Leaderboard

We purchased a used 2017 LEII, hull #193 In January 2018. It was a standard model when we purchased it and the OTT service department converted to a twin bed for us. My wife would not have agreed to a twin model without camping in it if we had ordered new. But after one camping trip we both realized that making the bed was a major inconvenience and camping should be fun. If you haven’t tried to make a bed with one side against a wall, you should because the standard bed is against three walls. The bed area is 77" long and 80" wide and the inside of the trailer is 178" long and 80" wide not including the bath area. So the standard bed occupies about 40% of the floor plan when in the sleeping mode. And it makes access to the upper storage area’s difficult even in the table mode. So we tried sleeping on the couches/benches during our next 6 months of usage. I am 6' and Krunch claims to be 5', but she is rounding up. The benches worked fine for her and she also tried the dinette as we experimented with different options. Our final arrangement was me sleeping across the back bench and she used the street side bench. Then each morning we converted back to benches. Since we generally camp solo and didn’t need the large table, we started leaving it at home. Then we started leaving some of the cushions behind because anything we couldn’t use for sleeping and sitting was in the way. And we decided the twin bed would better suit our needs. Then we talked to the service department and we dropped the trailer off on our way to Illinois for a family reunion and picked it up on the way home 5 days later. We are very pleased with our decision. AndrewK's self conversion turned out very well and his offer to help anyone interested has benefited others, so that is another option. Mossey

We’ve been following the gin trail on our trips. Or maybe it’s been following us - I can’t remember, but it’s one of the two. 🍸🍸🍸

Have to agree with all of that. HDPE sounds like a good choice as does the 1” EPVC, provided you aren’t tight for space. John, another good thing about the EPVC is that you can write on it with a sharpie.

Busted! That is a piece of oak, oh the horrors of it all! I am not sure which Ollie commandment we broke, but I consider myself in good company. I probably could have used some square aluminum tubing, but I am saving that for another project. And if you search for my Caframo Sirocco II fan mount you might find another piece of oak with matching grain. I had the cutoff mounted to the piece of PVC board that the positive buss is now mounted to and due to the strain the 90° turn of the 4/0 cable puts on the cutoff, I wanted something more substantial to mount the cutoff to which led to the piece of oak. And a sincere mea culpa to all Ollie purest. Mossey

Unfortunately, Jetty Park campground was still closed (as far as I could see) for the historic launch this past weekend. Otherwise, we'd have tried to be there. For future launches, I've heard it's a great vantage point for launches from the spacecoast of Florida. (Most campgrounds have reopened in Florida, though. ) It's a really great feeling for those of us in Florida to see the success of this mission. For many years, I worked next to Honeywell plant 2, and we always took a break to watch the contrails of missions leaving the launch pad, across the state. Paul and I drove over to the other coast nine years ago to see the "last" shuttle launch from a parking place along the highway. It was magnificent, but also bittersweet. Next launch, I'd really love to be camped at Jetty Park. Hats off to our brave astronauts, and support crews, and innovators that have us back in space, launched from Florida. The Spacecoast is truly the Spacecoast, once again. Sherry

Whisky won. We're rendezvousing with my brother who is a Jack D drinker, Duke likes Dickel, & I don't drink either unless it's ruined with Coke. If anyone is interested, attached is a blip from the Whiskey Trail website that we plan to follow & the State Park where we plan to stay. Please join us!!!

I'm curious, though, why all of you want to use a plastic material like Starboard, in an interior area. Starboard is really expensive, twice the weight of plywood, and requires special (read expensive, not found normally in our garage, often two part heat fusing plastic welds) adhesives, usually backed up by mechanical fasteners . Like any other plastic, it expands a bit with heat. Which might make me a bit nervous about screws in some applications. Starboard's big claim to fame is uv resistance in a marine environment. And, that in can be worked easily with woodworking tools. We've used it in a number of places on our boat in exposed areas for mounting replacement gauges and lights. Places where in our younger days we might have used solid teak. We don't want the teak maintenance any more than we already have, and teak is pretty much unavailable or equally expensive, so starboard fits that bill. As a matter of fact, it's simply wonderful. In unexposed areas in the trailer, however, we've used plywood and wood blocks epoxied to the fiberglass to mount our 12v danfoss/ secop fridge, and fasten drawer glides, and a few places in creating my microwave replacement storage cabinet. I know Oliver doesn't like to use (ply)wood, but I don't have any problem with it in interior spaces that aren't exposed to water. It's lighter, cheaper, holds fasteners well, easily bonded with epoxy as mounting blocks, etc. Sherry

Regarding the noise, I have heard from several sources that this is true (we don't yet have our Ollie so maybe someone can confirm.): All you have to do is press and hold the 1 key for 3 seconds. You will hear a beep and then be able to use the keyless entry on your RV without the annoying beeping.

We went with the "standard" one bed model. We don't want to sleep separate. Another reason is the standard bed is longer (sleeping across the trailer) and I need the room to stretch out. We use a "full" size topper so I am trying to figure out some creative ways to either allow about 24" of the aisle to be reclaimed or something else. For now the last 24" of the oliver is where our air filter and dehumidifier live. The area under the bed is where we store some extra stuff, but it's not like we are out of room in any of the other storage compartments either. One thought I've had is to put the truck freezer we are looking at buying under the bed to avoid the "how to power it?" when we reach camp. It is nice to be able to convert the space to a dining table when there are amazing views to the rear of the trailer - we seated 3 kids +3 adults there which might be more difficult in the twin.

Mossey, I've purchased some smaller (though not that small) cutoff pieces of King starboard at Farco on 19 and 118th in Clearwater. There's probably a supplier in Tampa as well. I think the thickest guage is about 1.5 inches. Btw, King Plastics is a Florida company. (NorthPort) Sherry

I can think of several spots where something of that size could be mounted, depending on method of mounting. Oh never mind, forget I " mentioned" it.

We have the standard unit, 2017 hull #211. In a previous life we had owned a Scamp, and found that we seldom took it out of the bed configuration, being there is just the two of us. That being said, we were camping at a central spot and two other couples joined us with their SOBs (some other brand). As was typical we shared a 'potluck/buffet' evening meal, but as was also typical it started to rain. Guess which was the only unit that could seat six? True that those seated at the back couldn't get out quickly, but evidently they were comfortable. Two bottles of wine and 2 1/2 hours passed without complaints. And to reset to a bed was a 5 minute task. Normally we use a double opened sleeping bag as a base, and individual afghans as tops. That way we do not disturb the other if we have to slide out. Having the dinette convert for a grandchild guest is a bonus too.

I am just starting a similar project on our Elite I, using many of the same components referenced above. There's not a lot of room left in the mechanical compartments to move stuff around / add new components! Victron BMV-712 battery monitor, negative busbar, positive busbar, master DC disconnect switch, and a 2nd ANL type fuse (150A) for the non-invertor DC loads (Xantrex specs a 250A fuse for their ProWatt SW 2000 watt invertor). My primary motivation is to reduce the number of cables in the battery compartment... there's not a lot of clearance and its a real bear to align the 4 or so cables on each battery post when removing batteries for winter storage or re-installing them in the spring. I am using marine King Starboard HDPE (high densite polyethylene) for additional component mounting space, available from multiple sources. It *seems* denser/stiffer than regular PVC lumber. I ordered mine from TAP Plastics: https://www.tapplastics.com/product/plastics/cut_to_size_plastic/king_starboard/526 When completed, I should only have (2) 4/0 battery cables, the small Zamp Solar temperature sensor cable and a small battery midpoint sensor for the Victron battery monitor (I have the two 6V Lifeline AGM batteries connected in series).

Several members have converted their original configuration. Andrew K talks about changing his out to a modified twin in this thread, with many photos. A 2019 post, with links to several older posts: Brief how to discussion, here: Sherry

JD said "Thanks for the info on temp sensor, it should go on a negative stud, correct? I will fix the crappy splice " I don’t remember which post the temp sensor was on because I replaced mine with a Victron sensor when I put a BMS in. The Zamp Charge Controller manual does not specify. I do know you can tape it the the side of a battery. Mossey

Hi Gary, welcome to the forum. I’m sure you’ll get a number of answers to your questions. Here are my thoughts... We opted for the twin bed model because we didn’t want to be climbing over each other to get up in the middle of the night, the twin beds allow much easier access to the overhead storage over the beds on the sides and back and we like the nightstand. The two seat dinette is just right for us, so the larger U-shaped table that converts to the big bed wasn’t something we needed. Prices on used Olivers are high. Supply and demand! Lance makes a nice trailer and they make a lot of them. Oliver makes a nicer trailer but not too many. We’re in our 5th year with our Oliver and it is just as solid today as it was when we picked it up. I’m sure it will be the same in 5 more years. Mike

We’re going to work our way up to KY after the rally. We’ll be staying at My KY Home the middle of October. Should be able to do a some distilleries while we’re there.

Why not "do" both trails and leave the driving to Maddie & Baxter?😁

COE MAUMELL, great corps Campground, our spot was river edge. $13 with parks pass. Clean, well maintained. Roadways weren't as busy as they normally would be, must be the pandemic.

I usually do minimal planning, but given the situation, I have done a little pre-planning as to where are we staying - tomorrow - as compared to hey its 5pm, what do you want to do. So I have been using Campendium as my sourcing app. It certainly is handy - but I've come to understand one persons 4 star is another's - stay away at all costs. We like to boondock, and do HH when possible, but the heat was pretty intense in OK, NM this week, and thus needed some shore power - I may have to break down and buy a gen set..... (Have I ever mentioned I hate the Dometic AC) So - one place in OK, Territory Route 66 RV in Bridgeport OK was one night - nice country location, owners are just building the park, low key, low budget, but decent place. Great location to ride the bike down old 66. NM was a little more challenging, seems C-19 is keeping a few places closed. Had planned to HH - but the temps were just a little out there - ended up just outside Albuquerque - Turquoise Trail - just passable- and more $$ than it was worth - All the facilities are closed (Covid) but still want normal rates. Temps worked out - low 60 for morn.....mmmmm. Seems a lot of places are half full with permanent "guests" - I never noticed previously. Headed to elevation - it seems the roads are not as busy as past years - diesel is much cheaper - low was $1.61 - and about 1/2 people are C-19 aware. Still - the Ollie is earning its keep. Have a good day all!

We were glued to the big screen watching SpaceX launch. I gotta say we really needed to see something positive given the news cycle as of late. Kathy and I were so happy to witness such a successful launch and yesterdays docking with the space station. Despite all the craziness going on presently...the Space Coast persevered how awesome! 🇺🇸

That would, indeed, be awesome! Even watching the launches from across the state is beautiful, on a clear day. The last NASA shuttle, 9 years ago, was a very moving experience. From probably 8 miles away. Sherry

I had the good fortune of being able to watch a mission liftoff several years ago. If you ever have the chance - don't miss it! Even at ten miles away the whole thing is stunning from both a visual and physical perspective. Even watching this SpaceX mission on YouTube brought chills. Perhaps SeaDawg might organize an Oliver Space Rally one of these days? 😃 Bill