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Delivery Day was cold, but pleasant at the Oliver Sales Office. Jason Essary was our orientation person and he was available by phone all day and night if I needed him. Jason was great! There is so much to learn for a "first-time" trailer person. There is no way Jason or anyone could fully indoctrinate a new owner to every nuance of the Oliver travel trailer. So as we camped, and tried to get comfortable with our new little home, there were situations that came up when I did not have a clue how to proceed. But a quick text or call to Jason and my problem was solved. We spent two nights at the Natchez Trace Campground. The weather was very cold and we used our fresh water tank instead of city hookup due to the threat a freezing. The heat in the trailer was very comfortable. We spent twelve nights in the Ollie as we made our way home to Melbourne. In that process we became not only comfortable, but halfway proficient trailer people. Beverly has learned quickly how to direct me as I back our rig into tight places, and I have learned a few tricks along the way. All my initial worries and concerns have gone by the wayside. We love our Ollie and look forward to hitting the road in mid-April for eight months on the road as full-time nomads.

Don, it is fairly straightforward as the instructions say. I serviced mine several months ago. The front jack is a little tricky, just remove the outer plastic cover then the actual gear case cover. The only awkward part is the motor power wires pass through the gear case. You’ll see this when you get into it, not difficult. The two rear jacks are easy. Just remove the four gear case cover screws and lift off the cover. Push down on the square shaft that protrudes from the cover as you lift the cover. That will keep the gear in place. In case the intermediate gear stays in the cover, go slowly and turn the cover over slowly so as not to drop anything. You’ll see all this as you go. Don’t be afraid of it you can do it. I added more white grease to each jack. I didn’t think that initially there was enough there. Also, as suggested add some to the bearings. One of my jacks was fairly noisy so the extra grease really helped.

We got one within the first month after pick up since we had an accidental turn off. Good investment, good customer service. Highly recommended. Mike

John, My trailer has the telescoping tongue, so it's a simple matter of pulling out the cross bolt, behind the coupler,and extending the tongue to where you want it. I don't remember how far it can be extended. Does yours have this telescoping tongue? Later models did away with this telescoping feature, and so to answer your question with respect to those, no. The bolts are only 2" from the end of the aluminum box that mounts the coupler, so it can't be moved forward and the coupler itself is already at a leverage disadvantage, so it's bolts, (the coupler bolts) should not, or could not, be moved 3" farther back to move it forward.. There is so much strain at that location that sleeves were installed by Oliver to help distribute the load from the coupler bolts to the aluminum box tube. These sleeves are 7/16" ID, about 3/4" OD and just under 3" long. They resist the pinching load from the coupler bolts and distribute the towing forces to 3/4" holes in the box tongue. I found the 7/16" holes in the coupler were slightly elongated from the strain, but the tongue was fine. The coupler bolt nuts had run out of threads and bottomed before adequately pinching the coupler against the tongue and it's sleeves, so the bolts were in pure shear and able to move slightly. The fix for this was to add a grade 8, 7/16" fender washer on each side of the coupler, on each bolt. Now it sucks up nice and tight.

Charlie sells his stuff through Little House Customs too and the fridge guard can be purchased there. http://littlehousecustoms.com/store.html He also makes a fridge spill containment tray for the bottom of the fridge that will fit our fridge. It works great keeping drinks and things from rolling around the bottom and contains any spills.

One of our camping stops when we were touring Colorado and Utah last fall was Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. It’s not a large park but was well worth the stop. It’s called Black Canyon because the canyon formed by the Gunnison River is so narrow and so deep the canyon walls can appear very dark. The closest town is Montrose, about 15 miles away. We camped at the South Rim Campground which is just inside the park entrance and is at about 8,300 feet and easy hiking distance to the canyon. There are 3 loops in the campground, A and B for RV’s and Loop C for tent campers. Loop B does have 30 amp electric hookups at each site, no water or sewer. Picnic table at each site. Each Loop has a set of vault toilets and drinking water. Since they truck water in there is no filling of RV tanks and no dump station. Reservations are accepted for Loops A and B from the middle of May to the middle of September. We were outside the reservations window, so it was first come first served. We arrived mid afternoon and had no problem getting a site in Loop B (B15) with electricity which allowed us to run our little Vornado space heater since the nights got quite cool. We would have been fine with the furnace. $22/night or half with the senior pass. Both Loops A and B were full before dark. There are plenty of hiking opportunities and you can also drive the road along the canyon stopping at various pull offs to hike to the rim of the canyon. Maps, reservations and more information are on the park website. Mike

Those are our extendable flag poles. One is 26 feet long and will handle two flags. The other is 32 feet and is for spinners. I bought both in Quartzsite a couple of years ago.

Was visiting the trailer today , waiting for parts to finish.