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We are in the process of locating qualified and reputable RV maintenance facilities across the country. The goal is to provide our owner's with outstanding service within reasonable distance. If you have had a good experience with a third-party maintenance shop, please let us know here so we can do additional research and add them to our database. Thanks!

Canoe12 - Using the "search" function will get you a bunch of (almost all positive) reviews and comments concerning the CLAM Shelter (and a bunch of other stuff that isn't even vaguely related to the CLAM - go figure). I think that I'm in the minority in that I got the small (4 panel) CLAM. It is great for one or two people but as many as four can get in with chairs. This past summer I used my Mr. Buddy Heater and three of the "rain/wind" panels and just about roasted myself out of the thing. They are easy to put up, easier to take down, fit in the closet of the Oliver and when staked out they will take one heck of a wind. Best screen shelter I've ever owned hands down. Bill

This rally is happening now at Davie Crockett Birthplace State Part in TN. It's coinciding with a tractor show. We're surrounded by classic tractors, including the rare Oliver! I couldn't resist posting this of Outlaw and the Olivers.

The Wonder Egg, Ollie #14, single axle with a spring over axle high lift is set up as follows: 16" wheels tire outer diameter 28" Trailer level to ground, the distance from the ground to the top INSIDE of the Bulldog (Where the ball touches) is 21.5" Loaded tongue weight 360 lbs Taco for TV with Roadmaster Suspension Assist springs attached results in about a 3" drop when trailer is attached. Hitch has a 3" rise, resulting in the top of the ball being at 24.5" With my spring-over-axle setup, my hitch height might vary from a newer single axle Elite. Getting 360 lbs worth of friends to hop on the end of your TV is a good idea to see how much you might settle. Thanks for your pictures, Dave. Any more recent Elite I owners out there with a tape measure care to chime in? ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Although my Taco has 233,000 miles on it, the leaf springs are newly replaced due to a Toyota TSB. I replaced the shocks at the same time. It has always had a "soft" rear end that liked to sag under weight. The Roadmaster Suspension Assist springs have greatly enhanced the ride while towing (and not towing) and the sag has been reduced from its original drop. Whatever your TV, check the anticipated drop under load and buy your hitch accordingly.

Matt, I’ve used Boerne RV Service and was happy with their work. Boerne RV Service, 125 Industrial Drive, Boerne, TX 78006

Heading back into TN after spending a couple nights at Guntersville Lake State Park in AL. Met some great people & showed off the 'Clever Beast numerous times. Its amazing how the Oliver draws a crowd! We experienced a sudden storm on Tuesday & would have lost our awning for sure if we hadn't been there. Several trailers lost them. Thankfully we got it in without problems. The winds were strong enough to crush our Clam, which also survived. The park was quite busy with all hands on deck helping each other. After 11 hrs without power we truly understood the advantages of owning an Oliver. We are headed to Fall Creek Falls State Park now. Clair stopped at a Walmart in the Dunlap area so He could take a power nap. As soon as we were stopped there was a rap on the truck window....a very nice woman asking if she could see our Ollie. Clair went over and spoke with her husband while I showed her thru. I could tell that they had already done a lot of research. Another amazing day....Such fun!!

Canoe12 So happy to see that Bill spoke up about the Clam. Ours is still new to us. Sounds like we chose a larger size since it takes 5 wind panels. I know they come in tan/brown, green and camo. We have a tan/brown one. I don’t have a lot of info on them but they sure are easy to put up and take down. I can tell you about the storm that hit us in AL....it was quick and intense, we had our Clam up with 3 wind/privacy panels in place when the storm hit and while we were busy taking care of the Oliver awning the gusts of wind pulled the ropes loose from the well driven in stakes and pushed in 3 of the sides. As soon as we could We pushed in the remaining sides and lowered the top to the ground, weighing it down with our chairs & everything else we could find. After the storm passed we prayed all would be ok. It set back up as if nothing had happened. We Haven’t tried heaters or anything like that yet. We currently have ours set over a large picnic table with pleny of room to move around it.

We back up with the Ram truck watching the cam. We get out once when we are close. We want to be sure we are really lined up, and more important, we want to be sure the hitch is high enough. Usually when the ball disappears under the hitch we stop, lower the trailer, snap the latch and hook up. Don't believe we would ever need a WDH with our set up. It is so nice to be able to drive interstates, back roads and trails and not need extended mirrors. You can see down both sides with room to spare. With the wireless cam on the trailer, and its backup lights, backing into campsites or parking lots are a breeze. After a while you can almost forget you have a trailer back there, it tows so smooth. It is almost startling sometimes to look in the regular rear view mirror and see a large camper on your bumper...

Darrell, I second John's comments. You do not need a WDH with a 3/4 ton truck. It will settle about 2-2 1/2" or so with the approximate 450-480 lb tongue weight, ready to go. Plus maybe more if you load stuff in the bed. End up with about 23-24" top of ball when loaded. There may be some variation on the ball height as the tongues were re-designed at some point in, maybe 2016. You could get about three to four people to stand in the rear of your bed and see what you'll need as far as a drop hitch. My Ram has a factory backup camera that allows me to drive right up to the ball in one try. Excellent. You could add an aftermarket camera.

As an owner of one of the early "Stripper Pole" (woohoo!) high lift Ollies and someone who flew jets and helicopters for a living, I am very familiar with issues regarding center of gravity and dynamic rollover. With The Wonder Egg sitting high, the reason I always travel with a full fresh water tank is to keep the center of gravity as low as possible in order to improve stability during angular acceleration under windy conditions. I also moderate my speed under those conditions whenever possible. This has worked well for 112,000 miles (knock on wood). Given the extra 5 feet of length and additional height of fiberglass in the Elite II, combined with additional storage space at higher levels you will be catching more wind and can raise your center of gravity higher. I realize your stance is slightly wider but would want to know, engineering wise, what the implications of any lift would be. Perhaps you would be encroaching on an unsafe condition with an extreme lift to your trailers. While it might enhance off road travel, you need to consider all ramifications of such a modification. Be safe out there and have FUN.

Those are the same numbers I got from Oliver. They were not correct. My trailer is on a flat and mostly level surface. Equal distance from front and rear of frame to ground. Mine is a 2015 Elite so no major difference in suspension that I know of. Here's the pic: All I can figure from what Anita said is that they are allowing for bumper drop with their ball height. This is a useless number as all TV's will have different levels of squat. Hopefully some other Elite owners will chime in to confirm but we are in the minority. Where's Bugeyedriver when we need him! Dave

If the spring over modification isn't practical, it might be better to re-design the subframe and add a section of 4" steel box tubing between the subframe angle iron and the spring hangars. This would have the existing steel angle, then the 4" box section below that. Then the spring hangars would mount to the box. It would need some additional cross bracing. This would keep the shocks and hardware all the same and raise the trailer 4 inches. It would be a bolt on option that Oliver could offer with no changes to anything else. Simply check the "high model" or the "low model" box on the order form. The method I'm suggesting would also be an easy fabrication as the existing subframe is steel and just bolts on. That frame could be unbolted and rolled out from under the trailer where it would be modified and rolled back into place to be re-installed. I don't think this modification is really needed in any but the most extreme conditions. Olivers already have excellent ground clearance and will easily go into some pretty rough spots. Since it could easily be altered later, it would be better to try the existing setup before deciding in advance that it's not good enough. How much stability and overhead clearance are you willing to lose to get more ground clearance? I've had mine in spots that were just about all that my Ram could pull it through with big holes and rocks on steep rocky trails. Clearance was not a problem as much as traction as we crawled along in four low. Even though these are not off-road trailers, they are far better than many because they don't have hanging down plumbing or tanks. I feel that individuals should do this on their own and not expect Oliver to do it. Lifted, the trailers will not be as stable and you can't expect Oliver to be responsible for that. These are not designed to be off road trailers. If you need something you can drag over boulders and up cliffs with a winch and a Jeep, this isn't the trailer to consider. They are heavy, they don't have huge tires and they only have leaf spring suspension. The bodies are not set up to accommodate bigger tires either.

I have the Elite, and with the trailer perfectly level, top of ball to ground is 19.5" (measured from the bulldog hitch) Not sure of your TV but your rear end will drop a bit from the tongue weight, which I am told is around 350 pounds. What I did was to get a few friends whose combined weight was close to that and stand on a spare ball mount I had for a different trailer (you could stand on the bumper but add a bit more weight to allow for loss of leverage, as the ball will be further out from the rear axle than the bumper). Then I measured to the top of the receiver tube. With this info, you can calculate the rise or drop of the ball mount you will need. Should get you pretty close. If you're getting a WD hitch, then that could possibly change the numbers, but the 19.5" remains the same. Strive to get the trailer as level (parallel to ground) as you can while hitched. TV and trailer should be good and straight with each other. Trailer nose down a tad is better than nose up if you have to err a bit. This is what I have learned so far. You're going to like your Elite. Tows beautifully and you can tuck it into places that will amaze you. Good luck and hope this helps. Dave

Mike, I just measured mine and from the ground to the top of the ball is exactly 24 inches. Keep in mind, this is in the free state. It lowers about an inch once hitched. I hope this helps,

I can't really tell from the picture but it looks like your awning arm is connected to the trailer and then you staked the tie down rope straight down from the corners right? Or are the arms staked down too? Looks beautiful :)

roguebooks - I don't know the answer to your question, but, I'm sure that Richie Carroll at OTT does. You can contact him at - 931-306-9232 or email at - rcarroll@olivertraveltrailers.com Hope that helps! Bill

I deleted the duplicate. The double post has happened to many of us, including me. Seems to happen most often when I have a slow connection. I think something didn't post, and a minute later... I have two. I won't delete unless someone asks, because I can't bring the post back. Beautiful photos. Glad you are out and enjoying life in your camper, Kathy and Clair. Sherry

The red arrows mark blemishes in the finish after inspection. Then the team goes back over the exterior and cleans them all up and gives the trailer it's mirror finish. Ours wasn't finished when we got there and there were red arrows all over, but by the end of the day, we drove away happy :)

A Moderator can do it, but you can just edit it yourself and delete all the content. Replace it with just the word “Duplicate” if you like. It won’t go away entirely but you won’t feel so much like an idiot. (Been there!) John Davies Spokane WA

Well, we got all of our medical needs taken care of and finally hit the road on Monday. This time we are staying in a small privately owned park, Long Ridge Campground, in Hiawassi, GA. The park owners placed us on a much larger site this year so we’d have room for our Clam screenroom, etc. Its so quiet and peaceful up here on the hill. Emma thinks she owns this campground, since we come here so frequently. She makes sure we walk her to all of her past hangout areas and has to be walked down to the office every morning to get her treat from the owners too. The Hiawassi Fall Festival and Fiddler’s convention starts this weekend so we try to head this way annually for the music and area craft, etc. We drove over to Brasstown Bald Mountain in Blairsville, GA this morning but it was quite overcast up on the mountain so we will go back another day. I was hoping to get a few photos of fall colors but its a little early for that. Next week should be much better. While we are here we will take day trips over to North Carolina and various areas we’ve visited in the past. This is such a lovely area. [attachment file=74206] [attachment file=74209]

Randy - I would guess that those are 12 volt outlets (and/or USB outlets). I had one of those placed in that position when I ordered Twist except mine has a white cover. Bill

I can also vouch for Boerne RV. They are located about 20 miles north of San Antonio, TX which is also a nice place to visit and see the sites. Over the last 9 years, they have helped me with The Wonder Egg (Elite I) and the work has been done professionally. They have experience with both the Elite I and Elite II. The owners, Ron & Debbie, are very personable and easy to work with. They can be reached at: 830-816-3883.

Matt, I've had good experience with Sun & Fun RV in Iowa City, IA. They are expanding and moving to a new location in Tiffin, Iowa later this month. Jason Essary has communicated with their service manager, Lynn. Lynn is very thorough and has a calm and professional demeanor. I've been very satisfied with the work they've done on the Oliver. Most of that work has been with the factory's involvement. Another shop in the area is Midwest Frame and Axle in Iowa City. They installed my Dexter EZ Flex and charged a very reasonable amount to do the work. They also replaced the axles/brakes on my Elite II after the axles were deformed due to using jack stands for storage (that's a long story--you may know the details, but I won't share that info here). I highly recommend Midwest Frame and Axle for brake work, wheel bearing replacement or anything to do with the running gear. Great shop. Don

We are in the process of locating third-party maintenance facilities across the U.S. that are qualified and have good reputations to service Oliver owner's trailers. We are starting with the West Coast since it is such a long haul for them to have service work done back here in TN. If some of you owners have had good experiences with third-party maintenance shops, please let us know. I'll start a new thread for input.

After 4 years of driving the Mercedes ML, we hit 100,000 miles on it and traded it in today on a new TV. The Mercedes was a great TV and most of its miles were towing either our Casita or our Oliver. Well... out with the old and in with the new, I needed a good 4wd to cross the rivers and be a dual purpose vehicle with both our Hummer and the ML racking up the miles, so Karen and I picked up a Chevy Silverado 1500 High Country today and it's maxed out with the towing options and will be a good TV for us. It's replacing both, the Hummer and the ML and comes with an 11,000lb towing capacity and a limited slip differential in the rear with 4wd. We actually took it off road a bit for the test drive and made the limited slip do its job. Today, we will be picking up a new receiver hitch and then Saturday, heading to Ojai California for the Lake Casitas Fiberglass RV Rally, where Karen will be putting on her Cobb Grill demonstration and cooking some goodies for the gang :) Then she also has her "Karen's Coloring & Chat" that she puts on with the ladies, where they all get together for a few hours and have a great time visiting and coloring together. It started out just being an hour at this Rally last year, and it has become one of the women's favorite things to do together. Lots of friends, lots of great times, and the Lukens are heading south this time :) Reed

Talked with Kelly at OTT about the idea of a store. She thought it might be time and a good idea. At least some stuff in the showroom? She was going to mention to Scott. We will see. Let's see, I'll take a hat, a coffee cup, some blinds, a water accumulator, and do you have that fleece in black?