bugeyedriver

A lack of semiconductors worldwide is affecting a wide swath of producers in many industries. Current lead times for parts can be as much as a year, bringing assembly lines to a halt. This is partially due to Covid's disruption of the workforce, combined with shortages of critical elements. We can expect a bumpy road in manufacturing for a while yet. https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/nissan-latest-suspend-production-due-semi-shortage

"Axis are bigger and stay out of neighborhoods", according to Mike. (Mike and I live in the same city.) Hahahahahaaaaaa! This picture was taken from one of my bedroom windows. A herd of about 50 Axis sleep in the woods next to my house every night. It depends on the neighborhood you live in, I guess. They entered our gated and fenced community 10 years ago and have decided to make it home. Mike, you guys must be bow hunting to thin the herd on your side of the city. Voyager, it has been interesting watching your thread develop. Thanks everyone for attempting to keep proper decorum during the discussion. We all hope the best for you as you eventually pull the trigger on your travel trailer, whatever brand it might be. I understand your thoughts about the price of a new, loaded Ollie which would include something you don't desire. Have you perused the classified section of the forum? Would a lower price of a gently used Elite II be a more acceptable price point for you?

Yes, it is quite the special campground, and you get to put your mountain driving skills to the test as you first, climb a steeeeeep hill and descend the precipitous downhill approach to the lake. You really appreciate the relaxing views after your arrival!

Wow . . . a very difficult question . . . so many choices . . . for serenity, I'd say camping amongst the Giant Redwoods in Northern California, at Humbolt Redwoods State Park. For the view, I'd select boon docking at a high elevation (9150') mountain lake at Pinnacles, in the Shoshone National Forest of Wyoming. But for serendipity and a most unexpected wonder, I must choose a public campground on Fogo Island, in northern Newfoundland, at Brimstone Head Park, where you can hike up a hill to one of the four corners of the earth, as recognized by The Flat Earth Society. If you're lucky, you might wake up and discover an ICEBERG has run aground at your campsite! When that happens, extend your stay a few days and relish in the awesomeness.

One feature of my 2008 Elite, "The Wonder Egg", that is no longer available in later models is the 45 foot long 30Amp service cable on an electric reel. It occupies the space under the front dinette seat which now contains the furnace on newer models. It is one of my favorite features and I would sorely miss it if I ever bought a newer model . . . which is NOT likely to happen . . . ever . . . I LOVE The Wonder Egg!

Hahaaaaa! I haven't seen that picture in a long time. The Bugeye is a towing BEAST . . . OK, maybe not, but it sure looks good with the Ollie behind it.

My 2008 4.0L V6 Tacoma did an admirable job pulling my Elite I (shorty) Ollie 111,000 miles. That being said, when the truck neared 1/4 million miles, even though it still ran superb, I searched for a new TV. When I discovered the new engines in the TACOs had a 3.5L displacement I decided to write it off my list. Yes, it has torque, but given my high annual mileage (pre-Covid) I thought the smaller displacement engine would be working too hard for the long haul. The Elite II would place an even larger burden on the truck's engine as you approached large hill or mountainous terrain. Personally, I would not use a new 3.5L Taco to pull an Elite II up and over many of the spectacular places my Elite I has been. The Taco is still in my garage, as a very dependable driver, but I have retired it from significant towing duties. My new TV is a Ford F150 with the 5.0L V8 engine and it has done an admirable job. Here's a picture of the F150 and Elite I going across the Top of the World Highway, from Yukon to Alaska.

Are you sure the smell isn't coming from the galley sink? If the p-trap goes dry, grey tank smells can enter the trailer. If this is the issue, adding water into the trap will keep the smell where it belongs . . . down there.

OH YEAH? What about all of those poor flies he skewers onto hooks and hurls out into the stream for the trout to eat? Hmmmmmm????

Very nice looking truck, Mike. I think that Ram Box configuration will come in handy for camping. Have you looked into the Loadmaster Active Suspension system for reducing sag under load and improving ride characteristics overall? I use it on both my Tacoma and F150 and have been very pleased with how it helps the trucks handle a heavy load or the trailer. Also, I'm glad you no longer have an itch and that you saved $4.59 since you didn't need the itching cream. ;) Now, get out there and wash that truck!

Looks like THIS will be all you need, then. It certainly is more cost effective.

Yes

It looks very interesting, and will likely have many of the same issues as the Tesla truck, or other EV trucks that come along. Discuss away, and don't forget the Forum Guidelines as many of us grab bags of popcorn to munch on as we enjoy the spirited discussions. Keep it friendly folks.

While this has surely been a dynamic discussion, it might be a good time for us all to refresh ourselves on the 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? 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. Keep having fun out there, enjoying your Ollies to the max !

They are great couple, well informed on living the life as nomads. After initially fulltiming in a solar equipped teardrop, they moved into a single axle Elite, followed by a large converted vintage bus. They put the bus into storage and wandered about in a yacht, through the Great Lakes, St Lawrence River, down the east coast, around Florida, and up the Mississippi. They both make their living through the work of the internet, so maintaining good broadband is very important to them. It should be a very informative show.

The fiberglass community of travelers is a very warm, interesting, and accepting group. I've made many good friends amongst them over the past 11 years. The Pineknot Rally, which began as predominantly a Casita gathering, accepts all fiberglass comers. When folks have made long term friends at the Texas fiberglass rallies and happen to move on to another brand of trailer, or even motorhome, it is not unusual to see them return and visit with their friends during the rally. Ive seen Casita, Oliver Trillium, UHaul, Boler, Airstream, and even the occasional Class C gather back with "the family". After you've gone a couple times, the next time is like coming back to a family reunion. (ps Hi Claire!)

Coopers are good tires. Just keep them within their limits and you should have many years of faithful service. I would recommend getting a tire pressure monitoring system so you can see if a tire has an insidious leak that will result in hyper flexing of the sidewall, just before the KABOOM! I use Truck System Technologies, (TST). Also, be sure of the speed ratings of your tires and do not exceed them. Many ST tires are speed limited to 65MPH. OH, and do not overload your tires by having too much weight in your trailer. Know your limitations, and stay within them, and enjoy many carefree years of Olivering. . .

Do you perceive Vortext to be similar to to Line-X coating material? No. Vortex has a severe impact resistance. I saw a guy whang with a large hammer on some Vortex that had spilled onto the floor, and the Vortex just laughed at his pitiful attempts. Zero impact was seen. Why did you choose Vortext over other pick-up bed liner material? I believe it to be superior in psi impact needed for damage. Linex might do the job (who knows?), but I desired the best available. Did you choose the skill/trailer/fiberglass experience of the installer as the primary reason to go with your coating process? I went to these guys, they are pros with RV's, mainly dealing with high end Class A's. Plus, they were only 40 miles from my house. http://www.ironhorserv.com/rv-service/rv-paint-and-body/ Did you have a special application of more layers/thicker than the standard that is done to pick-up bed application? They did their standard, multi-layered Vortex application. The cost to line pick-up beds for Votext range from $500-$700 in California. the prices I have heard for Vortext trailer applications have ranged to $3k+. Do you know why trailer applications has such a large price difference from pick-up bed applications? No I don't. Could it be that they deal with foo-foo Class A motorhomes and my itty bitty Oliver Elite and figure we'd pay? Or are the bed liners put on with fewer coatings? I dunno. Please tell us about the color matching process. They put a gizmo up against the gelcoat and it spit out numbers, from which they mixed the high end automotive paint.

I took The Wonder Egg to Alaska last year. It had everything in the front and below the belly band covered with multiple layers of Vortex and automotive paint to match my gelcoat. Overall, I was very satisfied. Nothing will ever chip my front lower section again, however, a few small bits of the automotive paint were chipped. These were easily covered over with touch-up paint from any auto store ... the key is to find the right brilliant white color match for your trailer. John's Stone Stomper gravel guard would preclude those tiny hits in the lower front. I spent 200+ miles on dirt roads in Alaska and felt very protected. BUT . . . The only bigs whacks my rig received weren't on dirt roads, instead, it was the numerous large construction trucks speeding in the opposite direction on narrow, paved two lane highways without adequate tarps on top, tossing off rocks and hurling stones from their wheels. I received a nice front windshield chip on the truck and one high placed chip on the front shoulder of The Wonder Egg. When you see one of those construction trucks approaching, the best course of action is to move to the right as far as possible and slow down until they pass.

"The Wonder Egg". Because 11 years ago, Oliver put so many fabulous things on my trailer that other brands would not accommodate. It was a wondrous thing!

I had my latest graphic applied by a business that does car-wrapping. They have huge printers and are accustomed to preparing the surface and adhering the graphic in place, bubble and wrinkle free on a quality 3M product. If you have a good digital image of what you desire, I bet they can accommodate you.

Jaque, You can do this. It was a learning curve for all of us. Here, on the forum, you have a huge support group that will assist you in any way it can. Take it slow at first, slowly master the fundamentals, and then blast off to JOY! Pete

My heart goes out to the Oliver family, and all of the workers at OTT. May you find solace in your time of grief and may your spirits soon be at peace. I will always fondly recall meeting Jim on Christmas Day, 2007, spending more than two hours with him as he showed me the early Oliver, the one with John's picture on the front. It was more than the trailer that impressed me. It was this friendly man, Jim, hearing his enthusiasm and vision for the Oliver Travel Trailer's future and his sincere concern for the care of all of his family and employees. With John's vision as a catalyst, Jim has truly built a LEGACY of a large, loving family and a robust trailer that will enrich the lives of countless families, enabling them to travel and see this great land up close, in a trailer that will last a lifetime. Thank you, Jim. May you rest in peace.

I think they look good, and the larger openings might help with brake cooling better than the little holes on the other ones.

The Wonder Egg, hull #14's awning says HORIZON on the outside, the arms are marked FIAMMA, and the housing has a DOMETIC sticker. Go Figure! When my end caps became brittle from UV, I ordered new ones from gowesty.com. I ordered for the F45i. Here are the part numbers. Left end cap - part # 04275-01C Right end cap - part # 04274-01C Before putting the new end caps on, I painted them with a white Krylon plastic paint, which has UV protection properties. They have lasted much longer than the originals, at this point. (Although it looks like they will need some TLC when I get home)