Hello To All, Total Neophytes Here

[Chixter]

We are a married couple, well seasoned road trippers.  A recent whimsical decision to go to an RV show got us thinking.  Perhaps there is much more to road travel than hotel rooms?  Neither of us have ever thought about this before, nor have we experienced any camping except a long ago trip in a rented class C.  Like everything else over the last 30 years things have changed dramatically.  We soon learned that technology and innovation was not lost on the world of RV's.  We began looking at fivers, 5th wheel trailers in the 35 ft range.  By accident I came across a Trailer Life article on the Oliver Legacy Elite 2.  Enter a concept I hadn't considered: Simplification.  We have friends and neighbors with RV's, some large.  My brother owns a Prevost Bus.  We see the gyrations these folks take in getting ready for a trip, the maintenance and repair of things that fail like slide outs, etc.  And the difficulty in storing them if home base property is not adequate.  So now we are thinking something smaller, lighter, easier to hook up and go, something that will get us to less traveled places other than camp grounds.  When I started looking at smaller, lighter TT's made by the 'consumer' suppliers, most in my opinion were poorly built junk that would last a few years.  When I saw the Oliver article I almost didn't read it.  Now, I have watched every Oliver video on YT and can see the advantage to the type of construction and the quality that appears to be built into these units.  I'm a nuts and bolt kind of guy.  I'm not afraid of maintenance ore even the occasional repair.  But some of the horror stories I have read in reviews of trailers, motor homes, some units costing well over 100k is scary.  Tires blowing out and causing damage on the way home from the dealer lot.  Furnaces failing the first time out, leaks on brand new units, slide outs failing, not sealing, new units in repair shop all season, etc. So far, I have not found this talk regarding this fiberglass trailer, it appears to be well made.  I have turned Wifie on to Buzzy's videos, he demonstrates the attributes very well.  She is a bit concerned over the size.  No island kitchen as in the fivers, small reefer, where do we sit if we have to be inside because of weather and so forth.  It looks like a trip to Nashville is in order in April.  We'll visit my niece and then tour the factory where hopefully, they have a completed one.  Or, I'm sure we can find an owner who is willing within reasonable driving distance.  Many of you folks seem to be experienced.  What can you tell us as to the size of the LE2 as compared to other larger RV's you have owned?

[GaryJona]

Well welcome to the world of fiberglass and here on the Oliver site you are at the top of the food chain.  I can say my wife and I have done the exact same steps as you have described from small them looked on up to the big 5th wheel and their problems back down to the Oliver. We first started in a 17 ft Casita and traveled from Florida to Alaska and then to New Foundland and loved the camper and the ease of travel it is what you make of it, the more space you have the more you will carry.  The one statement I know to reply to is I can go to a campground and they are locked up in their camper I did not pull out my driveway to sit in a camper I can do that at home but to experience the outdoors, National Parks ,Scenic Drives, wonderful People, BLM Land, you can go on and on. We seldom cook in the camper it has to be a downpour and then grilled cheese and if it is cold Tomato Soup. We went up to the Oliver 2 years ago and probably have around 30,000 miles on her and love the size and comfort features and the Grandkids fit much better. You are asking the right questions just what will fit your camping style I would suggest going to a Fiberglass Rally and look at them, they almost always have a open house day that all the camper go to each others to see modifications or their ideas. Look here and on Fiberglassrv.com for rally sites there will be many come the first of the year. Good Luck and ask those Questions. Thanks Gary

[rideandfly]

Welcome!

 

Like Buzzy, we enjoy camping in Federal and State Parks.  It's two of us, so the Ollie's size is perfect for us.  We purchased the Ollie to camp around the lower 48 and Canada.

 

Use  a automotive chamois drying shammy to wipe down the wet shower surfaces after use.  We purchased our Ollie used from a couple that lived in a sailboat for 8 years and they built a fiberglass airplane, too. We like the white interior & exterior gel-coat finish on the Ollie. Also like polished Airstreams!

 

Purchased a 5.7L Toyota Tundra to tow the Ollie in the larger mountains in western US and transport two Kayaks with two bicycles.  Working on a way to transport a small motorcycle in the truck bed while towing the Ollie, too.

 

There are many knowledgeable & experienced campers here with Oliver travel trailers!

[Chixter]

Well many thanks folks, I see I came to the right venue.  I am a big fan of internet forums.  I have many questions that will come up while doing my research.  I will search the forum first to see if a particular question has been addressed.  I wonder if company reps monitor this forum as some questions only they may be able to answer.  Ya'll will probably get tired of seeing these questions, thanx in advance for bearing with me!

[Chixter]

Thanks Buzz.  I'm starting at the bottom of this thing and working my way up as far as configuration/options.  From study in this forum it sounds like the suspension mod is a go.  I have been wondering about the alloy of the frame.  Aluminum comes in many flavors and somewhere either on the forum or at the company, this information is available.  It may help me to call over there for something like this.

 

 

 

 

 

Chixter

[Try2Relax]

Welcome. I'm sure most here are happy to answer any question you come up with.

 

On airforums the other day, I stumbled upon one that linked to the following discussion about our Olivers and a very well detailed tour of the factory. She starts out along people for questions and follows up with her visit, is a good read and look.

 

[DeanCHS1980]

Hi Chixter,

 

Nice thread. Actually, Laura and I do not own an Oliver. Our Casita is 17' long and much smaller than an Oliver Legacy Elite II. What they have in common is that both are molded fiberglass RVs. We just finished our first season camping in our Casita. One of our trips included attending the Oliver Rally in September. We also toured the Oliver factory. We only live 2.5 hours from the Oliver plant. I am an avid researcher of things I like and I am a HUGE fan of Olivers. I am about 8.5 years from retiring and looking forward to using our Casita for the next several years. I am hoping that my supplemental retirement account does really well, so we can get an Oliver for our retirement gift to ourselves!!! ;)

 

Wishing you the best,

 

Dean