Leaderboard

To Oliver Owners and Valued Customers, As committed to several weeks ago, the Oliver Travel Trailers business owners and leadership team have discussed at length internally, with our dealer partners, as well as with Oliver owners and potential customers, the subject of continuing to offer service here in Hohenwald, TN. Oliver Travel Trailers has decided to leave our service facility fully operational for the foreseeable future. Oliver Travel Trailers remains committed to supporting and training our dealer network to provide exceptional opportunities to purchase and get an Oliver serviced as close to home as possible. The Oliver sales and service team remains available to assist with any needs or questions that you may have. Once again, Oliver Travel Trailers truly values the relationships we have with our owners, potential customers, and business partners. Thank you for the feedback and continued support. I look forward to seeing many of you at the Oliver Owner’s Rally in May. Best, Rodney Lomax Director of Operations Oliver Travel Trailers Sales & Service

To Oliver Owners and Valued Customers, The Oliver team and family greatly appreciates and values our current owners and individuals that are considering the purchase of an Oliver. Without you the organization and Oliver brand would not be what it is today. As most of you know, Oliver Travel Trailers is going through a transition period and some of the decisions have created some questions and potential uncertainty as it relates to the direction of the company. Oliver is paying attention, listening, and monitoring all of the feedback and comments on the forum, social media, emails, and phone calls. Oliver Travel Trailers’ intent is to be very straightforward and honest with our owners, potential customers, and employees. Integrity is the foundation of the Oliver brand. Oliver feels an official company update is appropriate to help clear things up. The following are some key facts: The rumor that Oliver Travel Trailers is positioning the business to sell is absolutely a false statement. The Oliver sales team is still actively working with all new and existing customers to answer questions and assist in the purchasing process. If you are interested in purchasing an Oliver or have questions, please contact us directly. The Oliver service team is still actively providing technical support to our Oliver owners to ensure issues are resolved as quickly as possible. If you have technical support needs, please contact us directly for assistance. The decision to close the service department at this time has not been received well by many Oliver owners and potential customers. Oliver leadership is listening and plans to have discussions on this topic next week. Oliver will update our owners in the coming weeks regarding any changes. Again, Oliver Travel Trailers truly values the voice of our owners and potential customers. We’re listening and we care. Oliver Travel Trailers isn’t a prefect organization, but we are committed to ensuring our brand, our owners, and our future customers have a product and customer support that is the best it can be. Thank you for being part of the Oliver Family. Rodney Lomax Director of Operations Oliver Travel Trailers Sales & Service

Like others, we’ve been disappointed with the lack heating in the bathroom. In our Oliver, even the kitchen had minimal air flow and hot air was blasting under the bed. When I took a closer look at the duct routing from the furnace, the problems became obvious. There were two 4” ducts coming out of the furnace, one from the front outlet facing towards the registers, and the other from the rear outlet facing away from the registers. The front outlet was connected to the bedroom register with one 900 bend. It had the shortest run with the least turns, and twice as much air flow as the other two combined. The rear furnace outlet was connected to the kitchen register after making a 1800 u-turn. From there it was Tee’d and reduced to 3” to feed the bathroom. The 3” duct then takes a long and torturous path to reach the bathroom. The resistance from over 2800 of turns, and the longer run, resulted in much lower air flow to both the kitchen and the bathroom. I also found a hole from where the duct had been rubbing on the hot water valve, and the kitchen had a restrictively tight bend at the register. Fortunately this was a relatively easy fix, and the results were significant. Our 2022 Elite II has the Dometic furnace, but I suspect that other furnace brands could have similar ducting issues and it might be worth taking a look. The sketch shows how the duct routing was modified for better balance to all three registers. The bedroom and kitchen registers now feed from the high resistance u-turn at the rear furnace outlet. The bathroom has its own feed from the front outlet giving it the minimal number of turns possible. This modification involved moving the Tee which is under the kitchen cabinet. There is an access port under the forward kitchen drawers to reach the Tee and kitchen register, and it’s best to pull them right out of the access port to work on them. The 3” bathroom reducer stays in place and it gets a new duct directly to the front furnace outlet. The bedroom/kitchen gets connected to the rear furnace outlet. Rather than using flexible duct to make the 1800 u-turn, I used two 900 rigid fittings for less flow resistance. All of the parts needed for this modification are readily available at hardware stores. They usually sell duct by the foot, I bought 5’. Use sheet metal screws and foil duct tape for the connections to make sure they don't come apart. The kitchen register can be screwed together from the inside of the register rather than trying to do it from under the cabinet. I used an anemometer before and after the modification to measure flow, and a on-line calculator was used to get Cubic Feet per Minute (CFM): Before After Bedroom - 4” 100.7 53.2 Kitchen - 4" 39.3 65 Bathroom - 3" 11.8 30.2 Total 151.8 148.5 Cheers, Geoff

I'm BACK Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and prayers - especially those that were specific to me and my family. We never lost power, satellite TV, or water/sewer in my sub-division. We had several trees down that blocked the roads into/out of our home but our City workers pushed those aside fairly early after the rain stopped and then my wife and I cleared the 95% of the mess up until I ran out of gas for the chainsaw. However, even though (as far as I know) the small town where I live "only" had relatively little damage, the storm had major effects on many areas around the entire Western North Carolina, north Georgia, and Tennessee. Specifically, the small town of Chimney Rock is basically gone. I don't mean damaged, I mean it is literally gone. There are highways that are gone, bridges gone, and, of course, buildings that are gone. I've heard varying numbers of deaths due to the storm but there are still areas that have not been visited because there is simply no way to get to them other than helicopter fly overs. Fortunately, these types of storms are not "normal" for us. Certainly THAT is good news. But, the bad news is that our infrastructure is not prepared for this type of thing. Also, our personal and governmental structure is basically not prepared. Curfews have been place since early on and I've not traveled so that the people, equipment and supplies that are needed can more easily get to where it is really needed. However, what little I've personally observed is amazing. We did get cell and land line phones back yesterday and just this morning slow internet is available. My wife went out early this morning in the hopes of getting some fresh fruit and milk. It took longer than "normal" but she returned with those supplies. Only one grocery store had those things in stock though and of the three stores she stopped into only one was accepting limited credit card payments. Apparently the local gas stations have received fresh supplies of gas but there are still long lines to get it. I'm guessing that by Friday things should be getting back closer to "normal". Unfortunately, I can't say the same for other nearby areas where I'm sure it will take months (if not years) to find any sense of "normalcy"😟. Bill p.s. I store my Ollie in a storage yard about 10 miles from my home. I'm assuming that it is still there and undamaged - I'll try to go for a visit by the weekend.

A few lessons learned from the recent storm here in Western North Carolina: 1: Get and/or make a copy of any drug prescription(s) you may have. A neighbor of our went to CVS to get a refill for one of his meds. Due to having no computer and/or internet access the pharmacy could not verify his prescription and, therefore, had to deny his request. They advised him to go to the local hospital where he could see a doctor to get a new script. 2: Keep a supply of cash (in small bills) on hand. Since power and access to computers/internet was lost in the region, the only way to get any services and/or products was to have cash. 3: Keep at least a 1/2 tank of gas in your vehicle(s) at all times. First the power went out. This caused the gas stations to not be able to pump the gas that they had on hand. Second, the power came back on but then there was "panic" buying and long lines to get gas. Third, when the gas stations were re-supplied there were still long lines due to the "panic" and uncertainty of when or if gas would be available in the future. 4: Keep bottled water on hand. Obviously the amount partially depends on the number of people, the area where you live - to include climate and time of year. 5: Consider some type of satellite communications device. This can be something as "simple" as a personal communications device like the Garmin InReach mini, a satellite phone, or Starlink. Bill

OK... Been thinking of this for a while and with some encouragement from @Geronimo John - it's probably a good a time as ever to post this. So, last month the traveling Knuckleheads and I visited the "first come - first served" Oliver Campground for some maintenance activities. We pull in around mid-afternoon knowing there's likely to be some serious WX coming in our direction. Having never been to the much touted-about showroom and maintenance facility located in an industrial area "across the tracks" in Hohenwald, the puppies and I met all the fantastic people in the showroom and general workshop area. Josh showed us all the new upgrades to the 2024 models and Magnus and Oscar approvingly inspected every square inch of them. We were adorned with swag like one couldn't believe (albeit the coveted "Ravel Cups" were no where to be seen)... Retiring to the Casablanca as the only Oliver in the campground, we threw on some Chris Stapelton and settled in to chill for a bit. A few minutes later, a rap at the main entry hatch... "Sir, since you're still coupled, it would be advisable to bring your rig through the main gate and under the protective metal roof by the shop". Assuming he (I'm thinking it was Mike) knows the WX patterns a ton better than us - I "rogered-up" and by the time I managed to snuggle the Tundra under the awning, the hail went from pea size to "no SH!T" golfball size. Never experience hail balls like that. The noise was louder than sitting behind the JBD waiting to launch with an F-8 in full burner on the CAT! IMG_1665.MOV It lasted about 20 minutes or so... The Oliver folks literally save our Tundra from being destroyed by the storm's hail - our metal panels aren't like the thickness of trucks back in the day - they're very thin. Jason Essary came up during the deluge, explaining that they get this type of storm often and I asked about the 6 or 7 brand new OTTs in the parking lot totally exposed to the hurling ice balls like ours was... He said, "No worries, until those hail balls get to the size of frozen chickens, they'll be good as gold!" WOW! Our's was completely being pelted by the hail as Jason explained this and sure enough - no issues! We'd just like to take this moment to thank ALL of the OTT employees that were there that day, helping us save the mighty TV, our Tundra... Cheers, ALL!

Camping at the Dinosaur National Monument, at the Green River campground, and couldn't eat on time because of the people wandering by saying "Is that an Oliver?" or "What kind of trailer is that?" I think most folks had already eaten and were doing their after dinner walkabout, but I got back late after hiking in the desert. Of course I'm not going to blow them off because I LOVE talking about my trailer. I had hoped to eat outside and watch the sunset but nope, by the time all the interested parties were gone, it was dark and I'm eating inside. I might have part of the blame for this.

I've been a member watching from the sideline since February 21, 2018. Now, retirement is a week away and we pickup unit #1525 June 8th--EXCITED IS AN UNDERSTATEMENT!!! Delivery photos coming soon.

Just some quick feedback after 5,175 miles on the Alcan leaf springs, and 1,500 miles on the D52's and new Monroe shocks: 1. We replaced the leaf springs just prior to the Eclipse Rally in TX last MAR and logged just north of 1,900 miles on that round trip from our home in NM. To baseline the structural frame support integrity, we photographed each of the aluminum welds visible from under Casablanca. The welds were in good order/no visible cracks before and after the Eclipse Rally. Nothing unusual noted in the interior of the camper during this first trip with the new springs. 2. We logged another 1,190 miles on the Alcans on our first leg of the OTT Owner's Rally from NM to Hohenwald arriving there 8MAR. We coordinated with Jason Essary to replace the Dexter D35 axles with the D52s Nev-R-Lubes with 12" drums. Dusten Bowden (18-year veteran of OTT and now owner of Dr RV Mobile RV Repair) and I swapped out the axles and mounted new Monroe's on 9MAR without issue. 3. Performed the U-bolt nut torque tightening protocol recommended by Alcan for the 9/16" U-bolts at 50, 100, and 500-mile increments. Arrived at the Owner's Rally on Tuesday last week after logging 265 miles on the D52s/Monroes. No issues noted after checking the U-bolts for proper torque. 4. Arrived home yesterday. 5,175 miles logged since MAR. The trailer pulls well in all the weather conditions experienced including strong cross winds through Amarillo on I-40 and some of the lousiest interstate sections we've experiences through northern Louisiana on I-20. Integrity of frame welds show no change since before changing springs, FYI. We're pleased with the running gear mods as they 100% meet our style of travel trailering... Cheers, All!

Summary: Check under your kitchen sink I walked up to an Oliver at a campground one time to introduce myself. I noticed water running down the curb side rear stabilizer. After exchanging greetings I brought the leak to the attention of the owner. After looking under the curb side bunk and finding nothing I suggested that he look under the kitchen sink for the source of the leak. Upon removal of the drawers he found water soaked plywood caused by a loose coupling on the kitchen sink drain trap. Since then I have tried to check mine occasionally to ensure that it is tight and to look around for any other problems. Today I found that the quarter turn stop on the hot water was not completely open. It had probably been like that since we took delivery. Anyway, I opened it and improved the hot water flow at the sink. Occasionally remove your (kitchen) drawers and check on stuff down there -tightness of the drain coupling -quarter turn stops fully open -refrigerator plug plugged in -hose weight located between back of drawers and rear of cabinet carcass -hose not twisted -any sign of moisture -anything rubbing against something -and especially that blue clip on the faucet hose assembly. There was an owner that heard water running underneath her sink when she turned the faucet on. Turns out that blue clip was missing and the hose had completely separated. We have a 2018 OEII, hull 313. Some of this stuff has probably changed. The round port was added after production to access a loose clamp on the exit end of the fresh tank overflow hose. It sure is useful for checking below the cabinets. There is a plumbing vent under the back right corner of the range. It is supposed to let air in and not let grey tank smells out. If you are smelling something foul (grey tank odors, not black tank odors) and you can’t locate a leak you might have a bad plumbing vent.

OK... You're boon docking in a remote area on BLM/Public land and you experience a critical medical emergency requiring local EMS response. A call to EMS on your commo device (either via local cell net, Starlink, PEPWave, SATPhone, HAM radio, or whatever) will require a hasty report with specific location information as accurately and efficient as possible. You may not have an accurate street address or may not know your grid/GPS coordinates. Even if grid/GPS coordinates are known, this data is a lengthy alphanumeric string of up to 17 characters which could easily be jumbled up or miscommunicated in the heat of the emergency, sending responders to the wrong location. Using the first 6 lines in a military-style "9-Line MEDEVAC" report is a good start to communicate for your EMS request. Line 1 of the 9-Line MEDEVAC format contains the most important data in the report - your location, expressed using either grid or GPS coordinates or a simple street address. Clearly, this critically important data should be quickly and accurately conveyed to the response team in a life-saving scenario. The problem is making this happen accurately from a remote location. An available free application has solved the problem - it's called, "what3words". While attending an amateur radio campout last week, "QuartzFest 2024", one of the EMS presentations introduced this application and how it can be used to more effectively vector-in a response team. At https://what3words.com/products/what3words-app you can learn what this app can do to accurately describe your location to an EMS team using only 3 random words. The developers of "what3words" have mapped the planet into discrete 3-meter grids, each of these grids is assigned 3 random words that never change. For example, sitting here in my living room, my "what3word" address is: "seamlessly.gossips.bottle". Should an emergency response be needed here, we could contact response personnel and pass along these 3 words to describe the location of the emergency. Provided the local EMS has access to the free app, many do, they'll be able to navigate their way to my living room. Responders across the country are using this app, as are companies like Amazon, Uber, and food delivery services, to bring their resources to a precise location without grid/GPS coordinates or inaccurate street addresses. The "what3words" address is compatible with many navigation apps and can be shared via text. Turns out, last year during the QuartzFest, an attendee experienced cardiac arrest. One of the HAMs contacted Quartzsite EMS, quickly communicated the specific "what3words" address of the patient's location and EMS deployed to that grid square using the app's navigation feature. We've got our family members up to speed on the "what3words" capabilities and would like to get the "word" out to the OTT RV community to consider using as part of their boon docking regimen. Stay safe out there! Cheers!

I love my wife Chris, and as each year goes by it becomes ever more so apparent! We purchased our Oliver just days short of a year ago and we love being together in our travels, no matter where we camp for the night, good or bad. I share this thought today with my virtual Oliver family. I do my things and she does hers and the best things are the times we spend together. She often asks, “How’s the blog going?” She’s referring to this forum and she is always interested. I tell her stories regarding y’alls antics, often over a drink or two before dinner. She listens and smiles, what a smile. Today is a very special day for us, as it is our 30th wedding anniversary! I have a difficult job every year from June 1st to June 7th. Her birthday being the latter date. Last year, as you can see, it was easy as can be, as to her surprise I brought home an Oliver! 😊 What in the world can I do this year! Good thing we do not need to top the great times we’ve had and will always have together. I write this for my partner in life. Love you, Chrissy.

Tired of my books scattered all over the trailer and staring at the wasted space under the streetside twin bed “wing”, I installed three plastic bins that I found at Target ($6/ea) and installed using command velcro strips so they can be easily removed for cleaning. Now my books have a home, are easy to access while in bed and don’t fly around on rough roads. Bin dimensions/ea are roughly 5”Hx5”Wx14.5”L. I installed them about mid-way up the wall under the bed so there is still toe room underneath and books can still be removed easily.

On the last leg of our summer family vacation we stopped at my dad's in MI. Next morning, I drove down to Elkhart, IN and had SDG install the Atmos 4.4. Guys were on time, efficient and knowledgeable. Installation went great! Pics below: They now offer SoftStart as an option on their website but I brought my own SoftStart Breeze (smaller version) . Atmos 4.4 Pics Removed the old Dometic Penguin II, cut drain line and plugged. Cleaned surface, applied very small bead of Dicor self-leveling on the inside perimeter of fiberglass 14 x14 opening Removed interior shroud. Penguin shroud was screwed to fiberglass ceiling, the 2 holes on each side will barely show after Atmos plenum installed. Fixed mine with a couple of the small glow in the dark dots we use on the ceiling to amuse the kids. Kevin was able to use the wiring for the original thermostat location to power the Suburban propane heater control. I may change or remove this later. They used Molex connectors instead of JXN box additional pics The new unit is a good bit quieter (6-10db) depending on mode and has around 40% less draw on the battery. On high it was pulling 1200 W vs 1800 W for the PII. Fan only was under 300 watts. They were done with the install in 2 1/2 hrs. App and remote are working well but still figuring it all out. I know this is short but on our way home to TN. I did find out that the Atmos 4.4 is designed so that the fresh air coming in and the exiting conditioned air is in a sealed unit and does not contact the outside (humid air). So running the fan only does not introduce humid air, it only re-circulates cabin air. Still awaiting answer on how exactly AUTO mode works. From the manual, it only states that it senses ambient air and automatically heats and cools but nothing about a parameter. You actually cannot set the temperature in that mode at all as far as I can tell. I did notice this unit manufactured 3/24 is using R-32 refrigerant. Best, Mike

This morning we had the 5 leaf pack installed on Hull #634 XPLOR at the Alcan shop here in Grand Junction, CO. We had an excellent experience from start to finish. We opted for the upgraded heavier duty wet bolts, nyloc nuts, Alcan HD 2 1/2” shackles. Our Monroe shocks are still in good shape with less than 2500 miles on them. Over all very happy with the work performed by Tucker at Alcan, he has installed the custom 5 leaf pack on a number of Olivers. Lew the owner was excellent to deal with and explained everything in detail. If you have questions about the install, parts or pricing, give Lew a call. Now we can get on with our trip to Utah, Wyoming and maybe Montana. Onward & Safe Travels! Drop off early morning - yes we hit the loves to top off with diesel, saving 76 cents per gallon with our TDS Open Roads Fleet card. We love LOVES. Ha! Thanking Lew 2.5 hrs later after the new leaf packs were installed. Gotta have a little swag.. Decal swag - Optional upgraded wet bolts. Torque specs -

Thanks to our salesman (Colton Laidlaw) & the folks at Southland RV, Norcross, GA for making the purchase of our new trailer a seamless transaction. I’d also like to thank our neighbors Steve & Tallie (hull #50) for stopping by to say hello. 😊 IMG_3726.mov

I spent all day yesterday installing Alcon leaf springs, Alcon U-bolts and new Monroe shocks on our trailer. I did the work myself and have to say that I recommend tackling it yourself if you have even average mechanical abilities and a torque wrench. I haven't had time to give it a test tow yet but am optimistic that the tow to the rally will be trouble free.

How about an individually adjustable pneumatic airbag type suspension for Ollie? No axles - lighter, smoother ride - less damage to OTT and components, no more broken leaf springs, more ground clearance by adjusting air pressure, enhanced braking, and "drum roll" please.... no more zerks! ...screenshot taken from an earlier thread on "Aussie Quality RVs": ....just say'n

They put us on their November calendar. After running our trip, every time I sat on the old cushions, I thought it would be a shame to merely reupholster with new cloth yet keep the 9-year-old foam. When we dropped them off, I asked about new foam. He said the quality of foam for seating they carry is far superior to what we showed them in the old cushions. We went with 24x25" bottoms with 5" new foam (1" taller) and with the batting and fabric, the cushions are closer to 6" tall. We had 2" clearance under the window frames with the old cushions. The new ones just fill the opening and stay nicely. Went with the original sized 4" foam for the seat backs. All new foam, batting, fabric, zippers with newly corded edges. Chris loves the color given her Red, White and Blue Oliver theme! We spent just under $500 out the door. Which for me was better than the $350 for upholstery only. Soon, she will look as good as she tows or provides inverter power!

I just got back from the facility where I store my Oliver. I'm very happy to report that all is well, Twist is still there high and dry. Unfortunately though I had several discussions with people that live in and around the town of Mills River. All of those that I talked to are still without power, water and sewer. Free water is being distributed in a number of places as is free food. Even while I was at the storage yard a young fellow drove by with cases of water in the back of his truck asking if anyone needed it. To his credit - he wouldn't even take the $20 bill I offered him to help pay for his gas. And, out of the five people that were near me only one took a case of water because the rest of us simply didn't need it. A local Holiday Inn is offering free showers to anyone needing one. FEMA has arrived in our town as of this afternoon and I noticed that several of the downed power lines that were down as I drove back towards town were being worked on. Our electric provider (Duke Energy) has posted that virtually all of the Transylvania County residents should have restored power no later than Friday evening. And, most important, it has been reported that there have been no deaths in the county due to this storm. Bill

@Mike and Carol Thank you Mike for your concern. As reported the Western NC foothills and mountain areas are in really bad shape in a lot of areas. A close friend of mine who works for Duke power told me it looks like a war zone. We did have had friends and neighbors check on our home and to our surprise we were spared and had no damage with exception of a few pines over on the ridge we live on. Sadly, this is not the same report for many of our neighbors. Our LNG Generac standby generator ran for 60 hrs before our power was restored keeping our home on 💯 full power. We are very grateful to say the least. All this said our hearts our heavy for ALL impacted by this storm. I40 which connects eastern Tenn with western NC is closed and it appears it will be for a long time. Our Starlink mini has been a game changer with regard to staying up to date. I have made several attempts to call and txt topgun2 and have not had any success. Mike I am glad hear you got through this morning. We are both relieved he and Sue are ok. I would ask everyone to take a moment and lift up ALL people impacted by this storm in your thoughts and prayers. David & Kathy

Some pix from Acadia NP this week.

Whenever I'm in my Ollie, I find myself thinking, "This is a great trailer. I love it!" And then I read something like this: https://www.autoevolution.com/news/youtuber-goes-dark-after-getting-legal-threats-from-big-name-rv-brand-238585.html I know it's confirmation bias, but this article makes me feel good about my Ollie. I feel bad for those folks mentioned in the article, but I feel even better about my decision to drop the $$ for the Oliver. Yes, I've had a couple minor issues but really, compared to this article and hundreds of similar articles, my issues are nothing. And the best part is that whatever little issue I have, I can get immediate personal attention from the service department. It seems that a lot of people who buy SOB trailers have a lot of problems and when they try to get help, well, good luck with that. So, thank you OTT for selling me a quality product and keeping me far away from all those headaches.

We departed the ABQ area mid-morning and are now boon docking near Amarillo, FYI. Even saw another Oliver enroute, "Buck and Ollie"! This thread has been very informative for us regarding spring packs. Perhaps owners will become more attentive to the "dirty side" of their Olivers - as the undercarriage and specifically, the running gear, might be overlooked for some. It's definitely not as sexy as other areas of the OTT, for sure. But, it's where the rubber meets the road that concerns us. It would be good for everyone reading this thread to crawl underneath an learn what type of axles they may have. We learned that 3500# axles can be either 2-3/8" or 3" diameter at the same weight rating. Each takes a different size of U-bolt. As noted in an earlier post, each has a different torque specification as well. As responsible owners, we should know what U-bolts we're riding on and what the respective torque specs are. Here's a good one: During our spring-pack R&R, we noticed that on the last set of U-bolts, there weren't any washers! At some point in our Oliver's life, the U-bolt nuts were installed and torqued without them. You can't get an accurate torque value without washers. We never noticed this condition until just last weekend as we were finishing up. Just another thing to look for when you're crawling around under there... @Patriot's well thought out approach to have a spare spring pack/U-bolt kit on board is rock solid. Especially, considering the Dexter 5-year warranty implications. Good on you, brother. Please note: If U-bolts are replaced, either by emergency durning on the road conditions, or by modification/upgrade in controlled conditions - please mind the torque procedure. Specifically, re-torque after first 50 miles, then at 100 miles, finally at 500 miles. Check torque settings annually - easy enough to do at the same time you're servicing your EZ-Flex suspension, wheel bearings, and doing your shock absorber inspection. We completed the first 2 torque drills today while headed eastbound on I-40 towards Amarillo. New U-bolts actually stretch until finally torqued after the 500 mile check. We'll be doing the 500 mile check tomorrow. It's amazing how much additional tightening was needed to meet the torque specs on the first 2 inspections. Bottom line, loose U-bolts can cause spring failures. Very strong left to right wind conditions while towing today, the Casablanca was rock solid back there - like always. The peace of mind is well worth the effort we went through over the past several days performing this mod. Happy Campers all! Cheers...

I would like to add that the value of this forum is as great as factory service in helping me solve occasional problems. For example, this past weekend I ran into what I thought was a serious issue but quickly found that someone else had experienced the same issue and provided the solution on this forum....and poof! Problem solved. Interestingly, the original problem while reported to factory service was only solved by the owner himself. Given the outstanding expertise of our factory service folks, this was a rarity but proved once again the value of this forum. Do we have RV tech shortages? Yes. Are RV techs typically paid poorly by dealerships with lack of training? Yes. Are there risks with the new service model? Yes. But, do we still have each other and this forum? YES!

I’m new to the Oliver community, just 7 months into my new-to-me LE1, so take my thoughts with a grain of salt. I offer them with some humility, honestly. Here’s my thought: I'm surprised at the negativity about the developing Oliver sales and service model. My own service experience is quite limited to a week in Hohenwald a month ago - we’d timed it to launch our current 5 week camping trip. Our planning went back to a service request 4 months ago. When the date came, we traveled 2 days to get to Hohenwald, and then had to find accommodations for 4 nights for me, my spouse and our dog to wait out the 3.5 days our upgrades and annual servicing would take. We were happy with the results and the knowledgeable team we met, but would have been much happier if a regional Oliver dealer was available for a “drop it off and come back in a few days to pick it up” kind of servicing last winter. The jobs we had done (lithium & Truma AC upgrades & annual servicing) would have been well within the ability of a competent and well trained regional dealership. When the dealership expansion was announced, I did contact such a regional Oliver dealer in lower Va. They told me they had not yet been trained for servicing, so I kept my March appt at Hohenwald in place. I thought, “Training dealerships has got to take some time. Check back with the regional dealer in a year and they should be up to speed.” That seems (to me) a reasonable expectation for the Oliver community, with widespread benefits for Oliver owners like me in the years ahead. From what you all are repeatedly saying about the Oliver family and team, I’d have a high confidence that they share that goal. If everyone’s experience with the Oliver team in the past has been so widely appreciated, why not give them the benefit of the doubt? In the meantime, I feel confident that I have a backstop if I get caught - you all. I’ve been a regular reader (if an infrequent poster) in the Oliver forums over the last half year. I’ve seen you all step in again and again to help people like me, who are trying to make something work better, or fix something broken. The generosity, creativity, competence, and enthusiasm of the Oliver owners was a factor in my purchase. Were I in Oliver management, I would hope for your partnership in making this expansion as seamless and fruitful as possible. i suspect as a newcomer to the Oliver community I’m missing something here - maybe it’s the longstanding friendships that have developed in the Oliver community. Maybe it’s something else. I just hate to see a much loved team with a first class product and a devoted family of owners fracture like this when some (well deserved) trust and some months of patience and a “let’s do what we can to make this work” attitude could make a good thing even better.

Ever since getting my Oliver I have loved modifying different aspects of it. I have done a bunch of stuff to the electrical system such as going mostly Victron for all components except for the inverter. Here is my latest mod which consisted of building an aluminum rack and adding 3 200 watt Newpowa solar panels for a total of 600 watts onboard. They will feed into a Victron 100/50 SCC. Just got the panels installed today and will be working on the connections tomorrow. I also need to fabricate a bracket for the front panel for a little more security but overall it is very solid. 😛

Good question, John. Due to prior commitments, the process is still underway, worked on it for a couple hours yesterday, plan to finish it up this morning. After speaking with Mike/Alcan, here's a high-level List of Instructions for the leaf spring R&R. 1. Break loose the wheel lug nuts on all wheels; 2. With the OTT connected to the the TV, raise enough that wheels are just high enough to spin and that 4 jack stands can be placed in front and to the rear of the running gear on the OTT frame; 3. Lower OTT onto the jack stands - wheels must still be able to spin; 4. Remove wheels; 5. Pick a side to start. Place a jack stand under front axle about 2 feet inboard of wheel assy. - use a floor jack under the spring plate to raise the axle just enough to adjust the jack stand under the axle, then lower the floor jack so the axle rests on the floor jack. There should be very little tension on the suspension at this point; 6. Remove the lower shock absorber nut and push the shock up and out of the mounting hole on the spring plate, use safety wire to hold lower shock outboard and away from spring plate - helps with aligning the spring plate later on; 7. Remove the 4 U-bolt nuts/washers; 8. Remove the spring plate (at this point - we wire brushed the plate, cleaned with acetone and rattle-canned it with RustOleum, set aside to dry for later); 9. Remove the forward wet bolt from the frame mount - this allows the spring pack to drop; 10. From the Dexter center shackle, remove the corresponding Dexter shackle nuts and the outboard connecting plate - the inboard connecting plate will be removed with the wet-bolts still "press fitted" into the plate. Keep as is and ChemKlean the shackle plates, wet bolts and nuts for later assembly; 11. Throw away the cheap-ass Chinese made spring pack. (OBTW: Our's weighed 10lbs even as compared to the Alcan 5-leaf spring pack of USA steel at 18lbs! We still have the fourth spring to replace today - but the three removed so far were definitely starting to flatten.) 12. Check the centering bolt head on the Alcan spring pack so it fits into the corresponding centering hole in the spring plate. We had to file the corners on a couple of the bolts to get the correct fitment. 13. Insert the "now cleaned" shackle components to the Dexter center shackle assy. Connect Alcan spring pack (this would be the rear-most spring pack bushing for the front axle), bolt on the outboard connecting plate. 14. Check the forward wet bolt after cleaning by connecting your Lock'nLube and squeezing grease through the journal (be sure to do this with all wet-bolts). Thoroughly grease the spring pack brass bushing and wet bolt. Ensure the wet bolt can fit through the brass bushing - tap in gently using a socket over the grease nipple. 15. Lift the forward end of the spring pack and place a floor jack under at mid-point (where the spring plate will be placed in a later step). Lift the Alcan spring pack up to the forward spring mount on the frame. Ensure the centering pin on top of the Alcan spring aligns with the centering hole on the axle's spring pad. 16. Insert the forward wet-bolt by raising/lowering the floor jack and tapping the center shackle fore/aft until the bushing aligns with the mounting holes. This is a step that takes some patience. We had to use an alignment bolt from the outboard side of the mount to get the wet-bolt through from the inboard side. (NOTE: The wet-bolts have splines near the head to keep them from spinning once tightened in the shackle plate - we oriented them so the grease hole on the wet-bolt faced "UP"). 17. Place your U-bolts in place over the axle (we painted ours just to keep the rust down to a minimum - plus it looks way cooler). Place the cleaned and freshly painted spring plate in place. Install new U-bolt washers and nuts - using an "X" pattern, tighten the U-bolt nuts slowly pulling the spring plate up and into position. Use a flashlight to check that the Alcan spring centering bolt is aligning with the centering hole in the spring plate. We tied the lower shock outboard and away to a wheel lug with safety wire to make this alignment easier. 18. Install lower shock to spring plate; 19. Torque all nuts to specs. 20. Move to same side rear assy. and repeat. 21. Move to opposite side and repeat front and rear like steps 1 thru 20 above. There's probably a few extra things I did (removed, inspected, and re-packed wheel bearing, for example) but these are the key steps. Very satisfying procedure. It's worth the peace of mind knowing your running gear is in order! More to report later after complete and test driven. Cheers!

I wanted to reach out to everyone regarding this issue. We have been made aware of the issue and are currently investigating. At this time it appears to be a single incident but we will be continuing our investigation.

I took the time and read up on the 'Smart' Plug. I didn't find any evidence that the Smart Plug is a better product than the power receptacle that was supplied when the Oliver was delivered. But, wanting to give it the benefit of the doubt and in the interest of sharing accurate and reliable product information, I offer the following information: From their website, under the heading About Smart Plug: Our vision... Smart Plug Systems is a privately held manufacturing firm specializing in power delivery systems. It was founded in 2007 and is located in Seattle, WA. Its flagship product, the SmartPlug, is a patented device positioned to replace the current power delivery system for RV’s, Boats, and a variety of specialty vehicles and miscellaneous industrial applications. Every corporation has to have a Vision Statement, Right? Designed to be versatile Developing and providing innovative world-class solutions that make power delivery safer, more secure, and easier to use. Continuing our aggressive growth strategy and expanding far beyond the domestic recreational power delivery market to industries and geographic locations that can leverage our technology. We’re just getting started Establishing strategic partnerships and building long-term relationships with our suppliers, customers and the consumer. Sustaining a preferred work environment that will create positive share-holder value while maintaining a high level of innovation, quality, and customer service. This nothing but corporate techno-babble and tells us nothing about the Smart Plug. Here is additional BS from their website... Contrary to popular belief, the #1 cause of shore power failure and fires is not electrical shorting, but rather overheating caused by poor electrical conductivity. This is very true...but, on our Oliver’s, not for the reasons stated below How does this happen? The problems with many plug designs are that the shape of electrical pins allow for very little contact area, and the pins themselves are also largely responsible for bearing any physical stress placed on the cord (from constant movement of the boat, someone tripping on the cord, etc…) This is partly correct. There is plenty of surface contact area on the standard Oliver supplied power cord. Last I checked these are NOT boats moving around while attached to shore power. This results in the pins working loose, further lessening the precious little contact area they had to begin with. Furthermore, such loose connections allow for moisture intrusion and ultimately corrosion of the pins. This does Not apply in our situations. Arcing occurs and the connection heats up, scorches, and in some cases, catches fire. Because the current draw is unchanged, all of this happens long before a breaker or a GFCI can cut the power. Additionally, the old design can be very difficult to use in low light or hard-to-reach scenarios since the “L” shaped pin must first be located and then oriented before connection. The actual #1 cause of shore power failure and fires is not electrical shorting, but rather overheating caused by poor electrical conductivity, not from the pins in the connectors but from the screw connections between the pins and the supply wires not being tight. This has been the source of the problem in every overheating situation I’ve seen or heard about concerning Our Oliver's. Then I decided to go right to one of the vendor’s that supply this product for their say in the matter. In about an hour long chat session, this was revealed... Ashley: Hi! Can we answer a question for you? If not, feel free to close out this box. Steve: I am curious about your Smart Plug product. I am familiar with the plethora of other "smart" products like smart phones, thermostats that can be adjusted via an app on my phone, Alexa etc. What is it about this product that makes it Smart? 'SMART' OBJECTS Ashley: Hi Steve! Let me get you some information for you Ashley: There really is no "Smart" Feature as you are thinking about, but here is the description: SmartPlug is the highest quality electrical plug in the RV industry. This is the ultimate solution to replacing your standard twist plug, and it completely eliminates typical heat issues due to poor electrical contact. The standard twist plug that comes on many RVs has problems with electrical transfer because of minimal contact from the plug to the inlet. The SmartPlug has 27 times more contact and this makes for efficient electrical transfer and drastically reduces the heat on the plug. If you have a standard twist plug on your RV then you need to get that changed to the Smart Plug today! Steve: What is the amount of surface area that is contained in the Smart Plug in square inches? I'm confused about how their contacts are 27x larger than normal. Ashley: Let me see if I can find you a video I am going to post a link below to one of our Installation videos. Let me know if it helps https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTkd_nMW-sw Steve : Let me take a quick look at the video. I have other questions. Ashley: Ok, sure Steve: This appears to be nothing more than an installation video. Can you tell me more about the claim that this product has 27x the surface contact area of other plugs. How was that determined. For instance, if a standard RV plug has say 2 square inches of surface area spread between the contact legs then your claim would be that your plug has 54 square inches. How is this possible? Ashley: I am not exactly sure why the manufacture claims that. I am trying to find some more information on it. Steve: OK, Thanks... Ashley: "27x more electrical contact than the old twist type connector" This is all I can find; I am unable to get an exact explanation. Steve: Thank you for all your help Ashley. But can we agree that this plug is really no better or worse than a standard plug and there is no way to cram in 54 square inches of contact surface area? Yes, No? Ashley: Apparently, they are claiming that is 27x more that the "Old Twist Plug" According to your logic, no it does not make sense. However, I couldn't find enough of an explanation to really say one way or the other what exactly they are comparing it to. Steve: Ashley, I want to apologize to you for putting you on the spot like this. I realize that you could not possibly know all the technical details of the products your company sells. I just could not find this information published anywhere, and I wanted to see if there was information I was missing. I'm sorry. You're a good sport. Ashley: Absolutely! No need to apologize, I couldn't find it either and you brought up a very good point. It is extremely vague about what they are comparing it to. I would like to think I know enough about what we sell but sometimes, unfortunately, I met my match. Is there anything else I can help you with today? Steve: No, we’re good. Ashley: Ok! Have a good day! I didn't find any evidence that this is a better product than the power receptacle that was supplied when the Oliver was delivered. If any of you want to change your plugs out, go ahead. Or, you could just make sure the screws are tight instead.

I've said this before in another post... but at the risk of repeating myself again... Oliver is not a "club" or like most of us, a bunch of retired people who have already accumulated enough wealth to sit back and be philosophical about how we would do it. It's a business that has several hundred employees who come in everyday to the Oliver factory trying to earn enough money to get to the place most of us owners enjoy right now. Warranty work (every dime of it) is anything that fails or wasn't done right the first time... it costs the factory money and is a cash drain. Service work could and probably is somewhat profitable and self sustaining part of the Oliver business, but the real cash cow that the owners and every employee counts on (remember they have their own life dreams too) depends on selling new Olivers. With hull numbers around the 1500 mark they have likely picked the low hanging fruit. Now they need to dig deeper into the existing marketplace to fulfill the burden and obligation to pay for tools, equipment, buildings, benefits, healthcare, wages and everything else that those several hundred people working there are depending on so they can make their house payments, buy groceries and maybe even someday own and Oliver and travel around the country seeing and doing everything we all are doing right now. Growing the business by selling new product doesn't mean forgetting the customers that have already purchased Olivers, rather it is doing both in a way that is fulfills everyones goals. It's not easy. Sometimes feels like a balancing act. There will be the occasional mistake... but I'm counting on the Oliver management to provide that "North Star" to keep the companies core moving in the right direction. We were just recently in the extreme north west and several times had conversations with folks who might have been prospective buyers... they just rolled their eyes when I said you could only buy and pick them up at the factory in Tennessee. All of us need to remember that if we want an experienced service team that is equally invested in our Oliver the factory where they are built needs to survive and grow. Otherwise, "who ya gonna call"?

Just brought her home, new to us 2017 Elite II. Hull 207. We are so excited to be here and to be the proud new owners of this beauty! We have a Casita independence which we will be selling. We live in NH. We both retired in the past few years and want to explore our amazing United States while we are still in our go go years. We are looking forward to learning about the Ollie and enjoying adventures on the road.

Bulldog shocks are a bit beefier and look like they are well made. Easy swap. Leaf springs look good, still on the fence about upgrading to the Alcan 5 leaf springs. Clips were loose on both springs on the right. Center bolt nut on the left EZ flex was loose and about to fall off. All of the Monroe shocks seemed to be in good working order just rusty. Future plans include the ALCAN highway so trying to get everything done now. New tires in the morning. https://www.4statetrucks.com/bulldog-hd-shock-absorber-replaces-555001-19-050000007 Wildpeak H/T02 LT225/75R16 E/10PLY BSW *** Now back to torquing the shocks so that the cushion is the same diameter as the metal retainer but not larger. ***

Our SL mini arrived today. Very impressed with the ease of a 10 minute set up including PW and latest updates. I think this will do the trick for us as far as comm goes. It even fits down in my Osprey Day Lite pack. Waiting on the Stiker protective case which is scheduled for delivery this sat. I will post up more user info once we get back on the road and put this tech to use. SpaceX we have a Starlink lift off!! 😊 Front yard initial set up. The mini fits easily in my Osprey Daylite plus pack.

So got the new U-bolts from ALCAN and put the new leaf springs on only to find out the HD 1/2 in. OEM shackles were too short. They are the HD 1/2 in width but 2 in long measured zerk to zerk. The 2nd leaf rides on the suspension arm. Talked with Lew, figured out the problem and he is sending out new 2 1/4in HD shackles to resolve the problem. Confirmed Key points: 3500 lb axles use 4 bolts on the backside of the hub and 1/2 in. U-bolts. They can have tube diameters of 2 1/2 or 3 in. Make sure to measure. 5200 lb axles use 5 bolts on the backside of the hub and 9/16 in U-bolts. They typically have tube diameters of 3 in. Make sure to measure. If you don't upgrade to the shackles Lew sells, make sure even if you have upgraded HD 1/2 in. shackles to measure the length. If it is 2 in they will not work, must be 2 1/4 in. Make sure to measure. Lew was great to deal with as always. @ScubaRx I did confirm that he does not want his 2/12 in U-bolts back. Hopefully, this adds to the conversation since both of these issues came up for me. Cheers, Mike

We don't use our AC very often, but when we do it would be nice if it didn't scare the dog and stess-out the cat. I didn't want to buy one of the newer (quieter) models just yet, so I looked into how I could insulate the stock Dometic unit better and achieve a noticeable reduction in noise. It took a 3-step approach, but I got it down to 65dB which is a significant reduction from the 75+dB level before. I took the attached dB reading in the center of our LE2 right under the front of the AC unit. I have attached photos of the 3 items that I added; (1) dense foam insulation to fill the hollow area to the rear of the return air intake vents between the roof-top unit and the ceiling panel, (2) I added a .4" layer of stick-on foam insulation over the very thin layer that came on the inside of the ceiling panel along with another piece of dense foam between the the center sliding vent cover (which is right below the fan motor) and the added layer of foam insulation (I did this so the cool air would be directed out the 2 side vents, and the front and rear vents instead), and (3) I installed an AC compressor noise reduction blanket. We are very happy with results!!! Joe/769

For those interested, a short interim travel summary: So, we departed NM mid-morning, last Friday for Moab, UT. High winds and rain from Farmington to Shiprock slowed us way down, but the TV/Casablanca performed wonderfully. Moab and Arches were fantastic and we'll be staying there a few days on our return leg next week. We initially planned to spend about 5 or 6 days in Rock Springs, WY for an annual "Escapade Rally" -- but changed our minds after 2 nights there. Decided that the time away from home would be better spent exploring around the Tetons and Yellowstone. Dumping holding tanks and topping off fresh while the Knuckleheads wait for D to return... So we "pulled-chocks" yesterday AM and headed north on the US 191 (one of our most fav US HWYs) - stopped for a great lunch at a Brewery in Pinedale, WY. Smoked brisket nachos - OMG! Made our way to Jackson winding our way northbound on the beautiful US-19 following the Windriver Range and eventually the Hoback River into Jackson. The snow-capped Windriver Range in the distance below... Hoback River alongside the 191 - no wind and temps in mid-60s all day long: Harvest Hosted at the Jackson Hole Still Works - met some phenomenal young men that owned the distillery and they provided an interesting/educational tour of their very modern facility here. Our "boondock" location at the HH venue in Jackson, can you find Magnus below?: It's off to Coulter Lake, Teton NP this morning then up to Yellowstone this afternoon... More later... Cheers, All! A & D

My objective when starting this thread was to cast light onto a significant safety problem that many of us have dealt with (and/or may deal with in the future), share my chosen solution and then share the results of that solution with other E2 owners. In doing this, I hoped others would develop and share their own solutions and their observed results following implementation. Any deviation to this objective is outside the intention for this thread. Please try and stay on objective and if you have found your own solution, please provide your reasons for your choice, including analysis and specs, where you purchased, the total cost and your observations during installation and direct observations of use after implementation. There will likely be more than one viable solution to this problem and that’s fine. Providing the details on how you arrived to that solution and real-life towing following install should be of great help to the rest of us.

Chris and I met playing tennis in 1991, and 3 years ago we transitioned to Pickleball for the community and it's also a little easier on our older bodies! Chris has competed in a bunch of tournaments with her Ladies partner, and we have played a few mixed doubles together. Loved our visit to St George for this tournament last year and we are playing it again this week: Selkirk Red Rock Open in St. George, Utah | PPA Tour So, it had the makings of a great Oliver trip. Thought we would boondock a first night just 2 hours from home, then 2 nights at Valley of Fire Nevada on the way. Starting tomorrow, we will spend 3 nights at a St George RV park right in town to be close to the tournament. This was our first night, off Signal Rd in Wikieup AZ (pics below).

Made it through last night fairly "high and dry" - although there is a slight after-smell of wet huskies in the camper... Oh, well, it's how we roll. T-storms started again early this AM (0230) through about 0445. Nobody slept - coffee came early and prep for R&R operations with Dusten Bowden (18-year veteran of OTT). The Dexter Nev-R-Lubes swapped without even a hiccup... ABOVE: Removed and replaced the rear axle first then attacked the front... ABOVE: Note the size difference between the 12" and 10" drums... about 19% more braking surface area. ABOVE: Took about 3.5 hrs for the axle R&R, back on the road now and headed toward Nashville over the next several days. Had to stop for this pic - here's "3 hearty cheers" to Jim Oliver for designing what we consider the best TT for the money in the US RV market! Roll-on, regardless...

Update: 4/29/2024 8:18pm... Everything looks good, enjoy. P.S. Let me know if you have any issues. Update: 4/28/2024 8:48 pm... Migration completed. Still looking through and making sure all configurations are correct and the data is intact! Update: 4/27/2024, 7:13 pm... Running into some delays, uploading files and working with the host to make sure we get everything done right and perfect. Will update as time progresses. Thank you! --- Hello Everyone, We will move the Oliver Travel Trailer's website and Oliver Owners' forums to a new website host this Saturday evening, 4/27/2024. We will try to get this done through the night to minimize activity times. This migration is a necessary step to improve our website's performance. This migration is an enormous undertaking, and we are still determining an estimated completion time. We understand that this may cause some inconvenience, but we assure you that we are working diligently to make the transition as smooth as possible. During this period, the website and forums may experience intermittent downtime, and you may encounter difficulties accessing certain features. We sincerely appreciate your patience and understanding as we strive to complete this migration. Thank you for your continued support. We look forward to providing you with an improved online experience on our new website host. Best regards, Oliver Travel Trailers

If you are looking to buy a new Oliver Travel Trailer here are some things to consider. With the implementation of the new dealer network you now have several new options available to you that previously did not exist when you could only go to Hohenwald to buy a trailer. There are two ways to approach the first step. If you live a long way from Hohenwald and don’t want to have to drive that far to see the trailers you should check the Link on the Oliver page that will show you where all the current dealers that will be selling Oliver’s are located. There are currently 18 different locations spread across the United States. There are future plans to add new dealers here and in Canada. With the information on the locations of the dealers, if one is close to you and you want to do business with them that is perfectly fine. If one is no closer to you than Hohenwald you may choose to contact the sales team there. When contacting Hohenwald a member of the sales team will take your personal information and work with you to get you the exact trailer you want in the shortest time possible. They can take an order from you and get you into a queue to have the trailer of your dreams built for you. The current wait time after ordering is around four months. If you live in a state that does not have any dealers, they will see if there is a trailer already built and available at one of their dealers. If so, you could have your new trailer in a matter of days rather than months. Even if there is not one that is just like you desire, if a dealer has a trailer on order that is still early in its build, Oliver will work with that dealer to attempt to have the build altered to be what you want. Doing it this way will still get you a trailer much quicker than starting your build from scratch. If you live in a state that has dealers, Oliver’s agreement with those dealers is that you will be referred to them. Another option that was not previously available to you is that if you already own an RV of some sort and want to trade it in, many of the dealers might be able to do that whereas in Hohenwald, that was not and will not ever be an option. You can also buy a trailer through a dealer, do all the paperwork there and still pick it up in Hohenwald if you want to. And, as always, you are free to buy a trailer and take delivery in Hohenwald if you so choose. Both of these options are a good choice if you want to do a plant tour prior to pickup. At some relatively near future point (certainly this year) their plan is to have all sales conducted through the dealer network. The rumor that they will stop working on trailers older than two years or out of warranty is patently false. Service will continue to be done in Hohenwald. The rumor was started by a fired service employee. He and his wife propagated this rumor as well as other false information about the Oliver TT after he was terminated. It was posted both here and on the various FB pages. He has been terminated there as well and the false statements have been removed. As always, the Oliver sales staff will still be available to assist you and the dealers with any questions and issues. If none of this works for you, my suggestion is to take the list of dealers from the website and call each of them and tell them what you are looking for to see if they have one is stock that would suit your needs.

I’ve been quiet about this issue, I don’t like it and wish it wasn’t the path forward. I don’t know of any of the moderators that thinks this is “good for Oliver owners”. I’ve missed the “many” favorable comments by my fellow moderator team. I think it’s being blown out of proportion by some. In 8 years I’ve been back to Hohenwald for service work just once, a two day drive. Everything else was done by me or a local RV repair shop. We’ll still have technical expertise that we can access from Oliver. I’m going to watch and see how this plays out. Oliver management is not abandoning owners, my experience over the years is that they go out of their way to ensure owners are taken care of. Mike

We have our first grandchild and his name is... Wait for it... Oliver! (He's going to love our trailer when he's old enough to read!)

When we were in the early build stage of our Hull #050 back in late 2013, I asked Jim Oliver what he suggested for axles for our new Elite II. We were coming from a 2008 Elite that had a 5200 pound axle with five leaf spring packs under it. He quickly said that he would want the same ones we had on our first trailer. So that's what we went with. The plan at that time was to use 2 x 3500 pound axles with four leaf spring packs on the regular production Elite II's. With the exception of a few trailers built in 2015 with the 5200 pound setup for the reason stated previously by @rideandfly this has been the standard on all production units since the first 2014 models rolled off the line and continued that way through model year 2021. The 2022 to current Elite II models saw a change in their axles. The Elite's axle remained the same as they had always been but, In an effort to streamline production and simplify their inventory, the decision was made to use the same size axles on both the Elite and Elite II trailers. All trailers delivered since 2022 have been supplied with two 5200 pound axles with the Dexter Nev-R- Lube hubs on them. However, they stuck with the 3500 pound 4-Leaf spring packs that have always accompanied the 3500 pound axles rather than the 5-Leaf spring packs that are standard on the 5200 pound axles. Their reasoning is that the stiffer springs would cause a rougher ride and could lead to drawers coming open or cabinet doors opening up while under tow. This why the GVWR remains at 7000 pounds. In addition, Oliver has also changed from 16" wheels with LT tires to 15" wheels with ST tires. There has been some recent owner interest in obtaining the Dexter Nev-R- Lube hubs. This requires a complete axle swap as they are not compatible with the axles all the older trailers (pre-2022) are equipped with. If you are contemplating ditching the OEM 3500 pound axles for the new setups with the higher rated axles, be aware of this spring issue. I can personally attest to knowing of at least 10 spring failures on the 4-Leaf spring packs on both the older trailers and a few that have recently been delivered over the past year or so. All of these springs have broken in exactly the same place. Also, I have never heard of a single failure in any of the trailers that are equipped with the 5200 pound axle with the 5-Leaf spring pack. This includes all the Elites ever built and, to my knowledge, none of the Elites II’s that were originally built with the 5200 pound axles and the 5-Leaf spring packs. My predication is that the 4-Leaf spring packs will continue to fail no matter which axle they are installed with. My advice is if you are changing out your four leaf springs for any reason, consider a stiffer spring that the originals and to purchase and carry with you at least one extra spring pack. If you’re going to Alaska carry two sets. One owner was up around the Arctic Circle when he discovered his were broken. Not the ideal locale for a FUBAR.

My new springs arrived today. I confirmed measurements are correct and that they are the same size as what my E2 had when it shopped from the factory. Should be a direct bolt-in. Here are the specs on the new springs: -Made in USA with USA sourced 5160 spring steel -Bronze eye bushings vs. plastic -2,000lb rating/ea vs. 1,750 (will not change gvwr as axles/bearings remain determining factor) -5 leaves vs, 4 -second leaf extends underneath eye on each end (protecting common break area) -steel, bolted spring keepers (one each end) vs a single, sheet metal band -width = 1.75" -drop = 3” -length (eye-to-eye) = 25.25” The company I sourced them from is ALCAN. They are known for durable offroading springs and have been building custom springs for rock crawlers and overlanding vehicles for decades. Attached below is their contact info. Ask for Mike and tell him you are interested in the 1.75” wide trailer springs like he sold to Lance from Colorado. I will report back when I have them installed, but that may not be for a couple months until after the snow melts up here in the Rockies

I most certainly will. Waiting to see and touch them first and confirm the measurements and specs are right (should be no issue). Once I have confirmed this I will share the info and contact details.

Once I get back from Florida in early February, I will make a post to compile sites, names, forum user names, hull number, etc. like I did last year. As a new attendee, I did it for myself to put faces to names. But when arriving, I found that many folks had printed out my list to use for themselves. During last year's rally, I was asked if I'd be doing it again.

For those campers that may not know about BLM LTVAs (Long-Term Visitor Area), they were established in 1983 on public lands managed by the BLM throughout the Sonoran Desert of southern AZ and CA. The LTVA program allows visitors to camp for as long as 7 months between 15SEP to 15APR. Special permits are purchased at BLM kiosks at the LTVAs. A 14-day permit is $40, 28-day permits are $80, while a 7-month permit is $180. Payment must be cash only - exact amount. Unfortunately, Golden Eagle, Golden Age, America the Beautiful, and military passes do not apply to LTVA permit fees. Campers who wish to stay on the desert outside of an LTVA may camp in one location on underdeveloped public lands for up to 14 days in any 28-day period at no charge. After 14 days, short-term campers must move to a new site outside of a 25-mile radius of their original campsite. Short-term camping in the Quartzsite area is limited, but there are 5 designated LTVAs here. The LTVAs have various levels of dry camping - some have vault toilets, some have showers, some have potable water. There are limited waste water dump sites. All have dumpsters for bagged garbage. Since only minimum facilities are available at most of the LTVAs, campers must have self-contained rigs. This means rigs that have permanently affixed wastewater holding tanks of 10-gallon minimum capacity. So, how is the Casa Blanca behaving on the LTVA? Well, "sort of" as expected, it's been performing famously here on our 4th day on at La Posa West, about a half-mile south of "The Q". My only issue was totally "self-induced". Arrived at La Posa Saturday mid-afternoon with 100% SOC from a combination of solar and DC/DC charging during a 2.5 hour enroute drive from PHX. After a good sleep on night-1, checked the SOC at around 0530 Sunday AM and found it at an unusually low level at 36%. Racking my mind trying to figure out what the heck was consuming all the power from the BBs overnight, it occurred to me to check the Dometic fridge status. Sure enough, it was in the "DC" mode... Can't believe it escaped my checklist item to switch to "GAS" mode on arrival day. Lesson learned, for sure - the DC mode is extremely inefficient in this model of Dometic fridge. Don't get me wrong, its a good mode to use when under tow as the 27-28A from the TV smart alternator can handle the load from the fridge and still charge the BBs. So, it took Sunday and Monday to get the SOC back up to 100%. No biggie - the Honda GENSET still never saw the light of day and stayed in the back of the TV. With 340W roof-mounted solar modules and the Renogy 200W portable module the BBs were receiving a max of 310W during those two recharge days. The BBs were got to 100% SOC by mid-afternoon yesterday. Winter being winter, obviously brings low sun angles and short days. Campers should consider this when boondocking during this time of year. Just because you may have 540W of "solar modules capacity" does not mean that's what you'll get. Our roof-mounted modules are flat, as we have yet to install legs to adjust them for a more optimum angle to the sun - so they're kicking out only about 190W at mid-day this time of year at this latitude. Interestingly, the Renogy portable module needed to be propped-up to a steeper position in the early morning hours to achieve optimum angle to the sun. By doing so we got an extra 1.3A: If it wasn't for the "wall-to-wall" sunshine conditions here at The Q during the past couple days, the Honda would have been called upon to top-off the BBs! Notwithstanding the fridge brain-fart, it was a good feeling to wake up this morning to a 93% SOC. The BBs are expected to be topped off by mid-morning, maybe even before the pot of Black Rifle is "Winchester." This morning's main drill was topping off the fresh water tank. After switching the valves to "Boondock" mode: 6 gallons of fresh water was pumped into Casa Blanca in less than 3 minutes time, taking the fresh tank from 50 to 75%: Now it's heading to Q to refill the container, less than a 5 minute drive from the campsite. But first - a quick egg scramble for breakfast.... More later!

Our first travel trailer was an EII. We loved it. Just enough space and no more. Lived in it full time for nearly 2 years, but pandemic and a serious back injury made us re-think many things. Built a house, sold the Olly and purchased a much larger trailer. It’s great, bigger tanks, queen bed, dry bath, bigger fridge… very civilized. This winter we decided to take our first long trip in the new RV. All other trips have been local (really local) and the truck and trailer did great. This latest trip has been an eye-opener. New trailer is an absolute wind brick. Mileage plummets above 45 (yeah, 45). Average for the whole trip has been 8mpg! I now realize just how fantastic the Olly was to tow. Super obedient, never felt the wind, often forgot it was back there. 12 - 14mpg regularly. Easy to park, clearance was never an issue. So warm and cool (new one is NOT 4-season and basically follows ambient temps). Seriously started looking at classifieds for a gently used Oliver. Sometimes, you don’t know what you got until it’s gone.