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Our Oliver adventure started 8 months ago when Gary & Jona agreed to show us their Oliver. They spent 2 hours with us that not only answers all our questions but clearly showed us how much they loved their Oliver. Anita was our next stop, helping us through all the options and making our Oliver truly just what we were dreaming about. A week ago we met her in person to take delivery and she was just the nicest person. Once all the paperwork was done she took us over to the plant where we met Rich and Jason. They took us through everything and made use feel like we were the most important people on the planet. We got all hooked up and drove to Fall Hollow Campground to spend our first two nights in our new Oliver which we named Roamy Mc Roadhouse. Being first time RV owners, learning to back-in and setup was its own adventure but within 10 minutes not only was the camp host offering to help, so were two other Oliver owners. We were so excited we could not get to sleep. After our two day stay we headed to Wilmington, NC to visit friends and the next morning there was a knock at the door, it was a neighbor our friends did not know,asking if they could look at our new Oliver! Wilmington behind us we headed to Jacksonville, Fl to visit our daughter. By now pulling our Oliver is getting to be very easy and we are both starting to relax about towing 5,000 lbs behind us. We kept to the slow lane and did 60 to 65 miles an hour. Most of the other traffic just passed us by but every once an awhile a car or truck would slow down right beside the Oliver and just stayed there. At first I thought maybe something was wrong but then I understood. They were all checking out the most beautiful trailer they had ever seen! The thumps up and smiles as they passed said it all. We spend 2 days in Jacksonville at Hanna State Park right on the ocean. What a magical place nestled in ancient oak trees and just a short walk to a white sand beach. We left Jacksonville and headed home to Loxahatchee, FL and got Roamy backed into his new home and unloaded. Tired, we ordered pizza and went off to bed. This morning we woke up early made coffee and could not believe our Oliver was in the driveway and that it was not all a dream! Looking forward to all the places we plan to travel and all the people we are going to meet. Thanks Oliver Travel Trailers, you do make dreams come true.

Well it's still a Ford Raptor, but it will be an '18 model instead of a '17. Once we missed our May deadline and knew that we wouldn't be getting the Oliver until October, it made more sense to wait. Not much has changed year over year, but I think it gets a nicer stereo system - always important - and an improved lane keeping/collision mitigation system. Mainly it will be one model year ahead in value. And silver. The dealership tried to talk us into an F250, but I took one home for a day and it was pretty clear that it's not a truck that's meant to be driven on tiny city streets every day. Not with me behind the wheel at least. It did fit into our driveway though, which was a surprise.

I thought I'd give you guys an update on Snowball's progress. Things are much better than the last time I updated - both the trailer and our truck are officially and finally in production. Jason says that he thinks the fiberglass is underway and he's going to give me a better idea of schedule next week so that I can plan a trip to see our Ollie in progress. I'd like to time it so that I can get a good set of photos just before they put the hulls together. That way I'll have a better reference for where the wiring and plumbing lines went if I ever do any future modifications (I will). I also have a few items that I need to deliver to Oliver. I've been given a VIN for the truck from Ford and they've scheduled it for the week of August 14. I should take delivery sometime mid-September which should be perfect timing to go pick up our Ollie. I do hope that I have at least a week or two to get used to the truck itself before hitching up, plus I plan to get some airbags installed on the rear axle and a few other extras done to the truck but nothing that I couldn't live without for the first trip. So after a long delay, things seem to be moving right along. I've given Amazon way too much money over the past two weeks buying supplies and stuff, but so far it's all in budget even despite a few high dollar items getting moved into our out of pocket budget at the last moment, namely the Isotherm refrigerator and the mattresses, which we decided to get from Southern Mattress instead of going with cushions or getting Olivers mattress upgrade. But I'd planned for a few hiccups like that so no worries so far. I also decided to go with Dragonfly LiFePo batteries instead of the cheaper ones from Elite Power. They seem like a safer choice, but more importantly, each of their batteries has a built-in battery management system, which means that they'll work out of the box with both the Progressive Dynamics charger and the Zamp solar charge controller. I still plan to swap out both for Victron equipment, but with the Dragonfly batteries, I won't be rushed to refit the whole electrical system just to get our batteries up and running.

Here's an added benefit to towing with my VW Touareg TDI. I drove from Iowa City to Cleveland yesterday to attend the Tri-C Jazz Festival. I averaged just under 70 mph (lots of construction in Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio) and averaged over 32 mpg. Filled with diesel fuel and drove 45 miles the day before on the full tank before leaving yesterday. I've now driven about 600 miles on that tank and still have almost a 1/4 tank of fuel. Of course, towing reduces the mileage but it's nice to have such a fuel efficient tow vehicle for every-day use. Now, if VW hadn't cheated on the emissions testing. . .

Thank you all for the warm welcomes. We hope to see all on you on the road soon. And the Rally is a for sure in 2018! Mike & Bill: We feel like new parents and will talk to anyone who wants to know why we love our Roamy. Rhett: Got my grease gun ready and well check them next trip out. Distilled water is on the shopping list today! Reed: I agree with you, the filter in that location is an accident waiting to happen. Your water line setup look great and I will follow your lead.

I wouldn't get too hung up on the cleaning and drying thing. I usually use a 5 gallon solar shower with my enclosure. Even taking a fairly long shower I always have at least a gallon of water left when I'm done and I use most of this to spray down the walls and floor of the enclosure when I'm done. This tends to keep most of the soap and anything that I tracked in to a minimum. As far as drying - given the usual low humidity out West, the nylon tent fabric dries rapidly. In the event that it rains or that it doesn't dry I simply wad it up into a garbage bag and throw it into the bottom of the Oliver shower until I get to the next camp. If I'm not setting it up again I simply lay it over the picnic table (or similar) until it is dry. Yes, au natural is a great option - when possible. Bill

I would remove the gutter and clean off all the old sealant then re-bed the gutter with a bead of the new sealant. It will make for a much longer lasting and reliable seal.

Welcome Foy & Mirna :) Nice looking set up all the way around, and I like the new 12 hole rims, they look great :) I also see that you have your water filter hooked directly to the trailer. Personally, that looks like a possible breaking point and I would use a 4' hose between the filter and the trailer just in case someone accidentally pushed down on it, or stepped on the hose thinking that it was strong enough. It could pull the socket out of the trailer but would most likely at least pull the female hose fitting off of the housing. I have 12", 24" & 48" sections of hose for different situations. You guys have a beautiful trailer and I love the stove set up :) Reed

Thanks for writing a very interesting story! Enjoyed it much. We, like you didn't take long to make up our minds once we saw an Oliver. Hope to see you at the 2018 Oliver Rally. Don't forget to grease Roamy's undercarriage about every 3000 miles and check his batteries once a month. Our Irog (Sweetheart) took almost a gallon of distilled water on the first fill-up. Rhett & Dory Decatur, IL #186

Brandi - Pictures I don't have. But, you just might want to contact Richard Johnson, 1256 Walker Levee Road, Fulton, MS 38843 as ask about them. Richard is the fellow that makes all of the cushions for both sizes of Oliver and I'm sure that he could provide you with a wealth of information. Sorry I don't have a phone number - you might try calling Anita in the Sales office for that ((888) 526-3978. Bill

And so - the adventure begins. Excited for both of you! Just wait until they start following you into gas stations, rest areas and the like. Or, when you come back to your Oliver from grocery shopping and there are three or four people checking it out. "What is it?" "Who makes it?" Etc. So glad that your first trip was a good one and that your dreams are indeed coming true. Bill

Welcome to the family! Great story, you'll get used to folks asking for tours and slowing down to look. Mike

Sounds like you are headed for some great adventures!! Enjoy!! Smiles....Kathy

Welcome to a new Oliver owner, safe travels.

Welcome to the Oliver forums! Glad to have you!

This shows both the truck side and the trailer side to include the wiring color codes. Could having this on your cell phone come in handy ?

Big man needm big shower :) So get an oversized tent, that way you can shower with him in comfort sometimes. We use a large 6 x 6' tent and it's large enough that a plastic chair can fit in also. The other thing that you will need if you're going to use the onboard outside shower is a longer hose. We've been showering in the woods for a long time and a tent is nice for the ladies. Sun-showers are nice when it's hot out but not so much in the fall. Karen and I have showered together outside many times over the years. The onboard Truma AquaGo Water heater option will give you all the hot water needed. Also, a raised floor keeps your feet clean if you have room for a large shower mat. https://www.amazon.com/KingCamp-Oversize-Portable-Dressing-Changing/dp/B01MS7477H/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1498051764&sr=8-8&keywords=Shower+tent+large

I'm basically with John on this one - there are many reasons to use an outdoor shower (particularly in the West where grey water is allowed to be "dispursed" on open ground in many places). If left in the back of my truck while I'm fishing all day (or on a picnic table that is exposed to the sun most of the day) the water in it is simply too hot to take a shower immediately after returning to camp (great excuse to sit down, reflect on the day and have a beer or glass of wine). I generally use a shower tent but have shied away from getting the more expensive ones for the reason John cites - when it gets too dirty after a few years I simply pitch and replace it. By using the outdoor shower one has more room to shower, you don't fill your grey water tank, you don't use any of your propane (assuming that you use a solar shower) and (assuming that you refill your solar shower either from the campground pump/water supply or from a crystal clear creek) you don't use your on-board water supply. With the addition of a simple portable toilet, a shower tent can also be used for "other things". For extended boondocking trips I use a simple toilet that uses what amount to plastic bags with a bit of "material" in the bottom which absorbs fluid and reduces odors. According to the directions, these bags can be disposed of with the regular trash. They are available both on line and at WalMart. Again, using these saves space in the black tank. I store the shower tent and solar shower(s) in the area beneath the street side bed where they fit perfectly - my shower tent is the single room variety. Bill

We have an Ozark Trail shower tent from Wal Mart. Unlike most shower tents it has a separate 'changing room' which is nice to have. I suppose that if you opt for the street side awning that you might find something in Fiamma's catalog that would work.

ShallowGal, Welcome! Same thing happened to us first time we saw an Oliver, smitten is an accurate description! Congrats on your retirement and your future Ollie!

Overland, The dip tube that is in the picture is designed to go all the way to the bottom of the tank and sit against the bottom. It is designed with a bit of extra length to accommodate tanks that may be slightly different from the normal overall depth by dropping all the way to the bottom in any of them. If you look closely, you'll see the end is capped. This particular style sweat cap was picked because it is flat on the end and has rounded smooth corners. In other words, it is very kind and won't dig into the bottom of the tank. All of the water enters around the perimeter of the cap, not the end of the pipe. The cross-drilled pickup holes were drilled tangent to the inside surface of the cap. If you add the diameter of the pickup holes to the thickness of the cap wall, it comes to just under 1/4". The top of the holes are 1/4" or less, from the inside surface of the tank. This arrangement will pick up water down to about 1/4" deep and do it consistantly in any tank it is installed in. As mentioned earlier, mine began to get some air at 6% tank level, but ran until the gauge read 0%. At that point it was sputtering, but still drawing enough water to drink, but not to shower. There are four holes. The surface area of all four holes added together equals about 1.7 times the surface area of the inside of a PEX fitting. Allowing for the vena contracta of the flow through those four holes, the restriction is still less than each PEX fitting used in the rest of the system. I also chose to install brass fittings and a brass PEX ball valve. These have slightly larger holes through them than the factory plastic fittings. So, the pickup holes have no affect on the flow rate compared to the stock pickup. But if the holes were bigger, we could not get as much water out of the tank. This was the only way I could think of that had a consistent pickup depth, could be installed in any tank and always end up with that same depth (with no measuring or possible installation error). It is totally accessible and serviceable, even with the water tank full. It does not affect the original pickup fitting, or the original tank drain piping. And it ties into the existing piping at locations that are accessible, which makes the work much easier than it might have been. If debris enters the tank at some point and clogs one of the pickup holes, it will still work well. If more than one hole gets clogged and a restriction is noticed, the dip tube assembly can easily be removed, without draining the tank, cleaned and re-installed. You cannot do this with the stock pickup tube as originally built. BTW, any restriction that reduced the flow would put no extra load on the pump. They are designed to run fine with a wide range of suction head pressures and they are just diaphragm pumps, which are very tolerant of flow restrictions. These pumps can run dry or at full pressure constantly without damage. They can draw from full or nearly empty tanks without damage. The first thing you might notice with a clog is a reduced flow at the faucet with the pump running. This is the same thing you might notice with a clogged aerator in the faucet, it's the same effect as when the faucet is only partially open. Until my system started drawing air at about 6%, I could not detect a difference in the pump sound or the flow rate compared to before the modification. Then it pumped the air and the water to varying ratios until the tank was pretty much empty. This kind of tank, with wide and shallow dimensions, requires a non standard kind of pickup. It won't get every last drop, but I think it's the best we can do. Having tanks of this shape is a real advantage because they take up so little room, are protected from freezing and are not outside where they could get damaged. Fortunately, the corner of the tank and its piping are right there below the cover under the bed. In the past, I wanted to do some work on the water tank in my Fleetwood, but found it was nearly impossible. This is relatively easy and I was inside instead of underneath. The biggest problem here is making the emotional leap of deciding you are going to make a hole in the tank and then spin welding on a fitting. Once that hurdle is over it is just a matter of doing some PEX and fittings. I think the future ones will have a larger tank fitting bushed down to the 3/4" dip tube assembly. This will help with screwing the fittings together and give a larger hole to vacuum out the tank if needed.

Karen & I love the Cobb Grill because it does everything including baking bread. We've had pizza a few times now, and that's always a hit :) Yea, it's not propane... But it's well worth it. The propane grill is no longer in the trailer :)

Not a bad idea to have a spare set or two. But the bearings on trailer axles are extremely reliable and it's unlikely, even with the most basic maintenance, that there will be a failure. The 3500 lb size is probably the most common trailer bearing there is. You can certainly change them on the side of the road if needed with a slip joint (water pump) pliers, a large screw driver, a hammer, a long punch, a can of grease and paper towels. If you get a spare set of bearings, be sure to get a can of grease too. If one is failing it's important to catch it before it gets really bad. I recently saw a tandem axle travel trailer with the wheel completely gone. The axle was ruined because it had been drive to destruction and there was no way to simply replace the bearing. Best to check them once in a while. At each fuel stop I touch each hub to look for a warmer one. Or, of course, if you began to notice one tire wearing funny you could push and pull on the top of the tire to look for play. I've been pretty lax with my 3500 lbs tandem axle utility trailer and it gets loaded heavily at times. Had it for many years and never a problem with the bearings. So, I think with some reasonable maintenance on the Ollie, there will never be a problem. With a 7,000 lb total axle capacity and the trailer only weighing, maybe 5500 lbs max, and 10% of that on the tow vehicle, they are certainly not over loaded. Now, with the bigger brakes on the newer Elite ll, they are installing 5200 lb axles that have even bigger bearings. Excellent. Trailer bearings are pretty easy to find. I think they have them at Camping World and I know they have them at Tractor Supply. Any trailer dealer should have them in stock too. Very common.