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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

We had issues with two overhead doors opening while traveling on our first trip. I found that adjusting the position of the door on the hinge solved the problem. We use the one finger method for opening and closing to keep our mirrors clean(er). If someone finds a new latch let everyone know! We also had a problem with the drawer in the nightstand. One of the plastic catches inside the slide mechanism broke and I had to tape the drawer shut while traveling. Tommy sent me a new mechanism and the problem was solved. I remember that someone removed and painted the window frames to match the white fiberglass. I've thought about doing that also. Really don't like the off white color. Looks like an add on. Mike

The compression latches are exactly the same ones that are on the pantry and closet door. They just tighten up when you snap the pull ring back down, and are adjustable from behind for how tight they get. They'll definitely be tighter, but the drawback is that you'll have to lift and twist the latch to open the door instead of just lifting the latch. On the fingerprint issue, the frosted plexiglass will still show them, but I don't think nearly as much as the mirrored or gloss black finish. You'd probably get more of a dull grease smudge than an actual fingerprint - nothing that a quick wipe with some windex wouldn't fix. There's actually two good photos of them on the website now if you want to take a look.

Thinking maybe the name of the forums should change to Oliver University. We are always learning something new and sharing that knowledge with our fellow students and others. Many different subjects, all geared towards making us well rounded campers. Not sure if anyone has reached Masters status yet, that would be up to the Professors, but you know some are close. Maybe we need tests and diploma s?

Unfortunately, the blinds are the same. I asked about going with something darker, like a bronze or graphite color, but the off-white is all that's available from the manufacturer they use. I think everyone at Oliver agrees that the off white just looks like cigarette stained plastic. It's interesting because I have a photo of a very early trailer that has a light grey trim around the blinds, so at least at one point there was a better option. I also have a photo of a trailer that was apparently delivered without any window covering and it makes you realize how intrusive those big window boxes are on the interior space. I'm thinking about asking for aluminum blinds that extend 3" of so past the windows. Another idea would be to do what Airstream does on their big curved windows bays which is to put a pleated curtain that goes the full length around the whole end of the trailer.

Yes, if we went with the Victron one of the advantages is that the unit itself handles the charging, inverter, monitoring, etc. There are some extra bits you have to buy, like the monitor screen, and I think the MPPT controller, but it's all supposed to be plug and play, connects to your iPhone, etc. I asked about getting SunPower panels, which are the most efficient and reliable on the market right now; but if we can't get them, then the Zamp is fine. The problem with SunPower is that they only sell to installers and Oliver doesn't know if they'll qualify. The portable panels and exterior plugs would probably be Zamp since they have really good kit for that stuff. Didn't get a photo of the windows, but they're basically the same - still sliders. I just felt that they looked a bit sleeker, but I could be totally wrong. The main visual difference from the older ones is that there are no weeps at the top of the window, just the ones at the bottom. I guess that's the easiest way to know which ones you have. The compression latches are the same as what you have on the pantry door. They just lock a bit more securely, so Jason suggested we use those since we're going on rough roads. I was actually asking about latches for the drawers, but Jason suggested that we secure the uppers. I don't know if that's been an issue - at least I don't remember anyone complaining about it. The frosted door is now the standard, and both the mirror and black are upgrades. You can mix and match if you want - we're doing a mirrored door in the bath and the rest frosted.

Hey Gang! I just completed two small... very small ... mods on the Flying Sea Turtle. I added a second Ruggid RV Rug to the steps and installed EZE Gutters. EZE Gutters - These have been very extensively posted about and Thanks to all who shared their wisdom. I can add that I chose to run the gutters all the way down the sides for each of the three big windows. I ordered two 10' pieces and cut the needed length from each to do the windows above the bunks with a single piece. For the window over the dinette, I used two pieces with a splice in the middle top of the window. Not enough left over to do the bathroom window and that was just fine for me... Bathroom gets wet anyway. Alcohol to clean before putting the gutters on, and now they are on tight! We all know what they look like so i wont post pics on this. Ruggids RV Step Rugs - We bought one of these on the road and liked it so much that I sent away to Camping World for another. They install easy with the provided LARGE Zip Ties. We all know how easy the steps on Ollie get dirty and how hard they are to clean. These look nice, help keep dirt in the trailer down and even reduce the noise of folding the steps a bit. Pictures attached. They are about $19 each from CW. Safe travels everyone! Scotty .... and Donna who is napping on the couch... and the FST... and the Blue Whale. Later!