Leaderboard

If we're in or headed to an area with active wildfires, we use the GeoMAC website for monitoring conditions - it's really useful. Use the main map to locate individual fires, then use the drop down menus on the upper right to zoom in. You can then use the data layer menu on the left to display all sorts of info. In particular, if you compare the fire boundary with the satellite detection layer, you can get a good idea of which way the fire is headed. For example, the 416 fire looks like it started along hwy 550 and is headed west and south. [attachment file=Screen Shot 2018-06-13 at 9.17.12 AM.png]

I will add my voice to this and think it is a great marketing idea. From my years of marketing experience, I know this is expensive to setup and maintain. If we want quality products and Oliver to over see this business, we need to set our expectation for fairly high priced products. Cost to inventory different sizes and have staff process orders timely adds up. And there are Always ideas that don't sell.

The ice cubes in the black tank sounds like a good idea, but I think I would be careful about doing that. I’m sitting here looking at a cold bottle of beer right now and there are water droplets on it. Now if you put ice in your black tank and the humidity is moderately high you will have water droplets form on the outside of your black tank and the water will end up in your bilge (you sailors may correct me on the use of the term, if incorrect). I have a thing I wash my tractor radiator out with. I stuck that thing down through the open valve in my toilet and blew the, well, you get the idea. Just be sure to stick it all the way in. Don’t ask me how I know. Edited to add: Submitted by Bill. Not Martha. (She wanted me to be clear on that point).

This is just a follow up to my original shady post. We were successful in flipping the blinds, strengthening the grip so they won't slip down so easily, and more firmly attaching them to the clips. (Please see above.) However, when widening the clips with vise grips, I cracked one of the brackets. I had, previous to tackling these tasks, sent an email to Auto-Motion, the manufacturers of the blinds. I received a phone call from one of their employees today, Vic. After I told him that I solved the problem with the blinds coming loose but had cracked one of the clips, he graciously told me that he would send a few more clips to me. He also said that I had rightly identified the problem: The clips were too narrow to firmly hold the shades. However, he gave me some information that might be helpful to other Oliver owners: He said that, if the screws holding the clips were driven in too tightly, the clips could narrow and not hold as snugly as needed. I'm not sure if this was an issue for our clips, but they WERE very firmly attached to the spacers with the screws. Anyway, I thought that I would pass this information along. I CAN say that widening them the way I did with the vise grips seemed to help: The shades seemed to need more force to pop them back into the grooves and, once in place, seemed to be more tightly affixed to the wall by the clips.

I agree with John that the search function on this forum is inadequate. I have complained about it several times before. In an earlier post, Jason said that the searches are ajax based and searches are performed in real time. I am not a programmer, but I have worked with IT specialists in developing my department’s web site, and my understanding of ajax searches is that the search results are shown as you type, and the search results narrow as you continue typing. This type of auto-complete, based upon text strings within the website, is enormously powerful. You see this auto-compete in a Google search. Clearly the Oliver Forum search engine does not do this. I do want to provide a short tutorial on Google searches. Really good information HERE, and maybe too much information HERE. John provides a good suggestion But there is a better way. If you put “site:” before olivertraveltrailers.com, as in “site:olivertraveltrailers.com” you limit the search to that one domain. You can exclude hits with specific words. Suppose you search for “propane tank” but you get a lot of hits about barbeques, then you can exclude barbecues with a minus sign before the offending word. The search would be “propane tank -barbeque”or even “propane tank -barbeque -bbq”. You can use quotation marks to demand an exact match. Suppose you search for quick connect in the search “site:olivertraveltrailers.com quick connect” and you find pages with both words (or only one of the words) anywhere on the page. A search for “site:olivertraveltrailers.com “quick connect”” demands the consecutive words, in a phrase. (I hope you are not confused by the nested quotation marks; the outermost marks delimit what is going into the search field.) You can also use the Boolean Operators AND and OR in your searches. Examples: “”quick connect” AND water” “”quick connect” AND propane OR LP” You can also use asterisks as wild cards in your searches. If you go to FiberglassRV Forum, you can search the entire post, or search only the title. Searching the title can be an excellent strategy. We cannot do that with the Oliver Forum search tools, but there is a work around with the terms intitle: and allintitle: For example, “site:olivertraveltrailers.com/ lubrication intitle:jacks” finds pages with the word "lubrication" and with the word "jacks" in the title. Note that the singular jack did not work, because the title had jacks. Hope this helps.

The one thing is that because the gauge is on the outside, you don't want to put any grease or slime down the gray tank because if the inside gets coated, the gauge readings will be inaccurate to the point of saying it's full all of the time. There are chemicals that you can buy to clean the inside of the gray tank, but it takes hot water and time to degrease.

We haven't finished adding everything, but you can find owner's manuals, component manuals and videos on the Oliver University page. You can find the Oliver University under the "Travel Trailers" tab in the main menu. http://olivertraveltrailers.com/oliver-university/ We will be adding some other "how-to" videos as we get them from the videographer. If there is something you don't see, let us know and we will add it.

Exciting news…I’ve been designing a new monthly rally e-newsletter called The Roost. The introductory issue is scheduled to be sent out next week and will feature fiberglass trailer rallies in July. I’d love to get submissions on event-related content such as a focus on an awesome rally coordinator or a few photos and description of an upcoming rally. It doesn’t have to be lengthy; 200 words is plenty. If you’re interested in receiving the newsletter and haven’t signed up yet at RV Compass, you can do so at: http://www.rvcompass.com/attend.html

I think you did OK with the $300 charge. I did the job myself yesterday and it was 4 hours from drive up to cleaned up. It's the second set of bags I've installed on a Toyota SUV. I run a high school auto shop and have year round access. It has several lifts and a full set of tools. My 70+ year old father was there to offer a hand as needed. I can't imagine doing the job in the driveway or without air tools. Leaving Minnesota tomorrow for Hohenwald. Delivery for our Elite II is scheduled for Monday. My traveling friend and I are taking a week to go down and back with a few tourist stops planned on the route. Google says the total drive is around 13 hours each way. Wish us well! Ken

A good read while waiting for delivery. Or as a refresher, to be sure we are doing things right...

We stayed at Cannon Beach RV. Short walk to beach and restaurants. Nice, clean park with wide space, very decent restrooms and showers. First time at campground and pleasantly surprised.

Ooops, you assume everyone knows where you are talking about...Oregon, yes. Abd we hit Tillamook and stocked up. Fun fact; I won a grilled cheese recipe contest in Sunset magazine sponsored by Tillamook a while back and got a really huge basket with cheese and goodies from Tillamook. It was awesome.

Ross is going to attempt an inside “bike rack” that will hold the bikes upright in the aisle of the Oliver, similar to what you sometimes see in the back of trucks. I will report back on our success/failure at this effort.

Other than the Oliver-installed bike rack it is my understanding rear-mounted bike racks are not only unsafe for the bikes but create a possible hazard for vehicles traveling behind you. There are multiple posts here regarding bike racks. Through online research (google and youtube videos) I discovered that mounting a bike rack to the back of your tow vehicle is the safest way to go.

https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/dfpc/current-wildfires Thanks, we have been keeping an eye on the fire near Durango and as we get closer to heading to Ouray, we will decide if we want to go elsewhere. It looks as if 550 (Million Dollar Hwy) is shut down, not good! We will bring our 110 volt HEPA room filter, just in case we get caught in a smoky area. It scrubs the air really well and only uses 1 amp AC, so the inverter can run it pretty much forever off our 4 batteries and solar.... Smoke is an ongoing issue in the West, Montana was especially horrible last summer with deadly, off-scale levels of particulates in a few towns. Let's hope it improves this year. Buying one of these would be a good idea for those who might have to camp in these wildfire areas. I run it in our master bedroom 24/7 because I have allergies. Even with a whole house HEPA filter, this scrubs that "clean" air even better. This is my home unit, it is a little big for a full time dedicated trailer air cleaner, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BWYO3EM/ref=sspa_dk_detail_0?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B00BWYO3EM&pd_rd_wg=yLBS5&pd_rd_r=WBESFXJ4F9W6M0K9KNHY&pd_rd_w=AykPY but it flows and filters way more air than the small one: https://www.amazon.com/Honeywell-HPA100-True-Allergen-Remover/dp/B00BWYO2FW Generic HEPA filters (make sure they are real HEPA) are $20 per pair, the pre-filters are carbon treated foam and available inexpensively as "trim to fit" sheets. You can vacuum or blow off the dust from the pre-filters, or just swap them when they get filthy. The main filters should be changed about yearly if run continuously, depending on how bad the air is.... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CKB3ZDV/?coliid=I1KZCENM2ZK38M&colid=77ELCXYF0Y8I&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it Good stuff for those of us with chronic lung irritation and seasonal allergies. John Davies Spokane WA

Randy, I think the longest mileage between fuel stops was around 175 miles. We stop before we are half empty, because you can't count on the next station being open or having fuel. This trip, every listed station in 37 appeared to have gas, except one in Iskut, I think. The road surface on 37 is a rougher type if pebbly aslhalt, for the most part. It's a little noisy, but this year it was in excellent condition with few potholes, frost heaves or other breaks. It's now entirely paved. Last time we drove it, there was a thirty to forty mile stretch that was gravel. (This is the Cassiar highway.) The rougher asphalt probably would affect mileage more if you drove at US highway speeds, but you won't. We got the usual 8 to 10 mpg with the Ford Triton v10. The Alcan was much rougher,with more potholes and wallows and frostheaves, but we were only on that from Whitehorse on. We really like this route. It's not heavily traveled, and very sparsely populated. It's also really beautiful. There are a number of moderate elevation changes, and a lot of stretches without much of a shoulder. I wouldn't want to drive it in winter, as our Whitehorse friends say it's often only one lane plowed, but in spring and summer, it's great. Driving up through eastern BC and Alberta , through Jasper, we see more wildlife. Bison and bear on the roads, etc. In great numbers. We also see more traffic and more competition for campgrounds. If we ever drive round trip, we'd probably go one way up and one way back, depending on fires and floods. You'd see a lot more taking different routes up and back. Sherry

Alaska is a great destination, and getting there is just part of the fun. Canada and Yukon are just a great trip to pass through, but watch out for free range Bison in eastern BC. By the way they blend in very nicely at dusk... We spent 35 days on that trip, pre Ollie. We only had 3 days were we had definite plans, the rest was all free form - "planning - what planning". . Will go back with the ollie (July 2018 delivery) next year I expect. A few things to remember: 1. Gravel will destroy everything behind the TV, and do a good number on the TV. Protection is a must. JD has good ideas on this. And there is a special kind of mud/dirt that stains plastic car parts - jeeze it didn't want to come off. At a few organized campgrounds we used their rv wash stations to remove the road grime - well worth the time. 2. Fuel was no issue, we just assumed 3/4 full was time to start looking, never got below 1/4. Cost - well it is just more....Unleaded was plentiful, diesel was as well. 3. The milepost was OK, but hard to really keep straight. Will look at something different next time. Don't assume a store or gas stop is open and in business just because its listed as so in trip planner. Just sayin.. We Always looked to go a route not well traveled, and not a repeat. We went almost everywhere, including a week long raft trip on the Talkeetna, a fly in trip. very cool.(one of three "I had to plan for" places.) Anchorage is not a place to discover IMHO. 4. Phones were usually worthless, except in well developed areas. 5. Crossing the borders - Not a big deal, just follow the rules. Food, weapons, etc. Had some sticks of firewood I had forgotten, when entering the US into AK, the Customs dude called me back to rear of van - asked me "You got this in US - right" Yes Sir! 6. CC and cash - just depends on how you travel. We used CC for gas and camping fees when available, cash is best changed at banks. Didn't really worry about the exchange rates and fees on CC. Probably will look at CC fees next trip. 7. Take your time, leave stress at home, getting in a hurry - just pisses one off -especially during road construction areas. Let it all roll off your back, and it will be a great trip. Bugs were not as bad as I expected, Bears were not an issue- well except in Denali and Valdez - just carry bear spray and common sense. And brush up on running faster than all but one of you party.... Now go have fun. PS - my son lives in Fairbanks - absolutely loves AK - Says he is retiring there, so I guess I be making a lot more trips....

What was the longest mileage between fuel stops then? And how bad was the terrain that might affect MPG? Whereas you have done that trip so many times, as one who has never done it, your opinion of a good route will go a long way

Loved our route this year up 97 /16/37. Just not sure about vehicles with smaller tanks. Fuel is far between. Great road.... We carried 50 gallons of fuel. .. didn't have to worry. . just saying Sherry

So, first of several links to new threads. Camping in the Yukon. http://olivertraveltrailers.com/topic/camping-in-the-yukon-territory/

Jason, very glad to see the article in Trailer life magazine on the LE2. However, I was VERY NOT GLAD to see pictures of the small storage areas that ONLY Oliver owners should know about in the article. Don’t know if the folks that allowed the pictures to be taken were Oliver associates or “helpful” owners but anything you can do to discourage this in the future would be very much appreciated. This (yes I am being intentionally vague even here) is a great feature of your trailer, but NOT a selling feature. Please PM me if you have any questions. And btw..... this is not the first time this has happened in this publication. Thanks, Scotty

Thank you everyone for your input and support for the Oliver brand! We will be looking for products and distribution over the next few weeks. We will more than likely have some Oliver maintenance products as well... wheel bearing kits, Truma Decalcification Tablets, etc. I'm sorry to say we won't have anything available until after Father's Day but we will have something up in the next month or so!

Just ten minutes ago we had a Mama black bear and her two small cubs walk through the backyard. Those cubs sure are cute. It was nice to see that all three of them had beautiful shiny coats. Guess that the neighbor's bird feeders are keeping them well fed! Sorry - camera was not handy. Bill

Yellowstone can be tough even in the off season from what I’ve been told, so it was the only place we had reservations ahead of time this trip. In hindsight I wish we’d only made reservations for one night and then moved to a less developed campground, but that wisdom comes with experience I guess. It’s amazing what a few weeks can make in Yellowstone. Mid May we only found crowds at the major stopping points and very little traffic but when we went back through on our way to Teton two weeks later it was bumper to bumper all the way around. Not planning everything ahead gives you flexibility to adjust your trip as needed. We’d originally plannned to spend at least a week in the Dakotas this trip but the early hot weather meant 90 degree days there so we went north to Canada instead and enjoyed low 70’s and no crowds from Banff up to Jasper.

There's a part of my mind that still has trouble coping with pulling into a gas station and having people quickly approaching you to ask about the Oliver. Thank goodness that I rarely am doing this at night. Just how is it that a quick stop for gas can turn into a half hour Ollie tour? Still it is nice to see that others recognize the same qualities that attracted most of us to Olivers in the first place. Bill

Chris & Duke - By "open" I assume you mean that the shades are as compact as you can make them and can see out the windows. If you made sure that each of the pleats were nice and straight as you stuffed them into the ends of the frame and it has been both nice and hot and a bit humid while they were in there, I'm guessing that they will indeed "re-set". However, just about as soon as you touch them again they will form another crease - nature of the beast I suppose. Bill

Hi y'all, This has been discussed and there's going to be a store but we do not have a set date and time when this will become available.

I wish I could have got everyone!

And some more

A few more.

Oliver tank gauges do not use probes inserted inside the tank so there is no maintenance issue, assuming your Oliver is like mine. The sensor element is located on the side (outside) the tank and I believe uses capacitance principle to sense the liquid level. I've had many RVs and this is the first one that uses this type of sensor and I love it.

Truma AquaGo problem solved :) The parts showed up this morning and I was able to check both the switch and the control box wire and the main problem was the control box wire. With the new wire I was able to run a quick jumper to test the switch and I now have a fully functional Truma AquaGo and... I did decalcify it today with the new wire just ran thru the window... But that was the beginning... And 4 hours later after decalcification, I still didn't have hot water, but I did now have the ability to run a full check on the complete system. Last Thursday, when I was taking a shower, the water went to warm, then the fridge kicked off with a check light. So I went out and found the propane tank regulator switch valve not all of the way in position. Some how this created a vaporlock somewhere in the water heater itself because the burner would come on, but there wasn't enough gas to get a full burn. That added to not having the Truma control switch working didn't allow me to see any problems that would show up on the LED3 switch in the house. Today after decalcification and jumping the system to get all of the error codes, I was able to see that it was having propane problems. So I pulled off the empty, went down and filled it, then came back and pulled the hoses off of both tanks for a few minutes to let everything reset and empty the lines to start fresh. Then I put the regulator back into the position that it was in last week, turned everything on and everything started up perfectly, problem solved :) So tomorrow, all I have to do is run a new control wire from the furnace, thru the hulls and up to the switch... So we have to empty the trailer, pull the cushions and then get what's needed to pull wire tomorrow and finish the job. Then... I may be needing a new propane regulator, but we will find that out after this tank runs dry... It has issues, and really sings when I'm running the fireplace from it, so I'm thinking that with the added propane ports that the regulator is simply too small for the system and it's not allowing enough propane to run thru the lines under a full load. But that will be a future project anyway :) Just another day with our Goldilocks :) Reed

Well I finally bit the bullet and installed disc brakes on the Outlaw Oliver. It was not a particularly hard task, not nearly so much as installing the Dexter EZ-Flex system. The cost was just under $1300. See the Oliver-Disc-Brakes-Chart.pdf for a complete break down of what I bought and where.

This is what we installed. It has worked out very well. The wife is happy so I am happy. Hope this help. Greg