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I did not plan on posting when John Davies started this thread. Yes, I have had a number of emails that weren’t responded to, but I didn't think my personal experiences would seriously contribute to the discussion or to solutions. But Spike’s recent post about an ombudsperson monitoring these forums made me stop and think. So I decided to respond and now my response has turned into a speech, although some might consider it more of a screed. First, the Oliver is a great trailer, and the people who work for Oliver are talented people who are trying to deliver a truly quality product. More important for me, and maybe you, is how this forum was instrumental in my purchase decision and also in enriching my camping experience. There are so many smart and creative people on this forum who come up with imaginative ways to improve the Oliver and to enhance camping. And they take the effort to share their ideas, often with clear descriptions and photos! Point 1. Oliver needs to designate an Ombudsperson. Serious issues have been brought up in this forum, and the only way we know what Oliver’s position is when an owner posts that “I talked to so-and-so at the factory and they said…” That is not enough. When we need information, Oliver needs to respond. Many of you have probably seen TripAdvisor reviews where the hotel manager responds to EVERY 5-star review with “Thank you for your positive comments. We appreciate your business.” Oliver does not need to reply to everything, but THERE ARE TIMES when a response is needed. Three examples: 1. Maverick’s post on Negative Battery Connection issues comes to mind. Maverick did a great job describing how to test with a multimeter, but if my trailer needs a fix, the descriptions of the fix are not sufficient for someone like me with less technical expertise. I would like Oliver to tell us whether all trailers likely have this problem or only some. Are there production dates (hull numbers) that are likely to suffer this problem? I think most of us are willing to fix this ourselves, but Oliver needs to post specific, detailed instructions, with photos. 2. The problems of the fresh water tank, from Dave Phelps. Karen and Reed, Raspy’s solution, and Topgun. Oliver should respond! What are our options as owners to get this fixed, especially for those of us who live far away and don't have Raspy’s exceptional skills. 3. Oliver had an online video on winterizing, but they took it down a year ago, just when many of us were getting ready to winterize. I posted that Tommy Staggs told me that “We took the video off because something wasn’t right in the video.” Buzzy posted later that Matt said that “We have taken the winterizing video down and had a professional shoot a new video last week. It’s being edited now and should be available this week.” Uh, it has been a year, and to my knowledge there still is no winterizing video from Oliver. This is the type of thing where the Ombudsperson should respond. We should not have to depend on second hand reports from owners. Point 2. Oliver needs to improve the communication, which was John Davies’ original point in this thread. My experience has been like others, in that more recently emails are not responded to, but phone calls still do get answers. I had a question about tank capacity, so I used the Service Request/Question link that Jason Walmsley has in his signature line. No response. Zilch. Nada. So I emailed Jason. No response. So I phoned, and got transferred so Scott Oliver. Scott did not know the answer, but he found out and got back to me. I have dealt with a number of people at Oliver, and I think they are all really good. They are knowledgeable and caring, and they are dedicated to making an outstanding product. Why don’t they respond to an email or pass it on to someone who can answer? My expectation is that they are getting too many emails, and don't have the time to deal with all of them. I think Oliver needs to hire more people to deal with customer support. When I was first looking at buying an Oliver they had made something over a hundred trailers, based on hull numbers. Now the hull numbers are in the high 200’s. If there are a lot more trailer owners, they need more staff for customer support. Oliver has a reputation for making great trailers, and for outstanding customer support. While they invested in ramping up production, they also need to invest in customer support to maintain that reputation for customer support. Point 3. We need improvements on this forum. As has been commented upon many times, the search tools on this forum are pitiful. This forum contains critical information, both for current owners and prospective buyers. The search tools need to be improved. The technology is out there, in that we see it on other forums. Oliver doesn’t have a sales force outside of Hohenwald; we are their sales force. I enjoy showing my Ollie to prospective buyers; I have one looking at my unit later this week. I did a lot of research on trailers before we made our purchase, and I think the Oliver is one of the best trailers made, and I try convey to prospective buyers my pleasure in the Oliver’s engineering and quality workmanship. I know I have sold at least one trailer. I hope that Oliver will make some positive changes. End of speech.

While I agree with many of the comments made here, I do see the problem very clearly. Oliver the company we all love, is growing faster than they planned or expected. Having started a small internet business that Amazon purchased in 2008, I know these problems all too well and there is no quick fix. Oliver will need to rethink its communication processes and that will require them to look up from the day to day business. It is painful but very necessary for the long term success. I learned this first-hand. I was forwarded a customer email by Jeff Bezos. His email to me had one simple letter in it "?" I later learned this was the worst email you could ever get from Jeff. Not only did he want the problem solved, he wanted plans & process in place for how this problem would not happen again as we scaled our business for 10 times the current number of customers. It took me months to address the issue to Jeff's satisfaction, it touched every part of the company and required new thinking of what customer service is and how we would single-mindedly deliver it. Clear processes, chain of command oversight, retraining of existing employees and integration into the fabric of the company where the corner-stones. It was one of the best business lessons of my career. I truly hope Oliver's management is aware and thinking about the bigger picture for it's customers.

My list of modifications is getting longer and some of these seem pretty important. So I thought I'd start this thread. One of the first ones was the stainless steel countertop with Corian side splash and IKEA faucet: The next is the Heavy Duty suspension kit and 3200 lb Star Wheel upgrade. This was prompted by breaking a wheel and wanting greaseable suspension links. I broke one of the Oliver wheels while it was on another trailer and discovered how thin they are: The next next was the spare tire modification. Mine came with an undersized spare and to fit the full sized tire I had to go to a soft cover:

Since John asks, I will chime in with my 2 cents: Yes, questionnaires seem appropriate. However, I would be much more inclined to fill one out if it were online. Perhaps something like an online “suggestion box” would also be appropriate. In addition, as I mentioned before, it might be wise of OTT to have someone like an ombudsperson monitoring these forums and reporting issues to the decision makers. (ANYONE OUT THERE? If so, have you taken notice of these comments on communication issues? If so, can you let us know?) I have sent out an email to our support staff about this topic.

Fuses, you really can't have too many. I carry at least a few fuses for everything that needs one with the bulk of the collection being 10, 20 and 30 amp ATO blade type. I also recommend a few 30 amp slo-blo glass type for the jacks. This will tell you more that you every wanted to know about automotive fuses. I also carry a spare water pump and an extra head for the rear jacks. These are by no means necessary but I have them so.... I lead a group of FG trailers on a trip earlier this year into the Utah back country and one of them had a water pump go out in his trailer. He spent the best part of two days sourcing and installing it. I would have given him my extra but he had left to search for a replacement before I heard about it.

I had a very hard time finding fuses for the jacks. I went to a bunch of auto parts stores, looked online at Amazon and others, but was unsuccessful. I finally found them here: https://www.ryderfleetproducts.com/bussmann-mdl-30/slow-blow-fuse-30-amp-p-bus-mdl30 The price says $1.62, but they sell then in lots of five, so it is $8.10 for five. And they tacked on shipping charges...

Someone on "Oliver Trailer Owners"-Facebook suggested to blow out the lines with air compressor first and then just pour a small amount of RV anti-freeze into the sink drain, toilet, bath sink and so on. Make sure to drain the hot water heater. Go to the maintenance site and read it please or the manual. Do this please: Go to "Trailers" on the Main Menu-click it> then go to the bottom of the list-"Oliver University" then click on YOUR trailer 18-5 or 23-6 and Volia (there is) all the info you could ever want. Well, maybe not, but just call your sales person or Jason or the factory and they will be very pleased to hear from you... I'm not an expert on this yet myself. Also, need to worry about the places where you hook on the water hoses as those places have valves to keep the water from running back out. Maybe the air adapter will work there. I have an adapter but have not tried it yet. There are several different ones and here is the one I bought:RV Water Line Adapter

My porch lights started leaking very soon after we picked up our Oliver. Water was visible on the inside of the lenses and the bulb socket was beginning to rust a bit. I have the old style lights. Problem was in trying to fit a flat based fixture to a curved trailer. Unfortunately, silicone was used to "seal" the gaps. The job was not that well administered, with gaps in the bead and silicone residue smeared about.There is an old adage in the boating world about silicone: "Silicone sticks to nothing, and nothing sticks to silicone" Perhaps it has uses somewhere, but after 35 years of painting and construction, I still don't know where that is. It's a scourge to any finishing shop, and makes repairs much more involved. First, I removed the fixtures. They are chromed plastic (sigh) and impossible to clean without ruining the finish on them. I tossed them and bought new ones, luckily they are not too expensive. Next I used plastic razor blades and a citrus based adhesive cleaner to remove the bulk of the silicone that was on the gelcoat. It cleaned up well and looked clean but when misted with water the silicone oils which penetrated the pores of the gelcoat made the water bead up. So, more work to do. No sealant will stick to that for very long. I bought a can of Debond at West Marine here. I then bought 1000, 1500, and 2000 grit automotive sandpaper (3M). I was nervous to take sandpaper to my precious Ollie but I needed more to vanquish the silicone demon! I sprayed the Debond on the 1000 grit paper and wet sanded all around where the fixtures were mounted. I could tell instantly that it was working. Wiped the area clean and repeated with the 1500 grit, then the 2000. All silicone completely gone and just the very slightest loss of sheen to the gelcoat. I talked to Jason on the buffing products they use at the shop and he said they use Shurhold Buff Magic Compound. I bought a foam buffing pad here for my random orbit sander (Festool Rotex) and buffed/polished the area. To my relief, it blended in perfectly, and I am particular. With the area clean of contaminants and polished I reinstalled the new fixtures. I decided to use butyl tape for the sealant. I felt pretty confident that for this situation, it was the best material. But not all butyl tapes are created equal, by a wide margin. The product that kept coming up on all the boating forums was Bed-it Butyl Tape I can confirm that this is the best stuff I have ever used. Before installing the fixture. I had to re-drill the mounting holes that were way undersized, and then slightly countersink those holes. The gelcoat was badly fractured around the original holes, in a few spots, it just flaked off. Countersinking relieves the compression forces of the screw expanding the glass substrate, which would otherwise fracture the relatively brittle gelcoat. In a thru-bolt situation where there is no compression, the countersink also creates an extra space around the fastener where the butyl tape will be thicker allowing better expansion/contraction ability and a better weather seal. A very good article for those wanting to get deeper into this subject:https://forums.sailboatowners.com/index.php?threads/bedding-deck-hardware-with-bed-it-butyl-tape.117172/ I doubled up the tape top and bottom of the fixture to allow for the curve of the trailer, and added some extra bits where I thought they would be needed in the corners. I also, rolled up some small bits of tape and stuffed them in the enlarged screw holes. It was a warm summer day so no problem pressing the fixture tight to the trailer shell. Screwed down the fixture and with my plastic razor and a tiny bit of paint thinner, cleaned off the excess. A word of caution, try not to get any solvent on these chromed plastic fixtures, it messes up the finish. Next time I would tape off the fixture before installing it to make cleanup safer. As it was I did get a little discoloration to the chrome but not too bad. Finally a good coat of Collinite Fleet paste wax to the whole trailer and fixtures. What a difference! Also swapped out the clear lenses for the amber ones which I like better. Fixture with original silicone sealant above. You can see some of the fracturing of the gelcoat. The picture doesn't quite capture the flaking around the holes. Cleaned, polished, re-drilled and countersunk. Some of the chipping went beyond the countersink...but will be covered. Tape applied, holes filled with a small coil of tape. Fixture screwed down. Next time, I'll place the tape more carefully so there isn't so much to have to trim off, and carefully mask the fixture to protect it from solvent during cleanup. Final pic in next post. Guess I can only do three at a time....

Just to follow up, I got a nice phone call from Scott yesterday. We mostly talked about some specific issues with our trailer delivery (solved), and chatted about Oliver in general, but we did talk briefly about the customer service issues. I know that they’re committed to solving all of these problems, it's just that those of us in the 200-club have had and will have our patience tried while Oliver finds a way through their growing pains.

L&P, you would be fine at those temps to just place a small electric heater inside during the night. As to your question of when, living in the deep South, I don't go to the extent of actual full-blown winterization. I just blow out the lines. Malcolm Monlezun (a forum member and very experienced RV'r) lives outside of Denver and would be able to share his knowledge of using RV antifreeze. I think he may be on the road currently but hopefully he can chime in here.

On all the later models I have inspected, the gas line running the length of the trailer on the starboard side terminates with a plug. This would be where the stern gas fitting would be connected.

Since John asks, I will chime in with my 2 cents: Yes, questionnaires seem appropriate. However, I would be much more inclined to fill one out if it were online. Perhaps something like an online "suggestion box" would also be appropriate. In addition, as I mentioned before, it might be wise of OTT to have someone like an ombudsperson monitoring these forums and reporting issues to the decision makers. (ANYONE OUT THERE? If so, have you taken notice of these comments on communication issues? If so, can you let us know?)

Canoe, I know what you mean about wanting the connection near the stern. But for me the difficulty of getting it there in a clean way was more trouble, by far, than just running a 30 foot hose form the front. The long hose has worked out well with setting the fire pit way out where it is safe and not under the awning, or behind Ollie when parked that way. The underside is so clean and it has those small cross pieces. It also has zero clearance where the axle Ubolts touch the frame. Plus, I don't like the idea of drilling in a bunch of holes for the mounting hardware, etc. I'd like to see what you come up with.

First of all, you still have some good camping weather, too early to shut it down. If there are some cold nights, before we want to winterize, just set the thermostat to about 40 degrees and open some of the hatches to let warm air down below, and don't worry about it. Stan

Overall had good results dealing with Oliver's service department. Like Bill said go up the ladder if you can't get desired results. We used to install 50 and 60 series Detroit Diesels in industrial applications years ago. Really liked it when Roger Penske owned Detroit Diesel. From the first call to DD, if the issue was not corrected in a certain amount of hours, it ended up on Penske's desk. No one at DD wanted that to happen, so they were motivated to take care of service issues.

Canoe, I just bought a quick disconnect set, which has the male and female ends that plug together. The male piece has a 3/8" pipe female on it's other end. It's a 3/8" MPT by male disconnect. Then each of the hoses have a 3/8" MPT end and a female flare. So to connect the three 10' lengths you need a 3/8" female pipe thread (FPT), by 3/8" male flare. Then the end MPT screws into the disconnect. At the tank area tee and ball valve, you just need to assemble fittings to get you to a female flare. Then the whole assembly screws together. I discovered that there seems to be no standardization with the quick disconnect fittings and I did not want to use compressed air fittings. So I just looked around until a found a nice brass set that was for gas and got it. Then I adapted as needed to put it together. The hoses come in 10' lengths and I got mine at Lowes. The disconnect came from an obscure Ace hardware. It's just a little puzzle to put together and make nice. And it works very well. The same hose works for both appliances, so I can switch between the camp stove and the fire pit by unscrewing the female flare nut and screwing it back on to the other appliance. Then plugging in the other end to the trailer. I used it this weekend with the new 8" port and that works well too. We had a nice propane camp fire. I hope all this makes sense. I'll send more pix if needed.

I have never had a "long term"problem communicating with the folks at Oliver. Yes, there have been times when an email with a number of numbered items on it have taken more than one follow-up to get all items taken care of, but, they were taken care of. When I have had the situation of employees not calling me back or returning my emails I have asked for the intervention of my sales rep - Anita - and that, in turn, was all it took to get the situation back on track. For those that are continuing to have problems I would suggest taking a look back at the Oliver Family posting on the Forum from June 9, 2017 which read in part: "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." Keep going up the ladder until you get the help you need. Bill

I should not laugh since this is a very serious subject. This happened to me over and over again, such that I intentionally started numbering my questions, so that it would be easier to ask for more information about specific sections. OTH this is not at all isolated to Oliver, I see it frequently with other companies whenever you have more than a couple of questions. When communicating by email, I think it is important for you as the customer to present a well organised letter with definite spaces between each subject so that it is obvious for the receiver, who maybe distracted or tired, where the “breaks” are. Numbering does highlight them! I have never done telephone customer service work, but my suspicion is that to do it really well, one must be alert and focussed to a single task. A quiet and separate office or cubical would be mandatory, I believe. Full noise cancelling headsets that filter out background noise should work great if they are comfortble enough to be worn full time. Small wireless handsfree headsets just encourage multi-tasking, which is exactly the opposite of what is desired. IMHO of course. Thanks for the comments. I am not sure if we are accomplishing anything, but at least I know that I was not alone in feeling frustrated. In the past I have recommended to Oliver reps that they send out questionaires to all their customers, asking for feedback and suggestions. Do you folks think that would be appropriate? John Davies Spokane WA

I have to agree, Y'all have the accent. :-) Part of the problem is they wear headsets now and there is a delay when talking to them. I keep asking if they are still on the line because sometimes it seems like we have lost the connection.

This is a timely conversation for me, given that just Friday I had a small dust up with Oliver's sales staff that stemmed entirely from poor communication and not following up on commitments. Emails not returned, phone calls not returned, promises to follow up that aren't kept - it's a surprise when I don't encounter any of that. Like Dave, a regular theme I've run into is that I'll ask three questions in an email but only one will be answered, and often so minimally that it requires an additional string of emails to try to tease out the information I need. It's bad enough and common enough that I often wearily decide it's not worth the effort. I also find I have difficulty on the phone with them. I was born and raised in the south but even so, I thought at first it was something oddly cultural that we almost just weren't using the same language. But I've decided that the problem is simply that when I talk with someone there I'm just not receiving their full attention. There's often a bit of a pause after I've said something that makes it seem like they're doing something else instead of listening to me. And often their replies seem like they weren't listening to the question. I have to say though that Anita is always the exception to this - she is invariably attentive, helpful and professional - and when I do get Jason the phone or face to face it's obvious that he's giving me his full attention. (Jason I think is just being pulled in too many directions to be as responsive as I'd like.) And I can say that 100% of any frustration that I've had with Oliver could have been prevented with decent communication and follow up, either between Oliver and me, or among themselves. There's a point in every small company's growth at which they're forced to transition from being small but accommodating, to being big but professional, and Oliver hasn't made it through that transition yet. And of course, despite the above, we are on the whole pleased with Oliver and remain thoroughly excited about receiving our trailer someday.

Next is the jack stand modification. I started with three jack stands. I threw away the adjustable center pieces and cut off the ratchets. Two of them got modified to flat on the top with a piece of 3" channel. These are the rear jacks . The other one got modified to accept the front jack, with a piece of 2" diameter tube. This works out very well where the ground is nearly level, or they can be set on blocks, if needed, on slopes. They are very strong and stable. Much better than stacking a pile of blocks.[attachment file=73096] [attachment file=73099]

Dave, This John (Raspy), Disconnect from shore power and solar. Rest the batteries and note the voltage on your internal monitor. Plug the trailer into the TV and start it up. Watch the voltage and see if it changes over the next 15 minutes or so. You should see it climb slowly to about 14 volts and this will confirm that the TV is charging the trailer. If the voltage doesn't change, you are not charging. If not charging, the reason seen so far is, no negative connection to the batteries from the TV. No plus and minus to the batteries. Mine had not 12 volt negative to the frame or to the negative buss bar. This meant the trailer ball to receiver was the ground path and completed the circuit for the brakes, but the batteries had no + and - to the batteries from the TV. The trailer batteries could not charge from the TV and the brakes were only connected through the tow ball to receiver!

Accents? We don't have no stinkin' accents!

Using the shower mat really depends on how tall of people will be showering. At 6'1" we took ours out and gave it away because I could no longer stand up in the bathroom, I prefer the bare white floor for the most room when using the bathroom, plus it's a quick rinse if you bring mud in. Reed Did you put your awning crank in the closet Cobra?

Final pic of new fixture with amber lenses Hard to duplicate this using 3M 4000 or the like. The butyl tape is tight, clean, and most importantly hasn't leaked a bit through all the downpours and sleet and snow that has followed me around this Fall! This is now an outdated fixture for Oliver. But I hope that anyone who may have silicone sealant on their rig and wants to get rid of it for real will find this post useful. Also if you want to add any accessory items like a plug for aux. solar panels, or need to reset a window, or whatever, will consider using this technique. Contrary to what some folks think of butyl tape, this brand has not oozed out in the heat or collected dirt and turned black. If you keep it tight to the fixture and use a quality product like Bed-it, you should be a happy camper! Ok, it's past happy hour..... Dave

This mod will most likely create the most questions and I believe is the single most beneficial addition I could make to my Oliver. BTW prior to joining Apple, I lead mobility enterprise solutions for 10 years with AT&T and I know what really works and what is just a gimmick from a cellular and wifi booster reference standpoint. CradlePoint Cellular Router: COR IBR900 Series https://cradlepoint.com/ products/cor-ibr900-series Here is why: Enterprise Commercial-Grade hardware Supports LTE-Advanced (next generation Cellular protocol - next 3 years Future Proof) Supports SIM-Based Auto-Carrier Selection built in 2 SIM trays expandable to 4. Allows you to have either more than 1 Cellular Carrier (AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, etc.) or allows you do double up on SIMs from same Cellular Carrier to prevent throttling back or exceeding data plan. Fully Ruggedized and built for vehicle vibration, temperatures, etc. Intelligent remote configuration via Cloud Access Redundant Power Capable WiFi: Dual-band, dual-concurrent WiFi (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac)* Wave 2 External Mounted Antenna: 3-in-1 GPS & Modem Screw-Mount https://cradlepoint.com/ products/accessories/3-1-gps- modem-screw-mount Amplifies Cellular & GPS Reception by a full 5 watts (Cellphone & Tablets only 0.5 watts) Significant improves cell & GPS signal reception thereby giving you stronger signal strength and increased bandwidth throughput. Gives you priority ranking of network vs. cellphones, tablets, & consumer hotspot devices. AT&T Data Plan (Unlimited +) You also have the option to buy program month to month or prepaid. Only subscribe when you need to use it or add it to family plan Allows you to use your home DIRECTV account with no charge against your Data Plan or you can subscribe to DIRECTV NOW if you do not have DIRECTV at home. https://www.att.com/bundles/ data-free-tv.html https://www.att.com/bundles/ directv-now-unlimited-plus. html The Cradlepoint router will work as the nerve center for your Oliver. Providing you constant and consistent wifi coverage in about 98% of the US. Also, it gives you the ability to jump from carrier to carrier via a webbed portal. Now that you have WiFi all the time you now have a connected RV. You can use wifi to place wifi calls, FaceTime calls Video or Audio only. Stream video, Music, gaming to your Trailer via laptop, iPad, iPhone, or AppleTV, and stream Over the Air Directv without data charges if you are an AT&T customer. I may use devices inside trailer like Nest Protect battery version (Smoke & CO2 detector). You can hook up WebCams, and other home automation products that run on WiFi. I'll also run my iPads of the trailers WiFi vs the iPads embedded cellular receiver because the trailers wifi will always have a stronger signal than the iPads embedded cellular antenna. I will also run my MacBook via the trailers WiFi which is great for working on the road.

Popcorn-Billy, Greetings and welcome to the forum. Thanks for coming out of Lurkerville and saying hello. As a fellow widower, old pilot, and recumbent bike owner, I think the Elite will suit your needs very well. A single axle Elite has been my wander-home 4 to 7 months a year for the last 9 years. Fully loaded with my camping goodies and a full tank of water, my 2008 Wonder Egg tips the scale at 3900 lbs. A 5000 lb tow weight capable vehicle will get you down the road, but may be working a bit harder in mountainous terrain. As an old pilot, I still adhere to the saying that "More is Better" . . . more runway in front of you, more air below you, and now, more towing capacity is nice to have. Good luck on your quest for your trailer. Pete

Congratulations guys!! We also once owned a Casita for several years and the Ollie is sooo much better. Bigger, brighter with tons more options and comfort. We loved our Casita but we LOVE our Ollie. Happy travels!!

Len and Pen, Welcome! Beautiful Ollie, hopefully meet you while camping!