ScubaRx

Alex, Maybe I have a little different perspective on the whole situation. When I first saw the Oliver I was not in the market for a travel trailer. I was driving thru the Wal-Mart parking lot when I saw one sitting there. Apparently Meanderthal and Company were traveling South on the Natchez Trace and stopped for supplies when I happened upon their rig. After an internet search and a couple of trips to the factory, I was sold on the quality of the Oliver and became in the market. But first, I decided to consult someone that I consider to be an expert on the matter. I have a relative that currently owns not one, but four Airstreams. He looked at the info from the factory and listened to my speel about what the company would do for someone in the way of customizing. A group of his Airstream club buddies were present to hear about the Oliver. Their singular response was "I wish Airstream would be willing do that..." I've seen his trailers. They are all nice. Anyone would be proud to own any of them. They do take a rather large tow vehicle (even the two Bambi's) but with his extra 90 gallon diesel tank in the bed of his heavy duty pickup, he can get from here to just about anywhere without having to stop for fuel. When he saw our trailer the day we got home with it, he was blown away. He didn't have enough good things to say. Bottom line is everyone has to make up their own mind. With money not too much an issue I'd say it comes down to personal preference. I'm sure you would be satisfied with either trailer as both are examples of fine craftmanship. Any one of us would be happy to share any info you might need. Just let us know...

Tali always worries about bears (and lions and tigers, Oh My). But I bet you guys were safe and sound in there. We had a glitch our first night also. But everything was made ship shape and I know you are good to go now. Congrats on the new . It's got to be the most techno one produced so far. We know how much fun you'll have with it. Happy trails..............

I have wished for my windows to open the opposite way also. On the curb side of the trailer it will have the added benefit of placing the rear window (when opened) under the awning. I thought about taking that one out and turning it around, but decided that it would be a LOT of trouble. Would seem that it would be easy during construction though. Herm, Tali and I were fortunate that we lived close enough to the factory to visit whenever we wanted. I’ve ended up having gone 5 times so I have had an excellent opportunity to observe the trailers in all stages of construction. If your wife would like discuss her concerns with Tali about of the , they could get together for a woman's perspective. Let me know.....

Hey Doug, We leave a couple of windows on the slid open about an inch or two while it is parked. With the Fantastic Fan going, we get plenty of air movement and it is never hot or stuffy (even in this Mississippi heat.) We got a nice little shower a few days ago. I had left 3 windows open. The trailer is parked in our side/back yard and is not perfectly level. The windows on the high side allowed a amount of water to get in. It was only enough to make the corner of one cushion damp. Not really a big deal. If the trailer had been perfectly level, I don't think any water would have gotten in. The rear window actually swings out from hinges on the top. If you expect rain this might be your best bet for leaving a window open. As for the window in the bathroom, I felt the same way as you do until we used the trailer last weekend. We were camped in a state park in TN. No hookups. We could have run the generator for the A/C (and did for a little bit) but we wanted to see how it would be without it. Just to cool off, I decided that I would take a shower prior to going to bed. After I finished, it was hot and suffy and humid and I wondered if we would have been better off without having added the heat and moisture from the shower to the already warm trailer. I reached up and switched on the vent fan. I really didn't feel like it was doing much. Then I slid the little window up a couple of inches. Wow, there was a terrific breeze coming in and in no time, the heat and moisture were gone. With that in mind, in my opinion, the window is nice. During the daylight hours, it gives plenty of light so there's no need to turn on a light. As Geri mentioned, it is handy for washing out the toilet, but if you've got the tank flush option, this is not necessary. You are going to be thrilled with your Oliver. These guys really did their homework. I've always been the type that when I get something new, the first thing I want to do is take it apart and see how it works. I've looked in every nook and cranny of this thing and I can't find anything that I think could have been done better. They do a great job of construction and I think that this product will last its owner a long, long time.

Doug, Fear not, the twin bed model does not limit accesses to the inner workings of the Oliver. The hose/pump setup is standard and should give you just what you need. Steve

Steve, Here's something I found and it may be of some help/interest in this thread regarding the use of propane while on the move. http://www.gypsyjournal.net/traveling_with_propane.htm I learned a few things from it. As with everything on the internet, take it with a grain of salt, use what you need and discard the rest.

Steve, We just returned from the factory after having some mods made to the . They had to remove the outside upper refrigerator vent cover to access that area behind it. Just as Mountainborn describes, there is a "curved air flap" that is screwed to the upper edge of the vent hole. It is supposed to be curved back and over the top of the refrigerator to direct the rising heat out the vent. It is made from the same mat material that is lining the upper storage areas. I would remove the vent cover and make sure that this mat has not fallen down behind the refigerator and is blocking the vent. Mountainborn, that is a grand idea about the insulation....

Darn Pete, you mean to tell me that mountainborn's photos aren't supposed to look like he took them thru a foggy window. Well, who'da thought, and I was thinking of taking up some money and buying him a real camera for his birthday or something.....At least he's taking some and sharing with all the rest of us.... You keep up the GOOD work there, mountainborn, don't let all us flatlanders try to tell you how to take pictures. But, really will it take pics? Steve

Paul, I'm sure you're correct about the gas line on the Olivers. I didn't think about the fact that everything downline of the regulator would be at a reduced pressure. I actually didn't realize that the BBQ grills needed a higher pressure. Thanks for your input, I stand corrected. Steve

Even though our new Jeep was ordered with the tow package, it did not come pre-wired for a brake controller. It also only included a 4 pin connector. I took the hitch loose from the rear frame, ground off the bracket for the 4 pin connector and welded on a bracket for a 7 pin connector. After I repainted the hitch, I re-attached it to the frame. I then made up a wiring harness to convert the 4 pin to a 7 pin connector. If you already have a 4 pin connector you don't even have to cut any wires. Just connect a plug to the 4 pin connector and the wires on the opposite end to terminals in the 7 pin connector. I ran a 10 gauge wire from the alternator through a self resetting breaker to the 7 pin connector for the charging circuit. I then ran a 12 gauge wire back to it for the brake circuit. I am using a prodigy brake controller that included a wiring harness consisting of 4 wires. One goes to the cold side of the brake switch on the brake pedal. One connects to the brake wire going to the connector. The other two are the positive and negative connections. This will make you good to go.....

Doug, I have moved this discussion to a more appropriate thread..... See the new topic: "Twin Bed Discussion"

Stuart, The terminating end of the gas line that runs down the centerline of the under-belly of the Oliver is a plug. You could easily remove this and run your own gas line to any place you wanted. The company has made it easy to modify their product to any degree of customization you might desire.

Hi Doug, Tali and I chose the twin bed model (with modifications) for the in part for the extra storage space. In a unit this small storage is at a premium. With this option, you get a drawer under the rear sleeping space that would have been the area under the table in the standard Oliver. This drawer is easily the capacity of the other three combined. You also get extra counter space of about 4 square feet. Under that counter there is another storage area of the same size. This area is more difficult to access as you get to it from under the drop-leaf table that is installed in lieu of the standard rear dinette, but we find it very handy to store items that you don't need very often such as extra soft drinks, water, canned goods, etc. An added benefit to this area is that items can’t slide out of it during travel. In Oliver’s standard twin bed option you also lose the front dinette. We choose to keep that and to make it into the bed when needed. We felt that this was the best option for our needs. This modification gives us more storage, more floor space, more counter top area and generally a more open feeling/look to an already small space.

Hi Kyle, I posted this same response in another thread, but will repeat it here in case you missed it there.... I am at work today, but I will try to get some pictures of the modification up tonight after I get home. I know a picture would be better than all these words but basically, what I had Daniel do is to weld a piece of aluminum tubing onto the rear of each frame rail. They are mounted far enough from the end of the rail to still allow the rear bumper to fold down. He drilled a hole thru each to receive a hitch pin. My plan is to build a rear carrier that utilizes both of these at the same time by sliding into and extending between each of them. I will fabricate the frame of the carrier to bring it up once it clears the rear bumper. This will eliminate any chance of it dragging when going thru any low spots. Although it would, I don’t plan on this rack being required to carry huge amounts of weight, probably 100 pounds or less. I plan to make it out of 1 inch tubing and expanded wire. If you go to: http://www.flickr.com/groups/oliver-trailers/ you can see some pictures that I posted of the under construction. Pict 5075 and Pict 5094 shows the longer tongue and, if you look closely in Pict 5105, you can just see the receivers welded under the frame rails. I'll take some new pictures tonight that will show the finished product and how it looks. Any other info I can share, I will be glad to do so... Steve

Hi Herm, I am at work today, but I will try to get some pictures of the modification up tonight after I get home. I know a picture would be better than all these words but basically, what I had Daniel do is to weld a piece of aluminum tubing onto the rear of each frame rail. They are mounted far enough from the end of the rail to still allow the rear bumper to fold down. He drilled a hole thru each to receive a hitch pin. My plan is to build a rear carrier that utilizes both of these at the same time by sliding into and extending between each of them. I will fabricate the frame of the carrier to bring it up once it clears the rear bumper. This will eliminate any chance of it dragging when going thru any low spots. Although it would, I don’t plan on this rack being required to carry huge amounts of weight, probably 100 pounds or less. I plan to make it out of 1 inch tubing and expanded wire. If you go to: http://www.flickr.com/groups/oliver-trailers/ you can see some pictures that I posted of the under construction. Pict 5075 and Pict 5094 shows the longer tongue and, if you look closely in Pict 5105, you can just see the receivers welded under the frame rails. I'll take some new pictures tonight that will show the finished product and how it looks. Any other info I can share, I will be glad to do so... Steve

The shore power cord can be used with any length unrolled. Presently at my home I have a hook up mounted inside the building where the is stored. I only have to extend it about 4 feet. The power reel is a really nice option. I would not have considered deleting it. I doubt that you would gain over one cubic foot of "extra" storage space. And that space would be virtually inaccessable under the front dinette seating area. As far as the number of units in production at one time, I have been to the factory 4 times over the past 4 months. There have always been about 5-6 trailers coming down the line in various stages of construction. There are usually 2-3 more sitting there waiting for pickup. It is fun to be able to drop in and see your Oliver under construction. We only had a couple of major mods made to our trailer. We had our tongue made longer to enable the rear gate of our Jeep to open without hitting the generator mounting. We also had a 2 inch receiver mounted on each of the aft ends of our frame rails. This will allow me to construct a basket to carry misc. stuff on the outside. We also opted for the twin bed model (in a modified form-there were certain aspects of the original design we didn't want to lose.) There is a considerable amount of "extra" storage space with this configuration.

Have owned several brake controllers thru the years, always a Tekonsha, this time the Prodigy... Stuart, VERY wise about the mounting position.

And, quite possibly, be bulletproof as well.....

One person can put the awning up in a couple of minutes. The support poles can either be placed on the ground (and staked, if necessary) or secured back to the side of the Oliver. I have only had our Oliver a week and have only put it up once. I have never put one up before. I found it to be very easy.

CarolAnn, Many times I have seen that genre of trailer refered to as "Stick and Tin"

Doug, I know you will be very happy with your new Oliver. My wife, Tali, and I just took delivery on our last week. We could not be happier with it. We made no omissions to the package that comes with the Legacy Elite as the options included met all our needs. We did add the convection microwave so as to have some additional cooking options. We also added the Aluminum wheels and 8-ply tires, the lift kit, a gen-set hookup, double pane windows and the backup camera. I also had the factory modify my frame to give me a longer tongue as our current TV is a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited. It has a back gate that opens like a door and we needed room for it to swing over the tongue without hitting the basket for the generator. In addition, I had them add two receivers on the rear of the frame so I can attach a rear carrier if I want to. Anything you want done, the Oliver crew will make every attempt to do as they are truly outstanding. I overheard Jim Oliver tell one of his crew "We never tell a customer 'That can't be done'." Everyone else has already been over several other very useful options and I echo their statements on them. We opted for the twin bed model. We decided that, with the additional floor space and storage room, it was worth giving up sleeping in the same bed. We also have a large dog that will be traveling with us and he needs room also. I will be happy to send you some pictures of our interior if you think it would help in your decision making process. PM me with your e-mail with any questions and I will be glad to provide any info I can...

Check the thread "Hello All". Robert addresses this issue in the last post. Not knowing the chemical makeup of the products used in the production of the Oliver shell, I could not say what is used. From a personal standpoint, however, I visited the Oliver plant 4 times during the process of getting the "Outlaw Oliver" and there was the strong smell of fiberglass resin present in the building. This would be expected since the only thing they do there is produce fiberglass products. The trailers themselves, however, don't have any residual odor from that manufacturing process. Now that she is home, aside from a faint flowery smell from the chemicals put into the black tank, there is nothing. Since there are no pressed wood products or carpeting in the trailer, I don’t think you will find any objectionable odors in the Oliver. Hope this helps...

Hi Tigrrr, Having only picked up the Outlaw Oliver this past weekend, I have no experience with cold weather usage of same. However, here in the balmy South, I can attest to its warm weather characteristics. After we arrived home Sunday, we pulled the trailer into the driveway and left it sitting. I knew its location would put it into direct sunlight most of every day so I slid a couple of the windows open slightly, opened the Fantastic Fan and set the thermostat to come on when the temp went up. The next morning I went out to check on it fully expecting it to be like an oven on the inside. The fan was running and it was actually cooler inside than outside. I worked inside for about an hour or so and the breeze being pulled thru the windows was so pleasant I decided not to turn on the A/C. That being said, theoretically if the insulation has the ability to retard heat from being transmitted into the shell, it should have the same capability to retard heat from escaping the shell. Overall, I'm very pleased (and pleasantly surprised) with the insulation qualities. Hope this helps....

And a few more...

Well, we made it home with the new Outlaw Oliver, here's some pics....