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I've just returned home from two months fly fishing in Wyoming. One morning as I was getting my gear together to start fishing, I looked up the road and saw a cow moose just walking over the guardrail. If you look carefully on the right side of the picture below you can see what was right behind her. Given the size of the calves they paused at the guardrail not knowing just how to get over it. After a few moments they decided that they simply were not tall enough to walk over it like Mom did and therefore simply bounded over it. Other than being worried about traffic coming at 70 miles and hour it was wonderful to just stand there and watch these creatures. Bill

Grant - I understand that just in the past 12 months the cost of producing an Oliver has increased over $7,500. So, at least to some degree, your comment may be valid in regards to profit motive. However, many changes over the years resulting in the reduction of choices has to do with the overwhelming number of Olivers that are ordered with the seemingly limited choices now offered. Back when I ordered my Oliver I remember being simply bewildered with the number of choices available. With regards to productivity there are a number of issues to consider. Yes, Oliver has dramatically increased production over the past couple of years and yet the wait time for new units continues to increase. At the same time, there have been on and off issues with quality control - not surprising with the increase in production. In order to increase production and to make and/or improve quality control it is not surprising that the ability for customers to customize trailers during standard production has been curtailed. However, any customer can still request customized options via the Service Department either after or before delivery. Any customer can have any fabric they chose but instead of Oliver's sub-contractor doing this work, the customer will now have to have that done by someone on their own. In some sense part of all this is the "fault" of all of us (the customers) for these trailers. We wanted more of them, we wanted more and different customized things done to them, we wanted these relatively expensive campers to be free of defects, we didn't want to pay $100,000 for one of them AND we didn't want to wait to get one of them. I would encourage you to attend an Oliver Rally. I'm continually impressed with the variety and degree of customization that owners have done and continue to do to these campers. Certainly not all owners have either the skill, tools, knowledge or even inclination to do many of these things. But, if we can have a well engineered camper that is reasonably free of defects at a price that is commensurate with the market and quality then either we can do the customization ourselves or find a way to have it done in the future. Bill

Below is another critter that I spied not long after "the moose crossed the road". Perhaps he was looking for breakfast?

Actually, it is a major effort to increase production and efficiency on the line. Without these changes they might be in the same boat as Escape TT, a 23 month waiting period. They are currently building six per week with plans to be at seven by year end.

It will be no issue on my next Ollie - My front logo will be a montage of bug splatter...

Indeed, bison can be both fishermen and gentlemen. This guy decided he wanted to cross right in front of where I was fishing and then he came back to "help" Mom and child across? Then, later, a buddy of his was sleeping on the bank. I didn't see this last guy as I was getting out of the stream, but, his snores were loud enough to wake the dead. Unfortunately, I didn't capture the little clouds of dust that came off the ground as he exhaled!

So funny....It's the other way around for us... We are patiently waiting for our delivery - our trailer is NOT waiting for us! Trust me when I say ours will not be sitting lonely in the lot waiting for us. Got a hull number this week...927...our excitement grows each day! Just about burned out on planning and watching YouTube videos - we are ready to start living our dream and joyously making all the mistakes for ourselves 😁

I find mine to be very easy to clean. The photo of Bosker was put on by a car wrap business and it has a very strong, and slick, clear coating applied on top.

Hi All, We have a 2022 on order but I have been perusing the 2021 Owner’s Manual and noticed the Table of Contents is not linked. I have tried to accomplish this with Adobe and attached a copy. I know the page numbers as listed get a bit wonky after the blank Electrical Diagrams, so hopefully this helps to quickly get to the topic of interest. Let me know if you see any glaring omissions. Cheers. Wolfie OTT-2021-Owners-Manual-LINKED.pdf

Cleaning bugs off of the logo on the front of our trailer is no more difficult and sometimes easier than cleaning them off the fiberglass. Mike

micro wave plate rides in a bubble wrap shipping envelop in the micro wave. had done some serious 4x4 travel with no issues. trash container under the kitchen table

We’ve camped in heat many times and our Dometic 3-way has performed well. That includes a few times in triple digits, it kept up. We’ve also boondocked at elevation and it had no issue working on propane. It’s 5.5 years old, not sure what we’ll do when it expires, we may go a different route. But, up to now it has worked well for us. Mike

As others state, the Oliver sink top cutting board stays put well; ours has yet to fall out. We are carefult to not store heavy items in the overhead cabinets. A few heavy items we store over the sink: French press and vacuum coffee caraf. These we secure with a foam block and something to protect the door from being scratched or, worse yet, broken, if something inside gets moved around in transit. The main thing is to not have any cargo loose, but packed in tight. Heavy items we store in the bottom of the closet: space heater, extra Magma pans, LED/solar lantern, Jet Boil Base camp stove (for outdoor cooking when it's really warm). In our pickup bed tool box we carry items used outdoors: small LP tank, Portable BBQ grill, generator, folding table, bike gear, etc.

Great minds think alike! The plastic storage container on top of the oven keeps it from bouncing up and down. It serves a dual purpose: it is just the right height, when placed on the counter under the storage compartment door to make a level surface for drying dishes. Silcone grease shield (on the left wall) and silicone draining mat (right wall) protect the inside of the cabinet from the oven. Protecting the wall from the back of the oven is a silicone mat (curling iron mat used in hair salons) that the oven sits on when in use. And a small piece of pipe insulation to keep the oven door handly from rubbing on the cabinet door.

Hello! We picked up our new trailer on Friday and just wanted to join the discussion. At some point, I’ll figure out how you all add tow vehicle specs at the bottom of these posts. Also, can someone point me towards an insect screen that works for the Truma? This could probably be in the delivery section but I’ll add a pic here.

Thanks a lot. Helpful info.

2008RN: My Natura's Head Composite Toilet (NHT) was installed by the factory when the Ollie was built in 2018. This first picture is showing the vent pipe from the NHT going into the sink vanity. Although I did not take the sink vanity apart to see the interior piping, It must travel up to the top of the sink vanity as it crosses over to go into the closet, as the vent pipe in the closest is even with the top portion of the sink base. The vent connection to the toilet is removable so you can remove the toilet base for cleaning. The DC power line is zip-tied to this vent pipe. This next picture shows the vent piping coming into the closet, using a 90 degree elbow and running horizontally to the front of the closet. This last picture shows the vent piping going vertically and out through the roof. Hope this helps. Have fun with the install.

This picture (taken on August 23, 2021) below shows a line of new Olivers that I was told are mainly patiently waiting for their new owners to pick the up. WOW! I remember that I simply could not wait to get my new Oliver. Let's get camping! Bill

Ooh nice - thanks. I'll be checking that out!

If there's trash in the can, I tie the trash bag. Ours rides fine, in the bath, or under the small dinette. I usually block the trash can (often empty of trash, filled with cleaning supplies) in the bath floor, with other small, soft things that might fly if we hit a pothole. Often , a soft duffel bag to wedge everything in place . I don't leave anything unsecured on the bath counter that's heavy or sharp, that could hit the door, but soap, shampoo, etc, riding in the bath sink has been fine. Over 100,000 miles, 14 seasons, we've not lost a drawer, or a door. Do make sure you check all door latches (cabinets, closet, bath) are closed before takeoff . Like Taylor.coyote, when we had a microwave, I wrapped the plate and left it in the microwave. We rarely used it, so other storage items crammed in kept everything from moving. We have a cabinet, now. Gave up on the microwave when it died, from lack of use, after 10 years. I usually wedge the small dinette cushions on the curbside of our bed. The fabric on my cushions is slick, so sometimes they'd ride, sometimes not. Easier to move the four cushions, than pick them up off the floor, imo. It takes less than a minute, each way. In the kitchen sink, I have a dish pan, actually two that nest, turn the drain rack up, and wedge a tea kettle, coffee urn, and a dish towel, for travel. Not pretty, but it's worked. I store nothing heavy up high, just like in the boat. Canned goods, tools, storage bins,, etc, are always low. Plastics, softer and lighter food packages, etc, are high. I use ikea skubb flexible fabric bins, ebags luggage cubes, and a few old Tupperware containers to corral stuff up in the top cabinets. Fabric dividers help squish into the curves. My pot, fry pan , and wok skillet are always down low. You'll figure it out. How you store depends on what you carry. My rule is heavy low, light high. Better for center of gravity, and when you open a cabinet door, something heavy won't fall in your head.

Bill, regarding bug splats on the front logo, that's why we decided not to have one applied. I do like the choice of side stripes we had when ordering our 2021 LE2, but a mostly bare Ollie would still look great.

Smart, travel light and don't get carried away with stuff you probably don't need, or will never use. trainman

My thumb of course! Mossey

Very familiar with his work, never met him but he is a very well respected landscape photographer. Understand too, its also possible in a smaller truck camper internal heat build up might be considerably higher than in our Olivers. For me I have never understood the allure and attraction to a truck camper though. Just don't get it but each to their own. Thanks

@Galway Girl is that site number 53 at West Glacier KOA?

West Glacier KOA is a wonderful campground and only 6 miles from the Entry Portal to Glacier.

I agree with the disappointment in finding somewhat serious quality issues with an $80k travel trailer! Sure the factory will repair it... but that isn't always a convenient solution nor is it satisfactory. I really don't want to have a "laundry list of manufacturing defects" to check on during my April, 2022 delivery day inspection (but I will). I had owned another (here unnamed) brand... that as a company was very similar to Oliver in their dedication to customer satisfaction. They would jump thru hoops trying to make everyone happy, even after the warranty had expired. Their failure (to this day) is that far too many times the SAME customer problems would crop up over and over to the point that their Forum was really a "how to fix the design/manufacturing problems yourself" site. Based on my experience with that brand... I made a point to ask Anita and Jason a very specific question when I took our factory tour; "When a problem happens in the field... how do you handle it?" They assured me that when something happens in the field... they go back to the manufacturing point and attempt to get to the "root problem"... and fix it so that it doesn't happen on future builds. I hope that turns out to be true... because most of the problems that pop up... if they do a proper root cause analysis... these things shouldn't happen again. It's in their interest to do so because every "repair" is profit lost, whether its done at the factory or by an authorized rv repair facility. I sincerely hope that somebody at Oliver is monitoring this site to be aware of problems... especially repetitive ones. In addition, I think it would be nice to sometimes hear from Oliver on what they are doing to resolve some of these problems (for example the shackles with wet bolts that should have a bushing?).

Lol, we do the same. Will have to look into carrying a few blocks of foam with us.

Hi! We are Vic & Wanda Shumate out of Auburndale, Fl 33823, retired, been RV’g for 31 years, prior RV’s (1991 HR imperial 33’ gas, 1994 HR Navigator diesel 38’, 2001 Bluebird Wanderlodge LX 500 diesel) It was Time to downsize as age is catching up but our zest for bluegrass festivals, Smokey mountain trips along with state parks nature and more, would not let us go quietly! Our last RV (Bluebird) was sold about 6 months ago) our exhaustive search for a replacement small RV pull behind begin about 2 months ago and ended with the selection of the Oliver Legacy Elite II with a sales order written today 8/12/2021. Thanks to Josh White! No need to tell you all why we chose the Oliver lol and yes we took the factory tour 8/19/2021….. looking forward to our ownership sometime in June of 2022…….At the moment we will be towing it with a 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 liter V8, summit……We also have on order a Tesla cyber truck two motor due sometime in late 2022 that we hope to use too! We are excited about the Oliver and look forward to future meetings with other owners……..

I don’t know the resale potential of an R-Pod. I’m sure it is not anywhere near that of an Oliver. Olivers have had consistently high resale values. Mike

You can certainly make a financial argument for buying an Ollie over another trailer but in all honesty I think you’ll just be rationalizing a decision that you’ve already made for some other, probably more important, reason. Buy it because you like it. Because you want something you can be proud of. Something that will be nice enough that you’ll actually want to get out there and use it. And something that is dependable enough and well enough designed that you don’t spend your trip thinking about it rather than all the cool things it’s allowing you to experience.

My father died young, he was only 47. I was 20. He taught me many things that I was not smart enough to appreciate at that age, but something he once said to me has stuck with me these past 50+ years. I was contemplating buy a new tool. The one I wanted was a name brand and was quite expensive. I found another brand that was not nearly as well respected but was considerably less expensive. I weighed the pros and cons of each. Finally, I asked his opinion, should I buy the better brand or should I save money and buy the cheaper tool. He looked me straight in the eye and said, "Nobody was ever sorry they bought the best there is." There have been times through the years that I have ignored this advice and bought some item that was cheaper or lacked all the features I wanted in an attempt to 'get by.' In almost all cases, I've ended up later buying the one I really wanted and ended up with two of the same thing, thereby having spent more money than I would have if I'd just gone ahead and bought the better one in the first place. I just don't buy things that I consider to be disposable. I still have and use that tool that I bought on dad's advice. Can you really afford to buy cheaper items that you will just end up having to replace? "...Nobody was ever sorry they bought the best there is..." James Holly Landrum 10/1923 - 05/1971

Values are hard to judge right now. As you said above used cars are selling for almost new values right now. Used put away wet units are commanding top values as well. Used stick built RV’s less than 3 years old are selling for new prices. Used Oliver’s are selling for 10-15k less than current prices. If Oliver keeps raising prices like they have over the past 5 years a unit equipped like you want will cost 100k (~25% increase in 5 years). I could easily see how you could sell a used unit in the future for a profit. What will a $30k stick built be worth during that same timeframe? IMO it depends on inflation and what new units are selling for.

Amazing the difference.

would you buy a home located somewhere you didn't want to live, just because it was less expensive? This question was helpful to me in overcoming the cost of a Oliver. Good luck in your journey!

I think so. But, our 2008 has never been stored inside. Florida sun. We wax it twice a year. Plastic non-oliver components have yellowed. The jackhead. The door window frame. The rest is fine. Save the price of a carport.?

The other odd things about the rpod... the wheel wells outside the trailer makes it pretty wide on mountain roads. Our Oliver tracks right within the path of the tow vehicle. We always know where the trailer is. Hers had a slide out, so shallow as to be barely useful, vs the air and possible moisture leakage. And one used one she looked at, we rejected, because the slide-out was already jerking and problematic, at 3 years, among other things. I particularly dislike slideouts. They always leak air, and bring in mosquitos, in my experience.

And, it doesn't even have solar. I'll be interested to see if he gets his asking price. Is the Rpod your wife's choice? They're indeed cute, and you could easily buy two for the price of an Oliver. My sister had one for a couple years. It is a continuous roof sheet of laminated fiberglass bumper to bumper, but take a look at the factory slubs of caulking at seams and openings. It did have an aluminum cage, though, vs 2 x 2 stick and staple. If that's your choice, make sure you have indoor storage for it. My sister's didn't have any leaks when she sold it, but it was always stored indoors . Hers came with c rated st tires, barely sufficient to carry the gvwr. Those had to be upgraded right away. Single small flooded battery. Upgraded. Awning difficult to deploy. No 12v outlets. Cheap but cute plastic faucet in the kitchen that broke. Decals fading some, even when stored indoors. Etc. My advice would be to go look at a five or six year old rpod, and a five or six (or 14) year old Oliver. Time tells the difference. Then again, if you don't even know if you like camping, a less expensive entry point can make sense. Rpods have a kind of cult following, and you won't get hurt "too bad" if you decide you don't like it.

There is a 2008 model (Hull # 024) being advertised on facebook right now for $37,500, It originally sold for $27,924. How's that for holding its value?

Since my wife and I are just one year older than you, we certainly can relate to the importance of agreeing on large purchases at this time of our lives. We also had to check with our financial planner before spending $80K on our Ollie. We had the green light from him to buy an Airstream; however, I got cold feet worrying about hail storm damage in our home state of Illinois. That's when I found out about Oliver Travel Trailers. I started reading about them; then I found this forum. The wealth of information on the forum cannot be duplicated anywhere else. It is not surprising considering the number of professionals and I have to believe engineers who own Olivers. Just ask a question, and you will have an answer within no time. I'm talking hours if not minutes; it is nothing short of amazing. We picked up "R-Villa" on May 17. So far we have logged 3,500 miles. I have pulled trailers before, but never have I pulled one so smooth as an Oliver. The aerodynamics are great, and even in wind she is so very stable. In this world you usually get what you pay for. That is true of Oliver. Their service department is fabulous, too. I just returned from Hohenwald for some minor needed "fixes" that often come with a new trailer. They were all taken care of in short order. We were completely satisfied. I encourage you, like others, to take a factory tour.

John, I’ll throw my 2cents in. We have had our Oliver for about 2-1/2 years, pulled it over 25,000 miles and camped in it around 200 nights. We are actually ending week 4 of a 5 week trip. The only problem that we have ever had was with a First Alert smoke detector that malfunctioned in month 4. Oliver sent me a replacement. These trailers and the folks you deal with when you buy them are as good as it gets. As you can probably already tell, the owner community is great too They are pricy and I am a tightwad but If I lost it I would not hesitate to replace with another.

Used Olivers sell for way more than 50% of their original cost. 90% would be a better estimate. Mike

Yeah I also looked at Escape from British Columbia but the Oliver beat it out on a free important counts despite the Escape factory only being five hours drive from me. But they’re another interesting fiberglass option fwiw

Are there other distinguishing features for your intended use that might lead you one way or the other between those two campers you've identified? E.g. for me the four season (ish) ability of the Oliver was important versus a few other brands I was considering, as was the great ground clearance and at least OK axle for doing things like potholed dirt roads at a slow clip (and the impossibility that the cabinets would fall from the walls on those potholed roads and other related build quality/sturdiness benefits). Adding in a reputation for pretty good service followup it became a fairly clear choice for me/us.

Hi John, I think we've all kicked that can down the road, at least a couple times. You make perfect sense and with that said; I think you both would have no regrets enjoying great times you're both going to have in your new Ollie. When the storms blow and the elements are demanding, you'll both be safe, secure and comfortable in your little home on wheels. I personally belive an Ollie is an investment, you'll definitely spend less time being concerned about the quality of your purchase. When I bought mine sight-unseen, I stumbled upon Oliver Travel Trailers on the Internet and never looked back... I had never even been in one until the day I got mine. The worst that could happen is, your investment will hold it's value better than most and you'll have some great times along the way. Thanks John, for stopping by and reaching out! Nicky Ray

It’s a hard decision I’m dealing with as well. Spent the past couple of weeks looking at various models. Some are dirt cheap construction that will fall apart in a few years of heavy use. Others like the geo pro and mini lite visually look like a huge step up in quality while still being really cheap. The problem I’m having is a model like the mini lite 2509s is set up much better for my usage (family of 4 w/dog) vs the EII. So I ask myself why spend 2.5x the amount for something that doesn’t work as well for the family? We’ll I’m hesitant because we’ve owned aircraft for decades and a cheap plane is anything but…

Time will tell how these trailers work out, there is a lot of junk trailers on the road.

Michelins are excellent quality and very car-like, relatively speaking, and they do OK in snow, but are NOWHERE as safe and capable as dedicated snow tires. Considering where you live, you should have a dedicated winter set on cheap wheels. Everybody around here runs winter tires, except those who slid into the ditch or into another car….. and next season those folks got them. If you don't get snow tires definitely buy a set with the snow flake symbol, it is better than your average “jack of all trades, master of none” All Season tire, but just barely. One problem with Michelins is that they are lightly constructed, and have a soft and vulnerable sidewall, that makes them ride nice, which is perfect for the East. You need to be aware that on a western trip if you encounter rough gravel, even a short section of torn-up under construction freeway, it can result in sidewall damage. Most owners don’t care about sidewall protection, until they slash a tire 100 miles from the nearest tire store. On a Sunday. My personal feeling is that a truck that will be heavily loaded and does towing needs real heavy duty truck tires, not soft car-like ones. John Davies Spokane WA

Yes, go with E rated tires.

I personally cannot guarantee ANY Timken bearing is authentic. I don’t have the knowledge. Some of them look good and the packaging does too. There are quite a few online articles about this problem, I’ll see if I can find some links to post. The ONLY way to be sure is to buy from a Timken authorized dealer, locally if possible. They order direct from Timken and have a solid paper trail, plus they sell to industry so they would not stay in business long if they provided bogus parts to critical equipment like power generating plants.... I will post my receipt from my last purchase. If you order “real” Timkens from an Amazon vendor and in three months that vendor is gone, that is a HUGE red flag..... that is why I asked for a link from Bill. Are Ollie Dexter axle bearings made in China? Without a doubt.. Dexter probably has a supplier they trust to make “adequate” parts, but for sure they are still very poor quality. And the seals are complete trash and failure prone, taking out your brake when one leaks. Then you have to replace both on that axle.... John Davies Spokane WA