Commanche

Ed, Were you able to buy the dridek local or did you have to order it online? Stan

Screen Door Mod, is that something that you got from Oliver?, have not seen anything like that before. I can see that would be handy closing the screen door. Stan

Bill, looks good, nice job. When you use the shower, will you take the carpet out? I was thinking of using some sort of floor mat that had holes in for drainage, but then again I will need to get the shower hose fixed first. Stan

Was considering using suction cup fasteners for putting up a towel rack on the frig or spice rack behind the sink. Question, will they stay attached over a extended period of time? That is if I could find something that is suitable. Or would double backed tape be a better option. Stan

Wow, there are some really good ideas there, looks like he should have been on Olivers design team. Stan

Hello from Kansas, Here's a picture of the switches in the solar area with the functions. I believe you need to turn off the switch in the top right corner to turn of the phantom sources. Carol Moyer

Manny, We were in the same situation, our old pickup (97 F150) was too old and maybe not dependable, and we wanted a midsize SUV. I had a big spreadsheet with all possibilities, and it came down to a Dodge Durango R/T with the 5.7 Hemi. So far it's been a great TV, handles the Elite II with ease. We have about 13,000 towing miles so far and get about 12 mpg, which could be better, but it is what it is. We put the seats down and a piece of fiberboard with carpet over the top, and thats where the dog rides. It suits us. Stan

I had a spread sheet with prices of used Airstreams in the 3 to 5 year range, new was out of the question, compiled over a 2 year period, and knew about all the problems, leaks, popped rivets, high cost and on and on. And these were supposed to be the high end of trailers. We seen a comment about a Escape fiberglass trailer on the Airstream forum, and what the heck is a molded fiberglass trailer we asked. We didn't like the floor plan of the Escape and after some rooting about on the net, we came upon the Oliver, and now there's one sitting in our driveway. We just got back from Florida and while at Ft DeSoto we had a Escape lady knock on our door to have a look at our trailer. We had a very nice visit and of course we had to see her Escape. Yep, yessiree, we made the right decision, still don't like their floor plan. They did have a really cool shelf by the window for their cat, will need to work on that. Stan

When the front jack stand is down, I haven't really noticed any instability when walking around inside. Never even thought about that before. Stan

There has been a lot of discussion on the Anderson hitch, see Anderson Weight Distribution Hitch Info Request, in the Towing Tips category.. It is pretty much decided that a WDH is not needed on the Oliver. That was one of my first questions, since I was on the Airstream Forum, and that was a huge item of discussion. Stan

I don't know what the cubic footage is, but last year we did 3 trips of about 2 weeks each, and had no problem with a shortage of storage. We had plenty of room to stow everything. Now full timing may be another issue, but I don't see that in our plans any time soon. Stan

We find the closet and the 2 shelves above give us plenty of room for all the clothes we need on a trip. Shorts and t shirts don't take up very much room.

Bill, Are you planning to stay in one of the rooms at Fall Hollow Campground your first night, or will you get there early enough to pickup the trailer right after arrival. They have 2 rooms they rent out, that work well, if you are not staying in the trailer. We stayed there a couple of times, and they gave us the run of the restaurant to heat our dinner or make coffee and breakfast in the morning. I know it's a B&B but I don't get not serving breakfast till 8am, Shoot, we are long gone by then. But, it is a neat place. Time is getting closer, Bill Stan

It looks like a good idea, and I suppose the long bar is removable so you can remove the spare tire cover. Stan

We are also headed to south Florida next month with some time down at Flamingo Campground. We are making stops at Grayton Beach (panhandle area) then to Manatee Springs, over to Faver-Dykes where we will meet up with Topgun2 ,aka Bill, for a few days. On our way back looking to stop at Fort DeSota and touch base with Sherry, aka Seadog, then head north. Trip is way to short, but we still have some animals at home we need to have people care for. Maybe it's time to sell the farm and move south.

Yea, that was one of the things I asked about when we placed the order, and it got nixed. It was for a bike rack, but then again we still don't have any bikes, so, so much for that idea. Stan

Grayson, We are headed to the Everglades, but not till mid Feb. We could only get 4 nights at Flamingo Campground. It was also kind of a hunt to find space in north and central Florida, but with a late planned trip, you get what you can. Actually we are looking at the possibility of maybe moving to Florida. This is a kind of a look around trip. Never been to Florida, so this is all new territory. Stan

The guys at the plant took care of mounting the new tire and disposing of the old one. At that point I was not interested in hunting for a tire shop, and just wanted to get a match to the rest of the tires. Stan

In conjunction with our trip to Richmond Hill, GA (Savannah area) to spend Thanksgiving with our Daughter and Son-in-Law, we decided to drop off the trailer at the plant for some upgrades (stuff we should have gotten on the initial purchase). As we were driving down I70 just west of Columbia, MO. a car passed us and the lady in the passenger seat was pointing back at the trailer. I could not see anything that was out of place, and there was a exit about 1/2 mile ahead, so we pulled over to have a look. Wow, were we in for a big surprise. The right front tire on the trailer was completely destroyed. The tread was separated from the sidewall all the way around the tire. I got the spare on in short order and got another surprise, the spare is smaller then the other four. We continued on without any further problems. Dustin told us the size tires on the trailer will not fit in the spare cover. On inspection of the tire, I found a small thin sliver of very sharp steel poking through the tire between the lugs. I expect the tire slowly leaked air till it overheated and came apart. This whole time I never felt the trailer pull any different, it tracked straight, and just felt normal. We may want to look into one of those remote air pressure systems, it probably would have saved the tire. On our way back Monday, they had a few items to finish up, so we snooped around the plant, looking for ideas (always looking for ideas). I told Carol we were going to double check everything before we left, and we didn't, dang it. We got about half way home and stopped for a late lunch only to find we had no table top. Guess they took it out and forgot to put it back, plus somehow the frig was on DC and sucking all the juice out of the batteries. We talked to Dustin this morning and they are going to ship the table top to us. Other then that we had a very nice time with our Son and his family and Daughter and Son-in-Law with temps in the low 70's and sunshine. Of course good times always come to an end , as we drove through rain and holiday traffic most of the way home. Time to start planning our next trip, probably Florida in Jan or Feb, never been there. Stan

http://freecampsites.net These are not all free, but usually only have a small fee. We did find out about the rest area on I70 in Goodland, KS that was free and had a very nice area away from the traffic area. It's worth a look when looking for a one night layover on the way to somewhere else. Stan

Yeah, that looks like the one, will order it today. Thanks Stan

Sometime back someone posted about a 3 way thermometer with pictures that installed in their trailer. I can't remember who it was and a search is no help. It would be nice to know the outside temp and the "basement" temp when camping in colder weather. Stan

How about the dinette set in your brand new trailer, casual dining with just the right touch of fancy. : ) Of course you would have to bring along some cooking utensils and food. We usually take along a number of ready cooked meals (that we made) that just have to be heated up. Have fun with your new trailer. Stan

Thanks to those that replied to my questions, a big help. We also talked to Boz at Blue Sky, who was very helpful and patient with our questions. We had some questions on the different screens on the battery monitor, so Carol recorded the phone call and wrote up the information and put it in our Oliver notebook. Kind of like when Robert told us how everything worked and by the time we got home, it was, what did he say about that? Dang us, old people. Sherry, enjoyed meeting you guys last fall at the plant, hopefully our paths will cross again. This summer we stopped in at Rob's place on our way to Glacier, nice visit with them. Last week when Larry came thru Kansas City with the tour Oliver, we went out and had a nice visit with him and his wife plus the little dog. Me thinking that dog is the King of their outfit. It's fun meeting other Oliver owners. Getting ready to head out to Rocky National Park this weekend for a week of enjoying the mountains in the fall. Stan

I have been running the air pressure in my trailer tires at 65 psi, while the rating on the sidewall shows 80 psi for max pressure. That seems too high for me, what seems to be the best psi? On the subject of batteries, we have the solar package, and when the trailer is parked at the house with nothing turned on, the battery monitor will show 100% in the afternoon and the next morning will show 98%. And this is not always, it does not seem like we should lose 2% overnight just from the phantom loads. Any ideas. Stan