Mike and Carol

At the rally ask me about our flood experience and the 2am evacuation!

Here’s an interesting article on what to do in a lightning storm. They say metal RV’s are safer than all fiberglass RV’s. They also give some other advice. I’d be interested in what the consensus is on what everyone does during storms. Mike Lightning Storm Precautions

John, as Bill has shown, it can be done. I had two blinds on the kitchen counter for several days as I did the re-stringing thing a couple years ago. One came out fine, the other one I had too tight which made it difficult to raise the lower shade. Had to loosen up the strings a bit, now it’s fine. Just plan some time and be patient! Mike

It’s a rite of passage for a lot of owners!

Our storage is under cover, so the only time we’re exposed to the sun is while camping. When CGI did our trailer they noted that it was not oxidized very much for a 7 year old (at the time) trailer. Covering definitely helps. Mike

John sold his trailer and is not on the forum very often. Your best bet is to send him a PM with your question. Mike

Same here. We keep it closed until dump time. Mike

Trainman sold his trailer and hasn’t been active on the forum in a while.

Mine are 3” wide and 9/16” diameter. Mike

I get the daily RVgeeks newsletter email and this morning had an article on Oliver trailers. It looks pretty well researched. RVgeeks Oliver Article Mike

It was cloudy here, but full eclipse peaked through a few times for 15 or 20 seconds. The darkness was weird. Mike

We’re not camping but are only about 45 minutes from where most Oliver campers are and we live in the path of the eclipse. Unfortunately, it’s pretty cloudy. I can’t even see an outline of the sun through the clouds. Hope it clears up some in the next hour, otherwise there will be disappointment in Texas Hill Country!! Mie

I ordered a set of springs this morning. I was the second order they had this morning. Lou said they’ve had 4 to 5 orders a week for a while. They now have an Oliver Kit that includes springs, U bolts, shackles and wet bolts. Mike

Same here. Not difficult to swap out. The light is nice. I think you’d be fine without the rain guard. Mike

There’s a check valve with the water pump that fails occasionally. Every now and then I get water coming out of the fresh tank overflow when connected to city water. What works for me (until I fix it) is to turn on the water pump and let it run a bit and then it usually stops. It’s not been a repair priority because it doesn’t happen very often. Mike

That’s not something we do either, if we’re that far out of level we stack some lego’s to bring it up to a point we can use the jacks to tweak it. Mike

We have a new HEB that just opened in March that’s just a few miles from where we live, no more driving into Boerne for groceries. HEB is based in San Antonio. They pretty much have a monopoly around here, except for Walmarts. No comparison between the two. If you’re here in the Hill Country for the eclipse, get your groceries at the nearest HEB! Mike

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