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Not one single thing to complain about, Thus far its everything I expected and more. Tows like a dream behind the One-Ton (no anderson hitch just a 2-5/16 Ball.) My tongue weight is 610 Lbs. Fresh Water Tank is Full rest empty. My Hitch provides the actual weight on the spot. I can imagine others have a much higher tongue weight as I am single and pack very light in comparison to most. I do have two 15 gallon water jugs in the front box that I bought filled and strapped there to increase the tongue weight because at 490 Lbs. (This was the exact weight when I pulled it out of the factory and for the first 500 miles before I put any of my stuff inside of it) I was feeling a bit more feedback from the trailer than I appreciate and I figured the additional weight would change its attitude. It did and having the extra water along is a plus until I hit cold country next week then I may change them out for a couple sand bags. Before JD tells me the front box is only rated for 150 Lbs... I know... Its fine and I will beef it up before my next trip. I will post a couple pics when I get better service or home I think this Weigh Safe hitch may be something others find helpful especially if your in a situation where tongue weight is critical due to your tow vehicle. A quick google of "weighsafehitch" and you will be looking at it. I can attest to the fact that it works well and is much faster then finding and weighing on a CAT scale at a truck stop especially if your experimenting with different weights to find your comfort zone. At any rate Props to Oliver for building a quality product in a time when that is not so common anymore and I was very impressed with their staff and how I was treated by them on my pick up day. They are all working hard to push these units out the door but they are doing it with Grace and I appreciate that a lot and they deserve the credit for it. I have attended three Nascar races in a row now (I did not have the Oliver yet for the first two) and will be dry camping in the infield of Kansas City Speedway this weekend, this will be my first time dry camping and I am sure I will exceed the tanks capacity but they do have service running there to pump and fill so I am REALLY not dry camping but I will give it a go and see how long I can get by.... Trouble is that insta hot water heater works very well and it only takes a handful of showers to top off the grey when the water does not get cold. Oh, and the towel hooks somebody was hating on in their blog? they work perfectly, my towels have not fallen off in over a thousand miles and I doubt they ever will but you DO have to know how to hang the towel properly on this style hook..... thanks Grandma for that lesson years ago! Happy Trails Everyone, From Guthrie Oklahoma... For Now...

Welcome! You can’t go wrong with a Oliver, It is a quality built fiberglass trailer. We also live in Maryland (Carroll county) and would be glad to show you our Oliver and answer any questions, Hull 901

AND - the East is where the Oliver is made.😁

The equipment arrived rather quickly as described above, It is installed and working and the following are the results to date. Local Provider via Microwave type system; Mbps Download - 22.3 Mbps Upload - 1.91 Latency - 39 ms Star Link: Mbps Download - 152.9 Mbps Upload - 3.00 Latency - 40 Thus far Star Link is the ONLY option for us with these types of internet connection speeds. Now to see how reliable it is with our weather patterns. I personally have yet to experience it as I am sitting in Guthrie Oklahoma in Hull #928 (my pick up date was bumped up two weeks) but I was so happy to hear this report from my office that I decided to update my post here.

It's a really big decision. We literally looked at every smaller trailer in the market, back in 2007. Still enjoying our 2008. Typing this as we're camped. About 24 weeks so far, this year. Look at width, and tracking, hull and frame, and look again. You'll figure it out.

Is the surge protector display showing electricity coming in, and if so is there any error being reported?

To clarify a few things: The inverter is not used when connected to campground shore power. The campground shore power provides AC power directly to the AC outlets, microwave, etc. in the Ollie. The inverter is not used when using a generator. The inverter is used when boondocking for using the onboard batteries to provide power to the AC outlets. The inverter converts the battery DC voltage to AC voltage. Your generator may be putting out 120volts but that doesn’t mean it can supply enough wattage to run the microwave and whatever else you may be running at the same time. What is the continuous wattage output rating of your generator?

Hi Everyone! This is a wonderful forum and appreciate all the great information, pictures, help, etc. This will be our first (and hopefully last) purchase based on what we’ ve read and watched on videos. We’ve been researching for about a year, attending RV/Travel Trailer events, and visiting dealerships but have not found anything yet. With such a huge investment, we want to ensure our home away from home is of excellent quality, durable, last long, and doesn’t require constant repairs (especially if it’s brand new). We’ve also researched the Escape and the Bigfoot. However, we keep getting pulled back to the Ollie. We did submit a request to see an Ollie in person and hoping to do that soon. We are super excited about this next chapter of traveling and adventures!

Just finished Winterizing and have the composting toilet. Fearing the geyser of water then pink stuff all over the bathroom and myself when purging the small toilet line, I went to Ace and bought a sink line ($10) and cut the top from one of the empty antifreeze bottles. Worked fine for mess-free winterization of the toilet line behind the Natures Head. Maybe three drops of pink stuff to wipe-up.

Hi. My first poll attempt. Wondering what the typical ownership period is. Thanks!

If you have shore power I would put the generator away and connect to shore power. If the microwave doesn’t come on I would check to ensure that it is plugged in (check in the left overhead above the microwave. If it is plugged in, I would check whatever GF outlets you have to ensure they aren’t tripped. I believe there is a fuse in the breaker panel for the microwave, I would check it too. Mike

Welcome! Glad you’re considering and Oliver along the Escape and Bigfoot. Each are a bit different. Tennessee isn’t too far from Maryland, a trip to the factory is educational as far as build quality, features and factory support. Let us know what questions you have. Mike

Welcome and glad that you "found" Oliver. Besides visiting an Oliver in your local area (a great first step 'cause seeing is believing), if you live anywhere close to the Oliver factory, be sure to take the tour. Also, for both the tour and your visit - take your camera. It will help you remember what you saw and help with questions that you may have in the future. Good luck and let us know if there is any question we can help you answer. Bill

My twin bed Ollie is set up as a one bed with the other side being a couch (i.e. it uses the standard cushion on the bottom along with cushions along the wall). On those occasions when either my wife or my fishing buddy join me - they sleep on the "couch" with the back cushions removed for the night. All six people that have done this have told me that they slept very well and this was surprisingly comfortable. Bill

We sleep with our heads next to the pantry & stove. It's fine for me at 6' tall. Some folks sleep with their heads at the rear of Ollie, which would be tighter for someone over 6'. At 6' tall, I don't have headroom problems in the shower, but we do not have a wooden shower matt on the floor/drain area, I'm sure that affects headroom. Bill, I was thinking about Patriot, too. Checked the invoice today and it is AB Lifestyles 11" RV memory foam mattresses. Here's the pattern AB Lifestyles used for our mattresses in our 2015 LE2:

Welcome! When we were trying to decide what RV to buy we also looked for a year before we saw the Olivers. It was the first thing we agreed on so that was a good sign. 🙂. Seeing one in person is great for feeling how the space would work for you. We also thought the trip to TN (from NH) to do the factory tour was well worth it. In fact it was the deciding factor. Good luck! Lots of good info on here from people. Paula

So true.

We've done a bit of campfire cooking the past ten days. Today seemed like a good day for an all day fire, and pie iron brunch. My friend shared her hashbrown, egg, cheese, and onion casserole recipe. We added leftover diced ham and some sour cream. Yummy.

nPerf Applications I stumbled across this map page, it is most interesting. Normal coverage maps show where you can at the very least make a call, or send a basic text. These maps show actual download rates, which is what is useful for effective online use. Verizon: AT&T: I have Verizon, no wonder I can’t get connected in those nearby dead zones in Montana and Wyoming…. The only thing I envy about those of you living in the East is your access to data. 😁 AT&T Mobility 3G / 4G / 5G coverage map, United States OTH, this is application USER GENERATED data, so places with lots of users, like big cities, will naturally have LOTS more data points. “Where does the data come from? The data is collected from tests carried out by users of the nPerf app. These are tests conducted in real conditions, directly in the field. If you'd like to get involved too, all you have to do is download the nPerf app onto your smartphone. The more data there is, the more comprehensive the maps will be! All test results are displayed on the maps. Filtering rules are applied before performance calculation for publications.” John Davies Spokane WA

Well I hate to see it being flipped instead of going straight to a lucky owner, but even with the markup it's still a good deal.

Appreciate the warm welcome and advice😊 @John Dehne That would be great! We are located in Anne Arundel County, which is not far from you. I’ll send you a private message.

Looks a lot like the one that was just for sale on Classifieds for $29k

We’ve got a bunch of sheared window screws. I haven’t done anything to repair, it doesn’t seem to affect the windows much. We haven’t had a condensation problem because we usually have both vents open, it’s one of our set up tasks so even if fireside wine is consumed we’re good. Mike

We don't have factory mounted solar panels or inverter on our Ollie. Use a 100W solar suitcase with one 100AH BattleBorn Lithium battery with 20A solar charge control, shunt, and battery monitor in the battery tray.

Bill, JD, That is correct, lighting in the photo caused it to look a shade darker. David

David is 6'3" and finds the twin beds fine. We have the KTT mattresses. He does have to crouch over a little bit in the bathroom because of the ceiling height so we didn't add a wooden shower insert on the floor. Since we usually use campground showers if they are available it hasn't been much of an issue. Paula

At the Florida mini-rally I hosted a couple for a tour of my twin bed Ollie. The male is 6'4" and he laid down on the bed flat on his back and had a bit of room to spare - his head did not touch nor did his feet touch unless he flexed his feet (pointed his toes) towards the wall. At 6' tall, I can flex my feet and touch the wall with my toes but my head is not touching the wall. Patriot is in the "tall" range and has the twin bed model. Perhaps he will chime in here and/or you can always send him a private message (PM) on this Forum to get his input. Bill

Dave and Kimberly, Believe our AB Lifestyles are 11", but will double check and verify later today in this thread. The invoice is in Ollie at the airport. Will take an interior shot with these mattresses in Ollie and post later today in this thread, too. We are very pleased with look, fit, and especially comfort. Ollie is very pleasant to camp in and even better with comfortable mattresses. Patriot just purchased new Ollie mattresses, but not sure of the manufacturer. Hopefully he will chime in on his new mattresses and sheet experience, too!

This is a great spot on Energy Lake. It is a spot we stopped at on our way from Tennessee to Wisconsin. It was in The Land Between the Lakes and was really fun. A great spot was The Homeplace 1850 Interperative Center. Pioneer log buildings and everything that an old farm would have. Tina and I loved this spot. Volunteers doing things that would be done in those times. It was memorable. Tina and Mike

It's a good strategy, and you wouldn't have to remove the awning. Just add your support to the bracket like Oliver did with my rear ones. I'd originally asked them to do all the panels in a single raft like above, but Oliver was concerned about the height and how to attach the rear. I think they were limited in thinking that they had to start at the usual height. If they'd done them all off the awning mounts, but an inch and a half higher than they made the rear ones, then everything could have floated just a hair above the roof and would have looked pretty slick imo. Of course you'd want to hinge everything, for maintenance alone if not for solar gain. I can clean under the rear panels, but it's a pain. You'd want to hinge it in two or three sections though to make it manageable. I'd love to see someone do an install of just the narrow panels, like this - three per side -

My install is similar to John’s. 2 BB 100aH with room for a third. After a lot of camping I’m not sure I need the third.

In an RV, solid copper bus bars between the battery terminals are great IF you can ensure there is no motion whatsoever. If the batteries can shift even a small amount, there can be extensive damage. I doubt that BB would warrant them in that case. If you hit a deep pothole at highway speeds and they shift, uh oh.... I installed two regular sized ones, with room for a third. All batteries have two Mil-Spec (zero stretch) straps crossing them, for redundancy, plus tight fitting spacers at the bottom. Remove two nuts at the wall posts, pop off the cables, slide out the tray. Easy John Davies Spokane WA

Camp pillows that tickled my funny bone...

Yes they fit very nicely.

This, I like - I never cared much for Oliver's sink and faucet choices and I'd actually planned to supply them a sink and faucet to get installed on the line. Unfortunately the one I wanted wouldn't work and I was having trouble getting the proper dimensions from Oliver, so I just let it go and figured I'd replace it later. Well, that was a good idea until I realized that the cutout Oliver made for the sink was way too big for any of the bar sized sinks that I could find. And all of the full sized kitchen sinks were too big to fit. But finally I stumbled across this oversized bar sink from Franke. It's the 17" Franke Vector. Overall, it's the same width as the existing sink, but the lip is narrower, so the bowl itself is a bit wider. Mainly the sink is much longer and deeper. In overall volume, it's over twice as large as the original sink, but takes up no more counter space. Can't beat that. And because it's farther forward and 3" deeper, it doesn't splash all over the place like the original. In fact, I can even turn the faucet up all the way without it splashing over the front of the sink, which is novel. I like the Franke sinks in that they have the straight sides and look of a modern zero radius sink, but they do add a slight radius to the corners so that you can actually keep them clean. Installation wasn't too hard. I'd rate it 7/10. The difficulty was that I had to modify the base cabinet for it to fit. There's a wood brace running across the top front that is screwed to the fiberglass beneath the drawer trim, which had to be cut out, and also a portion of the left side of the cabinet. That sounds like a lot of structural support to remove, but the cabinets are mainly tied in at the bottom and I ran it past Jason beforehand to make sure I wasn't looking at it wrong. I have to say that the cabinets are stoutly built, and I'm not at all worried about it. The second problem I ran into was that my countertop wasn't perfectly flat. It bowed down in the middle slightly which wasn't apparent until I installed the sink. But I was able to temporarily shim the counter against the top of the cabinet while the silicone seal dried and then I glued PVC blocks around the perimeter of the sink to both hold it in place and to level the counter. The Franke sinks have an odd installation clip that wasn't designed with hollow core fiberglass in mind, so the blocks were necessary anyway. It's not going anywhere now. Of course I lost use of the flip out drawer but I hated that thing anyway. I glued a few ½" blocks to the front of the sink and then fixed the drawer front to the blocks with heavy duty velcro, just in case I ever need to remove it for some reason. The sink depth worked out perfectly with the existing cutout on the back of the middle drawer to clear the drain. I thought I was going to have to get a Hepvo trap to make it all clear but Oliver actually places the trap behind the cabinet, so no problem. I did have to get the narrowest profile elbow I could find to attach to the drain basket, so I had to go with cheap plastic rather than PVC, but such is life. At the end of the day, however, I decided to use a different drain basket that was a bit deeper, so I had to make the drawer cutout about a half inch deeper after all. The faucet is a Grohe that I found on sale at Home Depot for about half price, so that was a nice find. It has a really nice feel to it and unlike the sink, was a cinch to install. Grohe has a trick installation method that allows you to work from above so that one person can do it without crawling under the counter a hundred times. Oliver's hot and cold lines are convenient to get to and there's an access panel in the back of the cabinet that can be removed if you need more room to work. The only issue I ran into was that the counterweight for the sprayer was getting caught up on everything that's packed in the back of the cabinet. To fix it, I made a tube from some flexible plastic sheeting that I had lying around and just slid that over the sprayer hose. Now the hose slides easily inside the tube and as a benefit, the weight won't bang around inside the cabinet while traveling. So that's about it. I've learned that I don't have the patience or foresight to take progress pictures Like John does, so my description will have to do. But I'm happy to answer any questions.

We had water intruding from the top of the window frame on one of the bed side windows, turned out to be coming from the porch light. Caulking around the housing was fine, but nothing on the screw holes. Sealed those up and that fixed the leak. Surprising amount of water from such a small opening!

Follow-up on delivery: In case any are wondering the cost of lodging, RV sites, and fuel associated with delivery, here are expenses of our 5,000 mile (plus a little bit) trip from the Southern Oregon coast to Howenwald and home again (rounded to the nearest dollar): Fuel - $927 (diesel) Average mpg 14.30; mpg affected by driving conditions - windy and cold conditions on I-80 all the way from Utah through Nebraska on the trip to Tennessee. Average mpg towing on the trip home was 12-15. Speed also played a part in mpg since it seems to make a big difference in the 1-ton diesel fuel usage when driving at freeway speeds. Diesel prices High 3.56 (CA) Low 2.08 (NM) Lodging and RV sites - $986 Hotels on the trip to Hohenwald - $734 (8 nights) RV parks on trip home - $252 (6 nights) We took our own food; only ate out three times. Didn't count this as delivery cost since we have to eat anyway. Picked up some supplies - hitch, small tools, etc but all were non-consumable and not included in cost. Total cost of delivery $1,913 Value of adventure, priceless