New2Oliver

I tried ORielly's for the bulldogs first. They took my money. Then, without telling me, cancelled the order about a week later. They knew then what I found out later. That Bulldog did not have the parts. I had to request a refund. This is not anyone's fault but mine. This is not 1974. This is 2024. Without getting too philosophical, the Oliver is a complex system. Complex systems do not survive incompetency. Whether it is a space capsule or a travel trailer, you have to anticipate incompetency and plan around it. Parts, service, whatever. Every aspect of your life. Plan for it. I made the mistake of thinking that the Bulldogs were just magically going to be available.

FYI. Bulldog has not made a run of these shocks in quite some time. If you order them from somewhere, make sure they actually have them in stock. Some places hit your card and then you wait until Bulldog makes a run and then Bulldog sends them direct. I was told my shocks should come this week. I ordered them a couple of months ago.

Thanks. 4 mm.

Thanks. Mine is identical on this end. The opposite end seems to be snugged up OK. Does anyone have anything more specific on the tool? SAE? Metric? Size?

Thanks everyone for telling me about your trips. I feel like we can make the trip with confidence now! Sherrill Young

That is not an LBZ. Nice truck. But not an LBZ. If it were, it would be closer to $45K.

The LBZ is the way to go in the Duramax series. Last engine with no def. The government will never allow that engine to be built again.

As I understand it, that is precisely the way people travel.

I bit the bullet as well. Bought a 2007 GMC Duramax LBZ with the Allison 6 speed. I know a lot of people use half tons to tow. And they use all sorts of accessories to just barely get the stability and control they need and they accept being marginally powered. I get it. Trade offs. Expense. Doing weight math ten different ways to make sure you are legal, safe, sane. But I have a million things in my mind on these journeys. I don't want to worry about whether I have just enough tow vehicle to be safe. I would prefer to have the confidence of a safety and convenience margin.

We just bought a used trailer. I say used, but as new. The black water tank was never used and the grey water probably once or twice. My gray water shutoff valve did not shut completely. It let about a gallon of water out in a days travel. When I inspected both systems I found the black water handle was not properly installed as it was not exactly horizontal which made it rub on fiberglass inset. The gray water valve was not adjusted correctly, it would not shut the valve completely. So I had to loosen the allen set screw on the valve and pull out just a little distance on the wire. Now the handle is about an 1/8th inch from bottoming out and the valve seals completely.

This will be my last post on the subject so I don't pass on my disappointment to others with a different outlook. It always matters how someone's incentives are aligned. Whether it is pay, advancement, recognition, or perks, a worker's incentives must be aligned with the organization's goals. When the worker is on someone else's org chart, then that alignment is guess work. Also, as an organization spreads geographically and grows, full understanding of the leader's intent or mission becomes vital. Far flung representatives will independently make innumerable small decisions that either support, or undermine, the mission. They will reflect, or wreck, the brand. In this context, it seems quite unlikely that techs and sales reps whose incentives and culture are aligned with a retail RV center will reflect the very different Ollie way of doing business. Culture trumps strategy. Every time.

These "trained certified" techs.....on whose payroll do they appear?

I can't express how disappointed I am. I just bought an Ollie. This is what I received via email on 8-18. "While no definitive decisions have been made at this time, we wish to be transparent and keep you informed every step of the way." Six days later, this was published in RVtravel. "Oliver Travel Trailers, a family-owned company with a legacy of 18 years in manufacturing premium-quality travel trailers, announced that it will be establishing a dealer network to sell and support the Oliver product line." Definitive decisions had indeed been made before 8-18. It was dishonest to reach out to current owners for "feedback" when the decision had already been made. Since the decision had already been made, current owners were not part of the process. Which is fine. But what I am seeing now is the polar opposite of why I bought an Ollie. Had I known this was going to happen, I would probably not have bought one. I was a brand manager and director of sales and marketing of a similarly positioned product, I know how this is going to end. It always does. Business history is full of examples. There will be struggles over the pricing structure. Dealers demand margin. Product content will be removed and the savings passed on to support dealer margins. If a dealer needs 10%, can the price just be increased $10,000? Of course not. Inevitably, there will be a push to cut quality and content costs and pass that on to the dealer. Will Ollie finance the floorplan? If there are 10 dealers, will there be 20 new Ollies on the lots? If an Ollie costs $50,000 to build, will Ollie park $1 million on dealer lots every year. A glossy sales brochure won't sell a trailer 5x the cost of the competition and dealers won't finance the floorplan. Newly hired production managers will focus on quantity. Quality will plunge as experienced techs building a complicated product will leave and marginally literate workers will replace them. Social media will fill with service nightmares at new "partner" dealers and there will be stories of Ollies being returned under lemon laws. Unethical sales practices long synonymous with RV dealerships will have be used to sell Ollies. The cost savings and sales increases the consultants predicted will not materialize. Profitability will be exhausted and hedge funds with no RV experience will buy the struggling business. Original hull prices will increase. Post expansion hull prices will plummet. The only question is what is the timeline of this process to play out. It takes decades to build a brand. It takes one bad strategic decision to destroy it. This is that decision. Print this. Put it with your build sheet. Reference it 5 years from now.

Any ideas for a paper towel holder. Don't want to drill holes or use stick on stuff if possible. Any suction cup successes?? Sherrill

The proposal to change the channel of distribution to a network of dealers is more than a detail. All of the companies I mentioned also had tremendous histories of quality and brand loyalty. They are also examples of the fragility of brand equity and as you say, how "ridiculous" it would be to demolish decades of work in an instant. I am not knocking anything about Oliver. What I am saying is that it is naive to think that partnering with any entity that is of lower repute, less quality, less competent technical service will not damage this brand. The only question is to what extent, and how quickly the brand will be diminished.