Trainman

I think Oliver uses a good quality decal material on their trailers. I personally wanted to not go with the Oliver logo and have my own design to set our trailer apart from others. I like walking thru the camping grounds at rallies and find it easy to spot Oliver owners by their logo's and find it a opportunity to know who I will be meeting. Our logo pretty much says, Ft. Worth, Texas and that is our home state, are the Lone Star Travelers". trainman

From what I hear about electric tongue jacks and how long they last, I think I will hold up on the cover and use that money toward the price of another jack. trainman

It should work well for you, good price, you will like its features and the 7 in. screen. trainman

Just looked at several reviews on YouTube and this one like many worked as described. I did want one with a 7" screen, backup camera availability if I later decided I want to add one in the future, does have a battery that does give and hour run time if needed which you could carry with you when out of the vehicle, accepts both traffic and weather if you want to add it. There are several other things that this model offers which I don't need or use because our Ram offers all these electronics in our pickup. Buying a GPS and I have purchased several over the years it can be pretty much a toss up on which one you choose as many offer so many options. I personally wanted one with a 7" screen and most 7" Garmin GPS's come with many options as standard. I have never purchased any GPS but a Garmin and have always been satisfied with my purchases. As I have read on sites the iPhone is taking over GPS and as so many phones do offer so many options today, it's hard to say the GPS is worth spending a lot of money for, but I like the screen on the GPS over the iPhone and I can read that 7" screen. trainman

Didn't know that, thanks. I have a portable Garmin unit that has topo maps on it, I used it when I road my motorcycles off road so I could find my way back to civilization. trainman

When we go to purchase a new vehicle I always want the NAV system on the vehicle I buy, but after having them they are pretty much useless and you can't use them when driving to reset, etc. When we purchased our new 2019 Ram I asked the sales person why so few vehicles had the factory NAV ordered with them and the sales person said, just about everyone uses their iPhone today and the $800 option is not as updated, or work as well as the phone. For the RAM I just purchase a new Garmin with a 7" screen, it does everything and mounts on the dash with a RAM mount and work out very well a $220 purchase. At looking at new vehicles in the future I think I will look at vehicles without the NAV systems as many do add some $5000-$6000 to the price of the vehicle just to get the NAV factory system, I'm talking Acura/Lexus here, when most of the vehicles do come with all the needed electronics we would need. Just something to think about when purchasing your next vehicle and if you want to pay for a factory NAV system. trainman John, here is the unit I purchased, it does come with Backup Camera Option and a suction type windshield mount, I stick mine on the dash where it has a flat plastic part in the center about the control screen on the Ram 2019. You can use the windshield, but it's farther away and harder to reach. I have purchased several items from this company and always had good results, the price for this unit is $249.00 and it is a new unit, you can purchase Refurbished units at a lessor price, but have always bought new. As far as I know all Garmin GPS have lifetime updates, so auto manufactures should do the same. Due note here that Honda gives you a 5 years free GPS update and our Acura you get to pay $150 for your updates, go figure there both Honda owned. https://g.factoryoutletstore.com/details/719956/garmin-drivesmart-61lmt-s-north-america-w-city-navigator-nt-europe.html?category_id=18937&catalogitemid=643164

My trailer was ordered with the LP quick disconnects and I setup our Little Red Campfire and our LP gas grills (actually two different grills, the up to work with them with a 25ft extension hose. Note here I did first setup them up and used the hoses that came with them with the regulators on them, but after using the grills and running two regulators (the Oliver's and the grill/campfire regulators) in line I found the grills did not get hot enough as two regulators must in some way have lessened the LP supply to to the grills. So I removed the lines that came with the campfire/grills and just use the Oliver regulator to control LP flow and all works as it should. I got the parts I needed from Amazon, it does take a little knowledge of what was needed and the sizes of fittings to make the connection all work properly and fit together. I also installed a needle valve on the campfire as you need someway to control the LP flow to it, I guess you could use the LP valve on the quick disconnect, but I decided not to go that way. trainman

When we go to purchase a new vehicle I always want the NAV system on the vehicle I buy, but after having them they are pretty much useless and you can't use them when driving to reset, etc. When we purchased our new 2019 Ram I asked the sales person why so few vehicles had the factory NAV ordered with them and the sales person said, just about everyone uses their iPhone today and the $800 option is not as updated, or work as well as the phone. For the RAM I just purchase a new Garmin with a 7" screen, it does everything and mounts on the dash with a RAM mount and work out very well a $220 purchase. At looking at new vehicles in the future I think I will look at vehicles without the NAV systems as many do add some $5000-$6000 to the price of the vehicle just to get the NAV factory system, I'm talking Acura/Lexus here, when most of the vehicles do come with all the needed electronics we would need. Just something to think about when purchasing your next vehicle and if you want to pay for a factory NAV system. trainman

I like the all mirrored cabinets, they make your trailer look much bigger inside and the feeling of more room. On nice days with the windows open it brings the outside inside, for that natural look and feeling. trainman

We have the frosted ones and the light shows thru as we wanted it to to give that night light when watching TV, etc. I personally like the mirror finish, but they discounted it on the side cabinets, but available on the rear cabinet only. I would say for those who don't want to see there stuff in the cabinets, just don't turn the light on. trainman

We started with a Casita and moved up to the Oliver. Biggest thing other then the fine quality of the Oliver was the Oliver was a modern design and we liked the fiberglass styled interior as well as the exterior. Like someone said in a previous post the Escape and the Bigfoot was old style and reminded me of my grandmother house back in the day, ie., too much wood. I would say you will probably want a crew cab truck to pull your trailer, as it's not that the Audi may do the job, but as the Oliver is somewhat smaller the truck will carry much more and not load up the trailer so much. Personally when we camp we find no problem for more space and the Oliver works very well for us. trainman

We have the Oliver bicycle rack, I will say here we don't use it because just after getting the trailer we did away with our bicycles and purchased ebikes that fold, we carry them in the pickup bed, just works better for us. We might purchase a rack for the rear bicycle rack mount someday, but for now we don't need the extra caring capacity. trainman

We probably ordered the least expensive 2019 Oliver Elite II made, no solar for sure, we are not going boondocking to start with. We ordered three options, Convection Microwave, Extra LP Gas Ports, Bicycle Rack, that's it. We went with the standard White Counter Tops and all standard colors in a gray/black color combination, the inside of the trailer looks like a custom high dollar sailboat, total luxury inside. Don't knock the white till you have seen it, you will be surprised, many are at the rallies. Many of the upscale options are nice, but we have been camping for years and the standard options work well for us and see no need to spend money on things not needed, well were spending elsewhere for sure. trainman

John, I couldn't find the exact item I purchased on Amazon, it was two years ago, it was a two pack, 22"x22" and 12 holes per inch, stainless, nice stiffness to work with and I cut it with tin snips. This is as close as I could find, https://www.amazon.com/Woven-X60cm-Coarse-gauze-Stainless/dp/B01N4RCHFU/ref=sxbs_sxwds-stvp?crid=2TB5WP8VAGXPQ&cv_ct_cx=stainless+wire+mesh&dchild=1&keywords=stainless+wire+mesh&pd_rd_i=B01N4RCHFU&pd_rd_r=0747b075-0572-49a2-b5ac-03427d1b9482&pd_rd_w=3kc4Q&pd_rd_wg=HcgJq&pf_rd_p=183579a1-f0e6-4556-8e39-8fe08e8f8141&pf_rd_r=Z1JE72FRXHZTFB9QNK7T&psc=1&qid=1587303256&sprefix=stanless+wire+mesh%2Caps%2C179&sr=1-131-dd5817a1-1ba7-46c2-8996-f96e7b0f409c due note here this material is 10 holes per inch, but I did measure mine and the hole openings are right at 2mm. Make sure you get material that is long enough to cover the longest opening on your refrigerator vents, I didn't want to piece mine together. I did think about using an adhesive on the heater screens, but just went with the stainless NBW's as I have a good selection of them. I did also make a totally different system to attach the Camco screen to the furnace, I just didn't like dealing with those springs, and went with my own design which will screw on and off. trainman

I live in Texas and have camped in over 100 degree weather in our Casita and now our Oliver and my screens have never caused a over heating problem with any of the screens I made and installed. I grantee dirt dobbers with cause you more problems then the screens ever thought of doing. trainman

Pics of my bug screens that is made, I purchases a mesh screen from Amazon and cut it to fit where it was needed, then I took stainless steel wire and wired the screens in place on the refrigerator vents, the water heater vents screens were installed with stainless steel nuts and bolts. The furnace screen was purchased from Camco. Due note here that window screen material may work, but I found it to be too flexible and I used a stiffer wire mesh for a much better material to work with. It took me a day to do this and I had already done this before on our Casita, so I had some experience in doing this, cutting and fitting will take time to do the job correctly and with a professional look. trainman

I don't know who will be buying camping vehicles like that, I know I won't be. The younger people of today don't seem to be too interested in things like camping, motorcycles, Campbell Soups, etc., they just want there one bedroom apartment, small hybrid compact vehicle, there iPhone, and their "ME" world. The movie "1984" is looking more realistic everyday. trainman

Sorry about that, I guess I pushed the wrong key, I wasn't even looking at VW Buses and yes, they are expensive. Just type in, Lake Mineral Wells State Park and Trailway. trainman

I guess we signed the contract with that indemnification clause included in it, as our trailer is only 9 months old I must have agreed to it. Since the clause was probably added for Oliver protection and advised by there lawyers it probably meets the laws of the land. I think this clause was regarding money for the down payment, but maybe not. All being said I have never heard of Oliver forcing you to take your trailer if personal problems arose that would make delivery not going to happen. You probably couldn't deal with a company devoted to doing it right for complete customer satisfaction. trainman

I agree with HOBO and Oliver on the question of liabilities when someone visits your property, this can happen either by being invited, or not being invited and liability falls right with you. We own a private lake on our property and when we purchased this property we opted to upgraded our umbrella coverage as we felt we did open ourselves to increase liabilities. I do note here that many older people do the trailer thing and going in and out of trailers can be a problem for many of them, I find this happening at rallies when they have those open trailer times and yes, I have seen visitors fall when interning and exiting trailers. I have personally stood at the exit of my trailer and gave visitor a heads up on where to step and the location of the grab handles, just because I see many are unaware of exiting procedures. Also keep in mind that someone visiting your Oliver it is probably there first time to see an Oliver, so it's all new to them. Once again don't put the blame on someone else when you gave visitors permission to visit your property, if in doubt on doing things like this, just say, NO. trainman

We were going to go to Lake Mineral Wells State Parks next week, only 39 miles from our home, it was to be a short trip, but get us out of the house for a couple of days. We were going to take our ebikes and ride the bike trail from minerals wells to Weatherford, Texas. For those of you traveling in the North Texas area I would recommend this park, it offers all types of terrain, large lake, boating activities, and the 20 mile bike trail, which can be walked, or ridden on a bicycle. You can check it out here, https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2380057.m570.l1311.R1.TR12.TRC2.A0.H0.Xvw+.TRS0&_nkw=vw+bus&_sacat=0 trainman

I was thinking the other day about my fresh water tank and does it need to be cleaned with bleach, or some product that is used for this. I guess the reason for asking this is our trailer has now gone five months without use, the tank was drained when last used, but I'm sure not all the water can drain out under the tanks design, etc. Today I'm going to wash the trailer, and fire up all the accessories and let them run for sometime and hope all is working as it should. I'm also going to open my gate valves and work them to keep them freed up, I to have a sewer drain at home so dumping is not a problem for me and yes they were flushed three times as I do on every return home for proper cleaning per the Oliver manual. All being said is there anything else I should give attention to as we do not have no idea when our next camping event will be. trainman

I had a water heater problem when trying to start on LP Gas and couldn't find the source of it, Oliver sent me replacement modules, but still did not fix the problem. Decided to camp and work our way to Holenwald for a trip, guess what they found, there is a wiring block where the bottom wiring harness and the upper wiring harness meet and yes, one of the wires for the water heater can loose. This took them 5 mins. to fix, they said the terminals are in the upper rear compartment behind the trim on the side. I probably could have checked this if I had known about the junction panel. I've seen no one mention this panel on this forum, do you know about it. This could be a place to look for your lighting problem, but not sure if they run thru this panel. John you may have a pic of it, post it if you do. Thanks, trainman

The only thing I dislike about covers, is they are like wrestling with an elephant. Things you need are tall ladders and a wife that feel comfortable on one. My wife is considering the $15,000 wood cover option, so far we don't have a cover as of yet, but she is winning so far. trainman

I looked at all three offered by the big three manufactures and went with the Ram 1500. It did get down to if I wanted to use the Anderson WDH or not, that is going with a 2500 over the 1500 model. It got down to a coin flip as both would be Hemi powered, but the 2500 has the larger Hemi. We went with the 1500 as towing the Oliver would handle the trailer just fine and within factory specs, but the Anderson would be needed. We opted for the 1500 as wife liked the lower height and the ride was more to her liking. All being said, if I had to do it over again I would probably go again with the 1500 over the 2500 as the 1500 tows the Oliver just fine and there is no shortage of power and handling with the 1500. Truck description below. trainman