ScubaRx

This thread is locked per OP request.

Unfortunately, there isn't and never was any schematic drawings of electrical and plumbing systems for the years 2007-2009. Likewise for the twenty-one 2014 models and the thirty-seven 2015's. Somewhere during the 2015-2016 period they had a company come in and design a wiring harness for the Elite II's. They bought them from that company at first and then started making their own. I remember meeting one of their interns during this period and he was working on both a wiring and plumbing schematic. I saw them on a computer screen in the supervisor's office out on the factory floor. So at least at some point there was that. At one point they provided them when when you bought a trailer. And then they didn't. I've never been able to get a straight answer from anybody at the factory as to why they no longer share them. I do know that one member has copies of whatever is (or has been) out there. I don't know what year trailer his copies reference. I suspect that they would be of little help to the folks that have a trailer less than 3-4 years old. I won't out him but I do know that he as shared freely in the past with other owners. If he sees this he'll probably reach out.

We may be talking about cameras that have two entirely different capabilities. I had a “backup camera” mounted on the rear of each of our Oliver’s. They simply provided a wide angle camera view of what was behind me. I ordered the camera I’m referring to here when I ordered the Silverado. Once installed and plugged into its port on the back of the truck, it is incorporated into the multi camera system built into the truck. Utilizing it and the other eight cameras will allow you to see up to fifteen different views of the truck and trailer. It’s much more than a simple backup camera.

Actually, those neck nodes are for something else entirely. I’ll show you at the rally.

I installed the GM version on our Oliver that incorporates itself into the camera system that came on our 2022 Silverado 3500 HD. I did route all the wiring internally.

I see that many owners think that Oliver Travel Trailers is a big money maker or at least a profitable venture. OTT is only a small slice of the parent company, Oliver Technologies Inc. There are at least nine more divisions besides OTT. They also make the Safe-Step walk-in tubs. They make a whole line of items for the mobile home industry. These are the parts that most people see in Hohenwald and know about. They also have other manufacturing facilities around the country making a multitude of other products. Some of these are owned by the company and some are ventures fully owned by individual family members. As far as houses go, the family has different residences all across the US and I'm sure if any of them want a house in Bermuda they can get it. I knew Jim Oliver personally and he was proud of the Oliver name and everything he put it on. He instilled in his family that same desire to produce a quality product that could last longer than a lifetime. I'm going to say that the company is going to be fine and they are not planning to sell.

In 2023, there were 152 trailers produced.

https://www.bestmaterials.com/detail.aspx?ID=20596&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=(ROI) PMax Shopping - Low/No AOV&utm_id=18030280001&utm_content=&utm_term=&gad_source=4 https://www.chemical-concepts.com/product/american-sealants-0240-cleaner-remover-14-oz-net-weight-can/?utm_source=googleshopping&utm_medium=cse&srsltid=AfmBOop8hPEz53xgukj9M1jJ5fHGXYcHM-KH_hwxWI5aSBtTGkVdMxnFYds (states on back order)

Jason Essary will be calling any customer scheduled out past July to explain canceling the appointment. They currently have just a few appointments scattered from August to November.

https://olivertraveltrailers.com/dealers/

I started in photography back in the mid 60's when everything was manual. No auto exposure or focus. My first camera did not even have a light meter. Had to use a hand held one and set the camera's aperture and shutter speed from that. Manipulating either or both to create different effects. Bought 35mm film in 100 foot rolls and wound my own cartridges in total darkness. It was all black and white. I thought I was Ansel Adams. I even lugged a big 2-1/4 square camera and tripod to the top of Sentinel Dome in Yosemite to duplicate AA's picture of the old Jeffrey Pine growing there. Here's Ansel Adams original: Unfortunately, unbeknownst to me, the tree had died during an extreme drought three summers before despite the rangers best efforts of hauling water to the top every day to try to save it. So all I have to show for my trek up the dome is a picture of a dead tree. Oh well, it was a famous tree.

Jack up the side of the trailer that the fittings are on that you are trying to grease. This will relieve any pressure being placed onto the wet bolts by the weight of the trailer. That usually makes it much easier to get them to take grease. You may never get it to squirt out both ends of the bushing equally.

I believe the GJ was referring to the keystone effect rather than parallax.

And I think this thread has run its course. Et al. Please rest assured that Oliver is and has been aware of all the fine points everyone has pointed out. They are considering all possibilities and making decisions. In my opinion this will turn out to be a one off event. Since Oliver has never ordered anything but 7000 pound couplers since they came back online in 2013. I can only think of a couple of scenarios where a 5000 pound coupler could find its way onto a trailer made 10 years after the last previous one was installed. We've beat this horse to death. By now everyone has checked their trailer to make sure theirs is OK. Let's let the horse rest in peace.

As I said earlier, only the Elites made between 2007 and 2009 were delivered with the 5000 pound couplers. The next Elite built by Oliver was Hull #073 delivered in 2015 and was equipped with a 7000 pound coupler. The current standard OEM for both the Elite and Elite II is the 7000 pound coupler.

The earliest model elites (2007-2009) were equipped with the 5000lb Class Two BD couplers. That is no longer the case. All the current Elites have a 7000lb BD coupler.

Nobody was ever sorry they bought a tool that outperformed the job at hand. Superior trailer, bigger truck, stronger axles, beefier hitch and heavier springs. Some folks are minimalists and hope everything will be fine. I contend Hope is not a strategy. Minimalism is just getting by.

I agree that the weld on the left looks a little sparse. Might have been the last one on a Friday and he was anxious to go buy a couple of six-packs! It would, however, be easy to strengthen it up.

Sounds like you only have the two axle trailer rather than the four.

I do believe you are correct. At first glance, these could easily be confused as shark bites. Our older model has something very similar, screw on connectors, the only difference being that the rings have wings on them to assist with tightening or loosening.

Steve, did you buy your Hull #329 new? To the best of my knowledge, Oliver has never used Shark Bite fittings during their regular production. Do you think that the fitting is original from Truma?

Looks good...

Gracious sakes alive, we got us a convoy....

The most surprising thing about this story is the fact that a good ole boy from Montana would admit to owning, much less wearing, a pair of sandals. 😊

It would be hard to say that the Older Oliver's were "made better." They were certainly made more slowly, taking an average of about 3 months of actual construction time. This was partly because the company was in a state of constant flux. They were always coming up with better ways of building them but basically they were still built one at a time making each system as they went along. It took them over 3 years to make the first 49 trailers and there were no two exactly alike. There were also some major setbacks during that early 2007-2010 run that caused Oliver to make some tough financial decisions including one that involved a recall of every trailer they had built up until that time and another that shut their doors for four years. Find me at the rally for full details. And the owner's must of been a major pain in their ass as we were always changing our mind throughout our builds. Poor Robert Partee, the former sales manager and, to many of us, the face and voice of Oliver, it was he that had to field our numerous requests and then find a way to try and make them happen. But, to his credit, it seems like he always did. The one thing he balked at and staunchly refused to entertain was my request to have my first Oliver painted green. To paraphrase his response, "No frickin' way, Buddy..." The main thing that differentiates a brand new 2024 model and my 10 year old 2014 model is the amount of innovation and improvement Oliver has poured into the trailers through the years. Solar was a relative new frontier in 2014 and now there is hardly an Oliver sold without it. Who would have thought that in this short decade we'd go from choosing between Flooded Lead-Acid batteries or upgrading to AGMs to now trying to decide how many hundreds of amp hours of Lithium we can't live without. The new 2024 Oliver Elites and Elite II's are, by far, much slicker than those built even a couple of years ago let alone those built a decade or more ago. Many people have been very happy with their trailer and have kept them for many years. Proof of this is seen in the number of units that are still in the possession of their original Owners. For the past few years I have been assisting Anita compile as accurate a list as is possible on the provenance of the older trailers and the people who have owned them through the years. We have been using early company data as well as records I compiled myself with information gleaned during the early days. To date, the Oldest Trailer still in the Original Owner's possession we found to be Hull # 007, delivered in early January of 2008. It was delivered to some guy named Bond.... 😄 just kidding about the name.