Leaderboard

Hello Everyone, We only started looking at Oliver Travel Trailers a couple months ago due to a need we had in the family. After reading everything we could find and watching lots of videos we decided it was the one for us. On our way home from a 36 day driving vacation out west, we decided to get an appointment to tour the factory and talk to someone in person. We met with Anita on 9/23 for the tour and discussion. As someone mentioned earlier there were several Ollie's sitting in the parking lot awaiting pickup. However, there was also one whose owner had a major health issue and was not able to pick up his 2021 Elite II. Anita told us to take a look at it. We fell in love. It had more options than we were planning to purchase, but since it was a 2021 the cost was within our budget. We bought it! And we pick it up next Wednesday, Oct. 6. We are so excited and can't wait to take our first trip. We have learned so much from these forums and are looking forward to learning a lot more from you pros. We are totally new to camping. We both recently retired and looking forward to many years in our Oliver. Thank you all for the wonderful information you have shared. Kathy

John Davies Wrote: " Use Redline CV2 and repack every 12K to 15K miles. There is NO need to repack more often if you keep an eye on bearing temperatures. .... Use high quality parts, and a high quality lubricant, no worries. .... You do need to recheck your hub bearing play after say 1000 miles, ,,,,,,,you may need to tighten one more slot on the adjuster nut. ." I have run 21,560 Ollie miles in the past four seasons. As a Professional Mechanical Engineer and amateur wrench turner, here is what I have found to work well ... I.E. zero issues on the road during the past four seasons with my 2018 OE2 bearings: I use Redline CV2. However Mobile 1 synthetic is likely just as good, and some may say better. All I know that after four cross USA trips in the last four years, the JD recommended CV2 works just fine for me. My Chinese Dexter bearings "bothered" me as it does many new owners. I over-serviced mine annually (new grease and seals). The Dexter bearings and National seals ran 16,000 miles with no issues. But this was my personal limit of comfort for them. When I changed them at the beginning of my fourth (May 2021) season , I had a full set of Timken bearings and two sets of National ready for use depending on what I found upon disassembly. I was rewarded in doing so as they were ready to be replaced. My recommendation is to keep track of your trailer miles, service the Dexter's annually or every 5,000 miles, and be ready to replace them with better bearings and seals based upon what you see. But have the Timken's and National's in hand by 10,000 miles for sure. Buy real Timken and National seals, a bearing punch, and extra CV2 or Mobile 1 synthetic grease. When you get in the 10 to 15K zone, replace the bearings with Timken's. You will travel confident knowing you will likely not have to do a bearing/seal job on the side of the road. SAVE the best two old bearings, clean them up well, grease them well, and put them into a plastic jar. Wrap them in Sarane Wrap if you like, but keep two just in case. Have your grease and gun with you at all times. Basically free insurance. I recommend that once you upgrade t the Temkin's and Seals, you can stretch out the service interval to 10,000 miles or so. Just always have four spare seals available. I recommend replacing the Timken's every 50,000 miles just for grins. Get a digital IR hand held temperature meter. Just easy to stop and zap the temperature of your hubs. Cheap insurance for bearings or brake issues. The ONE item that I have a recommendation that is contrary with John's is rechecking the bearing "play". I recommend stopping after just 100 miles and rechecking your bearing play. I found three of my four too loose after only 200 miles. Grease the EZ Flex zerks every 5,000 miles or annually! Guys, this is about the 4th time in four years that this subject has been asked and answered. Maybe if a moderator has some spare time this winter, all these threads can be consolidated and we can put this subject to bed.....at least until the next crop of owners joins our family. 🙂 For the new owners, here is a nice hand-out to have when you are working your wheel bearings. Geronimo John +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Thank you all. I just found the water spigot. Thanks. George and Gretchen thanks for the thoughts and the chance to look at your real Oliver up close. That seems long ago. So far everything has been just Grand. Tina and Mike

Kettletown State Park is small, doesn't have many sites that are level and good for RV's. No eletric. Has a nice dump station. It has beautiful views but no river access for boats or swimming. It was well run with clean bathrooms and showers and an easy place to get to for the start of our journey.

I'll check and see if I have any of the packaging from when I picked mine up. I ended up just taking one into the local NAPA and eye-balling it.

If you live near even a small town (8,000 people) there is probably a sheet metal shop near you. Simply take measurements, make a rough drawing of what you want and take it to them. You don't need "handy", you don't need talent and you don't need equipment - all you need is money. 😃 Bill

I'm looking forward to trying the Redline CV-2 grease, when I can get my hands on it. The schedule is tight and didn't want to drive any farther without some sort of new grease. The bearing look great, so that's good. I enjoyed doing the repack. It's therapeutic in a way. And greatly satisfying.

Hi All RE: Boston area travel tips As someone that has lived in downtown Boston and surrounding suburbia since 1985. Here are some travel tips: 1. Peak traffic. Starts 3pm-7pm 2. Avoid Fri. Sat, Sun. 3. What's new? Thu is the new Fri. Often worse Thu 3pm-7pm May-Sep 4. Tech. Use GPS to plot alternate routes. Example Rt 495 5. Example: Take Rt 95 around the city instead Rt 93 thru the city 6. Solution: Travel off peak and you will increase your probability of free passage 7. Tech. Get a free EZ Pass transponder if you are a regular 8. Beaches=density. That's Cranes in Ipswich going north Rt 95 and Duxbury on Rt 3 going south 9. Rain=Add an hour 10. Caveat Emptor: Despite what the bumper stickers say..."There is no Cape Cod Tunnel". Add: 2 hours May-Sep during Fri, Sat, Sun. 11.Local Tip: go off peak 5-6am and 8-9pm and you may sail thru. That's what we do. 12. Consider: White Lake in Tamworth NH. Burlingame in Charlestown RI Ping me if I can help in any way

Or wonder about the guys sitting in those little booths about mid way all day long.. or how come the AM radio didn’t work… or where did the doors in the walls lead to.. which were all just things to mull over while trying not to ponder that dripping water….

I made a sheet metal box to fit in the space but not hit or rub on any wires or tubing. It is suspended from the flange so it can not drop down. It is easy to remove and reinstall.

This storage container is a perfect fit for the back of the basement. Plano, 68 quart, medium storage trunk.

We have spent the last two nights in our trailer and it has been very enjoyable. Picked up #905 on the 29th and stayed in the lot for a night and the second night out at the Merriwether Lewis State park to test out no hookups. Good results so far. Jason Lindsey has really helped us out. We have been in contact trying to make the big step since early 2019. We also had a great gal giving us the orientation on the trailer. Hannah was knowledgeable, very thorough,and just a real nice person to talk with. We really enjoyed the walk through with her. Thank you Oliver !!! It feel like just what I thought. A quality product easy to start our adventures in. All the Forum folks contributing info I truly thank you and will use you in the future. Sincerely. Tina and Mike Locker. Dream Girl is what I call our trailer and my Wife Tina !!!!!

The mobile unit 2 is headed back to the nest to have the battery/solar/electric upgraded. First stop: Kettletown Campground in CT.

One of the issues with shedding is getting fur (or hair) on the "sail switch" in the furnace. Besides using JD's advice above regarding filters, a small can of compressed air could come in handy for blowing off the switch. Bill

I did the same with taking one into NAPA - no issues at all. While you're at it, buy a couple of extras just in case one of them gets plugged. Bill

Weird - A couple of years ago I was having "issues" with the remote display. Like you, Progressive sent me a new remote display. Before receiving it (shipment only took a few days) I found that the negative cable wasn't tight on the protector. I tightened that but didn't test it before installing the new display. In any case - I've not had a problem since. Good luck. Bill

Glad it worked out so well! Getting an Oliver that quick is unusual. Welcome to both of you and we look forward to meeting you. Mike

We have one 100 lb Golden Retriever. He sleeps on the floor between the pantry and drawers under the kitchen counter. He sleeps on the floor at home too, in spite of having a large, comfy bed. Night trips to the bathroom involve being careful not to step on him. We leave a small light on so that we're sure to be able to see him. We spend a lot of time outside the trailer and that's fine with him. He barks at other dogs but we haven't really left him alone much and when we tell him to be quiet he's good about obeying. On our last trip we put him in Ollie and left for a short walk. We could hear him if he barked but he was good and quiet. Being a Golden Retriever, he loves to swim. We were camped right on a river on this last trip. We let him swim early enough so that he dries off before we get into the trailer for the night. I try to brush him each day to cut down on the shedding in the trailer and sweep the floor each morning. So far, we haven't had a problem with clogged vents. I think that we could make it work with 2 dogs but so far our experience is with only 1.

VBristo & Cameron: Most any heating company could make you one. Just have to fit-check it once made to see if it will hit wires or valves & the fiberglass cover will not rock around. Because i worked for a HVACR company and had installed LOTS of furnaces and AC units, I had experience in fabricating sheet metal fittings. Because of the small size 26ga or 24ga metal is fine.

Wayfinder: CV-2 is stocked by Amazon:

I just had my hubs off and can confirm for our 2020 model Elite I the parts are as follows: Outer bearing: 15123, Inner bearing: 25580, Seal 10-36 In addition, I contacted Dexter and they sent me the build sheet for my axle that confirms the numbers I got for the outer bearing and other parts. I had asked Jason (Oliver Service) prior to taking off the hubs to clean the brakes what the spare parts are so I can have on-hand in the future is ever needed on our travels. His list was Bearing Kit is #BK3-200 Includes: 14125A Bearing & Race 25580 Bearing & Race 10-36 Seal So I am assuming Jason was referencing a prior year model perhaps as the outer bearing he stated was different than the one install in our trailer. Would recommend you check the outer bearing number installed in your trailer prior to purchasing a spare set or better yet get with Dexter and provide them your axle serial number so they can provide it to you. If requested, I can upload the data sheet Dexter sent me as an example of you would get. On a side note, the bearing installed by Dexter were stamped "China" so they are not the Timken "made in USA" bearings everyone whats to have. I purchased timken bearings to have on-hand if I decide to upgrade during my next repack of the bearings. Also does not hurt to have several seals so you can repack bearing whenever the miles, time or when you feel like it hits.

A big welcome to the family! Indeed, you two are very lucky (sorry that I can't say the same for the person with the health issue). Take your time with your new baby and it will treat you well. You have many adventures ahead. Bill

We have only the curbside awning, and have not left it fully extended in rain (because rain is often accompanied by wind). We have, however, left it partially extended (perhaps 1 to 3 feet from the trailer) in the rain. With this amount of extension, the water does not drain from the awning, and instead pools between the aluminum arms. Not good, because it weights down the awning. The fabric is "breathable," but does not let enough water filter through to avoid pooling. I understand that it was easier to set angles on older-style manual awnings with support arms (allowing for better drainage); these would be much better for rain (and wind). Also, rain can bring down leaves or pine needles, leaving gunk on the awning. I've waited until the gunk dries, swept it off with a broom (while standing on a ladder, or blowing it off with the leaf blower (essential camping tool🙂). Again, I believe that the older-style manual awning would allow temporarily setting it at a steeper angle to allow cleaning before rolling it up. So, in concept, the awnings would be great for protecting partially open windows when raining. In practice, not so much. Wish they did.

How about we just add some links to some of those threads?

Steve & Ann - I didn't get the street side awning. I really don't camp very much in places where it is really hot (desert SW for instance) and where I do camp without much shade I'm usually at altitude. In addition, I really don't even use the curbside awning very much since I'm out all day either fishing or hiking. I see that you have Hank. If he is going to be with you and if you are going to be leaving him in the Ollie while you are out, those awnings do help to keep the interior cooler versus what it would be without the awnings. Also, if you generally camp in "normal", organized campgrounds then there will be those times that either due to the sun's direction or the kind of site you are in, the street side awning just might come in handy. Bottom line - for me - I'm glad I didn't spend that money to get it. Bill

That’s the plan SeaDawg, we can’t wait😜

Oct. Jacksonville Mini Rally Space Available John & Linda Ruble have a reservation that they cannot use. If anyone wants it, please message me. They have Site 31 reserved for Oct. 14, checking out Oct. 19.

We often leave Florida at 2 am, to avoid traffic. It's not fun, at 2, but gets us there.

Congratulations, and safe travels. Test every system before you leave. And I hope you enjoy your trailer as much as we've enjoyed our 2008, #12

I still remember my dad shaking me awake at something like 4am and hustling us all into the car for the oh dark thirty drive from Framingham to the Cape when we would go camp out there some summers. “ The early bird catches the worm “ he’d say. The traffic at the bridges was awful even way back in the sixties I guess

I pondered what that was for as well. I can't find anything definitive in writing that indicates that is the anti-siphon vent, but I made the assumption that it was there for that purpose. From an engineering perspective, you need to introduce an opening to the atmosphere to break the vacuum in any anti siphon device. That has been my experience anyway (almost 40 years in the commercial piping industry).

Ha, yeah. Where were you @mossemi when I needed you? Lol. Camping I bet. LoL Also, I took the second tire off and discovered a very abused grease cap. I mean, good grief, how hard do you have to hit a aluminum cap to get it back on. Mechanic must have had anger issues.

In regards to fur clogging vents, you could buy some inexpensive furnace filters or bulk filter material in rolls, cut out pieces and tape them over any openings at floor level, such as the furnace inlet grill and its outlets. Use a high quality blue masking tape like 3M, or even no residue gaffers tape, it won’t be hard to remove later and won’t leave residue. The masking tape should be fine for a season, since it will be out of direct sunlight, which tends to cook the glue…. Don’t forget to cover the propane CO detector too, it needs free airflow to its sensors. We used to travel with our two 40 pound Australian Labradoodles (99% non shedding) and it was fine except in wet weather, or when one found a mud puddle. But the older dog has gotten neurotic about traveling long distances, which freaks out the younger one, so we have stopped bringing them at all. My daughter house sits them for $25 per day, cheap compared to a kennel, which the dogs and their owners would hate. We and the dogs are happier with this arrangement. If we had to start over we would have only one animal, a mini Australian doodle of 20 pounds less. Non shedding, hypoalergenic, super easy to take care of, very people oriented. Great dogs! John Davies Spokane WA

Our 2 dogs have a combined weight of about 35 pounds, but I did have the pleasure of sharing 7 years of my life with a 150 pound Irish Wolfhound. But that was in the 70's and before Ollie's. I don’t have any real world experience with sharing an Ollie with a large dog, but I think most dog owners would do anything necessary to accommodate their best friends. Our dog is movement and other animal reactive, so we like campsites on the perimeter of campgrounds to reduce his stimulation. Our female is 15 and pretty much blind and mostly deaf and can’t get in or out of the Ollie by herself and we carry her in and out. I’m sure you’ll adjust and make it work just like you do anywhere else. Mossey

Reminds me that when you’re stuck in traffic in one of the tunnels under the harbor you get plenty of time to ponder the water dripping from some of the ceiling tiles…

I have Starlink and it's very fast with low latency. I believe Viasat & HugesNet are using high orbit satellites and will have extremely high latency/delay, won't work well for video conferences. Starlink is using low orbit satellites, so far it's been working well. It's very easy to set up and it's the same monthly price I paid for slow DSL internet. Highly recommend.

Scubarx brought up an important point on the Norcold. I, too, advise owners to manually select the power source each time. The older dometics didn't ever default to dc. The norcold will, if left in auto, and can leave some with depleted batteries unknowingly. There are a few areas where you must turn off propane tanks, not just the fridge. Many ferries require it, and some check and tag the bottle at boarding. Some tunnels, either because they're heavily trafficked, or don't have the typical little rise in the center. They're usually clearly marked, and have an alternative route, or have a pullout area to turn off tanks. Most can be avoided with planning, and if not, it's just a minor inconvenience.

We run our fridge on propane when traveling. We’ve never used 12V. It switches to 110V if we have hookups. Mike

Really appreciate Oliver creating this camping space not only for return service but pickups of new trailers as the walk is short to help and obtain resolution during shakedown. But, seriously, all of the pictures of the new camping spots which include the Queue of Elite IIs awaiting delivery are KILLING me! I can see my new, but yet to be delivered to me Ollie in many of the images and it is becoming difficult to stand the wait for delivery this coming week. Ugh, like the wait for Christmas.

Good question and one we did not really take seriously or even consider when purchasing. When we travel we carry many extra ziplock bags of composting material as well as bricks of new coco coir in case of trouble such as stated above. And it happened to us. And for a long time due to doctors not being able to identify why this diarrhea was happening. What we had to do was constantly change the compost. There really wasn't any other alternative due to our boondocking choices and then eventually being stuck at basecamp with no toilet facilities other than our composting toilet. Not a good situation. But would we change to the conventional toilet? Never. Too much waste of precious clean water, boondocking abilities severely curtailed, and no desire to deal with the stinky black water on a regular basis. Getting sick happens. And no matter what sickness you get a travel trailer is no fun to be sick in. A bed at home or in the hospital would certainly be preferred over being held prisoner in less than a hundred square feet of living space. We never really considered either one of us getting sick and what it would do to ruin our plans and make camping a nightmare. But getting sick is NOT the norm. We are eager to get back on the road as soon as possible and still glad we have a composting toilet, solar power, and plenty of fresh water.

This is a BLM area outside of Goblin State Park in Utah. We couldn't get a spot in the park, so went just a few miles away where there is a lot of BLM land with free dispersed camping.

I've boondocked at the Lower Sunshine Reservoir just outside Meeteetse, WY for a number of years. Given that the camping area consists of basically a sagebrush "meadow" overlooking the reservoir, there is no shade other than what the Ollie provides either early in the morning or later in the day. Virtually every time I've been there I've set up my small (four sided) Clam screen shelter not necessarily to shield me from bugs but more to give me an additional place to relax after a hard day of fishing. When setting up my Clam I virtually always not only stake the four corners down but I also use the three ties that come off the side center hubs and stake them. This is to protect the Clam from any sudden winds that just might come up and it has worked very well withstanding some fair strong winds - until this year. I was in bed at about 11:30pm when the Ollie started rocking. After about 5 minutes of this I got up to look out the rear window to see how the Clam was fairing - not well. So not well that it wasn't even there. Just to make sure or, perhaps, get the Clam before it was swept into the reservoir I jumped into a pair of shorts, donned a head lamp and ventured into that wind. Yep - not there! In fact, no sign that it had ever even been there! Barely being able to stand I turned to get back into the camper and a light colored square object caught my eye about 150 yards away. Could it be? Yes it was. The four sides of the Clam had collapsed but the roof remained fully open. I managed to get over to it, I collapsed the roof, carted it back to the truck and did not inspect to see what was the extent of the damage to it until yesterday. Other than being lucky that the entire thing wasn't lost in the reservoir, I was reasonably certain that the screening or the nylon material or the fiberglass poles or the hubs that hold most of it together would be broken. Perhaps I could salvage something from it for potential repairs to the new Clam that certainly was in my future. Well, all of the screening didn't have a scratch on it and the poles and hubs were fully intact. The roof does have two tears and three abrasions as well as each of the four nylon webbing tabs that are used for staking down the tent had been completely torn from where they were sewed. The abrasions can easily be fixed with dabbing on a little "E6000" and the two tears (one at about 1/4 inch and the other at about 1 1/2 inches) can be repaired with "Gear Aid" repair tape. Of course I also sewed the four tabs back on. I'm not sure if the Clam was purposefully designed so that these tabs would "release" rather than tearing the tent apart, but, it worked that way in this case. Finally, I should note that I found the four tabs the next morning after the wind storm, still staked to the ground as I had originally placed them. And, one of the three ropes used to tie down the sides was broken. I use short bungees that have metal hooks at the ends and place the metal hooks around the ground stakes. All three metal hooks were straightened! I've always liked my Clam but now I'm a true believer. Bill

Some tents are just bigger sails than others and are not possible to hold down without something giving in a sufficiently strong wind. That’s amazing how well it held up. Sounds like it did better than my grandmother’s clothesline (one of those with a post and rails making a square on top) which my father describes chasing partway across Southbridge MA during the Hurricane of 1938. He said the clothes weren’t much good by the time he finally got to them.

Hoo Boy...this post brings back some memories. Friend and I were camping in Moab in the 90s, back when you could still disperse camp just about anywhere. Set up our tent about 15 feet from the edge of a canyon. Did our best to stake it out, but we were camped on rock and there were only the flimsiest of trees nearby. So....we loaded our tent up with all of our gear, including the camp kitchen to give it some extra weight. Bet you can guess where THIS is going.....Yep! Went to town for dinner, and when we returned - nothing! Every last bit of our camping gear had blown into the canyon, about 200 feet below. Fortunately, there was an established jeep road right below, so we got a hotel for the night and then hiked in 2.5 miles to retrieve our stuff.