donthompson

I've been debating this with myself for a few months. I returned yesterday from a month-long trip to Big Bend National Park and other parks and destinations in Texas. I have TPMS for the tires in my tow vehicle and this alerted me to a slow leak in one of my TV tires. The tire had a screw in the tread and I was able to have it fixed for less than $20. The screw could just as easily found its way into one of the Oliver's tires and I don't check my tire pressure daily. This convinced me! I plan to purchase a TPMS system for the Ollie before my next trip. I researched systems and decided that the TireMinder (www.minderresearch.com) was the one I'd purchase. Unfortunately, they make many different models and I haven't decided which one to purchase yet. I'm interested in hearing from other Oliver owners who have a TireMinder system. Don

I agree with John. The Oliver Elite II tows and tracks so well that it can give you a false sense of confidence. I have no doubt that you could tow your Oliver safely at 75 mph if you were the only vehicle on the road, there was no wildlife around, and the road was wide and flat. The problems you may encounter in the real world are other drivers doing the unexpected, a curve that tightens more than you anticipated, a deer running in front of you, etc. Emergency braking, steering to avoid an obstacle on the road, etc. are much different when you are towing. On interstate highways, I typically tow at 65 mph maximum. On two-lane highways, I tow between 55 mph and 60 mph, depending on the speed limit and conditions. Recently, I drove the final 60 miles or so to the Chisos Basin Campground at 45 mph because of very high winds. I could have driven 55 mph, but I was much more comfortable at a lower speed. John mentions gas mileage. I see a significant difference in gas mileage when I tow at 55 rather than 65. Another factor is a feeling of relaxation. I hope you are on the road with your Oliver to relax and get away. Traveling at a leisurely rate will help you relax. I towed my Ollie around 8,000 miles last year and by mid-February, I will have towed over 2,000 already this year. I plan my travels so I travel a maximum of 350 miles per day and often, once I'm in an area I plan to enjoy, I may not travel more than 100 miles from place to place. Don

I'm not ready to trade my Ollie for one of these, but I toured a unique light-weight camper at the Chisos Basin Campground at Big Bend National Park a couple of days ago. They had a couple of solar panels and one 6-volt battery and were getting along very well without hookups. The view of the stars from the inside of this camper was breathtaking. Very minimalist, but also very well-designed and executed. The quality of the fit and finish was like Oliver's. http://www.safaricondo.com/en/caravanes_R1713

Well, I'm going to miss the rally this year. Planning a lengthy trip to Europe. Leaving for London on May 6. A week in London, two weeks in Sicily, a week in Tuscany and a week in La Marche! The stop in London for a week is a recent addition to the trip and it conflicts with the Oliver Rally. I was very excited about meeting so many Oliver owners--maybe 2018.

Hi Buzzy, I have been interested in Australian Labradoodles as well. We have a very well-respected breeder in our neighborhood. I doubt that you'll be interested in travelling to Iowa to pick up a puppy, but check out the website for a lot of good information. I think it's important to vet a breeder carefully to avoid buying a puppy that may develop serious health problems. Here's a short statement from the Iowa breeder: "A recognized Australian multi-generational Labradoodle Iowa Breeder, Heartland Labradoodles is proud to be a long-standing 10 year member of the ILA/ALAA and current recipient of both the Silver and Gold Paw Awards." The ALAA (Australian Labradoodle Association of America) certifies breeders. Check out their website as well to find a breeder near you. The website for the breeder I know is http://www.heartlandlabradoodles.com/. I've visited the breeder and have "met" their breeding females. They are great dogs! Don

I sure hope the rule doesn't apply. I store my Oliver in a storage unit without electricity. Except when travelling, the fridge is off and the door is kept wide open. I also clean the fridge after each trip so it's clean when the camper is in storage. Many owners store their Ollies outside and have the ability to run the fridge on DC if they have solar. I don't know if any do this, but I doubt it.

I was in Palm Springs during Modernism Week a couple of years ago. The have a vintage trailer show: http://www.modernismweek.com/event/249683/ I don't recall the exact number of vintage trailers on display--best guess is 50-75. Many vintage riveted aluminum trailers that are no longer made. Lots of lovingly restored trailers with color matched restored tow vehicles. There were also a number of trailers from the 40's, 50's and 60's that were unrestored and amazing to see. The owners love to show their trailers and many are still actively using their vintage trailers for camping. If you are in the area during Modernism Week, it's worth a visit.

I love music and have spent way too much on audio equipment over the years. To establish my bonafide's, I have a Conrad-Johnson tube driven amplifier and pre-amplifier, a VIP turntable and B&W speakers at home. I was concerned about the quality of the Jensen speakers that Oliver was using when my 2016 Elite II was built. I visited a local shop that specializes in auto and marine audio and they recommended JBL speakers. They are the same diameter as the Jensens and just a 1/4" deeper. I had the store order them and have them shipped directly to Oliver. Anita kept them in her office until they were ready to install them in my Oliver. I've been satisfied with the sound and like you, listen primarily to music on my iPhone through the bluetooth connection to the Furrion system. I like the fact that you can choose to have the music play through all the speakers or choose only 2. I've used high-quality portable bluetooth speakers before and I think the Furrion with my JBL speakers is significantly better. I have Sonos speakers at home. Using them requires a Wi-Fi source so I don't think that would work well in your Oliver. I think Oliver has different Furrion system in the 2017 models. I don't know whether it is superior to the one in my 2016 Elite II. I almost ordered my camper without a TV but decided not to because of resale issues. I have the Winegard Roadstar antenna on the roof. It's small and unobtrusive. I seldom use the TV except when I want a local TV weather forecast or need to tune in for local weather warnings. You can get information about threatening weather on the radio, but I like to see the weather maps, etc. Don

I'm late to this discussion, but I have information to share. My 2016 Elite II has the standard water heater. I talked to Jason Essary yesterday about possibly installing the tankless water heater when I visit the factory after the 2017 rally. The major advantage of the tankless heater is that you don't have to wait for the water heater to heat water for a shower, washing dishes, etc. when you first establish a camp. That's about it in terms of performance. Once the water is hot in the standard water heater, you only wait a couple of seconds more for hot water to flow through your shower or faucet. Based on that info, I decided to stick with my standard water heater. I use propane to heat the water quickly even if I have an electrical hookup. It rarely takes more than 45 minutes or so. If I need to replace my water heater in the future, I'll consider the tankless heater, but I won't spend the money to replace a functioning water heater.

Hitch weight or the weight on the tongue of the hitch will vary depending on many factors including what's in your Oliver and how the load is distributed. Like many Oliver owners, I've spent time at the CAT scales. I determined that my hitch or tongue weight was 500 lbs. when my camper weighed in at 4,920 lbs. Fully loaded for a camping trip with the black, grey and fresh water tanks partially full, I weigh in at about 5,100 lbs. I have to keep the tongue or hitch weight at 660 lbs. or less to tow it with my Touareg. One thing to pay close attention to is how level your Oliver is when it's hitched to your tow vehicle and ready for travel. You want it as level as possible!

John, I agree that a lot of RV dealers leave a lot to be desired, but there are other alternatives for maintenance and repair of some systems. I found an excellent frame and axle shop in Iowa City. They primarily work on trucks, but they also work on various types of trailers. They ordered and installed my Dexter EasyFlex and repacked my wheel bearings this year. They can service my brakes as well. I hope to find a reputable RV repair facility where I can get any potential problems with components like the fridge, water heater, furnace, a/c repaired. So far, I have been able to troubleshoot with phone support from Oliver when I've had any issues. This forum has really helped because doing regular maintenance should help us keep our Ollies in good condition. People like you on this forum have shared a lot of valuable information that makes it easier for us to maintain our campers! Don

The fridge is a 3-way: 1. AC 2. DC 3. Propane. If you have the solar option, you can run the fridge on DC while going down the road. That's my usual practice. When camping, I use propane unless I have electrical power available. Don

I plan to leave Iowa on January 16 for Big Bend NP, Guadalupe Mountains NP, Marfa, TX, Palo Duro State Park, etc. I had the same questions about road chemicals and the Oliver frame. Here's some information from Jason at Oliver: Hey Don, Under normal conditions, aluminum will react with oxygen and water to form a coherent surface oxide which protects the aluminum from a breakdown reaction. This being said there are chemicals that react differently to the aluminum which can stop this from happening and will actually start to form rust. You typically see this with swimming pools as the chemicals are harsh and will rust all metals over time. It usually takes years for this process to show but I would rinse the frame every chance you get if you are driving through deicer chemicals but it will depend on what the chemical is. I would contact the road dept. and find out what chemical they are using. Thank you, Jason D. Essary Thanks, Jason. Here’s what I found for Iowa. I assume this is similar in other states that use a brine deicer in addition to the mixture of sand and rock salt: Brine is defined as any liquid saturated or nearly full of chloride. This could mean that any dry chemical, freeze-point depressant containing chlorides, such as magnesium chloride, sodium chloride, potassium chloride or calcium chloride when mixed with a liquid would be considered a brine. For the purposes of this discussion, the information provided will concentrate on a brine made from the mixture of sodium chloride (rock salt) and water. This is the brine most often used in Iowa for prewetting and anti-icing operations. What do you think of driving through brine like this or the dry residue from the brine? Don Hey Don, The different chemicals may react differently with the aluminum but based on tests that I have researched it shows that these chemicals react more harshly with steel than aluminum compared by a gram of corrosion on steel versus a tenth of a gram of corrosion on the aluminum. Overall the best thing would be to wash it off when you can. Thank you, Jason D. Essary Thanks, Jason. I bought the Ollie in part because it is a 4-season camper. I’ll take your advice and find a car wash whenever I think I’ve encountered any of these chemicals on the road. Don

People with more mechanical experience than me may already know this, but I learned the hard way. When you use a grease gun to grease all of the zerks--and there are a lot of them (number and location covered in other posts--Buzzy's, I think), you'll have a lot of trouble unless you use the rear jacks to raise the tires off the ground. This relieves the pressure and allows you to attach and detach the grease gun to the zerks much easier and makes the process of getting the grease into the fittings much easier.

Sherry, I share your concern about online security or the lack thereof. I use Dashlane, a service that generates very strong passwords. I also use two-factor authentication to sign into my Dashlane account. In addition to my username and Dashlane password, I have to enter a code that is generated randomly by an app on my iPhone or insert a USB authentication key into the USB port on my laptop. Dashlane is free, but you need to pay an annual fee to have what I consider to be necessary attributes. I have Dashlane installed on my laptop and mobile devices and it syncs across all those devices. I also change my banking password every week and other passwords every month or so. It's very easy to do with Dashlane. There are other online services like Dashlane. One is LastPass--I used this before Dashlane. I suppose nothing is absolutely foolproof, but Dashlane, two-factor authentication, and frequent changing of strong, randomly generated passwords gives me some peace of mind! www.dashlane.com www.yubico.com

Grayson and Ann, Did you run the furnace while traveling down the road in cold weather? I plan to leave Iowa in what is likely to be very cold weather. I'll "dry camp" until I get far enough south to avoid daytime freezing temperatures, but I'm curious about running the furnace while traveling. Don

Coy, thank you for all of your work organizing this! Don

Glenn Null from Dexter Axle called me back. He said not to put jack stands under the axles or the springs. He also said it's not necessary to get the tires off the ground. Suggested that old bias-ply tires could develop permanent flat spots, but not modern radial tires. He advised me to get the tires on the ground immediately which I will do as soon as I finish this post. He also said that I may have damaged both axles. He advised me to take them to the frame and axle shop I've dealt with in Iowa City and have them email the serial number of the axles so he can provide them with information on how to check the camber. If they are damaged, I'll experience abnormal wear on the inside of the tires. I plan to have a conversation with Oliver Travel Trailers if my axles are damaged due to the advice Tommy Staggs gave me. So, please don't jack stands anywhere under your Oliver! Leave the tires on the ground during storage.

I ran across a Blog post by Larry Harmon suggesting the use of jack stands to avoid flat-spotting tires. Larry posted this on April 23, 2016. Here's a sentence from his post: "I am told that the axle manufacturer advises that the jack stand should not be placed directly under the axle tube, but instead placed under the flat part of the spring." (I revised the sentence but not it's meaning). I called Dexter and the person I talked to said to put the jack stands under the frame, not the axles. I told him that Tommy Staggs from Oliver said not to put the stands under the aluminum frame. Dexter promised to have their "senior" technician call me back to discuss where I should place the jack stands and to explain what problems can arise from having the jack stands under the axles. As soon as I learn more, I'll post the information on the Forum. I think Oliver should develop some type of written protocol for questions like this. As an owner, I don't think it's helpful to receive different information from different people--here, Larry H. and Tommy S.

Thanks for the announcement! I called the number provided--it's the number for the campground. The woman who answered said she hadn't heard from Oliver so she couldn't take my reservation. She suggested I call back next week. Please let people know, if possible, when the campground is ready to take reservations. So glad the date is established. I was worried about a spring date because I have other travel plans, but these dates work for me. I'm looking forward to meeting many Oliver owners!

I tow with a 2015 VW Touareg TDI (you probably will never be able to purchase a new one because of the VW diesel scandal and VW's decision to exit the diesel market in the US). When I drove from Iowa City to the Oliver factory to look at Olivers, I averaged 29.5 mpg on the way down and 30.5 mpg on the way back. I drove around 75-80 mph on the interstates. My everyday mileage that includes city driving is usually between 26 and 27 mpg. I towed my Elite II between 7,500 and 8,000 miles this year. I towed in the mountains of Colorado, Wyoming and Utah. No issues towing up mountain passes. The Touareg will tow faster uphill than is safe for me. My mileage varies with terrain. I've experienced 19 mpg towing in Iowa with rolling hills. On longer trips, I average 16.5 to 18 mpg. I tested the Dodge Ram with the small diesel. I liked the pickup, but I decided to buy the Touareg because it fit in my garage and was a better choice for me when not towing the Ollie. The Touareg is very comfortable for 4 people. The main drawback is the lack of cargo space.

Here's another vote for a fall rally. I have January-May, 2017 booked already! Don

Sorry for my delay in responding--we've been traveling! The electric jacks easily lift the Ollie to allow the placement of the floor jacks. Don

I talked to Tommy Staggs before I bought the jack stands. He suggested that I place them underneath the steel axles.

I used 4 jack stands to get the wheels off the ground until I leave in January for Palo Duro Canyon, Big Bend, Guadalupe Mountains NP, etc. Here's a photo. Don