Leaderboard

This stuff is nifty. I haven't seen any of these pictures before. This one looks very nice, but in general the interior designs are psychotic.... http://www.messynessychic.com/2017/01/06/a-brief-compendium-of-vintage-caravan-brochures/ Messy Nessy is interesting - I have used up a lot of time looking at this site. John Davies Spokane WA

? I need to hijack this thread for just a minute for a quick discussion about Texas mountains....? Head over here: http://olivertraveltrailers.com/topic/big-bend-national-park-texas/ for my post about our visit to Big Bend National Park, Texas. Here's a view from near the top of Lost Mine Trail at about 7,000 feet: On the way up: Big Bend would be a great place for a future Oliver Rally. We'll be at Guadalupe Mountains National Park, TX next week. We've been through North Carolina and the mountains are beautiful. We haven't camped there, but it is high on our list. Now, back to welcoming Marshall and Jeanette!! Mike

Bill, The coyotes and the elk/deer are one thing, but the silent griz or the snorting buffalo are another. Those last two sure do get you awake in a real hurry. Bill

Matt, the other one to include would be Reserve America between the two of them you would cover pretty much all public campgrounds.

I had the good fortune to meet Steve and Tali back in late August while we were both "camped" at the Oliver sale office. This "carrier" that Steve made is even more impressive in person. Also, for those that have never had the privilege of touring the Outlaw Oliver, I highly recommend it. Everywhere you look both inside and outside, Steve and Tali have done something - access doors, carriers, light switches, etc. And, it has all been done with attention to detail in the Oliver style. Bill

I was in Palm Springs during Modernism Week a couple of years ago. The have a vintage trailer show: http://www.modernismweek.com/event/249683/ I don't recall the exact number of vintage trailers on display--best guess is 50-75. Many vintage riveted aluminum trailers that are no longer made. Lots of lovingly restored trailers with color matched restored tow vehicles. There were also a number of trailers from the 40's, 50's and 60's that were unrestored and amazing to see. The owners love to show their trailers and many are still actively using their vintage trailers for camping. If you are in the area during Modernism Week, it's worth a visit.

Steve, Wow, beautiful work!!!!! Very creative and will get the job done!

The story on the black tank is that it provides structure for the bathroom floor. They could remove it, but would need to put something back to keep the floor from flexing. Possibly, that something could be a fresh water tank, but I was told that making alterations to the tanks, or adding a separate tank, was an expensive endeavor because the tanks are made in a mould and getting a new mould made is like getting one made for the tub. They don't look moulded to me, but what do I know. I thought they were cut and glued together. I also thought that the black tank in the photos I've seen doesn't exactly look wedged in there, so I'm not sure exactly how structural it is, but anyway, that's the what I was told. It was very clear to me that they do not want to remove any of that stuff. I don't get it, but there it is. The axle kit is being looked into. I'm pushing hard on that one for a number of reasons. First, I'm very worried about the lack of suspension travel and damaging the trailer frame on bigger bumps. Secondly, there's really no good way to prevent water intrusion if you have to ford anything more than a foot or so. I'm looking into some options for that as well - the weeps are the biggest, fixable issue. After that, the furnace is the next to see water and unfortunately there isn't much to do about that. Any further up, and then water is coming in the door and the seal on that didn't look like it will keep out much water. If you're interested, I did some measuring around the wheel wells to see if the tire size could be upped any. It's pretty tight - and you couldn't do a thing without flipping the axles since the tires look like they'd rub the fender flare at full compression as it is. Maybe without the fender flare you could do something, but it was obviously designed for smaller tires than what they're using now. Jason said no problem leaving the flares off. If you did the axle flip, the space between the tires would be the limiting dimension - roughly 4" now, so if you tried going to 32"s, you'd end up with an inch or less between the tires. They're looking into dust intrusion for me as well - I'm going with a 12V fridge so hopefully we won't need any vents by the door, which is the main problem. Even if I have to keep one, it could be the top one and there should be enough space to rig a filter. As it is, there's nothing at all keeping dust out of either of those vents. Nor bugs. Nor smallish bears. The bath vent seems to seal pretty well. The weeps are the other entry point. I'll probably have to do some work on some of the hatch seals to eliminate gaps. By the way, the windows are a new manufacturer - didn't get the brand. But they looked like they sealed up pretty well and Jason said that there shouldn't be any need for the gutter strips like on the old ones. Maybe I'm imagining it, but they seemed a bit sleeker looking from the outside. Spare tire cover is being looked at. Heather told me they'd changed it and the spare was full sized, but Jason said no. No time frame given, but it would have to be soon because I'm not going to carry anything but a full size. Carpet kit and stone guard are going to have to be an after market add if you want them. I talked to them about solar. They'll do 3 panels for 480W no problem at all, so long as you don't need all the sat antennas and stuff. They have done one trailer with 4 panels @ 640W, but as I suspected, that means eliminating the AC. I asked about mini splits or the Dometic Cool Cat in place of the rooftop, but the response wasn't positive. What they will do is provide exterior ports for portable panels, so if nothing else we'll do that. I asked them about SunPower panels, and they'll look to see if they can get them. They have one client going with a Victron setup like the Technomadia folk, but Oliver won't do it themselves. That person is getting AM Solar to do it aftermarket, which I'm sure isn't cheap. Oliver isn't even running the cables. They're talking to a company that does a full lithium setup that is one self-contained unit with all the batteries and controllers, etc. that would bolt underneath the trailer. I believe the price was going to be something like $15k, which I just laughed at - not on my trailer for sure. I'm going to push for the Victron on ours even if we don't do lithium right now, since I just want it all to be ready when the inevitable swap happens. Plus the Victron kit is just nice and it shouldn't cost much more than what they use already. They're nervous about it since that stuff is really outside their expertise. But, you know, it's the future and they'll have to bite the bullet at some point. Oh, I also asked about disk brakes and electric over hydraulic. I was not told no. ; ) By the way, the new sink in the kitchen is nice - wider and deeper - though you lose a drawer as a result. New faucet as well, with a high neck and sprayer. The new bath faucet is an RVIA thing, but they'll install it and then swap it for the old one after the fact if you want. The frosted upper cabinet doors are sweet. Really nice. They're doing compression latches on those for us, which you might want to specify as well. They're also offering an UltraLeather type material now for the cushions which looks great, should wear well and be a cinch to keep clean. It has a flat leather-texture finish, very similar to what you'd see in a high end car. We were going to have the upholstery done locally, but after seeing the new stuff, I have no problems letting Oliver do it. I don't know if the quality is the same as Ultra or Nauga, but it looks like it will hold up. There's other stuff I might post up later - I was there long enough to overstay my welcome. Jason was glad to see me leave, no doubt.

Grayson, Yes, you'll want to draw water through the rear port, so it will be clean of anti freeze the next time you have to use it. I'm cautious and my wife swears she tastes it, so I will do all freshening sections at least three times. Do not undo the heater bypass until ALL has been freshened, so until the next step is to actually use it. Try to fill fresh tank at least 1/4 - 1/2 so that you can draw enough water out to rinse all lines (for at least 1 minute each) nose up helps to get more water out past the tube lip in the tank. Then switch configuration to city water and do it again, with city water I'll let each valve run for a few minutes and be sure to run kitchen sink half warm and cold so it mixes Then I fill fresh water tank from side port and do it again at each valve for a minute, around and around, until I'm out of water. Depending upon how long storage was, I might bleach the system and refresh the same way too, to start the season. According to my wife, you can't rinse it out to many times.... One you've finished rinsing and think you're all set to go for a trip, unbypass the heater and let it fill with fresh. Good luck