topgun2

While at the "mothership" last week I was fortunate to be able to join a couple from Dayton, Ohio on their factory tour. Certainly much has changed since I last toured the plant over three years ago. Below are some of the pictures I took while there: hand rolling some of the fiberglass. Those frame welds are still beautiful. For those that have the front basket option - ever wonder what the bottom of the basket looks like? A "wiring harness" under construction. Each connection, length or wire and color of wire is labeled by a block on the table. Poo happens! Note the grey water tanks on the left and the fresh water tanks on the right. The "height" of the fresh and grey water tanks.

While at the Mothership last week Scott Oliver stopped to chat for a few minutes in the parking lot of the Sales Office. One of the topics we discussed was the plans for the new larger Oliver. Scott told me that indeed they were working on such an animal and that they were trying very hard to release information on it certainly no later than December, 2019 and hopefully earlier. So, knowing that the Owner's Forum is formally discussed at least on a weekly basis by the Oliver management team, any ideas that anyone has for this model should be put forth and probably sooner would be better than later. Bill

Tom & Marie - no problem at all. Once I get some time I'll be posting some pics here on the Forum of some of the assembly line just for general interest. I do have pics of Olivers that had the names Bass, Freeman and Gossett on them. If they belong to you and you would like copies, just PM me with you email address and I will get them right out to you. Bill

When on the road I use nothing other than the UV coating (333) that I apply before I leave home. However, while in storage (outdoors) and covered with a canvas cover on the main body of the Ollie, I again use the UV 333 let it sit overnight, then cover each wheel with one of those commercial covers and then place a 1/2 sheet of plywood over the two wheels on each side. Perhaps a bit anal, but, the covers were given to me and the plywood was also free. At least when it is time to take Twist on the road again the tires and wheels really don't need very much cleaning. Bill

I was at the Mother ship much of this past week and had a chance to take a tour of the plant. While there I snapped a bunch of pictures of Ollies in various states of birth. If you currently have an Oliver in production and wish for pictures of it - I probably have one or two. Just PM me with your email address, and name and I'll send you what I have. Bill

A quicker way to find THAT fuse is to have a defective CO/LP detector that simply will not stop yelling at you and the "reset" button only pauses the noise for a minute or so. Almost had to resort to cutting the wires on that episode at 3 am! Better to locate it during the day when one is wide awake too - just sayin' Bill

John - Sorry - no cell, but it is a small campground. Hopefully you will find me. Bill

See invite under "What are the odds" thread. There are many possibilities up that road. Bill

John - I will be in the NFS campground called McCoy Creek (43.1849, -111.1003) on Monday, July 9th for at least two nights. Stop by if ya git a chance! Bill P.s. I'm presently at the Cabelas campground in Sidney, Nebraska - 94 degrees and a stiff south wind.

On the start of a two month fly fishing trip in Idaho I stopped for gas at a Pilot gas station on Interstate 70 about 40 miles east of Kansas City. Sure enough I spied another Oliver! It was hull number 324 and they were from Chapel Hill, NC - just down the street from near where I live close to Asheville, NC. They were headed to Jefferson City, MO (driving East while I was driving West) in order to add to the goal of visiting all the State Capitals. In addition, the owner told me that earlier in the day they had met another Oliver owner - Greg & Terresa from Madison, WI that I had camped right next to at this year's Owners rally. Small world that we live in! Bill P.s. pic is from Victorian Acres, Nebraska City, NE - nice campground right off HWY 2. With temps in the 90's a WalMart parking lot didn't seem to be a very good idea without a generator!

KWR…. Since you have a bit of time, I'd suggest that you make arrangements to either visit the factory and/or visit with a current owner so that you can see and touch an Oliver. In addition, I'd read virtually everything I could on this Forum and search for any and all You Tube videos showing Olivers. Good luck in your search! Bill

I want to be around when that buddy of yours plays the lottery! Bill

Nana - I'm sure that Mike & Carol will respond, but, in the meantime - I also used their idea and like you I didn't want to drill to install them. I used Command double sided tape: https://www.amazon.com/Command-General-Decorative-20-Strips-GP023-20NA/dp/B0751VFF2P/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1530229593&sr=8-5&keywords=command+strips&dpID=51vrI6-Vl1L&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch of the appropriate size a year ago and there has been absolutely no movement in either magnet to date. Bill

A big THANKS to Foy and Mirna for getting back to the Forum on this. And, it is great to know, once again, that Oliver stands behind what they sell. Just last night I was thinking about several threads on the Forum that have not been "resolved". This also includes Foy's lack of water pressure, an air conditioning drain tube problem, an air conditioner starting/cooling problem, etc. Bill p.s. note to self - be sure to read all the way down on the list of "new" topics for the day before posting a remark about Foy's water pressure! Foy - Sorry about that!

Try this: https://www.amazon.com/Barker-24130-Auto-Drain-Valve-3/dp/B003VAYMB4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1529930280&sr=8-1&keywords=barker+auto+drain&dpID=51YLzqVCWEL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch Bill

For what its worth - I've owned two 3.5 Eco-boost Ford F-150's and have never had an once of problem with either one -at altitude or at sea level towing or not towing. Its one heck of an engine! Please remember here that neither have had more than 60,000 miles and have not been abused. From what I've read any problems with the 3.5 have not come to light until after 100,000 miles and even that was with the early models. With my first Eco-boost I towed a 3200 pound stick built hybrid camper that was 8 feet wide. With that same truck I towed my Oliver Elite II. Both were towed with weight distribution hitches on similar trips in excess of 5,000 miles each. With the Oliver my gas mileage was 12.5 to 13.5 mpg while with the hybrid the mileage was 10.0 to 10.5 mpg. Obviously the difference was caused by a combination of both the width and overall body shape being slightly offset by the weight differential. My gas mileage is slightly better with the new (2017) F-150 versus the old (2011) truck. I think that I've said it before, but, I really don't believe that there is that much difference between any of the four main truck manufacturers of 1/2 ton trucks. Just as soon as one claims a higher tow rating the others up their game and the same goes with who ever has the nicest interior or "better" bell and whistles. Each year all of them get better (and more expensive) but there really isn't a bad one out there at this point. Which one currently has what you want - color, style, bells or whistles? And then what kind of a deal can you make for that truck you want? This goes for mid-sized trucks too. Bill

Other than checking lines for "kinks" as per Mike's suggestion the only other thing that I can think to do would be to use an air compressor to try to blow air from the bathroom sink faucet towards the water pump - first remove the water pump filter so that you don't blow any foreign matter back into the water pump. I'd do this in short bursts of air at no more than 50 psi. However, if you are not at home this is a bit difficult to do unless you carry an air compressor with you. Bill

That's Steve & Tali's "search" light.

RodgerS - Let me see if I got this right - you are looking at a Tacoma, and a new Ford Ranger and a Sprinter Van and a ? As someone new to the RV world perhaps it would be best to stick with the tried and true. There are reasons that there are very few people towing with a Sprinter van. I'm not saying that these vehicles are bad nor am I saying that they just might not be the "perfect" choice for any particular individual. But, if it were me and I was new to the RV arena, I'd favor the plain vanilla over virtually anything else unless I had a darn good reason to deviate from the "norm". While it might not be very "exciting", there is a certain safety in numbers. Remember, virtually all things in this world (to include the RV world) are a compromise of sorts. Bill

I know that Karen (and by default Reed) took a job as manager of a campground. All I can guess is that they are being kept fairly busy given that this that time of year. Bill

RodgerS - You might want to send a PM (private message) to "Bugeyedriver" on this Forum to ask what he thinks about the Tacoma and its abilities with the single axel Elite. Pete had well over 100,000 miles towing his Elite with a Tacoma. Bill

Amazon lists a number of "floor to ceiling tension rods". https://www.amazon.com/J-H-Smith-Co-5264-Indoor/dp/B00EO7FIKM/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1529413673&sr=8-10&keywords=floor+to+ceiling+tension+pole Bill

Could be Maniac - the last I saw he the Tow Vehicle was dark (blue I think). Bill

RodgerS - First - welcome to the Forum! Only you can decide what is right for you. If you need time and/or more experience in order to make those decisions then by all means take all the time you feel you need. However, remember that time is one of those things that you can never buy or get more of. The clock IS ticking and the older you get the louder it tics. Certainly there are those times when we must simply gather what information we can, make a decision and move on before time passes us by. If we make the wrong decision then do whatever is within our power to correct it and continue moving down the road. Each and every day spent in analysis paralysis is another day we simply can not get back. Many people have said that making a decision - any decision - is better than making no decision at all. There are just too many beautiful places to see, wonderful people to meet and exciting experiences to be had out there. Bill

Grayson - that makes sense and I seem to remember hearing that line of logic somewhere else before. However, it sure helps to have it spelled out from a reliable source. Thanks for posting the question! Bill