What trailer to buy?

[roguebooks]

Originally Posted by Oliver_Elite2

I think Oliver does the same but may charge for it? A friend of ours paid extra for her cushion color choice not in the standard offerings. Same fabric just different color.

Oliver does install fabric for customization if the new to be owners send them the material. Now as to charge? Don't know. Check with Oliver. Call Heather for pricing.

I am happy with Oliver's (and Armadillo's) choices regarding cabinets, fabric, etc. Not so happy with other trailer manufacturers, hence the question. Might be happy with Parkliner's too. We shall see when I can get to a dealer who is set up to sell them. I am also well aware of the Oliver issues with fresh water, but am confident they will solve the problem by the time we are ready to buy one. Meanwhile I search for trailers with minimum twenty gallon fresh water tank and roughly same gray. Do not care about the black tanks, if any.

[Oliver_Elite2]

Gotcha.

We are hoping the problem is resolved on the freshwater sooner than later but then we don't boondock. It would have been nice if the fix had been ready for our return from FL in late Aug. Thus far only have the one small "issue" that should be very easy to fix with a replacement. The freshwater tank replacement may take more than a 1/2 day maybe? Dunno. Depends upon what they are going to do about it. Will require a longer pickup to get to the bottom regardless.

Some people are going to "fix" theirs by altering the tank but uh uh for us. The less holes you drill and plug the better. We would rather have Oliver fix it and stand behind what they come up with.

Advantage living only 4 hours out we can use the 1 year warrantee let's face it figured into the price.

You may want to look at other people's pictures of older Olivers to see the fabric wear and roll out problem on the cushions. You will see what I am talking about. We wanted to catch it before the cushion became wrinkled and the round ribbing gets crushed as we have observed others have.

You might want to check out Buzzy's switchout on cushions on his 2016.

Glad we invested (although expensive) on the custom zippered slip covers we had made from another company. Just need to get more padding with memory foam 2 inches to bring us up to 6 inches.

We certainly cannot argue with the 6 inch memory foam 2 trifolds on density we added on the "king" compartment. More comfortable than our beds at home. No joke. Only problem is getting back out of bed. Getting pretty good with the gymnastics now. See the snooze picture.

Didn't take note sorry my cousins' fabric and comfort on her Casita. Haven't heard any complaint thus far so all must be well. Theirs is about 2 years old now.

Any customization you or the factory makes can really mount up. We got most of the options and along with our additions without any hole drilling and adding ill-advised things we figure all said and done we have spent well over 90K. Yep. No joke. An Elite base offering would be less but not by much 5/6K maybe. Of course we are figuring in the price of a suitable tow vehicle over and above what a person would need to tow the smaller Elite. They are heavy for their size however. We make cosmetic changes only and those that can be reversed with no damage at all (i.e. command strips and plastic shower curtain plastic track.)

No hull drilling for sure. Tinkering with this expensive of an egg makes no sense at all. Can do nothing but harm if one mods too much. We have marveled at some of the doozys some have done to theirs.

[Glenn Baglo]

Go here: Advice on upholstery and formica - Escape Trailer Owners Community

to read many posts on custom upholstery and formica sources and options for Escape.

[Mr Lynn]

Originally Posted by roguebooks

I am eager to again check the Casita brand out again. I value your knowledge and experience. Do they have the fabric and cabinet options online? Thanks.

As far as I can tell, they have just two cushion fabrics:



You might be able to send them others, but you'd have to ask their salespeople about that.

Our used Casita came with the 'Tan/Earth' pattern, which was fine with us. Used Casitas are mighty scarce, so we weren't picky, but we like 'Earth tones' anyway.

My wife found some material with natural images and made curtains, which I hung on the windows (see below). The trailer comes with mini-blinds, not curtains. It would be preferable if they offered shades, but they don't. The orange pillows are ours.

/Mr Lynn

[roguebooks]

Originally Posted by Glenn Baglo

Go here: Advice on upholstery and formica - Escape Trailer Owners Community

to read many posts on custom upholstery and formica sources and options for Escape.

Ooh, thanks

[Oliver_Elite2]

Mr. Lynn, my cousin has the earthtone too. Attractive. Warm and inviting. Your wife did a very nice job on the curtains. Love the print.

How well is your fabric wearing?

We went the gray "motif" as a palette of sorts on our Oliver. My favorite part was "interior decorating."

Have really gotten the "pop" we were after by the jazzy slip covers, bed sheets, and quilt (not the one pictured) we have an even more patterned one now with Navy and multicolors, and 2 some really zippy paisley dark blue background multi pillows for the "dinette." The shower curtain is a more subtle paisley mostly white background with grey and gold pinstripping effect.

Overall effect is a 60s/70s color-filled rainbow of fun.

Yes, let the decorating begin! I've seen some very clever looking glammed up egg interiors here in the pictures. Lots of imagination and color sense.

I need to get pix posted on this in our album of the interior matchups.
You can see some of it on snooze picture in the album.

[Paul O.]

Now, what was the problem with the Oliver fresh water tanks? This thread is too long to search. Just curious. Thanks.

[roguebooks]

Originally Posted by Paul O.

Now, what was the problem with the Oliver fresh water tanks? This thread is too long to search. Just curious. Thanks.

Some owners of the 2017's report that they can only use about half their fresh water supply due to some flaw in the tank. Some report, for example, having to crank their units out of level to acquire the needed water in order to finish a shower they had eagerly soaped up for. Or irritatingly having to constantly fill up the tank. The problem supposedly will be corrected soon.

[skalywag]

I tested mine recently and found that out of the 35 gallon fresh water capacity, I could use all but 4.5 gallons due to the location of the pump pick-up. This condition is being worked by Oliver and several owners and they have a workable and clever solution. It is not a major issue for normal camping, but for long term "dry" camping it could be an annoyance. I am still under warranty, so I will wait until it is incorporated into the design.
Cheers,

[Ken C]

skalywag and other Oliver owners, is it true the Oilver is made in a way that the fresh water tank can be removed/taken out the back, removing the rear bumper off? Pretty clever design of them if so being mounted in double hulls.

[skalywag]

Originally Posted by Ken C

skalywag and other Oliver owners, is it true the Oilver is made in a way that the fresh water tank can be removed/taken out the back, removing the rear bumper off? Pretty clever design of them if so being mounted in double hulls.

Ken,
Yes, both the Fresh water and Grey water tanks can be slid out the back with the rear bumper removed (among other components). I thought that was a great design feature that I hope to never have to use.
Cheers,

[Steve Hammel]

If this is going to be your first small fiberglass trailer I'd highly recommend finding an inexpensive used model. After your first trip you will know so much more than you know now. After several trips you'll be an expert and know clearly what you want in a trailer. If you find a decent priced used one you should be able to sell it without a loss after trying it out for a year. Lot's of people think they can go totally minimalist when starting out but soon realize that a toilet would be nice or more storage or larger fridge etc. I would never go into major debt without a really good idea of what my wants and needs really are.

[skalywag]

Originally Posted by skalywag

I tested mine recently and found that out of the 35 gallon fresh water capacity, I could use all but 4.5 gallons due to the location of the pump pick-up. This condition is being worked by Oliver and several owners and they have a workable and clever solution. It is not a major issue for normal camping, but for long term "dry" camping it could be an annoyance. I am still under warranty, so I will wait until it is incorporated into the design.
Cheers,

That should read "30 gallon fresh water tank". I am only able to use all but the last 4 gallons before the pump goes dry. I watched the video on the Oliver forum site where two owners did a great fix by adding an extended pick-up tube that goes to the bottom of the tank in a LE2.

[roguebooks]

Originally Posted by Steve Hammel

If this is going to be your first small fiberglass trailer I'd highly recommend finding an inexpensive used model. After your first trip you will know so much more than you know now. After several trips you'll be an expert and know clearly what you want in a trailer. If you find a decent priced used one you should be able to sell it without a loss after trying it out for a year. Lot's of people think they can go totally minimalist when starting out but soon realize that a toilet would be nice or more storage or larger fridge etc. I would never go into major debt without a really good idea of what my wants and needs really are.

After all this research I am thinking this is the best advice yet. We so wanted a brand new trailer of our own but just might have to try your idea out first.

[Mary F]

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[saltydog]

Originally Posted by Carlcivi

Hi, we have the Scamp 16 with side dinette, front bath. We love it. We also had a GR, Ginger, since passed away. We all fit. All worked out fine. But then again those goodies are so well behaved. We used th clam screen room and ginger just sat and watched everybody around her. We have another pup now, we are going to try camping with him next week, he is going on 6 months old. That shoul b fun. Good luck on your search. Carl

I recently took a look at the Scamp, and wss suprised that they were put together by rivets?! HIt was quite older model, and the owner was clearly showing where they had all come loose rusted out, etc. is that still the case?

[Paul O.]

Originally Posted by skalywag

I tested mine recently and found that out of the 35 gallon fresh water capacity, I could use all but 4.5 gallons due to the location of the pump pick-up. This condition is being worked by Oliver and several owners and they have a workable and clever solution. It is not a major issue for normal camping, but for long term "dry" camping it could be an annoyance. I am still under warranty, so I will wait until it is incorporated into the design.
Cheers,

Depending how high on the sidewall the drain is, they could simply tip the tank (create a slightly inclined platform) and get much more water out. The solution mentioned somewhere, a short piece of a tygon tube that goes close to the bottom of the tank is an elegant and simple solution.

This is also a little bit like the six gallons of water in the water heater, which is practically inaccessible and it is 50 extra pounds that rides along, doing nothing. Are there any practical flow-through LP gas water heaters?

[Jon in AZ]

Originally Posted by saltydog

I recently took a look at the Scamp, and wss suprised that they were put together by rivets?! HIt was quite older model, and the owner was clearly showing where they had all come loose rusted out, etc. is that still the case?

The rivets used at the factory are aluminum, so they won't rust. However, some of the body hardware (gravel guard, door holdback, hinge bolts, for example) is low-grade steel, so that's where the rust usually comes from. All that stuff is not hard to replace, and in many cases there are stainless steel alternatives so you won't have to do it again anytime soon.

[saltydog]

Are they still using them with present day Scamps?

[Jon in AZ]

Originally Posted by saltydog

Are they still using them with present day Scamps?

Yes. I just replaced the gravel guard hardware on my 9-year-old Scamp as it was starting to rust. Guessing it would rust faster in a more humid climate. I found out after I had installed the new ones from Scamp (same as the old) that forum member Ian Giles sells a SS version. Next time! He also sells upgraded SS hinge rebuild kits.

I haven't had any issues with loose or leaking rivets, though I have read posts by some that did.