Oliver Travel trailers

OCD Overland

Explorer
They use Reflectix insulation on both the inside and outside shells. I also think they spray a layer of Lizardskin insulation but that may only have been on the older trailers so I plan to verify that on Friday.

Everything is supposed to be serviceable without cutting any fiberglass. I've seen a few situations mentioned on the Oliver boards where people complained about access to repair specific items but nothing which prevented them from doing so - it was just inconvenient. Even the water tanks can be slid out the rear of the trailer. There's actually an interesting thread on their boards right now where one of the owners has devised a better pick up tube for the fresh water supply, and another owner has provided a video of the process, including spin welding a new port into the top of the water tank, and it's all done with everything in place and just using the provided panels for access.

That's not to say that there aren't a few things though that would be tricky. For example, just last week I asked how difficult it would be to pull 2ga cable from the solar panels to the charge controller after construction. Answer: pretty difficult, so that's on the list to discuss while I'm there to see if they could do that before gluing the shells together. But apart from something like that, there are fairly generous access panels and ports throughout the interior.

By the way, we considered swapping out the gas cooktop for induction but I wasn't happy with the performance of the affordable induction cooktops. Plus I refer to the indoor cooktop as the 'cooktop of last resort', and plan do do most cooking outside. That's one of those things that seemed really neat to do but then the practicality of it faded away - easy enough to buy a portable induction later if we want to spend the money on a nice one like the Volrath Mirage Pro. We did size the battery bank and solar assuming that we would have one though.
 
Last edited:

spressomon

Expedition Leader
Thanks!

Also, do you know if Oliver, as one of their many options/customization, apply a Rhino/Line-X type surface treatment to the front of the trailer to better deal with stone deflection from the tow vehicle apart of gravel road travel?
 

calicamper

Expedition Leader
They use Reflectix insulation on both the inside and outside shells. I also think they spray a layer of Lizardskin insulation but that may only have been on the older trailers so I plan to verify that on Friday.

Everything is supposed to be serviceable without cutting any fiberglass. I've seen a few situations mentioned on the Oliver boards where people complained about access to repair specific items but nothing which prevented them from doing so - it was just inconvenient. Even the water tanks can be slid out the rear of the trailer. There's actually an interesting thread on their boards right now where one of the owners has devised a better pick up tube for the fresh water supply, and another owner has provided a video of the process, including spin welding a new port into the top of the water tank, and it's all done with everything in place and just using the provided panels for access.

That's not to say that there aren't a few things though that would be tricky. For example, just last week I asked how difficult it would be to pull 2ga cable from the solar panels to the charge controller after construction. Answer: pretty difficult, so that's on the list to discuss while I'm there to see if they could do that before gluing the shells together. But apart from something like that, there are fairly generous access panels and ports throughout the interior.

By the way, we considered swapping out the gas cooktop for induction but I wasn't happy with the performance of the affordable induction cooktops. Plus I refer to the indoor cooktop as the 'cooktop of last resort', and plan do do most cooking outside. That's one of those things that seemed really neat to do but then the practicality of it faded away - easy enough to buy a portable induction later if we want to spend the money on a nice one like the Volrath Mirage Pro. We did size the battery bank and solar assuming that we would have one though.

I found most solar dyi peeps are way overboard on wire guage. Just as reference my sticks and bricks solar system using 285wat LG panels with micro inverters. 16 panels max per 12guage wire harness spec. So dont get super crazy overkill on wire gauge for a tiny amount of solar power.
 

OCD Overland

Explorer
Thanks!

Also, do you know if Oliver, as one of their many options/customization, apply a Rhino/Line-X type surface treatment to the front of the trailer to better deal with stone deflection from the tow vehicle apart of gravel road travel?
It's been done, in fact one of the Oliver factory units has white rhino lining on the lower front. It's yellowed and looks awful. They won't do it at the factory for you since they don't like the way it looks. One owner is experimenting with the spray on, peel off stuff this summer and I'll be interested to hear how well it does and how easily it can be removed after a season. Others have fabbed neoprene bras for the front for their trips to Alaska and they seem to think that's the best solution. To my knowledge, no one yet has rigged a stone stomper or anything similar to the trailer but I contacted them last year and they said it would be simple to do and marked up a few photos of how they'd attach it.
 

OCD Overland

Explorer
I found most solar dyi peeps are way overboard on wire guage. Just as reference my sticks and bricks solar system using 285wat LG panels with micro inverters. 16 panels max per 12guage wire harness spec. So dont get super crazy overkill on wire gauge for a tiny amount of solar power.
Sorry, meant to type 4ga, which is what AM Solar recommends for my size system. It could be that's what Oliver already uses as the person I talked to didn't know for sure.
 
Thanks!

Also, do you know if Oliver, as one of their many options/customization, apply a Rhino/Line-X type surface treatment to the front of the trailer to better deal with stone deflection from the tow vehicle apart of gravel road travel?

Axalta\DuPont has there version of LineX and if you spray Imron on it with in 48 hrs of application you can get it to match . We have done dump trailers fronts at work with great success . It is pretty beefy stuff
 

Rumline

Observer
I've been looking at Oliver, Kimberley, and Escape trailers. I was liking the Olivers but they have an aluminum chassis. To me that says "brittle" for off-road use. Am I overthinking this?

Also, Oliver won't modify their suspension set up at all. Has anybody done aftermarket work like a lift?
 

OCD Overland

Explorer
Simple and cheap to flip the axles, which will give you another 4" or so. But they already have a good bit more clearance than most trailers that size.

If you really want to change the suspension, it's built on a steel subframe which should be a cinch to remove and either alter or replace. Personally, I don't think it's worth it - nothing wrong with a leaf spring suspension, especially in a trailer that heavy. Better shocks might be the most I would bother with. I mean yes, a nice adjustable air suspension like the Kimberleys would be nice, and you could do it if you threw money at it, but that's a ton of work and you've added a potential reliability problem. You could get halfway there with a Center Point air suspension, which is pricey but at least easy to do. I don't know if money would be better spent with that vs really nice shocks.

If you're really worried about the frame, you could always go back with gusset plates and huck fasteners over the main joints.
 
Last edited:

Rumline

Observer
Simple and cheap to flip the axles, which will give you another 4" or so. But they already have a good bit more clearance than most trailers that size.
Thanks. Although the last sentence isn't much of a distinction, considering most travel trailers have little 13" Radio Flyer wheels.

Anybody done stuff like this (axle flip, replace shocks) to their Oliver trailer?
 

OCD Overland

Explorer
Mine's being flipped, so ask again in a couple of months.

Also the originals were done that way. Don't know when they changed nor why - probably most people didn't like them so high up.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
185,533
Messages
2,875,598
Members
224,922
Latest member
Randy Towles
Top