Raspy

I prefer to get my Oliver as level as is practical by blocking under the tires. It's nice to rough it in by backing up onto a 2x6 or two, for instance, or backing the high side tires into a couple of low spots I can dig out. Then a small adjustment with the jacks gets it perfect. Frame flexing doesn't start at some particular loading, it happens with any load on the jacks. It's not really twisting because it's a three point system. It's bending. The weight is being supported farther back along the frame rail with the jack as compared to the axle subframe, so the frame rail bends up from the force applied by the jack. The force is being applied at one point instead of against a large subframe. I can hear mine creaking as soon as I start loading either of the rear jacks. Up front, the frame is seriously massive and reinforced, but out back it's a small box section. It seems the body and the frame work together to make a strong system. The whole thing reminds me of a boat sitting on a trailer. The boat is strong on it's own and the trailer is there to support it and tow it along, not to make the boat stronger. Boat trailers can be very flexible and still haul boats just fine. The Oliver hull, similarly seems to be very strong on it's own. Given the choice, I think I'd prefer changing a tire with a floor jack under the axle than lifting the tires off the ground with the leveling jacks, but it's nice to know we can do it that way when needed.

One of the advantages of the long Oliver tongue is being able to open the tailgate. My Ram tailgate opens with no clearance problems when hooked up. The front part of the tongue even becomes a convenient step to get up into the bed of he truck.

fwunder, Great story. I saw my first Ollie years ago, before the Elite ll came out. Never forgot how nice it was. Then I discovered the Elite ll last year and that did it. After making mistakes with several stickies, I finally got a clue. Now our Ollie is sitting in the garage waiting for the next adventure.

I switched my 20 lb tanks for 30 lb tanks. All that is required is to get a center threaded rod that is 6" longer. It's very easy to get 3/8 threaded rod at Home Depot, tractor Supply or most hardware stores. Everything else is the same and they drop right in. As far as filling goes, I've never had mine done by weight. They just fill until it vents at the (approximately) 83% level.

GrayGhost, Thanks for this great post. I've been wondering how difficult it was going to be to get that rack/cover removed for service. My most pressing concern is how to replace the flex hose to the shower head. I've been thinking of the round ports too, but now I guess that's out. Was it really just a simple matter of running a knife blade around the caulking and pulling the rack off? Any more pix? Thanks again

John, Thanks for that wonderful post with all of the information about the Red Rock area. As far as the Maxfan with inside filter goes, I'm thinking that it's cover generates a vacuum when open that will have to be overcome with the fan to get any positive pressure. Then what a mess with the filter inside and the fan full of dust! I wonder if the cover could be removed and a flat plate made to replace it with a large hole and a shop-vac filter mounted outside. The filter outside would keep all dust out of the fan and it could be replaced as needed. Another idea might be to make a setup for the bathroom vent. A forward looking scoop with filter of some sort.

John, Just a few more thoughts to throw in the mix: I had a spring over on my toy hauler of the same length and with tandem axles . it was more of a pain than benefit with the higher steps, higher hitch and extremely limited times I really needed it. Ollies are really good in stock form when off road because they have no hanging down pipe and are tandem axles. I've already taken mine over some surprisingly rough roads and watched very carefully how it did. The springs on these axles are just really for utility trailers and are very low tech. They don't seems to be able to take a lot of abuse in other situations and bending them farther than designed is not a good plan. Asking Oliver to accept responsibility for reducing the stability is asking a lot. It is probably better if you do it yourself or have it done somewhere else. You might try it out first in stock form and see if you really think it's necessary. A relatively short trailer with tandem axles is very good on rough roads. Given all of that, it would be a cool mod for more extreme use.

I've been camping all my life. My parents had an old tent, then an Apache tent trailer. I used to go with just my truck and sleep on the ground next to my dirt bike. Colder weather got me over doing that. Besides, I don't feel the need to rough-it these days. It's nice to be warm and it's fun to cook great meals while out camping. My favorite places are in the high desert. My daughter and I were in Death Valley in a big wind storm and had the chance to stay in a nice little trailer for the night. It was so nice that I really started looking at them more seriously. I've had a pop-up camper and several trailers now and none of them were very good quality or even practical. My Toy Hauler made one trip to Death Valley and had a lot of damage from the vibration, etc. Plus drafty and hard to heat. It was disappointing to sort of give up on trailers. I saw an Oliver here locally. An older Elite and really liked it, but it didn't have enough headroom. Then I started searching and discovered the new Elite ll. I was hooked. Expensive, but it would probably last the rest of my life and be so efficient in a number of ways. I had pretty much decided to order one when I found a like new one that was close by. It looked like it had never been used. That did it! There was the opportunity staring me right n the face, so I went for it. Earlier, I finished out a 42' fiberglass Ketch. I designed and put up the rig, did all the systems and learned how to sail on it. I put thousands of miles on that boat in the San Francisco Bay and sailed it to Mexico and back. Meanwhile, I lived on-board for about 17 years. I recently finished building our home in Northern Nevada and will be retiring at the end of this year. Ollie is in the garage, waiting for Spring and for me to have a bit more time to start making some short trips. Bullards Beach, Oregon this July, for instance, and lots of trips around the Eastern Sierras and hot springs in the next few months. Next year we'll be off wandering with no schedule. No buyers remorse here. Just the promise of a some really fun times in our beautiful little home on wheels. With the Oliver, I really appreciate the quality, ease of towing and general usefulness. The stickies I've had were all about building the cheapest thing they could get away with, and pretty much, were disposable. I've always admired Airstreams too, but the cost is higher, they are not really designed to be practical so much as designed to look good and the 8' width makes them a lot harder to tow.

I have this option too. 78% nitrogen instead of 100%. It turns out to be arguably better than filling tires with water, oil, propane or sand. Since Ollie will be operating at ground level, instead of 30,000 ft. elevation and at normal highway speeds, frozen moisture is probably not an issue. I also want to be able to top off or adjust the pressure without looking for a tire shop or buying a nitrogen bottle and regulator to haul around with me. I often adjust the pressure in the desert or mountain snow. Even without those adjustments, I like to check my tires before every trip. In all the tires I've owned, and that's lot, I've never seen any wheel damage or interior tire damage from moisture. This is one of those gimmicks that can be endlessly debated. But one point that seems factual is that tire shops have found a way to help people unload more of their dollars. I wonder how Oliver got all the air out of the tires before they filled them with Nitrogen? http://www.pedrosgarage.com/Site_5/Nitrogen_or_Air.html

We have reservations for A25. Did you guys make reservations already?

Reed, As I think you know, we live over near Gardnerville. I drive to Redwood City regularly and am always checking the passes. This has been an amazing year with all of the passes closing at times. Fun times. I love any extreme weather. Sounds like you are right in the thick of it. As far as the batteries are concerned, I wonder if you'd be more comfortable just connecting a battery tender to your rig? Just a couple of low amp 12 volt leads. I have some concern about leaving Ollie in the garage when we are not home. If something happened to the house we'd lose both. But outside, if there was a wildfire, that might take it out and I don't want it outside in the weather and the sun all the time. No perfect answer.

John, I have a couple of those Gorilla wrenches too. Nice. But be sure to check if the socket actually fits the Ollie decorative wheels nuts. Some cap nuts stick out enough to block that Gorilla shallow socket from engaging the hex. If so, just get a standard deep socket and drive it with the Gorilla wrench.

We'll be going to the Oregon Coast Gathering in July with the Casita Club. I hope some more Olivers are going. http://www.casitaforum.com/BullardsRegistration.html

Some of the new stingers have a recess that holds the ball. The corresponding ball has a hex bottom. My solution, for the regular style is to simply use a slip joint pliers on the ball. I always have one of those with me anyway. BTW, you can buy a box end wrench for the ball nut at Walmart for about $9.

Will your new Oliver have the larger spare tire cover? One thing you might consider, if they haven't built it yet, is moving the license plate and light to the main body instead of leaving it on the tire cover. The light sticks out farther than anything else and is vulnerable. Plus, you have to manage the wire when fiddling with the cover. I know the license covers the tire mounting bolt, but there might be a better way to do that. Someone else mentioned this and had Oliver move their plate at no charge during construction. One annoying thing is having the tire cover sticking out beyond the bumper. When I back into the garage the tail light is the first to bump and if I happen to bump a pole or a wall, the tire cover will get damaged before the bumper even touches. I am putting on some rubber bumper extensions that will fix that by reaching out 4 inches.

Don't know about the detector, but the stereo/DVD player is drawing a bit to keep it's memory and an LED lit. I think the tank monitor/battery indicator panel is powered up too. When you are dry docked, can't you stay plugged in? That would be better for the batteries anyway. Otherwise the battery switch is a good plan. Fortunately, my Ollie is in the garage and plugged in. I can leave the fridge on and run lights etc.

Thanks for this Pete. Great post.

Thank you for clearing this up. Sheesh. I feel sorry for you guys. The simple message that the brakes were being upgraded to 12" lead to the incredible over analysis that the axles were too big, larger tow vehicles were needed, people could not get the accurate information. Panic. The sky is falling!! All because of the simple statement that Oliver had upgraded to 12" brakes! I hope this settles down and you guys can resume concentrating on building excellent trailers. For the people overthinking this, please don't panic. There was never anything more to this than what was initially stated. A simple upgrade in the brakes.

Designing for resale could be an interesting topic for conversation. Seems better to build or modify for my use and realize that if I like it, someone else probably will too. I don't want to build my home for someone I'll never meet, I want to build it for me and my family. I enjoy seeing the creative modifications others are making on their Ollies. Some of those ideas might make into production or into my Elite ll.

Read the brochures for the 2016 units. Somewhere in late 2015 or for the 2016 model, they listed the model year changes. These changes included switching to 12" brakes. 12" brakes are standard on 5200 lb axles. So, all models with 12" brakes are 5200 lb axles. The 3500 lb axles are plenty adequate for an Elite ll, but the brakes are bigger on the 5200 lb axles and they upgraded the brakes. It has nothing to do with options, or an increase in the GVW. But it might be nice to simply verify that you will be getting the bigger brakes. If you want an upgrade in the axle department, ask for the EZ Flex greaseable bushing upgrade with heavy duty shackles.

It means you get the 12" brakes. Let's not overthink this. An Elite ll weighs about 5,000 lbs ready to camp. They never said they were upping the GVW. What they advertised was an upgrade to 12" brakes. That is the standard size with the 5200 lb axles. That's it. What does that have to do wit a bigger truck? It simply means you have stronger brakes.

NO. NO. NO. Be sure what you are posting before you give advice. All Elite ll have six bolt wheels, either with 3500 or the 5200 axles.

That is a very nice mod. Thanks. I'd love to see a rear view of that table to see how it can tilt and swivel.

Don't know just how many BTUs are required, but Ollie is very well insulated. I would not be surprised if 6000 BTU was fine. It would be so nice to get that sore thumb off the roof.

I don't like the rooftop units for all the reasons already stated. Plus, they take so much power that a 2000 watt generator won't run them. That's OK because I don't expect I'll ever want to run the AC on my Genny, but still. If, I was ever going to change mine I'd go to a window unit. The obvious place in my Elite ll is under the dinette seat closest to the bathroom. That cabinet is the right size and not very good for storage without modification anyway. The AC could sit in a specially designed box and it's faceplate would be on the side of the seat, facing the door. It's back would be arranged to draw and expel it's cooling air to external grills. No pullout and nothing sticking out ever. Just two grills. If I needed access to any equipment or valves in that compartment, the AC could be set on drawer slides to pull it into the room for access. And, of course, the lift off hatch under the cushion would give some access too, as well as making the installation much easier. The problems are that the rooftop unit is already there with it's big hole and the lower location would require going through two hulls and designing the special vented box arrangement. On the plus side: No roof top air! And the wiring would be fairly easy as the power comes in near there. It would only draw about 800 watts or so and run on the genny if needed. I sort of wish mine had no AC now so that I would be more motivated to do this modification. Window units don't have to go in a window. Lil Snoozy uses a window unit and they put it in a box on the rear of the trailer. Another interesting choice would be to see if a mini-split compressor/condenser unit could be squeezed in behind the propane tanks. It would have to be a small one, but we only need about 8,000 BTUs or so. The tanks could pretty easily be moved forward a couple inches to help. ScubaRX just designed a nice storage area there and posted his work under "Mods of the Outlaw Oliver".