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I have posted this image before but thought it may be useful here because of questions about the cosmetics of Vortex coating.

We applied Vortex 8 months ago and have been very pleased. Forest Service / Blm roads rocked with 3/4 to 1.5" fractured rock is the worst. Even with full mud flaps this stuff finds your trailer. Vortex is primarily used as a truck bed liner and is very tough. The guy that sprayed our trailer estimated the weight of the coatings about 40lbs . The material has thickness and some flex to absorb "rock impacts". We tool a 7week trip through the SW and southern UT with a lot of off road in places like Bears Ear / valley of the Gods with no sign of damage. The worst road we know for throwing rock is over Hart Mt in SW oregon, 60 miles of well maintained BLM with large fractured rock. We are still mindful of modest speeds but will travel up to 35mph with no concerns. Before vortex, we became gun-shy and would just crawl along , still taking on some damage. Over time, we had lots of micro chips (like sand blasting) with a few significant chips here and there.

I've had this problem (twice) and I believe that it comes down to a mechanical tolerance and materials problem with the deadbolt mechanism. In their design they purposely overdrive the deadbolt motor ( since they don't have a sensor to determine the position of the deadbolt). When the deadbolt reaches the end of it's travel, motor torque increases and overcomes the friction material in the clutch mechanism allowing the clutch to rotate despite the fact that the deadbolt has reached the end of it's travel. This allows the motor to continue to spin, preventing it from drawing excessive current and shortening its life. I've forgotten their name for the clutch but it's a little barrel that contains a friction material that allows the motor to drive the deadbolt until excessive force (when the deadbolt reaches the end of it's travel) overcomes the friction material causing the clutch to spin freely thereby decoupling the motor from the deadbolt. The problem occurs when the materials in the deadbolt mechanism bind or stick, overcoming the friction material in the clutch, resulting in the deadbolt not completing it's travel within the time that the motor is commanded to operate as determined by the electronics. The symptom is that the motor sounds normal, a confirmation beep is heard signaling end of travel of the deadbolt, but the door either doesn't lock or in my case did not unlock. In short, by design the motor is commanded to run longer than the time that it normally takes for the deadbolt to complete a full travel and relies on the clutch to decouple it's mechanical connection to the deadbolt when the deadbolt reaches the end of it's travel. By doing so they eliminate deadbolt position sensors and save cost. It's clever providing it works reliably. Anything within the transport that adds friction or causes binding can cause a problem. Another issue can be a weak clutch. The company is very good about supplying parts but leaves the repairs up to the customer which usually involves sending videos, sometimes removing the lock and operating the lock by itself while making another video, then waiting for parts which in some cases does not fix the problem and the cycle repeats. I like the lock, it's very convenient, but I aways have my key in my pocket which somewhat defeats the purpose.

The Wonder Egg has had Vortex over the lower front, just like taylor.coyote's picture for about 8 years now. Yes, it added 40 lbs to the weight, but is impervious to rocks. I hesitated to take a trip to Alaska until it was applied. Now, I'll go anywhere, (within reason).

Lamar, keep fighting the good fight! Certainly, Bill has good advice in contacting OTT management directly. You're not asking for too much, so I hope you stick to your position. OTT can reuse the 2KW inverter in another installation. Wholesale costs between a 2KW vs. 3KW Xantrex is likely about +$200 or not much more. Labor to replace the inverter and rewire all 120VAC circuits through the new 3KW inverter should be 2 shop hours. I know I could do this work in one afternoon and I'm older/slower than the younger contract electrician billing flat-rate shop hours! 😎

We're in agreement on this one! Ours might have been a Wi-Fi Ranger. I do remember testing it and it actually made the signal weaker! We went with a Pepwave router to stream on cell and a Starlink Mini for when there is no cell coverage. I removed the Wi-Fi antenna, both cameras, gave away the (yes clunky) screen and the Sat Dish from our roof and patched all the fiberglass. We have the manual door lock, now for 10+ years. After reading that the rubber contact pads were fading on these auto-locks, most of you with this feature were carrying keys just in case, and the deadbolt issue as Tom fully explained above, like @routlaw noted, I/we decided to pass on this upgrade. Good Customer Service is great, but if the product continues to fail it becomes nuisance, or worse if you truly get locked out! I purchased a backup manual lock to have on the road if needed. I found a cool white powder coat model on sale vs. the original chrome latch. If you get tired of dealing with your auto-latch, you could go manual: Amazon.com: Lippert Global Entry Door Latch Kit with Deadbolt, Keyed Lock, Two FIC Keys, Edge Cover Plate, Strike Plate, Mounting Screws for Travel Trailers - 239632, White : Automotive Honestly, this clean white door latch looks better too! The only thing that has failed on our entrance door is the screen door latch, so I replaced it with one of these: Amazon.com: WanDwel Aluminum RV Screen Door Latch Handle Replacement Kit (Right Hand) Metal Camper Travel Trailer Motorhome Entry Parts for Passenger Side : Automotive

Lamar - The two people that you seek are: Jason Essary and Scott Oliver. A polite phone call to Jason to get the ball rolling is how I'd suggest proceeding - 888-526-3978. Jason would be good because he was the central contact for sales by by both the internal and external sales unit that Oliver utilized. Also, the Service department reports to him. If he is not in his office then ask for his email and go that route. Good luck! Bill

My point wasn’t to question your wear or towing technique. I was attempting to let the OP know that a film covering on the lower front of his trailer might be a good investment based on our experience. Mike

This is exactly what I’ve been doing. No issues. Mike

Another option that does not require this. Just use a funnel to poor the required amount of bleach/NCI into the hose (while holding it up right of course). Then connect the hose to the port and start running the water.

Looks like two Olivers in the photo.

We’ve got the manual door lock, too. It’s one of those things (like the suburban hot water tank) that is simple and reliable. One less thing to worry about when you are way out “there”. Mike

Here- no sweeping, just open the screen door dust goes back where it came from. Helps keeping the exterior screens clean too. Neither of us wear our shoes while in the Oliver. We have found this little blower is super handy. Also works for blow drying a washed TV and inside and out. “No brooms club here” 😄 Harbor Freight - BAUER 20V Cordless, 200 MPH/120 CFM Compact Workshop Blower - Tool Only $40

Obviously, I missed it! Thank you.

So far, warm water, auto soap and a sponge have done the trick to clean the vortex

I have to say ..... I think jd1923 may have converted me to the Church of the Furrion Chill Cube. I was very fixated on condensate running down the outside of the trailer and NOT on the amount of power needed to run the damn thing. I've been doing some research on power draw on this A/C vs. the dometic and other compressor types and am pretty much amazed. All in all about half the power needed to run the Chill Cube. And quiet. We are scheduled for a lithium upgrade toward the end of the year and will have the A/C replaced at the same time. Right now... I am going with the Chill Cube. Thanks JD for the help on this. Appreciate it. Scotty

Probably a logical conclusion. The lock was part of the “Electronics Pro Package” that OTT offered as part of the initial trailer ordering. Pretty sure it was bundled with the rear camera, Auto drain, and the cell booster as well. I never use the rear camera (remote view screen too clunky) and I’m not convinced that the cell booster does much - if anything - to increase your cell signal. The keyless lock is the only part of that package that I found any value in. (OK - the auto drain - I forgot that was part of the package. Thought you be fair, “auto” is a bit of a misnomer as you have to actuate it manually.) We use our trailer - and the door lock - A LOT. So I’m not sure that failing after two years is really terrible MTBF for something that may have been designed for being used for a couple of weeks a year. Then again, I’ve seen a lot of residential and commercial keyless locks that seem to last forever. Whether any of them is suited for use on an RV door is up for grabs. RVLock is sending me the parts “free” - no shipping charges this time. I did have to take a video, edit it down to be a small enough file to attach to an email, and took four tries to get it to send. (Yahoo never did work, had to use GMail).

I had thought about buying one of these as well, now I'm not so sure. Seems like another unreliable RV headache in its current iteration.

Thanks Bill, I will make. I hope you don’t hear in my tone I’m upset, just disappointed at this point but that can change. Everyone I have talked with has been understanding and very nice. Everyone has also been surprised this problem exists. Thanks for the contact info.

We are now over 4,000 miles traveling this spring/summer in our Elite 1. We love this camper and are having a great time. So, we now know why our induction stove top is inoperable when we are boondocking w/o using a generator…it is not wired through the inverter. We have been in contact with Tech support and the Service dept. Service spoke with the Design and also Production. 1. Design said the stove top was run through the inverter because it would drain the batteries after 90 min of use. (We don’t cook that way when boondocking, or even when we are hooked to shore power) 2. Production said they would not support Oliver paying for or sharing the cost of rewiring because it is functioning as designed. I would have to pay out of pocket. They were unsure what that would do to the warranty. (To us, we believe this is a design issue that needs correcting) 3. The cost to have Oliver rewire to the existing 2000w inverter is $600+. 4. The cost to have Oliver rewire and add a 3000w inverter is just under $2500. I have been in the manufacturing world before I retired and I understand the response, they are not the decision makers. I know that I need to get to the decision maker level. I have contacted the sales person at B&B RV in Denver who is advocating on our behalf to his Rep at Oliver. I’m waiting on a call from that person. I have been told, but haven’t verified, that the 2027 Elite I units are wired to the inverter and this issue was a topic of discussion. However, the rep had not heard yet about our unit. I hope to verify that info soon. They are advertising a 2 burner induction stovetop in the 2027 Elite I. I would be surprised if that is actually what is in the 2027 units, but I could be wrong. So the story continues. I’m disappointed so far that 1) we were told the induction stovetop would work on battery and it doesn’t. 2) the response is very slow and I have to initiate a lot of contact to keep the ball rolling. 3) The design didn’t keep the boondocking campers in mind yet the marketing very obviously did (Check out the Oliver website). 4) Oliver, so far, expects us to pay for an “upgrade” in order to address this issue. I am asking for a 3000w inverter and wiring. I will provide my time and cost to travel to the factory and wait while they fix this (and a couple of other minor issues). We will see what Happens and I’ll keep you all informed. Thanks again for all your insights and information. Lamar

@bugeyedriver has a similar coating on the front of his trailer. It is white and provides great protection. Mike

There IS an Oliver that has black truck bed liner spray on it and I believe that at least at one time this Oliver actually belonged to one of the Oliver's. I'm sure that Jason Essary would remember it and might even have a pic or two. I was surprised that it didn't look as bad as I thought it would. However, why get a new trailer sprayed right off the bat? Let it get dinged up a bit and then spray it or get PPF applied initially to reduce the dings (assuming that you intend to do some gravel roads and the like). Bill

We’ve towed now for 10 seasons, 100K+ miles. We have quite a few nicks and chips on the lower front of the trailer. When the CGI guys refresh my ceramic coating next time I’m going to have them put their film on the front. Mike

I do as well. Using the white hose of course! GJ

We're using this.... but it has a hard time turning around when it hits the end of the aisle. The dog stays off the floor when it's running..... Scotty

Though it's never become unplugged, I decided to check my fridge plug to see if it was still a tight fit in the outlet. Looked under the sink and nothing there... Ends up they installed mine in the fridge enclosure and assessable from the bottomed outside vent. Still tight!

We do the same with the “Dustbuster” to pick up the loose dirt and grit and various grass clippings and such. Since we have a cat box crammed under the dinette, this is the prime spot for kitty litter that refuses to stay where it belongs. I’d be leery of anything that sounds like “wash and wax all” on floors. I had a previous roommate who thought that Pledge was great for shining up wood floors. It it - but it makes them into ice rinks if you try to stop or change direction wearing socks…