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ASK ANOTHER OWNER


mountainborn

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Got a simple question, maybe the kind that you wouldn't go so far as to call the factory represenative about ? But none the less, you need to know ? For example, you can find the switch that turns on all of the LED courtesy lights on, except for the one in the bathroom ? You saw it work when you were in the delivery bay at the Oliver factory, so, you know it works. But you can't find how to turn it on ?

He, he, happened to me. I had been in sensory overload, I guess, what with all the information I was absorbing in the delivery bay. I actually called in to report a light that didn't work. The guys out in the shop at the factory still pick at me about that one. They even considered a "handle" change to . . . well, let's don't go there.

The bathroom courtesy LED is plainly visible down near the floor, but the switch is inside the inset for the towel rack. Just slide your hand along the edge and it just automatically goes to and turns on the courtesy light. The light switch on our early 08' model is a push button. Here is a photo:

I would rather wake up in the middle of nowhere than in any city on earth 08' Oliver Legacy Elite HULL NUMBER 0003(sold)

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He, he, Our owner's manual was full of instructions and operating procedures. There was so much information there, that it was a bit large. The owners manual comes in a beautiful "satchel", about the size of a small briefcase, with a zipper closure on top and a Oliver curvy road logo on the front. It seems to be made out of some kind of heavy nylon cordura and leather. By the time we finished our orientation in the delivery bay, we felt like we knew everything we would ever need to know about out new Elite. Somehow, I just couldn't remember where that switch was ! :o

I would rather wake up in the middle of nowhere than in any city on earth 08' Oliver Legacy Elite HULL NUMBER 0003(sold)

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have never had an RV or towed anything. I'm going to buy an 'egg' soon and fulltime in it.

My question today is about towing an Oliver. I see some use Jeeps and some use midsize trucks. Does a longer wheelbase really make towing easier? Should I get a 1/2 ton?

How difficult is it to learn to tow correctly?

Thanks...Dusty

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Dusty, welcome, good choice in molded fiberglass travel trailer, ease of towing, fuel economy and handling in general, will be your reward. Though some tow with larger tow vehicles, we find a shorter wheel base Jeep Wrangler four door has absolutely no problems in towing or handling the Oliver. The Oliver's dry weight of 2400 pounds gives one a wide range of choice of tow vehicle. It could be as simple as adding a hitch to your present vehicle.

A pickup gives more choices for other stuff you may want to carry. It doesn't take long to add up in actual weight that you are moving down the road. You ask about a 1/2 ton pickup. Many chose that for it's capacity and economy, often adding a fiberglass camper shell on the bed of the pickup for additional carrying space. The small accessorys often really add to the ease of handling. Example a good set of mirrors don't have to be expensive, but make all of the difference when backing up comfortably. A 1/2 ton pickup with a factory tow package might well have mirrors that extend and retract for easy use. We tow our Oliver with the factory mirrors on the Jeep Wrangler and it seems to work well for us.

These forums are a good place to get up to speed so you are ready for your new Oliver ! The members here have many years of combined expeerience and will share freely with you, so just jump on in !

I would rather wake up in the middle of nowhere than in any city on earth 08' Oliver Legacy Elite HULL NUMBER 0003(sold)

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Oopz, sorry Dusty, I missed a question:

How difficult is it to learn to tow correctly?

>

With some fiberglass travel trailers as well as others, others you will hear stories about the necessity of having a WEIGHT DISTRUBITING HITCH and a SWAY BAR.

Not so for the Oliver !

Because the tongue on the Oliver is extensible, or adjustable, the need for those heavy, time consuming and expensive items is eliminated.

The Oliver tongue gives the travel trailer the ability to adjust the amount of weight that is transfered to the tow vehicle.

Difficulty level on a scale of one to ten, I would put at a one or a two. The "learning curve" is just nearly a verticle line !

I would rather wake up in the middle of nowhere than in any city on earth 08' Oliver Legacy Elite HULL NUMBER 0003(sold)

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Thanks a lot, Mountain. Would a backup camera be useful? Does Oliver offer one?

This is real coincidence for me as I was looking at the Ouachita National Forest area as a good place to fulltime, what with the Forests and the State Parks nearby. How bad are the winters over your way? How far would you have to travel from you place in the winter to find mild weather?

And finally, would a 4cyl pickup like a Tacoma 4x4 with a towing payload of 3500# be strong enough to tow the Oliver? I'm thinking about MPG and price.

Thanks...Dusty

 

No RV

No Vehicle

Just retired and back from 4 months in Cambodia

Lake County, Illinois

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Ouachita Mountain Winters are fairly mild by most standards, but they do have brief periods of really bad weather. The quick escape to warmer weather is South into Texas or Louisianna. The distance to travel can vary with the Winter we are having, sometimes as little as two hundred miles and sometimes over four hundred miles. One winter we went to the Gulf and still had near freezing temperatures over night, though the days were nice, where we were camped.

Back up cameras are a very cool thing, especially if backing into a tight boondocking location by yourself. Maybe two cameras, switch between them as needed, one on the tow vehicle rear bumper to help with the hitch alignment when hooking up ?

We pull our Oliver with a Nissan 4 cylinder 5 speed 4x4 for short distances.

 

To Deer camp, to the nearby lake, to the carwash, ect.. But out on the highway it just doesn't quite have enough power. The larger displacement tacoma 4 cylinder engine may do it better, but the towing capacity could be cutting it a bit close. It doesn't take long to accumilate a thousand pounds of "necessary stuff" especially when full timing.

I would rather wake up in the middle of nowhere than in any city on earth 08' Oliver Legacy Elite HULL NUMBER 0003(sold)

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Thanks, again. I'll look at 6cyl trucks. Nissan Frontier seems very reasonable priced.

Can you tell me how many AmpHours are the Optima batteries? Is there a sort of smart charger in the Elite that would allow 3 stage charging from a small Honda generator?

And how long for delivery after ordering, approx?

I sent an email with these Qs to Oliver yesterday but no word back. Hopefully, they are so busy it slipped by them...

Dusty

 

No RV

No Vehicle

Just retired

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Robert will be out of the office until Monday, I expect. I am not sure that the charging system is that sophisticated in the on board converter, but the owners manual might answer that for me. I guess I need to do some home work on that one.

Should you opt for a solar installation then that system's charge controller does all of that. Seems like the last delivery time I heard was bugeyedrivers and it was six weeks , or so it seems.

Robert the sales manager will be on here first thing Monday morning, if the creeks don't rise, he lives on the banks of the beautiful Buffalo River. Hence the screen name "BUFFALOBOB". He is very good about answering those type of questions promptly.

I would rather wake up in the middle of nowhere than in any city on earth 08' Oliver Legacy Elite HULL NUMBER 0003(sold)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi Dusty!

JC Whitney and several other aftermarket folks sell a camera that mounts on the rear licence plate of your TOW VEHICHLE and screen is on dash that is a big help when hitching up by yourself. Price is about $90-100 and supposedly VERY easy to install.

At Quartzsite, where I saw my Olivers, both the modelsof the Olivers had a camera that mounted on the TRAILER with a screen on dash of tow vehicle but did not have an opportunity to try it. It looks like it would make life a lot easier in a lot of the backin campsites!

Chuck

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