the pickup and the Z-cables for the trailer. Can purchase them now and return if we don't use them. This will be one thing we don't have to shop for when we get to Hohenwald.

We've always lived where there are icy roads and sometimes snow, so we understand driving in winter conditions. Even so, when our roads would turn icy, I'd have my husband drive me to work . . . . . no way I want to be at the mercy of crazy-stupid drivers. The worse case scenario is living in a town with a military base where there are people from every latitude, some of whom have never driven in ice/snow. I spent one winter on Whidbey Island, WA and decided it was best to just stay home when conditions turned bad. People would drive up to an intersection and expect the brakes to stop them as usual . . . . . . . as they slowly slide off the road into the ditch.

I'm saving this post . . . . you'll retire some day 😀

I heard from Oliver, regarding the use of chains on the Elite II. I sent a link to the Z-chains suggested by @John E Davies. Here is Oliver's response: Those should work fine for our trailer. There will be plenty of clearance for them to fit.

Thanks, @John E Davies I kind of expected that . . . . . . a bit like finding an air conditioner in Siberia. Will buy them at Les Schwab where we can return them if not used 😁 Might not be on sale, but probably won't use them anyway.

I like the Z-chain that JD suggests as they don't require tightener/tensioners. I'm not as worried about price increase as winter nears as I am availability . . . . . . . you know, like TP 😁

Not the large vent I had envisioned, but I do hope it's the white version . . . . it will blend in with the Oliver's white exterior. Here is the info I received from Matt Duncan, OTT Marketing Director We just started building 2021 models. Here is a list of most of the changes on a 2021. - Girard Awnings replace Dometic (standard is powered) - Furrion stereo replaces Jensen - Vizio smart TV replaces Jensen - Furrion backup camera replaces voyager (option) - MaxxFan bath fan I believe we added a 12v/5v charging station back under the dinette and a few other electrical changes. Decor options are now packaged to included flooring, upholstery, and countertops. These are on our website.

Thanks . . . . good to know. I'm waiting for a response from Oliver. Hoping they have some experience with chains on the Oliver. I'm confident, if they don't they will investigate the matter 😃

I have asked this question as well. Wheels may have changed and the tires have, but are they the same size as previous models? Has anyone out there used cable chains on the Oliver? As for clearance between the tire and fender, we used cable chains on a previous Mazda Sport Sedan with low profile high performance tires and very little clearance between the tire and the fender well. Of course , you want to drive slow, but that's the case driving any vehicle outfitted with snow chains. . . . . . Except maybe for those skiers rushing to be first in the lift line . . . . 😵 Not ordering chains for the Ollie yet. Will wait to hear what Oliver (and others) have to say. We might just wait until we get to Hohenwald and pick them up locally . . . . . after the drive out, we will have a better idea of road conditions and whether we need them.

I asked Oliver. The 2021 models are equipped with Cooper E rated 10-ply truck tires - 225/75/R16 mounted on aluminum rims.

@ScubaRxAre the campsites in Michigan too small? Or is there another reason you've not been there in your Ollie?

OUR GEOCACHING TALE In the 70's (before geocaching?) our local radio station had a "treasure hunt" contest sponsored by Pepsi-Cola. The call sign, KWRO, was displayed atop the station's building in huge block letters. Each summer we looked forward to the "Hunt for the Missing W". The W was taken down from the roof, placed in a box, and buried somewhere in the county (Coos, Oregon). Throughout the day, clues would be read over the air, a new clue each day, a ploy to get people to tune in to radio advertising. The clues were repeated from day to day, each clue having a unique number (like an Ollie!). There were a few parameters - the W is on public property, no fences or barriers are in the way, etc. The lucky person finding the W had to return the the treasure to the radio station to claim the $500 prize; you might recall, that was a fair amount of money in the 70's. Each Summer, we participated in the hunt. This was a great activity, getting families outdoors and interacting with each other. When our boys were old enough, they enjoyed deciphering the clues, looking forward to the weekend when we would search for the W. I wish I had documented the creative clues as well as our discussions as each of us, with our diverse analysis techniques, honed in on the location. One year, I'm certain we found where the W had been initially hidden, along an abandoned road. It appeared that the county road crew might have dug up the box with a grader blade while cleaning debris from the shoulder. It was subsequently found later, in the same vicinity, by friends of ours - less than 5 miles from our rural community. As Coos County is a predominantly rural county with vast areas of wooded USFS and BLM land, it helped that my husband was raised there and familiar with all the remote areas. And so, the hunts continued. I suspect the W was damaged by the previous incident because, thereafter, it was not the "hunt for the missing W" but the "Search for the Missing Pepsi Can". The treasure became an empty Pepsi can containing a note instructing the lucky finder to return it to the radio station to claim the $500 prize. Not quite as mysterious as the "Missing W". Finally, sometime in the 80's, our endeavors paid off. While walking along a BLM road in a logged over area in search of the elusive can, we spotted it, partially hidden in a large stump several yards off the side of the road. It was obvious that someone had walked through the brush to the stump; I presume an employee from the radio station routinely checked to see if the can was still there. I don't remember who spotted it first. I only know that, as a four-boy, one-income family, the $500 was well received. It paid for a good part of a much needed new roof on our home.

We had a Truma Comfort Plus in our Leisure Travel Van and we were told to never put antifreeze through the Truma. There were valves to bypass the hot water heater before adding antifreeze to the system. Ours did not have the electric antifreeze option so we had to drain the hot water tank and remove the filter.

In regards to the check valves: does pumping antifreeze into the exterior hose fittings, using a hand pump, protect the check valves from freezing if you leave water in the system. So, if you want to travel in freezing weather, but leave the interior plumbing active (water in fresh tank) with heat on, can you winterize the exterior plumbing as stated above and be protected? Or would it be safer to travel fully winterized, using water in jugs for necessities (washing dishes, cooking and flushing the toilet). And, should you add antifreeze to the toilet flush? I ask because we hope to make our return from Hohenwald to Oregon in mid-December via I-40. We will be traveling through high desert areas from Albuquerque to Gallup NM and Flagstaff to Kingman AZ, in elevations over 4,000' where temperatures will most likely be below freezing and below 20 at night. Ideally we will time our drive so we are passing through these higher elevations during the warmer part of the day.

Good question . . . . . one I have, too. If you are going to winterize the entire trailer with Antifreeze, why would you also blow out the lines? Seems like just an extra step that is negated by pumping antifreeze into the lines.