Mike and Carol

Rob, going north on 550 keeps you mostly in the inside lane against the mountain. Going south you’re mostly on the outside lane which can seem more intimidating. This is all between Silverton and Ouray. The western route takes a little longer but we enjoy it too. Ditto on Durango, we love it here. Mike

We’re camping in Durango now, only at 6,400’ but it was 52 degrees this morning. Late sept through mid Oct will be cold, and expect Some snow. Some campgrounds between here and Telluride close at the end of September or sometime in October! Mike

We have done 550 several times each way with our previous Ram 1500’s. The grades up and down were not a big issue. Traffic moves at a leisurely pace and almost everyone drives cautiously and at a reasonable speed. You have to respect the road. We’ve also done the drive between Durango and Ridgway many times towing with our 2500, braking is mostly taken care of by the engine brake. We’ve also done the trip west through Delores and Rico on 160 and 145 that takes you by Telluride. It’s scenic in a different way, a little longer but a nice way to go. We’re currently camping in Durango visiting our son and family on our way to the PNW. He commuted up 550 weekly to Grand Junction for a year when he was working there. He said it was closed a few times due to heavy snow, but other than that he never had an issue. Mike

We’re very happy with the electronics in our 2020 Ram 2500. The CarPlay works everytime, the camera views are great and the other electronic gizmo’s are nice. The big center screen for media and maps makes the driving experience enjoyable. I bet the new Rams are even better. Mike

I recommend you leave your inverter off until you need to use 110, especially with AGM’s. As mentioned above, just having your inverter on and not being used draws down battery capacity. We rarely turn our inverter on.

Another Nevada owner that was very active on this forum was John Roemer @Raspy. He sold his Oliver for a Black Series, then moved on to other interesting travel trailers. He did a lot of mods, I forgot who bought his trailer, but it is still around.

Ralph, I tried replacing the sleeve on that hitch back in 2017 and couldn’t get it out. I contacted Andersen and they sent me a new assembly in exchange for the old one. The linked thread below is from a 2016 thread on the Andersen where I described trying to get the sleeve out. In those days Andersen was on this forum and answered questions. Mike My Andersen post in 2017

My brake issue was resolved after I posted my issue on this forum and another owner offered that he had the same issue and what he did to solve the problem. It turns out that it was a Dexter issue of excess wire wear due to how they ran/configured the brake wires. Several other owners have also had this issue. It will be interesting to see what your mobile tech finds out.

Agree. There should be some explanation/announcement/heads up from Oliver.

Oliver was quick to reimburse any warranty repairs at a local RV repair shop. I’m assuming that would continue if the dealers are going away. We had a couple of warranty things repaired locally years ago and Oliver sent us a check to cover the repairs. I’m always looking for an excuse to go to Tennessee, one of our favorite places to camp and visit. Mike

I know Princess Craft was an Oliver dealer, just checked their website and no Olivers. Not good. Mike

Here is a link to a thread on how to put the map in your signature. Mike Signature Map

Here’s a thread addressing this issue with pictures. If this is your problem it’s pretty straightforward to fix. Good luck. Mike Brake Disconnect Thread

Hey Ray, I had an issue with my brakes intermittently disconnecting. There is a set of brake wires that go through the rear axle that had worn to the point where bare wire was contacting the metal axle. Several other owners have had the same issue. The wires were pulled out and replaced and are now zip tied to the outside of the axle. Problem solved. It’s a bit unusual that your trailer is not high mileage for this to be the cause but it is worth checking. I’ll see if I can dig up some of the old posts on this issue. Mike

Another vote for Meriwether. We had a great stay there and the host is wonderful.

There’s a shopping center down on the north side of San Antonio we go to sometimes, there’s a Best Buy there. Earlier this summer I was there for something one morning and I saw an Oliver parked in the lot. I parked near it. I did my business and came out and there was a couple coming out of the trailer. I approached and introduced myself adding that I had owned an Oliver since 2016. He looked at me and said “nice to meet you” and then walked off towards Best Buy. Didn’t give his name. No handshake. His wife (I presume) said he had run over his cell phone while leaving their campsite and they stopped at Best Buy to get a replacement. She then left quickly to catch up to him. I understand they might have been stressed out, but they were not even cordial much less friendly. I wrote it off to him being upset that he had crushed an expensive electronic gadget and I went home. Don’t know who they were, I didn’t look at their trailer for graphics or anything, I was just a little surprised at the experience.

Aren’t there a number of different dual axle configurations with varying distances between the two wheels? It might not be profitable to try make chocks to fit all the different situations. Maybe some kind of adjustable chock? Not sure what that would look like. Mike

Welcome and congrats on your “new” Oliver! Feel free to ask anything as you learn the ins/outs of your trailer. Mike

No crowds!

That is a fine looking group of Oliver campers! Is this the start of a NM/AZ rally?

We’ve also been using Zero-G for years. Both at home and while camping.

I think we’ve been there.

George Strait is also doing a benefit concert here in our hill country town of Boerne (“BER-nee” for out of staters!). It also sold out in a day or so. George lives here and does a lot of local charity work with his buisiness partner Tom Cusick who is a local business owner. Great folks. George Strait Hill Country Benefit Concert Mike

You can access Black Canyon from the north side of the canyon. We stayed at Crawford State Park for a few days some years ago and it’s only about a 15 minute drive to the canyon. There’s a small tent camping area there and you can hike along the canyon without ever entering the National Park. It gives a different perspective than you get from the NP side. Recommend doing the National Park before though! Mike

Bill, I think I may have started the SL diversion! We also got the router so we should be set. Some of our stops next trip will not have cell coverage so we’re looking forward to this new (to us) technology. Mike