John E Davies

I just wanted to throw this out there for your enjoyment since we are talking about tongue weight and stability. I found a 1991 26 ft “toy hauler” advertised on my local Craigslist, in Idaho, naturally, for $2500. Here is the back of it.... the platform appears to be about 4 ft long by 8ft wide. A 2x8” wood board (DRY) weighs 2.6 lbs per ft, so there appear to be 48 board feet, or 125 pounds. Assuming they aren’t completely waterlogged. How much should we add for the 10 feet of steel angle iron frame extensions Bubba welded to his frame..... another 60 pounds? Then the builder brilliantly stuck his 50 pound spare steel wheel and tire all the way out there on the end..... Wonder what toy he carried?... You could neatly fit a small atv on it, say 500 pounds. Now, what is the tongue weight? Zero? LOL.... if you look closely you can see a big wheel sticking down under the left rear corner, presumably there is a second one on the other side, to keep the frame off the pavement... imagine smacking those wheels into a severe dip at 60 mph. The forces exerted on that rusted out frame are stunning to think about. Sorry for drifting off topic, it was just a way to point out that common sense should always be applied to everything about your trailer. John Davies Spokane WA

Yes, it has been flaky yet again. It is not your computer or browser acting up. Appearance changes, avatar image disappearing and then reappearing, login issues, damaged hyperlinks (that just take you back to the Home Page) and lots of 404 errors. This is not at all unusual here. Get used to it.... ;( John Davies Spokane WA

You won’t see anything written down at the Oliver website recommending anything but a 10-12% tongue weight, that is the lawyers speaking. I even asked Service what a safe minimum TW is, and they quoted me the same exact advice. That is traditional specs for conventional stick and staple trailers with junky construction, bald tires, worn out suspensions and lousy aerodynamics. Elite IIs are sold all the time with nothing up front and a bike rack receiver at the back, and when loaded with bikes they have tongue weights around 500 or less. They tow true and straight, and to the best of my knowledge nobody here has EVER complained about sway or instability. If your TV can handle a heavy TW, fine, no worries. My Land Cruiser (with airbags) tows better with the tongue lighter and the Anderson chains slacked off until they are just snug. For the smaller trailer, since it does not have the major dampening effect of tandem axles, I would keep the tongue at 10%, minimum. As always, the driver of the TV makes the final decisions and has the final responsibility. Load your trailer so that you feel comfortable. Oliver does say that 100 pounds hanging off the rear receiver is OK. That number includes bikes and the bike rack but not the weight of the receiver and mounting parts. Having that much weight at one end is no problem, but where you could get into trouble is when you have that much at both ends, at the same time. That is a lot of combined inertial mass far from the centerline of the trailer axles. BTW, if I had to guess, I would bet that 90% of Ollie owners have no idea what their tongue weight is. Investing in a quality scale like the Sherline LM1000 provides useful data and may make you feel more informed, but I don’t think it is a requirement with these trailers to be safe. Finally, never believe any advice you read in forums.... here is an interesting article. .... https://www.gorv.com.au/caravan-weight-myths/ John Davies Spokane WA

Guessing, my typical towing weight with full fresh water tank and propane is 6000 lbs. Tongue weight is a measured 500 + or - 20. I have a rear mounted 30 pound cargo rack carrying 100 pounds of gas/ water jerry cans plus rubber chocks. Tongue weights on the Elite II will vary by up to 250 pounds depending on whether or not you have a rear rack and/or a tongue basket, and what stuff you carry in them. Plus depending on your choice of factory options, some of which are heavy. Before I relocated my factory tongue tray to the back, the TW with the same cargo load was 720 pounds. What is your tow vehicle, are you concerned about the TW? If you want to keep it low, avoid the bigger propane bottles and cargo tray, keep the A frame area empty of any cargo..... John Davies Spokane WA

Sherry, I did not know about XP Camper going under - that is shocking to me and really bad news for the overlanding community. I did find confirmation, it sounds as if Marc lost everything. You kind of expect this sort of thing to happen at the beginning of a recession, when folks suddenly quit spending on luxury goods, but not in an apparent boom time. I wonder what happened? http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/topic/18617-facebook-post-alleging-xp-campers-llc-has-closed/ Darn..... you just ruined my evening..... ? John Davies Spokane WA

The reason I like the manifold is this: besides looking trick, the design puts most of the connections in one easy to reach spot. There are no tees or splices anywhere, just the connections at the far end where the lines terminate at a sink or toilet. Very cool. Wasteful of materials though, it uses a whole lot of PEX tubing and the labor is probably higher too. I geek out over interesting design and construction details. When I toured the XP Camper factory in California, I was beyond blown away. Every time I asked a question, “Why this?” Marc Wassman the fanatical German owner answered with the perfect answer. Such as, electrical wires run through smooth conduit, with individual labels at each end. Wow. But that is not good enough, each conduit has an unused spare wire, labelled, so you can splice in an additional or a replacement wire and drag it through in a minute less than no time. Double wow. The XP Camper aluminum ute bed he uses is a work of art, with a massive spherical bearing in the center front, and two wide spread fixed mounts in back, so the truck frame can twist and flex offroad, and the bed and camper are completely unstressed. .... http://xpcamper.com/why/the-concept/ Over the top stuff like this costs a TON of money, but I love it. I would like to poke around for an hour inside and under an Earthbound trailer... I love my Ollie and have no regrets, but it is simply not in the same class as some of these very high end RVs... but it could be. John Davies Spokane WA

Interesting article on the brand new “Road to Tuk” https://expeditionportal.com/the-new-road-to-tuk/ John Davies Spokane WA

Has anyone heard of these? There is a local ad for a well preserved 26 ft one for $28,000. It is pretty exotic.... I love the water system manifold: http://www.offroads.ch/cms/upload/test/earthbound/all/2011-Earthbound-Brochure-V1.0.pdf https://spokane.craigslist.org/rvs/d/chattaroy-earthbound-26-ft-dillon-rare/6951489269.html Has anyone ever seem one in person? If anyone wants this one, I would be happy to go scout it for you and give you my honest appraisal..... maybe take it out for a few weeks. ? It’s located about 30 minutes away. I actually saw a bigger brand new one in person at an RV dealer. I was most impressed, but I emailed the manufacturer for pricing of the small one and it was $87,000. In 2011..... I passed. I found a few forum posts from owners and there seems to have been some serious build issues and customer service was bad. Hooray for Ollies. John Davies Spokane WA

From the parks website: "RVs and truck and trailer combinations are not recommended at Bowman Lake due to the nature of the long, narrow, and windy dirt road to the campground. Turning vehicles around (3-point turns) is difficult." ... https://www.visitmt.com/listings/general/national-park-campground/bowman-lake-campground.html Is that typical park hysteria or are there any concerns about towing an Ollie behind a Land Cruiser? What are your thoughts on that lake for canoeing? Windy? Wakes? Thanks, BTW that is a very gorgeous picture at Bowman. John Davies Spokane WA

https://olivertraveltrailers.com/topic/natures-head-composting-toilet-installation-in-an-oliver-big-thread/ John Davies Spokane WA

Sounds like fun, but we can't make it. It would be useful if rally threads would include a map showing the location, I had no clue where this is. Texas is fairly big.... How are the nearby National Forests for dispersed camping and recreation? John Davies Spokane WA

This is a very useful navigation tool, and they keep adding more features. Now there is a Current AQ overlay, and a Next Day AQ overlay. There is really no way to calculate much further ahead with drifting wildfire smoke, but this can help you figure out where to go, or NOT to go, camping in the short term. All these extra visual layers require a good cell (data) or wifi signal to work, so in the boonies you are on your own.... John Davies Spokane WA

To test the system before a trip, it is highly recommended. You can use the opportunity to blow some compressed air inside the cavity to remove any junk or grit.... don’t forget to put the plunger back in ASAP so it doesn’t overheat the brake magnets. They are getting full 12 volt current, unlike from your controller which is normally way less. I don’t normally move the trailer to see if the brakes lock up, you can hear the magnets make a loud clunk. That tells you that the switch is OK. If you have a digital clamp on ammeter, you can hang it around one wire and easily read the total current going back there, very nifty! It shows if you have a failed magnet (each draws about 3 amps). John Davies Spokane WA

September in Yellowstone and Tetons would be good, the crowds are thinning and the trees are turning.... https://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/visitationstats.htm Your worry in Fall is smoke, the last few years wildfires have been a huge problem when camping starting around August. Be sure to bring a good HEPA air filter to make your nights less stressful. There is no way to predict where the smoke will be, but you can try to camp up high when it is a problem. Avoid the basins (cities) where it stagnates. If you have any interest in firearms, the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody WY is a must see, you will spend at least a few hours there. RV parking is abundant with shade. The town itself is very touristy but nice. In summer it is a zoo since it is the main route into Yellowstone from the east. For camping, there is Buffalo Bill SP ten minutes west of there, on a reservoir (busy) or an hour south, you will find a superb free boondocking area on Upper Sunshine Reservoir (not the lower one) west of Meeteetse, a quiet little town with gas and a chocolate shop. Wide open dispersed sites, lake access, fishing, views of the craggy Teton mountains and wandering elk herds. The star gazing is great. What do you like to do - touristy stuff, ghost towns, high mountain passes, golf, rail-trails, shopping, remote deserts? Got an offroad capable 4wd TV? If you will elaborate we could give more specific advice. That is a pretty huge area to discuss.... John Davies Spokane WA

Sherry, have you driven the Dempster Hwy in YT/ NWT ? I thought about the Dalton, but all the darned trucks and the ugly industrial oilfield mess at the very end have zero appeal to me. The Dempster is lightly travelled with minimal trucks, and though longer, it seems as if that would be a better choice for a ramble to the very northern part of the Arctic through stunning scenery. https://offtracktravel.ca/driving-the-dempster-highway-to-the-arctic-circle-canada/ Would you even consider towing your Ollie? 900 miles of gravel would be a true test of suspension and tires. I would love to do it in my Land Cruiser but have serious reservations about towing ”Mouse” the entire length.... is there a good place around Dawson City where it could be securely parked for three days? Inuvik at the far end actually looks like a real town, not a dump, in this cool winter video.... But I suppose snow hides a lot of ugly stuff. A winter trip would be invigorating, but I am not used to the frigid temps and would not like to die beside some remote shoulder of the road..... Thanks, John Davies Spokane WA

If yours has a ball that goes up inside the coupler, of course you do, it would fall out otherwise. I have The Collar and it works on all sizes of Bulldogs, since it secures the back of the sliding sleeve. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HL2NM0K/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 This is a great device when combined with a GOOD quality padlock (not a stupid $10 disc lock as shown in those pictures). Highly recommended. It has a high theft deterrent value too. John Davies Spokane WA

Cool dredge, those are very interesting, huge machines but they sure did devastate the stream valleys. Can you go inside and poke around? What kind of shape is it in? There are a couple of dredges around here, the one in NE Oregon is fun but kind of decaying. That area in Canada is on my bucket list. John Davies Spokane WA

The hull and frame are SUPER excellent, as is the hardware. Everything else - appliances, suspension, brakes, etc - is typical off-the-shelf RV quality. Not very well built, but easy to repair or just toss and replace with new when they fail. When the skin and bones are solid, you don't mind replacing a few internal organs occasionally. Ollie owners tend to be older, their trailers will long outlive them, short of floods or earthquakes wrecking them. (The trailers, not the owners.) To exceed the quality of an Ollie you need to look at low production high-end truck campers like the XP Camper, or expedition vehicles like Earth Cruiser. But they are more $$$. Welcome to our forum. John Davies Spokane WA

If you can’t get any power out of that outlet, you could test your Ollie by moving to another site temporarily, if there is one open. If it works there, there is a problem in your site wiring, not in your trailer... You could ask a neighbor or the camp host for help. There is a little disable (over ride) switch on the onboard surge suppressor. You could switch it off but that puts your trailer at great risk if the campground wiring is screwy. I would NOT recommend that step unless your hookup has been verified to be 100% correct. Good luck .... how hot is it? John Davies Spokane WA

These are from Toyo but the specs are very similar between tire manufacturers. A Nitto owner on a forum called Nitto customer service to ask about charts and was told to use the Toyo ones. If you run the OEM tire type and size, use the chart glued inside your driver door opening or the info inside your Owners Manual. If you have switched to a different size, or from a P rated (passenger car) tire to a LT rated (truck) tire, you need to study the charts to figure out the pressure you should use. LT tires require more pressure to carry the same load as a P rated tire. It doesn’t seem to make sense, but it’s true. https://www.toyotires.com/media/2125/application_of_load_inflation_tables_20170203.pdf You do not need to know your actual axle scale weights, though that would be useful information for loading your rig and figuring tongue weight. You can calculate, using the charts, the different load capabilities and figure out a good target pressure to run. Example: My 2013 Land Cruiser came with P285/60R18 car tires (31” diameter) at 33 psi front and rear. The truck has a nearly 50/50 front to rear weight balance, unloaded. The Gross Vehicle Weight Rating is 7385 pounds. The P- Metric chart from Toyo shows a max load of 2513 pounds per tire (5026 per axle) for this size at Toyota’s recommended 33 psi. So that is the “target load” that they thought was appropriate. These tires were lightweight for better fuel economy and very squooshy for passenger comfort. They were also fragile and the towing experience was not good - the handling was vague and unsettling. I switched to bigger and stiffer LT275/70R18 mud tires (33” diameter). By studying the LT-Metric chart, to match that same target load capability they need to be at 46 psi. These tires are tough and offroad capable, and the extra ride stiffness really settled the truck while towing. Remember that these are MAXIMUM tire loads for that air pressure. The tire and truck engineers understand that many owners run them too low on air and they supply a good safety margin to allow for idiots. You don’t need to run them quite so high if your load is below that weight. If you have a HD truck and you are really loaded down with cargo, you can calculate a good “in between “ value rather than just pumping the rears up to 80 psi as indicated on the door sticker. Also, a warm tire is a happy tire. If yours is hot, it’s a big danger signal and you need to increase the pressure for that axle. I have been running 42 psi in my LT tires for a couple of years now. They seem happy but the front ones are wearing faster than the rears and I may bump my pressures front and rear up to 44 psi to see how the truck drives. Lots of people who switched tire types are running lower than recommended pressure because of the door sticker. Not good.. Finally, write down the new pressure on your door sticker, so service techs have a small chance of filling them correctly. See picture. More tire tech from Kimberley Caravans .... https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hub/210453/file-20229690-pdf/docs/importance_of_optimum_tyre_pressure_and_temperature.pdf I hope this stuff is helpful. A truck or offroad forum for your particular vehicle is a good resource, to ask what pressure to run for a particular size. There is also a trick you can do with new tires involving chalk on the tread.... I won’t go into that one. Here is info and a placard you can print for your Ollie tires. .... https://olivertraveltrailers.com/topic/how-to-tire-pressure-placard/ John Davies Spokane WA

When the cargo box was on the tongue I clamped a section of aluminum tubing to the back of it. With the box moved to the rear bumper, I had this welded up by my local shop. It works even better... I still use Schedule 80 conduit (UV rated, heavy wall, 1” diameter) to hold up the Stone Stomper mesh. The u bolt is one from the cargo box and it goes through two existing holes, so I did not have to drill new ones in the dog house. John Davies Spokane WA

That is a great picture but you should use a $1000 bill for scale, not a $1.... ;) Buying high quality off-roady caravan parts from Oz is not cheap. FYI I had a Treg polyblock coupler on an older 2000 GVW trailer, it worked great for a dozen years with no issues whatsoever until I sold the trailer. It was low maintenance, dead quiet and reasonably easy to couple up. But that design is much lighter duty than the McHitch and I too would be dubious about using that type on a heavy trailer off-pavement. I really miss that truck, it sacrificed itself protecting my son New Years day two years ago when he hit black ice and spun into an Interstate guardrail. John Davies Spokane WA

I believe Oliver recommends 100 pounds max load on the recommended Lets Go Aero BikeWing 1.25" rack (which you can find that weight online).... if I am interpreting their data right. ... https://olivertraveltrailers.com/topic/new-bike-hitch-capacity/ A call to Howenwald would clarify. I personally find the idea of hanging floppy cargo off that very small receiver MORE than a little disconcerting. The back end of your Ollie is a pretty violent location when you hit a big bridge dip at 65 mph. I double strap everything in my rear rack so I don't lose cans and chocks en route. John Davies Spokane WA

KenB - are you participating in "100s in the Hills" at Silverton? Do they allow 200s on the back country roads and trail rides? If you can post pics in a new thread, please do. Have fun and don't hurt the truck too much. John Davies Spokane WA