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I called Ritchie Carroll a couple of months ago to schedule service for my Oliver Elite II. I made the appointment for 1 p.m. on Tuesday, October 17. When I arrived, I sat down with Richie and reviewed the work order that he had prepared based on a couple of telephone conversations and a few email exchanges. Oliver is using a new system to create and update work orders. I was able to view the work order on Richie's monitor and approved what he had prepared. Service included installing a composting toilet, installing the new bike rack (mount only--I plan to rig it with Thule components that will work with my fat tire bike), a new cable for the basement door, repair the chain to cap connection on the fresh water inlet, fixing a leak in the hot water heater at the anode, installation of the water accumulator, the fresh water tank fix to allow it to be filled completely, and installation of the new window blind clips (they now use 6 clips per blind). The work was completed by 5 p.m. on Wednesday. The work was done professionally and the camper was thoroughly cleaned inside after they completed the work. While in Hohenwald, I spent quite a bit of time at the sales office. Highlights included meeting and talking to both new Oliver owners picking up and owners in town for service. It's so nice to actually meet and get to know people you've communicated with on the forum. Oliver owners are the best. I also can report that Anita and Heather are as sweet and welcoming as they have been since I met them. Anita even brought food to the office and offered lunch to all of the office employees and the customers who were there for service and pickup. The food was delicious! I met and spend quite a bit of time talking to Brent Robinson, the new Business Development Director and Kelly Robinson, the new Sales Manager. They have significant experience in the industry and I believe they were great hires by the Oliver family. Brent gave me a factory tour yesterday. I toured the factory in October 2015 when I ordered my Elite II, but I learned much more during the tour Brent gave. He has dug deep into the manufacturing process and shared so much knowledge. For any current owner or prospective purchaser who wants to know more about how these campers are built and why they cost as much as they do, a tour led by Brent is a must. These campers are built on a philosophy that is the opposite of what drives most of the rest of the industry. Decisions are made on what components/processes will create the best, long-lasting product, not on what will be the least expensive. Kudos to Oliver for being committed to building by far the highest quality camper in the U.S. As most of the forum members know, Oliver has grown substantially in terms of the number of campers sold. They are having growing pains, but my two days at the office and plant convinced me that they are working very hard to ramp up and to provide the same high-quality sales and service that marks the quality of their product. I don't think the people at Oliver would argue that they are there yet, but rather than making excuses, the comments I heard from employees focused on their high goals and efforts to reach them. For those of you who have asked for a higher degree of customization as your Oliver is being built, it's clear that Oliver is moving away from offering the degree of customization that characterized their approach in the early days. They've made the most popular options standard equipment and avoid customization to keep the campers moving down the line more efficiently. I think the result will be an increase in the already high build quality and an ability to deliver more campers to more customers on a timely basis. So, my service visit was positive, productive and very educational. It reinforced my opinion that purchasing my Oliver was a great decision!

Mike, Just returned from a very nice stay at Big South Fork Nat Park @ Bandy Creek - the trees were changing to their autumn colors as we watched. As previously discussed, I carefully measured the drop when hitching and My 2017 Toyota Taco TRD Offroad Double cab w/130 lb. ARE shell (the one you saw when we met) lowered at the hitch 1.75" (24"- 22.25") on level ground. As always, it yielded a level and smooth ride. I hope this helps and please let me know if this helps. Terry

Weatherization update: we raised the front of the unit and drained the fresh water tank. As we have the outlet on the bottom there was a little water left in the tank. The tank drain was closed and the trailer leveled. We turn the valves and pumped a little antifreeze into the tank. As it was going in we did notice the filter catch bowl did turn pink. As we, like many, do not like the taste or smell of the antifreeze, we raised the front of the unit, put the bottle under the drain and opened it. We captured the AF instead of letting it onto the ground. We also removed most of it from the tank. What was left in there should protect the tank. When the tank was drained the valve was closed. What little was left will be easy to flush in the Spring. We plan on sanitizing the tanks then too, which will remove any lingering smell or taste. An aside, before putting the Teflon tape on the anode, and putting it back into the water heater, we felt inside the bottom of the tank. It felt gritty. We will make a wand over the winter and really flush it out. I was surprised how much residue gathered in only one season. And we had a filter on the intake most of the time.

SeaDawg: We found the pump online at HomeD. $16 and free shipping if picked up at the local store. We also found it for $32 on Amazon, but they said "free shipping" included. Guess where the rip off happens? Maybe retail isn't dead. This unit included the garden hose fitting and hoses. Think Camco, so probably any CampersW might have, if you have one near by. It is shown in use at Oliver University, if you can get it to turn on...

The video tells you to pump AF through the city water, tank fill and black flush connections, to ensure that those short sections of the system are protcted; since none of them are on the pressure side of the water pump, they will not get filled otherwise. PS any auto parts store will sell you a fluid pump designed to go into a bottle of gear oil. There is no reason not to use it with AF, but I would clearly mark it so you don’t get mixed up. You just need to add an adapter nipple and fitting onto the hose to connect to the female water hose fittings on the side of the trailer. John Davies Spokane WA

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