SeaDawg

Mike, I'd put a film on my trailer any day before I opted for bedliner sprayed on my shiny white, eight year old Oliver trailer. Maybe I'd do the film if we took it to Alaska and drove the Denali highway both ways... We've driven that 100 miles of gravel twice in rentals, without incident, but we were in rvs, not towing trailers. We don't have quite as many miles as Pete, but way over 70k, and a lot of gravel roads in our rearview mirror. We slow down on gravel. We also have the big RockTamer mudflaps on the hitch, and they're pretty great. Sherry

Things have changed a lot since we started the forum. Facebook is a much bigger factor now. I don't visit facebook much, though. Thanks, for the link. Sherry

Merry Christmas (eve), We've towed our Oliver about 80,000 miles now, with the oem Bulldog hitch, and factory, standrd electric brakes. We normally tow with a half ton pickup (4x4 Dodge or Silverado), but occasionally with our Volvo xc90. The Volvo we feel, with the 2.5 , 5 cylinder engine, isn't the best choice of our "fleet", since we camp a lot in the mountains. Both trucks are older, but great tow vehicles, and take us where we want to go. if you decide to add a different hitch, and different brakes, I'd be interested in your experience. Most of us change up if our camping experiences doesn't work with the (highly varied) factory lineup we bought. As far as mods, we have a fairly extensive collection on the forum already. Some have been adopted, others not, others as an addon at additional cost. I will say that the Oliver folks are far more receptive than most in the rv world. But don't be disappointed if they don't get excited about ta new hitch, or new brake idea. You can always change it, for a fairly decent cost, and report back. If other owners haven't asked for the same mod/idea, they may be reluctant. The two you have posted about are fairly inexpensive changes, for you. Changing hitch or brakes for Oliver, would require, I think, some engineering (costplus time) involvement on their part. I don't work for them, so.... Maybe , maybe not. Bring up your ideas, if you like the trailer, and see what they say. And, you can always be the pioneer. We've been there. Sometimes, its cheaper to mod on your own, than ask the factory to do it. You'll just have to see what the outcome and response is for your idea. A one=off is always more expensive than a standard option. Sherry

Ruby, Two-sday? Sherry

Congrats on your new Oliver! What a great early Christmas present. We wish you many happy miles, and wonderful camping experiences. Sherry and Paul

Merry Christmas, Larry and Betty! And a very Merry Christmas to all our friends on the forum. Sherry and Paul

We'd love to do that some year, but have company coming into town that week. Sherry

"...rusting metal sticking up out of the harbor, with tiny droplets of oil coming to the surface, much like the remains of the Arizona was sobbing quietly in grief" Beautifully stated. Thank you for sharing the memories, and help us to honor this day. Sherry

Looking great!

Bummer about losing the tire. We discovered how valuable tire sensors are in one of our first trips with the Dodge 4 x 4, which has sensors. The sensor light came on, and Paul pulled of the road immediately. We found a huge bolt in our rear tire, but the local tire shop was able to repair it because we caught it early. Those big tires are pricey, and we were really happy. (Also lucky to find a tire shop where the owners spoke English.) After that, we installed a tire sensor system on the trailer tires. I have a thread on here from years back. We've had great customer service from them over the years. We do carry one spare sensor in case one fails. The factory swaps it out, but you have to send yours in to get the replacement. (Free under warranty, I think about $20 or so after warranty.) I also noticed that Northern Tool has their system on sale right now for only $99, but it has only two reviews. One five star, one 1 star... a real split there, and I've never seen it, so I can't recommend. At least Northern Tool has a good refund policy if it doesn't work out of the box. (And, if you buy something else for $1, there's a free $10 gift card on a $100 purchase.) Sherry

LOL. Wish we had a like button. How'd the smoked turkey turn out? We've done turkeys in a fryer, smoker, rotisserie, and the traditional home oven. Never tried the trash can turkey, nor the chain over open fire, but maybe one of these years. Hope everyone had a great day. Sherry PS We were at home, and did a traditional oven roasted turkey.

To all our friends, old and new, on the forum, we wish you a very happy Thanksgiving Day! Sherry and Paul

As much as the tours are tempting, we love the Oliver we own. We'll probably be the guys on the forum ten years from now, telling you how great an almost 20 year old Oliver still works. (Ours turns 8 in three months.) Lots of miles, hundreds of camping nights, and we still love it like we did the first night in Alabama. Hope you feel the same, eight years later. It's a great little trailer, and a great little company. Sherry PS on our way home this year, we retraced much of our path of picking up the Oliver in February, 2008. Kind of nostaligic. The rocket is still at the Alabama welcome center on 65. The Oliver still towed great. 3rd tow vehicle, same trailer.

Linda, at 40 or higher, you really don't need to do anything. However, I lived in northwest Iowa, and southern Minnesota, most of my early life. If I were storing my trailer, even in a heated facility, I would winterize, just to be sure. It doesn't take that long to drain the lines and pump a little rv antifreeze through. Maybe 30 minutes in our Legacy Elite. We live in Florida, but leave our trailer in storage sometimes in North Carolina. If we are going to be gone after September, we winterize. (Obviously, in Florida, we don't bother...) Sherry

"Twist" (love the name) is going to be amazing. Just got home from a camping trip to NC and TN, and stopped by the factory. Wish I had known... I'd have asked to take a peek. We had a few tweeks done on our 2008. New water heater, and got to add the new "fender skirts." Love the look. We took a tour of the newest models. Great new ideas, and great execution, too. Truly beautiful. Hope you, too, enjoy thousands of miles of smiles in your new Oliver when it "hatches." Sherry

We probably had our trailer a year before I picked a place for the paper towels. Over the bed, it's out of range of the cooktop flame, and doesn't get in my way. Let us know how the popaplate works out. Looks like a cool idea.

We used wikicamps extensively on a camping trip in Australia. It's a crowd-based app, runs without internet access if downloaded, and the Australian version is great. The US version has only recently been launched, so it's usefulness as of yet is not as great. Hopefully, it will catch on here as it did "down under." Sherry

Aubrey, Your installation looks awesome. Love the solar. I like the idea of your water purification system, too. Thanks for the photos and info. Sherry

We don't have a pop a plate, but we attached our paper towel holder to the underside of the cabinet next to the stove, over the large dinette/bed. It has worked out well. Only the edge of the cabinet is curved. The bottom is flat.

topgun, that Camco pop a plate is pretty cool. I see they have some stack-a-plate options for real plates that would be great if you wanted to carry melmac or other plates, in a drawer, or in a cabinet. I use something similar for my dinner plates at home, in my drawers for china and dishes. I'm going to check into those next time we stop at a Camping World. There are a few (very few) microwaveable melamine dishes out there besides NordicWare. Zak makes some, though limited colors, they'd probably mix and match with some of their prettier patterns. I'm not crazy about corelle in a trailer, as it disintegrates into a zillion shards when it does break. Sherry

The EZE RV Gutter is truly easy to install. We were dry camping, so no hair dryer available (no power.) We set ours out in the noon day sun, and it worked fine to take some of the curl out of the loop of gutter. Most important, take your time and get the prep right. (Gee, isn't that the same with just about anything?) Clean, then clean again, the area where the gutter will be applied. I used alchohol,which cuts through the layers of wax, with a clean dry cloth, two times. Rubbing hard. Make sure everything is dry before you start affixing gutter. The rest is just not that tough. Make sure you have a stepstool, actually two, if you have a helper. We used the back of a toothbrush to smooth the gutter onto the hull after it was in place, but a thumb or any tool handle would probably work. Be patient, take your time, and don't peel off too much backing at once. Once it' s in place, the product should be where you want it to be. Paul used a pvc pipe cutter to cut the lengths, but a good sharp utility knife would likely work, too. Everything is holding up well. Still nice and bright. Get the bright white, not the other one that's kind of off white. I think it's been on a year and a half now. I'll have to look. I believe the adhesive attached is 3m vhb tape, and if it's not, it's a really good facsimile thereof. Sherry

Thanks for sharing your amazing photos with us, Steve. We sure hope to meet you one of these days on the road. The Ollie makes a really snug home for months on end, doesn't it? Sherry

We carry an old milk crate in the back of the truck with assorted cutoffs of 2x6 and 2x8 for leveling, freshwater hose, filter, and Harbor Freight heavy chocks. (I know, someone is saying yuck, hose with all that? We screw the ends together after draining. It's clean.) Many people carry a pressure regulator. If pressure is suspect, we just don't connect. And, we dry camp most of the time, so work from the tank, and 5 gallon containers. The stinky slinky resides in all its glory all alone, in a bag, in the bumper compartment, where it can contaminate nothing else. Other than what you think you'll really, really need to camp for whatever time it takes you to get home, keep the load light on the way in. You'll want bedding, a way to make coffee or tea, some dishes (maybe paper, maybe melmac...), a bit of silverware and a good knife, and pull out one small frypan and one small saucepan from your collection for starters. Then, add your clothes, some towels and toiletries. As you camp a bit more, you'll see what you really need. Stores are everywhere, including a nice Walmart in Hohenwald for just about any essential you forgot and need immediately . Have fun with it. And, congrats. You made a great decision when you decided to get an Oliver. Almost eight years now with ours, and it still looks and performs as it did when we got it. Awesome build and design, and awesome people. Happy camping.

Hi, We have the smaller Oliver (2008), but never felt the need for a range hood in the almost eight years we've been camping with it. The FanTastic Fan's location and power evacuate fumes and vapors from anything we cook, with ease. We, of course, in the smaller trailer, would never have room for a larger sink. If we have a big crowd (8-10) camping, I may move the dishwash station outside to a small table, next to the outdoor shower. Otherwise, with the two of us, and sometimes one or two tent campers, I'm happy with the sink size. I use a dishpan, and if we're drycamping, heat my dishwater in a teakettle to control the amount of water I consume just washing dishes. The Smev stove we have (which is likely the same they're using today), has plenty of btu on the bigger burner for saute, fry, boil, or heat water fairly quickly. The heat is concentrated, belying the real btu listing. I've used the same stovetop in a number of rentals in Alaska and recently in Australia, as well as our Oliver, and I"m very, very happy with its productivity. Then again, I cook a lot on the campfire. So, it's another personal decision. Maybe someone who cooks indoors exclusively will chime in with more pros and cons on that. Best wishes, and happy camping! Sherry

Congrats, and happy motoring! Soon going into our eighth year of towing our Oliver, and still happy that we made the decision to buy the Oliver after visiting the factory. Great little trailer, miles and miles of fun. We wish you the same. Sherry