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Showing content with the highest reputation since 04/28/2016 in Posts

  1. One of the great features of the Oliver trailer design is the fast and easy (no tools needed) access to ALMOST all of the plumbing, heating, and electrical systems through the hatches under the dinette seats and the beds, or by removing the kitchen cabinet drawers. One area that’s NOT readily accessible is the area under the bathroom vanity, even though there is plumbing, electrical, and furnace ductwork all tucked inside the vanity. The storage cubby in the front of the vanity is screwed AND CAULKED in place by Oliver at the factory, so access is a bit more complicated than the other areas. I recently needed to get into that vanity area for some inspection and maintenance, and after completing that I wanted to make future access easier (no tools needed and no caulking). I know some owners have replaced the storage cubby with a hinged marine access panel, but I didn’t want to lose the cubby storage. So here’s a detailed description of a simple modification I did, along with links to the parts used. Access is now fast and easy. No-Slip Clip-On Barrel Nut, for 0.025" to 0.15" Panel Thickness, 8-32 Thread Size https://www.mcmaster.com/94850A111 #8-32 x 1" Thumb Screw Stainless... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09FZVLZKD?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share uxcell Edge Trim U Seal Extrusion, Silicone White U Channel Edge Protector Sheet Fits 0.5-2.5mm Edge 3Meters/9.84Ft Length https://a.co/d/1uWUZB3 Molex -3 Match Set - (3-Pin) w/14-20 AWG, Wire Connector - 2.13mm D, Latch Lock, MLX https://a.co/d/gapvioi
    39 points
  2. We do not bring but a few clothes that need to hang. We felt like we were losing so much storage area. I built shelves to fill the lower area of the closet. That curve is a bugger to work with. Shelves have a 4" lip in the front to help hold the gear. They are not perfect but work well.
    34 points
  3. This, I like - I never cared much for Oliver's sink and faucet choices and I'd actually planned to supply them a sink and faucet to get installed on the line. Unfortunately the one I wanted wouldn't work and I was having trouble getting the proper dimensions from Oliver, so I just let it go and figured I'd replace it later. Well, that was a good idea until I realized that the cutout Oliver made for the sink was way too big for any of the bar sized sinks that I could find. And all of the full sized kitchen sinks were too big to fit. But finally I stumbled across this oversized bar sink from Franke. It's the 17" Franke Vector. Overall, it's the same width as the existing sink, but the lip is narrower, so the bowl itself is a bit wider. Mainly the sink is much longer and deeper. In overall volume, it's over twice as large as the original sink, but takes up no more counter space. Can't beat that. And because it's farther forward and 3" deeper, it doesn't splash all over the place like the original. In fact, I can even turn the faucet up all the way without it splashing over the front of the sink, which is novel. I like the Franke sinks in that they have the straight sides and look of a modern zero radius sink, but they do add a slight radius to the corners so that you can actually keep them clean. Installation wasn't too hard. I'd rate it 7/10. The difficulty was that I had to modify the base cabinet for it to fit. There's a wood brace running across the top front that is screwed to the fiberglass beneath the drawer trim, which had to be cut out, and also a portion of the left side of the cabinet. That sounds like a lot of structural support to remove, but the cabinets are mainly tied in at the bottom and I ran it past Jason beforehand to make sure I wasn't looking at it wrong. I have to say that the cabinets are stoutly built, and I'm not at all worried about it. The second problem I ran into was that my countertop wasn't perfectly flat. It bowed down in the middle slightly which wasn't apparent until I installed the sink. But I was able to temporarily shim the counter against the top of the cabinet while the silicone seal dried and then I glued PVC blocks around the perimeter of the sink to both hold it in place and to level the counter. The Franke sinks have an odd installation clip that wasn't designed with hollow core fiberglass in mind, so the blocks were necessary anyway. It's not going anywhere now. Of course I lost use of the flip out drawer but I hated that thing anyway. I glued a few ½" blocks to the front of the sink and then fixed the drawer front to the blocks with heavy duty velcro, just in case I ever need to remove it for some reason. The sink depth worked out perfectly with the existing cutout on the back of the middle drawer to clear the drain. I thought I was going to have to get a Hepvo trap to make it all clear but Oliver actually places the trap behind the cabinet, so no problem. I did have to get the narrowest profile elbow I could find to attach to the drain basket, so I had to go with cheap plastic rather than PVC, but such is life. At the end of the day, however, I decided to use a different drain basket that was a bit deeper, so I had to make the drawer cutout about a half inch deeper after all. The faucet is a Grohe that I found on sale at Home Depot for about half price, so that was a nice find. It has a really nice feel to it and unlike the sink, was a cinch to install. Grohe has a trick installation method that allows you to work from above so that one person can do it without crawling under the counter a hundred times. Oliver's hot and cold lines are convenient to get to and there's an access panel in the back of the cabinet that can be removed if you need more room to work. The only issue I ran into was that the counterweight for the sprayer was getting caught up on everything that's packed in the back of the cabinet. To fix it, I made a tube from some flexible plastic sheeting that I had lying around and just slid that over the sprayer hose. Now the hose slides easily inside the tube and as a benefit, the weight won't bang around inside the cabinet while traveling. So that's about it. I've learned that I don't have the patience or foresight to take progress pictures Like John does, so my description will have to do. But I'm happy to answer any questions.
    28 points
  4. OLIVER FORUM GUIDELINES Welcome to the Oliver Forum, a great place for Oliver Travel Trailer owners and future owners to interact, share knowledge, solve problems, and most importantly, to develop friendships. Respectful and considerate responses help build this community. You’ll find a wealth of experiences here, and many owners willing to share their experiences. Have fun, but please keep others’ viewpoints in mind. Respectfully state your point, share your information, or ask your question. Keep it casual and friendly. Reread your post before you hit submit. Is it helpful? Thoughtful? Please try to stay on the original topic of the thread. Confusing the issue may cause the member’s original question to go unanswered. Start a new topic if you have a new question. It’s important for all members to have the environment and opportunity to contribute in a considerate manner, and to learn. Inflammatory and trolling comments shall be removed by a volunteer moderator. We encourage members to use the “REPORT” function (bottom right corner of each post) to help us, as we’re not reading every post, 24/7. If your post is removed, you’ll receive a PM about it. If there is a continuing problem, further action may be taken, up to and including your removal from the forum. Some inflammatory topics to avoid include religion and politics. We’re all about camping, and Oliver campers. Over the years, we’ve seen a few simple topics turn into heated debates. It’s natural to want to jump in, but honestly, it’s often better to let it go, and hit the report button, instead. We moderators are avid campers. Even as we write this, we are all out camping, some with limited bandwidth. We respond as quickly as we can, and the sooner we know, the better. Some have asked why our forum is linked to the Oliver website. Valid question. Since the beginning of our forum in 2008, Oliver Travel Trailers (OTT) has paid for our Oliver “sandbox”, including our web space and an administrator who knows way more than we do about maintaining the software, for which we are very grateful. OTT DOES NOT CENSOR OR INTERFERE with the moderators’ management of the forum content. Moderators are not employees of OTT. We are Ollie owners, and receive no remuneration. OTT does have a employee designated to read the forum for the purpose of improving the “Ollie Experience” for all, but that’s a few minutes a day in a busy job description. If you should ever have an issue or a warranty claim, call tech support. Your post might not be seen on the forum by an Oliver employee. With that in mind, we moderators ask you to communicate directly with the company and afford them an opportunity to satisfy any serious needs before flaming OTT on the forum. We are not asking that anything to be swept under the rug. Just, please, let Oliver Travel Trailers have the first shot to meet and exceed your expectations. Sometimes, communications here may be misinterpreted, because the written word just doesn’t carry the visual clues of face to face conversations. Should you believe a post is a little ill-mannered, consider the poster might be trying to be helpful, but isn’t able to put his or her words together the way you might. Forums work best when our skin tends to be a bit on the thicker side. Remember as well, whatever you post will likely be permanent, and picked up by automated internet software programs. Though this is our forum, it’s still on the world wide web. Our words may very well outlive us. Please, be especially patient with newbies. Our search feature is still being tweaked, and they may not have found an answer by simply using “Search”. You may remember your own newbie questions . . . of many years ago. If you have already answered the same newbie question as many times as you care to, relax and allow someone else to step up and reply. Help foster a community of teachers. We recommend all phone numbers and email addresses be sent in private messages and NOT posted. If you must post personal data, we suggest you post in a manner so trolling automated internet programs will not grab your personal information and use it nefariously. For instance, a phone number might be “8ThreeZero, 5one5, 9 2 eight seven”, or for an email address, something like “Bill DOT Fisher at flyboy DOT com”. Please reread this, and help us continue to make our forum a great place for everyone. We hope you enjoy our forum. Thank you, bugeyedriver, SeaDawg, ScubaRx, Mike and Carol, topgun2 , Mossemi Oliver Owner Moderator Team
    27 points
  5. And just think, not an ounce of liability was incurred. That's what helping family (be it personal or extended) is all about. Never turn your back on a person in need, for it may well be you sometime down some lonely forest road...
    27 points
  6. My son is a computer game programmer and they recently got into 3D printing. Here is what arrived for Christmas...... It was a total surprise. The $5 bill is for scale. The hull is exactly 6” long, the LE2 hull is 18’, so this makes the model 1:32 scale. There are lots of truck models in this size, my Land Cruiser 200 would be 5.9” long at this scale. ..... https://www.ebay.com/itm/Toyota-Land-Cruiser-4x4-1-32-Scale-200-VX-Wagon-SUV-Diecast-Model-Mini-4wd-Car-/362667098231 And this is what the model looked like before final trim “processing”, I have NO clue how that is done. They were not able to find an actual data file online, they did this completely from scratch using photos. They are willing to share the print file if somebody wants to try this at home. They are thinking about dividing the build into layers, so you could print the tires, frame and hull in different colors and then join them.... but it would not be too difficult to prime and paint the all white version. And no, they do not want to start mass producing these. That would be something for the much rumored, never seen Ollie Store in Hohenwald. Happy Holidays. John Davies Spokane WA EDIT: FILES AND BASIC 3D PRINT INSTRUCTIONS. NO GUARANTEES, THIS IS NOT PLUG AND PLAY EASY. If you cannot download these files directly from this thread, let me know and I will try another method. Thanks to my son Ian! oliver legacy elite 2 trailer davies.stl oliver legacy elite 2 trailer davies.3mf “Provided as is - this shouldn't be too hard of a print, but you'll probably want to have a basic handle on printing. The print specifics below are what I used to print it. They're not required, but might serve as a starting point. Print specifics: Printer: Original Prusa i3 MK3S, 0.4mm nozzle Slicer: PrusaSlicer 2.2 Filament: 1.75mm Prusament PLA (stock profile in PrusaSlicer) Perimeters: 3 Layer Height: 0.1mm Infill: Gyroid, 5% Supports: On Raft: 2 layers (not necessary, just makes it a bit easier to get the tires round) Model print scale: 850% (~200mm x 66mm x 82mm) Total filament (including supports): 143g/48m If you slice it yourself, you'll probably want to put support blockers in the wheel wells - cleaning supports out of there is a pain. This will require some postprocessing - mostly just removing supports from small gaps. If your printer isn't precise enough, or if you're printing with a larger layer height, you may want to do some sanding to get the curves more fluid.” I. D.
    26 points
  7. With the help of a number of good folks on this forum and my great RV Tech, Mathew Gonzales, who has worked on my 2017 Elite II since I brought in home to SE AZ, I finally achieved my goal of being able to run my AC off of my 2000-watt inverter and my new battery bank: 4 100ah Battle Born lithium batteries. After asking for, and getting, advice from folks on the forum about a number of issues that Mat and I ran encountered when attempting this upgrade, I made these decisions and Mat did this work: I first made the decision to purchase the Houghton 9.5K Low Profile Air Conditioner from RecPro--due mainly to how much quieter it runs compared to the Dometic Penguin that came with my Ollie, and to its lower amp draw (10 vs. the 16 for the Dometic). I learned that the Houghton could be run off of the 2000-watt inverter that came with my Ollie, using a transfer switch plugged into it running to the AC. I asked Mat to move the Micro-Air soft start previously installed in the Dometic to the Houghton. We discovered that he needed to reprogram the soft start to coordinate with the new AC. Since, unlike the Dometic set-up that came with my 2017 Ollie, the Houghton did not have a way to control the furnace, Mat installed and wired an Emerson non-programable thermostat--once again using information gleaned from folks on this forum--to control the furnace. I figured it was a good idea to supplement the 320-watt solar panels that came with my Ollie with a 180-watt Zamp solar panel kit. I also purchased a Zamp solar port that Mat installed near the shore power input. When my AGM batteries overheated last fall, I found I had no way to easily disconnect the battery bank. (This, I suspect, is something that is an original defect in the electrical system of my Oliver. Is it for all Olivers still?) So, while Mat was doing all of the other work, I had him install a battery disconnect switch near the inverter. I don't want this to appear as a straightforward process. It took a lot of back and forth between Mat and me trying to come up with solutions to problems encountered along the way. This back-and-forth involved a lot of advice from folks on this forum, some of whom I have not thanked by name. I would like to give special mention and thanks, however, to CnC and Minnesota Oli, who spent a good deal of time with me exchanging private messages. Man, were they patient with this technical novice! The outcome is that I now have a much quieter AC that runs off of my solar, batteries, and 2000-watt inverter. One can read elsewhere about the advantages of the Houghton. Mat told me, before I took my camper home, that he ran the Houghton for about four hours, supplementing the roof-top solar with the Zamp portable kit, and the voltage never dropped below 13 volts. I ran it when I brought the camper home, and verified that the system seemed to run the AC flawlessly AND much more quietly than before. I am delighted, as I have been wanting for a long time to be able to boondock in climes needing cooling of the cabin without having to resort to the hassle and noise of a generator. I will follow up with another post if I run into any issues. Disclaimer: I still have very little technical understanding about how this system functions and how the components and wiring fit together, so I will not be the one to answer many, if any, technical questions, but I know that on this forum, if you ask, you receive. There are some good posts on this forum involving the Houghton AC and related issues, so take a look around, and don't hesitate to submit your questions on this forum. Doing so paid off big time for me! Here is the interior view of my newly installed Houghton 9.5K Low Profile Air Conditioner: Here is an exterior view (birds won't be able to nest in this one!): Here is a photo of how Mat secured and wired the transfer switch and battery disconnect switch: Here is a photo of the Emerson non-programable thermostat to control the furnace (thanks go to John Davies who suggested the purchase): Here is a photo of the Zamp solar port with cord leading to the Zamp 180-watt portable solar panel kit: Here is a photo of the charge controller on my Zamp 180-watt portable solar panel kit, showing the voltage just after I plugged it in. (In less than 10 minutes, this controller and the interior Zamp showed the voltage up to 14.6 before dropping back into the floating voltage range.):
    25 points
  8. I had seen the posting on 4/22/21 by @Calypso showing an externally mounted towel bar on the side of Hull #520. The towel bar was made from a suction cup lifter and a piece of ¾" PVC tubing. I thought this a great idea and made one for our LEII picked up on 2/17/22. Due to nearly constant downpours in central TN the week we picked up Hull #990, we had immediate need for an external towel bar. We recently returned from a two week trip during which we also encountered several downpours. We used the towel bar nearly every day, often not having enough space to hang damp items. Upon our return I was about to make a second towel bar. I was thinking of adding an improvement to offset the bar/tube further from the hull of our LEII, to avoid having towels in contact with dirt on the hull. After mulling over a design for several days, I had an Aha! moment. I could modify my existing PVC towel bar assembly and add additional tubes for greater capacity, while also moving the tubes further away from the hull. Below are photos and a description of the result. Materials (Quantity, Description, Source, Cost, URL) 1- 4-2/3 In., 125 Lb. Dual Suction Cup Lifter (Harbor Freight, $8.99, https://www.harborfreight.com/4-23-in-125-lb-dual-suction-cup-lifter-57501.html?_br_psugg_q=suction+cup+lifters) 2- 3/4 in. PVC Schedule 40 MPT x S Male Adapter (Home Depot,$0.71/each, https://www.homedepot.com/p/Charlotte-Pipe-3-4-in-PVC-Schedule-40-MPT-x-S-Male-Adapter-PVC021090800HD/203811638 4- 3/4 in. PVC Schedule. 40 90° S x S Elbow Fitting (Home Depot, $0.75/each, https://www.homedepot.com/p/Charlotte-Pipe-3-4-in-PVC-Schedule-40-90-S-x-S-Elbow-Fitting-PVC023000800HD/203812123) 4- 3/4 in. Schedule 40 S x S x S Tee (Home Depot. $0.85, https://www.homedepot.com/p/Charlotte-Pipe-3-4-in-Schedule-40-S-x-S-x-S-Tee-PVC024000800HD/203812197) 2- 3/4 in. x 10 ft. PVC Schedule 40 Plain-End Pipe (Home Depot, $6.98/each, https://www.homedepot.com/p/Charlotte-Pipe-3-4-in-x-10-ft-PVC-Schedule-40-Plain-End-Pipe-PVC-04007-0600/100348472) 1- 0.091 in. x 2-3/4 in. Zinc-Plated Safety Pin (2-Piece) (Home Depot, $2.31, https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-0-091-in-x-2-3-4-in-Zinc-Plated-Safety-Pin-2-Piece-815408/204276312#overlay) The finished towel bar/drying rack shown in place below. The disassembled parts are shown below: I chose NOT to cement the entire assembly, since it would be much harder to store when in transit. Construction Cut the handle of the HF Dual Suction Cup Lifter in half transversely. A hack saw or bandsaw is recommended. File/sand the cut edges to remove burrs. Use PVC primer and cement to fasten the threaded end of each 3/4 in. PVC Schedule 40 MPT x S Male Adapters to each of the cut ends of the handles of the Dual Suction Cup Lifter. Cut the ¾" PVC tubing for the hanging tubes I chose to make 3 hanging tubes, each 45" long. This length easily fits in our rear cargo carrier and sags very little Adjust length to suit yourself. Cut 8 pieces of ¾" PVC tube to 1-½" in length. These short pieces serve to couple the elbows, tees and adapter together. Using a belt sander I slightly beveled the cut ends of the hanging tubes and the connector tubes so they would more easily slide into the tee and elbow sockets. Assemble the two "manifolds" as shown above, each having: 2 elbows, 2 tees and 4 of the 1-½" connector tubes. Use PVC primer and regular PVC cement to assemble one joint at a time. Be sure to align the open sockets of the tees and elbows. Hold each joint until cement prevents movement of components. The manifolds should be identical. NOTE: do not put PVC primer or cement on the short connector tubes which will be inserted into the adapters cemented onto each handle of the Dual Suction Cup Lifter. When the manifolds are assembled insert the hanging tubes into the three open sockets on each manifold. Again, I chose not to glue the hanging tubes to the manifolds for ease of storage. Insert the connector tube on each manifold into the adapters cemented to each half of the Dual Suction Cup handle. Again, do not use PVC primer or glue. With all components assembled, do a test fitting on the hull of your Oliver. Slightly dampening the suction cups significantly improves their grip on the hull. The hanging tubes and manifolds assembled should largely support themselves horizontally. I had leveled my trailer and used a level to also level the towel bar/rack. When the towel bar/rack is level drill a 7/64" hole vertically through the adapter coupling joining each half of the Dual Suction Cup Lifter to the short connector tube of each manifold. The purpose of the hole is to permit insertion of the zinc plated safety pin which will prevent the towel bar/rack from sagging, while still permitting the rack to be disassembled. Insert the zinc plated safety pins through the holes drilled into the adapter couplings to maintain the towel bar/rack in a horizontal position extending from the hull. I marked the suction cups and manifolds Left and Right to avoid difficulty later inserting the pins through the connectors. I also put an index mark on the adapters and manifold connectors for easier alignment. I have not yet tested this assembly in the field, but am confident it is strong enough to hold as many towels and clothes as will fit. I expect it could also support wet shoes or hiking boots. I hope this is useful to other owners. I welcome suggestions for improvements. As a final note, update your departure checklists to include removing and stowing the towel bar/rack.
    25 points
  9. I think like a lot of Elite II buyers, we were torn between the twin beds vs the king. We chose the twin, but not so much for the size or comfort of the beds as it was the utility of nightstand and easy access to the overhead compartments. But we liked the idea of having a table and a large lounging area in the back, and so I set my mind on the idea of trying to have both. At first I designed a custom table for the back that would latch into the nightstand in the back with a pole in front, similar to how the dinette table works. I showed it to Oliver and they thought they'd give it a try, but as time went on and things got delayed or forgotten, I sort of gave up on that idea and asked if they would just sell me the standard table top and legs and I would figure it out. They did, and it was a big mistake since I could never figure it out. The table was just too heavy and bulky to put up and take down, and there was absolutely no place to store it. Plus the height with the standard legs was too short for the mattresses we had (another poor decision on my part). So on our first trip it was labeled the Albatross Table and it was just in the way the whole time. It didn't make another trip, just the two mounts screwed to the floor to remind me that not every problem has a solution. But the solution does exist in the Lagun table. I'd seen them before in the king bed model but I had sort of dismissed them as being too small to be of use. But that was before @rideadeuce started this topic about their upgraded table top. Their top was much larger, foldable, and just generally nicer looking than what I'd seen before; and so it clicked with me that with the Lagun mount, we could have a foldable table that could easily be stored or moved out of the way for access to the upper storage. Also the height could be whatever we wanted and unlike the table we had, could be quickly locked for travel. There were just two problems for us - the mount in it's normal location would block the nightstand drawer; and on top of that, we had opted for an access hatch to the basement right in that same spot where the Lagun is usually bolted to the hull. I needed a way to mount the table to the side somehow. So I made one of these - This contraption is made out of 15 Series extrusion from 80/20. I cut, mitered, and erector setted this little block and associated connectors to go beneath the bed overhang. The Lagun mounting plate (the vertical piece) bolts to the mount and then the whole thing gets bolted to the side wall under the bed in four places and to the bed overhang in four places. It looks complicated but if you have a miter saw and can play with Legos, you can build it. Here are some pics of the block in place so you can see how it mounts. The top two bolts on the Lagun plate bolt into the side of the bed extension, then there are two bolts on the block that secure vertically into the base of the extension, then another four bolts that go into the side wall of the base of the bed, opposite the basement. I marked and drilled for the two vertical holes first, then temporarily bolted it in place to mark all the other holes. You need to do this since not all of the surfaces are perpendicular to the trailer or one another. But the flat bottom of the bed extension runs parallel to the floor so if you use that as your starting point then the table top will end up parallel to the floor as well. The end result is extremely solid - The table top I chose is the 35" Nautic Sail top from Marine Teak. Look around on their site and you'll find a number of styles and sizes, any of which would be a great choice. (This is the same company as this one, btw, but they have more choices in table tops on their UK site.) I debated oiling it, but came to my senses and coated it in a couple layers of low gloss poly. Taking it apart to seal is no problem, but you do have to keep track of a number of shims that go under the hinges to make them flush to the wood. So here's the final result. I really like the versatility of the top. Use it folded, unfolded, bar height, table height, sideways, lengthways, stick it over the bed for travel or to get it out of the way, or...however. With the mounting plate where it is, we can raise the table hight enough to clear the nightstand and lower it enough that it sits on the bed locked in place for travel. As you can see, the drawer clears just fine. The table will work best once we have our cushions made to replace the mattresses, but we just did a quick weekend trip with it and it works well even as it is. And best of all, it fits in the closet -
    23 points
  10. Just a quick follow up to let everyone know both Cyndi and I continue to do well with no hidden injuries from our rollover accident. In addition, we were successful in finding and purchasing a 2017 Oliver Legacy Elite II this past week and have just now returned to our home location after successfully making some of our originally planned stops from our interrupted vacation on Apr 2nd. It is truly amazing we were uninjured in the accident and able to get back on our feet with truck and trailer within the remaining two weeks of our scheduled vacation. Thanks again for all the support the Oliver community has given us these past few weeks. This alone should convince anyone on the fence about purchasing the best built travel trailer on the market. Mark and Cyndi
    23 points
  11. Thought I would put this up here in case anyone else is having the same issue I had. Soon after leaving the factory, the plastic strip that lines the bottom edge of the tank cover started to come off. It was a very cheap piece of 'L' plastic kind of glued on here and there. Really, it was pretty ugly even when new. So I finally found this very nice 'U' channel on Amazon that fits perfectly. These trims come in a vast variety of sizes and colors. It appears to be a very high quality vinyl compound and has internal fins that grab the cover on both sides, so no gluing is involved. I just set it in the sun to warm up and gently tapped it on with a rubber mallet. Before doing this, I carefully scraped off all the old glue residue with MEK and a plastic razor blade, followed by a light scrub with a 3M WHITE scotch brite pad (love these for tough cleanup jobs on the trailer, no scratching) Then I filed all the edges to make sure there were no sharp edges or bumps in the fiberglass. Then a good wash. Here's the product: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01F9FXQLU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 This looks so much better to me, and the fit is great, better than with the stock plastic trim. It's supposed to be marine grade, so hopefully it will last. My Elite took 5 feet to do. Those with the Elite 2 will need to measure, but the stuff is available in different lengths. It's all in the details! Dave
    23 points
  12. I made this because the Owners Manual towing and camping lists are simply lame. This one is set up like an aircraft preflight checklist. Feel free to edit and change as needed, some items may not apply or you may just want to do it differently. Mine is laminated and posted inside the closet door: Click the attachment at the bottom to download the Word file. John Davies Spokane WA OLIVER-TRAILER-CHECKLIST-–.docx
    23 points
  13. There have been numerous posts in this forum about Oliver’s lithium battery systems—about their usefulness, limitations, and value with respect to cost. Despite reasonable arguments against it, a number of us have purchased the lithium package. Reasons for purchasing the option have included the ability to run the air conditioner (A/C) for short durations (like at highway rest stops), greater usable energy (more boondocking in cloudy weather without needing a generator), faster charging, and longer battery life. This post summarizes things I’ve learned over the last 6 months about the Xantrex/Lithium/Zamp system. This post might also be titled “Things I Wish I’d Known from the Start.” This summary is a work in progress. Hopefully, with your corrections and additions, this thread will be of use to others that have purchased the Lithionics option or are considering doing so. At the time of this writing, manuals and other information for the Lithionics batteries are in the Service Center Knowledge Base — see links at the end of this post. I assume at some point Lithionics information will be compiled with all of the other trailer manuals in Oliver University. Battery State of Charge A key component of the Lithionics system is the app that lets users monitor State of Charge (SOC) and voltage (see links below). The reliability of the SOC values (which describes the amount of energy remaining in the battery) depends on (1) maintaining SOC calibration and having (2) up-to-date Lithionics firmware. The SOC should be near 100% at 13.6 volts, and about 50% (+/- about 10%) at 13.2 volts. If this is not what you’re seeing on the Zamp controller, Xantrex remote, or Lithionics battery app, then something’s wrong. By way of example, a couple times we’ve experienced the SOC readings of 60% when the batteries were dead -- not good. Note that the voltage reading on the app while there is a load on the system (e.g., electric heater) is different than when there is no load; the “resting” voltage may be higher. SOC Calibration The SOC requires periodic calibration. According to the manual for the 130 Ah batteries, the SOC can be calibrated simply by charging the batteries to 14.4 volts. The manual also states that fully charging the batteries to 14.4 volts should be done at least once every two weeks for battery life. Get the 130-Ah battery manual from Lithionics using the links below; at the time of this writing, Oliver has the incorrect manual posted in the Knowledge Base). When charging with shore power, it is not always apparent that the batteries have reached 14.4 volts, because when charging, the batteries only stay at ~14.4 volts for a short while before dropping back to about 13.6 volts. You can verify that batteries have reached 14.4 volts by monitoring battery voltage using the Lithionics app during a charging event. If you are unsure that the batteries are reaching 14.4 volts, you can at least confirm that the Xantrex charger/inverter is set to charge to at least 14.4 volts in the Xantrex app (https://support.olivertraveltrailers.com/portal/en/kb/articles/xantrex-remote-bluetooth-pair-operation) and, under Settings, check the custom absorption voltage. Ours came from the factory set at 14.6 volts, which is sufficiently high to get the batteries to 14.4 volts. Lithionics Firmware At least some of us that picked up our trailers in spring or early summer have batteries with outdated firmware. As I understand from Lithionics, more recent firmware versions have an improved SOC algorithm (our initial SOC readings were unreliable). You can check firmware version with the Lithionics app by clicking on a battery, then clicking on the settings “sprocket” in the upper right side, and then clicking on firmware. Our battery came with firmware version 1.0.05; I’ve recently updated to 1.0.07 by clicking on flash firmware. This has to be done with your phone in close proximity to the battery, and has to be done separately for each battery. Updating firmware comes with a “…this is a critical operation…” warning; you might want to check with Oliver or Lithionics if you have any questions about doing this. Has updating firmware improved our SOC readings? I’m not sure yet, but I think so. So far, the readings seem more reliable, but I’m still testing. SOC Calibration by Cycling A Lithionics rep told me that the SOC can be calibrated by “cycling” the batteries, and that this should be done every two months. Cycling consists of discharging the batteries to reserve voltage (e.g., ~12.1 volts) and then charging to 14.4 volts. However, the rep could not point to written documentation supporting this form of calibration. As the batteries support more partial cycles than full cycles (see graph below), calibrating by simply charging to 14.4 volts (assuming this effectively calibrates the SOC) seems better for battery life. Lithionics batteries will not charge from tow vehicle The standard 7-pin connection from tow vehicle to trailer cannot be used for charging the Lithionics batteries. Charging the batteries from the TV requires a DC to DC charger, which is an aftermarket installation. For more discussion on this, search for John Davies’ Redarc DC-to-DC charger installation description. Batteries Turn Off Twice now one or two of the three 130-Ah batteries have turned off when reaching low voltage (which happened because we were relying on incorrect SOC values). The SOC readings themselves looked OK, but the voltage did not correspond with SOC. The battery State in the Lithionics app reads “Off” for each battery when it is off. There is no flag on the Zamp or Xantrex control panel that alert the user to one or two batteries being off. The lesson (at least for me): monitor all three batteries, not just one, and note the Current, Power, State, and Status Code settings. If one or more batteries are off, turn the battery(ies) back on, and fully charge to 14.4 volts. Inverter Noise The Xantrex charger/inverter can be noisy charging the batteries with shore power (I’ve measured 60-64 decibels in the cabin when batteries are charging, and about 72 decibels adjacent to the inverter). The noise comes from (1) the charger/inverter fan and (2) the way in which the inverter is mounted (the fiberglass wall to which the inverter is mounted propagates noise into the cabin). The noise can be masked by turning on the A/C. Alternatively, the noise level can be reduced somewhat by lowering the charger current. In the Xantrex app, go to settings, and change the Charger Current from, for example, 100 amps to 30 amps. This will reduce fan noise. It will obviously take longer to charge the batteries with lower current. If you would like to be connected to shore power (to run an electric heater or the A/C, for example), but not charge the batteries (to avoid keeping them fully charged for long periods of time, or to reduce inverter noise) you can set the charger ignition control in the Xantrex app settings to “auto-on” (thanks to NCEagle for figuring this one out). In this mode shore power energizes the 110 outlets, the A/C, and the fridge, but does not charge the batteries. Turn the charger ignition control “off” to resume charging batteries with shore power. There are likely ways of re-mounting the inverter so that noise does not propagate into the cabin, with either a different mounting location or perhaps mounts using rubber bushings. Has anyone tried this yet? Xantrex Communication Errors Too often, I’ve gotten “Code 20” communication errors on the Xantrex remote panel. This can be resolved by pushing the red button on the 300A breaker under the streetside bed, waiting for at least 30 minutes, and then pressing in the little red flag on the breaker. Yes, this is a pain (I wish this breaker were more accessible), but it usually resolves the issue. Leaving the Xantrex inverter on battery mode for 25 hours or more will result in the Code 20 communication error. The time limit can be changed in the Xantrex app, but cannot be lengthened to more than 25 hours. As long as the inverter has not timed out, turning the inverter off and then on again at the remote panel resets the 25-hour time-limit clock. Battery Storage Lithionics provides guidance for storing the lithium batteries (see link below). Long term storage can include lowering the SOC to about 50%. Discharging to the appropriate SOC can be accomplished by turning on an electrical load (e.g., A/C or space heater) while in battery mode and monitoring frequently. Theoretically one could set the inverter cutoff voltage (in the inverter app, under settings), to something like 13.2 volts, but the highest cutoff-voltage option is 12.8 volts. Lithionics recommends keeping a log of SOC and voltage readings prior to and after storage for warranty purposes. ------------------------ Hope this helps. Again, please correct any errors that you see, and please add your observations and tips. Fritz ------------------------------------------ Relevant Links Lithionics battery app: https://support.olivertraveltrailers.com/portal/api/kbArticles/386680000012415191/locale/en/attachments/lpqvx861bbc9c842d48f7995281b07d0a193d/content?portalId=edbsnfe5dceb1ade7571879ff200cb63e14a94b62f48e3338c31a6401acd00130b0bc&inline=true). Lithionics battery manual: At the time of this writing, the Oliver Knowledge Base has links to Lithionics manuals for 125 Ah and 320 Ah batteries. However, our LE2 has three 130 Ah batteries as part of the 390-Ah package, and the manuals for the 125-AH batteries and the 130-Ah batteries are not the same. A manual for the 130 Ah battery can be found on the Lithionics website: https://lithionicsbattery.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/12V130-G31LRBM8-Battery-User-Guide-R1.pdf. Lithionics Storage Procedure https://support.olivertraveltrailers.com/portal/api/kbArticles/386680000012415191/locale/en/attachments/lrotz3ebee5a7020f42a58eb0d4db18a41356/content?portalId=edbsnfe5dceb1ade7571879ff200cb63e14a94b62f48e3338c31a6401acd00130b0bc&inline=true Lithionics FAQs https://support.olivertraveltrailers.com/portal/api/kbArticles/386680000012415191/locale/en/attachments/lrotz0edc34bc92ef4dce941bbb7f3f2d89db/content?portalId=edbsnfe5dceb1ade7571879ff200cb63e14a94b62f48e3338c31a6401acd00130b0bc&inline=true Xantrex Remote Bluetooth Pairing and Operation https://support.olivertraveltrailers.com/portal/en/kb/articles/xantrex-remote-bluetooth-pair-operation
    22 points
  14. After a long wait, the day finally came last week. We picked up our LE II and could not be happier. We camped in it for two night on electric and water and then two nights dry camping. Temps were between 30 and 50 and we could not have been more comfortable. We have been on the forums for quite some time now so I won't introduce myself. Looking forward to meeting new people and putting some faces to forum names at the Owner's Rally in May. This is a picture of our campsite at Mousetail Landing State Park about an hour from Hoenwald, TN. Cheers, Brian & Brandelyne
    22 points
  15. I spent this summer working on Olies winter home and just finished it this morning just before it snows tomorrow.
    22 points
  16. Let me preface this story by making it clear that I am NOT a hunter but I do now understand why we SHOOT deer in the wild... I never liked the taste of venison, too gamey or too wild or too something. So, I had this idea ...that I could rope a deer, put it in a stall, feed it up on corn for a couple of weeks, then kill it and eat it. The first step in this adventure was getting a deer. I figured that, since they congregate at my cattle feeder and do not seem to have much fear of me when we are there (a bold one will sometimes come right up and sniff at the bags of feed while I am in the back of the truck not 4 feet away), it should not be difficult to rope one, get up to it and toss a bag over its head (to calm it down) then hog tie it and transport it home. I filled the cattle feeder then hid down at the end with my rope. The cattle, having seen the roping thing before, stayed well back. They were not having any of it. After about 20 minutes, my deer showed up-- 3 of them. I picked out a likely looking one, stepped out from the end of the feeder, and threw my rope. The deer just stood there and stared at me. I wrapped the rope around my waist and twisted the end so I would have a good hold. The deer still just stood and stared at me, but you could tell it was mildly concerned about the whole rope situation. I took a step towards it, it took a step away. I put a little tension on the rope, and then received an education. The first thing that I learned is that, while a deer may just stand there looking at you funny while you rope it, they are spurred to action when you start pulling on that rope. That deer EXPLODED. The second thing I learned is that pound for pound, a deer is a LOT stronger than a cow or a colt. A cow or a colt in that weight range I could fight down with a rope and with some dignity. A deer-- NO Chance. That thing ran and bucked and twisted and pulled. There was no controlling it and certainly no getting close to it. As it jerked me off my feet and started dragging me across the ground, it occurred to me that having a deer on a rope was not nearly as good an idea as I had originally imagined. The only upside is that they do not have as much stamina as many other animals. A brief 10 minutes later, it was tired and not nearly as quick to jerk me off my feet and drag me when I managed to get up. It took me a few minutes to realize this, since I was mostly blinded by the blood flowing out of the big gash in my head. At that point, I had lost my taste for corn-fed venison. I just wanted to get that devil creature off the end of that rope. At the time, there was no love at all between me and that deer, but I figured if I just let it go with the rope hanging around its neck, it would likely die slow and painfully somewhere. At that moment, I hated the thing, and I would venture a guess that the feeling was mutual. Despite the gash in my head and the several large knots where I had cleverly arrested the deer's momentum by bracing my head against various large rocks as it dragged me across the ground, I could still think clearly enough to recognize that there was a small chance that I shared some tiny amount of responsibility for the situation we were in. I didn't want the deer to have to suffer a slow death, so I managed to get it lined back up in between my truck and the feeder - a little trap I had set before hand...kind of like a squeeze chute. I got it to back in there and I started moving up so I could get my rope back. Did you know that deer bite? They do! I never in a million years would have thought that a deer would bite somebody, so I was very surprised when ..... I reached up there to grab that rope and the deer grabbed hold of my wrist. Now, when a deer bites you, it is not like being bit by a horse where they just bite you and slide off to then let go. A deer bites you and shakes its head--almost like a pit bull. They bite HARD and it hurts. The proper thing to do when a deer bites you is probably to freeze and draw back slowly. I tried screaming and shaking instead. My method was ineffective. It seems like the deer was biting and shaking for several minutes, but it was likely only several seconds. I, being smarter than a deer (though you may be questioning that claim by now), tricked it. While I kept it busy tearing the tendons out of my right arm, I reached up with my left hand and pulled that rope loose. That was when I got my final lesson in deer behavior for the day. Deer will strike at you with their front feet. They rear right up on their back feet and strike right about head and shoulder level, and their hooves are surprisingly sharp... I learned a long time ago that, when an animal -like a horse --strikes at you with their hooves and you can't get away easily, the best thing to do is try to make a loud noise and make an aggressive move towards the animal. This will usually cause them to back down a bit so you can escape. This was not a horse. This was a deer, so obviously, such trickery would not work. In the course of a millisecond, I devised a different strategy. I screamed like a woman and tried to turn and run. The reason I had always been told NOT to try to turn and run from a horse that paws at you is that there is a good chance that it will hit you in the back of the head. Deer may not be so different from horses after all, besides being twice as strong and 3 times as evil, because the second I turned to run, it hit me right in the back of the head and knocked me down. Now, when a deer paws at you and knocks you down, it does not immediately leave. I suspect it does not recognize that the danger has passed. What they do instead is paw your back and jump up and down on you while you are laying there crying like a little girl and covering your head. I finally managed to crawl under the truck and the deer went away. So now I know why when people go deer hunting they bring a rifle with a scope......to sort of even the odds!! All these events are true, so help me God...An Educated Farmer
    22 points
  17. The seed was planted for this furnace mod when we grabbed a canceled reservation three weeks out at a Minnesota State Park. This reservation was mid October and when the date arrived the weather forecast had changed for the worse. We stayed for only two of the three days and we received our first snow of the season, 6 inches of wet snow. We had a non electric site and my batteries were having trouble making it through the night and I was concerned about the water freezing in the Oliver. I have already addressed switching to lithium batteries and posted about it on Oliver Forum. Now I want to share with you what I have done to relieve my worries about water freeze ups in the Oliver, provided that I have a functioning furnace. I first tried to identify the weak spots and came up with the following. Boondocking Inlet Outside Wash Station Fresh Tank Fill Inlet City Water Inlet Black Tank Flush Port Toilet Water Supply Line Hot & Cold Lines Crossing Back Of Oliver The Oliver has all of it's heat ducts run on the curbside which protect the kitchen and the bathroom faucets from freezing. My plan is to run a 2" ducting along the back to the street side and terminating in to the trough that the water lines run in for the city water inlet, fresh tank fill inlet and outside faucet. This trough also has the check valves for those two inlets and has the floor of the exterior storage compartment covering over the top of it. To get at the trough you will have to remove the back wall of the storage compartment and flip the mat back that covers the floor. This exposes the water lines that come across the back of the trailer and drop into that trough. There is a wall that separates the furnace compartment from storage and extends past the wall you just removed. It has a opening for the water lines and it is large enough to run the 2" duct through it and on top of the water lines across the back and into the trough. Now you can flip the mat back down and they are long enough to cover the water lines and the newly installed 2" duct, then the wall is put back in place. On the connection to the furnace I removed the back of the heat exchanger. There is one hard to get at screw on the bottom but the rest are easily accessible. I made two holes, a 2" and a 4" in that back plate. I could not find a 2" starter collar locally so I bought two 4" and removed the rivets on one of them and formed a two inch collar, cut to length and re-rivet. I then installed the 2" and 4" starter collars to the heat exchanger back panel and then the panel to the furnace. I then hooked up the 2" duct to the furnace. Looking in to the access hole under the street side bed you are able to see where the water lines come up and out of the trough and to the valve of the out side wash station. When the furnace fan is running it will blow out a lit Bic Lighter held in that area. So we're protecting water lines, the check valves and dumping warm air underneath the outside wash station valve. Now back at the furnace I attach a 4" heavy duty aluminum foil duct to the newly installed starter collar. It is routed forward a short distance until it can be routed across the basement to the street side and then fed between the hot and cold water lines that go to the outside wash station valve. At this point I need to use a 4" coupler that is 6" long to attach the next 8' piece of 4" duct. I use the 6" long coupler so I can add holes if I need to flood a area with heat, this particular coupler did not need to. I then routed the duct from the wash station valve along the outer wall and over the wheel well, make the corner by the battery compartment and then once getting past the wheel well go down and under battery compartment. Up in that corner I attach a adhesive base 3/4" cable anchor so I can loop a 20" releasable tie strap through it and around the 4" duct holding it up and out of the way. A second 20" tie strap is used were the duct heads down under the battery compartment, it utilizes the loop that anchors the 4/0 cable coming out of the battery compartment. Next I prep another 6" long 4" coupler by adding a metal mounting bracket. It is bolted to the coupler using two 10-24 machine screws that go through the bracket the coupler wall and then a backing plate that has tapped holes. This coupler I will add a1" hole that will be pointed up to flood heat at the battery compartment. The mounting bracket will be utilizing the upper bolt of the support leg for the battery compartment. This keeps the duct up and away from the inverter and electrical components and positions it to flood heat up against the bottom of the battery compartment. The next length of 4" duct is clamped to that coupler and routed up from under the battery compartment over to and along the wheel well. It is held by two 20" tie straps similar to the other side. Because I want to run the heat duct under the foot space of the dinette I need to transition to 2" duct. There is access via the same trough that I utilized in the back of the trailer, but at the front there is more room and I am able to pull the 2" ducting through. From there it continues toward the front until it reaches the black tank flush inlet where it then follows that pipe back along the black tank and terminates by the water supply line for the toilet. At the transition point I add two more short pieces of 2" duct and route them down to where the main black tank drain pipe goes under the dinette foot space, they are terminated on either side of that pipe. There was not enough room to run the 2" duct but enough to force air along either side. At the transition from 4" to the three 2" ducts I simply inserted the three 2" into the end of the 4" and used aluminum foil duct tape to seal the transition. I also want to mention that I used the aluminum foil duct tape to reinforce the ends of every 4" duct by wrapping outside and inside before clamping. That should cover the install, now lets talk about the results of the test in subzero weather. I rounded up seven digital thermometers and put them in the areas I was concerned about. Was placed just inside the empty rear storage compartment. Was placed on top of the batteries and a piece of acoustical insulation that was for large generator enclosure, it was 1-1/2" thick and 19" square. This was squeezed in the opening before the door was closed. Was placed in the rear basement curbside next to boondocking inlet. Was placed in the rear basement street side below the outside wash station valve. Was placed on the floor of the closet with the door left closed. Was placed on the lower shelf in the vanity in the bathroom with the door left closed. Was placed in front basement street side next to the black tank flush port line. I moved it out of the heated shed at 1:00 pm on Sunday 2-7-21. I moved it back in at 3:00 pm on Tuesday 2-9-21. The furnace was cycling off and on at -4 ' but I noticed at -8' and colder it ran continuous. I have the Truma water heater and that was also turned on. I checked propane consumption by putting on two 20 pound tanks that I had weighed and left them in place for 12 hours. It was -12' when I put them on and -2' when I took them off. Because of the subzero temperature the propane was not gasifying very well and the regulator automatically changed from the primary to the reserve after only consuming 2.353 gallons. The total consumed out of both tanks in 12 hours was 3.294 gallons, so that would be .274 gallons in one hour. My Victron BMV-712 was telling me that I had depleted my 400 Ah Battle Born batteries to 47% and at rate of use I had two days and nine hours left. I thought I would comment on a couple of things I like about the outcome of the project. The bathroom was comfy warm and the wall next to the bed was not icy cold. I am not planing to take up subzero camping but it does gives me a benchmark to go off of for any situation that I might run in to. If you have any suggestions or see something that is of concern please let me know. Paul
    22 points
  18. Update: Our fellow Forum member has been discharged from the hospital, they have obtained a campsite in Chattanooga and are presently resting in their Ollie. A huge THANKS goes out to Rick & Vickie, KountryKamper, and, Oliver Service Department for all the help in marshalling resources and generating options for this situation. It truly is a great "Oliver Family" we all belong to. Bill
    22 points
  19. An Open letter from Oliver Travel Trailers Dear Members of The Oliver Travel Trailer Online Forum Community, Over the last two weeks we have seen an increase in people addressing quality and build concerns on our online forum. First off, we want you to know that when we fall short of your expectations, then we fall short of ours. We are dedicated to producing a quality product that can be passed down from generation to generation. Oliver Travel Trailers is different in many ways from other manufacturers. One of these ways is our transparency with our customers and potential customers. This is why we have our own forum. We would like to thank you all for your feedback. New and potential customers may not be aware that we monitor the forum and listen in an attempt to learn from the members. We are always striving to make improvements and take care of any and all issues that arise. We are far from perfect but will continue to get better, always working to build the highest quality travel trailer available. With that being said we want all of you to know we have heard your concerns and recently implemented a new 3 stage quality control inspection to our build process. This is just one of the ways we are aiming to be the best in the industry. Tanks have been a recent hot topic on the forum and we want all of you to know we are currently working with an expert in the industry to see what we can do to improve current designs. We will update you as we learn more. Wiring appearance has been another topic that we are addressing by working with component manufacturers to improve quality of appearance and function on all wiring harnesses. As we improve and implement changes we will share these improvements from time to time with our customers and on this forum. We have always gone above and beyond to fix any issues our customers are having with their trailers and will continue with your help to make Oliver Travel Trailers the very best. Again, we would like to thank you for your feedback. In the future, we kindly ask that if you have a problem or concern with your Ollie, please call us directly so we can help you. This will provide us the details we need in a timely fashion and expedite our course of action. Of course, if you ever feel we have not done enough to fix or improve your issues once you have brought them to our attention then by all means feel free to address it on the forum. We are confident you will find that given the opportunity Oliver will take care of you and improve our product at the same time. We will never be too big or too busy to do the right thing. Sincerely, The Oliver Family
    22 points
  20. Issue: Black streaks running down side of camper due to porch light gaskets. Models Impacted: 2016 - 2017 Models Information: At this time the manufacturer of the porch lights has no intentions of replacing and/or designing a different gasket to resolve this issue. Oliver is researching and testing some different gasket materials to find a long term solution for our customers. We are aware of some different methods being used by our customers to resolve this issue, ie: Murphy's Oil and DAP silicone. Resolution: Currently in Research & Testing *This thread will be updated as new information becomes available.
    22 points
  21. Hey guys, Phil here with Oliver Travel Trailers. It is important to understand that we as a company have not made any decisions to partner with any other entities at this time. It is simply a consideration to offer the best service from a handful of service centers/dealers to our customers who live the farthest away from Tennessee. We do NOT have any plans to mass produce the Oliver. Quality will not suffer as we will still have control of manufacturing and inspecting the trailers before they roll off the line. We haven't lied to or mislead anyone, rather, we have reached out to you, our family members and best sales force for your feedback. Thank you for those who have responded with your concerns. We are reading and listening to each of them and taking them seriously. Please let me know if you have any questions. Have a great Labor Day weekend!
    21 points
  22. It was quite painful to sell, but this was the correct move at this stage in my life. For privacy I won’t say who bought it, but he is a member and if he wants to announce it, that will be on his dime. I emptied out the RV bay for the first time in six years, washed the floor using a push broom and Dawn detergent, and lots of water, and moved my LC200 over to that spot. I now have a vast area to park a vehicle or do workshop type projects, and my wife now has a big corner dedicated to gardening, with two big workbenches, power, light and pegboard. A happy wife is a happy me… Plus I have even more room for my indoor 10 meter airgun range. We will continue to travel and explore the back country at times, but we will stay primarily in motels or B&Bs. But if we encounter a splendid isolated pull-off overlooking a great vista, we can pop the Maggiolina Grand Tour 360 Carbon and rough it for a few nights. It takes about a minute to crank up, and three minutes to put back down. It is pretty darn crude compared to an Ollie, but it is a simply stunning tent. I was really afraid that there would be a big mpg hit from the tent, like with the Yakima RocketBox Carbonite Low, but I was delighted to discover that I got 16 mpgs going to the dealer with bare round bars, and 17 coming back, and no noise at all at 72 mph. That is good mileage for a Land Cruiser with LT tires, they are gas hogs. It’s way better than the 10-12 I got towing “Mouse” at 62 mph. I may install wimpy Geolander AT G015 tires after our next big trip, they will save 52 (!) pounds of rotating mass and I expect to gain another couple of mpgs. They are great “tweener” tires for an Outback, RAV4 or LC200 that isn’t doing lots of rocky stuff. I have had two sets already on other vehicles and I am impressed. We plan to attend the Total Solar Eclipse rally in Fredericksburg next April, but we will be forced to sleep in the ground due to stupid CG rules. If anyone wants a dirt cheap big heavy Eureka! tent and fly in fine condition, come by and talk to me on Tuesday morning after the crowds have departed. After the eclipse, we will head home via the Utah parks and hopefully spend a few nights on the delightful White Rim Road in Canyonlands NP. I will continue to hang out here on the forum, but my posting will be dramatically reduced. The members here feel very much like family, I can’t just go away. John Davies Spokane WA
    21 points
  23. We just returned to Atlanta from a nearly 8 week journey in our Oliver E II. An amazing experience overall and I'm really happy with how the supercharged Tundra and Oliver performed. A few highlights - Days gone - 52 Miles traveled - 12.430. Drove the Alcan, the Steese/Elliott/Dalton to Arctic Circle, Glenn. Taylor, Richardson/Edgerton/McCarthy, Top of the World and a few others. Fuel consumed - approximately 1200 gallons (mostly) premium gasoline Oil consumed - less than 1/2 quart (love those Toyota V8's) U.S. National Parks visited - 10 (7 in Alaska) States/Provinces traversed - 11/3 Oliver sightings - 6! Wildlife spotting - too many to count Costco's visited - 22! Some more than once. (Saved enough on fuel to pay the annual Executive membership fee) Flat tires - 0! (Had two spares each for truck and trailer). Glad I carried extra fuel though, as the fuel station at the Yukon River (Dalton Hwy) was out. Oliver issues - two touch LED lights, one water leak at water pump (very loose flexible hose). Thankful for the double hull and drains. Tundra issues - two divots in windshield. Supercharger drive coupling is going bad (known issue), but made it home for repair here. Memories - a lifetime! Now for a week of cleaning and maintenance on the Tundra and Oliver. Highly recommend this trip if you can spare the time and expense.
    21 points
  24. It didn't take us long to see the benefit of having a screen door handle but I couldn't bring myself to drill holes in my screen door so I made these plates to install the handle without drilling. I used 1/8 inch X 1 inch aluminum and drilled and tapped for #8-32 X 3/8 SS screws. The plates "rotate" into place with the hook at the bottom fitting into the cross bar of the door to keep the assembly from sliding up in the door channel. I shortened the handle tube to 19-13/16 inches, slid the end caps on and attached the assembly to the adapter plates. [attachment file=127613] I know, a lot of trouble to go to when I could have just drilled the holes and been done with it but I think it makes for a cleaner installation.
    21 points
  25. Selling our beloved Oliver recently was a bittersweet experience. We had six wonderful years of great camping experiences with our cherished Ollie. I enjoy photography, and I have taken a lot of pictures of our Ollie in beautiful locations. I went through my photos and selected the best to share here. I then asked myself how to present these photos. By chronological order, or maybe by geographical location? I looked through the EXIF data for the photos and looked at the time when the photos were taken. I noticed that nearly all of the photos were taken in the early morning, late afternoon, or early evening, the Golden Hour of photography. So I decided to present these photos based on the time of day. In the Best Possible Light. Morning photos 6:31 AM July 19, 2019 Deer Creek State Park, near Midway, UT 6:32 AM May 7, 2018 Oliver Rally Lake Guntersville State Park, Guntersville, AL 6:43 AM May 4, 2019 Jalama Beach County Park, near Lompoc, CA 6:53 AM April 5, 2018 Valley of the Gods BLM land, near Bluff, UT This is not a campground, but open BLM land and camping is free. No water, no toilets no picnic tables. Just gorgeous country, and lots of privacy. This is the most spectacular campsite we had in our travels. 6:54 AM June 3, 2020 Lake Jordanelle State Park, near Park City, UT 7:18 AM May 19, 2017 Kodachrome Basin State Park, near Cannonville, UT I distinctly remember taking this photo. It was very cold the night before, and hard to get out of my bed to take this picture. I had sized up the location the previous night and knew that this would look good in the morning light. 7:49 AM March 20, 2019 Goose Island BLM Campground, near Moab, UT We had a great campsite right on the Colorado River. BLM campgrounds are primitive, with a fire pit, a picnic table, and pit toilets. 8:21 AM Sept 17, 2017 Rain Forest Campground, Lake Quinault, WA Afternoon 3:04 PM April 5, 2018 Valley of the Gods BLM land, near Bluff, UT 3:21 AM April 6, 2018 Gouldings Campground, near Monument Valley, UT 5:34 PM August 30, 2019 Rush No More Campground, near Sturgis, SD This was part of the Inyan Fiberglass Rally. 5:44 PM August 25, 2019 Horsehead Campground Angostura Recreation Area, near Hot Springs, SD This was part of the Inyan Fiberglass Rally. Evening 6:09 PM April 15, 2017 Upper Big Bend BLM Campground, near Moab, UT This was a small campground, with a really small spot to put the trailer. I was still new to maneuvering the trailer, but I was able to back Ollie into place. A bigger trailer would not have worked. 6:29 PM April 4, 2018 Valley of the Gods BLM land, near Bluff, UT 6:31 PM April 28, 2018 Piney Campground, Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area, near Dover, TN 6:37 PM September 7, 2017 Whitby Island, WA We were on our way to Olympic National Park with my sister and her husband and their Casita, when we “driveway camped” at a family friend’s place. 6:38 PM September 21, 2016 Rivers Trail of Tears State Park, near Cape Girardeau, MO We picked up our trailer on September 20, 2016, and spent that night near Hohenwald, TN. This was our first night on our own, at a campsite overlooking the Mississippi River. 6:42 PM October 15, 2020 Castle Valley, UT We were camped with our friends and their Airstream on their land near Castle Valley, UT. 7:04 PM April 9, 2022 Watchman Campground, Zion National Park, UT This is special to us, as this was our last trip with Ollie. 7:17 PM April 4, 2018 Valley of the Gods BLM land, near Bluff, UT My favorite Ollie picture. 7:34 PM May 18, 2017 Kodachrome Basin State Park, near Cannonville, UT 7:40 PM April 13, 2017 Upper Big Bend BLM Campground, near Moab, UT 7:42 PM May 3, 2019 Jalama Beach County Park, near Lompoc, CA 7:58 PM March 28, 2019 Goose Island BLM Campground, near Moab, UT Our propane firepit right on the Colorado River. 8:07 PM September 10, 2017 Hobuck Beach Park Campground, Neah Bay, WA 8:40 PM May 18, 2017 Kodachrome Basin State Park, near Cannonville, UT This was our first time using our propane firepit. 9:09 PM May 20, 2017 Kodachrome Basin State Park, near Cannonville, UT I hope you enjoy these photos, and that you enjoy camping in your Oliver. -- David
    21 points
  26. We haven't finished adding everything, but you can find owner's manuals, component manuals and videos on the Oliver University page. You can find the Oliver University under the "Travel Trailers" tab in the main menu. http://olivertraveltrailers.com/oliver-university/ We will be adding some other "how-to" videos as we get them from the videographer. If there is something you don't see, let us know and we will add it.
    21 points
  27. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01INZ7RY0/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Mike
    21 points
  28. Just passing along: Heard back from Rodney Lomax, Sales Manager at factory about a few minor changes to 2024 model year: No big changes as many happened last year. 1) Delete both street side water ports from side of trailer Simplify down to just 2 ports for water. ( These side mounted ports get lots of grime and road abuse. Moving to rear should help.) 2) Move current street side fresh tank fill to left side of rear bumper. (Like the current boondocking port on right (curb) side.) 3) Change right rear boondocking port valves so it is both the regular pressurized input line….and a boondocking port. (In 2024 Only 2 ports for water on rear of trailer) 4) Rework body moulds to remove the inset used for upper fridge vent. New fridges don’t need that vent. The trailer will then be streamlined all the way to the door on the upper hull. 5) The exterior solar port will no longer be standard but will be a dealer option for customers that wish to have it. (Note: Several owners added their own solar ports in the past.) 6) There is a possibility of a bathroom door change but that is still in the R & D phase and may not pan out.
    20 points
  29. EDIT 12/10/23. Useful link: https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/6720-natures-head-compost-toilet-troubleshooting-user-guide/ EDIT 06/06/23. This is an Oliver factory installation, not mine. One member has assumed that I did this. There are a number of threads asking about this toilet. I hope we can gather up a lot of the talk here in one place. I think there has been one other installation in an Ollie but there have been NO published pictures of any kind, that I have been able to find, even from the factory. This is baffling to me. I really wanted to cut the dump station umbilical. We routinely dry camp and finding an open station during a busy holiday weekend or off season is not something I want to face. With the NH toilet we can get rid of our grey water with a 3/4 inch garden hose. In many western states it is legal and encouraged to run a hose out to a nearby shrub and let your water trickle into the ground. The black tank, drain plumbing and vent system are all completely retained. The factory folks are extremely reluctant to delete these parts, since they are part of their certification. If you wanted to reinstall a regular toilet, it would be a very minor job. The fresh water line is even in place, next to the wall. You could sell the used NH for $400 and that would pay for the replacement conventional RV toilet, with a lot left over. An RV toilet is less than $200.... I chose to charge the base with coconut coir rather than peat moss, since it is a renewable resource and doesn't damage the environment. https://smile.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=coconut+coir I made the mistake of just dropping a dry 2 pound brick into the bottom, adding water and then letting it hydrate. I ended up with WAY too much material. You need to do this in a bucket, outside, and then transfer the expanded stuff into the base, and the leftovers into gallon zip bags. The correct height is even with the internal agitator centerline. Any higher and it becomes difficult to turn with the handle. It takes about two gallons, I did not measure. There are many online sources with info. To summarize: Sit to pee, everybody, so there is no splashing. The trapdoor stays closed and your pee goes forward, and then down into the reservoir. Which you pre-treated with a half cup of vinegar, to kill the odor. That part is easy. To poop, open the trapdoor, finish the job, wipe and close the door. Give the agitator handle two or three turns. The poop and paper will decompose rapidly once the natural process gets going, which may take a few days. The fan keeps a steady flow of fresh air into the reservoir and out of the trailer through the existing roof vent. I never noticed any bad odors except the first days, before I figured out that Oliver had installed the wrong fuse, a 1 amp, which had blown. Once I installed the correct fuse (2 to 5 specified, I used 3 amp), the fan worked as designed. The fuse is located in the main distribution panel under the dinette table, right row, bottom position (UN-labeled!). It is best to put only the absolute minimum amount of RV toilet paper into the base. If you put a lot in, it wraps around the agitator and makes it harder to turn. Only stinky paper goes down - the rest (damp with pee) goes into the small covered waste can to be disposed of weekly. The can came from Walmart, $10 I think. Cleaning is simple: spritz the area lightly with a dilute vinegar spray and wipe down with a disposable baby wipe, toss in can. Done. The residual vinegar and wipes control any odor from the can. The pee tank is big but it will fill up faster than you can believe if you have four people using it! Empty when it gets to within an inch or two from the top: Flip the two side latches, carefully rotate the top off the base, remove the pee bottle and cap it. Dump it in any approved location - a pit toilet or a rest stop restroom. Rinse with fresh water a couple of times and recharge with half a cup of vinegar. Reinstall into the toilet and close and latch the top. The pee will eventually form crusty yellow deposits. The fix, I have read, is to add gravel and water and shake it hard, then rinse several times. In two weeks of use I never noticed any significant deposits. The longer you let the poop decompose the better. If you can leave it over the winter, dump it out in the spring and it will be totally benign. If you need to empty it mid-season, remove the pee bottle and vent hose, unscrew the two hold down knobs and lift out the entire unit. Carry it outside and put a 13 gallon or larger trash bag on top, flip it over and empty the compost. Refill with clean coir to the centerline. There is NO need to clean it out. Any residual material will just help the next batch get started. The organic waste you can double bag and put in the trash, or if fully decomposed, it can be spread out in the woods, but not near a potable water supply or garden. The way to keep the smell in control is to keep the pee out of the main reservoir. It's the urine that makes a pit toilet smell so bad.... If you throw up or have a messy poop, you can add a little more fresh coir to help absorb the extra fluids. I keep a gallon bag of the hydrated stuff in the overheard cabinet (along with a quart of vinegar) and haven't had to add any extra. The fan has a dust filter that is supposed to be checked every few weeks, by removing two Philips screws. I think that is way too often in the clean environment of a fiberglass trailer, unless you have a dog that sheds. You can put your hand over the left (inlet) opening and feel a light suction. If that isn't present, you need to clean the filter. The pee bottle sits in a sealed cavity to catch overflows, This is a problem since when you take a shower, a bunch of fresh water gets trapped there. I intend to drill a couple of small drain holes in the bottom. I don't care if the pee bottle overflows onto the floor of the head, at least that way I will notice it! unless it is dark, and I am barefooted.... that would be bad 😉 This is why you want to empty the tank before it gets too close to the top. Agitator handle: ours fell off right away, the shaft has a set screw with lock nut. It is very easy to tighten correctly. I am not sure why the factory guy couldn't do it successfully. Spares: I intend to purchase a spare pee tank ($40), spare lids, and a fan.I already have extra 3 amp fuses. ... http://store.natureshead.net I intend to wire in a small LED in the wire harness to show that the fan has power. You can probably hear it running, faintly, if you are in a very quiet area and don't have bad tinnitus, as I do. The Nature's Head is a cool device, but it is really just a fancy bucket. A solidly built, very expensive bucket. I wish the price were about $250 instead of $800. That seems about right for what you get. OTH it is very rugged, and long time users seem to love it. My wife still has some reservations about using it, and we need to get a short step stool since it sits so much higher than even a tall toilet. This one might work well, and it might fit in close to the base with a bungee cord around it for travel: .... https://www.squattypotty.com/shop/poop-better/classic-ecco I am still learning, but I have no regrets at this time. Questions? John Davies Spokane WA
    20 points
  30. First, thank you all for being generous with your time. I found many detailed answers in the forum and the broader community was a major factor in deciding on an Oliver. This will be my first travel trailer. It is perfect for me and my wife and our two miniature dachshunds. Kids started college and we are still a few years out from retirement. But we can see it coming up fast. My wife is a history teacher and I own my own business - so we spend most of our time in California (Ventura County) and summers and holidays in Williamsburg VA. My toolbox consists of a wrench and a roll of duct tape. But I am up for the adventure and look forward to acquiring new skills. I have to say I am very impressed with all of you and look forward to getting to know you. Rich and Christine Mutell
    20 points
  31. One of the things I asked Oliver to do for me was to install a 12" counter extension to the right of the cooktop that could be folded down when not in use. I figured we could use the extra counter space, plus I wanted a buffer between the cooktop and beds for splatter. This is what they came up with - This was perfectly fine and exactly what I was expecting, and we've really enjoyed using it. The only thing I didn't really like was that the hardware was finicky and just didn't work well. And the top ended up about 9" rather than 12", so it was a little small. And we had asked if they could make a piece of fiber granite to match, but they'd have to make a new mould for it so that wasn't going to happen. It also would have been nice if the extension were flush to the counter. So maybe a lot of problems. But we were happy with it nonetheless. But one day when I was running some wires through the pantry, I had removed the countertop beneath for access and just naturally set it down on top of the counter extension. Well, it fit perfectly; and thus, a new project was added to the list. I asked Oliver if they would sell me an extra top and picked it up when I got my trailer out of service a few weeks ago. I believe they charged $150 for it. Since I was redoing the top, I figured I'd search for better hardware as well. I found several options, but the ones that stood out were these from Amarine. They're super heavy duty and stainless steel. They work much better than what we had, and look nicer to boot. The only problem was that they were about a half inch too long for the countertop, so they'd have to be cut to size. But worth the trouble, so I ground the ends off a half inch. If you don't want to go through that trouble, my second choice was these, which are small enough to fit without modification. I cut a ½" piece of plywood that I could screw into to use as the base for the top. A ½" sheet will sit flush to the lip of the counter, which is what I wanted, but to make the countertop flush to the existing counter, it meant the hinges had to be high enough that I had to grind out a small notch for each hinge to clear. No big deal - btw, a Dremel with a small sanding cylinder works really well on the fiberglass, and leaves a smooth edge and no chipping whatsoever. Wear a mask. Here are the notches - The brackets are easy, just mark the holes, drill, and screw. I used ¾" #10 stainless on the bottom legs and ¼" #8's on the top. And 3M 4200 along each leg and on each screw going into the fiberglass to prevent it from backing out over time. Since none of the surfaces in the trailer are perfectly 90°, I needed to shim something to make the counter level. I considered grinding down the latch that holds the brackets at 90°, but that would have been difficult and if I ground off too much, I'd have to buy another bracket. Instead, I decided to shim between the plywood and fiber granite and then glue the top to the plywood with more 3M 4200, which I'm using so much that I've started referring to it around the house now as Snowball Glue. It's only about ⅛" max to shim - I used some stainless washers that I had lying about and just glued them down in each of the corners. I found that the top was a bit warped, so I had to weigh it down while the glue set - See, I knew lead acid batteries still had a use. I let it sit overnight and in the morning, I had what's in the photo above. Cool. BTW, if you want to do this and have mattresses, then you'll want to check their thickness to make sure the extension will clear when folded. Measure down 12" from the bottom lip of the counter. If your mattress is below that, you're good. If you have cushions, then no problem, but you'll need to move one of the back ones out of the way when raising or lowering the top. More pics -
    20 points
  32. Camp pillows that tickled my funny bone...
    20 points
  33. We are in the process of locating qualified and reputable RV maintenance facilities across the country. The goal is to provide our owner's with outstanding service within reasonable distance. If you have had a good experience with a third-party maintenance shop, please let us know here so we can do additional research and add them to our database. Thanks!
    19 points
  34. Hull 505 - Galway Girl Made it to mile 0. Updates later.
    19 points
  35. This is most excellent, if you want to understand why lithium batteries are so cool. "You have just sold your first-born into slavery, remortgaged the house, and bought yourself a lithium-ion battery! Now you want to know how to take care of your precious new purchase: How to best charge lithium-iron batteries, how to discharge them, and how to get the maximum life out of your lithium-ion batteries. This article will explain the do’s and don’ts." How to Find Happiness With LiFePO4 (Lithium-Ion) Batteries John Davies Spokane WA EDIT: That is a pdf that doesn't print well. I made a Pages doc out of it, that can be printed and added to your Ollie records, if you like. JD How to Find Happiness With LiFePO4 (Lithium-Ion) Batteries - Solacity .pages EDIT 05/16/23. Thanks to Jim and Francis for converting the article to a PDF: How to Find Happiness With LiFePO4 (Lithium-Ion) Batteries
    19 points
  36. Many of you know that this has been a long, drawn out project. I think I started talking about it to a few people at the 2019 rally - so it's been well over a year in the making, almost two. Not that it was particularly difficult (though certainly a more major mod), but because of laziness and indecision on all the components it ended up being a start and stop project, with months sometimes between fits of activity. And then it snowballed into a complete plumbing overhaul, which was unnecessary - but then that's how the trailer got its name, after all. I'll post about all the plumbing stuff later, but since there have been a few recent posts about shower and bath mods, I figured I'd go ahead and toss this one into the mix. This project started for a few reasons. One, I've always found the bath sink to be mostly useless. It's fine for washing hands, but for most anything else, you've got to crane your neck around with the front wall curving in to hit your head. And trying to use a tiny little sink for washing your face just leaves water everywhere. So we found that were using the kitchen sink almost exclusively. That was fine - no big deal - but with the bigger sink, I was getting tired of wasting water cleaning toothpaste residue out of the sink, and it seemed silly to have a bath sink that got little to no use. The second reason for the upgrade is that after we redid the kitchen sink, the bath sink just looked sad. In addition to functionality, the bath needed some sexy. So the obvious solution was a vessel sink of some sort. Since a vessel sink sits on top of the counter, I'd have much more leeway in size and placement. I could pull it forward as much as I wanted, plus it had the added benefit of raising the sink to a more comfortable height for us. Some experimentation with kitchen bowls of different sized showed that I could get a fairly generous sink that didn't take up too much shower space. I settled on something in the 11" to 12" range; which proved to be a little difficult to source, especially after deciding on the material. I had bookmarks for dozens of sinks of different materials, but I couldn't find one that I really liked. I almost picked a glass one off Amazon, but in the end I thought that was going to be too heavy. What I really wanted - since I had already swapped out almost all of the brushed chrome fixtures in the bath for polished - was a simple polished stainless sink. There were a few out there, but nothing in the right size, nor at a reasonable price. So the project bogged down a bit at that point; but I was confident that I'd find something eventually, and so I went ahead and ordered a new vanity top from Oliver, without any cutouts for the sink or faucet. I’m glad I did, since Oliver has apparently now stopped offering our countertop color And sure enough, a few months later I came across a discontinued sink on Overstock.com that was exactly right. 11.25", polished inside and out. It's the Acquaio sink from WS Bath, if you can find one. I know that other sizes are still available. It was still pricy even on discount, but by that point I didn't care. To make up for the splurge, I got a faucet from Ikea, which is actually pretty nice. The colors from chrome to stainless don't exactly match, but they're close enough and it doesn't bother me. Since I was swapping out the faucet, I needed to find a separate shower valve, which was another lengthy quest. I thought at first that I'd put one to the right of the bath caddy, like @mountainoliver has in his trailer. But most everything I found was just a bit too big to fit (I didn't know about mountainoliver's mod and the mixer valve he used until later). Then I found the Grohe Grohtherm valve, which was interesting in a couple of respects - it didn't recess into the vanity at all (which eliminated a potential issue with the plumbing), it matched the Grohe faucet that I had already installed in the kitchen, and since it was linear, I thought that it might actually fit in the space above the caddy, between it and the vanity top. And it did fit, but looked squished in place, plus I didn't think until trying to place both it and the sink that the the sink drain and trap was going to be difficult to work the plumbing around. Plus putting it there meant that the shower hose was going to be strung across the vanity and generally look bad and be in the way. The problem with this realization was that I'd ordered the valve and the sink before one of my 3-month breaks in the project and now neither was returnable - so I had to make it work. This meant that the shower valve was going on the closet wall. I also realized during the test fitting that when I pulled the sink forward, the drain trap was going to hit the top of the bath caddy, meaning that I couldn't get it far enough forward to work. Small disaster. But I realized though that the bath caddy wasn't symmetrical, and if I turned it upside down, everything fit. I'd lose the flat shelf on the bottom, but we only use the caddy to hold the bath mat, so not a problem. Small problem with the water pump switch placement, though, since it would be on the bottom - but a quick email to Oliver had a new caddy that hadn’t been drilled for the switch on the way. At that point, all the pieces were here, all the logistics worked out, and I was ready to go. Time for another couple months off while I built up the courage to drill through the closet wall. Then finally... First step was to remove the existing vanity top, which is possibly one of the most firmly attached things in the trailer. It's glued in place, so the only way I could find to get it off without completely destroying the vanity was to cut through the joint with an oscillating saw. That's a slow, tiring, dusty endeavor; and it generates a great deal of heat, so you've got to work in spurts to keep the fiberglass resin from burning - which is fine really, since working through the caddy access, your shoulders will welcome the rest. I had to do a tiny bit of trimming on the new top to get it to fit as snuggly as the old one; and once in place, I sealed it with silicone like the original. Top off, new drain lines in place, and I decided to attach the new top with industrial velcro to make it easier to remove in the future (works well). Next, shower lines teed off the existing plumbing, line to the nonexistent toilet removed, and some insulation added to both the plumbing lines and the outside wall behind the vanity. (I have a circulating pump on the hot water, hence the extra line.) I also glued a small PVC block to the back side of the vanity wall to tie down the water lines and prevent them from vibrating too much. And as always, cleaned out as much fiberglass dust as possible, cleaned up and wrapped wiring, etc. The access port on the closet side is something that Oliver gave me in the original build. The sink valves and drain trap are accessible from that port, and since I used velcro for the top, I have the option now of cutting the silicone on the top and pulling that off for access, in addition to taking out the caddy. New plumbing in the closet for the shower. I drilled out a short piece of aluminum as a backing plate for the shower valve. The plumbing is protected somewhat in the closet by the ABS vent, and we really don't keep much in there that could bump around and damage the plumbing. But a few layers of aluminum tape should help protect the insulation from getting beat up and gives a bit of a spaceship vibe. The valve is supposed to stand out from the wall about an inch or so, but I decided to recess it so that it attaches flush and as out of the way as possible. I caulked around the valve and it ended up making a nice little shelf for a razor, and I placed it low enough that my wife can use it to prop a foot while shaving her legs. You can also hang a bar of soap on one of the handles to drip dry. The faucet has a neat feature with stops on both valves, which can be custom set to whatever temperature and flow you prefer. The little buttons on the handles allow you to go past the stops when you want. And that's really it. Installing the sink and faucet is just drilling two holes and following the directions. The only change I made is that the sink came with a short stainless ring to mount between the sink and counter, but I didn't like the look and so just used one of the black rubber gaskets that was inside the ring. That way the sink looks like it’s sitting right on the counter instead of a pedestal. We tested everything out on our last trip and functionally, it all works as expected. The sink isn't in the way at all while showering, and really is so much more usable. Plus I think it looks great. The shower functions just as nicely, with the valve not being obtrusive. I added a second holder for the shower head up high, which works better for me, though my wife prefers the original one. I still need to swap that one out, since I think it's the only bit of brushed chrome left in the trailer. I added the same backsplash material that a few other owners have recommended. I wanted to order a new, wider mirror; but the original one is glued on and so I didn’t want to go through the trouble of trying to get it off. I suppose I could just place one on top of the other, so maybe that’ll be a future project. Glamor shots -
    19 points
  37. We picked up our camper on Friday of last week (March 19th 2021), and after a fairly long day of questions, tutorials, etc we set out on the Natchez Trace for our first night at Davey Crockett, followed by heading back north to where we are now, and will stay until Easter. Thanks to everyone who has answered my questions over the past year or so. Every one of your answers has helped my wife and I (and our dog valentine) get to this point and we love our camper so far.
    19 points
  38. Torque Specifications WHEEL LUG NUTS: 90 - 120ft lbs. Note: Oliver has set 110ft lbs as the standard as of 2023 year models & older. BULLDOG COUPLER: 80 ft lbs AXLE/U-BOLTS: 70 ft lbs SHACKLE BOLTS: 40 ft lbs
    19 points
  39. 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
    18 points
  40. I wanted to let everybody know that Anita has had an accident inside her home. She fell while descending a flight of stairs to her basement and has sustained a hip fracture. She endured a 10 hour procedure to remove hardware placed during a (years ago) surgery after car accident before her hip could be repaired. She states she is currently in a lot of pain. I know she is facing months of rehab and recovery. She is hopeful she will be well enough and her doctors will allow her to come to Guntersville in May. Please keep Anita in your thoughts and prayers as she works her way through this difficult time.
    18 points
  41. I realize I might be an odd duck, but I can't say enough about this national monument. It's strange but I love it. There are about 50 campsites, first come first serve. No reservations. I pulled in today at 11:30 and had my pick of almost any site. Some too small for the Ollie but most are plenty big. There are nice flush toilets nearby and water faucets spaced throughout. Most sites aren't too close together.
    18 points
  42. Here's what we ordered: - 2023 Oliver Legacy Elite II Twin Bed - Standard Mattresses (KTT mattresses after receipt) - Standard Fabric - Midnight - Hypervent - Omnidirectional Antenna (local weather etc. if we don't have cell service) - Street Side Awning - Frosted Cabinet Doors - Convection Microwave - 20 Gallon Propane (to keep tongue weight down) - Front/Rear Propane Quick-Connects - Standard Toilet (with possible AirHead composting replacement) - Full Truma Package AC, Furnace, Water Heater and Antifreeze kit - Lithium Platinum Package - Backup Camera - Rear Bumper Receiver (to be converted to 2" after receipt) - Anderson Hitch - Aluminum Storage Basket - Basement Door - No Graphics Delivery Date: Wednesday, March 29, 2023 Status: Thrilled beyond belief!! A huge thank you to everyone here who has helped us through the entire process over the past ten months! Your support cannot be understate. I can't wait meet all of you! Steve and @DebM Mock-up of the graphics that are on order from Robin at Banana Banners (using one of the images from this forum for a background - thanks to whomever I stole it from) "curiosity" logo used with the kind permission and encouragement of Curiosity Software Ireland
    18 points
  43. Oliver Owners, We picked up our new trailer (Legacy Elite I #664) on Sept 16, 2020 and have been using it on/off since this date. Overall, our experience has been wonderful and the quality of the trailer has been much better than what we have read about other manufacturers. In an attempt to help others with our recent learnings, I am listing some of the items were have learned about, fixed, and/or submitted a tickets for: Initial Pickup: - The bathroom interior window frame was bent due to being over tightened - Jason and the person showing us the trailer located a new frame and installed. - Window shade over the rear driver's side window had damage to the felt liner at the bottom of the night shade. - Orientation team replaced. First Night Camp @ Davy Crockett State Park: - Noticed that the propane alarm was not on. - Contacted Jason via telephone and he walked me through installing the 1A fuse that was included in the box of spare fuses provided. The fuse holder is located under the dinette seat and is somewhat hard to find as it is black and not easy to see. - Upon opening the rear compartment door, the bracket where the wire attaches to keep the door from swinging down came unglued. - Contacted Jason to let him know and he said they would send me some epoxy to fix. Ended up purchasing some a few weeks after getting back home as it never arrived. I let Jason know we no longer needed as I had fixed per his recommendation of Gorilla 2 part epoxy. - Shower floor squeaks a lot - Contacted Oliver Service and have a ticket for them to repair when we take the trailer back to TN for its annual checkup. According to Jason, the squeak is most likely from the shower tub not being cut correctly or the padding under it not installed correctly. No biggie for now as we have learned to live with it knowing that it will get fixed. If your spouse decides to use the bathroom at night, It will wake you up. No liquids right before bedtime. 🙁 First Long Drive from TN to AR: - Had someone flag us down and let us know that the rear compartment door had come open during travel. Upon pulling over and inspecting, we noticed that the screws had come loose on the latch and allowed the door to open with the latch locked close. I was lucky enough to have some blue lock-tight with me to use on the screws when retightening. No further issues experienced. We let Oliver know that this happened and they indicated that lock-tight should have been added to the screws at the factory. I am confident they put new procedures in place to keep this from happening again. First Time Back Home: - Spent time learning about the solar system, inverter, appliances, etc.... - Realized that both the Solar Controller and the Inverter were both set to flooded batteries vs. the AGMs we had installed. Changed both to AGM. No issues noted so not sure if it really mattered. Texas State Park Close to Home: - Noticed a small gap at the top of the external door window frame. - Contacted Oliver and was told that the frames are designed to click together but requires special plastic keys to take the frame off to inspect. From my reading this is a common thing from the door factories with the tabs getting broken. We tried several time to get the internal frame to snap together with the external frame. No luck. Contacted Oliver again and Jason said he would have a new frame (and plastic keys) sent to us so we can repair/replace. The suppliers are backed up, so it has now been two months with the door window frame and glass loose. I was successful in learning that there is a supplier zarcor.com that has the window frames (Lippert) in stock and can be purchased/delivered within a couple of days. We will most likely end up just ordering and replacing as they also offer a clear tinted glass and window shutter for the door. There is another post in this forum with pictures if you are interested. Being that this repair is taking a long time to get resolved, I would recommend anyone picking up their trailer inspect this and have it repaired before taking delivery. Arkansas State Park (Crater of Diamonds): - Upon arrival at the State Park we noticed that the trailer was squeaking loudly with every small bump in the park. Upon inspection, I did not notice any lose bolts, nuts, fittings on the suspension. We contacted Jason at Oliver and he had not heard of anyone having this problem before. We ducked our heads down and slowly made it to our campsite without disturbing the other campers throughout the park. We did get some stares tho with the squeaks. Once setup, I made a quick trip to the local hardware store to purchase a small grease gun/grease, 90-degree zerk fitting as the zerks are not accessible without having the pull the tire off, and some dry lube spray. Utilized to the stabilizers to take some weight off the trailer and utilized the grease gun. Fun fact - the top zerk fitting (wet bolt) that attaches to the frame bracket actually serves no purpose as the bolt is not contained within a bushing (Only on the single axle trailers). I would not recommend you go to town putting grease in this wet bolt as the grease will just exit the bolt and make a nice stream of grease falling on the lower spring eye. Not sure why dexter/oliver designed it with a wet bolt in this location. Sad part is that, the squeak we had was between the shackle and the trailer frame bracket and without the trailer bracket having a bushing there is no real way to get grease between the two. Only option at this point was to use the dry lube spray. Happy to say that this resolved most of the squeak until we could get back home (~400 miles). Upon getting home, I used a spray can of Fluid Film to spray down the area between the shackle and trailer bracket. No more annoying squeak! I have some pictures on another computer that I can attach at a later time if you are curious. Other trips - Nothing new to report beyond what has already been said above. Improvements - As recommended by others on this forum, we did go ahead and install the black window seals available on pellandent.com due to some of the white window seals had stains on them from the factory and were cut about 1" too short. I must say that the black seals look much better and should eliminate an excess amount of water needing to travel through the window drains due to them now being long enough. If you do a search on this forum for pellandent you will see some pictures posted by others. Once again, the point of this post is to inform others of our experience and to share some of the things we have learned. As with anything, enjoying life comes with opportunities to improve oneself and help others on their journey. Mark
    18 points
  44. Please take a moment of silence for those Americans we lost and those that still suffer from this horrific attack on our beautiful country. Thank you for all those who serve and have served in protecting our great nation. Our flag flies at half on this day every year. May God continue to Bless the United States of America. Be Safe Oliver Family. -Patriot
    18 points
  45. January 5 2018 I bought my Oliver for work. I live and work from the Oliver 3 to 7 days a week. February 2018 a horrible smell develop, and I discovered a small leak from the joint at the connection next to the black tank; just a drip. Called Rich and Phil about my problem, and they said they would call me back. When they called back, Rich and Mr. Oliver where on speaker phone, and said "How can we make this right?". I said "I want this fixed with the least inconvenience for me as possible". Rich said "We can bring you an Oliver to live-in while we fix yours, or put you up in a local hotel until we can get yours back to you". I realized at that moment why I bought an Oliver. 1 year 5 months, 10 years to go. Dr. Donald C. Neal with no mechanical skills what so ever.
    18 points
  46. Here is a video to help show you how to winterize your Oliver Travel Trailer. Note there are two valve configurations depending on the year model that can be seen at the 27 sec and 35 sec time frames in the video. Hope this helps!
    18 points
  47. Here are some photos of our trip back to Arizona after Stan (our Tundra) finally got hitched with Ollie. As RV newbies, we had much to learn along our way back home. We picked up our Ollie (Hull #222) over a month ago and have finally been able to post these pics. Looking forward to many more adventures.
    18 points
  48. I called Ritchie Carroll a couple of months ago to schedule service for my Oliver Elite II. I made the appointment for 1 p.m. on Tuesday, October 17. When I arrived, I sat down with Richie and reviewed the work order that he had prepared based on a couple of telephone conversations and a few email exchanges. Oliver is using a new system to create and update work orders. I was able to view the work order on Richie's monitor and approved what he had prepared. Service included installing a composting toilet, installing the new bike rack (mount only--I plan to rig it with Thule components that will work with my fat tire bike), a new cable for the basement door, repair the chain to cap connection on the fresh water inlet, fixing a leak in the hot water heater at the anode, installation of the water accumulator, the fresh water tank fix to allow it to be filled completely, and installation of the new window blind clips (they now use 6 clips per blind). The work was completed by 5 p.m. on Wednesday. The work was done professionally and the camper was thoroughly cleaned inside after they completed the work. While in Hohenwald, I spent quite a bit of time at the sales office. Highlights included meeting and talking to both new Oliver owners picking up and owners in town for service. It's so nice to actually meet and get to know people you've communicated with on the forum. Oliver owners are the best. I also can report that Anita and Heather are as sweet and welcoming as they have been since I met them. Anita even brought food to the office and offered lunch to all of the office employees and the customers who were there for service and pickup. The food was delicious! I met and spend quite a bit of time talking to Brent Robinson, the new Business Development Director and Kelly Robinson, the new Sales Manager. They have significant experience in the industry and I believe they were great hires by the Oliver family. Brent gave me a factory tour yesterday. I toured the factory in October 2015 when I ordered my Elite II, but I learned much more during the tour Brent gave. He has dug deep into the manufacturing process and shared so much knowledge. For any current owner or prospective purchaser who wants to know more about how these campers are built and why they cost as much as they do, a tour led by Brent is a must. These campers are built on a philosophy that is the opposite of what drives most of the rest of the industry. Decisions are made on what components/processes will create the best, long-lasting product, not on what will be the least expensive. Kudos to Oliver for being committed to building by far the highest quality camper in the U.S. As most of the forum members know, Oliver has grown substantially in terms of the number of campers sold. They are having growing pains, but my two days at the office and plant convinced me that they are working very hard to ramp up and to provide the same high-quality sales and service that marks the quality of their product. I don't think the people at Oliver would argue that they are there yet, but rather than making excuses, the comments I heard from employees focused on their high goals and efforts to reach them. For those of you who have asked for a higher degree of customization as your Oliver is being built, it's clear that Oliver is moving away from offering the degree of customization that characterized their approach in the early days. They've made the most popular options standard equipment and avoid customization to keep the campers moving down the line more efficiently. I think the result will be an increase in the already high build quality and an ability to deliver more campers to more customers on a timely basis. So, my service visit was positive, productive and very educational. It reinforced my opinion that purchasing my Oliver was a great decision!
    18 points
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