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One more tiny project before we take the trailer to Hudson on Monday is complete. While I was checking the thermocouples, and cleaning and polishing the stainless SMEV cooktop yesterday (I like Ceramabryte stainless polish), I noticed the spiders/grates were getting some rust spots on the underside. I braved the holiday traffic to get some odd size nuts and bolts for Paul at Ace today, and picked up some high heat spray paint. While I was gone, Paul prepped the spiders for paint. It's matte, instead of the original glossy, but I kind of prefer the look--like super skinny wrought iron. Should help keep the old SMEV in good shape for a number of years. (I'll work on the little bits of rust on the hinges this summer on a rainy day. White vinegar is really good to loosen surface rust, I've found.)

The area is in the heart of the Scablands of central Washington and an oasis for migratory birds. Potholes Coulee (NOT my picture!)... this area gets 8” of rain, so without irrigation there would be nothing here but sagebrush and rattle snakes: This is a typical WA state park, nicely laid out, over crowded and a little seedy because of long term lack of funding. We booked three nights ($35 full hookup, including sewer and decent 4 mbps camp wifi). There are primitive sites available but they are tightly packed, dusty, close to the very busy boat launch, and close to marshland (bugs and ticks). The CG swarms with families on the weekends, and lesser numbers of fishermen mid week. The lake is stocked with various game fish, and the area is crowded with fishing resorts. Many primitive camping spots like BLM and Dept of Wildlife are still shut down due to Covid-19, so we picked this location so we could explore the nearby wildlife refuges, looking especially for migrating Sandhill Cranes. Fishing: https://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/locations/lowland-lakes/potholes-reservoir. You can rough camp at any of the unimproved boat ramps, but they tend to be close to busy roads and crowded with fish folk. Not super relaxing, but free. Or you can book a spot at a number of RV resorts. There are a dozen or so rough water access points in the surrounding wildlife refuges, they tend to be very lightly used by fishermen with very small craft, and rather remote. A lively ORV area is located at the north end of the reservoir close to the city of Moses Lake, much of it is off limits during bird nesting season, but from July through September it is wide open sand paddle mayhem. If you want to tool around in your 4wd truck, air down and be sure to wear an appropriate flag if you get off the main routes..... https://www.grantcountywa.gov/SHERIFF/SpecOps/ORV/ Thirsday night the park was half full and dead quiet, by Friday night it had filled up and hordes of young people circulated on ebikes and screamed at each other. Arriving parents tooted their ahoohgah or locomotive airhorns (!!!) to announce their arrival, and set up their party spots. Social distancing and masks were notably absent. We spent a couple of mornings looking for birds and wandering the isolated and rough gravel roads and sandy tracks. No camping allowed in any of the cool remote spots.... We had our two labradoodles along, usually they stay at home. We discovered a vast number of juvenile ticks on them after one hike along a marshy area.... Oh joy. My newly installed iPad Mini BSMS aka battery/ solar monitoring station worked great, but it definitely needed to be powered down at night: This is not turning out to be the greatest of trips, but I really enjoy driving the remote back country. The higher spots, such as lookout towers, are still snowed in under many feet, so a desert destination works best this early in the season. John Davies Spokane WA

I thot snowball was the overland edition.

Man, I feel like I've made some version of that post 50 times. Probably have. I need a new schtick.

We've done three of the 'classic' overland trails since we've gotten our Ollie, and driven each keeping the trailer in mind and whether we could have taken it. The answer in all three cases was mostly no, but never would the suspension have been the limiting factor. On the White Rim Trail, tougher tires would have been needed, but that's irrelevant since the trailer is too long - you'd never make the switchbacks. El Camino del Diablo - tires on the lava section, but the real limits are width and sand. It can also be super muddy at the wrong time of year. That's probably the most borderline trail you could do. If you went slow, did some recon, took good sand mats and an extra spare, and are OK buffing out scratches from palo verde, I think you could do it. Actually portions of that "trail" are a joke (as are the videos of people acting like it's some huge three-day adventure). It was a 4-hour trip for us, though granted we were flying - the border patrol keep some sections super wide and smooth as glass. On the Mojave Trail, the limit is sand, and lots of it in some sections, or mud on the lake bed, if it's rained. I think there's a really steep section, too, that we never found. All the other trails that we went down in Mojave are sandy, but not 4WD sandy; so, easily done with an Ollie in tow, if you're just looking to camp out in the nowhere. And even the Mojave Trail, if it's dry and you want to take your Ollie out on the playa for some instagram photos, no issue. Bring a dog. Playa, trailer, labrador - Instagram? Instagold! Kill me. And I've been on other bad trails and never once has outright clearance been the concern. Even with smaller tires, the trailer has better clearance than most trucks. And if it's bumpy, you just go slower. I think these big suspensions on some trailers is little more than eye candy for offroad nerds. That's not to say that the trailer couldn't benefit from a somewhat softer suspension, which of course requires some additional clearance. But that's a tradeoff, since the softer the ride, the less stable the trailer becomes on the highway. Perhaps a combination of a softer suspension with a few more inches of clearance, plus an anti sway bar, would be the right solution. But, I personally don't see that as a special 'overland' package or anything. I think that it would benefit every trailer and is just something that Oliver should fix. And they should do it in an Oliver way, which would be practical and functional rather than just looking so. All that applies to the Elite 2. If you've got an Elite 1, flip the axle, put on some AT tires, and go. Take pictures. Just don't get mad at me when you get the bill for airlifting your Ollie off a switchback.

I have looked at the suspension many times and thought. If you were to unbolt the sub frame from the main frame. Use the subframe to recreate a new sub frame with the desired suspension then re bolt it back into place it should work. I would go with the setup of a black series trailer I think it is also a sub frame attached to the main frame. Ok i need a nap to much work already just thinking about it. 😫

Clean water is one of my OCD issues with camping. 🙂 Hard to believe that as kids, when out playing basketball or baseball we just drank from whatever neighborhood garden hose was available. 🙂 I put together a 3 stage system similar to the ClearSource unit, but for about half the cost. The first stage is the usual Camco bullet style filter that you see everyone using hanging on the campsite faucet. That filter is a 20 micron size filter rating, and pretty decent chemical removal. After that I use a 5 micron cartridge filter and then a 0.5 micron carbon block cartridge filter, both in Camco filter housings and mounted into a milk crate, to do additional filtering/finishing. The milk crate also is used to store all the hoses, fittings and pressure regulator when traveling. Quick connect fittings on everything to make setup and tear down very fast. The system does create a bit of a pressure drop/flow restriction, but the flow at the faucets is still good. And with the filter ratings of the 3 sequential filtration stages it pretty much removes everything as far as sediment and common chemicals.

The main problem with a HUGE battery bank on a tiny trailer is how the heck do you recharge it? The Ollie lithium option does not even include any Tow Vehicle charging. If the sun is not shining and you are not connected to shore power or a running sizable generator, your depleted batteries will stay that way. The whole system needs to be balanced, input and output. John Davies Spokane WA

TAXA Mantis: these rather odd looking but HIGHLY functional offroad trailers are now available in an Overland spec..... https://taxaoutdoors.com/habitats/mantis-overland/ The only thing they forgot was disk brakes. Come on Oliver, we need better running gear. I would have paid an extra $10,000 for these factory installed parts..... John Davies Spokane WA

Or you could strap a sturdy truck top camper like the Four Wheel Campers to a capable truck and be done with it. I get the lure but I suspect one has more exploration potential in many really rough areas w/o having the added challenge of a trailer...

I think it's really a tough decision for people, today, trying to complete that build sheet. Back in 2008, we were absolutely delighted to have TWO batteries, instead of the usual one,for trailers our size, in our Oliver. On a sliding tray, no less. It's also easy to get caught up in the dream, and add more than you will ever want or need. And, it's hard to weigh future cost, and advances, on new tech. One thing is certain, everything changes. Like BoB, we may just stay with AGM when our latest set dies. I don't know yet. Paul has this idea to build lifepo4 from cells, for the boat house bank. It will need replacement batteries before the trailer, I'm sure. We'll see what we do. That's at least a year off. The biggest advantage for lifepo4 is weight, on the boat. And, no maintenance. As we get older, passing 70+ pounds each of battery across the gangplank (and water) gets more difficult, and risky. I'm much more comfortable with the 30 pounds or less weight of lithium equivalents. The good news is, latest charger/inverters and controllers can deal with most any kind of battery chemistry. So, we're just trying to second guess/future-proof as best as we can. Learn as we go, and keep life as simple as possible.

I added to the kitchen storage with this little item from Aldi. (Bought it last year, on discount. About $12.) It came with four small cutting boards, but I put two away for future use, leaving me more room for hard to corral kitchen tools. It only takes up a few inches of the little tabletop, but holds all my knives, and all my tools. Fairly heavy, with nice nonskid feet. I'll shove it in the closet or a bin for travel. It's like gaining an entire drawer, for me, and made room in the odd drawer for my new little wok pan.

Yep - My AGM's are good for a while. I am pretty sure if buying new - I would still do same. RB

I don't believe it would all that difficult. Build a subframe to fit directly under the current Ollie frame - add whatever you desire in inches to gain some ground clearance. Fab up the Timbren stuff as needed, Jack up Ollie, remove the running gear, slide the new under, bolt it up, and verify all the measurements and square. Change out the hitch to Lock n roll. Put your super cool new wheels and tires on - go try it out - Simple right?? Ha - just do it. But not me, RB Ps, If I could afford this - I would self insure..... just sayin..

Snowball is the “overland Overland” aka “overland squared” edition, Did you know that you can buy a LAND ROVER Hood Decal and easily make an OVERLAND sticker out of it? Buy two of them and you can spell OVERLANDER. Or this.... I think one of those beside snowball’s entry door would look very classy... John Davies Spokane WA

I was just told it was a new battery size option. No other enhancements, other than the axle, awning, etc., for 2022 model year builds beginning Oct 2021.

I know. I wasn't trying to be snide, either. It's a good thought for their future. Changing up markets, at this point, when production is sold out into 2022, would probably not happen. At least, my opinion. Like I said, cool trailer . If I were 20 years younger, it might be on my radar.

Portable generator, $400 to $1500. Pick what you like.

I’ve also been looking at the incremental upgrade cost on the current price sheet...turnkey when new is nice, but also wonder what two more years of lithium evolution will bring. Solar wet cell... (EZ Start and 3000 inverter skews it a bit) to AGM = $1200 to 390 Lithium =$5100 to 630 Lithium = $9500

thanks for the input...i can learn to be an energy miser.! ....300ah ought to be plenty.

Will there be 27 of them...with a paragraph on the back of each one explaining...?

We’re heading out in a few weeks for KY, TN, AL and AR. We’re going to do some Bourbon trail touring. We’ll be home a few weeks in June the will be in Colorado the month of July. Our COVID shots are done as well. As far as I’m concerned we’re back to normal. Mike

We are pulling "2 Hobos" out of the barn (Hobo Hideout) at the end of April and will head south from VA. Stops include: Charlotte, NC to visit some friends. Beaufort, SC (my hometown) for a few days. Then on to Jekyll Island, GA to just to hang out on the beach. Next: St. Augustine, FL for five days of bouncing around FL to visit old haunts and some friends. After that we move up towards AL for the unofficial owner's rally with a stop along the way at a HH overnighter. We'll be at Lake Guntersville for four days and then head back to VA with another stop along the way at another HH location. Currently, I'm in the barn installing propane gas monitors, greasing the axles, checking tire lugs torque, etc. Next week I roll it out and dewinterize it wash it, then put it back in to wax and detail. Donna already has most of the camping cloths, seasonal decor, etc. in the trailer. We're anxious to get back on the road. We have had both of our Covid shots (completed 22 Feb). Big trip in the fall will be planned around a wedding in Nebraska so we'll be looking for suggestions of places to stay and see along the way from VA. We'll probably head west for a while either before or after the wedding. Probably end up in Wyoming/Montana area before turning back east.

HA! My version, and I say this out loud to people and rap an imaginary cane hard on the floor as I say it: "Back in my day, we didn't have [insert newfangled thing]. We didn't have the number three. But by God we made do." Then I start talking about how my mom, in the Pleistocene Era, got a just-created "microwave oven" and we all stood 10 feet back from it when it was on, lest we end up glowing in the dark.

Sounds like a great feature. But some of the old timers will weigh in..... 😆 ”Back in my day we didn’t need any of that new fangled technology. We used to push the trailer into the campsite by hand, barefoot, in the snow, uphill, at night, while fighting off wolves, with a beer in one hand...” 😆

So, most projects are complete. Last big two left: take the Oliver in next week to get the two fogged windows repaired in Hudson, and then, restock and reset the empty camper. I'm starting the reset with the cupboards, as in paper, plastics, cleaning supplies. I'll wait on the rest til the Oliver is back home. Sailing season is almost over. Let the camping begin!

We had the full service done in Feb. 2021 and were very pleased with the service. Even though our Ollie was only 7 months old we wanted to get on a winter rotation of yearly service and we had a few issues that needed to be fixed from our pick up in July 2020. We had 2 drawers that were not smooth operating and the access port cap on the curbside bed would not line up. The threads on the cap and the port were slightly warped and impossible to screw closed once opened. They replaced the access port with a new 2021 model port which is a quarter turn type closure. The service was all caulking, lubing valves, testing gas fittings, testing water connections and pump pressure, and axle greasing and repacking bearings. ( I may have forgotten something since I do not have the ticket in front of me) Our total bill was $1,138. We have had $70 bucks of shop supplies or other charges included with that. All of the warranty work was not charged. I am sure that a person with knowledge in the appropriate areas could do the work on their own and save the money. I know I am a great helper doing almost anything but not totally confident in doing something on my own, so it was worth it to me to have Oliver do the work. I did purchase a premium camper that I intend on using for many years and just figured this is an expenditure that is worth it to me yearly. I will say that I have read where some new owners have had some issues with quality and not pleased with problems during there break-in periods, and I fully understand their frustration. Sherry and I have been extremely happy in the quality of our Ollie. The 2 issues we had were fixed when we brought it back in and the time the service people talked with us was great. I will tell you the feeling I had when I drove away was not the same feeling I have when I have left other camper repair shops. Hope this helps!

Maybe, but at this rate I do expect that by 2025 the manual will just state that the "trailer" is not intended for actual use. I'm hoping that this was just an editing error, even though I agree that tank water are bad.

Hi Everyone, You may have noticed some members with a different name markup (Bolded) and user group Member+? This is a new user group created that helps identify members that are highly active on the forums. These members have over 200 posts and have become fairly well known around the forums to everyone and staff. There is no real benefit, no extra permissions, but it is fancier and an incentive to be active in the Oliver Owner's community. If you have over 200 posts and have not been automatically promoted to this user group, then you need to logout and then log back in so the automated system can upgrade the account. If you have any other trouble or questions please feel free to private message me. In the future there may be more user groups to be automatically promoted to as the forums grow. This is a common practice to adapt to a growing community. Thanks y'all and have a good day!

I can confirm that the state park north of Ouray has daily site fees, vehicle fees, and coin operated showers. We stayed there for a week during the summer of 2019 while attending a Land Cruiser event based out of Ouray. This is a photo of the view out of our Oliver door.

Come May - More time planned for Utah, CO, and AZ. Less driving - more staying is this years goal. Come Dec - life turns around. Seasons of year will not matter! RB

Three camping seasons now with the Pur, and it continues to impress me. It is an inexpensive solution. Try it for a while, and if you feel the need for a more intensive setup for the trailer, use the pitcher at home or gift it to a relative. John Davies Spokane WA

Outside we use a 3 stage outboard filter from Clear Source which includes: Stage 1 Sediment, Stage 2 Block Carbon and Stage 3 a 2 u finisher. Inside we're using a Burkee Travel size.

Pat, We did it. The bed rails were $225 each and shipping to the west coast was $85. They attached with rivets and the installation was simple. We did not install the drawer/table between the beds. If you decide to do this, PM me and I can go over exactly how I installed them to keep them from squeaking. Before, Bed Rails and After pictures. Andrew