Leaderboard

I agree. The Oliver is a special trailer, and this community makes the trailer all the more special. Best holiday wishes. David [attachment file=VG-MV - 019.jpg]

We all have so .much to be thankful for. I hope all of you enjoy a wonderful Thanksgiving, and a blessed holiday season. Sherry

A special THANKS to all that participate on this Forum. Without each of you our Oliver world would be so much smaller. Bill[attachment file=P1010962.JPG]

Have a great Holiday and safe travels to all. Thanks Gary & Jona

See here: http://olivertraveltrailers.com/topic/portable-solar-panels/#post-60724

Yikes! These 3.0 V6 engines are reportedly great performing engines and you should be able to tow a small Ollie easily. Not the big one, since I believe the max tongue weight rating is fairly low. ... https://www.clubtouareg.com/forums/f66/maxing-out-tow-capacity-with-travel-trailer-134082.html However you should not even consider buying a used one unless it has had the complete emissions recall done and it also comes with a very long extended vehicle warranty. The fix will include an emissions warranty extension, but VWs out of warranty are a financial disaster from bumper to bumper. I am pretty sure that going from your super reliable 4Runner to a VW or Audi of any kind will be disppointing for you in the long run. What is your target price for a new vehicle? Do you really want a diesel, with all its complications? How many miles per year will you tow, and how many miles as a daily driver? Maybe we could help you pick a tow vehicle that would be more trouble free, like the big Mercedes GLS .... https://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/road-tests/a10159528/the-mercedes-benz-gls450-is-a-shockingly-capable-tow-vehicle/ Or a Sequoia or Land Cruiser 200.... ;) John Davies Spokane WA

Very pretty. It may be the slope of the land, or the crookedness of my eye, but it appears the trailer has a slight rise and the front tires of your Audi are a bit unloaded. Not horrendous looking, but combined, if these are true observations, you could have stability problems in adverse conditions. Be cautious and conservative on your trip homeward. Our thought for safety are with you on your journey home. Enjoy the ride.

Happy Thanksgiving to all from Bozeman, Montana. Much to be thankful for!!! Jim & Mary[attachment file=Ollie at dusk.jpg]

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Much to be thankful for. Mike

Happy Holidays and safe travels. John Davies Spokane WA

I can add a recommendation for that 3.5 F150. My 2016 model has been flawless. I bought it with the spray bed liner installed (do not get the cheap plastic one). The only aftermarket item I added is a hard cover for the bed. Expensive, but essential to protect goods from weather and theft. We have been through the West without any trouble, pulling up mountains, down mountain roads (which I find more challenging for the driver), and in strong crosswinds. Love my truck!

Could not have said it better. I am happy with the factory solar set up, although there is more advanced componentry, better systems, overall the Oliver installed system is fairly simple to use, relatively worry free, and trouble free. The techies among us would like to have more control, more features, etc., but then, as I stated somewhere else, I need to think more about where I am - camping, enjoying myself, and less about what I'm doing it in..... given time and budget - I could end up with a EII mounted on a Unimog chassis, and ….. and still be at home, dreaming up new stupid human tricks.... Dave, Debbie and Mikayla, enjoy your new Oliver, welcome to the clan. Hope to meet you in the near future.

Bugeyedriver also known as Pete was the first solar Oliver . Technomadia set the standard for the first decade, and many of us copied. We love our blue sky system. We also live on solar at home... everything changes over time. Congrats on your selection. I'm curious. Did Oliver tell you that your trailer is pre wired for solar? If so, I think that's new. And , I hope not just prewired for suitcase solar.... That's a big difference, and you need to know what it means. Welcome to the forum! Sherry

Let me add my WELCOME to you guys! April will be great for picking up your new Ollie. Hopefully you will have a good initial trip planned in order to test and learn all about your new Oliver. I would add my encouragement to you to start a new thread concerning color, upholstery, flooring, and counter top combinations. Be warned though that while basic color combinations do not change, the Factory does add and delete certain fabrics, floors and colors of counter tops from time to time. In the past, customers could even bring their own fabrics and/or flooring materials to Oliver for installation. In the present day, only those that are "standard" can be ordered and this fact should make the selection and or combination issues somewhat easier - unless, of course, one simply can not get the combination that they want. Still, it would be interesting to see what others (most of whom have better "eye" for these things than I do) think make great combinations. If you are "dead set" on doing your own solar (for whatever reason) I'd recommend that very early on you have in depth discussions with Jason and/or Richie in the Service Department. Depending on what you have in mind, they could be of great help in having holes pre-drilled or at least marked such that the drilling of holes for wiring and/or the setting of your own panels would be much easier and safer for you. You might also want to contact both ScubaRx (Steve) on this Forum and "Technomadia" for help along these lines since both were instrumental in the original design. If you decide to go the self install route, I do hope that you will start a thread on "how its done". Good luck and, again, welcome! Bill

Dave, Debbie and Mikayla, welcome and congrats on your future Oliver! There are several who have done their own solar, I’m sure they will chime in. As far as a color combination thread, I don’t recall one. But, as John suggests, you could start one and I bet folks would share photos. Mike

Welcome to the forum. Several owners have done custom solar setups. “Overland” in particular has a fancy one, I believe.... May I ask why you don’t want the factory system? It works painlessly and seems to be installed fine in my trailer. I have no complaints about its performance, other than it doesn’t do very well in northern latitudes on short, overcast days. But I think that applies to any solar design.... adding support arms to tilt the array 30 degrees helps a little. Do you plan to install extra panels, or a different type, like the thin surface mount ones? Different brand? In regards to color schemes, please don’t hesitate to start a new picture thread, with a clear descriptive title. I don’t recall seeing one like that. Thanks. John Davies Spokane WA

The extra Solar port was not mentioned as an option to us... Honestly after 4 months on the Zamp, I've got to say that I really miss the Trimetrics monitor... I also have the Renogy 100watt Solar Suitcase and I am finding that we need it daily if we park under the trees where we get partial sun most of the day and full sun just off of the street side. Still, I only need to run the generator for an hour every other day, but if I had that option, I would be using it. I keep meaning to call Zamp to see if I can just connect our Suitcase directly to the batteries, without damaging their system but overall, I really miss being able to see the battery percentage and everything else that the Trimetrics offers... http://www.loveyourrv.com/bogart-sc2030-cc-and-trimetric-tm2030-rv-installation/