All Activity

We were in Tolono Nevada this past March and had such strong winds, it slammed the door of our truck open so hard I was worried it bent the hinges. (Luckily it didn’t) It also slammed the driver’s door closed while I was getting in or out and I literally had to fight to free myself. It also filled our nice “new” truck full of grit that I’m still vacuuming and dusting four months later. The point? If it’s at all windy - I just make it a point to HOLD THE DOOR - any door. I don’t find that I have to “fight” the door while trying to hook/unhook it. I just realize it’s preloaded to a point that assure there won’t be any “slop” when the door is hooked in the open position. I even found the right sized rubber grommets at my local hardware store so that when one gets cut, worn out, or disappears - I can pop a new one in. Doesn’t that equate to having to move the door with more than the force of a 40MPH wind any time you want to open and close it?!

I believe those of us with slight horizontal lines in the interior door skin were caused by wind, where the door flew open (several times through the years) hitting the black rubber stopper which stresses the door, causing these cracks. The damage to Craig's door is more extreme, likely something defective in its construction vs. more wind damage than the others. I'd rule out sun damage in either case since there is no damage to the exterior skin. The interior skin on Craig's door buckled, came out of the inside frame and separated from the core to do so! Did they miss gluing this area? Here again is the picture I took to show the Lippert Friction Hinges installed. I hadn't paid attention to the cracks on our door until this thread was started Nov '24, since the cracks are minor and often hidden by the screen door. I believe if Lippert or OTT made Friction Hinges standard, we would not see this wind damage, but not Craig's issue which looks like a manufacturing defect. Were the doors made differently through the years? I think not, except perhaps for Chris' @CRM with his one-off 2010 hull. Bill's @topgun2 door has no cracks. Mike @Mike and Carol and I both have minor cracks. These hulls are all 2016 and the doors likely came from the same Lippert batch. Perhaps Bill kept his door from banging on the stopper better than Mike did and I did (including prior owners). I know before I installed friction hinges the door flew out of my hands several times banging against the stopper as I cringed! It's often very windy where we camp! No more door bangs, no further damage since the friction hinges were installed. Craig, I'm very sorry to hear of your misfortune. I believe Lippert owes you a door. Your damage is not from abuse. At a minimum, ask them for money back on the core you paid for, that should still be under warranty, towards purchase of a new door. Make some noise and hope for some help! Best wishes, JD

I didn’t say I didn’t like them - just that if you’re keeping things white - you missed a spot. 😂 That said - you have an excellent point on the “10 shades of ‘white’”. The Truma cover, furnace cover, and fridge covers are all different. I try not to obsess too much…. Did you paint yours? Why did you choose grey over Oliver ‘white’?

I wish I had the time and forethought to do that. I did the U-Haul a few years back to close up our Chicago home and take a few items to Texas. Little did I know that the prices for the one-way vs local rentals are astronomically higher!

My issue with the OE Fairview was that it leaked profusely. We just connected a spare tank to our small two burner Coleman stove, Didn't need the space heater or hot wter inside. While on the road I had our son get on the jungle website and ordered a new one.

Oliver Bulldog 2 5/16 coupler upgrade. I decided to finally pull the trigger and upgrade our Oliver from a 2” 7000# Bulldog coupler to a new Bulldog 2 5/16” 12500 coupler. I also ordered a spare coupler repair kit. These 2 5/16” BD couplers are becoming difficult to locate and purchase with Bulldog filing for bankruptcy protection in Oct of last year😳. It’s my understanding, that BD is no longer manufacturing and shipping these couplers to RV manufacturers possibly due to bankruptcy proceedings. (open source) I did attempt to purchase a 2 5/16 BG coupler from Oliver and they no longer have this upgrade in stock and available to purchase and ship. Jerry at Oliver told me they have no idea if or when they will have this coupler in stock again and are seeking alternative options. Will there will be a restructuring with BD? Anyone’s guess. I will be taking the new coupler to a friend’s machine shop to have the holes precisely drilled. If you’re on the fence about upgrading to a 2 5/16 12,500 #coupler it might be a good time to search for a vendor that has one on the shelf and ready to ship. A big thank you to @rideandfly for helping source this coupler! The Vendor I ordered from was Croft Trailer Supply in Kansas City, Mo. Ended up myself, @rideandfly and @John Dorrer purchased the (3) they had in stock. If it’s an upgrade you’re considering you may not want to wait. Safe Travels! Hull#634 XPLOR

Did this yesterday on a dual tank regulator used for a commercial grade griddle, which I modeled after the setup on the Oliver. I tapped several times gently with the handle of a crescent wrench in a few locations and viola, the fuel level indicator started working! It’s also important to open propane tank valves very slowly to keep from tripping the internal safety device that could shut off gas flow.

Hope everyone has a great holiday! 250 years is a pretty good run. Based on some of the videos from the World Cup attendees visiting the US for the first time, we seem to be the envy of the world! Mike

I think a lot of us with older trailers have the cracks.

This sucks all the way around. I wonder what percentage of Oliver owners have this problem.

Final Verdict - NO Go on Door Core Replacement. After buying and trying to replace the door core *which Lippert said should be an easy fit, I have bad news. The new door core when installed was out of alignment by about 1/4" even though we meticulously measured and remeasured the placement of the holes for the hinges. I reinstalled the old door and it fits perfectly fine and I'll be doing some re-taping of the ugly cracks. It appears perhaps the event that triggered the start of cracking may have also bent the hinges just enough that they no longer fit for a new perfect door. Oliver has suggested that the best action is to drill out and replace the full door and frame. (Back to the $1600 cost and I will consider having Oliver do a full door and frame replacement when I go back for factory service this fall.) The new door core has brand new latches, new windows etc. If anyone else needs a door core let me know as it's NOT returnable. I could bring it to the rally or keep it as a part's door for the window and door latch. By the way, these door cores are constructed by laminating together the outer skin, and inner skin with glue which is also used on the edge channel of the door. So you cannot simply pull out the core of the panel and swap into the old door frame. So much for saving money on the repair. Craig

Welcome. Ask Away. Hull #1045, Jolli Olli

@Boudicca908Thank you. If you order the MEGR 253 I think it comes with straight inverted flare fittings installed in the inlet connections. You should be able to connect your current pigtails to these fittings if you don’t want to convert to the 90 degree inlet fittings. You will still need pipe sealant or tape to attach the 3/8 inch fitting on the supply hose from the trailer to the outlet connection on the bottom of the regulator. If you get teflon tape be sure it’s rated for use on propane and natural gas. It will probably be yellow. Most Teflon tape you see is for water and air. Before applying new sealant or tape be sure to clean all of the old sealant or tape off of any reused male or female pipe threads and don’t let any of it fall into the regulator or hoses. If using teflon tape start the tape just shy of the end of the male threads so it doesn’t obstruct the opening and wrap it in the same direction that you will be turning the item with the female threads. I’m afraid that my instructions seem intimidating but this really is an easy project. Bill

Thank you for the excellent images to go along with your description! This is very helpful.

This is very important. Greater interior room is nice, but do you want it at the expense of maneuverability? Summer of 2005, I towed a 26' cargo trailer to move our home from VA to AZ. It wasn't fun. The only positive was selling the trailer at a profit vs. renting a U-Haul! 🤣 At 7 ft the Oliver is the same width as a full-size truck/tow vehicle. If your truck can make an opening, the Oliver will too, following behind in the same space and tread. You only have to worry about height differences in tunnels or under trees. At 8 ft, like all the BOX trailers, the body is wider than the TV. Can your truck can make it between parked cars on a narrow city street or the Scrub Oak on a FS dirt road? If yes, then the Oliver will, but would the wider trailer? Also, the Casita is probably light enough, but not true of many Airstream trailers. Some of them are beasts! And you'll need towing mirrors to see around that big box. And there's a point where a bumper pull trailer doesn't make sense, hence all the 5th-wheels on the highway. I don't want to tow anything wider, ever again! Our Olivers are "right sized!" 😎

Hence the word "similar"

None are perfect for all uses. We came very close to buying an airstream 23' with twin front beds but the price back in 2019 was $95K compared to about $72K for our loaded OEII. We chose Oliver over Airstream after the local person who showed us their Oliver stated...they had sold their Airstream due to leaking rivets after driving on a few rough roads. Upon looking at the Airforum pages, many people were complaining at that time of rivet issues and leaks causing floor rot. Anyone happened to see a recent KYD episode where Mark was having to replace Airstream rivets that had fallen out because they towed on a gravel road? Cheers

Welcome! You'll love the community here! Oliver offers a factory tour which I highly recommend!

Welcome! Lots of friendly expertise here ready for any questions. Mike

+1 on the Welcome mat. Good place to learn. What type of camping and traveling are you doing.

Welcome. You will find the folks here very helpful and rich in useful experience with Oliver, and other trailers. What trailer appeals to you as you sit right now?

New here and mostly lurking so far but wanted to say hi before I keep browsing. I am just genuinely curious about the community and figuring out if a fiberglass trailer is the right move for me. I'll be reading through build threads and asking probably too many questions over the next while. If anyone has tips for a total newbie trying to learn the ropes. Thanks for having me. 🙂

Bump to this thread since Lippert Friction Hinges came up today on another post. Me too, love them. Craig had an issue where above he showed damage to the interior sheeting. Not sure if cause was determined in his case. I couldn't see how keeping the door still would cause this. @Ty J, what do you say about longevity 3+ years later? After 2 1/2 years, ours are still working GREAT! 😎

Yes, you can Scotty and thank you! The grey trim matches the striping on the hull AND the lower body paint on my truck! 😎 I renewed all the outlet boxes with grey ones, even a new matching license plate light in grey! If only Lippert made a grey powder coated door lock! That would be a nice addition! And when I replace the door security glass with a grey-smoked glass maybe I should paint the frame in the same grey color as the fridge vents and other painted parts. The entrance door has 3 hinges. You leave them as-is and insert 2 friction hinges in-between the 3 OEM hinges. The screen door gets in the way while working, but you can wiggle the friction hinges into place. I just centered them by eyeball, drilled the first hole and mounted the screw to hold the hinge in place. Then 12 screws per hinge! The kit comes with self-tapping screws, but I prefer to drill pilot holes one size smaller. In the picture, the hinges that are riveted are the OEM hinges and where you see the square-drive screws is the friction hinge. A careful installation should only take a half hour. The door hook has no value when you are opening or closing the door in windy conditions. Often you have to fight, holding the door, while trying to get it hooked. With these hinges installed the door can be at any angle and I promise a 40 MPH wind will not budge it. 😎 Never again hear that BANG! And btw it is the bang on that rubber stopper that cracks the interior sheeting of the door panel. If you look closely at the picture, looking through the screen, you can see the cracking of the interior sheeting. If friction hinges were installed OEM, I'm certain they wouldn't be there. As soon as I had heard of these hinges on our Forum, 2 1/2 years ago, I installed them. Why aren't Lippert Friction Hinges installed OEM by OTT? Instead of the bumper and hook, they should be.

I'm with Patriot on this one. I wouldn't ever apply a suction cup to the fiberglass. I hang my bath towel over the truck tailgate for an hour, then fold it up and put away. If it's a late-night shower in the wet bath, the screen door handlebar is perfect to hang a bath towel. Chris hangs hers in the bathroom. The cheap black rubber on those suction cups is the issue. If you must use a suction cup on the hull, use the clear plastic suction cups, not black rubber. I use one of these for our outdoor shower, but I only stick it to the window glass. https://www.amazon.com/Adjustable-Bathroom-Handheld-Mounting-Polished/dp/B07ZXB9FXQ/ And the thought of Vaseline or olive oil is really gross. These products will collect dirt when camping or towing and to remove them the residue, you will also remove the ceramic coating (or wax) in that area!