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BTW the dunes are spectacular and clean if you catch them during or soon after a big blow. It was a treat for photography to get this experience on my last evening there, after four prior days shooting sunrise and sunset there in which a big part of the challenge was finding good sense didn't have obvious footprints all over them. And the edges of the ripples and the dune edges were softer/muddier looking than this last evening. Thanks for sharing your experience - it makes sense driving out to the end invites the gypsum into all the nooks and crannies. In my case that was a rental car company's problem. I think they're used to it.

That gypsum is super fine. When the wind kicks up there it looks like fog hanging in the air above the dunes. In this shot, the wind was ripping - I'd guess 30+ MPH gusts and pretty steady 20 MPH ish between gusts. The glow on the edge of the dunes is a thick layer of suspended gypsum. Above that, running up to and well above the top of the shot is less dense suspended gypsum - the fog bank. And in this next photo, maybe around an hour later, the wind had died down to maybe 5-8 MPH but you can still see a lot of gypsum in the air where it shows up against the mountains in the background (the lighter haze against the bottom of the mountains). I picked my lens for this shoot while i was in the car, and even then was fast and careful about changing that lens on so as to try to avoid it infiltrating the inside of my camera.

I towed with a 2012 Toyota Tacoma for 6 months and about 6,000 miles. 6,500 lb and 650 lb tongue weight limit. It towed fine. I was at or over my payload limit and I had to stop for gas every 150 miles or so. Not really a pleasant towing experience. You need to check the payload capacity for a light weight vehicle (add tongue weight -600lbs plus passenger weight plus whatever you will carry in the bed and cab that will approximate your payload). Also check the size of the fuel tank. A smaller engine tow vehicle won’t get very good mileage and that can be a factor depending on where you tow. Also, hills and mountains can be a white knuckle experience with a small tow vehicle, both uphill and downhill. Uphill you’ll be spending time in the slow lane with the big rigs and downhill becomes a safety issue as you have a 6,000 lb trailer pushing down hill and around curves. Mike

Canis lupus Dingo... an ancient lineage of dog found in Australia. Blue Heeler, Queensland Heeler, Australian Cattle Dog domesticated and life expectancy to 16 years. A Dog that can handle High Temperatures, travel Long Distances, Rough Terrain, Protective of their Pack and faithful to their owners and herd children, when necessary. Our Oliver is now... DINGO, who was over 16 years old before passing among previous Blue Heelers we have traveled with. If our used Oliver gives us half the pleasure our previous Blue Heelers over the last 30 years... the name DINGO will be well earned. Our longest living Blue Heeler, rests in peace, within 40 feet of our Oliver this morning. This makes our pain in losing our friend, with the thought we are still traveling and exploring with fond memories for years to come. Dingo would have approved of our choice of an Oliver.

I am height advantaged so can get the wand and brush up pretty high. 😀

Everyone should be reminded that you can’t block the air vent holes if you have standard lead acid or AGM batteries, doing so is very unsafe. OTH it is good for lithiums in the winter, since they need to be kept warm when it is really chilly outside. https://rvnerds.com/2017/11/01/electrical-myths-part-4-agm-batteries-dont-need-venting/ John Davies Spokane WA

I’ve washed more than once at a normal self service car wash. Most have a taller bay that you can definitely fit in. While on the road I don’t try to get it spotless, but sometimes I just gota get some of that dirt n bugs off.

I’ve been looking for some time to have a security camera above the entry door. Most wireless cameras are not wireless they still need a power wire. I also didn’t want to drill holes and fish wiring though the hull. Roaming around Walmart I spotted this back up camera by Whistler. The camera is totally wireless and once fully charged via USB it has built in solar to keep the battery maintained. The monitor is 4in and plugs into a 12v outlet. With a suction cup mount. Looking at the picture on the box it looked like it would be a perfect fit above the entry door. The purchase price was $100,00 I rolled the dice if it didn’t fit perfectly it was going back. I did a Amazon check it appears this model is only sold at Walmart. The reviews on the whistler models were mixed good and bad. Once the camera was charged I turned on the monitor within seconds the picture appeared. Very nice color image it has inferred for night time haven’t try it yet. Very few features it is not a continuous on you can choose 20 sec to 120 sec on then auto off plenty of time to see who is outside your door. Also no audio or recording capability. Simple setup no frills. Mounting the camera I used Scotch outdoor heavy duty Velcro very secure. Very happy on the looks of the camera attached to the hull above the door it looks like a factory installed option. The Big question?? Will it last, does anything these days? It’s the $100.00 question. We shall see I'll give a review in 6 month’s the warranty is good for one year. attached are the photos of the install.

Yes, good point. I replaced my 4 AGMs with 2 Lithiums (and have a third being delivered Saturday -woo hoo!). I also plugged my vent holes that are covered with the nice chrome covers on the battery door. Now, when I wash the trailer everything stays pretty dry (staying on topic 😊). Mike

Thanks all for the advice. We stopped in Wilcox AZ at a truck wash that had decent ratings. Just wanted to get the caked on stuff off. They did a decent job and the Ollie and the truck look much better. Far from perfect but much better. I opened the basement door and found some of the stuff in the handle for the tank drain valves. Thanks again.

Hmmmmm. Our rep, Anita, reports they are working on a potential Truma AC upgrade, but cannot commit that they will install it in our build for a September 6 delivery. Kim, please promptly post what Josh says about the cost of the Truma AC upgrade.

Hello fellow coffee enthusiast! We wanted to share with those of you who like to camp off grid or find yourself often without shore power how we make copious amount of coffee with no battery impact. We drink A LOT of coffee and for fear of an intervention we will just leave it at a lot, so we needed to come up with a way to make a large amount of GOOD coffee. We started with a large French press. It was a water consumer when trying to clean and we were spending a lot of time making coffee instead of enjoying our time enjoying the scenery. Pour over was the next option but it too took a lot of “preparing” time UNTIL we found the melitta 60 oz carafe and pour over basket. We have a traditional percolating camping coffee pot. But is used for boiling water and only use it to make coffee in an emergency. It was hard to be consistent with taste and strength and keeping warm without “burning” it was an issue. I have attached pictures of our system. Hope this helps our fellow boondocking coffee drinking camping enthusiasts. Finding joy in every moment,

Not knowing what engine or even vehicle you are talking about makes this a bit difficult. However, as a ballpark estimate you could expect you "normal" gas mileage to be cut in half while towing. If that is correct then you are looking at about 9 miles per gallon and a maximum range of about 180 miles given the size of your tank. Of course anything like mountains and/or head winds will cut into those numbers dramatically. For instance - several years ago I was towing a camper across Kansas when I encountered a 40 mph head wind. My gas mileage with my Tacoma dropped to 4 miles per gallon and I was right at 60 miles per hour! Add to this that the camper I was towing weighed right at 3,500 pounds. To be fair - this camper was shaped like a brick versus the Oliver with its smooth lines. Bill

I looked for an F250 but they were very scarce and pricing was not very flexible. I lucked onto my Ram 2500, had all the stuff I wanted and they were willing to deal. Used prices were already up (Dec 2020) and they gave me almost what I paid for my one year old 2020 Rebel. I’ve thought about mounting it in the tray in the middle of the dash. Would require 3 holes, but they wouldn’t be very obvious when the Garmin wasn’t mounted. Thanks! Mike

That really is a great name.

I quit using the Andersen when I upgraded to my Ram 2500 diesel. I had used it with both half tons. I concur with everyone else, no Andersen is needed with your F350. I’ve got probably 20,000 miles towing now without the Andersen and never had even the slightest issue, it’s a very well behaved trailer! Mike

It sure is. There are at least a couple other owners here with two garage doors. Maybe look at this thread for ideas Nice backing skills there, Ray.

But isn't that a great idea to have two doors?

I think that's a wonderful name choice for your trailer, for all the reasons you listed. That is a tight fit with the garage door, but looks like it works for you!

That can help a little if it covers up areas that the first layer missed, but the Reflectix manufacturer states that multiple layers do not increase the R value, which is just R1. You must have a physical air gap between the layers to increase that figure. I suspect that when you stack them, so that they touch, the heat transfers through conduction, and a gap prevents that from happening. Imagine holding your hand close to a frigid window, then pressing it hard against it, the difference is pretty intense. That is why the Oliver double hulls work. This is definitely drifting off topic. John Davies Spokane WA

Just to make absolutely sure that everyone is clear on this subject - John Davies is absolutely correct with his statement above with regards to the battery compartment door! However, additional insulation and weather stripping can be applied to the basement door in order to improve the seal around both the outside shower, the dump valves and the basement compartment itself. I simply used another layer of Reflextix on top of the layer that comes standard and then added window weather stripping around the entire outside shower/dump handle area. Many owners will have to adjust the length of the door lock when doing this. Bill

Jim, those dune pictures are gorgeous. How did you deal with gypsum inside the Ollie? I have severe dust/ smoke allergies and that scenario would be horrible for me. I would never willingly get myself into those conditions, unless I knew I could stay upwind. It’s one reason I made HEPA filters for the windows. The gypsum crystals are OK, it is the dust that is bad. …. https://www.lafargeholcim.us/sites/us/files/atoms/files/gypsum_sds_english.pdf John Davies Spokane WA

Yes. I have increased the insulation on the basement door and put insulation on the battery door so that they both now make a very tight seal. Mike

What a delight to see these as the first posts I read this morning. Your photos are absolutely beautiful ! Thank you so much for sharing them.

It was $50 for my truck and the Ollie. They did a decent job! There was not a good self wash option near us. We are certainly not in show room condition but much better. I would use this type of service again. There were 4 guys doing the washing. They were pretty careful and I did give some initial instructions.

Probably the only fair way to do this is to have the production line change over when the 2023’s are being built. How would a September delivery buyer feel if the October deliveries had a bonus included or available? IMO the AC could help sales on the ‘23 models even with a predicted bump in base pricing. At the same time Oliver could offer a new ‘22 buyer the upgrade option that would be installed at the service center. The upgrade might be double the price of a factory assembly line upgrade but many would pay it.

Sounds to me like you could use a bit more weather stripping around that basement door?

As JED said, an Elite might be a solution for you. Our 2008, loaded for camping is just shy of 4000 lbs, with a tongue weight around 400. Similar floorplan to a Casita, but all the Oliver benefits of fiberglass molded furniture, aluminum frame, etc. A 2019 just posted for sale in classifieds. I've seen just a few sell this year.

If you haven’t crawled around in an Ollie, do so, you can use the See an Oliver link to find one reasonably close by, hopefully. Keep in mind that they are still varey rare, the newest hull numbers have just passed 1000. They truly are amazing to see in person. BTW, when I got mine, I had them delete the side graphics, but they also deleted the name stickers. For two years I had to constantly answer people who asked “Is that some kind of Casita?” After I put on those stickers, now they say, “oooh look, it’s an Oliver.”. Interesting. John Davies Spokane WA

I'm wondering if they'll only be available for fall/winter 2022 builds??? Just speculation. I asked my rep to let me know as soon as she hears something. If she does, I'll share here.

Bill, I edited the pictures to clear things up. It is actually a closet flange with a short 3" pipe glued on and the bottom is filed down to ease insertion. Mossey

I concur with Topgun2's comments above. I am a retired lawyer. I signed the same contract when we placed our deposit last October. Yes, the agreement was written by Oliver's counsel to give Oliver "all the marbles." That is standard practice for manufacturers. We consumers have no leverage to get more favorable contract language. So why did I choose to sign the contract and pay my deposit, despite the one-sided language? Oliver's history of mostly on-time production, their demonstrated commitment to customer service and the fact that Oliver trailers retain their resale value remarkably well. This means that my remedy is in the marketplace, not the courts. In the highly unlikely event that I am disappointed, I can sell the trailer for likely close to what I paid for it and move on.

Since I don't know exactly what you were asked to sign - I can't comment. However, I will assume that it is some sort of standard contract language that was written by some corporate lawyer from the viewpoint of "protecting" the corporation and not the buyer (counterparty). I do remember when it came time to sign my Oliver contract I balked at several areas to include language that said something like Oliver was not responsible for delivery delays and there was nothing in the contract about what was to happen if they could not or would not actually produce a trailer. I "demanded" financials, a clearer understanding of what happens in the event of ...... , and in general for all parts of the contract to be adjusted to more "fairly" be written so that what was good for the goose was also good for the gander. Well, basically, those demands were turned aside (stonewalled). Luckily I used to be in the investments business and was able to get financial data on the Oliver companies that most people would simply not have access to. This plus keeping copies of ALL email correspondence where I received assurances that I had nothing to worry about somewhat assuaged my nervousness. So, here I am 7 years later not regretting my purchase one bit. You are right to feel that these contracts are (usually) very one sided. But, there are at least two things on your side - 1. consumer protection laws, and, 2 - history. Bill

I think Oliver is aware of the dislike of the noisy current Dometic AC unit. I’m interested in this new unit and will be watching for comments. Mike

Glad it worked out. Had a bit of trouble with our Vizio in our 2021, but Vizio Tech Support helped. It was all related to outdated software. Suggest you run the updates from Settings when connected to good WiFi.

I’m getting some good ideas. We keep it simple, and use a compact camping percolator on the gas stove, just like the ones Road2Trails and Frank-n-Val show in their pics. We like our coffee strong and a little bitter, so that’ll do it. Don’t stray too far from stove, or risk burning the coffee, but it’s easy. Regarding Cowboy Coffee, this guy is an expert. I haven’t used his technique yet (no egg), but I want to try it soon. https://youtu.be/7UAoT21eqXI

Broken Closet/Toilet Flange Replacement So as is usually the case with whatever I touch, I break something else! Or maybe it’s just an opportunity to learn something new. While camping over the Thanksgiving holidays, we suffered a water pump switch problem in the bath vanity. I had to remove the vanity caddy while troubleshooting and there were 2 wires off of the switch mounted at the top of the caddy when I pulled it out. I doubt 2 wires fell off at the same time, so I think maybe 1 was off and caused the problem and the other fell off during caddy removal. This gave me the opportunity to start a plumbing project and install a hatch in place of the caddy as NCeagle did here. So I was sitting on the throne cleaning up the hatch caulking job and broke the closet/toilet flange while rocking around. After removing the toilet, I removed the 4 screws holding the flange in place and remembering someone else’s flange replacement, I just pulled up on it and one side moved a half inch or so. I then moved a piece of wood under that side and worked the other side and the flange pulled out. The 4" tail of the flange fits into a rubber gasket in top of the black tank. I have ordered some parts from HD that may or may not be correct one’s, but I’ll know in a week or so and post the conclusion to the story. Until then, enjoy the pictures Mossey Break flange description tank and gasket

When our fifth wheel was covered in all the oil from our oil pan (another story) we took it through a Blue Beacon and they did a good job with no damage.

At the end of my 2 month western trip late last summer I tried a Blue Beacon truck wash. Not bad for the price but if I do it ever again I'll only have them wash the Ollie or wash the Ollie and the tow vehicle separately. The reason for this was that the "soap" that they used dried on the tow vehicle before they got a chance to wash/rinse it off and this left a very difficult to remove film. Previously I've used those do it yourself spray washes and even though they take time and some effort I personally prefer them. Particularly if I have my own cleaning pad which I almost always carry. Good luck! Bill

Nothing like a great cup of coffee!

The camera system has been working great the industrial Velcro maybe over kill I have to use a plastic wedge to get the Velcro to separate a little then it separates easy. Last trip was to Jacksonville for Foy’s get together. No problems staying put on the road. The trailer is parked inside. Almost 3 months battery down to half charge. Simple usb charge to full within an hour. Still not sure if the solar on it charges the battery being inside most of the time. I’d replace it with another if it fails. When or if they stop making them. Every thing goes back to normal no holes to fix. 👍🏼👍🏼

I also see in the manual that that supports 2 cameras so you could put one on the other side as well. This system can support 2 cameras, select the camera you would like to pair. Camera 1 is the rear camera, Camera 2 is the front camera.

Dingo is a great name! Good lineage. I envy your garage situation, I hate that I have to drive 15 minutes every time I want to do anything, thank you HOA! Mike