Mike and Carol

Also, there’s a difference between leveling and raising. In the early days a buying point was that you could raise the trailer with the rear jacks. As Steve says that’s before liability issues came in. I still raise my trailer occasionally and have for years. Of course, I’m not recommending it (must be those liability issues speaking). PJ does a good job on her videos, memorizing a lot of features and capacities. Mike

PJ at Princess Craft has a video on one of their Elite II’s. She does videos on all the trailers they sell. They are going to be represented at the Texas Oliver rally at Inks Lake State Park in October and will sponsor a BBQ.

I think they are making an unfortunate decision, unless they are giving up camping/traveling all together. My experience is that most bugs get worked out during the warranty period and shortly after. We’ve had years of trouble free camping, just normal routine maintenance (bearings, brakes, shocks, etc). Someone will benefit from their sale, an Oliver well broken-in and bugs worked out! Mike

The campground (Piñon Flats) is nice. No hookups and some sites are a little tight. We were on the edge facing the dunes, a really great view out of the back window. We really enjoyed our time there. Mike

The ring in the toilet is easy to replace and is available on Amazon. We use a little Vaseline on both sides of it after we dump and clean. Keeps it operating smoothly and helps it from drying out. I’ve only replaced it once. Mike

I’ve been quiet about this issue, I don’t like it and wish it wasn’t the path forward. I don’t know of any of the moderators that thinks this is “good for Oliver owners”. I’ve missed the “many” favorable comments by my fellow moderator team. I think it’s being blown out of proportion by some. In 8 years I’ve been back to Hohenwald for service work just once, a two day drive. Everything else was done by me or a local RV repair shop. We’ll still have technical expertise that we can access from Oliver. I’m going to watch and see how this plays out. Oliver management is not abandoning owners, my experience over the years is that they go out of their way to ensure owners are taken care of. Mike

I don’t have any inside information and I won’t say that there will never be a sale of their travel trailer business outside of the family, but their businesses have some overlap and the trailer side is just part of the larger Oliver company. Not as easy to do as it would be a stand alone company. Mike

John, our local repair shop is just a guy and his wife and one or two guys he has to help. Not affiliated with Oliver in any way, but he has spent time on the phone with Jason in the past. We don’t do an annual inspection. I have had him fix a warranty plumbing issue, troubleshoot and install a new inverter, some electrical work, a couple of appointments for our recent brake issue (frayed wires in the axle). Other than that I’ve had them repack bearings, lube the Dexter, and check brakes annually. It usually takes a few weeks to get an appointment, but he’s been pretty prompt with his work. I think @Ralph Mawyer and @bugeyedriver use him as well (Boerne RV). Our closest authorized dealer is up near Austin about 2 hours away (Princess Craft). We’ve been there several times the past few years to look at what they have and I watch most of their YouTube videos. They are small and family owned, I would think they will be an excellent dealer and service facility for Oliver. Mike

It’s crossed my mind. We have our alarm system on and good neighbors (plus mom next door), so we would react quickly. I like what Florida has done with their new law. Mike

The Cavender family owns a number of dealerships in the area. I take my Audi to a Cavender Audi dealership and have had excellent service since we started with them in the late 1990’s. Mike

There are many Ford dealers in San Antonio, I’ve been to none of them so can’t give any recommendations. Ford of Boerne isn’t too far outside of San Antonio, just about 15 miles north on I-10. I bought an F150 from them 20 years ago (not helpful) and my mother takes her Escape there for all of her maintenance and likes them a lot. Mike

Great news! Congratulations- Mike

Will be very interested in your results!

I towed our Oliver with two different Ram 1500’s, similar to yours but neither had airbags. I used the Andersen with them. Mike

Is that like the Miralax effect?

Tell us what your tow vehicle is. If it’s half ton or smaller, I would keep the Andersen. If bigger, you could go without the Andersen. Mike

That mirrors what we’ve experienced with our three BB’s.

Go to Walmart and get a thermometer. Our first one sat on the counter or dinette and told us the inside temperature and had a sensor that would tell us the outside temperature. You can also get ones that have multiple sensors that can be placed in between the hulls, for instance in the water pump area. We also have one that is on the wall. Tells us the inside temperature, the date and day of the week (we’re old and forget which day of the week it is when we’re out camping 😂). Mike

Measure twice, drill once. 😁

Lithiums are a nice upgrade, but we camped for years with four AGM batteries in our Oliver and they did a fine job in all kinds of conditions. Mike

We used the Andersen WDH with three different trucks. When we went with the Ram 2500 diesel 3.5 years ago I sold the Andersen and have been towing on the ball since. Never a single sway issue. Never had an issue with the other trucks either, but it sure is easier to hook up and go without a WDH hitch. Mike

I’ve done it twice. It took the better part of an afternoon to do all the windows. Mike

Oh the stories that could be told about some of those trailers!

While I like having Apple Maps, Google Maps and Waze telling me where to go while driving, there’s nothing better than paper maps that can be spread out and studied. You can see where you are, where you need to go, how to get there and any interesting detours along the way. Maybe four decades in the Army shaped my view. Carol usually has the atlas or some other map open while we’re driving along. It gives you the big picture rather than the small snapshot on the electronic vehicle display. Mike

Ken and I both have 3 BB’s. There’s no room for 4 and three gives plenty of capability. Mike