SeaDawg

I think 2020 presented some aberrations, as NCEagle mentioned. And, I feel bad for any of you who went away with fiberglass dust and slivers. It shouldn't happen. But, obviously happened to some. Hopefully, Covid challenges won't continue.

Hull #36 has had two really great owners. Now, it's your legacy. Let your camping adventures begin. And enjoy!

Pay attention to

I'm guessing your awning slides into the roller on a bolt rope sewn into the fabric. Uneven tension or stretching with wind or rain, or uneven rolling could shorten one side. (Sort of like candy striping on a jib sail roller furling, but not quite.) Glad you figured it out! Happy camping, in the shade.

The Elite, the original Oliver design is shorter, lighter, one axle, and about six inches more narrow. And, much lighter, which opens up the realm of possibilities in tow vehicles, but not so light as to be towed by some smaller suvs. 14 years of towing, we say it really is an easy tow. Tracks exactly within the truck path. Because it's smaller, you get a smaller bed (full size, a little long), a slightly smaller bath, and no pantry or nightstand. There is also less head height, but up to 6 ft or so in height, you're good. It would be good if you could see both, before you decide. We could easily trade up, but don't want to. We have everything we need, in small space. It fits in very awkward sites. 14 seasons in, we're still good.

On ours, there was a rubber material (like mud flap) baffle that should be pushed in toward the inner hull. I don't know what the newer installs look like, but the baffle on ours was accidentally flipped outboard, one time, and made things very hot. The rm2454 fridge had a couple iterations, resulting in different control boards, and a few other parts. Just don't expect everything to be the same as 2007, even though the same model number.

😄😄😄 I remember. I had an original Maverick. Well, ground beef was 39 cents a pound, then, too. And gas was 17.9 cents a gallon when I got my Maverick. Gas war. It was a great little car . Rocked out of snow banks really well. Carried five and luggage many trips, and sometimes drove over 100 miles with change thrown in the "ash tray". I still wish I had this little car. And my 88 bronco II.

Many of the 24v marine systems use a keel cooler line, extracting cool from the water below. That's not possible, obviously, with a trailer. I'm ok with what we chose. I would have preferred one of the European inverter compressor units, but, well, they're not here, yet. Who knows when. I couldn't really wait for another few years, and be able to adjust my bigger sidemount panels. I'm good with what we have, now. Edit to add: we don't have ac on the big sailboat. We just usually don't sail in hot weather.

I suspect someday, we'll see a bigger Ollie. Personally, I wouldn't expect it any time in the near future. Everything in the Oliver is pretty much a mold redesign. I happened to be in the factory when Oliver hired a company to scan the one, and build a plug design for the II. It was a big, and very expensive deal. Trailers that build a shell, and build it out with plywood/osb/ and paneling have a lot more latitude in design changes . That's ok, for awhile. The inevitable leaks make zero difference to a molded interior hull. I've seen devastating evidence of leaks in other brands, fiberglass hull, and stick built. I'm perfectly happy with the choice we made , over 13 years ago . But a girl can dream, right? .

It looks a lot like the size of my mom's early little ranger, which was a super little truck. Small bed, nice seats, jump seats in back, in hers. My mom is barely five feet, so it was great for her. But, my dad didn't need to duck. I'm really looking forward to the new Maverick, as an around town hybrid, pull the small boat, go to the garden center kind of little truck .

Just saying, we never had a fridge vent fan, when we had three ways. If you're only out for a few days, and your temps are moderate, you'll probably be fine. I think the fan is a good idea in side exhaust vent 3 ways, like the Casitas and Olivers. Especially necessary with high temp desert camping. Probably not so much for us ordinary mortals in the east. Imo. If you have a multimeter, you could check to see if you have power to the fan. Other than that, I'd personally relax, and enjoy your trip. Especially if fridge is working fine.

Well, that's a pretty cool feature. Thanks, John.

I've found this to be an interesting thread. For us, best sleep is in the wilderness, regardless of mattress. Fresh air is invigorating in the day, intoxicating at night. I sleep better, and far longer, in our camper than anywhere, with 14 year old cushions, and a memory foam topper. Everything is personal. I always recommend that people start with cushions and a pad, then decide. Standard cushions are included. Memory foam pad (queen cut in two for twins) is under $80 . Upgrade is probably the same price later, if you feel you need it.

That was also on my list, a decade ago. Good idea.

We don't do a lot of roasting here, so, you can mark yourself "safe." 😉 Many of us (as @Overland labels us 🙃) crazy people, have done a bunch of experimental mods to make our trailers suit our unique situations. Over the years, Oliver has introduced many of those mods as either features or options. One thing none of us has been able to do is stretch the hull, either way. 😆 I, personally, don't want more width. I love the way my early Elite handles skinny mountain roads. I'd personally love an Elite, with a few more inches of head height, and maybe 10 to 14 inches in extra length, for a bigger bed, and maybe squeeze a little bigger fridge. (Which i could do, even now, I think, with more crazy mods.) I'm ok with the current fridge. Two people, two weeks. Longer trips, I need grocery stores, or I need to buy an auxiliary dc cooler. But then, most produce only lasts 2 weeks, so... whatever. Welcome to the forum. Hope you get to see a tour one day soon, and see why we all live these Oliver trailers. Warts and all

I think the drop down is lovely, too. I'm going to poke around for a mount that would fold up,, but elevate it above the cushions/bed. There must be something... there's so much out there in the marine world. Best of luck. I truly love it when people bring in handmade wood accents, and personalize their trailers. My dad was a master furniture and wood craftsman. It's in my heritage to appreciate.

Just curious, how big is the drop down?

I could live with John Davies' idea of ripped/notched band better than the "missing chunk" you have now. Move the whole band up a tiny bit. Notch the retaining lip of the shelf a bit to clear the chrome trim. It would at least give the illusion of a full continuous band, with the shelf in place. I'd be disappointed, too, if I were you. I understand that the slider requires a bigger space for egress, but I don't think this was well thought out, personally. I'd ask Oliver for a bit of a redo, possibly as described above. We ripped the inner part of the shelf (the part that sits in the slot) and the lip, making our wooden shelf a few inches less deep. Still room for glasses, a small clock, my phone, and a paperback book. But, I've not seen the new style in person. Might be more shallow than our original, as it is. Mine is now just deep enough for a paperback. I've even given fleeting thought to removing the table clips, and filling the holes, as we haven't used the table in over 10 years. I just throw a pillow over them...

As I watch moms picking up the kiddos from school in their giant 4x4 SUVs, I wonder to myself how many of them know how to engage 4x4. Or, ever have. Not being sexist here. (After all, I'm a mom, too.) I wonder the same about some of the suits passing me in big 4x4 trucks. To each his own. I'm also glad to see some nice new smaller trucks and suvs coming to market. I hope they'll be well received. We also have two dinos in our fleet. Both well loved.

You "could" replace the leg with a marine hydraulic pedestal. That would be cool... and you could maybe find one that would allow you to raise the tabletop to counter height. I use the little table a lot for prep when cooking, and I've thought about putting a hydraulic pedestal on my Christmas list. (Santa gave the Oliver a lot of big gifts the last few years 🤔) But, you'd have to mount it out a bit away from the wall to clear the shade frame. Beautiful table. I'd want to keep it, too.

There are a number of nice features, but I wish they could have figured in a decent sized bed for the trailer size. Losing seven inches of kitchen could give an "almost" queen bed, in a kind of trapezoid, and still keep the big dinette. 53" wide, is not a queen. It's not quite as wide (though a little longer) than the full sizein our Elites, and still a crawlover. The toy hauler version bed is only 48" wide. Great for one, pretty tiny for two. The bed in the camper van we rented in Iceland was about 48 inches, and it was pretty snug. Like the big fridge and oven, though. Lots of room for solar on that big roof.... Let us know how this one works out for you. I'm sure you'll like it better, with all the cold weather camping you like to do.

Amy, you need to download the language(s) you wish to translate before you can use Google translate offline. Not all functions work. You can, however, use the camera mode to translate a printed page, or type text to translate. I've found it very helpful.

I saw my first Bronco Sport on the street yesterday. All black, and a pretty nice look. I was expecting it to be more reminiscent of an Escape, but it wasn't. Ford did keep some hints of the old Bronco II, though lower and more rounded corners than my 88. And, it does have some Disco flavor, as Overland suggested.

Since no one with a 2021 model has posted, I went back to the classified listing for the one that sold a month or so ago. I can see why you would not have noticed at pickup, as the dinette was probably set up as a dinette. Difficult to see in these photos, with cushions and shelf, but pretty sure the belly trim is positioned, and gapped,ike yours, @LongStride. I wonder if RVIA requires the sticker to be visible with shade closed? If so, wondering if a sticker could be applied to shade frame instead of wall? There's still a sticker on the window. Even with that, there appears to be very little room between shade frame and attic in these photos.

Longstride, I can't see the top of your window. Mine (2008) is just a bit below the attic, like Dave's.