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Seeing is believing! I’ve worked manufacturing a few times in my career, like the ol’-school RAM Golf Club manufacturing back in the early 70s in Melrose Park IL. Later I spent a decade, the 90s in Motorola manufacturing! My immediate first impression, observing a relatively small manufacturing facility which I truly appreciated! I realized a team of good people, working hard with little to no BS, and as busy as they were they took time with me, helped me answering all of my questions. If they could have serviced me that day, or that week, I would have stayed and had the work done. I knew from the start that I would not upgrade springs without upgrading to D52 axles. I’m one of the unlucky few who not only got the inferior D35 axles, but also in a half dozen hulls where OTT installed the 1/2" shorter 50” axles (what the, why?)! Alcan had a skid full of the 50.5” axles from all their Oliver business of late, but replacement of the rare 50” axles must be special ordered! So I’m talking/texting with Ken, when he said, “Don’t let them sell you my springs! 🤣 Ken had a service appointment scheduled for the very next week. I purchased Alcan Springs on this day. When Tim said, they could special order for me the correct 50” axles for our hull and charge me the same going price Oliver owners were paying for the 50.5” axles which they had purchased in bulk. This read like a very good one-time good offer, from a helpful, fully knowledgeable company rep! This is TRUE Customer Service! 😂 All I could say is “let’s do it!” Renee wrote up the order. Tanner assembled the leaf spring parts they manufacture in house, and then he went through their installation instructions and torque specs and later loaded the spring parts in my truck. I wrote Renee a check for half+ down and an hour later we were back on our trip! What was accomplished in an hour was spectacular! Lunch and a fuel stop in Grand Junction and we’re headed out of town…

Our OEM suspension was still in good shape. I had worked a full brake service, including the Timken bearing upgrade, two years ago just after we purchased our Oliver June of 2023. Our OEM leaf springs were still properly arced and no rust given life in the SW, never an issue. Until the “Made in USA leaf springs” forum post came up, I had not worried about it, nor ever concerned that the Oliver suspension might be undersized in some way. I headed the warning, but not at first wanting to pay for this extensive upgrade, so I purchased a spare pair of 1750 LB leaf springs and U-bolts to have on hand in case of possible failure on the road. We were on our 5-week June trip to Minnesota, and on the way back we took the northern route. I wasn’t at all thinking about a suspension upgrade! I’m in regular communication with our friend Ken @mountainoliver and realized they were camping in Colorado and perhaps we could meet up. They were there waiting for their scheduled appointment at Alcan Spring in Grand Junction CO. At the time, we were camped in North Dakota on the great Missouri River! But were soon cross Colorado from the NE to the SW on the way back home. Given we could see our friends and the many mentions of Alcan on the Forum, I thought we should visit Alcan Spring to at observe their operation. I called and talked to Tim and made an appointment to visit, not a service appointment. "Every picture tells the story" don't it! The first pic is much later in the process as a preview and the second one was only two years ago after working a complete brake/bearing maintenance. I believed we were good! 🤣

Some of the after market accessories I added and Murphy’s Law applies especially on the first trip with any new vehicle. Everything is working well! 🙂 Thanks,

Thanks @Galway Girl I am assembling the materials for a fix next week!

Our manual lock has been reliable, not fancy but it works!

Thanks @Galway Girl I am assembling the materials for a fix next week!

LOL. If it doesn’t, I am in serious trouble 🤣

WOW! That Ford 350 should handle the Ollie easily. What's to shake down? Nice! Bill

Stone Mountain SP NC, tow vehicle shake down trip. It handles Ollie easily. Added a couple old photos of Stone Mountain from the meadow and from the top.

Fan works. But the lid is manual 😜

We were at Banff 2 years ago early September great time. I didnt need to get propane. Also they don’t accept your Discover card at a lot of places..we made it half way to jasper. Too many stops for pics…. By the way did you ever get the Maxair fan lid working? Canadian Rockies are breathtaking..Stay safe out there!!!

My internet searches haven’t given me a lot of confidence ☹️ We are heading to Waterton, Banff and Jasper (weather permitting). Anyone have experience to share???

Our Oliver came with the Lippert chrome manual lock. We also read here regarding many failures to the touch pad and batteries loosing charge at just the wrong time. $220+ for keyless entry, sorry no thank you. Our hull being 10 years old, the door lock is still working as designed but gear mechanisms and striker parts do wear out over time. I found this on Amazon and at the time it was only $50, same lock in a nice white powder coat. It's for when we need it or when we may upgrade our entrance door. And yes, extra keys are easy to have on hand too! Just match the code on your key to your order. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00S2IELG6?ref=fed_asin_title https://www.amazon.com/Pair-Keys-Global-Link-Precut/dp/B0BQWVR6YP/?th=1

We opted for the manual door lock in our 2022 Elite II based on reports on this forum of folks getting locked in or out of their Olivers by failed RV Lock units. No issues with key duplication. We keep a spare Oliver door key in a compartment in our tow vehicle. Low tech, but so far, no issues.

We also own a 2022 Elite II, Hull #1291. Having read too many posts on this forum about the Demonic AC unit sounding like a jet taking off, and that Oliver was making the much quieter Truma AC unit available on 2023 models, we opted to postpone our delivery from September to November of 2022 to get a Truma. We paid a premium for the upgrade, but we have not regretted our choice. Although expensive, in your shoes, I would schedule an appointment with the closest Oliver dealer to swap the Demonic for a Truma. If you have strong handyman skills, you can consider a DIY install. with one of the brands referenced in jd1923's post above. There are informative threads on this forum with detailed "how to" instructions. And, please update your footer to include your Hull #, tow vehicle and other important data, like you see on the above posts.

Last night in East Glacier. We saw 2 other Ollies (including ADKcamper) 4 Casitas, 2 Scamps and 2 Escapes. A veritable fiberglass convention 😃

We just had to remove and replace the spare last week while on a trip to Roswell NM. It was the first time we had to do this on the road. A slow leak developed on one of the tires. We aired it back up, but after about 10 miles it needed to be topped off again. We were on US 380, about 50 miles from the nearest tire service so we decided to switch to the spare. We found a safe pullout for the tire change (not easy on this highway with its narrow shoulders). The spare can be rolled along the bumper once the retaining screw has been removed so you don't have to reach over the basket to lift it. The basket did have to come out a little more than 5 inches, but it didn't have to be removed completely. We don't carry a lot of weight in the bins, so sliding the cargo tray in/out was easy. Sure, it would have been easier if it wasn't there, but it wasn't difficult. It helped to have two people. The wheel and tire weigh about 60 lbs. The fiberglass cover is much less. I did the lifting and MA helped with the alignment and getting the retaining screws threaded when putting it back together. If you're going to the Texas rally next month then we can show you, you can try for yourself.

Texas doesn't have a lot of public land, so if you're passing through the Wichita Falls area in north Texas and need a place to stay for one night or more, we can recommend Crossroads Luxury RV Park. We had a flat nearby and limped into this park with little notice and they really took care of us. Great service. Clean park. All the amenities we need.

After cleaning and burnishing I was told by Jason to cut a light criss cross pattern in the block and mounting point as well ( I used a vibrating saw with metal cutting blade) . Light cuts not too deep. Then I cleaned again & let dry. its held tight for 3 years so far.

Awesome and thanks. I’ll get busy?

Same here. I haven't found anything better than the Calmark cover for all season protection.

We have the newer lighter weight Calmark cover and really are very happy with the fit and finish. We purchased it directly from Oliver and I would purchase again. I am not aware of any other cover that will custom fit an Oliver. Maybe someone else will chime in.

I did the same with a portable air conditioner given me and generally used when working in confined spaces, garage or shop for heat relief. Shown here being used in the Oliver, vented out the side window, when replacing the noisy Dometic Penguin ll last summer. Useful in a pinch, but certainly wouldn’t want to travel with one and endure the encumbrance! Unlike the DPll, my Atmos replacement is quite both in and out; oftentimes I can’t even hear it running when outside the trailer, so don’t think all RV rooftop air conditioners are created equal.

I prepped both surfaces by sanding then cleaning with alcohol, used two-part epoxy and has stayed put for 3yrs and 30k miles

Hello friends, just recently assumed ownership of hull 1452 and was looking for a good cover to store it under when off the road. We like the Calmark covers best but would be open minded to others. Anyone out there got one for sale?😃