Mike and Carol

We enjoyed our stay at James Robb state park. It’s just minutes away from the Colorado National Monument. Enjoy! Mike

John, I don’t remember exactly but I found some pictures I took in case I needed to do another one (and I did!). Here’s what I found…

I usually have a fair amount of white stuff that comes out, especially when I do the flush.

I just tried to text Bill (Topgun) and it failed. I’m sure they have no power or cell coverage in Brevard.

That’s half the fun! I know I’m going to get a bit wet.

John, as I recall (it’s been a couple of years) I started at the bottom on one side of the spring and wound my way around the frame/through the shades. I wrapped tape around the ends of the string to assist getting it through the holes in the shade. It’s one continuous run so you end up at the other side of the spring on the bottom. It’s a little tricky getting the right tension on the spring so that you don’t have the shade too loose or too tight. I did one of each, one wouldn’t stay up and one was very difficult to move. It’s easy enough to untie and change the tension. Mike

I’m sure we have owners that have been affected by the hurricane, hopefully everyone is okay. Are there any western NC or eastern TN folks that have any updates? I know there are owners around Johnson City, TN and Asheville, NC. We’re a bit worried…. Mike

Many of the National Parks campgrounds are dry camping. Others, like around Moab are public campgrounds, COE and FS. I still use the Ultimate Campground app, even though it is no longer supported. You can sort sites so that you can find amenities that you want. Mike

We camped at Piñon Flats, Loop 1 Site 38. We fit. There was a 25’ Airstream next to us and he fit as well. Our site: View from the dunes…

Not that I’m aware of. I think it’s the only way. Mike

We’ve been up and down 550 a lot, towing, and it’s really not too bad. Everyone goes slow enough that there’s not the “white knuckle” experience you would think. An alternative that we’ve done from Fruita (be sure to visit the Colorado Nat’l Monument there) is to head towards Ridgway on 50, which turns into 550. In Ridgway, turn right towards Telluride so that you avoid the Million Dollar Highway part of 550 (Ouray to Silverton). Go past Telluride, through Rico and you’ll be able to pick up 145 south to Cortez. We are usually heading to Durango so we bypass Cortez. It’s a scenic drive without the mountain passes that are on 550. Mike

Nice install, great job!

The first few months we had our trailer I routinely ran the rear jacks up until I heard them click. I had one fail to lower once and had to use the manual handle, it had slip off the gear. Once I got it down a few inches it worked fine. Since then (2016) I never raise the jacks until they click. I put a mark on them so I know when to stop. No issues since.

There’s not much difference between the construction of new and old Oliver’s. The main difference will be the added components. There has been some updating of appliances, faucets, sinks, etc. Solar switched from Blue Sky to Zamp. Different fridge, AC, inverter and other items. The trailer and suspension are essentially the same. A lot of It depends on what the owner has updated or changed. We have our original Dometic fridge and AC but some owners of our vintage have changed those out. I just replaced our springs, shocks, brakes and bearings, so underneath we’re good as new. It just depends on what you want. If you find a used trailer ask about what they’ve done to change and update. It’s hard to give a year by year description of the differences. Mike

Check under the back dinette seat and look at where the gray water pipe from the bathroom enters the gray tank. Ours was not glued just a friction attachment. Bumpy roads caused it to dislodge and not seal tightly. I glued ours in. Mike

Where do you live? Will you have hard freezes? I agree with no antifreeze in the fresh tank if you’ve drained it or mostly drained it. Mike

Glad to hear everyone is okay and thanks for sharing your lessons learned! Mike

Travel season includes all 12 months around these parts!

I agree these methods work. I haven’t used an Andersen in almost 4 years, but when we did the raising of the hitch with the jack worked well. I never needed to adjust the chains once I got them right. I used the Andersen on 3 different trucks, each needed a bit of adjustment to be right. Mike

Pricing used older Oliver’s should be pretty straight forward. When we ordered ours in 2015 the base price was $46K-ish. With options (not as many available as today) ours was just over $50K. That’s where I would start if/when I decide to sell. I would add some for the lithium upgrade and a few other mods that have been done. Factor in the age of tires and general condition of the trailer and you might add or subtract some. For example, ours has a new inverter, new shocks, springs, bearings brakes and tires, and a fairly recent ceramic coating. Those are all adds. In other words, I’d want what I’ve put into it and it would still be a bargain for someone interested in a used trailer. Mike

We always leave the sewer hose attached. No reason not to…. It makes life so much easier!

I also enjoy talking to folks about our Oliver. The only exception is when I’m backing in to a site with Carol standing back there for directions and someone stops me to have a discussion. It’s happened more times than I’d like. Usually I ask them to hang on for a few seconds so I can finish backing in. Only once did the person leave and not want to finish the discussion. Mike

Bill, I always look forward to your end-of-fishing-trip wrap up. Great pics and it sounds like the fishing was great! Mike

MPG will, of course, will depend on how and where you drive. My Ram has a 6.7L inline six, a little different than the Ford V8. I get about 18 mpg around town not towing. A little over 20 mpg just highway. Towing on level highways I get a little over 15 mpg at 65 mph. I’ll do 70 on I-10 going west from San Antonio and I’ll get 13/14 mpg. In the mountains it drops to 11 or 12. I’ve got about 75K miles on this truck, half of it towing. Mike

It’s on my list too. I put mine back as original, should have taken the time to do more. That was 2017, I’ve learned a lot since then.