Mike and Carol

Steven, welcome to the forum! We’re first time camper owners too, I often wonder why we waited so long. Mike

676 is a great number - congrats! Hope you have as many great miles and smiles as we have. Hope to see you on the road. Mike

On some Olivers there is a valve under the back dinette seat that opens and closes the black flush line. For years we used to just keep it open because there is a back flow on that line as well. Once, when our black tank was pretty full and we had traveled most of the day to our next site, I took the cap off the black flush connection and a small amount of fluid came out. I though it had an odd smell. So, I don’t know if the backflow valve failed or something else happened, or if it was just my imagination. After that, we just decided to keep it closed until we are putting water through the flush connection. I don’t know if newer trailers have the same valve or not. Mike

I don’t really think so, especially if I’ve raised the front with the front jack. You’d need to be pretty big to change the attitude of the trailer. Our dump routine is Carol is inside, I’m outside. She is monitoring the black tank level as I am filling it with a hose connected to the black tank flush. When we hit 80% to 85% she tells me and I open the valve. We do this a couple of times, unless we are at a dump station and we don’t want to hold things up too long. When our last black dump is done she shuts the valve under the dinette seat while I open the gray valve. While the gray tank is draining I unhook the hose from the black flush. I don’t think we need to over think this. If the front of the trailer is a little higher than the back everything will be fine. Mike

We shoot for 300 miles a day. That gives us time in the morning for some coffee and gets us to our next location in time for a glass of wine before we fire up the grill. We’re retired, so we try to make the journey interesting and relaxing. We have covered more miles, a few times many more. When we go to Durango to visit our son and family we drive to Roswell, NM about half of the 900+ miles and finish the next day. Same on return trip. There just isn’t decent place to stop between San Antonio and Durango except for the very small Red Barn RV Park in Roswell. Once, while camping on the Missouri River in Leavenworth, KS we were jolted out of sleep at 2am by emergency personnel and told to evacuate immediately. The river was cresting and a few hours after we left the campground was under water. We headed south on I-35 and had fierce storms the whole trip to include tornado warnings all around OKC with several touching down. We stopped at a Cracker Barrel in Waco after almost 700 miles and finished the trip home in the morning. Our Ollie tracked like a champ through high winds and driving rain. No leaks either! Mike

We looked at the Tab 400 when they first came out (out of curiousity!). We decided the same, some nice features, easy to tow but too small, especially the bath with the fold down Sink. Not a cold weather camper, either. Mike

We’ve camped in quite a few National Parks and have not had a size problem yet. We haven’t tried Chisos Basin campground in Big Bend National Park but I would give it a try. We have heard from some fellow Elite II owners who got in that it was a little tight. I think the Elite II is small enough to fit into most campgrounds but big enough for a couple to be comfortable. Mike

Call Jason in service, Oliver special orders these covers. I lost one last trip and Jason sent me a new one. Not expensive, something like $5. Mike

My iPhone does what I need. I have an older Garmin that I keep up to date and carry for backup when we’re out of cell range.

We don’t have the keyless lock. Depending on how our trailer is sitting the deadbolt can bind both when locking and unlocking with the key. I have to push in on the door to relieve pressure so I don’t stress the key too much. Other times it is fine. If your unlocking motor is working it might be a case of the deadbolt binding and not retracting all the way. Just an idea. Mike

Nice looking trailer! Congrats and hope to see you out on the road. Mike

It’s a good question. I don’t know the origin but curbside is on the passenger side of your vehicle. Street side is the drivers side. Or, on the trailer, the side with the door is curbside. Now you know! Mike

I agree with this. At a dump station just be aware of front to back, with the front higher. If there aren’t folks waiting then you can fiddle with left to right, but I’ve found everything will drain fine if the front is a little higher than the back. Mike

Do a search for Tacoma’s. We towed our Elite II with the previous generation Tacoma. We were traveling fairly light and had the TRD Supercharger. We upgraded to a half ton because the gas tank was small and the drop in gas mileage meant we had to get gas way too frequently. We also wanted to carry more stuff for extended time on the road and the Tacoma was limited on payload.

When we started looking at Olivers in 2015 we were told that the back jacks could be used to raise the trailer for tire changing. They have since changed that guidance and don’t recommend using the back jacks for that. I can understand the liability issues. When I added the TST TPMS to my wheels I went in to my local tire shop to have metal stems installed and to have the tires rebalanced with the TPMS sensors. I got out my legos and 8” blocks and used the back jacks to raise the trailer, one side at a time to remove and balance the wheels. On our last trip, a grease cap came off one wheel and was rattling around inside the chrome hub cover. I used the jack to raise the trailer, remove the wheel and put things back in order. I’m not going to use those jacks to raise the trailer off the ground at a campsite for leveling. They are used for fine tuning only. But, for occasional jacking for wheel/tire work I will use the back jacks. Mike

We always run ours on Auto mode. If we’re plugged into shore power it goes to that. As soon as I unplug it goes to propane. I’ve never used 12V. Mike

More discussion here: https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/4513-nest-that-didn’t-last-very-long/

I agree with Steve. You can learn a lot from reading through this forum and asking questions. Our Oliver is our first RV and we had a lot to learn before we picked ours up. We were mentored by some experienced Oliver owners and are now pretty experienced campers. If you like the western US you will find lots of free boondocking spots. There are also lots of inexpensive COE/BLM/FS and other campgrounds. If you have a senior pass they are half price. There are apps that will show where these areas are, where dump stations are and where you can find free camping. Welcome! Mike

Welcome back, it has been a while. Glad to hear things worked out. I went back and re-read the entire thread, lots of good information here. Mike

Someone else will have to chime in here, I’ve never winterized. I don’t know how you would winterize just those areas and not the rest. If you’re driving all day in below freezing weather I would winterize everything. If it is only below freezing at night you should be all right.

For trips where towing temps are above freezing and nighttime temperatures are mid to high 20s I would not worry about winterizing. We’ve camped in the teens at night with and without hookups and had no issues. If you are going to have sustained temps in the 20s or below, day and night, then you might winterize or head to warmer temperatures. Mike

I’m a long time woodworker. What I’ve seen from Foy is top notch craftsmanship. If I was ordering a new trailer and wanted wood accents I would not get any fiber granite option and have Foy craft a custom interior for me. Mike

Dump station etiquette generally says that you shouldn’t take any more time than necessary. If I am using a dump station I ensure everything I need is accessible as soon as I get there. If the dump station isn’t level I try to pull in so the front is high, not always possible. If I need to, I put a tall block under the front jack and lift the front of the trailer and usually the back of the truck. I have also had to unhitch and raise. No big deal, if you socialize a little with your fellow campers in line nobody gets too excited about it. I’ve even had offers of help. I’ve noticed that RV’ers in general aren’t in too much of a hurry! As far as how high to raise the front, I use the bubble level on the jack (which I adjust frequently after leveling with a level), moving the bubble well out of the bullseye. Mike

You may be confusing the capacity of the Bulldog hitch with the weight of the Bulldog hitch. My Oliver weighed 5100 lbs (with the hitch) when it came out of the factory. I don’t know how much the hitch weighs, but stop by Tractor Supply and they have them on the shelf that you can pick up with one hand and look at. If your Escalade can tow 7800 lbs then it can tow an Elite II. Mike

It doesn’t matter what the valve in the shower is. You can drain the gray tank with it open or closed. Since we open it as soon as we set up it is usually open when we drain the gray tank if we’re at a full hook up site. The shower valve only prevents back flow from the gray tank into the bathroom floor when you are moving. It’s independent of the gray tank drain valve. Good luck and let us know what you find! Mike