Mike and Carol

It would seem to me that if Oliver uses a Suburban furnace that they would all act about the same. But, it doesn’t seem to be the case for some reason. You may be right that it depends on the individual furnace.

We dry camped at 9,100+ feet near RMNP this summer. Furnace, stove top, hot water all worked fine. So did the Weber and Blackstone. I know some folks have had issues, it just doesn’t seem consistent.

Look under the curb side bed. The silver ducting should be connected to the furnace and to the vents into the trailer.

Congrats on your order! Before you know it you’ll be on your way to Hohenwald to pick up your new Oliver. If you can attend a rally you will meet a bunch of Oliver owners. It seems that we run into fellow owners quite often all over the US. Look forward to meeting you. Mike

That’s a nice vehicle. I would recommend that you look at the Elite I, your Land Rover would do fine with it. The larger Elite II could also be towed by your Land Rover but you would be near the safety limits and would not have an enjoyable towing experience, especially in any mountains. The payload looks pretty good, remember that what you carry in your Land Rover (including you and your dog) + trailer tongue weight should be under your vehicles payload limit. Check yours, often payload is reduced with certain options. I’m not a Land Rover expert, but there are some here who should chime in. MIke

Yes, this is an interesting discussion. We’ve camped in mid to low 20s frequently and a few times in the teens but the daytime temps were upper 30s or higher. We did do four days in Durango once with temps in the teens and barely over freezing during the day. Kept the heat up and no issues. Some good suggestions here. Mike

The national parks are amazing, we’ve been to almost all of them. What kind of tow vehicle do you have? There is always a lot of discussion on payload capacity, tongue weight and tow weight. These are all things that should be considered to ensure you stay within the margin of safety while towing.

Hopefully, you don’t smell gas anymore. I can’t add anything to what John suggests above. I would be sure to check to make sure the ducting is connected and you aren’t just heating up in space between the hulls. Mike

Welcome, Adeline! Do you already have a tow vehicle? The bigger Elite II requires a lot more towing capability than the Elite I. If you will be traveling alone with just your dog, the Elite I would be easier to tow. What kind of travel are you interested in? Mainly campgrounds or also National Parks and camping off the grid? You’ll get lots of advice and good input here. Mike

It’s doable. We’ve done it twice and will probably do it again next summer. Our son and family live at the southern end (Durango) and we like Ridgway State Park. It’s the only road between the two! Mike

My only complaint about the regular toilet has nothing to do with the toilet, it is the size of the holding tank. It should be double what it is. If composting toilets were available when we ordered I would have considered it. Mike

I agree with BIll. I initially towed with a marginal tow vehicle (2012 Tacoma). Aggravations included lack of towing range due to lousy gas mileage and small gas tank. Looking for a gas station every 200 miles wasn’t fun. Lack of payload was another aggravation. It sounds like you’ve got that figured out. Tongue weight, your body weights, Andersen hitch and stuff in the bed (including tonneau cover or cap if you have one) means being careful about what you load. If you plan on towing in mountains you will find your truck straining. I towed about 6,000 miles with my Tacoma. Your half ton is a little more capable. You can always pick up your trailer with it and get some miles with it before you decide you need more capability. Mike

I’m not an expert on the composting toilet, we don’t have one. The regular toilet does limit boondocking time. We find we can go 4-6 days before our black tank needs to be dumped, depending on if there is a toilet is available. The composting toilet will allow much longer time before needing to empty. There is maintenance required with the composting, but it doesn’t sound like it’s onerous. I’m sure some composters will chime in. Mike

I’ll either do that or put a hose through the bath window. I’ll probably fix it when we get home this weekend.

Thanks all. We just arrived at our campground in Louisiana, far from any civilization and with barely a bar of cell coverage. Tomorrow we’re in Waco for a couple of days and I will work on it then. If I can’t find one there, I’ll order one of the top two in JD’s Amazon picture above. Mike

Black tank dumping/flushing has become a challenge lately. Flow through the flush has slowed to a trickle. I removed the valve next to the black tank and there is a rubber ring that was quite deformed and was half under and half over the valve. I tried to reposition it then reinstalled it but there is no difference. It’s an annoyance at a FHU site (30 minutes to get to 50%) but is unacceptable at a dump station. I opened a trouble ticked with Oliver and it’s $58 for a new valve. Seems high to me. Does anyone know if this is something that can be purchased at a HD or Lowes or plumbing supply store? I could fix it while on the road and not have to wait until we get home. Here’s a picture of what I’m talking about. It’s the gray part next to the tank. Mike

Agree with John. If you are plugged in to shore power and your inverter is on and still no 120V, you could always run an extension cord to your heater from the outlet your are using in the driveway for heat overnight. Bring the cord through a window, the small amount the window is open shouldn’t be a big deal. We got into the 20s last night with both ceiling vents open and the window next to my bed cracked. Mike

We use AT&T for phone service and hot spots. They work well except in the most remote locations. Mike

Good guess!!

If you are traveling now and for the next few days I would just keep the tank full and turned on. Is the rest of the trailer winterized already?

I agree with Steve here and with JD’s advice. Our AGMs lasted almost 5 years. We’re almost at 2 years with our 3 Battle Borns. If your trailer is a 2017 I assume you have the Blue Sky controller. The base 100aH BB lithiums were about $800 each. The updated PD 4045 was a little over $100, also from BB. There is some reprogramming of the Blue Sky but BB provides the parameters and it is not difficult. The PD (Progressive Dynamics) 4045 is what charges your batteries when on shore power. The old model did not support lithium, the new one does. It is part of your fuse box under the dinette seat. Check to see if yours has a little lithium toggle on the front. Not difficult to swap out. The folks at Battle Born are very helpful answering questions and giving guidance. Mike

Thanks for the compliment, Bill. We are on our third set of quilts/spreads. They have all been standard twin sets from Bed Bath and Beyond or Target. We sleep with our heads to the kitchen but make the beds with the pillows at the back. We tuck in the excess quilt under the mattress on the wall side and have a normal amount on the aisle side. Nothing fancy, we try to be practical! Just took this tonight as we’re camping in Tennessee. This is our first iteration when we picked up in 2016 Another set a couple of years ago.

We only store ours for a month or two at a time and I never put down the stabilizer jacks. Mike

In San Antonio we get into the 20s for a few days several times a year. I’ve never winterized. On those occasions I turn on the hot water tank, set the furnace at 55, open all the hull openings and turn on our electric space heater. No problems coming up on our 7th winter. We’re currently at Cumberland Mountain State Park outside of Crossville and the temps are supposed to get into the mid to low 20s at night starting Monday. All I need to do is disconnect the water hose and we’ll be fine. Mike

I’ve been using the 24/70 since 2016. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005UMBM28/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1