Mike and Carol

We have the twin bed and we use the side dinette a lot. The twin beds serve as “recliners”, especially for reading and on the rare occasion we watch TV.

There are a number of threads on the forum that talk about desired modifications. Recently, there was one about designing a larger trailer, sort of an Elite III. But, since we’re talking about the current model here are my thoughts- 1. The current windows are fine. If available I would probably go with windows with awnings. 2. The A/C is something I would definitely change. The current Dometic is much too loud. We use it only as a last resort and then shut if off as soon as the outside temperature allows. A ducted system would probably result in quieter operation. If ducting could be routed in the middle of the ceiling then you wouldn’t have to sacrifice space in the side overhead storage. 3. Our fridge is fine. It is pretty efficient on propane. We never run it on 12V. 4. I don’t t think we’d use an oven. The trailer isn’t too big and it seems that it would heat up the interior quite a bit. We mostly grill outside and sometimes use the gas cooktop. 5. I have no Truma experience. The Truma Combi sounds nice. The current propane furnace works well. I wouldn’t say it is loud but it does wake me up sometimes when it cycles on. We only use it if we don’t have 30a, otherwise we just use a small Vornado heater that is very quiet. We have the standard hot water tank and it works well for us. Mike

I agree with Sherry, this is an interesting topic for most of us but could get political real fast. Since one of our goals is to visit as many national parks as we can I’ve been keeping up on NP funding. National Parks generate income through entrance fees, camping fees and other fees. They also get a part of concessions that operate on the park. Foundations provide dollars for projects. Donations are also part of park funds. I think this latest funding initiative, through the Great American Outdoors Act, will be getting funding through the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The LWCF is funded mainly through taxes on off shore drilling. From what I’ve read, Congressmen Gardener (CO) and Daines (MT) visited the president in February to lobby for better funding for our national parks. The president then asked congress (actually through a tweet in early March) for a bill to do that and in a bi-partisan (92-8) effort they delivered the GAOA which the president then signed. So, while the additional funding doesn’t look like money from individual taxpayers it is from taxes and fees on offshore drilling. At least that is my understanding. Either way, more funding for our parks is a good thing and will help preserve what we enjoy today for our kids and grandkids. Mike

Agree. They are a pain, but needed. Just like the smoke detectors in our house that seem to start the “low battery chirp” at 3am, a pain but a needed pain.

The TV and the Furrion/Jensen radio/DVD are 12V, so they don’t run through the inverter.

The kitchen outlet under the overheads is where we plug in our coffee maker or any other appliance we might need to use. Once used, they are unplugged and put away. We don’t like clutter. The TV isn’t 110V. Carol dries her hair with the outlet outside the bathroom using the mirror on the outside of the bathroom door. You could probably use the outlet under the dinette if you wanted to sit down and use a table top mirror to dry your hair.

I called Jason and he sent me a replacement. Same one you have. Mike

Graphics have not been a maintenance burden. I wash/wax without any concern about the swooshes or the front graphic. Mike

I don’t know what Oliver could do unless you drove back to Hohenwald. If it is a defective unit I would check out one of the Truma service centers in your area, as Mike suggested. It could be something simple but even if the entire unit needs to be replaced it should be under manufacture warranty.

Hi Gary, welcome to the forum. I’m sure you’ll get a number of answers to your questions. Here are my thoughts... We opted for the twin bed model because we didn’t want to be climbing over each other to get up in the middle of the night, the twin beds allow much easier access to the overhead storage over the beds on the sides and back and we like the nightstand. The two seat dinette is just right for us, so the larger U-shaped table that converts to the big bed wasn’t something we needed. Prices on used Olivers are high. Supply and demand! Lance makes a nice trailer and they make a lot of them. Oliver makes a nicer trailer but not too many. We’re in our 5th year with our Oliver and it is just as solid today as it was when we picked it up. I’m sure it will be the same in 5 more years. Mike

We’re going to work our way up to KY after the rally. We’ll be staying at My KY Home the middle of October. Should be able to do a some distilleries while we’re there.

I was just thinking food. We leave paper products, some clothes, beds made, etc. I don’t know where a rodent could gain access to the interior of an Oliver. I’ve got all kinds of stuff in the basement that is never unloaded, same with the closet inside. We also store paper products under the dinette seat by the bath. No issues.

Not sure what is considered vulnerable stuff. We generally unpack food and clothes if we’re not going anywhere soon. Out storage area is covered but not enclosed. South Texas has plenty of bugs and critters but we’ve never had any kind of invasion even when storing for a couple of months. Olivers are pretty tight, presenting a real challenge for unwanted intruders. Mike

I just angle my awning slightly to the back whenever i put it out. Never had an issue. I do carry some pool noodles that I have used on the supports from time to time.

I fill my tires with a mixture of about 80% nitrogen and 20% oxygen. It’s called air. Mike

No, it doesn’t. They mount the antenna over the dinette, you need to stay close to the antenna to get any useful boost.

Agree. The weak point for Oliver is the standard RV appliances. In particular, the Dometic AC unit is something we avoid using if at all possible. Our fridge has worked well for over 4 years so... I don’t want to jinx myself! We never turn our fridge off, it’s always on even when in storage. The rest of the trailer is solid and ours has held up admirably for 4+ years and 50K+ miles. Folks comment that it still looks new. Mike

Reed and Karen haven’t been on the forum for a while. I’d send them a PM, they always share information and are quite knowledgeable. Mike

Cobra1169 (Jim) sold his Oliver a couple of years ago and hasn’t been on the forum for a while. Mike

Our microwave runs off the inverter. I think all 110 outlets go through the inverter. I haven’t tried them all, but I think that’s the case.

I have used tie downs on the support poles and staked the poles themselves. Combined with the shade being held with the heavy duty bungees it’s pretty sturdy. If we’re on a short hike I don’t worry about taking anything down. If we’re gone for more than a few hours I unzip the shade and crank the awning in - just don’t want to worry about it.

As Bill says, sometimes you want the door open and stay open, like after a shower sometimes to get air through. If you are a little off level it will want to swing shut. If we’re not sitting in the dinette we have the door open. At night, especially in cold weather, we want it open so it stays warm for those late night bathroom visits. With the magnet it detaches easily to close and stays open otherwise. Mike

Good question. I don’t recall it interfering. The only times I remember dropping the shade and cranking the awning in were when the support legs were attached to the trailer and I cranked the awning up leaving the support legs attached so about 18” of awning was out. It would take a tornado to cause damage with that little surface area exposed. When I have the shade attached and the support legs on the ground I anchor the legs and now use 5 heavy duty bungees on the shade. It has survived some pretty serious wind gusts in that mode. I imagine if I cranked the awning all the way in there could be a little interference. I’ll test it the next time we’re out (next month!). Mike

12’ wide X 8’ long. The top panel is 12’ wide X 10” (about).

We like our shade. We bought it at one of those tent vendors outside of the Big Tent at Quartzsite a few years ago. With the zipper it is easy to drop in just a few seconds if needed. Then, it goes back up just a quick. I’ll look for some pictures....