Leaderboard

We had Hull #026 from 2008 to 2013 and I know it is still being used. We now own Hull #050, the oldest Elite II on the road. Its build was started in late 2013 and delivered as the first one in early 2014. Between these two trailers, we've traveled to 49 states and covered over 150K miles.

My LE 2 is hull 106. Still doing great and looks close to new. Just getting ready to add the Dexter EZ Flex kit. I have all the parts, but need to work it into the schedule. Most upgrades have been done by Oliver as far as camera, inverter, battery pack, etc. Steve R. NE Texas

You are correct about not finding the amp-hours (AH) specs spelled out online. However, I was able to find one bit of information about these batteries; they have a 25 amp reserve capacity (RC) of 140 minutes. This is enough information to calculate the amp hour rating. The reserve capacity of a battery is the number of minutes for which it can run at 25 amps of current without its voltage dropping below 10.5 volts. As all babies in jungle know, at 10.5 volts your batteries are dead dead. Voltage relates charge and energy by describing the amount of energy in each coulomb of charge. AH is a different unit for describing the same quantity. In order to convert RC to AH you first need to multiply the reserve capacity by 60 to convert it to seconds: 140 minutes x 60 = 8400 seconds Next multiply this length of time by 25 (amps): 8400 x 25 = 210,000. This is the number of coulombs of charge in the battery. Next divide this answer by 3,600, which is the number of coulombs in an AH: 210,000 / 3600 = 58, the number of amp-hours in the battery. So these batteries are 58 AH each, wired in parallel totaling 232 total AH or 116 usable AH (at the 50% discharge limit.)

When looking for RVs I quickly zeroed in on fiberglass trailers. I looked at Casita as they are so close. Interior was a no go. Just felt cheap and carpet a huge turn off. Same for Scamp. Escape seems like a step up from those two but still not the same and while 5th wheel interesting interior was a hard pass. No trailer is perfect but Oliver interior are like nothing else. Now it isn’t for everyone but I smile every time I step inside my Ollie!

There is not much maintenance on the factory solar. I wash it when we return from a trip. That’s about it. I’m up there cleaning the roof anyway, so it’s not a big deal. I’ve never done anything while on the road. Mike

I believe that the Jellybean has had three owners prior to Brandi. After the original owner, it was sold to a lady in Dekalb, IL. It then moved on to a family in Chicago. It returned to the factory for a while to be refurbished prior to Brandi owning it.

Thanks to Steve for the detailed explanation, and to Mossey’s point, true, the Lithium Iron Phosphate options are impressive for amp-hours vs. size and weight, but I’m not carrying the batteries around by hand 🙂 and we don’t boondock for extended periods like others, so I can’t justify the extreme cost of the lithiums for our camping style. The lead acid batteries are heavy, and old technology, but they are cheap, they work, mine haven’t needed much water maintenance at all, they don’t need pampered with a heater or cooling like the lithiums in cold or hot weather, I can easily get replacements on the road if ever needed, and because they are lower nominal full charge voltage, they do charge from my tow vehicle. Everyone has different camping needs. The lead acid setup has worked great for us.

Thank you Steve for that excellent explanation. You made it simple enough for me to understand. And the usable AH's aren’t much more than a single Battle Born 100 AH LiFePO4 battery. Mossey

With 3 stars for Overland! Mossey

That’s how it was explained by the factory.

I only know of one Ollie that’s definitely out of service - don’t know the number, but I’ve seen photos of it after being wrecked. It apparently flipped, the sides were scuffed badly and I think two corners had holes. I think the story was that it slid in the snow and hit a barrier. Honestly, to me it actually looked repairable though I’m no fiberglass expert. Or novice. I did make my own cast once after breaking my wrist though. 👨🏻‍⚕️ 😂 But I bet that Ollie is out there still, just waiting for someone to revive it. I think Oliver owns a handful of trailers that might be considered out of service. I heard that they were restoring the original one to go on display. Another Ollie has been converted to go on a flatbed truck, but I think that still counts as an active Ollie. Unless we lose ours down the side of a mountain or something, I plan on it lasting at least as long as I do.

Well, it does come with a few standard features the Ollie does not, like a rear receiver (simple weld-on the rear steel bumper?), but it only comes with a single 12 v AGM, and a whole bunch of options. I specced out their 21C using their Build page, picking a mid range of options similar to my hull. The base US$29k price went up to US$40k and they did not give ANY weight info. AC is not standard, nor is any kind of chassis/ floor insulation. I find it interesting that they include mudflaps on the base model, and they have an option for a composting toilet with a black tank and plumbing delete, Oliver won’t delete those parts….. I guess that is differences in code between Canada and the USA.. After the 121 degree F record set in BC last week, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lytton-fire-canada-british-columbia-evacuations/#app maybe they will make AC standard😳 John Davies Spokane WA

We ordered ours in 2016, a 2017 model. Guess we could consider ours to be an "older" model, as we heard #1022 is in the production pipeline. We camped with some 10 Olivers the first week of June. A couple of them were in the 100 range, and one was less than 2 weeks old. Hard to tell them apart. Still shined in the sun.

So that last graphic is funny to me because the parts of North Carolina that have "Carolina Clay" have red clay. "Carolina Sandhills " maybe...

"Brandi is second owner of #10, occasionally drops in here. Cutest, only red Ollie ever." aka "Jellybean"???

I agree with not wanting to spend vacation time doing maintenance. For this reason we like to keep things as simple as possible. I think solar panels contribute more to camping enjoyment than they detract with necessary maintenance.

Our window gaskets are black and we’ve not had any problems with them, no bleeding or streaks. I did have black streaks from the gaskets on the porch lights. I finally replaced the lights and cut my own gaskets out of a sheet of rubber and haven’t had any bleeding since. Mike

There are some, like us, who would be just as happy with a clean slate to "mod" our way. Others have no interest in boondocking, so why waste money on solar? Others would never think about a trailer without at least solar. It's all ok, because everyone is different. And has different needs and wants. There was a super clean early Elite in Texas awhile back, no solar, not even a furnace.. If my husband and I hadn't been so busy with so many other projects going on, we might have made that a permanent guest house at our camping property. I seriously lobbied for it. Someone else got the trailer of their dreams, and that's awesome. I'm super happy for them. It's sometimes hard to step back from your own situation, and appreciate the other guy's spot. But, it's what life is. Even camping life. Edit to add: If you don’t have a fave hockey team, please cheer for my Lightning. Thank you.

I’m sure there are lots of buyers out there looking for a non solar Oliver. This market is screwed up but the last non solar sold in two days (listed on this forum). One thing to consider is the depreciation of the batteries. I’m not going to pay top dollar for a set of six year old lithium batteries. That along with technology advances over time might not make much of a difference on trailer value down the road. If one needs the capability now by all means go for it…set it up for how you travel/camp.

I think most of our "old" Ollies are on the road, though few are active on the forum . Very few sold in 2007. My February, 2008 is still happily camping, as are we. I'm #12, original owner. Pete is #14, I think, 130,000 miles, also original owner. Brandi is second owner of #10, occasionally drops in here. Cutest, only red Ollie ever. #3 resold about a year ago. I have a couple friends with 2008/9 models in the 30s hull numbers. Original owners. We'll be camping with some of them this fall. Yup. Pretty sure, we still love our (older) Ollies. My husband and I have tweaked/experimented witha lot of things because of our own ideas. Others are pretty much original, or somewhere in between.

I have a friend who carries a small (100 watt, I think) flex panel, and a homemade pvc frame, adjustable. It's a neat solution for someone who uses very little power. Everything breaks down, and slides under the bed. We used SunPower flexible solar on our 600 watt (so far) installation on the boat's hardtop. Really nice, good production. Great reputation, and pretty affordable. As far as maintenance, a well-designed and well-installed solar system has a learning curve, and, after that, free clean power for decades . We mostly let the rain take care of cleaning, unless there are a lot of whirlys (spring) or leaves (fall) that the wind doesn't blow away. We have never, in six years, gone up on the roof to clean our home install. Rain does it all.

Isn't that plagiarism? 😁

Dan: One thing not mentioned that you might want to conside is the resale value of the Oliver. I noticed that on the Oliver classified forum one used Elite II took 5 or 6 months to sell that did not have solar panels when used Elite II's with solar sold within the same week listed.

We spent a few nights up at Bear Den. We really enjoyed the 2800’ elevation and much cooler sleeping weather and of course camp fires and great food.

On our way from Bardstown, KY to Fall Creek Falls State Park, TN we stopped by Hohenwald to see the new sales office and service area. We had a good visit with all the Oliver folks and were impressed with the new building. We stayed the night at Amber Falls Winery, a Harvest Host location. We’ve been to Amber Falls many times as a result of our visits to Hohenwald. We had a great tasting and a quiet evening in the vineyards. Camping in the vineyards. View from my chair. Filet Mignon with some Amber Falls Cab.