rideandfly

Springs maintain tension on the cords. Each cord is fixed and taped in place where indicated in the previous post. Cord in shade handle is not fixed allowing the handle/shade to slide up and down on the cord. Hope this helps.

Had some extra time today and started making better sketches of my Ollie's shade cord routing. The following shade sketch shows the cord routing on the day and night shades. If the night shade is being threaded (shade in top of frame), the taped side of shade is positioned at the top. If the day shade is being threaded (shade in bottom of frame) the taped side of shade is positioned at the bottom. The cords from night shade are routed to the spring in the bottom of the frame. The cords from day shade are routed to the spring in the top of the frame. I'm working on additional information and will post as soon I have it. Hope this helps!

The folks at Trailerlife, "Oliver's Twist" article, evaluated the Tacoma/Oliver Elite II rig yielding 13.1MPG and stated, "On the road, the 23-foot 6-inch Oliver towed like a dream".

StoicJim, Welcome!!!!! We have two Toyota pickups and really like them, too!!!!! We tow our Ollie with empty water tanks ready to camp coming in around 4950 pounds with about 450 pound tongue weight. The Ollie has great towing manners, too. We picked up our used Ollie in MO, the previous Ollie owner had towed the Ollie 6,000 miles with a 4.0L Tacoma between New England, FL, and MO. He had Timbren rubber block rear suspension installed on his Tacoma to reduce sag. We towed the Ollie home with a 4.0L Nissan Frontier Crew-cab 6300 pound tow capacity, we were amazed how well the Frontier handled the Ollie and fuel economy in the NC & TN mountains, over 15MPG. Even had an emergency stop when a vehicle pulled out in front of us in the TN mountains with the rig stopping easily. Eventually traded our Fronty in for a 2016 5.7L Tundra. The Tundra tows the Ollie easily with fuel economy of 13.5MPG with cruise control off in the NC/TN mountains. We purchased the Tundra as our Ollie's TV for now, the Tundra's tow capacity is close to 10,000 pounds. The 38 gallon Tundra fuel tank is very nice to have, too. If we only had one TV for the Ollie, it would be the Tundra. Our long range plan is to replace our 2003 2.4L Tacoma with a 3.5L Tacoma if the 2003 Tacoma ever wears out, only has 143,000 miles, so may take another 143,000 miles or 14 years before replacement, will see! When the 2.4L Tacoma is replaced, plan to use a 3.5L Tacoma with tow package to tow the Ollie east of the Mississippi River and use the 5.7L Tundra for towing the Ollie in the higher elevations out west. Please correct me if I have this wrong, last time I checked it's possible to currently buy 3.5L TRD Tacoma with up to 6800 pound tow capacity.

John, Another thread here that Steve, ScubaRx, posted shows a repair made at Oliver that really impressed me. Looks like the Ollie fiberglass hull would be less labor intensive to repair compared to an aluminum sheet/rib metal hull. Need to find a competent marine fiberglass shop. http://olivertraveltrailers.com/topic/i-hate-it-when-this-happens/

Deleted

Lucy and Oscar, Welcome!!!!! Like Bob said, there is a wealth of knowledge and help here. Will let you know if we plan to camp in NE TN. We enjoy camping in eastern TN and Western NC. Plan to camp at Tellico Plains TN during the solar eclipse next August. Hope to camp and attend the Banana Pudding Festival in Centerville TN eventually, too!

We are approaching one year of Ollie ownership after finding our used Ollie on this forum. With Oliver selling direct to the end user is very unique. Assume the majority or all camper manufacturers use dealerships for sales/service and depends on if you find a good dealer on how good the customer's sales/service experience is. Used to be responsible (when I had a real job) for rebuilding, building complete industrial machines, R&D, mechanical devices, hydraulics, electrical, engine applications, also working directly with the end user. It was important and helpful to know immediately when real improvements were needed, but sometimes problems reported were not our manufacturing issues which takes time away from the job of rebuilding/manufacturing to determine the source of the problem. Assume that's why manufacturers use dealers. Important feedback is sometimes lost in the transaction between the dealer and manufacturer. My experience has been great communicating directly with Jason at OTT. The service experience was also great when we took our Ollie in to OTT for repairs. Have been a moderator on another forum (not as large as this forum) for another type of camper. I'm not an IT guy, the forum owner/administrator owns the server & forum. It's the fastest operating forum I have been on. We do not have paid advertising and only accept donations from folks that want to contribute to pay for the forum operating cost. I'm getting ready to stop moderating on that forum since we own a Ollie. This forum is unique and appreciate the work by early forum members like Larry to set the direction for this forum! Thanks Larry! Oliver is a unique and fine travel trailer. Appreciate the constant upgrades being made at OTT, too!!!!

Steve, Know what you mean. Inspected other blinds last night and found another cord ready to break. The previous owner lived in our Ollie 6 months (campground host), so the cord wear was accelerated compared to normal use. Getting ready to order a spool of cord to eventually re-cord all of the Ollie's blinds. Thanks,

Installed shade cords in our rear window and decided to leave frame original color. Could not find any shade cord re-thread diagrams matching the Ollie's windows. Decided to make rough sketches of the frame cord routing and shade cord routing before taking the shade completely apart. Frame cord routing: Shade cord routing: The cord used is about 30% thicker (1.5MM cord) than the original cord, did not use tape where indicated in the sketch because the new cord was sandwiched tightly between shade & frame without tape, used thicker cord on right: Broken old cord: There is one spring in the top and bottom of frame for cords to tie to: With larger diameter cord, threaded each hole one at a time instead of multiple holes: Copied the original cord routing: Night shade with new cord re-threaded: Job completed:

Deleted

Spike, Welcome and congratulations on your Ollie! There are certain items we always take while camping, one is a step ladder. We only use a 4' step ladder while camping at this time, but appreciate seeing the information shared here, we need upgrade our camping ladder, too. Hope to see y'all camping!

Yvonne, We do the same as donbob3 without any problems.

Agree, going to cut a couple 2x6s to get close to level on the low side of the Ollie on a sloped sites and stabilize with jacks. I still put all Ollie jacks down (unless connected to the TV) and lift the side just high enough and long enough to remove/replace a wheel/hub with the wheels chocked on other side.

Hikegsm, Hello and Welcome! Many fine and knowledgeable folks here that stand ready to share helpful information. Looking forward to hearing about your Ollie and adventures. Best Regards,

Canoe12, Here's an older photo, top of the Bulldog Hitch latch to the rear view camera is about 1 1/2", not 3 1/8", my mistake. Here's how the Elite II tows with empty tanks connected to the 2016 4X4 Tundra with 1 " rise ball mount and top of ball before loading is 22 1/8":

Steve, Appreciate the fine research you put into finding information about our shades. Decided to go with a 4 window cord repair kit and "How To" instructional CD off of Amazon, since I'm going to install new cords in all four windows. Should receive the kit in about a week. http://www.dirtyblindman.info/ Plan to disassemble all four windows, prime & paint frames white, and reassemble with new cords. The kit was pricey at $25 delivered. Found replacement cord sold in quantity on Amazon, too. Will post about the project.

Canoe12, Once I receive the new cords and instructions, will see how easy it is to disassemble/reassemble shade and frame. May change color of all Ollie window frames with plastic primer and white paint. Front jack motor covers painted with plastic primer and white plastic paint in the following thread. http://olivertraveltrailers.com/topic/ollie-front-jack-covers-painted-white/ Back to polishing the Ollie!

Steve, Appreciate the excellent information. Looked on their site and it appears our shade is a custom Manual Framed Twin-Pleat Shade TPS-720. Will post about project after receiving the cord. Thanks,

A cord broke in the Ollie's rear window Day/Night Window Shade. Has anyone replaced a window shade cord and give advice on how to make this repair? Who is the manufacturer of this window shade assembly? Thanks in advance,

We use wood blocks under all of the Ollie jacks (when using all jacks) to make the Ollie stable. Making the Ollie exactly level is not a goal for us. Many times the only jack we use is the front jack with chocked wheels for one night stays while en-route. Understand sometimes you only have one place to park and it's not close to level like some of the mountain sites we camp on. Used to place our previous TT (single axle wheel) up on a block on the low side with all wheels chocked and extend the stabilizers for stabilization. When we encounter the same type of sloped mountain site this summer, will do the same with the Ollie.

Fred, Welcome! It was not us!!!! Same thing happened when we saw an Oliver while camping at Mt. Pisgah NC on the Blue Ridge Parkway around 2010. Finally purchased a used 2015 Ollie last year. If you have a chance, go on a factory tour to see the build process and meet the fine folks at Oliver TT. There will be an Oliver TT rally next May in TN, too. Hopefully meet y'all while camping in North & South Carolina! Best Regards,

snowlakemike, Agree with geo, Great story!

Canoe12, We have 3 1/8" clearance between the tailgate & top of Bulldog hitch latch with a 1" rise ball mount on our 2016 Toyota Tundra. Hope this helps,

Update: Purchased a 10' x 38" all aluminum ramp for loading the CB500X in the Tundra bed when towing the Ollie. It breaks down to three ramps folded to 5' sections making it easy to set up and knock down. It also stores easily on both sides of the motorcycle in the pickup truck bed. I can sit on the bike while loading and unloading able to put both feet on the ground/ramp at any time. Called another ramp manufacturer and turned out they supplied these folks with the ramp I purchased. They told me about a the President's Day discount for the following ramp. Had the the ramp delivered to my home for less than $390. The aluminum weld quality is very good and the ramp is very sturdy (capacity 1500 pounds) with the bike & I weighing in close to 680 pounds. Going to have a two-up seat built for the CB for local exploring while camping with the Ollie. http://www.discountramps.com/motorcycle_ramps/p/MF-12038/