[A (Group) of Olivers???]

Reading a post in the "Sightings" thread over on the FGRV forum about seeing 7 Oliver's at one time (albeit at the factory which really shouldn't count) gave me an idea. We owners should come up with a collective noun that is indicative of a group of Oliver's. Think: Covey of Quail, Span of Mules, Pod of Whales...you get the picture.

 

I figured this had been addressed at some point in the past so I did a search on FGRV and found a 14 year old thread that playfully addressed group names for different brands of trailers at that time. Of course, that was long before Oliver was hatched and many of those brands have slipped into obscurity. Only Casita, Scamp and Bigfoot are still current.

 

So, lets put our thinking caps on and come up with a really cool moniker for a group of these unique trailers. For our purpose here anything more than one qualifies as a group.  When we come up with a list, we can vote on which one we feel is best.

 

For those of you who are interested in seeing names for the different groups of animals here is more than you probably ever wanted to know.

 

 

[How To: Galley Drawer Travel Straps]

I don't have the beautiful dovetail drawers in the OO but I do have a question about them.  Are the bottoms captured in a groove near the bottom of the drawer sides?

[This Year Has Been Complicated.]

During a phone conversation with another owner today, your name came up and we wondered how and what you were doing.  I commented that you hadn't posted on the forum for some time but you were probably busy with life.  I'm so very sorry the disruptions were tragic.  When things are sorted out, please come back into the group.  We've missed you!

[What's your tow vehicle, it's tow weight rating & what are you towing?]

In the early days Oliver toyed with the idea of different colored trailers. They abandoned that idea due to the difficulty of painting every exterior item to match and the additional cost. However, there were two early Oliver's that were painted and sold. Hull #010 is red and currently owned by our forum member bshaffer. I'm not sure of the Hull # of the other (probably #009 or #011) but it was black and dubbed the "Gamblers Edition" due to the unique graphics and interior upholstery. After construction, both of these units were loaded onto a flatbed truck and shipped out West (Jim Oliver has a house in Lake Havasu, AZ) where they were ultimately sold.  They also had a partially painted hull section that was blue.

[What's your tow vehicle, it's tow weight rating & what are you towing?]

...As far as the witness marks from the axle U bolts contacting the frame, it’s not a dent. Just a small mark at each location that tells me it has been making contact....

 

Ditto, you can barely feel the mark with your fingertip.

[What's your tow vehicle, it's tow weight rating & what are you towing?]

 

Quote

Steve, Thanks for all the information....Interesting that they started with hull number 50 when they got going again...

 

Larry (mountainborn) and Betty Harmon bought the very first Oliver (Hull #005) sold on 11/08/2007. There were four units produced prior to this one and three of them were ultimately sold to other owners but when Larry and Betty drove out of the factory nearly ten years ago pulling the first one, they started the parade that we've all joined since then. Of the members still active on our forum, Paul and Sherry (seadawg) left with Hull #012 on 02/22/2008, then Pete Marks (bugeyedriver) in Hull #014 on 03/24/2008. We bought Hull #026 on 06/20/2008. All of these hull numbers were for the original 17 (now called 18.5) foot models produced in their first run and they continued until the last unit (Hull #044) was sold on 08/21/2009.

 

During the last few months of the original production run, the molds for the Elite II had been bought with the intent to begin production of a larger model to augment the lineup with the choice of two sizes. As we all remember, the downturn in the economy in 2009 caused many businesses to fail and Oliver Travel Trailers made the very difficult desicion to cease production until better times could prevail. The plans for the larger trailer (and more expensive) seemed destined to failure. Three units were produced in 2009 and 2010 - Hulls #043, #045 and #046. One unit was sold to a customer (Hull #045) and became the only unit delivered with the official model year of 2010. The other two remained in the possession of OTI although Hull #043 was ultimately refurbished, updated and sold during the present production run. As a side note, no Oliver employees were laid off or lost their jobs because of the ceasation of trailer production and many rejoined the trailer line when it restarted.

 

On 03/03/2013, I was contacted by (then production manager) Robert Partee and asked if I would be interested in owning one of the "big" trailers. He knew we were looking for something larger than our 17 foot Oliver and after talking for about 5 minutes with him explaining that the plan was for restarting production building only the larger unit, I told him I would take the first one they built.

 

Their plan was to build three "prototype/demo" models to get back into the swing of things. During the production of these three, my unit was begun somewhere around the end of the year (2013). Since none of these four trailers had been sold, and upon completion of our unit, I was given my choice of the VIN's that were available (#'s 047-050.) I choose Hull #050 because that was the year I was born.

 

 

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...I also designed the water tank fix and presented it here. I did mine and Reed Lukens. Oliver is now doing the same thing I designed on all the new trailers...

 

Every member (present and future) owes you a debt of gratitude for your initiative and inventiveness on this modification. I had mine done at the factory during the "eclipse weekend." Thank you very much.

 

 

Quote

...BTW. I did look carefully at your disk brake installation. How are they working out?

 

The brakes have been wonderful. Not too difficult to install, but obviously more than some folks would want to tackle in the driveway. I have found that they are much more aggresive than the drums, requiring a lesser setting on our brake controller to keep them from all locking up and sliding down the road. Incidentaly, I discovered the locking up when I glanced in the side rear view mirror during a reasonably emergent stop to the side of the road and noticed blue smoke coming from under the trailer and two black streaks behind me. It surprised me and for a second, I could not figure out what was going on because I did not feel any abnormal trailer movement. We do not use any auxiliary towing equipment. Our Oliver's are truly VERY stable behind our tow vehicles. We do not use any axuallery towing equipment.

[What's your tow vehicle, it's tow weight rating & what are you towing?]

Steve, I guess you are one of the ones with the 5,200 lb axles. I’m trying to figure out how many leaves are in your spring packs and how many inches from the top of the axle tube to the frame do you have for suspension travel, out near the wheels (vertical travel before hitting the frame). If you happen to know these please let me know. I’d be a bit careful about calling your trailer a 10,400 lb gross unless Oliver specifically changed their gross rating when they went to 12″ brakes. That change was the result of a glitch with Dexter, as I recall, and so they switched to the larger axle, but advertised it as an upgrade to 12″ brakes, not as an upgrade to 10,400 GVWR. And nothing else was change on the frame or the fiberglass reinforcing of the body, as far as I know. This is part of the reason I’m asking about the number of leaves and the clearance. The 5200 lb axle is 5/8′ larger in diameter and the suspension travel is somewhat limited as it is. So the larger axle tube would reduce the available travel unless there is more arch in the springs and more arch would be the result of an additional leaf. The extra leaf would not be for more weight carrying capacity, but more suspension travel. I’m considering changing to the larger axles and brakes and I want to know just what Oliver did when they changed. I think they have subsequently returned to the 3500 lb axles, but I’m not sure on that either. Thanks for any info you can give me.

 

 

 

John, my 5200 lb axles were not the result of any changes by Oliver.  Our trailer (Hull # 050, delivered in early 2014) was the first Elite II built for a customer. They were trying to get back into the swing of building trailers (after their 4 year hiatus) and had yet to decide on exactly what they were going to use for everything. At that time there were no standards for anything. During the build, I was allowed to pick and choose the components I wanted from the air conditioner to the (now standard) fold down center TV mount.  I specified these axles as well as Michelin XPS Rib LT25/75R16/E 115/112Q LRE Tires and 12" brakes in order to make it as heavy duty as possible.  The idea of assigning a GVWR was not thought up until after mine was completed and the assigned 7000 lb figure was based solely on the twin 3500 lb axles that they had decided would be standard.  My stated 10,400 lb GVWR was entirely fabricated by me based on the same criteria they used, 2 x 5200 = 10,400.  Our trailer, ready to travel with food, full fresh water tank, clothes, full 30 lb propane tanks, 3000 watt generator on the tongue and all the other stuff that I think I can't live without weighs well over 7000 lbs (no minimalist here.) I did swap the drum brakes for discs and installed the Dexter EZ-Flex system earlier this year.

 

There are indeed 5 springs in each pack with a 1.875"clearance between the top of the 0.5" U-Bolts and the bottom of the frame.  Like yourself, I have slight indention's in the bottom of the frame where there has been contact.

[What's your tow vehicle, it's tow weight rating & what are you towing?]

Towing: 2014 Elite II, 5320 lbs factory weight at pick up (2 x 30lb empty propane tanks, no water, no cargo.) Weighed 01/27/2017 at Eloy, AZ on the Pilot Truck Stop Certified Cat Scale. Two adults, 120 lb of dogs, Full tank of gas, full fresh water tank, some in black and gray tank, full propane tank and 1/2 full propane tank, Yamaha 3000 watt generator on tongue. Trailer alone weighed 7100 lb. about 650 lb tongue weight. Because of oversize axles my trailer has a GVWR of 10,400 lbs.

 

Current Tow Vehicle: 2014 GMC Sierra 1500 SLT w/6.2L (420 HP/460 ft lb torque) and NHT Max Tow package, Trailer Tow capacity 11,800 lbs (based on SAE J2807). Hitch platform rated at 1200 lb.

 

We have recently changed our tow vehicle to a 2017 Silverado High Country 2500HD w/the 6.6L Duramax Turbo-Diesel (445 HP/910 ft lb torque.) The Trailer Towing capacity is 13,000 lbs with a Gross Combination Weight Rating of 25,300 lbs (based on SAE J2807.)

[IRMA]

...we are leaving this morning for Mckinney Campground in Atlanta. Many years ago we stayed on the coast while on vacation and lived thru a class 1 hurricane, and I’ve always said never again. We feel blessed to have an Oliver trailer to live in during these events...

 

At this point (0150 - 09/08/2017) Central GA and the Metro Atlanta area in general are expecting tropical storm winds between 40 and 60 mph with gusts up to 70 mph to occur starting about 2000 - 09/11/2017 (Monday).

 

Based on the predictions as of this morning (Friday), I would be remiss to stop in Atlanta, rather, I would plan to continue West at least another 150 miles.  My greatest worry would be the tornado's that are often spawned from these tropical storms.  A 70 mph broadside gust of wind on your Oliver might not put  it on its side, but a tornado would.

 

Good luck and please stay safe...

[Battery Rack Replacement]

Unless the method of mounting the battery tray has changed since Hull # 50 was produced in 2014 (and I doubt it has), the tray is not attached with machine bolts and nuts but rather large self tapping screws.  These screws go through the tray frame and the fiberglass on the bottom of the battery box.  If you go into the trailer, remove the cushions and hatch from the rearmost dinette seat, take a mirror and light and look at the underside of the box, you will see a 4 or 5 inch wide piece of diamond plate aluminum fiber-glassed into the bottom of the box.  The screws go through this plate to hold the rack in place.  No nuts, no bolts, just screws.  You should be able to easily remove them and put them right back into the same holes to install a new tray.

 

If this is how yours is constructed, it should be an easy fix.  And, you are spot on about Richie Carroll being a super guy.

[One of our "Clever Beast" decals]

Very clever and tasteful. We like this.

[Storing Ollie in Country]

Tom,

 

Living in North Mississippi, it would be difficult for me to address the possibility of snow damage on our Oliver travel trailers. Around here an average snow fall will  probably barely cover the ground and that might not happen every year. A really big snow might drop 4 to 6 inches and that might not happen every decade. Ice is another story altogether as it regularly brings down trees, limbs and powerlines.

 

All that being said, if you can afford a carport, then by all means I can highly recommend that route. Not only does it protect from snow and wind in the wintertime,  but also the rain during the rest of the year. A carport would also afford you protection from the sun and it's damaging effects on our beautiful gecosts.

 

In addition, you do not have put forth the effort of installing the cover after each outing. All this obviously depends on whether or not you have the financial resources and room at your house for an enclosure and it assumes that there are no restrictions in your neighborhood against such.

 

I am not sure if a marriage could stand the putting on and taking off of a cover too many times!

[Disc brake porn, nsfw!]

Several have asked about costs and a parts list.  I installed disc brakes on The Outlaw Oliver this past March.  I posted about it in my thread "Mods of The Outlaw Oliver."

 

I chose to use the Hydrastar/Kodiak products and a list of all parts, their costs and where I got them is listed in the included pdf.

[Distance between sink and stove - Standard or Sideways]

Tali and I participated in the original design conception for the Oliver Elite II. We had previously owned one of the original 2008 smaller Oliver elites with the stove turned vertically. I suggested at that time that the stove be turned horizontally to create more perceived counter space. That is how it became the "standard."  I did not like having to reach across the front burner to the rear.  All the observations made by everyone else are valid and it really boils down to which is your personal preference.  The amount of counter space is exactly the same no matter which way the burners are turned.

[Wait. Don't toss those eclipse glasses yet...]

The next total eclipse to be seen in parts of the United States will occur on April 8, 2024...

 

Crap, I've got the plumber coming that afternoon.

[Black Streaks and cleaning]

Our white vehicles sit under some kind of tree that provides a ton of shade in the summer but they also drop gallons of sap all over them. A year of so ago The Outlaw Oliver sat out of the garage for a month while I was working on it. The top got so much sap on it it was almost black.  I went to NAPA and asked the guys for a recommendation and they suggested this.  It did a good job of removing the black stains, although not without some scrubbing.

[Under the Dinette storage mods?]

The storage inserts were available in the 2008 and 2009 models of the original Elites.  They were constructed in two pieces of some sort of reasonable heavy ABS type material using a vacuum mold system and were then pop riveted together.  During the conception and build of the early Elite II's, I questioned their absence and was told that they would no longer be making them due to the increased storage capacity of the larger trailers.  Since they were not making the smaller Elite I at that time and had no immediate plan to do so, that idea was placed on a far back burner.  As far as I know,  that policy is still in effect, and I do not know if they are available for the current Elites.  The lower compartments are arraigned completely different in the new models so the old molds would not work for them.

 

However, they worked well in the early models if you used them to store lightweight items.  If you filled them with about 40 pounds of canned goods, they then collapsed and fell into the well making it the dickens to remove.

 

All that being said, it would be a good idea to revisit for the Elites since storage space is still at a premium.

[Hope for input from those with experience]

My only hang ups right now are…King bed: Seems like such a waist the way its done. Uncomfortable looking and I am NOT looking forward to setting it up every day. My SO says just leave it. I agree but think there is so much lost storage space there. I wish it was a fixed in place queen with more storage on the sides and underneath with a wall / divider for closing.

 

You could opt for the twin beds.  Ours are raised and have 13 cubic feet of storage beneath each one.  No set up or take down. A dividing closure is doable.

 

...Dinette: Wish it had a slider for extending out and more space for games / working – Not going to be enough from the dinette bed / conversion for when two teens join us from time to time. So one or both will have to tent camp –

 

I have seen threads with people outlining the way to extend their dinette tops and realistically, how often will these teens be joining you guys?  Usually we eat outside anyway when there's more than just the two of us.

 

...Price. We are seeing amazing deals on excellent condition lightly used AS. So we are likely to be 20K more with an Ollie tricked out for boon-docking like Two Plus Lu laid out...

 

From what my AS buddies tell me, to get an AS tricked out with the solar and extra batteries will cost in the neighborhood of $10K.  That assumes, of course, you are not looking at a used one already so outfitted.

 

Good luck with your search, both Oliver and Airstream are the best in their respective classes.

[ALASKA! Share your experiences & dreams]

We are planning an Alaska trip in 2018, perhaps heading out after the Oliver Rally or thereabouts.

[2018 Rally]

We have reserved E-9 and will be wearing our bells.

[2017 Elite II For Sale in Washington]

That thread appears to have disappeared.

[Western Fires?]

Is there any place out west not inundated with these fires? I have a window of opportunity and would like to take off for several days, but its an ugly mess here in Montana, and hardly worth camping anywhere in the state. How about ID, UT, WY or other areas, anyone been to these places recently? Thanks, odd request for sure.

 

 

 

Hey Rob, we just returned from most of those places.  We found a beautiful Forest Service campground on the East side of Lake Cascade in Idaho.  It is French Creek Campground.  We stayed there about 5 nights.  I think it was about $5-6.  Lake was filling up at that time from the melt off from the Mountains further to the East.  Should be up by now.  There was fresh water available.

 

We had led a group of 15 fiberglass trailers on a 3 week jaunt thru all 5 National Parks in Southern Utah, camping in several boondocking spots and some pretty nice campgrounds (none over $7-8.)

 

We haven't been to WY in a couple of years.  One of the other members is going soon but he stated that campsites were few and far between due to the coming eclipse. That's probably the case in most place along the path, but you guys shouldn't have too much problem finding a "wide open space" out there!!!!

 

Good Camping

[Countertops?]

Short of setting something really hot on the counter top surface, I don't believe you could damage the fiberglass very easily.  A close examination of our tops will reveal swirls and scratches due to wiping them off, but you would really have to look very closely to see them.

[Stereo Head Connection]

What type of cable is it.  HDMI, RCA?

[Fresh water tank modification, new suction line.]

Spike wrote:

I love the idea of combining a western-state Ollie rally with this tank modification.

That is brilliant. Durango CO in late Spring 2018 works for me! John Davies Spokane WA

 

The regular Oliver sponsored rally is in late spring of 2018 (early May) in Guntersville, AL. I think a Western based rally would divide the population of owners by making them choose which to go to.  Have it a little later and we could attend both.