donthompson

I had my Ollie serviced when Lanham did and we camped together at the winery the first night out. I have a TPMS system and I was carrying 55 psi in all four tires (cold pressure) when I dropped the camper off for service in Hohenwald and the tire pressure was the same when I picked it up. I think they used to put 80 psi in the tires, but that may have just been when they delivered a new Oliver.

I agree with John. Fall has always been my favorite time to travel to Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, etc., but with the wildfires we've been plagued with, my habits have changed. The best time to travel to the Rocky Mountains is in May and June, but that won't work if we want to plan a western rally at a different time than the current Oliver Owners' Rally. What about the Southwestern United States? Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Southern Utah, or even Death Valley in California. When I was at Big Bend National Park in late-February and early-March this year, I picked up a new Official Guide to Texas State Parks published by the University of Texas Press. There are a lot of them! Choosing a place where the weather would be mild and with some early Spring foliage would be great.

I use the Dill TPMS system. It uses the same type of “in tire” sensors that my Touareg has and the monitor is small and unobtrusive. Monitors tire pressure and temperature. I towed without a TPMS system for a couple of years without any problems, but I think its a good investment.

I’m often away from home for 5-6 weeks with my Elite II. Both the tow vehicle and camper get pretty dirty because of dirt/gravel roads, rain, bugs, etc. Car washes are ok, but I haven’t found them very effective. My preferred method is to find a good truck wash. It’s not inexpensive—you may pay as much as $50-$60 to get the tow vehicle and camper washed, but often they do an excellent job. One of the best I’ve found was Exit 96 Truck and RV Wash in Missoula, Montana. A new truck wash opened near my home and I now stop there before putting my Oliver in storage. They only charge $30 and that makes it an easy decision for me. It usually takes me at least 90 minutes to hand wash my camper after a trip. One caveat: you may have to wait at a truck and RV wash. At the one in Missoula, I waited about 45 minutes and the wash took about 30 minutes.

I have never owned a generator for a number of reasons. My solar panels on the roof of my Elite II plus a portable Zamp 125 watt panel have kept my batteries charged for years until the past couple of days. I was camped at Chinati Hot Springs in Texas for a couple of days and it was cloudy the last day I was there and also on the day I traveled to Las Cruces. Camped yesterday at a beautiful BLM campsite, but again, little or no sun. The forecast is for continued cloudy weather and rain tomorrow. So, I'm at an RV park connected to shore power. I would like to buy a generator that I'll use only to supplement my solar panels to keep my batteries charged and happy. I don't want a generator to run my A/C, so no need for a 3000-watt generator or a 2000- watt plus EZ Start. So, the first question: will a 1,000-watt generator do what I need it to do? Second, can I buy a generator that runs on propane that I can hook up to the propane quick-connect that I purchased as an option and have never used? Third, do I need a generator or a generator with an inverter? Fourth, Honda or Yamaha? Fifth, does the power cord that I use for shore power plug directly into the generator and then into the receptacle on the Ollie where you connect it when using shore power? As you can see, I know nothing about generators. Sixth, have I forgotten to ask an important question? Keep your responses simple recognizing that you are communicating with someone with very little understanding of the topic!

Do not support your Ollie by placing jack stands under the axles. Do not support the Ollie in storage using the built-in jacks. When I picked up my camper in March 2017, I was warnedagainst using the electric jacks for this purpose. I used jack stands for about 3 weeks before I found info on the Dexter website warning against it. In that short period of time, supporting the weight of the camper on the jack stands deformed the axles! I store my camper indoors, on a concrete floor. The unit is unheated. I have never had any issues with flat-spotting tires.

My monitor for the backup camera quit working. I've taken one long trip without the monitor and I'm leaving on another on Saturday. I miss it when backing into a tight camping spot. But, I just jump out of the Touareg and look to see where the trees and obstacles are. (I'm a solo traveler) Today I backed up into our narrow, ice-covered driveway with snow drifts on both sides of the entrance to the driveway in Iowa to get the Ollie packed and ready to leave on Saturday morning for Big Bend National Park. While I've backed trailers for over 50 years, I've learned to be more proficient owning and towing the Ollie. It's really simple if you follow a few basic rules: 1) Place your hands on the bottom of your steering wheel. If you want the rear of the camper to go to the left, move your hands to the left. If you want the camper to go right, move your hands to the right; 2) Drive very, very slowly; 3) Use small and gradual steering inputs to avoid having to overcorrect.

Wish I had a telescope--the night sky is amazing there. Binoculars are the best I can do. I did scope out some backcountry boondocking sites a couple of years ago and will probably try a couple after my 14-days at Chisos Basin are up. Forgot my passport two years ago. Won't make that mistake again. Now I carry my passport card at all times--I think it's adequate for border crossings into Mexico and Canada but I'll make sure of this before I leave. Looking forward to some warmer weather. I rode for a couple of hours in the snow on my fat bike today. It was around 5 degrees when I started and rode for a couple of hours with almost no increase in temperature. More snow coming tonight. We have over a foot on the ground. Nice soft, fluffy snow. Our backcountry trails here aren't groomed, but there have been enough people on the trails with fat bikes to make the ride enjoyable with a few falls :).

John, Thanks for the tip about the maps on the GAIA app. I love the National Geographic maps. I buy one for every National Park I hike in. Also, I carry a Spot when I hike and have a mount for it on my bikes. Essential for a solo hiker and mountain biker.

Yes, I've camped at Chisos Basin before. I was there for a couple of weeks two years ago. I have reservations for 14 days at Chisos Basin this time out. The road is tight, but I didn't have any issues getting to the campground or negotiating the very tight back-in space I had. This time I reserved a spot that will be much easier to deal with!

Any Oliver owners traveling to Big Bend National Park? I'll be at the Chisos Basin Campground in late-February/early-March. I plan to move on to Big Bend Ranch State Park and points west after that. Hiking and mountain biking. Would love to say hello if you plan to be there.

I tow with a VW Touareg TDI and would not be comfortable towing without towing mirrors. Without them, you really can't see behind the camper. The ones I've used successfully for a number of years are Dometic DM-2912 Milenco Grand Aero3 Towing Mirrors. You can purchase on Amazon and other places. They are easy to attach and give you a good field of vision.

The manufacturer of the axles says never place jack stands or jacks under the axles to support the weight of the trailer. I learned about this after I decided to store my Olliver Elite II with jack stands under the axles. Long story, but the axles were replaced a couple of years ago following this ill-advised experience. But, how to level? The Elite II has three jacks that will allow you to level the camper if where you are parked is relatively level. I use Anderson Trailer Jack Blocks under my three jacks to keep from having to extend the jacks too far and to keep from having the ends of the jacks sink in soft or unstable soil. Expensive and they take up space, but I like them a lot. Go to andersenhitches.com and look at the trailer jack blocks. When the site is too uneven side to side to get the camper level without lifting the tires off the ground on one side, I use Andersen's camper levelers. I replaced my stacking blocks with these after my first year of camping with my Oliver and I'm happy that I did. Sorry about the multiple photos of the levelers!

Here’s the brake controller. http://www.tekonsha.com/mobile/products/brake-controllers/proportional-controllers/trailer-brake-control-proportional/TzaIxkVx1cI5XOy!osRB508pViEKmVBf I think a Q5 is too small. Good luck searching for a Q7 or Touareg! Don

Bill, I'm the guy David referred to in his comments about the Touareg. I towed with a 2015 Touareg TDI that I leased. Towed my Elite II over 20k with that Touareg and put over 70k miles on the vehicle in 3 years. I replaced it with a new 2016 Touareg TDI that I purchased in January 2018 after VW released them for sale. I've already towed my Ollie over 5,000 miles with the '16. John is a very knowledgeable and valuable member of the forum, but I don't agree with his conclusions about the reliability or lack of reliability of the Touareg. Consumer Reports rates the '16 Touareg a 5/5 for reliability--its highest rating. The Landcruiser is unrated because of lack of data. The 2016 Tundra is rated 4/5. There are a lot of reasons to like the Touareg. First, the fit and finish of a German-made vehicle are outstanding. Second, the handling is far superior to any SUV other than a Porsche or Audi--and that's true when you're towing as well. Third, the gas mileage (diesel) is great--I get up to 32 mpg at freeway speeds when I'm not towing and 16 to 19 mpg towing depending on speed and how much mountainous driving I'm doing. I got over 18 mpg in Colorado this summer/fall on two-lane highways towing my Oliver. The only downside I've found is the relatively small cargo area. I use a Yakama cargo box to carry bulky items to solve this problem. The only issue I've had with either Touareg was with the emission controls on the 2015. VW paid for some repairs/replacement to the emission controls under warranty that would have cost about $1500 had they not been covered. After that experience, I decided to modify my '16 when I bought it to simplify the emission control system. I followed the advice of another TDI (Audi Q7) owner I met at the Oliver Rally this spring. My 3.0 litre TDI now has 305 horsepower and 490 lb-ft of torque compared to the 240/406 in the stock tune. Before doing this, I spent a lot of time talking to the manager of the service department at my Audi/VW dealer and he consulted with the VW warranty people before assuring me that I could make these modifications without affecting the warranty. The engine runs so much better now and the extra torque makes towing the Ollie a breeze. If you want to talk to me about any of this, please send a personal message to me and we can exchange phone numbers.

I may have been the first Oliver owner to use the RF brake controller that David mentioned. I recommended it to him. I’ve towed with this controller with two VW Touareg TDI vehicles. The only thing the RF controller that you plug into the 12v recepticle does is allow you to adjust the amount of braking force on your trailer brakes. Once you set up the brake controller and set the braking level, you can tow without the hand-held unit that plugs into the 12v recepticle. The actual brake controller is mounted on the tongue of the Oliver and is hard-wired. When you plug in the 7-pin connector, the brake controller is active and functioning. I’ve towed many miles with this brake controller and it has performed flawlessly. I do like to have the hand-held unit resting in my lap while towing in case I want to apply the trailer brakes independently to correct any sway, but I’ve never had to use it for this purpose.

I am a serious cyclist who has struggled to find a solution for transporting expensive cycles when traveling with my Ollie. I purchased the original Oliver receiver for a bike rack with my ‘16 Elite II. I then learned that most bike racks are not designed for use on an RV so my Thule bike rack could be used, but without warranty coverage. I liked Oliver’s second attempt at designing a bike rack, but the Thule components they used wouldn’t work with the 4” wide tires on my fat bike. Here’s the contents of the email I sent to Jason when I finally found a solution: “As you can see from the attached photographs, they welded a piece of aluminum to the apparatus You provided to me. Then they mounted components from the Thule T2 Classic bike rack to that new aluminum member. The last two photographs are of that particular Thule bike rack. Now I have a rack that will accommodate any type of bike from the skinniest tires on a road bike to the fattest tires on a fat tire bike.” I’ve attached the photos I sent to Jason. This rack is bomb-proof and accommodates all of my bikes.

"The real issue, in my opinion, is, if you have an issue- does Oliver take care of it until the customer is satisfied. To date, I have not found any post, comment, or otherwise that indicates Oliver is less than stellar in this aspect." I agree completely with the comment above. I took delivery of Hull #126 in March, 2016. Oliver has provided the best customer service post-sale that I have experienced with any product of any type I've purchased. My issues have been few and none have been serious, but the company has always responded as if I'm their only or most important customer. I hope Oliver remains a small, family-owned company and never sells to one of the large manufacturers. Anyone considering purchasing an Oliver has many things to consider: size, price, etc., but quality and customer service are not concerns, but instead are huge reasons to purchase an Oliver!

Spike's method worked for me!

Jason, I tried to update my map and of course I've failed again. I always waste 1-2 hours messing with this and give up. Here's what my signature looks like now. What am I doing wrong? <p>Don</p> <p>2016 Elite II Twin Bed Hull #126</p> <p>2016 VW Touareg TDI</p> <p>States I've visited with my Ollie />

The daytime high temperatures were in the upper 80's and the lows were in the mid-60's. As you know, the humidity is generally very low. I hiked and cycled while I was there but enjoyed sitting under the awning reading from the mid-afternoon until sundown. I'd prefer visiting this area in the fall. Didn't get to Bears Ears, but it's on my list for a future trip. I think I'll plan an extended trip to Utah next fall.

Thanks for the tip, John. I don’t carry any firearms so that’s not a concern.

I left Ridgeway, Colorado this morning and enjoyed a beautiful drive through the San Juan Mountains in SW Colorado. The scenery was incredible. Arrived at Hovenweep National Monument around noon and set up camp. I was the only camper until late afternoon--there are three other campers here now. Very remote and beautiful campground. I've posted some photos from the drive, the campground and a hike on a loop from the campground.

Good choice re: Glacier. I did a bikepacking trip out of Whitefish earlier this month and then hiked in Glacier. Three fires started after my first day of hiking and there was a lot of smoke when we hiked the next day. I'm at Orvis Hot Springs near Ouray, CO and headed to Hovenweep National Monument and Canyonlands of the Ancients NP. Will spend some time around Crestone CO when I head east towards Iowa and home. Pleasant journeys.

John, excellent advice. I confess that my campsite doesn’t meet the criteria that you’ve described and I regret that. I’ll keep in mind your advice about making sure there are a couple of ways out in the future!