Leaderboard

I was told by Anita that it did rotate and was easily removed. It will not increase the bed size. We decided not to get it and to go with the basement door instead. There are pictures of both under upgrades/add-ons on the website.

I'm grateful for the many opportunities that life has placed in my path. As we approach Thanksgiving, I would like to challenge each of you to find a grateful moment,off the general hook. I am grateful that this year, our daughter has found an amazing guy, who cherishes her, and loves her, and will always put her first. I am also grateful that we have joined a community of souls who share, and tolerate other opinions. Most of all, I'm grateful for those who want before me. Mom, dad , grandparents, and great grandparents who just threw it to the wind, and jumped the ocean. Yes, I'm grateful that I own an Oliver, but, as you see, it's way down the list. Sherry

Had this idea last year but did not get around to executing until this week. I was thinking that keeping light out of the trailer when it is in storage would keep the heat level down. As an added benefit, if you need to overnight at a Wal-Mart or other parking lot with all night lighting, this might let you get some sleep. All I did was remove the window shades and cut the reflectix to size. Then it is easy to install / remove and roll up and store. The roof vent for the MaxxAir Fan and the Door Window took some velcro and duct tape to make work but it was pretty easy to size and put up. Easily removable with the velcro. The last picture of the interior was taken on a bright sunny day around noon. When you first enter and close the door it is pitch black inside. When your eyes adjust you can see the interior enough to move around. Some light still gets in but not enough to keep you awake. Hope you enjoyed this. Best, Scotty

Greetings from Colorado, Questions about the bed and table options for the Oliver: 1. On the Twin-Bed configuration, does the Lagun table "drop-down" to make a king-size bed? 2. How easy is it to remove the Lagun Table if desired? 3. Does the Lagun Table "swivel" like a hospital bed table? Can it be pushed (swiveled) out of the for a little more room? Thanks, Peter and Patty

It is not "extra" storage....just extra access to existing basement storage from the inside. Apologies for the mis-information on the table :-(

Correction: battery parameters such as equalize time etc. are input on menus 3 & 4 NOT 2 & 3! That’s what I get for not having the manual in front of me.

Kind of getting this thread back on the "windows" subject - Right after I purchased my Ollie I made some window "inserts" from some "Reflectix" insulation that I had left over from another job. Whenever I place the Ollie in storage or when I know that the temperatures are going below freezing when I'm camping I put it in the windows just to insure a bit more warmth, (or cut down on the light transmission while in storage). I'm really not sure that this does any significant good, but, it makes me feel better knowing that I've done all I can. Bill

Peter & Patty - We seem to spend a bunch of time talking about which is better, which is safer, which is more comfortable, which has better "style", which is the most economical, etc. I think that at its base level the whole deal about towing is fairly simple - make sure that the basic towing limits are covered with enough safety margin for you, others on the road with you and your insurance capacity. Once that is done then (up to some limit) more is usually better. More is either more comfortable or allows you to tow at higher speeds (safely) or for longer distances or over steeper passes or more extreme grades or varying difficult conditions, etc. Virtually any of the current full size pickups with a tow package - whether gas or diesel - will tow a fully loaded Oliver without problem. Will a heavy duty (HD) truck do it better? Again - just how much "more" do you want or need for what you want to do? Will your van tow an Oliver? It appears that it will. Will it tow it within the safety and performance margins that either you expect and/or want or can afford? That depends on you. I happen to believe that there are times when the gas pedal is just as important as the brake pedal for getting one out of a potentially dangerous situation. Therefore, I tend to be more comfortable with a tow vehicle that is not as close to the limits as your van will be. But, if you're willing to live within the limitations that the van will impose on you ... Bill

Oliver has dealt with CPAP many times. They can add 12v and 120v outlets in the overheads with a hole to run the hose through the bottom of the cabinet. You will need to determine where your head will be. We always slept with our pillows to the forward end. when boondocking it is more efficient to run your machine on 12v because the inverter will consume a lot of battery just running itself. If your CPAP does not have 12v buy a 150 watt plug in inverter from CPAP.com. It will come with a cigarette lighter plug. Way more efficient than the inverter. I have several of these small inverters for use in my Airstream. CPAP, fans, TV, all run fine without cranking up my 3000 watt Magnum.

Beverly and I sleep in our twin bed version of the E2 with our heads toward the kitchen. I sleep on the street side, and place my CPAP on the shelf under the pantry. When on shore power, there’s an AC outlet right under my bed, and when on battery, I use a small 300 watt plug in inverter plugged into a 12 volt outlet under the dinette. The 2000 watt sine wave inverter is great, but it’s not made for small loads. (I use my CPAP without the water vapor generator.) On small loads, the big sine wave inverters probably (and I say this without facts at my finger tips) draw I’m guessing about 3 amps for internal loss, and another 3 amps to run the CPAP without water evaporator. So, about twice what the CPAP would draw on a small inverter. So, our 2000 watt unit is mainly used for microwave or other high current demands.

Like minds.

Writing at the same time again John :) Being we just paid $2.72 for gas here and diesel is $3.50+ with the $.96 cent a gallon diesel tax here, you can do the math... Our Chevy has an 11,000lb tow rating and does not compare to the diesels but it it works fine for what we bought it to do. The Mercedes diesel we had was a whole different ball game and there is no comparrison but with the taxes here and the environazi attacks on diesel, Mercedes quit selling diesels to us stupid Amerikans... So we downgraded to Chevy but in the long run it will save us a lot of money. We have the top of the line Chevy but still, I will post a separate topic on the comparrison because as always, you get what you pay for and stepping down from a $100,000.00+ vehicle to a $52,000.00 vehicle, you expect there to be a big difference when you make that choice. Reed

+1 on the above but... It will work and as long as you know its limitations beforehand, you can plan ahead. You said your axle ratios are "3.42 and 3.73 Axle ratio", but which one? If you don't know then I would sell it because running the wrong ratio will make it impossible to back up hills when needed. You're running too close to the edge for me but... It would work if your in a pinch. Reed

Angus, Of course your van will tow your Ollie! The specs of your truck are considerably above the weight of your Ollie. But, having said that, you might find you'd like something else later that is even heavier duty, and that will be fine too. It's not like you're trying to tow it with a Beetle, or a Datsun pickup. And your truck seems to have traction control, which is good. Be sure you have a high quality brake controller before you tow! Your brakes might be the weak link if you don't work the trailer brakes hard enough. Yes, a diesel would get better mileage, but it also will cost a LOT to buy. A big diesel will pull harder, but how hard do you need? Use what you have and see how you like it. I'm towing with a Ram/Cummins, but I know your truck is perfectly capable of getting you to a campsite. You also already have 4WD which is very important. BTW, you state the axle is a 3.42 AND a 3.73. No it's not. Which one is it? 3.73 would be better for towing. You say yours is a 2017 and then you say it's a 2007. They have significantly different engines. Which is it? Reed is towing with a 2017 or 2018 5300 Chevy and he seems to like it. Maybe he'll chime in here. Looks like your "ball mount" is a bit light. Do you mean the actual ball mount that slides into the 2" receiver? Or the hitch that is bolted to the frame? Look on etrailer and see if you can upgrade to 6000 lbs. The Oliver bulldog coupler on mine is for a 2" ball and it's rated for 6,000 lbs. My Ollie has a tongue weight of about 475 lbs ready to go. I've measured it with a scale. Not sure of the overall weight, but it is probably near 5,400 lbs.

I also apologize but I would have to concur with John. Although it is an anomaly and our trailer weighs over 7100 pounds, yours will weigh well north of 5000 pounds and that puts you closer to your max tow capacity than I would want to be. I really feel you would have much better towing experience with a better equipped truck which would probably actually get better gas mileage also. We went from a 2014 GMC Sierra 6.2 liter gas burner to a 2017 Chevrolet Silverado 6.6 liter diesel. The old truck got <12 mpg towing towing and (at most) about 20 mpg highway. The Silverado is getting >14 mpg towing and on a recent non towing trip, better than 26 mpg highway! And this beast weighs 1500 pounds more than the Sierra. Something to consider...

If you lived down below 3000 ft I would say, go for it. But having towed my Ollie on the Million Dollar Highway with a turbo diesel, I can say that you will be COMPLETELY unhappy with the towing performance and it will suck fuel like you would not believe. You really need to consider a diesel. They make towing at 10000 ft a delight. If you get a HD model you won’t need a weight distributing hitch, nor will you have to worry at all about payload. The Elite II is compact but, if you buy many options, it is a heavy little guy. You need more truck.... or else buy the smaller trailer. Your van simply does not have enough reserve towing capacity for those high passes. Sorry for the bad news. John Davies Spokane WA

Angus I keep my Cpap in the overhead storage cabinet. Inside the cabinet, I have both a 110 outlet when we have shore power and a 12 volt (cigarette adapter) when boon docking off the grid. I had a hole cut in the bottom of the cabinet to run the hose through. Oliver can customize the power outlets and hole for you. All that is exposed is the hose, so easy storage and no clutter on the cabinet top. You can buy a 110/12v converter made specifically for your machine. mine cost about $80.00. Recommend you get one from your manufacturer made for your model. Sleep well !! Hardrock

I've not seen a Lagun table in an Oliver, but I have seen them at boat shows. Amazing and ingenious design. Highly adjustable, and made to swing out if the way. I'd love to add one in our 2008, replace the little dinette table, but I don't think there's a good attachment point. Lots of info on the capability of the table available online. They're really gaining traction in the boat world . Sherry

Hi Peter and Patty, I may not be the best qualified to answer but I will tell you what I know and what I think. I know that you cannot get the extra basement access door if you choose to get the lagun table...so for that reason we opted to not get it and instead add a table of our own if needed. What I think - it does not swivel, nor does it drop down to make a king bed. In fact I am not sure what the storage options are for it if any but I think it can be removed. We recently placed our order for the twin bed option but have not taken possession yet.

We spent September in Colorado camping from 6,000 to 10,000 feet. We’ve also camped during cold weather, low 20’s. No window issues. Mike

Not sure about other owners, but I have had a few return for a second visit. The first can be over whelming with all the info and enthusiasm. On the second visit they come with a list of questions, realistic expectations, and are a lot more relaxed. Of course that all depends on the distance required to travel. You will find most Oliver owners are nice people with a lot of pride in the quality and vercitalty of their unit. Good luck with your research. The hardest part is waiting for delivery, after writing the check. See you around a campfire sometime...

Have we really had that many problems? Most of it seems normal or no big deal. The first thing tomorrow now that we are South and out of the weather at my sister's is, I'm going to pull the light off over my window and check for moisture because if it's there, then it's the same seal problem all of the 2016ers had that we were talking about last year. We've had this trailer for 9 months and we've been in it most if the time with beautiful weather; with only a few days here and there between trips until we moved into the new house after it was finished. We picked it up in February in the rain and we were in it full time until the end of July, when we got moved in to the new house. Everyone says that it takes a few months for the bad seals to start leaking, and being that we didn't have a problem until now, looks like a no brainier to me now after seeing the responses... At least it gives me a good place to start... Others here this year, have had so many problems that they have parked their trailers and walked away. The major problem was the water tank and every single Oliver trailer ever built had that problem before ours and that equals - 200 trailers and then some... We just lead the way to the fix with the videos on how to do it. Then the new drawer slides that allowed the drawers to slide out and fall on the floor. We were the first to post about it here on the forum but there were 4 trailers with that known problem before us and then many trailers after. The reason that you are hearing about all of our problems, is because I post about them. Like this one, the water leaking in the tops of the windows... Once again, I was the first to post about it but now, look how many have chimed in with the same problem and this isn't counting everyone on the black streaks thread... Same with the bad ground issue, it was a quick easy fix... Ummm... that I haven't heard back from Jason on for the permanent fix yet, but we're talking. I wasn't the first to post on it, but look at how many trailers had or have that problem going back to 2015. We find the problems because we use our trailer and you hear about these problems because I talk too much :) Basically I love to share what I'm doing, I love making videos of the important stuff, and we've been using our trailer pretty much every day since we picked it up February 13th, so weve been in it about 260+ days so far this year. But we didn't buy it, to leave it sit in storage somewhere, we bought it to travel. So when you look at the amount of time that we've been in it, compared to so many other trailers that are just sitting unused and empty somewhere in storage,,, you get the picture. The problems were already out there, we are just bringing them to light and then fixing them for all to see. Oliver's a good company that has been hit hard with their self induced growing pains, everyone of the owners and workers that we have met are flat out good people. A lot of people take their trailers to Howenwald and things get fixed before people even knew that there was a problem in the first place, then many others take theirs in to a repair shop. Goldilocks is still under warranty, most all of our parts have been paid for by Oliver, I would just rather fix the problems myself. I love this trailer, bottom line... especially now that I can pull the water level down to zero without having to tilt it at all :) Reed

I went over to the storage yard this morning and took a couple of pictures of the installed vent cover. Hopefully this gives a better idea of what the finished product looks like. Bill