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Welcome to the "family". As you have already gathered, there are really no strangers here. You can ask questions, and you can expect many different answers, some may actually be correct. Welcome from Maine, and hull #211...

Hello, we are Mike and Sue Mroz from NC. Both of us will be retired next year. We are looking forward to realizing one of our long-time goals: to travel the 49 states and Canada. We will not become full-timers but we expect to spend a lot of time camping including some boondocking. While we have never owned an RV, we have done a good bit of tent and cabin camping. Having no ownership experience in RVs, after much discussion we decided on getting a relatively small two-axle travel trailer. Requiring quality, we focused on Airstream. Eventually fiberglass caught our attention and shortly afterward we discovered Oliver. After much research including a lot of time studying the Oliver forum and university, and a factory tour, we decided on an Elite II twin. We ordered in October and will pick up hull #850 on 7/21. Looking forward to becoming part of the Oliver community! It’s a pleasure to read the very informative forum. Almost feels like we know the regulars. Looking forward to meeting you!

August is the hottest month in Texas. I hate August and I live in the Dallas area. I have no plans to camp near home that time of year. Typically we have highs at or close to 100 and lows around 80 if lucky. Have I mentioned I hate August in Texas 🙂 You should be fine in RV with AC running. If you don’t have pets Magnolia is really popular place to visit for the day in Waco.

Yes, it’s hot here in August. Also, it’s hot here in July and September. June wasn’t too bad. If you are at a full hookup site and can run the AC she would be comfortable, but might get cabin fever in that small space for days. Usually it’s cool enough to sit outside in shade in the morning and evening. A great place to stay just south of Waco is Mother Neff State Park. It’s small but is meticulously maintained with large sites and trees (all FHU). We’ve stayed there many times. We’re leaving tomorrow for a long trip and will be camping in north Texas tomorrow night. It can be done! Mike

I began my first real trip last week towing my Elite I with my 2014 Tacoma 4x4, 3.6L V6, all stock. The truck has been at its limit, I think, going mostly along I40/Route 66. I am in Casey Illinois right now. There are 156,000 miles on my Tacoma. The 4Runner has the same engine, but is it a similar chassis? I mostly tow in 4th gear (the shift lever to the left when in D). Hills have been no real problem, although I do slow down a bit. The transmission is there for the correct gear, so downshifting to third and an rpm of 3,000-3,200 is appropriate, to me. I cruise at about 65-70 when allowed, rpm about 2,500. I do know that the trailer is there, which for me is okay. Handling is fine. No issues. Using the Tekonsha P3 brake controller that is plug and play. 10 minute installation. This is my first real trip, other than towing it home. Home was strictly on I40 - to Barstow, then to Los Angeles. This trip I have been on back roads, small highways and interstates. stayed in Branson, Mo for a few days - first time. I had the truck, so I am using it. When it turns about 200,000 miles I will probably get a new truck, which I am thinking about now. Not sure what to buy, or if I should think about an SUV-type vehicle, such as a LandCruiser, Tahoe or? I will replace the Tacoma with something that provides a bit more substance for towing, and a bit larger for my 6' height. The new Ford Hybrid looks enticing, although it is also a V-6. Gas mileage has been a dismal 12-13, although it is usually not too good at 18 mpg. I don't let the tank get below 1/4, so I am filling up about every 180 miles, which I am justifying as a good resting point. I am happy for "cheap" gas outside of California, where it is close to $5/gallon. My eastern plan is Brunswick, Maine, via Lake Erie. There will be hills along the way, and I may have to drop into 3rd gear a few times. That is okay. I don't see that as a strain on the engine when using the proper gearing. And the load is okay. I don't travel with a lot of stuff. If the Canadian border is open, I'll go home along the border, in Canada, just because, to the Dakotas.

Hi Ollie owners. My name is Fred, and i just happened upon Oliver Travel Trailers last week. I've joined the forum to find out all I can about them. I currently camp and boondock in a converted 6 x 13 V-nose enclosed cargo trailer which I bought new in 2016 when I retired. I did all the conversion work myself, and it is fully outfitted with all the creature comforts. It was a fun project, but it is a camper for one. I recently married, and it is not suited for two. My wife and I plan to visit the factory and see an Elite II when we pass through Tennessee next month. Until then I will soak up all I can from the forum.

Many of us here in Ollie World are familiar with the beautiful woodwork of fellow Oliver owner Foy Sperring. Not long ago he introduced an extended dinette that adds 5” to the length, it’s been a very popular model. Our 2021 Oliver Elite II was ordered without the fiber granite (not an option on 2022 models), so we could invest that money into Foy’s woodwork. Andrew K suggested to me the dinette could be improved by adding 2” width on each side. We took a chance and asked Foy to make us a complete set of tops and cutting board in walnut. We also ordered the drawer organizers. We are thrilled with the outcome! The extra 5” length, 4” overall dinette width, is a good size, and looks great too. It’s amazing how much extra space is now available to us for dinner, and we don’t have to scoot way forward on the seat cushion to eat. The walnut looks terrific, but I think mahogany or other woods are beautiful too. This dinette top will not work as a bed, but we still have the fiberglass top if we take the grandchildren camping. We are very grateful we have a master craftsman like Foy on our team, I strongly recommend his products.

If you can establish a relationship with a reputable local independent you should get good service. Our local repair shop has seen business increase significantly the past 12 months and he is always backlogged but seems to be able to get me scheduled in a timely manner. He’s been doing maintenance on my Oliver for 5 years and on Bugeyedriver’s Oliver for probably 12 or 13 years. Mike

Thank you and blessing to you. Dwain

John, I agree with your comments about trip hazard, and safety for small heaters. Does the unit have a fan that circulates the heat or is it radiant only? If this pans out for you, I'm sure many will want to have it in their "to do list" of updates. Craig

Looks good! We have the REI roll up table - I wish it had that extra mesh netting.

Pretty sturdy for what it is. Holds my grill just fine, but I don't think I would want to put too much more weight on it. Like so many things these days, if you are gentle with it you can make it last.

The California HP officer was unimpressed with this diy mobile install, on a Prius (hood!) https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/california-highway-patrol-tickets-driver-with-apparent-spacex-starlink-dish-bolted-to-car-hood/ar-AALI9V2

I have been reading about the Camp Chef Ranger II 2-Burner Stove works on RV Low pressure. You will just need to get a flared female to quick connect male fitting. I just ordered one from Cabelas for $120 (shipping free). I will post how it works for heating up a pan of water. Here is a good review for a 3 burner: https://popupbackpacker.com/champ-chef-ranger-iii-stove-almost-perfect/ The 2 burner is the same exact design as the 3 burner only 2 burners and 10 lbs lighter.

Welcome! You’ve got a classic trailer! Mike

Thank you Mike and Jill for the kind word regarding my craft. This was a great project, black walnut is just so beautiful and I really love the way it turned out. Here are two pictures of the standard size dinette on top of your Mega-dinette for comparison.

Your Hull # 036 was one of only ten Elite I's built as 2009 models, although it was delivered to its first owner in August of 2008.

We've just recently become the third owner of #36, we call her 3-Dozen. In most details its seems as good as new to us. We're thrilled to be in the OTT community now and know we have many great years of adventures ahead.

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.

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.

I don’t consider my Oliver “old” or even “older” although it is over 5 years old with over 60K miles on it. Comments while out camping are that it looks new and most are surprised at its age. Wash and wax after each trip and it will keep its shiny new look. 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.

Yes, that's her!

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

I guess that would qualify you and Tali as "rolling stones".😎 Mossey

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

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.

We’ve been using a refillable one gallon tank for a long time with our stove and portable grill. We keep a few green cylinders handy as backup and for when we’re using both grill and stove at the same time. We’re often using these far enough from our camper that I wouldn’t want to run a long hose and I wouldn’t want to be constrained to be close enough to the camper to use the built in quick connect.

It's orange-barrel season out west, and in the last 5 miles of a 6,500 mile trip we picked up some newly chip-sealed pavement from I-84. Not just a little tar, but an entire piece of roadway. Thick, gooey stuff. It incapacitated our rig. After removing the worst of it, we drove about a mile to an off-freeway parking lot, where the road contractor (responding to my substantial fuss) and I removed another 14 lbs of tar and gravel from the left side TV and trailer tires. Next day I went to the Commercial Tire store, which sells Cooper tires, to make sure there was no lasting tire damage. The fella told me that the tires were OK, but that the Oliver tires are truck tires (no surprise -- I knew that) but that truck tires shouldn't be used on trailers. He said they are not designed for the sideways scrubbing that occurs when turning, and that excess scrubbing can lead to tread separation. He said trailer tires ("ST" for "Special Trailer," instead of "LT" for "Light Truck) are meant to handle sideways scrubbing, but do not come in the size of tire that is installed on the Oliver. I wanted another opinion, so I took the rig to another tire dealer (Les Schwab, a regional shop), and the guy said "don't worry about it." He said they see truck tires on trailers all the time, without problem. So there you have it, FWIW. Just thought I'd share. Opinions? p.s., tires look clean again, after driving a couple hundred additional miles. I drove very slowly both prior to scrubbing (had to: the tires were too unweighted) and after scrubbing, to avoid slinging any remaining tar onto that new, freshly waxed hull. There are mudflaps in our future. p.s.s: The first tire dealer also said that they'd recently seen a couple cars with so much tar in the wheel wells that the wheels would not turn, and if the tar sets up (which in our case it did not) it completely ruins the tires.

My SMEV cooktop gave me fits for a bit. The front bigger burner started throwing a yellow flame, sooting the bottom of thectea kettle, and made a funny smell and hissing noise. I turned it off. Tried the small back burner. Which gave the customary clean blue flame, but takes forever to boil water. So, likely not bad gas, since the other burner worked fine. Probably not the regulator either,, since that would affect both burners. Probably was not the proper air to gas mix, so emitting soot and yellow inefficient flame, and Carbon monoxide, as well. Searched all over the net for a few days, looking for a service manual or a youtube from someone with a similar problem. Came up mostly empty-handed. Searched forums, and finally found a few suggestions. Remove the cap and clean the jet and orifices. (Cap screws are stripped, and immovable ) Or, adjust the air slide, to improve gas to air ratio. (Smev doesn't have one.) I was about to give up, and spend $90 on a new burner, which, surprisingly, is still available, for my old unit. Tired of waiting forever for the tea kettle to boil on the small burner, I got out an old toothbrush and ran it around. Got a bit of carbon, but still a yellow flame. Turned off the propane,, and burned it off. Got out a can of compressed air with the straw, and went around the whole ring. Took a long time to clean up the carbon mess, but got my lovely blue flame back.

That's great. Thanks so much.