Mike and Carol

Tire Pressure Monitoring System. I use the TST TPMS. There are other good ones, Tireminder is one. I have a sensor on each trailer wheel. Tells me the pressure and temperature of each tire. If there is a sudden reduction in pressure I get an alarm. Mike

I replaced my 4 AGMs last January with 2 BB 100ah batteries. After a year of travel and camping those two BB’s were plenty. I just put in a third BB last month, not because I needed it but in case we swap out fridges sometime in the future. We haven’t been our yet with the additional battery but I’m looking forward to it. One thing I noticed with the Battle Borns is how quick they were back up to 100% once the sun came up. Plus the weight difference is pretty significant. Mike

Oliver’s are now out of our price range too… so I’m thinking I’ll keep #135 as old as it is. It still feels new. Oliver won’t have any problem selling all the trailers they can make. Mike

I have a cast iron insert that replaces one of the grill grates on my Weber. It’s small, but big enough for bacon and eggs for two. You could get one for each side, but Weber recommends against it, I think for air flow reasons. We have a 17” Blackstone griddle (and a 22” two burner for home) that is our camping griddle. It works well for about anything. We have the 5 sided Clam and with the fire pit in the middle and the sides attached it’s a toasty sitting area even in the coldest weather. Mike

Is it plugged in to shore power? If not, then the only thing I can think of is what you’ve already mentioned. Mike

I use both a Weber Q grill and a Blackstone griddle off of my trailer quick connect. The Blackstone required no modification. The Weber required removal of the propane regulator and the installation of a quick connect fitting. We have an Outland propane fire pit that we use a separate 20lb propane tank since it is usually in the Clam away from the trailer. If you go to propanegear.com you’ll see a bunch of adapters for various stoves. I carry an extra hose for my Blackstone that has a regulator on it that connects to a separate tank in case I want to cook away from the trailer. Mike

Southern Utah is hit and miss this time of year, weather wise. We had 60s during the days last month when we were at Zion, it was gorgeous weather and scenery. Don’t leave the park in your truck, it will take hours to get back in! You can walk out and do some things and walk back in from Watchman, but don’t drive. Don’t ask me how I know! Mike

My experience over the last 6 years has been that Oliver goes above and beyond for warranty work. If a tube of epoxy is an issue, I’m sure they would reimburse or send a check for the glue. Mike

We had a site so unlevel at Davis Mountains State Park I ended up backing in across the grass and parking sideways in the site. I tried the normal way but had the front jack completely extended with blocks. It didn’t look safe at all. Here’s a grainy long distance picture of us sideways in the site. Under the trees to the left is another Oliver, @mountainoliver. Not all sites are that bad, we’ve had a couple of others that were fine, we took these sites so we could camp next to our fellow Oliver owners. It’s nice to have a trailer small enough to fit into weird sites (even sideways) and still be big enough to be comfortable.

Looks like a piece of furniture to me! Nicely done. I’d make new, nicer ones but mine are 6 years old and don’t look like they are going to wear out anytime soon! Mike

It’s pretty much a non-issue. Yes, we’ve been to campgrounds that had sites that were too short for our Elite II. They also had plenty of sites that we fit in. Commercial campgrounds are no problem. Some public campgrounds, National Parks, some State Parks and some COE and BLM campgrounds may have short sites, but they also usually have sites an Oliver will fit in to. Mike

Standard mud flaps help, but if you want real protection you need something more elaborate, like Rock Tamers or the Rockstar mentioned above. I’ve had regular mud flaps on all four of my tow vehicles, I’ve also got a bunch of chips! They aren’t too noticeable unless you get real close! Mike

I towed with a small truck our first year, a 2012 Tacoma. It worked. We were on the edge weight-wise. I drove super cautious, had to stop for gas a lot due to low mileage and smallish tank. We found we wanted to carry more than what we could fit in the small bed. Where do you plan to go? If you are thinking about mountains you will not have a pleasant towing experience. Any long trips? Lots of variables! Mike

We were in Page last month. As the level on Lake Powell goes down they are rediscovering all kinds of interesting rock formations. If you have time it’s worth a stop to see Horseshoe Bend. We posted photos on the previous page. Mike

We have the twin beds. Agree with Bill and Frank, nightstand storage is nice, easy access to rear and over-bed storage, easier to make the beds and access underneath, no partner disturbance when getting up at night. The standard configuration does offer more sitting/table space if there are more than two people, the bed is bigger with the advantages of sleeping together, and the under bed storage would be nice if the bad was left up all the time. Mike

Raspy did some good work on his Oliver. Then, he sold it and bought a Black Series HQ19. Then he sold that and bought an Xplore. He’s also a McHitch distributor. Mike

All the restrictions in the LOLOHO video are a bit overwhelming! We were there in mid to late September a couple of years ago and it was wide open, although Road to the Sun was closed about halfway due to snow. We stayed at Two Medicine campground, it has its own entrance and road on the south east side of the park with some spectacular views. We had to drive around the south side of the park to get in to the western entrance. It’s on our list to return to, there’s a lot to see and do. Mike

Where in Hill Country?

It’s a fun drive up the mountain to the campground! That looks close to our last site there. Mike

We need to order your second book as we’ve been through the first. We’ll bring them both and maybe have a book signing! Mike

I think mine are just a little over 6” tall. That gives some flexibility on really unlevel sites. I’ve stacked a number of legos underneath to bring it to the right height. I also have a fourth block that is only 4” tall. Sometimes the front of the trailer needs to come down quite a bit, that’s when it gets used. Mike

There hasn’t been one yet. It’s easy for Oliver to sponsor a rally at Lake Guntersville State Park because it is close to Hohenwald. They don’t really have the staff to do any more than one rally in their neighborhood. Like BIll said, there has been a couple of Florida rally’s and there has been talk of rally’s in Colorado, Texas and other points west. It will just take someone with some desire and skill to put together a gathering. The May rally is a pretty big production, but regional rally’s don’t have to be. Just a chance to get together with other Oliver owners and socialize, swap ideas and tell some tall tales! Mike

Activities can vary and are usually different from rally to rally. Hopefully there will be some vendor presentations and some presentations by Oliver. There will probably be some displays. In the past there have been recreational things like zip lines and golf. Like Bill said, there’s usually something for everyone. Plus, there should be some social events and time to get to know fellow owners and some of the Oliver staff. The park itself is very nice, there’s a nice golf course and the lodge is a great place for group meals and get togethers. Mike

Storage initially looks like a challenge. But, we’ve found it easy to pack for a couple of months without sacrificing much. The only exception is when we’re going to be in warm weather and then cold weather, we’ll carry a large Tupperware in the back seat with winter clothes. We can fold what we need and store in the overheads plus some hang ups in the closet. The closet is large for the size of the trailer and can hold lots of stuff. All in all, over the years, we’ve found that less is more. We always have the same discussion on the way home about “why did I pack this?” Or “why did we bring that?” We carry fewer kitchen items and fewer clothes. The truck is the same, we’ve gone from an overloaded Tacoma to pretty full half tons to a 3/4 ton with excess space. Mike

We just use the blue Camco water filters. I have a Culligan that had replaceable cartridges but I’ve found that it is a pain to use, especially if you are just wanting to fill the fresh tank. So, we went back to the blue filter but the jumbo size. We don’t have an on board surge protector so we use one at the pedestal. It’s worked well the last 6 years. I don’t know how a pedestal protector would work with the on board system, maybe someone who has done it knows. I made some blocks, similar to Bill’s above and use them on top of the big yellow/black legos to keep jack movement to just a couple of inches.