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Another interesting note relative to the pause in Oliver Travel Trailer production - Not one Oliver employee was laid off during this period - they were simply transferred over to other areas of the company - another reason why there is so much to like about this Family. Bill

Great video, Chris! When I clean my windows and take out the rubber and plastic parts they go straight into a bucket of soapy water (Dawn) to soak while I’m cleaning the tracks. Makes it a bit easier to get the grime off of them. I usually treat them with some 303 and let it dry good before reinstalling. I did replace my exterior lights a few years ago. I got tired of the black streaks and the gaskets were getting old and deteriorating. I found some on Amazon that are about the same form factor but are all metal, not plastic. I had to make my own gaskets, ordered some thin rubber and used the lights to trace the shape. No black streaks anymore and the lights work just as well if not better. RV Lights on Amazon

The awning prevents the sun from shining through the windows, helps keep the inside cooler.

Great video by Chris Scarff! This is so helpful and definitely put on my maintenance checklist.

Thanks @topgun2! I had just posted a simple video and linked it on the Oliver Owners Facebook page. I'm still getting people saying they didn't know about cleaning both tracks in the windows. There's always something to learn, just gotta come across the right subject at the right time, for sure. Hopefully I did okay with the video and didn't steer anyone too far off course. Chris

I have also been to OE in VA and they did the same thing. The corral with "the cool kids" was limited by the previously stated restrictions. However, there was an area right outside the corral that had everything from Airstreams to Class A motor coaches and the walk was not bad. I spoke to Oliver about it and it seems they have talked to some at OE only to get the same answer we saw before. They want the rigs to be small, compact, and fully off-grid capable. Guess the Oliver looks "too nice" to fit in to that group. It is a great event and we plan to go back. Brian

When I met Jim Oliver on Christmas day in 2007, near my home, he spent two hours showing me a trailer while telling me about his family, the company, and its loyalty to their employees. I was not only sold on the Oliver Elite but on the entire culture at OTI and OTT. At that time they not only matched employee's 401K donations, but if a young worker with a new and growing family was unable to contribute on their own, Oliver Travel Trailers still made a deposit on their behalf. Needless to say, I was sold the trailer, the Oliver family, and the Company. I committed to purchasing The Wonder Egg on Christmas day, 2007! The Wonder Egg still maintains its original beauty. Here's how it looks now, fifteen years after bringing it home.

We play Backgammon in the evening's after we finish playing swap the mosquito! Your Monopoly Diced game looks interesting. Mossey

In the interest of full disclosure - I'm sure that you fully advised Magnus of his rights and that he is now being followed 24/7?

Got Airtags for the dogs yesterday and even though my phone is a little older, they connected and work real good. Probably get a few more for specific items.

I wish they made truck caps

@mossemi : We had first kiss without any help from alcohol and we kept it that way since the beginning... 🙂

@PatriotThanks. Too many videos to go through though. I'm not sure if I can go through it all before I can retire.

Done.

I have recently replaced the solar panels on the Outlaw Oliver. I used the old panels to attach to the topper on our truck. The truck panels will be used to keep a new Battle Born 100 Ah charged to run our Dometic CFX3 75DZ refrigerator located in the bed. In reading and researching different aspects of this project, I came across some info concerning the Solar Panel Disconnect Switch that I want to share with the group. All existing Oliver's with a solar system installed at the factory will only have a big red on/off switch installed in the positive side of the power wires coming down into the coach before going to the charge controller. This serves as their Solar Panel Disconnect Switch. The following information is from a guy named Nate Yarbrough and I copied it directly from his Blog Post that is listed below. Is a Disconnect Between the Solar Array and Charge Controller Necessary? Short answer: Yes. And here’s why: NEC 2020 Article 690.13 says that “Means shall be provided to disconnect the PV system from all wiring systems including power systems, energy storage systems, and utilization equipment and its associated premises wiring. Is a Dual Pole Disconnect Necessary for a DIY Camper Solar Array? Again, Yes… And here’s why: NEC 2020 Article 690.13 section (E) States that “ The PV System disconnecting means shall simultaneously disconnect the PV system conductors that are not solidly grounded from all conductors of other wiring systems. Since camper electrical systems are generally NOT grounded, this means that both the positive and negative conductors from the solar array need to be able to be simultaneously disconnected, and our dual pole breaker does exactly that where those other breakers and switches do not. _________________________________________________________________________ This is a link to his YouTube Video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOXnWXvLXko This is a link to his blog post that gives you all the same info with written instructions, a parts list and pictures. https://www.explorist.life/how-to-wire-a-solar-disconnect-for-a-diy-camper-electrical-system/

Pete, are you sure that’s the Wonder Egg? Looks like a new trailer to me. Hardly 15 years old. JIm was a great guy. I remember him taking a bunch of us Oliver owners to dinner one night while he camped with us at Quartzsite. Humble and generous. Mike

There was a product called LowPro LockDown that was built for the Honda EU2000i, but it is no longer available. This one is similar. https://www.etsy.com/listing/1253698861/generator-lock-security-low-profile Mossey

A concern I had with the use of Air Tags is would heat from running the gen have an impact on the AT performance? It appears Air Tags are ok from -4 up to 140 degree mark. Naturally you would not want the AT secured and hidden around the much hotter exhaust end of the gen. Air Tags are not considered anti-theft, merely a tracking device if an item should grow legs 🏃🏽. I don’t see us leaving our Ollie without our gen secured and out of sight. On the other hand, at $30 per AT with no monitoring fee this seems like a reasonable way to track items of high theft value. There is an easy hack to disable the (speaker) pinging feature of the AT so that the thief will not hear the ping. This audible pinging sound starts after 72 hr window has closed after the tracked item has gone missing. Even Mr. Magnus woof 🐕 as @MAX Burner mentioned. 😄 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0932QJ2JZ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BZHLR988/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1 https://support.apple.com/kb/SP840?locale=en_US Patriot🇺🇸

We're looking at possibly attending OE in Loveland this AUG... Fun time in CO that time of year, just FYI.

Right on Charlie! These 2 links will probably answer your questions. And your phone does not a SIM card for Bluetooth to work. I used an old cell phone with my BMV-712 Smart for a year or so. I never really used the included display, as it was mounted below the rear dinette seat. The Smart Shunt was not available at the time I purchased mine, but that is what I would buy if I did not need or want the display. Don’t hesitate to ask if you have additional questions. Mossey https://www.victronenergy.com/battery-monitors/smart-battery-shunt https://www.victronenergy.com/battery-monitors/bmv-712-smart

I didn’t know about black awnings! I thought they were all lighter colors. I can see where that would absorb heat. The Fiamma awning can lower enough in the front to allow clearing of leaves and debris. Not sure about the automatic awnings. Mike

I've got the original EZE stuff - but - I found THIS that looks like the same stuff. Good luck! Bill

That's it! A little different, but that IS it. Thanks

Excellent idea. I'm sure it will work just fine. In fact, just last Friday I departed Frankfurt on a fairly tight layover and my checked bag didn't make it... I'm the Middle East right now, and I've been tracking the progress of my bag to my current location. It made it to the local airport late last night. Thanks to Apple's Air Tags - you can easily track your lost/missing items so long as its within a cell signal... I've got one on Magnus' collar, too! WOOF!

Some other games we enjoy: Monopoly Diced Yatzee

Been to the OE many times - always on the BMW GS1150, however. The Flagstaff venue has RV parking adjacent to the Expo, don't know about the Loveland, CO venue for RV camping, though. All in all, a Great expo - incredible setting, Flagstaff. Too bad Ollie's don't make the cut to camp within the OE area. Some of the RTW rigs make the OTT look like a peanut. So, size isn't the issue for attendance - it's all about the off-road "Round The World" capability of the rig. Met some great friends there, for sure. Like the Earth Roamer:

Congrats, and have fun on the road

Most use the 712 to monitor the total flow to/from their batteries. You only need BT - no cell or WiFi. It's the easiest way to know what's happening in your Ollie. Turn on something and you can watch the flow from the batteries change. Soon, you'll be much more knowledgeable about your energy use. I wouldn't want to be without a 712. Charlie. Note: it's the black thing in the picture with the negative leads running through it.

@Ollie-Haus Thanks. Started video going on my three monitor setup. 🙂

@MAX BurnerThanks for the good Advice. 1. Adventuresome, fun-loving; Yes we are. 2. Out-of-doors oriented, golfers, bikers, fishermen, backpackers, etc.; All of the above 3. DIY'ers: Big time 4. Pet lovers; and : Still getting over with our past dog. Loved her so much but, could fight against time past 18 years 5. Cold beer enthusiasts, HA! : Both of us are allergic to alcohol. (Is this a big problem?)

@Brian and Brandelyne: We lucked out - no wheel well or banana wrap damage. Went to 16" Sendel wheels and Michelin RIBs - piece of mind, brother! 73s!

I feel lucky to own one, though it does come at the expense of non ducted heating and reduced galley storage.

The RV industry as a whole slowed way down.

I purchased a metal handle guard off of Amazon and use a good lock and cable. I have been thinking about trying one of Apples air tag under the cover. Has anyone tried one? Not sure if the Honda inverter will affect it.

This happened tome recently. Very easy fix. Drill out the two rivets. Tighten up the nut inside the housing and then put two new rivets back in. Easier done than said. Good luck

Revisiting my post above, I don’t think you can complete this repair without drilling out the rivets. The nut and washer have to be trapped in the chrome base which is still attached to the bottom of the cabinet. The hole in the cabinet that the wiring passes through is not large enough for you to work through to line up the washer and nut. And of course there is no way to get a wrench on the nut to secure it either. And I will add that the lights I installed are screw mounted, not riveted. The lights Oliver installed are riveted. Sorry if I miss directed you with my first post! Mossey

Correct. One of ours started to come loose and we just twisted it back in.

It looks in this photo like the top of the flex housing is threaded. Have you tried twisting it into a vertical position, then screwing it back in to the flange above it? If this method works, it would be easier than drilling out and replacing the pop rivets, after securing the flex housing to the flange in some way.

I think the results will vary with the EZ Flex as we DID in fact try it with the Rapid Jack which is 7" tall on an asphalt driveway and it did NOT lift the other tire off the ground at all. Just saying.

You could have asked them to lift one wheel at a time by the axle tube, close to the brake, or under the spring perch, leaving all three other ones on the ground. That doesn’t stress anything. Lifting three tons off the ground that way does…. However, I personally would just use the factory jacks to raise the trailer completely off the ground, as long as nobody crawls under it, no worries. “Jack points? We don’t need no stinking jack points!” This is contrary to current factory recommendations. But in the Old Days it was OK. The jacks are plenty strong enough, unless there is a failure at one of their attach points. This is only for a solid level surface like concrete. John Davies Spokane WA

The Oliver has taken over my life and my budget 😂. I have no other habits like smoking, drinking, or gambling to spend money on, just the Oliver and travel. So I purchased one of the military surplus HUMVEE scissor jacks and the Agile Offroad adapter block. I know there are some Ollie owners that use their stabilizer jacks to lift the Ollie for tire changes, but I prefer not to. The HUMVEE jack is brand new in box military surplus from an EBAY source here in the US. A very heavy duty jack. Beefier than the scissor jack I was using from my old (long gone) Dodge pickup truck. HUMVEE jack on the right, Dodge jack on the left in the first photo. Nice features on the HUMVEE jack like a ratcheting handle, a very large baseplate for a big footprint on softer ground, a gear reduction box (see photo, on the right end of the jack screw) to give a big mechanical advantage while raising the jack, and a nice carry bag included. I’ll be doing my wheel bearing repack in a couple months before hitting the road again with the Ollie, and I think this new scissor jack will be a big improvement for lifting the Ollie. It’s appropriately sized for the Ollie, from the specs I’ve found it’s rated for 3.5 tons. I tried a bottle jack but that requires wooden blocks to get enough lift height, and bottle jacks require additional safety measures like jack stands or the Ollie stabilizers. And the old Dodge truck jack seemed just a little undersized for the Ollie (it was from a Dodge Dakota pickup). And the Agile adapter block fits perfectly under Ollie lift points on the suspension subframe. https://www.ebay.com/itm/AM-GENERAL-5939822-MILITARY-TRUCK-SCISSOR-JACK-NSN-5120-01-375-0070-/284624079355?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m2548.l6249&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0 https://agileoffroad.com/product/agile-h1-scissor-jack-axle-frame-jack-adaptor/

I believe you may have better success with jacking the frame up behind the wheels rather than in front. My experience with using the front position is that it also lifts the front jack off the ground, particularly if you're trying to lift only the rear tire. This could turn into a disaster if the trailer decided to pivot on the opposite side tires. "But they're chocked", you say. Still taking a chance in my opinion. "Keep it hooked to the tow", now you're trying to lift the truck too.

I was going to try to make a recommendation for EZE RV Gutter Guard, but it looks to be very difficult to find these days. And their web site is blank. I'm glad I have left overs. Has anyone needed to find a replacement for this and been happy with it? Thanks, Chris