Typical Olie II Camping Weight

[NowrNever]

What is your typical loaded weight when traveling and camping. If you know your tongue weight that would help as well.

[Nan]

I read that the tongue weight is 460 lbs.

[John E Davies]

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

 

 

[Philips53]

John - I’ve always read that tongue weight should be at least 10% of total trailer weight. The Oliver spec states the dry tongue weight at 10%. The lighter the tongue weight, the more likely the trailer is to sway. At 8.3% I’d be concerned. If I’m wrong, please point me to a resource that says otherwise. Thanks.

 

 

[John E Davies]

John – I’ve always read that tongue weight should be at least 10% of total trailer weight. The Oliver spec states the dry tongue weight at 10%. The lighter the tongue weight, the more likely the trailer is to sway. At 8.3% I’d be concerned. If I’m wrong, please point me to a resource that says otherwise. Thanks.

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

 

 

 

 

[mountainoliver]

NowrNever, you asked what other folks’ weights were. On our LEII the tongue weight is around 650-675 pounds and the loaded trailer is about 6,700 pounds. I have the tongue basket with a Honda 2000 generator and a fuel container with about 2-3 gallons in it. I also have the two 30 pound propane tanks. We also always travel with a full fresh water tank and empty (as much as possible) black/grey tanks. I tow with a 3/4 ton truck and don’t use the Andersen Hitch. As John said, the Oliver LEII trailers tow perfectly stable.

[STEVEnBETTY]

My typical towing weight with an elite 2 is 6,000 lbs with a tongue weight of 600 lbs. Our oliver’s Empty weight was 5,020 lbs with a 500 lb tongue weight, we got to the 6,000 lb weight with cargo, full fresh water tanks, and two ebikes on the back rack. When we added the ebikes our tongue weight dropped to 480 lbs, I added ballast to the front of the trailer in the form of a tool bag (50 lbs) and a cooler (50lbs approx) in the bathroom to bring the tongue weight back up to 10%

 

I do agree with everyone else in stating that Oliver trailers have a very stable towing manner, and I haven’t heard anyone complain about sway, however anytime your tongue weight drops significantly below 10% “any” trailer will sway.

 

Steve

[Newshoes]

My 2019 Elite 1 with empty tanks (black tank will not be used), composting toilet and 250lbs of permanent equipment forward of the axle weighs 4100lbs. No front carrier or rear bike rack, 20lb propane tanks (full). Tongue weight on the scales (commercial) was 420lbs. I have a tow drawbar with a built in scale that indicated tongue weight at 430lbs+/-.

 

I had the weights confirmed by a private trucking companies scale (sand and gravel operation). I would imagine I would not be loading more than an additional 150lb of cargo in the trailer and initially travel with empty fresh water tank. Cargo would be over the trailer axle. I still need to check the tongue weight with the fresh water tank full (250lbs+/-). Looks like travel tongue weight will be 10% + with or without the on-board water.

 

I know this doesn't help with the Elite II.

 

Newshoes

 

 

 

 

[WhatDa]

In Europe, towing is done with much less tongue weight, 10% would be considered too nose heavy.   The gotchas are understanding that your weight distribution when parked and while underway will be different.  The Ollie has long tanks that can shift the center of gravity if they slosh.  Having more weight on the trailer front tires is important as that will generally mean it is the one to "steer" the trailer.

 

The other thing John (and the Europeans) have going for them is their tow vehicles (SUV/station wagons) have a much shorter arm from rear axle to ball than a pickup truck.  Shorter arm means less torque and sway.  They also have coil rear suspension which generally has less side to side play and less chance for sway to develop.

 

The only way to really understand your trailer's weight distribution is to weigh your TV without trailer, and then with the trailer.  This will let you know how much your trailer unloads your steer axle and also ensures you are capturing weight with the tongue at ride height/with chains/WDH/etc... CAT scales has an app now that makes this pretty easy as you can do both weighs without having to go inside to the weighmaster.

[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

 

 

[NowrNever]

Thank you for the feedback regarding typical loaded weight. Helps in planning on a tow vehicle.

[ScubaRx]

Our OOII is a real heavyweight.  Ready to camp is about 7200 pounds.  Weighed tongue weight at 675-700 pounds. We tow with a 2500 diesel, no WD/Sway hitch,  100,000 miles, never a problem.

 

Your trailer will likely weigh about a thousand pounds less.  We have 5200 lb axles, 12" disc brakes, 30 lb propane tanks, raised bed risers and a 275 lb, 3000 watt generator on the tongue.  With the extra storage under the beds and a full tank of water, we likely haul well over 1000 pounds of "stuff." Actually, I identify as a recovering minimalist.

[SeaDawg]

... we likely haul well over 1000 pounds of “stuff.” Actually, I identify as a recovering minimalist.

 

That's too funny, Steve.

 

We tease a lot about the "stuff" you carry, but I also know you've been able to help a number of campers with your treasure trove of parts and tools. Not like you're just carrying your rock collection around... :)

 

Sherry

[mountainoliver]

<p style="text-align: left;">Sherry, next time you see Steve you really need to take a look the rock collection! I’m surprised you haven’t seen it yet. ?</p>