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Fold Down Counter Extension


Overland

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Overland, The execution is brilliant! Oliver should make this a standard option.

 

We have the 10 inch mattresses. When the shelf is folded down, is there enough vertical room for a 10 inch mattress and the bedding?

 

How much does the folded shelf stick out from the cabinet, and reduce the sleep space?  (I am 6 feet tall.)

 

[Edit] I see your post had an answer to one of my questions.

 

BTW, if you want to do this and have mattresses, then you’ll want to check their thickness to make sure the extension will clear when folded. Measure down 13″ from the bottom lip of the counter. If your mattress is below that, you’re good. If you have cushions, then no problem, but you’ll need to move one of the back ones out of the way when raising or lowering the top.

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David Stillman, Salt Lake City, Utah

2016 Oliver Elite II  Hull 164    |    2017 Audi Q7 tow vehicle. 

Travel and Photography Blog: http://davidstravels.net

 

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Love this idea. We're getting the latex mattresses which are about 8" deep, plus an inch for the aire-flow mat, so I doubt this will fit for us. Once we get our trailer I'll have to see how squishable the mattress is...maybe I can make it fit.

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2018 OLEII #344   |   2018 Ford Expedition

 

AZCACOGAKSMONMTNWYsm.jpg

 

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So, I remeasured and it's actually 12" from the bottom lip of the counter. I've edited the post. On ours, that leaves about 6.5" for a mattress. Our current mattresses have pillow tops that put them over that, but the extension will still scoot past them. We're swapping out for cushions now that were doing the Lagun Table (next project). I'm having them made 5" thick so no problem for us, but I knew it would be for others.

In the closed position, it takes up right at 2" of bed space.

I suppose there's nothing stopping someone from putting the extension from Oliver on a table saw and cutting it down to whatever size worked. It would just leave a rough edge that you'd have to sand down and polish. A lot of work, but not impossible.

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The paper towel holder is this one. We really like it - it has a spring that keeps the roll from unrolling while traveling, which also gives it just enough tension to make it easy to rip of a sheet one handed.

The nets I'll need to take some photos of and post about.  It's a simple mod that has really helped out day to day organization.  We have them over the front door, over the beds, etc.  I'll see if I can take some photos and maybe put them into the Snowball thread later today.

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this one

That is a simply luscious holder, I have two in my home and one in Mouse, mounted in the same spot as yours I used stainless screws and nylocks. It is a rather expensive holder but it has NO faults other than its cost.

 

8428127_R_Z001A_UC887176.jpeg.34b19285a1c660efb86ee6bed1735e95.jpeg

 

John Davies

Spokane WA

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SOLD 07/23 "Mouse":  2017 Legacy Elite II Two Beds, Hull Number 218, See my HOW TO threads: https://olivertraveltrailers.com/topic/john-e-davies-how-to-threads-and-tech-articles-links/

Tow Vehicle: 2013 Land Cruiser 200, 32” LT tires, airbags, Safari snorkel, Maggiolina Grand Tour 360 Carbon RTT.

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When I first got my Oliver I would have liked to put up a paper towel holder like the one I have at home, that has tension that makes it easy to rip off a single sheet one handed. But at that time I was afraid of drilling into the fiberglass. For a paper towel holder I got a simple white plastic unit and attached it with double stick tape. But the one at home is much better.

Then, one of my projects this winter was to relocate the TV using the excellent strategy outlined by Mike and Carol. Not only drilling thru fiberglass, but a hole saw!

So now I may put up a new paper towel holder. Rather than the SimpleHuman model recommended by Overland and John Davies, I will get the Kamenstein model that I have at home that I like so much. Both models have great reviews, and both have a tension system to allow you to rip off a single sheet with one hand. However, the SimpleHuman model is $26, while the Kamenstein model is $15.

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David Stillman, Salt Lake City, Utah

2016 Oliver Elite II  Hull 164    |    2017 Audi Q7 tow vehicle. 

Travel and Photography Blog: http://davidstravels.net

 

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Excellent work once again! I agree that Oliver should make this a standard option. I asked Anita about adding a countertop extension when we were in our build and she told me that they could not do it. I guess it is all in who you ask. Regardless, I will be adding this to my “want” list. Thanks for posting!

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Yvonne & Doug


2017 Legacy Elite II, twin bed


Hull #223


2017 Ford F-250 Lariat, crew cab

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Certainly I feel your pain. When one reads the story about the Outlaw Oliver and the "custom" work that was done there (and elsewhere) and compares that to what appears to be the current situation, I'm sure that it can be a bit frustrating. Even what appear to be fairly simple requests are met with the same response - "no".

 

However, it seems to me that this looks like a case of "be careful of what you ask for". We, as a group, clamored for better quality and subjected the Company to a fair amount of abuse/criticism (justified or not) over these types of issues. Then, when the Company decides to concentrate on quality by limiting the number of deviations from the norm (custom work), once again we find ourselves in the position of not liking the result. Hopefully, one day, the Company will once again find itself in a position where they can accept custom work. I believe that I have a better, more comfortable and enjoyable camper because of the suggestions of the owners that came before me. But, in the final analysis, I'd rather have a quality unit that I can then modify and or customize later than a lesser built unit with a bunch of bells and whistles.

 

Bill

p.s. cool logo!

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2023 Ford F150 Lariat 3.5EB FX4 Max Towing, Max Payload, 2016 Oliver Elite II - Hull #117 "Twist"

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I hope that the compressor fridge will show up as an option someday. So far, I love mine. But, it was a relatively easy swap for us after my 3 way died. Plus, I picked up a lower drawer. We did the change out ourselves.

I really think oliver got burned and bogged down on some custom items the agreed to in the old days, probably making them a bit leery of custom changes while trying to ramp up production.

Still doesn't make sense that you don't even get credit for price of television and mount. It's a few hundred, but... Those of us who don't love tv, shouldn't have to pay for it. I understand that the wiring should be there. In case you ever change your mind.

Sherry

 

2008 Ram 1500 4 × 4

2008 Oliver Elite, Hull #12

Florida and Western North Carolina, or wherever the truck goes....

400 watts solar. DC compressor fridge. No inverter. 2 x 105 ah agm batteries .  Life is good.


        
 

 

 

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The modifications they did for our camper were completed during the build if we requested them and they were approved before the trailer was too far down the production line. A few things the service department did because I requested them too late. I found that totally understandable. I am sorry to hear the answer is mostly “no” now. I too love your logo!

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Yvonne & Doug


2017 Legacy Elite II, twin bed


Hull #223


2017 Ford F-250 Lariat, crew cab

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We were told no on a couple of simple request too. After seeing some crazy mods going on when we took the factory tour and talking about them with Brent I fully understand why they stopped. They were holding up the line big time and had to do something. The Oliver is a great trailer the way it is offered and with the options list they offer it is over the top. Escape also used to do almost any request you could think of and stopped just before we ordered ours for the same reason. They cannot be expected to hold up the line for custom requests that will affect production so for now they have stopped all custom work to concentrate on quality which was fine with me. I was able to get the bath mirror lowered 6" for my wife. :-)

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Tom & Cheryl 

LE II #305

2018 GMC 2500HD SLT Duramax

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Our trailer was one of the last 'custom' trailers to be built. When we started talking with Oliver, custom was pretty much the norm and if you wanted to do something cool, they'd give it a shot. In fact we were encouraged by Robert Partee on our first visit to come up with some new ideas for them to try. But that was before they decided to dramatically increase production in 2017 with the second production line and all. Because we were sort of in the mix already with our trailer, and because they also new that we had cancelled a completely custom trailer from a different company to go with Oliver, they allowed us to continue with the modifications (and I think there were a few other trailers going through the line with ours that had some customization going on). But Oliver regretted having done so. With their new production line, so many new employees and older ones learning new jobs, it was just too much for them to pull our trailer out to make the necessary modifications before the next step was to begin. And they ended up missing a few things in line that were going to be simple but ended up being very difficult to retrofit in service later. And we had to take the trailer back to Oliver and leave it for another few months to finish stuff up later. In other words, it was a real pain for Oliver, and it tried everyone's patience, especially ours, and there were mistakes and miscommunication and missed deadlines, etc.  However, we truly appreciate everything they did and in the end we have a great trailer.

The irony is, that apart from one, maybe two of our modifications, I think it all probably could have been done faster and better if it just went through the line with normal options and then modified later on in service. And if anyone were to ask, that's what I'd say try to do anyway. Or, better still, do them yourself, which is what these kinds of threads are all about. Many of the things we had them do, I think now I'd rather have done myself anyway. At the time, it was too overwhelming for me to imagine doing them, but now that I've started to cross things off the list, the rest seem less daunting. But things like this counter extension I've essentially redone and so with 20/20 hindsight, there was no reason to have asked for it.

Eventually there will be enough Ollies out there and coming off the line that I think some enterprising soul will have enough potential customers to open up an Ollie customization business. I could also see Oliver doing something like spinning off and expanding their service department into a customization business like that. That's what I've told them they should do at least.

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Quote
How did you attach the paper towel holder to the wall? Screws or Command strips?

Mine is screwed in. You'll find that the fiberglass holds screws well, especially if you add some 3M 4200 to act as lock tite. The biggest difficulty is trying not to chip the gelcoat, either when drilling or when tightening the screws. Some chipping will happen inevitably, but if you're careful you can limit it to the area that will be covered by whatever you're adding. I've found the fiber granite has a softer gel coat (if that's what it even is) which is much easier to work with.

You also have to be careful when drilling on the bath walls that abut the main cabin and the closet. Those walls are really thin and you could drill through if you aren't careful. And if you don't drill enough, then your screw will bottom out and it will pop out the gel coat on the other side. Sad to say I've got a couple of those in the closet, but you can't see them unless you poke your head in and look around for them.

I have to say that while others swear by command strips, I haven't had much luck with them except for hanging some really light picture frames we have.

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4. I wanted all lights on a dimmer…no go

a. I did insist upon a dimmer for the lights, but it will be installed as a service item

We have a dimmer and get limited use out of it. It takes too long to adjust the setting and whenever the inverter is on, the lights will pulse when dimmed. There's also a delay in adjusting so it's easy to overshoot how dim you want them. So we end up not using it much. We've found for the most part that it's easier to get the desired amount of light just by turning on and off lights. I think the only time we'll use the dimmer is when eating since my wife and I both think the dinette lights are too bright. That will change when we start using our Lagun table to eat and then I doubt we'll touch the dimmer ever again.

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You also have to be careful when drilling on the bath walls that abut the main cabin and the closet. Those walls are really thin and you could drill through if you aren’t careful.

 

Tell me more about these walls. How thick is the fiberglass and how much space is there between the walls? I can remove a screw somewhere and use a wire to measure the spacing but what have you seen on your Oliver?

Bill and Martha

2018 LEII Hull 313

2019 Chevrolet 2500HD Duramax

 

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That would surprise me, if Oliver used plywood anywhere, especially in a bathroom wall where moisture would be present, I would expect it to be the honeycomb layer they employ in other areas that require extra support, I hope.

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Randy


One Life Live It Enjoyably


2017 F350 6.7L SRW CC LB


2015 Oliver Elite II Hull #69

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They do use wood on the bath wall and the wall dividing the closet and bath. They showed it to me during our tour and said its the only wood in the camper. They said they do it because people want to be able to hang stuff on that wall. In ours I can see the wood inside the closet looking up at the speaker cutout. Here is a picture of that wall being set in place.

 

Bath-Wall.thumb.jpg.3c8721272d6f079275b012f79bedc380.jpg

 

 

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ABNBNSPEALARCOCTDEFLGAIDILINIAKSKYLAMEMDMAMSMOMTNENHNMNYNCOHOKPARISCSDTNTXUTVTVAWVWYmed.jpg

 

Tom & Cheryl 

LE II #305

2018 GMC 2500HD SLT Duramax

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