Comments? Folks who have moved from an Airstream to Oliver, and why?

[Eric.]

Hi everyone 

my name is Eric (first time posting on this forum), I am researching Oliver travel trailers and going away from airstream (25fbt international). 

One of the items I am requesting from my salesman Josh is eliminating the vents in the door of the batteries since I would go with lithium for a cleaner look. 

My thought is for security why not eliminate the outside battery door altogether  and move it to the inside of the trailer. 

Any thoughts from Oliver owners on the feasibility of this idea ? 

Have a good day 

Eric 

[rich.dev]

10 hours ago, Eric. said:

I am researching Oliver travel trailers and going away from airstream (25fbt international). 

Welcome, we went from a 2016 AS 26RBT (twin beds) to a 2023 LEII. I absolutely loved the layout of the 26RBT, but I have to say the quality of the Oliver is much better! 

[MAX Burner]

@rich.dev:  100% concur.  After owning a 31- and then a 25-foot AS since 2007, there's no doubt the overall OTT quality is hands-down better.

[Eric.]

Hi 

 

thank you for the words of encouragement. I was looking to downsize to a 23cb and thought I would due my due diligence to rule out Oliver and I can not so far.

[rich.dev]

51 minutes ago, Eric. said:

thank you for the words of encouragement. I was looking to downsize to a 23cb and thought I would due my due diligence to rule out Oliver and I can not so far.

Lol…we were also looking to downsize to a 23CB or 23 flying cloud with twin beds, but then we saw an Oliver on YouTube, we loved the “sterile” clean look, and of course when we saw one in person it was a no brainer. Have you looked at one in person? 
 

@SeaDawg maybe move this to an existing or new “Oliver wannabe” thread?

[SeaDawg]

Done. Let me know if I missed other posts that should "travel."

[ScubaRx]

19 hours ago, Eric. said:

Hi everyone 

my name is Eric (first time posting on this forum), I am researching Oliver travel trailers and going away from airstream (25fbt international). 

One of the items I am requesting from my salesman Josh is eliminating the vents in the door of the batteries since I would go with lithium for a cleaner look. 

My thought is for security why not eliminate the outside battery door altogether  and move it to the inside of the trailer. 

Any thoughts from Oliver owners on the feasibility of this idea ? 

Have a good day 

Eric 

Hello Eric, welcome to the forum. Although there’s nothing inherently wrong with your idea, I don’t think Oliver would ever make the changes you suggested, but if you thought your idea would make your personal ownership experience better, there’s nothing to stop you from doing it yourself. Good Luck and keep thinking outside the box.

[Jstone]

We had a Bambi 16, and loved it except for the single axle. After visiting our Airstream dealer, a 23 Globetrotter twin was our expected purchase, but in doing our due diligence, the Oliver name kept showing up on, of all places, the Airstream forum! 

As fate would have it, we were pulling into our camping destination with our Bambi, and lo & behold, there was on Elite II in the campground. The owner kindly allowed us to gawk at his Ollie. That took the shine off of buying another Airstream.

We were giddy with excitement from our fortuitous tour, and remain so, a year and a half after picking up hull 997.

I’ll always have a soft spot for Airstream campers, they are pretty good, but they are not comparable to an Oliver.

If you can make the size of the Oliver work for you, they are wonderful, from conceptualization through execution.

 

 

 

[Rolind]

Welcome Eric!

We moved from a 16’ Basecamp X to our LE2. We also loved our Basecamp but….

First, we needed a little more room and although it seems silly, we were tired of setting up and tearing down the bed.

We developed early filiform corrosion on our airstream about 2-3 years after new.  I arrested it with corrosion X and T9 but it always worried us.

It is nice to not be quite so paranoid about hail damaging the exterior skin.

The airstream was not spec’ed out like I would expect.  No battery monitoring system (BMV-712) and a poor solar charge controller. 

Lastly, I would search Airforums for posts from Ray Eklund.  He owns an LE 2 and a heavily modified Airstream and his insight was instrumental in us exploring and eventually purchasing an Oliver.

We have found our Oliver to be what we hoped our Airstream would have been
 

 

[Jim and Chris Neuman]

I would bet you could buy an unventilated door from Oliver and change it out yourself.  I believe it would put Oliver in legal jeopardy to eliminate battery box venting which is required by code as it is conceivable someone could switch from lithium back to wet cell, thereby putting themselves in danger from unvented gas given off by owner servicable wet cell batteries.  I once had the pleasure of having a battery explode next to me in my early days - believe me when I say it left a lasting impression.

lt would be quite easy to patch the existing vent holes if you so desired or even to make a new door yourself if you have basic fibreglass layup skills.  In fact the durability of fibreglass and the relative ease of making fibreglass repairs as opposed to aluminum skin repairs was one of the big reasons we went with Oliver as opposed to Airstream.

Although we have lithium batteries which require little maintenance, it is still nice to be able to easily inspect connections and turn off batteries as needed.  After years of fighting to service batteries deeply burried in the nastiest little spots to be found on most trailers and boats, that little battery door has become one of my absolute favorite features on our Oliver.

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Hi Eric, welcome aboard.

We started looking at Olivers about the same time they started showing up as a topic on Air Forums.  We’ve had two Airstreams, a ‘98 Safari 25’ 6 sleeper, and a ‘12 Flying Cloud 25’ FB.  Even though the AS trailers are well made, I believe the OTTs are much better.  What got us to finally make the move was difficulty getting the Airstream into the RV barn.  With an off camber incline, and only 6” clearance on each side of the door, not to forget snow and ice… it was nerve wracking.

No regrets.

 

[Katjo]

Hello Eric,

We previously owned a AS Nest and we loved it for short getaways but quickly found it to be too small for longer trips.  We decided to go larger and put a deposit down on a 20fb Flying Cloud. A few days after we placed our deposit an Oliver Elite II came up for sale very close to our home. 
Once we actually went and looked at the Oliver we were immediately sold, I fell in love with the white clean interior and the quality was noticeably superior to the AS. We cancelled our order for the Airstream and bought the Oliver.
Zero regrets! 

[MAX Burner]

9 hours ago, Jim and Chris Neuman said:

In fact the durability of fibreglass and the relative ease of making fibreglass repairs as opposed to aluminum skin repairs was one of the big reasons we went with Oliver as opposed to Airstream.

 

 @Jim and Chris Neuman:  Excellent comment.  

We haven't experienced a bad hail storm in the Ollie yet, but several in the AS.  Damage repair is significant on aluminum panels.  We travel with AS friends and as recent as last month on a road trip from ABQ area to DEN for a concert - our friends (departed 3 hours after us), hit a nasty patch of golfball-size hail on I-25 in the vicinity between Wagon Mound and Maxwell.  We came through the same area earlier when only heavy rain squalls were passing.  

Their 2022 Titan and 2022 25-foot FB Flying Cloud did not fair well:

Similar damage done to their Titan: 

Through-and-through hits in sky-lights, roof vents destroyed, but remarkably - the solar modules appear undamaged.  USAA is still considering the hail-caused damage as a complete loss - our friends are still waiting to hear the insurance outcome.

Has anyone experienced heavy hail with the OTT?  Just wondering how it handled it...

 

 

[John E Davies]

54 minutes ago, MAX Burner said:

 @Jim and Chris Neuman

 

Has anyone experienced heavy hail with the OTT?  Just wondering how it handled it...

Aluminum trailers were practical and profitable to manufacture before fiberglass resins were invented, mostly because the skilled WW2 work force was ready and waiting for new jobs other than production line fighters and bombers, and there were vast quantities of surplus aircraft grade sheet aluminum gathering dust in warehouses... remember that this was a time when tens of thousands of lovely “useless”  warbirds were being shredded to make pots and pans. ;( I used to work with an old guy who was one of those WW2 riveters, his sheet metal skills were pure magic and a delight to watch. He always got assigned the tough repair jobs because of his speed and quality workmanship. All those old craftsmen have long left the workforce.  Bless their souls… 

I am actually amazed that thin fragile aluminum trailer shells remain acceptable to consumers and to insurance companies. Other than classy looks they have ZERO practical benefits. How -/:;()$&@ loud it must be inside during a serious hailstorm!

https://beantrailer.com/read-this-before-you-buy-an-aluminum-trailer/

Sledgehammer vs Bean trailer and a stick and staple trailer

Let’s not get into how AS management screwed up a wonderful glass trailer…

https://www.rvtravel.com/the-airstream-nest-failure-a-closer-look/

I hope AS doesn’t buy the struggling Escape company. It is probably not very wise for me to say this, since there are a fair number of ex-AS owners here, but whenever I see a shiny new one I think to myself, “that guy has way more money than sense.”

God bless Olivers, long may they reign!

MAX burner, how about starting an Oliver hail damage poll in a new thread?

John Davies

Spokane WA

[MAX Burner]

1 hour ago, John E Davies said:

MAX burner, how about starting an Oliver hail damage poll in a new thread?

@John E Davies:  DONE.

[Fritz]

On 7/25/2023 at 12:56 AM, Eric. said:

One of the items I am requesting from my salesman Josh is eliminating the vents in the door of the batteries since I would go with lithium for a cleaner look

I would not remove the vents.  Cover them perhaps (from the inside)  in the winter, but not in the summer when it’s hot.  The batteries can get quite warm when charging on a hot day, especially when charging at a high rate, e.g. 150 amps. The vents aren’t big, but  probably help a bit to keep the batteries within operating specs in hot conditions. 

We’ve also had two airstreams. Would concur with comments above.