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For sometime, my wife and I have been unhappy with sleeping on the cushions that come standard with Elite Travel Trailers, not to be confused with the larger Elite II, standard with mattresses. I purchased a single sized foam mattress but this too was unwieldy, not fitting either bed well. I had talked to other Oliver owners and was referred to Southern Mattress located in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. I contacted them and they indeed confirmed they would custom make a mattress for my Oliver Elite. My conundrum was how I could configure the mattress to access the components and storage areas under the seats. A full sized mattress would be just too much to lift and hold in place as I pulled out storage items, much less to try to work on a component (electrical, hydraulics, water, etc.). As I explained this to my wife telling her I wanted to split the mattress in half, she pointed out it would be very uncomfortable, sliding down in the crack. She said " split it where the bench ends, 1/3 and 2/3s. The crack will be at your knees and you will not feel it". I contacted Southern Mattress and they agreed to cut it where ever I wanted it cut. I traveled to Rocky Mount, North Carolina and found this to be a family owned company. I arrived in late afternoon and the owner took me to his home. There, we hooked up my trailer with electrical and water on a pad next to his home. The next morning I pulled my trailer to the factory and they began to make my mattress. With each step, they asked me to approve the work, include changes I wanted made, etc. they measured the trailer, made the pattern and asked if I wanted extra room to be able to put bed linens on the mattress. The pattern was a good fit for the 2/3 - 1/3 combination. In short, I was very pleased with the mattress. I selected a 5" firm foam with another layer of soft memory foam. That night, I had the best sleep ever in my Oliver Elite. I also had a mattress made for the smaller dinette/bed. I used the single sized foam mattress that I had purchased earlier in the year. Southern Mattress did not object to this. Again, they cut the foam to the 1/3-2/3 combination. Each matress was covered in a premium quality quilted cover, fire retardant and straps sewn in to make moving easy. The mattress was double sewn all the way around to reinforce the straps. By noon, I was on the road, headed home. That night, I slept for the first time very comfortably on my new custom-made mattress. It now slides over easily and stores on top of the other matress while I access the storage and component areas. If you are interested in a quality mattress, custom made, they now have patterns for both the Elite and the Elite II. They can custom make you a mattress and ship to you. They do not press the mattress in a roll. Rather they box the mattress and ship it to you. Southern Matress Company 1812 Cokey Road Rocky Mount , North Carolina. 800-227-8701 Below are pictures of my mattresses in my Oliver Elite. Coy

How you doing? Vector here, live outside of St. Louis in SW Illinois...Go Cards. Always looking for wisdom from my elders, wondering about an equipement list, tow vehicle (how much pull/should i get a diesel? stuff, like that). Also, love to golf. Well, this is my first post, i think, so i'm just gonna submit this bad boy. RSVP.

We are a married couple, well seasoned road trippers. A recent whimsical decision to go to an RV show got us thinking. Perhaps there is much more to road travel than hotel rooms? Neither of us have ever thought about this before, nor have we experienced any camping except a long ago trip in a rented class C. Like everything else over the last 30 years things have changed dramatically. We soon learned that technology and innovation was not lost on the world of RV's. We began looking at fivers, 5th wheel trailers in the 35 ft range. By accident I came across a Trailer Life article on the Oliver Legacy Elite 2. Enter a concept I hadn't considered: Simplification. We have friends and neighbors with RV's, some large. My brother owns a Prevost Bus. We see the gyrations these folks take in getting ready for a trip, the maintenance and repair of things that fail like slide outs, etc. And the difficulty in storing them if home base property is not adequate. So now we are thinking something smaller, lighter, easier to hook up and go, something that will get us to less traveled places other than camp grounds. When I started looking at smaller, lighter TT's made by the 'consumer' suppliers, most in my opinion were poorly built junk that would last a few years. When I saw the Oliver article I almost didn't read it. Now, I have watched every Oliver video on YT and can see the advantage to the type of construction and the quality that appears to be built into these units. I'm a nuts and bolt kind of guy. I'm not afraid of maintenance ore even the occasional repair. But some of the horror stories I have read in reviews of trailers, motor homes, some units costing well over 100k is scary. Tires blowing out and causing damage on the way home from the dealer lot. Furnaces failing the first time out, leaks on brand new units, slide outs failing, not sealing, new units in repair shop all season, etc. So far, I have not found this talk regarding this fiberglass trailer, it appears to be well made. I have turned Wifie on to Buzzy's videos, he demonstrates the attributes very well. She is a bit concerned over the size. No island kitchen as in the fivers, small reefer, where do we sit if we have to be inside because of weather and so forth. It looks like a trip to Nashville is in order in April. We'll visit my niece and then tour the factory where hopefully, they have a completed one. Or, I'm sure we can find an owner who is willing within reasonable driving distance. Many of you folks seem to be experienced. What can you tell us as to the size of the LE2 as compared to other larger RV's you have owned?

Hi Mike, Glad you enjoyed the podcast! Wow, that looks like an amazing 5 week trip that Carol and you took! Very cool that your circle included 3 Casitas! I bet they were very interested in your Oliver!!! ;) Take care, Dean

Welcome. I'm sure most here are happy to answer any question you come up with. On airforums the other day, I stumbled upon one that linked to the following discussion about our Olivers and a very well detailed tour of the factory. She starts out along people for questions and follows up with her visit, is a good read and look.

Try asking Tommy Staggs at tstaggs@olivertraveltrailers.com Bill

Welcome! Like Buzzy, we enjoy camping in Federal and State Parks. It's two of us, so the Ollie's size is perfect for us. We purchased the Ollie to camp around the lower 48 and Canada. Use a automotive chamois drying shammy to wipe down the wet shower surfaces after use. We purchased our Ollie used from a couple that lived in a sailboat for 8 years and they built a fiberglass airplane, too. We like the white interior & exterior gel-coat finish on the Ollie. Also like polished Airstreams! Purchased a 5.7L Toyota Tundra to tow the Ollie in the larger mountains in western US and transport two Kayaks with two bicycles. Working on a way to transport a small motorcycle in the truck bed while towing the Ollie, too. There are many knowledgeable & experienced campers here with Oliver travel trailers!

Well welcome to the world of fiberglass and here on the Oliver site you are at the top of the food chain. I can say my wife and I have done the exact same steps as you have described from small them looked on up to the big 5th wheel and their problems back down to the Oliver. We first started in a 17 ft Casita and traveled from Florida to Alaska and then to New Foundland and loved the camper and the ease of travel it is what you make of it, the more space you have the more you will carry. The one statement I know to reply to is I can go to a campground and they are locked up in their camper I did not pull out my driveway to sit in a camper I can do that at home but to experience the outdoors, National Parks ,Scenic Drives, wonderful People, BLM Land, you can go on and on. We seldom cook in the camper it has to be a downpour and then grilled cheese and if it is cold Tomato Soup. We went up to the Oliver 2 years ago and probably have around 30,000 miles on her and love the size and comfort features and the Grandkids fit much better. You are asking the right questions just what will fit your camping style I would suggest going to a Fiberglass Rally and look at them, they almost always have a open house day that all the camper go to each others to see modifications or their ideas. Look here and on Fiberglassrv.com for rally sites there will be many come the first of the year. Good Luck and ask those Questions. Thanks Gary

Dean, I've listened to RVFTA off and on for a year or so. Like Buzzy, I listened to it during my workout this morning. I enjoyed the interview and it made it more interesting when you talk about folks we know! We just finished up a 5 week trip east and on the way back spent a few days at Ouachita Lake SP outside of Hot Springs Arkansas. On our 8-site circle there were 3 Casitas and an Oliver mixed in with some huge, triple axle 5th wheels. I thought I'd found a Casita rally. The Casita owners were very interested in our Oliver. Thanks for the post. Mike

A couple from Mount Vernon, IA came to look at my Ollie this morning. Heather Oliver arranged the inspection. They've been to the Casita factory and drove to Madison, WI last weekend to see an Escape. They told me about the Mississippi Fiberglass Rally at the Thomson Causeway Corps of Engineers campground in Western Illinois on the Mississippi River. Escape owners are responsible for organizing the rally and the owners of the company that manufactures the Escape Travel Trailers will be there. I think Casita owners also attend. I plan to arrive on Friday, September 30, 2016 and I'll leave on Sunday, October 2. The campground is near the small town of Thomson, IL. It's not far from Sabula, IA, a small town on an island in the Mississippi. Pretty area. It would be great if some other Ollie owners could make it. I can't attend the Oliver rally in Howenwald this year--I'll be at a wedding in California.