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Paper Towel Holder Like many OTTO’s, I have had misgivings about drilling holes in our Ollie but I have slowly gotten over it. I have changed out my curb side porch lights and they required new mounting holes. Then I moved my television to the center position and as DavidS mentioned, that job was a big step in getting over the trepidation of drilling holes in fiberglass. So during our trip to the rally and Mississippi and Arkansas we camped without disconnecting the TV several times and since I had less to do setting up, I was often the first into the Ollie and I noticed paper towels unraveled and in the sink or on the floor. When I whined about it, Krunch said suck it up, it happens all the time. Little did I know living in the dark as I do. So the suction cup mounted paper towel holder had to go and I remembered Overland’s posting about the countertop extension and the subsequent postings about paper towel holders. Overland used this one and DavidS used this. I chose the Kamenstein because of DavidS's endorsement. It has a bottom that is pretty flat and it might work with VHB tape, but I was going to screw mount mine. There is a lot of good information in the forum about drilling fiberglass and using fasteners like this post. I have followed the advice of other OTTO's and I am using masking tape to mark my hole location and to minimize gelcoat damage. I mounted my new paper towel holder above the sink where the old suction cup mounted one was located. I started with an 1/8” pilot hole then used a countersink bit. Then used a 3/16” bit and the countersink bit again. And I finished with a 1/4” bit and the countersink bit again. Then I was off to the neighborhood Ace hardware store where I picked up 2- 2 1/2” #10 pan head bolts, 2-#10 fender washers and 2-#10 nylok nuts, all in stainless. And then I found the holy grail, stainless t-nuts. If those would work I wouldn’t need the nylok nuts, but I would need shorter bolts, so I picked up 2- 2" bolts. I was planning to use the pan head bolts inside the upper cabinets and the nylok nuts underneath the paper towel holder to reduce the rubber mat distortion inside the cabinet. With the t-nuts inside the cabinets there is barely a ripple. I did use the fender washers between the bolt head and the paper towel holder base to minimize the bolt penetration and thread lock on the bolts. Hope someone finds this useful. Mike

January 5 2018 I bought my Oliver for work. I live and work from the Oliver 3 to 7 days a week. February 2018 a horrible smell develop, and I discovered a small leak from the joint at the connection next to the black tank; just a drip. Called Rich and Phil about my problem, and they said they would call me back. When they called back, Rich and Mr. Oliver where on speaker phone, and said "How can we make this right?". I said "I want this fixed with the least inconvenience for me as possible". Rich said "We can bring you an Oliver to live-in while we fix yours, or put you up in a local hotel until we can get yours back to you". I realized at that moment why I bought an Oliver. 1 year 5 months, 10 years to go. Dr. Donald C. Neal with no mechanical skills what so ever.

Oliver offers the WeBoost Drive 4G-M Cellular Signal Booster and the WiFi Ranger Sky Pack as options. The WeBoost Cellular Booster will improve the signal on your phones if you use it correctly (see below). The WiFi Ranger has two inter-connected routers, the Sky router on the roof and the Go2 in the cabinet above the dinette, and it provides a number of useful features. First, it creates your own local network, which is especially useful if you have multiple devices. Logging in to your network is easy, as your devices can remember the password to your local network. Second, the rooftop antenna can boost the WiFi signal from a campground, a Starbucks, or a truck stop, from as much as a mile away (see post by RVGeeks). If your device (phone, tablet or laptop) is connected to the WiFi Ranger, you would have a much stronger signal and faster speeds than if you connected your device directly to the WiFi source. Third, the Sky router on the roof allows you to access your WiFi signal outside the trailer, as much as 1000 feet away. This allows you to surf the web at the picnic table or by the river. When inside the trailer you should connect to the interior Go2 router. The interior antenna for the WeBoost Cellular Booster is mounted beneath the cabinets, above the dinette table. It is important that phones or hotspots be close to this antenna, about 18-36 inches. The signal strength decreases if you are too far away. A lot of users use the WeBoost Cellular Booster and the WiFi Ranger together, along with a mobile hotspot. Verizon seems to have the best cellular coverage in rural America, and we purchased a Verizon 7730L Jetpack as our hotspot. In the past, we placed the hotspot on the dinette table, a good distance from the WeBoost interior antenna. After setting up camp, I would turn on the WeBoost, the WiFi Ranger, and the Verizon Jetpack. Next, I would have the WiFi Ranger connect to the Jetpack. The WiFi Ranger has a USB port, and the instruction manual says that one can use a cable to directly tether the WiFi Ranger to a mobile hotspot or phone. This post describes how I did that; it was pretty easy. I wish I had done it sooner. First, why bother? There are a number of good reasons to tether the mobile hotspot with a cable. (1) The signal between the hotspot and the WiFi Ranger is much faster and stronger over a cable than through the air via Wi-Fi. (2) WiFi connections break periodically. We all see this with our devices, where they have lost connection to WiFi, and we have to re-connect. This happens in the trailer, where the WiFi connection between the hotspot and the WiFi Ranger breaks. I find this out because my devices can no longer see the internet, and I need to use the WiFi Ranger Control Panel to reconnect them. These breaks in connectivity do not occur with a wired connection. (3) The WiFi Ranger, when powered on, automatically connects to the hotspot. I no longer have to log on to the Control Panel to do this. (4) The WiFi Ranger has something called Multi-WAN Dynamic Mode (support page and YouTube video). This allows you to connect to a local WiFi network, perhaps the campground WiFi, and the WiFi Ranger can use both the local WiFi and your mobile hotspot, deciding which to use depending upon which is currently faster. Campground WiFi can be notoriously slow, but at some times of the day it might be faster than your hotspot. This can save on the amount of data you use on your hotspot. (5) The battery on my Jetpack is getting charged whenever the WiFi Ranger is powered on, albeit a minor benefit. WiFi Ranger has a support web page and YouTube videos. I have found their customer support very responsive to email inquiries. To tether my Jetpack to the WiFi Ranger, I bought a white 10-foot USB-A to USB-C cable from Amazon. USB-A is the common USB connection that has been around for years. USB-C is a newer type connector, and I need that because my Jetpack has a USB-C port for both data transfer and for charging. Your hotspot or phone could have a different connection port, and you would need a different cable. I plugged the USB-A end into the side of theWiFi Ranger Go2 router, which is in the cabinet above the dinette. I ran the cable along the back of the cupboard until the center of the cabinet, then under the rubber mat in the cabinet and out the grommet that has the cable for the WeBoost interior antenna. I then wrapped the cable around the window, behind the frame that holds the window shades. The 10-foot cable was the perfect length to reach the center of the dinette table. I decided I did not want the cable dangling from the grommet above the dinette. Although this is not necessary, I bought some white adhesive clips from Amazon to secure the cables. It gives it a neat appearance. Finally, I put white Velcro on the belly band above the dinette, and black Velcro on the back of my Jetpack. That way I can keep the Jetpack off of the table, as other things often need this space. Best practices for using the cellular booster. Some advice on properly using the cellular booster. After you turn on the WeBoost you should briefly put the phone in airplane mode, and then turn off airplane mode. This forces the phone to let go of the distant cell tower with the weak signal and to now look for the closest “cell tower,” which is the WeBoost. Similarly, if you were using the JetPack in the tow vehicle, you should power it off and then back on after starting the WeBoost. If you have been out hiking all day, your phone will remain connected to the distant cell tower, and you can get it to connect to the WeBoost by cycling into and out of airplane mode. I tend to make very few phone calls when camping, but if you are camped at a location with very poor cell signal the booster works well when seated at the dinette. To improve your ability to make and receive phone calls I suggest you set your phone to use Calling Over WiFi. I think most phones and providers can do this. At my work, the cell signal is very bad, but with calling over WiFi I can get calls. In your trailer, if you have the WiFi Ranger connected to the cellular booster you can get calls throughout the trailer as well as outside. WiFi Ranger Control Panel. You should make it easy to connect to the WiFi Ranger Control Panel via a web browser. On a laptop, you can save it as a bookmark for quick access. On a phone or tablet, you can use the Add to Home Screen method to save a Shortcut Icon to your device.

This is one of the main reasons we sell direct. The constant feedback from our owners keeps us on our toes and we continue to improve how our trailers are built. Manufacturers that sell through dealerships have less (or barely any) communication with the actual owners that buy their RVs. Dealerships don't always have the intentions and care of the manufacturer either. They can be misleading or not prioritize customer service like we do. I have been with the company since 2013. I can honestly say that there are a lot of features and components on our units that came directly from our owners experiences. Some did their own modifications. Some made suggestions. The user feedback is important to us. In the end, our goal is to build the best camper we can make, back it up with great customer service and want owners to be safe and enjoy their experiences in them. You are purchasing a premium product... we know it is more expensive than some trailers. You deserve a premium trailer and a company that cares about it. We are not always perfect, we are human, but we will do our best to make it right when problems occur. We want to thank everyone for the comments and belief in us!

Yea, I saw that upper eyebolt right off. Ughh. You want to keep well away from rigs like that. Really, I think any passing Police Officer should ticket the owners of such negligent and dangerous setups. Dave

With two of us the black tank usually lasts four to five days. And that is with both of us getting up several times each night to use the toilet. One of the unfortunate pleasures of getting older... The people who have the composting toilet seem to really like them. If you use the search function on the forum, you will find a lot of threads. When I explained how they worked, my wife was definitely not interested in a composting toilet. When either of us sit down to poop, our bodies naturally want to pee at the same time, and you have to segregate those two bodily functions with a composting toilet.

Hi guys and gals! Over the years in my career at Oliver Travel Trailers I have had the pleasure of meeting most of you. I read the forum and the owners Facebook page often and it is amazing to see so many of our veteran owners helping our "newbies" with their questions and concerns. I absolutely love this group of people and appreciate each and every one of you. We get so wrapped up in the business end of things here at the sales office and I don't know if we show our appreciation often enough for the many field visits that resulted in our clients buying Ollies or the expert advice given to the novice campers. So today, I say thank you from the bottom of my heart. I wish you all a happy holiday season and prosperous new year! - Phil

Here's a good look at the probable towing range of the Tesla. I like this guy's videos, and his numbers are usually fairly accurate when he tests them in the real world. Without redoing his numbers, you have to interpolate between his Model X calculations and the Cybertruck's, since he's assuming a full 14,000lb trailer on the truck. I would guess that the numbers would be closer to those of the Model X, but some amount higher. So, towing at 60mph, maybe 100kw per 100 miles, or ~200 mile range? I was hoping for something close to my Raptor, which is ~350 miles, which for us would be two charging stops per day maximum, since on longer days, we tow between 600 and 700 miles. So if my tolerance for charging is two stops, then I would be limited to 600 miles with the Cybertruck and then only at the limit of efficiency, since that 200 mile range is probably optimistic. Maybe 150 or 175 miles is a better place to set expectations, which would be a 3-stop day on longer stints. Is that still O.K.? For some, I'm sure - but probably not for us. If we lived out west and were retired, so that we could take a more leisurely pace and didn't have to spend two full days on the road just to get anywhere worth seeing, then I'd probably be O.K. with the truck as it is. But in our current situation, I think we need a good 300 miles of towing range at least before an EV would work for us as a tow vehicle.

Pantry Lights We have used several different battery powered, motion detecting LED lights in our pantry. And we have never been happy changing batteries or waving a hand to try getting the lights to come on. I have seen Snowballs pantry LED fixture and really liked that application, so I went down that rabbit hole looking for my own solution. These are the lights and switches I used. Lights Switches Door magnet Frame switch Results

Please refer to this thread for info about the Macs tie downs used here. I ordered extras when I did that mod. http://olivertraveltrailers.com/topic/how-to-wire-cable-clothes-line-full-cabin-length/ I carry a telescoping ladder and two folding camp chairs in the closet, and they flop around on rough roads and make it harder to access stuff on the floor. The outer one sits on a curved surface, and there is not much space between the inner and outer walls. I cut off some #12 screws and used 3M VHB tape in the center to help fill the gap and to add some strength. The upper base sits on the inside closet wall, and I had a small inspection port there, so I mounted the base where I could reach in and feed the threaded backing plate into the correct position. There are water hoses RIGHT THERE, so you need to be careful if you use sheet metal screws. Don't drill through a hose! I used a 3 ft bungee cord doubled back on itself and secured the bottom part with a nylon tie wrap to keep it in place when disconnected at the top. It is a very secure restraint, but it doesn't put too much strain on the attach points. With my two large bins in place, there is a little more usable floor space since the chairs and ladder are now held tight against the front wall: John Davies Spokane WA