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OTT got back to me rather quickly with an answer to this question. The chassis is mostly 6,000 series aluminum, specifically 6061 T6 alloy. This is a very strong alloy with very good welding characteristics. I am quite familiar with this material. Back in the day when I was machining parts for Boeing aircraft, this was the alloy that was specified. It is a very strong and high quality alloy that was adopted for structure material for commercial and military aircraft. Some chassis components utilize a higher nickle content 5052 aluminum. These are sections that require bending or shaping before fabrication. I am satisfied that the 'aluminum' chassis is constructed of top quality materials, engineered for this type of application.

Thank you. You answered our questions and gave us some more ideas. Think we will have the factory leave the graphics off. Our supplier 'Banana Banners' even does fire trucks near and wide, and you know how picky those guys are. She ships world wide. I like that your star also looks like a compass rose, always showing you the true course, and the way home, wherever home may be tonight...

We love your graphics :) We ordered ours without and also plan on doing our own as Karen is an artist :) We will be adding a few more, thanks to you guys. The names on the side give you that personal touch... We pick ours up in March :) Thanks for all of the great details :) Reed Lukens

The Oliver frame is wonderfully engineered, beautiful to behold, and very durable. Just don't bring any gallium (or mercury) along on your next camping trip. This is undoubtedly a pointless post, but the video is really cool and more than a little scary. Especially since you can have a small vial of gallium shipped free to your home for $10 from Amazon..... This stuff, as well as mercury, is absolutely forbidden on airplanes, because a tiny spill could cause hundreds of thousands of $ worth of damage to the structure. Yikes. John Davies Spokane WA

Installed a U.S. Rack "Paddlers Rack" on the Tundra. Transport two 9.5' Kayaks. Once the racks were assembled, it takes less than 30 minutes to install or remove the racks on the bed track system. Found it to be easier (I have a bad shoulder) loading the Kayaks on this rack stepping into the pickup bed compared to loading Kayaks on the Thule racks on the Leer shell from the side of the Tacoma. This rack also leaves room, 47" from Kayak to bed, for two bikes in the pickup bed on another rack without removing bicycle wheels. https://www.usrack.com/responsive/paddlers-truck-rack.php

John’s Questions. -- The Audi is gasoline, not diesel. I would have liked a diesel; more torque, correct? After the VW dieselgate scandal, VW, Audi, and Porsche are not (or cannot) currently selling diesels. I have not yet driven at 12,000 feet. We were at 9,000 feet in Colorado and going over the continental divide in Wyoming. The weather was cool, and the temperature gauge did not move up. The towing package includes increased cooling capacity. The Audi has an 8 speed automatic transmission along with a tachometer on the dash. The controls make it very easy to change gears when going up hills or when planning to accelerate. -- Your comments about remote travel with a foreign vehicle are valid. In 1974 we had a one year old Fiat 128 that broke down in the middle of know-where on I-5 in California. We were towed to a GMC/Cadillac/Fiat dealership in Los Banos, CA. It took three weeks for them to get parts… Today, FedEx solves that problem. We have bought roadside assistance coverage. -- When we first looked at the Audi, I asked about the spare, and they said there isn’t one. They eliminated it to save weight and improve gas mileage. I did not like this idea, but my research at Consumers Reports told me that most cars in the US are now sold without a spare. Seems foolish to me. We did opt out of the Run-Flat tires. We do plan to boondock, but I doubt we will go on rough unpaved roads. Nonetheless, your comments are making me think about getting a spare. I remembered your earlier post about the spare tire, and am thinking about putting the car spare on the trailer tongue. That is a future plan, with many details to work out. I don’t think the weight would aversely affect tongue weight; see below. -- Capitol Reef pictures below, as well as Lower Calf Creek Falls. (I usually upload or email photos at medium resolution. Here they appeared so small, so now full size pictures.) Don’s Comments. -- I agree with Don. The Audi barely fits in the rather small garage that we have. A pickup would not fit. It is a great vehicle for daily use, and my wife would not consider a pickup. I have found that it is wise to listen to her. Buzzy’s Questions. -- Winegard Antenna. We were considering an Escape before we had seen the Oliver. A television is an optional item on the Escape, and we were not planning to get one. The TV came standard on the Oliver, and we decided to get the Antenna in case we wanted to watch something. Other than verifying that it worked in Howenwald, we have not used the antenna. One project for next year is to put in an HDMI switcher (http://olivertraveltrailers.com/topic/roku-streaming-video-anyone/) and an AppleTV. We may stream stuff, and we have a good collection of video on the laptop and ipads. Campground WiFi can be too slow for streaming, but if you are an Amazon Prime member, there is a good work around. For much of their content they allow you to download content and keep it on an iPad for offline viewing; I think it expires in a week. Another solution from Technomadia is to download video content via campground WiFi early in the morning; campground WiFi is bad later in the day because so many people are using it. -- I found The Mobile Internet Handbook to be very helpful. They are very knowledgeable about the technology. They could have fooled me with their technical discussions of signal oscillations, but for technology that I have some expertise, their descriptions were accurate and accessible. They definitely like WiFi and Cell boosters. The have evaluated many products, and the WiFi Ranger and the Wilson Cell Phone Amplifier that OTT uses were their favorite choices. They also had really good description of cell phone data plans and how to optimize bandwidth use, and this is of import to people boondocking, but who want to stay connected and thus tethering from their cell phone or a MiFi. -- I do plan to use CAT scales to gather data, and that is another project for next year. For example, I do not know my tongue weight. The Audi owner’s manual says that the maximum permissible tongue weight is 770 lbs, and that it is recommended to use close to the maximum permissible load. I did see that Amazon sells a nifty little Trailer Tongue Weight Scale, but it is a little pricy at $160. -- Tire Pressure Monitoring System. Also in the plans for next year. Maybe Santa will read this posting and get me one…. -- Winterizing. We did not get any training on winterizing. I had a printed set of questions and a checklist of components to verify when we first got our Ollie, and I discovered that several options were not installed. For one option it was added to the order after the initial order, and there were several communication screw ups between the sales office and the production team; this option was not listed on not on the production team’s work order. They said it would take an hour to install, but it took 6 hours. Thus, our orientation was severely truncated. I sounds like you scheduled several days for your orientation, a good idea. We could not spend another day in Howenwald, as we needed to travel to get home to get to work. I did not ask about winterizing, as I was confident after having watched the OTT video. I was a little freaked out when they took the video down, but after a bit of research I worked out a plan, and I got it done last weekend. -- Solar. We have the Blue Sky Controller. Another project for next year is to read the manual and try to optimize the system. I have read your really excellent posts on this, and I have saved links to these in my Ollie document. Thanks to all! 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John, I remember your post about the dangers of towing in the West with a German SUV. As I indicated earlier, there's no perfect solution. I've driven my 2015 VW Touareg diesel over 32,000 miles since purchasing it about 1 1/2 years ago and it's been a solid, dependable vehicle. Other than an old Porsche that I only drive around 2,000 miles per year, the Touareg is my only vehicle. It fits in my garage and while larger than any other vehicle I've ever owned, it's a great vehicle when not towing. I strongly considered a pickup, but after test driving 3 different models, I decided that I didn't want to drive a pickup every day. The Touareg has proven to be a very capable tow vehicle. I've towed my Oliver Elite II around 8,000 miles this year, mostly in the intermountain west. The only time I had an issue with engine temperature was in Utah while towing up an interstate mountain pass when the outside temp was 110 degrees. I was pulling up a grade, traveling in a pretty straight line, running the A/C, and traveling at 75 mph. My temperature gauge started to creep up and I slowed to 65 mph and it returned to normal temp almost immediately. I decided towing at 75 mph was pretty silly--who needs to hurry that much, and I've never had another issue. The Touareg is also a pretty capable off-road vehicle, but it won't go where a Jeep Renegade will go. I've driven on 4-wheel drive roads in Canyonland NP but I'm very selective about where I go. I also find someone to follow or lead, typically someone in a Jeep! I may have a mechanical issue in the future in the West that will create complications I wouldn't have had if I had chosen a Ford, Chevy or Ram pickup, but I'm retired and willing to be inconvenienced if that occurs. The advantages of the Touareg as a daily driver and as a comfortable, secure, safe and competent tow vehicle outweigh my fears of mechanical trouble in a sparsely populated area in the West. Ultimately, it's a matter of personal choice. For people whose lifestyles match up well with owning a full-size pickup, a pickup is a great choice as a tow vehicle. For me, the Toaureg or Q7 is a better choice.

Wishing you many miles of smiles, and safe travels. Almost nine years for us...seems like yesterday when we picked up our oliver.

I just thought of another thing that you can order if you wish - The standard Maxx-Air vent cover is translucent white, but, if you want to reduce the amount of light and be a little different, you can ask that the cover be in "smoke grey" at no additional charge. But, do this relatively early in the ordering process so that you allow Oliver enough time to order it prior to the start of production. Bill

Welcome aboard (almost). As Anita will tell you - consider the "hatch" on the front of the propane tank cover so that you can access that area without taking off the top of the cover. Also, think about where you might want extra hooks. Unless they have changed it for the 2017 model, the hook on the outside of the bathroom door is located on the left side as you look into the bath. This is OK, but this does not allow you to hang your cloths in an easily accessible spot while you take a shower. So, an additional hook on the right side of the bath door is a great idea. If you get the surge protector (given all the sensitive stuff in the Oliver it is a great idea and could save you a bunch of money in the long run) ask that the readout panel be placed inside the pantry instead of under the bed. It is easier to get to it and yet the red display lights will not "bother" you at night (this readout constantly rotates its display to show amps, error codes, voltage and cycles). Good luck and, hopefully, your time to delivery will pass by at a quicker pace than mine did. Bill

Congratulatons Lukens'! You're going to love the Oliver and be blown away by the quality. We also have the king bed and one option was a mattress for the bed, which is actually a split king. One suggestion I might make (as the person who makes the bed) would be to use twin bed mattress pads and fitted sheets, then use a king flat sheet and blankets/quilts. I did trial and error with king sheets and it's easier all the way around with the twin size sheets. Other options we have and are glad we got are the inverter, cell booster, four T105 batteries. We also got the Winegard antenna, but generally don't camp in areas where we can pick up reception since we're more national park/national forest campers. One thing we didn't get and wish we did is the solar option. We have a folding solar panel that we had with the Casita and while it works well, it would be so much more convenient to have the solar integrated with the entire unit. We also went with the Fibergranite, which is a nice option, but not necessary. We're all looking forward to your delivery day, and welcome to the Oliver family. Marsha

KarenLukens, You might consider the cell phone booster (I wish I had that). I do have the 30 lb propane tanks and the T105 batteries, which I recommend. Mine does not have the optional solar and I'm glad it doesn't, but Gary seems very happy with his. Mine doesn't have the inverter either, but they are very nice to have and I'm planning to install one now. The EZ Flex greaseable suspension system, or equivalent, is a must. Or you can get a heavy duty greaseable kit from Dexter and install it yourself, if you wish. The standard nylon suspension bushings are barely good enough and will wear out early. I've got my kit sitting on the bench waiting to go on. I think all new Elite ll trailers get the 12" brakes, but you might check on that. I wish I had the bigger brakes on mine, but the standard ones are working better as the miles add up. Mine doesn't have the granite counter tops and I'm glad it doesn't. They are expensive and appear to be no more wear resistant or heat resistant than the standard galley counter top, so I consider them decorator items with no real function. I'm planning to install a stainless steel counter top in my galley and will do a writeup on that. The removable port for the propane tank shutoff is very convenient. I'd also have one of those installed in the bathroom sink cabinet to access the flex hose connection under the sink. Mine has a couple of extra 120v outlets and I recommend those, as Gary mentioned. I'm now setting up a quick disconnect propane connection so I can cook big camping meals outside. Don't know if Oliver offers that or not. Mine came with the Anderson hitch. I've never used it or seen any need for it. They do offer some sway resistance, but Ollies tow very well with no stability issues at all. The hitches may interfere with the stability systems in modern tow vehicles. There has been some discussion about that and their attachment system on the Oliver frame. I decided it wasn't the best design for weight distribution, but I'm towing with a Ram 3500 and don't need that anyway. My tongue weight measures 440 lbs ready to go. You'll love your new Ollie. They are well made, convenient, well insulated and easy to tow. They are a huge upgrade from the standard stick built, rubber roof design trailers.

Hello welcome to the Ollie family where many of us also came from a Casita to heaven. We loved our Casita but adore our Oliver have just come back from Alaska in the Oliver and having done it in the Casita in 2012 as your looking for the room made it so much more enjoyable. The 2 shells and insulation will make any cool to cold or Hot weather much more tolerable and easier to control. Now to your question Solar with 2000 watt inverter to us a must we can do all microwave to coffee pot everything except the ac and have been over 3 weeks plus off grid at a time. Extra electric outlets by the bed or back to plug in phones, computer, etc. Omni directional antenna works great, have used the cel booster and wifi booster at times up to what is important to you style of camping. The surge protector is a must but I'm not sure I like theirs if you have to look under the bed to see what the fault is I would just buy one for the plug in at the site post. Didn't have it when we got ours but the access hole in front to turn propane on & off we went to New Foundland and did over 6 ferries on that trip and would make it easier when your ready to load on the boat. Don't know what you will be towing with but check the a steric area of the towing charts because most capacities are half of what is posted if no weight distribution hitch is used what I'm getting at is the Anderson Hitch which is also a great anti sway as well. I would spend the few bucks and upgrade the axils set up in their upgrades something we did not have but will be doing as well. This is just a quick few things I'm sure a few others will step in as well. Good luck and see you on the road. Thanks Gary

I've put together a video that shows how to register, login and use some of the features of the user profiles and forums.