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An Open letter from Oliver Travel Trailers Dear Members of The Oliver Travel Trailer Online Forum Community, Over the last two weeks we have seen an increase in people addressing quality and build concerns on our online forum. First off, we want you to know that when we fall short of your expectations, then we fall short of ours. We are dedicated to producing a quality product that can be passed down from generation to generation. Oliver Travel Trailers is different in many ways from other manufacturers. One of these ways is our transparency with our customers and potential customers. This is why we have our own forum. We would like to thank you all for your feedback. New and potential customers may not be aware that we monitor the forum and listen in an attempt to learn from the members. We are always striving to make improvements and take care of any and all issues that arise. We are far from perfect but will continue to get better, always working to build the highest quality travel trailer available. With that being said we want all of you to know we have heard your concerns and recently implemented a new 3 stage quality control inspection to our build process. This is just one of the ways we are aiming to be the best in the industry. Tanks have been a recent hot topic on the forum and we want all of you to know we are currently working with an expert in the industry to see what we can do to improve current designs. We will update you as we learn more. Wiring appearance has been another topic that we are addressing by working with component manufacturers to improve quality of appearance and function on all wiring harnesses. As we improve and implement changes we will share these improvements from time to time with our customers and on this forum. We have always gone above and beyond to fix any issues our customers are having with their trailers and will continue with your help to make Oliver Travel Trailers the very best. Again, we would like to thank you for your feedback. In the future, we kindly ask that if you have a problem or concern with your Ollie, please call us directly so we can help you. This will provide us the details we need in a timely fashion and expedite our course of action. Of course, if you ever feel we have not done enough to fix or improve your issues once you have brought them to our attention then by all means feel free to address it on the forum. We are confident you will find that given the opportunity Oliver will take care of you and improve our product at the same time. We will never be too big or too busy to do the right thing. Sincerely, The Oliver Family

Gerri and I had the MCD shades put in our motor home that we had a few years ago. They are totally aw3some and would highly recommend them. In fact we have discussed going to McKinney Texas where they are located to see about having them put in. Several people who have Casitas have had them put in. With the price point of the Oliver Trilailer one would think that they would.be a standard.

Here's a pic of someone's mod I got off the web. Apparently this is not an issue unique to Oliver. It's a soldered setup, not the compression fitting I was talking about earlier. I'll post that pic as soon as I can find the patch cord for my camera..... This, or something like it might work.

Hull #135, with the same issue as #178, is operational. Ryan at Blue Sky was good to work with. Oliver uses pretty heavy duty wires (good thing) going into the controller. Because of the way the controller mounts in the box these thick wires are required to bend 180 degrees in about an inch putting excess pressure on the circuit board. Ryan asked me to mail him my controller, they repaired and tested it and sent it right back. Like George, I made a 90 degree bend in each of the four spade connectors which relieved the pressure. All is well. I've learned a great deal about this controller from both the manual and the videos on the Blue Sky web site. Some explanatory pictures: Above is my controller before I disconnected it. I have removed the 4 screws holding it in the box and flipped it over. The four wires (2 red, 2 black) are straight in this picture, but to reinstall it the wires are bent 180 degrees as the controller is flipped over into the box. This is under the driver side bed. The above picture is one that Ryan sent showing the 90 degree bend that relieves the pressure. The above is another picture Ryan sent me showing the connections with the bent spades. Once this was done there was no pressure on the circuit board when putting it back into the box. Thanks to Ryan at Blue Sky and all the folks that posted on this thread. Let the learning continue! Mike

Hi Dave & Gail, depending on your tow vehicle, I don't see a need for the Anderson hitch. Another 115vac outlet to the right of the kitchen would be a priority for me; either under the switch pannel, or below it or on the right side of the kitchen stove cabinet. Other then that, ask them about new options that aren't mentioned in the paperwork like the fold down TV mount. Also, since you're getting the wifi booster, have them mount it above where you will be using it the most. It comes standard at the kitchen table but if you want to use it in bed then it will need to be mounted in the rear, over your head. You need to be within 3' to get the most out of it.

David and Gail, good list of options, you won't be disappointed with your new Elite II or with the Oliver company. We got pretty much the same options, expect for those that weren't available when we ordered in 2015 (Dexter, tankless hot water, rear view camera). We did not get the wifi booster either because wifi at campgrounds is usually saturated and even if it is boosted will still be frustrating. We use our phones as hotspots with the cell booster and have been happy (we've even streamed NBA games with good results). Agree with Bill on other extras. The port for the propane is handy. Extra hooks are good, or you can go with on command hooks (we have several). We also added 110v outlets near the beds and one in the closet for a hand vac that we keep plugged in. We have a USB outlet on the nightstand to charge our phones at night. We sure enjoyed camping at Table Rock State Park last year! Mike

David & Gail - I'm guessing that you might get some argument as to the additional cost of the on demand water heater but the only thing that I really saw was that you plan on the cell phone booster but are not planning on the WiFi booster. Obviously WiFi is a bunch cheaper than cell when you can get it. You might also have a discussion with the sales staff about extra interior hooks and the "porthole" on the front of the propane tank cover. Bill

OK, it's all coming back to me. You are right Reed about not being able to screw in the soldered fitting as the pickup tube would hit the side of the tank. That is why I came up with the compression fitting idea, although there are still some unknowns about that. With the compression fitting, the pickup tube could still be rotated after the 1/2" threaded side of the fitting was screwed into the tank. Length of the pickup tube (inside of the tank) would not be as critical here as one could just rotate it until one side of the tube was just touching the tank bottom. Then the compression ring and nut could be tightened down to lock it in place. Then a transition fitting to attach the exterior portion of the copper tube to the pex in the trailer. Questions I had was whether I could even get the bent copper tube through the tank outlet fitting, and was the thread on the compression fitting the same as on the tank fitting? I didn't want to find a bad answer after I removed my hot water heater and who knows what else to get into the area. I also experimented with nylon plugs drilled through for a pex pickup tube, but could find no adhesive that would bond the two together..... Really hope we can all come up with a solution here! Thanks for bringing this issue to light again. Dave

Would this motorhome be for Eastern type, full hookup camping or do you desire good clearance and the additional capability of AWD/ 4WD? Most motorhomes are complete disasters underneath, in terms of grossly inadequate departure angle and "low hanging fruit". You probably are aware that the Sprinter chassis is finally available with a great factory 4WD system. Any other chassis would need an aftermarket conversion. John Davies Spokane WA

Take a look at Bornfreerv. Closest thing to an Oliver. Only fiberglass MH with roll bars.

If you want to drivable counterpart to the OTT look at Coachhouserv.com. It is premium priced but you get what you pay for. Being an Airstream Interstate owner this is the direction I would go if I was to do it over.

Go drive a Sprinter, to me they are undrivable, uncomfortable, and too small. But these were our final choices https://leisurevans.com/unity/floorplans/ http://www.tiffinmotorhomes.com/content/allegro-2017 My leg kept knocking the Sprinter gear shift into neutral... Poor design killed that one for us. So we stuck with the Mercedes Benz ML350 Bluetec as our really comfortable and decked out tow vehicle and bought the Oliver. I can drive this car in comfort all day, just like the Tiffin. I loved our Pace Arrow back in the day, just got tired of trying to park in a cramped parking lot just to go shopping.

The stock suspension has an equalizer to balance the load between the front and rear tire on each side by allowing the springs to change angle instead of flexing. This allows the system to "step over" bumps without flexing the springs much or jarring the trailer. It's good trick on tandem axles and it works well on uneven surfaces. Then there are the shackle pins that deliver the load to the shackles and from the shackles to the frame. The shackle pins and the equalizer pins are all working bearings that are constantly under load and completely exposed to the elements. Dexter supplies this system in different configurations. What Oliver uses is the dry nylon, non serviceable bearings. Just nylon bushings. These wear out before very long and allow metal to metal contact of the pins to the spring eyes and iron equalizer. Then the wear begins to elongate the shackle pin holes. After a while the whole system has lots of play in it and it gets weaker and weaker. All of this takes a while, but I had a set on a utility trailer wear to an alarming degree and I began to look at other utility trailers, the same system as on our Ollies, to see how they were doing. I've seen some that have worn to the point of being dangerous. Dexter also has a system called E Z Flex. It has heavy duty shackles, greasable bronze bushings and a different equalizer than our stock setup. I've looked closely at it and it is nice, but in my estimation, isn't doing much or anything in this application to improve the ride. It works where trailers are very heavily loaded with much stiffer and more massive springs. In that situation it will compress a rubber donut to take some of the initial shock of a sharp bump. In our trailers, the load is relatively constant and the springs are set up to be fairly soft. Plus the overall load is not too much at only about 4,500- 5,000 lbs max without including the unsprung tongue weight. I decided to get the kit for mine to upgrade the bushings and shackles. So I went to a friend in the trailer business I've dealt with for many years. He was very hesitant to order me the kit and said some of them have had the rubber fail. But, he said, we can get you the heavy duty kit instead. Dexter also supplies the Heavy Duty Kit, part number K71-449-00. This has a heavy duty equalizer (with bronze bushings and zerk fittings installed for greasing) instead of the rubber cushioned equalizer. It has bronze bushings, new pins (drilled with zerk fittings installed for greasing) and heavy duty shackles. This is the best option of the three as far as I'm concerned. It is what Oliver should order their axles with from Dexter to minimize the additional cost. There is no doubt this setup will hold up better than the dry plastic bushings. The kit sells for about $100. less than the EZ Flex too.

We looked at and test drove a Renegade Vienna out at Fretz the day we saw the Ollie. Seemed like a nice coach, good finish 1 slide. There was another mfr there with real nice interior no slides. The name gets by me....a family run line Duncan or something. We decided that + toad = 2 much yen.

Today is our two year anniversary with Hull #85 and over 31K miles and countless memories. We couldn't be happier.

The fresh water tank design has been a issue for me from the start. I posted something about it a long time ago but it didn't get much traction. I assumed because most folks must use hookups and are not boondocking. AFAIK, the tanks come from the factory with the inflow and outflow bungs already glued to the tank. You can see from the pic that as soon as the water level reaches the top of the lower outflow tube, the water pump will start sucking air and loose prime. I talked to Oliver about installing a suction tube at that lower connection that could be bent down to reach the bottom of the tank, but that didn't seem to interest them. To do the work now, I need to pull the hot water tank to get access (I have the smaller Elite), there is just no room to work. It would be so easy to do before hand at the factory, I guess that has been the most frustrating part for me. Now, like everyone else I have to raise the front of the trailer. Not so huge a deal, but you do need to raise it up quite a bit to get at most of your water, which makes being in the trailer not so pleasant. Like Reed, I just have to fill it more than I would like to. Also, the fact that it is hard, if even possible to completely drain the FWT, I myself would not put RV antifreeze in there. Maybe I worry too much, but I just don't want any of that in water I may be drinking. If Oliver ever does decide to change the design, I may take another trip back for the upgrade. Anxious to see what you come up with Reed. I drilled out a brass compression fitting that would screw in to the bung so a 1/2 copper tube could just slide through. I was going to bend the tube down a bit so it would rest on the bottom of the tank. But being a relative newbie at this, and not wanting to open a can of worms, and with the very difficult access problem, I abandoned the project. Dave

On the subject of "interior cleaning" - I've asked a number of people what they use to clean the interior of the Oliver. Vinegar and water, Windex and several different brands of spray cleaners have been mentioned. A number of years ago I tried a product called Interior Detailer. There are several companies that make the stuff and it can be found in the automotive department of many stores. You simply spray it on and wipe it off. It leaves no streaks but does leave a smooth almost wax like finish. It even works on the shiny "glass-like" parts. Bill

Ed & Marsha - Sounds like a very happy anniversary indeed and also congrates to Mike & Carol! By any chance (Ed & Marsha) were you traveling east on Highway 64 towards Asheville on a Saturday about two weeks ago? I saw an Elite II with your graphics and flashed my lights to say hello. Bill

Ed and Marsha, happy Oliversary! We just went over a year last month and are also happy campers. Mike

Problems of this sort are inevitable in manufacturing. If a business has a good idea, or a good product, implementation becomes the issue. Profit depends on production, but production must meet quality standards. Quality standards slow production, but eliminate future problems such as reputation and warrantee issues. Behind the scene, they must improve the workmanship and the procedures. Find ways to standardize. Predict human use and emotional response to their design. The car industry is a good example to look at. To Oliver's credit, they seem to be genuinely interested and responsive to their customers. They absolutely stand behind their trailers. Without that, they would fail in short order. Managers are driven by pressure from above to get things done, but take the hit when problems arrive. Good managers understand the production staff and the hands on work. They can balance the pressure to meet unrealistic schedules with the realities of quality work. Poor managers just try to whip the troops and get product out the door. If anything, I see there are few engineers involved here. Mechanical stresses, electrical loads and practical human use patterns are, maybe, just dealt with by "what do we do with this?", on the production floor. The trailers are slowly evolving as driven by cost and a gradual understanding increase in seeing what is being ordered. Without getting too critical, remember, I like mine and I'm glad to have it, I can see room for improvement in some areas. The electrical system is one, which would ease production issues, ease changes in orders, ease service and be more reliable. I have to do some upgrades, where I can, on mine. They seem to have upgraded their wheels now and I'm glad. (I already did mine). There are a couple of potential issues with the older style, so I'm glad Oliver implemented an upgrade. I also consider the heavy duty greasable suspension upgrade to be important, (not the E Z Flex) it should be standard equipment in my opinion. Even though it would add a few dollars to the production cost, it would save rebuilding the system later and make the trailers tow better longer. Remember, these are advertised as "Legacy" trailers. I don't see any of the issues they are having caused by a "cost before quality" attitude. If anything they go out of their way to build the best they know how to. Then they improve as they need to, and they guarantee their work. I don't want to pile on and beat them up in any way. And again, I really like mine. The water tanks are designed and installed in such a way that they will always have some character. Very low profile and long. But they also give excellent ground clearance and freeze protection. The underside of an Oliver is better than any other trailer I have seen. No hanging down pipes. Great design. Looking forward to the water tank resolution.

Excellent post Chixter :) We were that close to buying the 25fb ourselves but we needed the 4 season ability of either the Oliver or the Bigfoot. All 3 are good trailers and we made the right choice for us with Oliver, they stand behind everything and that says a lot :) On another note, I'm moving my works on the water tank over to our blog. I took pics tonight when it ran out at 38% Reed

This thread has been a learning experience! My solar controller issue has been resolved after a fair amount of time and effort. The end result was controller replacement and modifying the four spade connectors with a 90 degree bend to resolve clearance issues inside the box which put stress on the controller causing the failure. My thanks to those who offered info. and help and especially to Ryan at Blue Sky and Jason at OTT for helping to coordinate the efforts. George

That was exactly my thought! But I didn't think of using the existing bracket (DUH), I was concerned about the weight of the whole unit while underway and some of the back roads in the west. Did you use a backer plate to reinforce the support or did you just use the screw mounts as it was attached to the wall?