desmo_pilot

Hi Pete, Understood about how your 2pc design goes together. The issue with the 1pc is that unless you have a propane fitting that is designed for a bulkhead, there is no great way to hold the piping and/or quick release. A bulkhead fitting is designed exactly for this scenario and I did find a couple available on the internet. I may just order one and do that. However, if Oliver has one of the 2pc designs sitting around that I could buy, then I would likely do that. My leak was purely from the use of a 1pc bracket and no way to securely attach the quick release fitting without the use of a bulkhead fitting. I have since fixed the leak using an inch longer piece of brass tubing and a clamp to hold the assembly in place. This is purely temporary so that I could use the trailer without leaking propane. I have planned to do a permanent fix, just haven't found the time yet. Thanks again! Kyle

Thanks for the info Pete. I'll get ahold of Robert to see if they have any of those 2pc brackets left. The one piece that is installed in mine is a pretty poor design that leaked badly. I took it apart and made some modifications to it to stop the propane leak, but I considered it temporary until installing a different design. Thanks again, Kyle

Hi Pete, Where did you get the nice two piece aluminum bracket to hold the propane quick disconnect? The one installed in mine is a single piece that doesn't have anywhere the nice fit that your two piece appears to have. Thanks! Kyle

Hi Sherry, Did you end up using the cover? If so, how does it fit? Thanks, Kyle

Chris, As an avid car freak, I really doubt your issue is air pressure. Under inflation will almost always wear both outside edges of a tire and you would also see this on both tires, not just the outer edge of one tire. Sounds to me like the camber is out of whack on the curb side. Our axles are not adjustable like an automobile, but I'm wondering if trailer shop could bend it slightly using heat and a press. Otherwise, it would likely mean axle replacement. One thing to check is to get a angle measure device(~$15, see the link below) from Home Depot/Lowes/Ace and a straight edge about two feet long. Inflate both tires to the same pressure, place the straight edge vertically across the tire, then place the angle tool on the outside of the straight edge. You should read anywhere from 0 to 2 or 3 degrees negative(meaning the top of the tire leans inward slightly). My guess is that your curb side is reading positive camber, meaning that the top is leaning outward a few degrees. Now unfortunately, reading across the tire is the most accurate due to tire bulge, etc. But, it will give you an idea if something is wrong. The most accurate way would be to have a straight edge the fits perfectly on the rim edge and doesn't touch the tire. You could always cut the straight edge to fit if you wanted to. You other option is to go to an alignment shop and have them do just a camber check for you. Likely would cost about $30 and shouldn't be more than $40ish. Here is the link to the angle tool. http://www.acehardware.com/sm-ace-magne ... 85951.html Let us know what you find out. Kyle

We received a kitchen sink plug/strainer with ours. It is in matching chrome. For the bathroom, we received the rubber stopper on a chain.

There are quite a few vendors who sell the Dri-dek tiles, so don't necessarily have to get them directly from Dri-dek. I purchased mine from West Marine.

Kyle & Karen, Nice looking interior and list of options. Well done! The charging station and mounted rechargeable flashlight are especially nice. On trailer # 40 can you turn on all of your exterior lights from inside, to include those on the street side? I see you are fly fishermen. I've only been once with the Wonder Egg and found that a suction cup hook attached to the outside makes a great place to hang up waders for drying. (Something I learned from camping with SeaDawg in the Appalachian Mountains - Sherry is the Queen of Suction Cups ) Enjoy, Enjoy, Enjoy Hi Pete, No, the streetside porch light has to be turned on from the outside on the streetside. The switch is inside the outside shower compartment. I may in the future run the wiring to the interior switch bank though. Or at least to a location that I don't have to open the battery compartment door to get to the switch. Totally agree about the suction cups. I actually already bought some of the larger Power Lock suction cups for hanging waders outside to dry. Thanks for the kind words. Kyle

Herm, The white box is for the cellphone amplifier. That white box is the receiver part. The amplifier is inside the cabinet to the left of the stereo. Yeah, we are very happy we decided to go with the Oliver and not a tent camper. I'm sure we would have had fun with a tent camper, but it definitely wouldn't be able to compare to the adventures we'll have in the Ollie. There were a few club members with tent campers at the outing over the weekend. And on Sunday morning is was very enlightening watching them take down camp and how long it took them to get ready to hit the road. With the Ollie, it is such a quick process. There were a few envious comments made to us on how fast we were able to break camp and be hooked up ready to go. Kyle

Chuck and Geri, This was our first time to Dead Horse State Park. Although have spent quite a bit of time in Cottonwood, Jerome, etc. Just had never gone to the park. We were there with a group from the flyfishing club we are part of, so the club had reserved the group camping site. The group site doesn't have hookups, but was nice. Sites were level, had fire rings and picnic tables. It is a nice 5-10 minute walk to the ponds and the horse stables. Right next door to the group site is a small site with hookups. It had more vegetation and trees. And up the hill is the largest camping site, which had hookups and very nice pads. The views from this upper site are AMAZING!!! Can see the lights of Jerome at night and have beautiful views of the surrounding mountains. We were really impressed and look forward to staying in this site the next time we go there. The park has some hiking/biking/equestrian trails and some of them follow the Verde River. We took a long stroll Saturday morning. One of the trails was under the canopy of cottonwood trees, so was a beautiful setting. There are three ponds at the park and two of them are stocked for fishing. During winter months they stock rainbow trout and the summer months they receive channel catfish. The ponds do have a year round population of largemouth bass, although they stay pretty small. And since it is right in town, you can easily take a bike ride to old town Cottonwood to visit one of the artsy/craft stores or listen to music outside on the patio at the coffee/gelato shop. Overall, we had a very good time and will certainly go back. We would recommend staying at the main camp site that is up the hill, as the views just can't be passed up. Good luck on your application. I hope they you get the opportunity to host there. Kyle & Karen

I plan to install an airtank in this area as well.

Hi all, In another thread I had committed to posting some pictures, so finally getting around to that. It is ironic that the timing of our first outing coincided one year to the day of when we first discovered Oliver at the 2008 Phoenix RV Show. The show was here again over the weekend. My wife and I were pretty set on getting a tent trailer, but after seeing the Oliver and hanging out inside it for about an hour...we were hooked and decided that was the path for us. We took delivery of #40 on Feb 2nd. We did quite a few changes/upgrades, so special thanks to Robert and the crew for making them happen. Here is a summary of the options and mods we did: -Lengthened tongue 14" to allow for permanent attachment of the generator/cargo basket. -Generator prep w/ propane outlet -bbq propane outlet in rear -upgraded Tripplite charger/inverter -200w solar package with BlueSky 2512ix charger and IPN-Pro remote.(same as Chris and Cherie's setup) -2 Lifeline 4C 6v batteries(220Ah total) -charge station inside cabinet to the right of the radio(12v(3) and 110 outlet) for charging cell phones, gps, handheld radios, etc -Porcelain traveler lite toilet -LED lighting -Additional porch light on street side. -installed Streamlight Ultra Stinger rechargeable flashlight inside closet. Uses a 12v smart charger to keep flashlight always charged. I use these at home and love them. Draws very very little current, so no impact to batteries. -deleted the microwave and have a cabinet instead. Will use small toaster oven. -went up two additional sizes on the Marathon tires. Now have 225/75-15 D-load tires. Gives a little more clearance/cushion for going offroad, plus has a higher load rating. I still plan to pick up some different wheels and install a 1" taller all-terrain LT tire. There is plenty of clearance in the wheel well and suspension travel. The taller tire will ride better when we take it to the backcountry, which will be most of our trips. -fiberglass propane tanks(definitely lighter than the steel units and great to be able to visually check the fuel level) -cell phone amplifier -Fantastic fan 6600 -additional reading lamps -swapped for the Norcold fridge instead of the Dometic -Black tank flush -couple of extra cushions that prop up against the stripper pole. Also extra cushions for the small dinette/couch/twin bed. I'm sure I have forgotten some things, but that should be close. We made it out over the weekend for our first outing in the Ollie. Spent two nights at Dead Horse State Park in Cottonwood, AZ. Friday night the temp got down to 25 degrees and we were very pleased with how comfy it remained in the trailer with the use of the furnace. Yeah, the fan is loud and Suburban needs to step up their game and use some modern quiet fan technology. But, it did keep things comfy. We were in the group campground, so didn't have hookups and just relied on the batteries. I expected a larger usage of the batteries, but the furnace really didn't consume that much overnight. We cooked full meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner, which was much fun. Overall, we had a great time in our first outing and can't wait for the next. My buddy and I are planning a trip to Lee's Ferry(Colorado River) in two weeks for some flyfishing. And now the pics: Kyle

I just picked up one of those Wally World RV water filters last week and used it over the weekend. During the flush I didn't get any black sediment, just a very slight tint to the water for the first few seconds. Flushed it for a minute or so and water was totally clear. This is my first experience with the filter, so don't have any history to provide. Kyle

Correct, I was referring to the fiberglass pieces that are attached to the outside of the wheelwell. I'll be taking some pictures this weekend and will get them posted up. Definitely very excited to have the Oliver at home now.

I checked out the new Elite 2 in Quartzsite last week when I was picking up my new Ollie(#40). The 22' is definitely a beautiful trailer. For the person/couple looking for more sleeping room and a slightly larger kitchen, this should be the hot ticket. I really liked the extra storage space, both inside and outside. The outside accessible storage area is a great addition. It has enough space to store your grill, firewood, hoses, etc. Something else I really liked is the wheel well fixtures that they have added. This looks really nice and gives a much more finished/refined look to the exterior. I'm going to talk to Robert to see if they can make this for the single wheel well so that I can add them to mine. I had my camera along, but I think I was too excited to be picking up my own trailer that I completely forgot about taking pictures. I would have done the 22' if was in a config that could sleep four. My wife and I have an eight month old baby and hope to have another in the next couple of years. For us, we'll either need to construct a bunk bed or hopefully by then Oliver will have some additional floor plans and we can just trade up.

Talked to Robert this morning and they have all the application work done to get listed on NADA. They should be online by EOD today or tomorrow. Issue resolved! This will make the future much easier for new customers and the resale market. Definitely good news.

Thanks to everyone for the advice and for the recommendation to Credit West here in Phoenix. I've worked with two credit unions here in town already and it's no issue getting the credit approved. It's the fact that they will not loan on the Oliver because it is not in NADA. Both credit unions have claimed that the invoice is not enough and that any vehicle they loan on must be in NADA for valuation. It's definitely very frustrating. I plan to call a couple of the rv loan specialists that are on the net and see what they say. Hopefully they give me some good news. Thanks again, Kyle

Hi all, I'm curious if anyone here has financed their Oliver. If so, did you run into any issues? Our Oliver has been completed for awhile now, but no lenders want to lend on this trailer because Oliver Trailer is not listed in NADA(North American Dealers Association), or as more commonly known as Blue Book. I've had two lenders back out at the last minute because when they go to value the trailer, they have no way to do this since they rely upon NADA values for resale, insurance, etc. Robert has informed me that they are trying to get listed, but do not have an ETA of how long that process takes and what is involved for them. However, with the current economy and fewer people having the cash in hand to purchase outright...financing is the only option and this will need to be available if Oliver hopes to continue growing this business. For any of you that financed, would you mind sharing who your lender is and if you had any issues. I'm at a loss here, so definitely appreciate the help. Thanks, Kyle

Here in Arizona, they give us about a month to get something registered. So, I'll do that when I get back into town next week. AZ charges the late fees like most states do. It is $9/month and I think it caps out around $100ish. Thanks everyone! Kyle

Thanks for all the info. Unfortunate about taxes, but no way around it.

Hi all, I'm picking up the new Ollie this weekend...can't wait! I'm curious how other's have worked out their license registration. I realize that each state is different, but I'm most curious if everyone is getting a temporary registration prior to picking up the trailer. Then once back in home state get the permanent registration? Or just waiting until getting it home to register it? Also, is anyone getting hit with home state sales tax when they register it? Thanks! Kyle

Hi all, I've been thinking about this topic and was trying to compare this forum to many of the other forums that I frequent(many Jeep forums, Toyota Tundra, motorcycle, flyfishing, etc). Most forums use a 'sticky post' that keeps a FAQ at the top of page. This FAQ often has common modifications, DIY maintenance items, etc and each item is hyperlinked to either the original thread discussion in the forum or to a separate document if it is necessary. A great example of this is on the Toyota Tundra forum. I believe this link should work for people, even if not a member....hopefully. Putting together this kind of document is super handy and allows users to very easily and quickly research the most common items that we have questions about. I realize we have the search function, however it doesn't always work as efficiently as it could. After doing a search, I often spend much more time weeding through all the results and then having to compile my own interpretation of all the results. Having a simple sticky post the covers our most common questions/solutions, mods, upgrades, maintenance items, etc would be great. What do you all think? Kyle

I have a few Streamlight flashlights and am very happy with them. I'm having Oliver install a rechargeable Streamlight Ultra Stinger inside the Oliver just to the left of the closet door. It will be wired into the 12v system and that way I'll always have a fully charged flashlight on board. And will not have to carry spare batteries, etc.

Here is the portable dish that I've seen some RVers using. It is essentially the same as the KingDome in a handheld portable unit. http://www.wallacet.com/vuqube/

Herm, I ran to Best Buy during lunch and I think I have changed my mind on the tv choice. Samsung has a white version in the 400 series(very close to the 450), however it is a 19", is in a white lacquer finish(would blend into the Oliver interior vs stand out like a black set), and it is a true 16:9 ratio. It has all the conections needed and I'm thinking 19" will be big enough for watching a movie in the evening. The set will never get used during the day hours, as that time is for flyfishing, etc. My folks have this same set in their hobby room and it works great. Specs: http://www.samsung.com/us/system/consum ... 1_spec.pdf So, that is where I'm at as of now. Going to sleep on it and will make the final decision tomorrow. Kyle