New owners - 2016 Oliver Elite II Hull #113

[jd1923]

We're very happy to be new owners and part of this Oliver Community. Just one month ago, we had no idea! What is an Oliver?

We started (part-time) RV life about 5 years ago, with hopes to travel the great American West! We started big with a Class A diesel-pusher. Sold that one a year later, then tried a Class C. By the way, RV manufactures have no business mounting a 30' box on an E450 chassis. Sold this one in May, wanting something smaller, likely a travel trailer, that would make it up and down the dirt roads prevalent in Arizona.  

We were very lucky to find a used Oliver listed locally for sale online, and it was right down the road from us. I wanted to see it, thinking there is NO WAY we would spend that kind of money on a TT! We bought it a few days later. 

Haven't been out yet, but planning to leave Monday, heading north to Kendricks Peak Wilderness Area for a few days dry camping. We do not usually summer-camp, down here in the SW climate, but hoping up at 8K feet elevation, it will be cool enough without hookups and A/C. 

So far, I've replaced the old corner TV, with a centered 30" Samsung smart TV, got the Dish Satellite working. Filled, cleaned and drained tanks. Pulled the regulators off our grill and fire-ring  and purchased quick-connect LP lines. Thought our 2008 Lexus GX 4.7L v8 might pull it, and it was OK around town, but not climbing steep grades in the Rockies! So, another great find was an older Dodge Ram Cummins, not as powerful as the newer ones, but perfect for this trailer, and there it was in excellent condition, white with gray lowers and black moldings and it looks perfect with the Oli in tow and should pull fine up the mountains (will post pic soon). 

We're likely have a lot of questions and will post improvements. Glad to see so much info here and with a decent search engine! Thank you, ahead of time for your help!

[mossemi]

Welcome to the forum and good luck on your shakedown trip!

Mossey

[Guest]

Welcome Chris and John and congratulations on your E2! 

Good luck on your first trip! 

Kirk

[jd1923]

Thank you for your kind welcomes, Mossey and Kirk & Carrie!

Was just out to check the hitch height again and set the trailer brake controller. I just installed a modern Tekonsha (It had an old one, circa 2001).

Took a couple of pics, TV and OTT!

 

[topgun2]

Apparently yours and mine are at least "kissing cousins" since Twist is hull # 117.

During the summer I boondock for extended periods of time at altitudes ranging from 7,000 to about 9,500 feet.  Never need the A/c but there are many a morning when I do need heat with overnight temps between 32 and the low 40's.  Of course I'm a bit north of you in Colorado, Wyoming, Montana or Idaho.

Hope you have as much fun with your Ollie as I have had and plan to have in the future.

Welcome to the Family!

Bill

[SeaDawg]

Out of curiosity,  how did you find your trailer?

@jd1923?

Wishing you many miles of smiles. Great looking rig.

[rideandfly]

Chris and John,

Welcome, nice looking rig! Looking forward to seeing photos of Ollie adventures!

[Katjo]

Welcome! Wishing you so many wonderful adventures in your beautiful Oliver!
Your truck is a nice match!👍🏼🙌🏼

[jd1923]

Thanks again to Bill, SeaDawg, rideandfly and Katjo!

Per Seadawg's question, the prior owner had it on a national RV sales website, where it sat for a month, paid ad expired. Then as I wrote before, it was "listed locally for sale online." I will refrain from promoting any company names. I would imagine, we could look for years and not see another Oliver listed in the neighborhood. Just lucky!

 

 

[John E Davies]

Mine is listed on Craigslist and I got a relatively local hit within 8 hours, but no further ones yet. 

John Davies

Spikane WA

[HDRider]

I sort of went through the same exercise as you, but only in my mind.  I have been studying RVing for almost three years now.

 

Oliver started our EII last Tuesday.  Delivery is scheduled for August 9.

 

You made a smart choice! 😁😁😁

 

Happy RVing and stay connected to us here.

[SeaDawg]

1 hour ago, HDRider said:

You made a smart choice! 😁😁😁

16th season in, I agree.

We toured (literally) over 100 trailers.

Obviously,  we're happy woth our choice.

[MAX Burner]

@jd1923:  Welcome to the Ollie Family, JD!  Very cool looking rig, TV and your new OTT!  You will find the answers to any Ollie-related questions on this Forum, for sure and for certain...  Happy trails, brother!

[jd1923]

And thank you to John, HDRider and MAX Burner, for your kind welcomes! 

We spent a few nights on top the AZ High Country. Our camp site was at 7580 ft with afternoon high of mid 80s, when home in Prescott was high 90s (Phoenix 112)! Very comfortable in the shade of the pines. We were on the base on Kendrick Mountain, with a short hike we could see the San Francisco peaks and the slopes of the Arizona Snow Bowl. We could only see Kendrick when driving to and from the site, since we camped at the base of the mountain. One picture below is from just north of Parks AZ, looking back at Kendrick Mtn.

Our Oliver got quite dirty on the back roads. We drove a good 20 miles of dirt getting to the campsite and she got a good pressure washing when we got home. Our only complaint is the tanks! I thought the % tank readings would be more accurate on the Oliver but found that the readings change drastically when the level of the trailer changes. When can you get a trailer exactly level? Not in Arizona and not on our property when filling the fresh tank. I think we had only 20-25 gallons filled when fresh water came running out of the overflow. Good thing we equipped our TV with a 35-gallon fresh-water tank purchased at TSC. We pumped in another 20 gallons, and all was good! One future project for me is to reroute some plumbing to change these water valves w/o removing the bed! What were they thinking? It would be time to add a water accumulator too like I've seen on a newer EII.

[dewdev]

jd1923

Chris & John:

Instead of rerouting the plumbing under the beds, some people have cut in hatches on the side wall of the bed thereby allowing them to get to the plumbing without moving the mattresses.

[SeaDawg]

I seem to remember  @ScubaRx changing the valve to an electric switch  system. Even easier.

 

[MAX Burner]

3 hours ago, jd1923 said:

Good thing we equipped our TV with a 35-gallon fresh-water tank purchased at TSC.

Boondocking?  A 35-50 gallon trackbed badder is a must, IMO...  Water is the new GOLD, especially boondocking.

[SeaDawg]

I think the fixed tank is easier for transport, and transfer. We've had one of those bladders for years. Really useful when the truckbed is empty, but not so simple when the truckbed is full, or partially filled. 

Really great for campgrounds with only a central source. 

We've found transferring water from our bladder is easiest with a sanitized bucket in between.  Hose to the bucket, pickup hose from the trailer pump from the bucket. Been awhile since we used it, but it can be a lifesaver. Unused, the bladder takes up a shoebox space.

[jd1923]

This seemed the easy low-cost route. I thought it would gravity feed to the fresh-water inlet. Didn't work, there must be a back-flow preventer or something requiring pressure to fill. I have an extra 12V water pump from the Class-A we used to own. Thinking I can mount that in the truck bed and pump into the fresh inlet, not having to worry about the switches for the winterizing inlet.

Longtime customer of TSC! Norwesco 35 gal. SKU# 2137324 Horizontal Leg Tank $169.99

[SeaDawg]

What is your valve configuration?

You need to pump the water in. Imo. Gravity feed doesn't work, at least for us.

[ScubaRx]

On 7/6/2023 at 1:16 PM, jd1923 said:

…One future project for me is to reroute some plumbing to change these water valves w/o removing the bed!….

I replaced the manual valves with electric ones because I got tired of having to change the valves…twice every time we added water. I flip a switch one way and all the valves move to Aux Fill. Flip it back and they return to normal operation again. 

[jd1923]

Yeah, I mentioned gravity feed did not work. Thought it was worth a try, prior to removing the curbside bed, flipping the two switches to pump from the rear port. 

ScubaRX, please point me to your electrical switch solution. Thanks

[John E Davies]

11 hours ago, jd1923 said:

Thought it was worth a try, prior to removing the curbside bed, flipping the two switches to pump from the rear port. 

FYI you don’t need to completely remove the bed, just rotate it up 90 degrees and push it against the outside wall. It is a lot easier if you don’t use a bunch of regular linens. And they are ball valves, not switches.

FYI also, living in red rock country you should understand the combined effect of water and red dust, the iron oxide is very conductive, it can cause pretty bad corrosion in any exposed electrical connections like your 7 pin connector. Or any exposed circuit boards like your propane fridge (under the black plastic cover). Keep them clean or unpleasant things can happen.

I suggest that you carry a gas leaf blower to de-dust everything when you reach your destination. But that won’t help when the roads are soaked…. 

We don’t see too many pics of dirty Ollies, keep them coming. 😉

That is oil not dust, do *NOT* drive on 50 km of freshly oiled chip sealed highway in heavy rain, it takes forever to get off the undercarriage.

John Davies

Spokane WA

[jd1923]

Yeap, 1/4-turn ball valves. I imagine these can be replaced with electrically operated versions. 

My son bought me a Dewalt 20V leave blower for Christmas. We both have 5-6 Dewalt 20V tools and 4-5 batteries! I'll will bring mine next time, thanks for the idea. We use 1-2 of their flashlights for camping and have an extra charger in the back cabinet, with our Dish Wally and Blu-ray player. I usually bring a 1/4" impact with my tools. 

Not enough dirty Ollie pics? I didn't want to show the really ugly one earlier, but since you asked...

Looks realy good with bronze wheels! Right?

 

[MAX Burner]

1 hour ago, jd1923 said:

Not enough dirty Ollie pics? I didn't want to show the really ugly one earlier, but since you asked...

Looks realy good with bronze wheels! Right?

A nicely used OTT!  Sweet - like candy...  Enjoy, @jd1923!