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For what it's worth, I am beginning to use my new trailer with the solar pro package, 390 amp hour lithionic batteries. Pulled into the campsite last night at 9:00 p.m., no hookups, batteries were 100%, according to the phone app. Used some lights, the water pump before calling it a night, and left the max fan on at about 40% all night long just to keep a little bit of fresh air flowing in the trailer. When I woke up, the phone app showed 91% on all three batteries

Hi John, I traveled to Bella Coola BC in 1972 when I was 10 yrs old in my uncle's Ford LTD. He had friends that owned a farm there. I remember it was a single lane gravel road about 300 miles, shared with big simi logging trucks. I actually felt a rock put a dent under the floorboard where my foot was. It was totally worth the drive and the most beautiful country I ever saw. You are correct, lots of grizzlies and first-time I had ever fished. I don't know what that road is like now but if logging trucks can make it and my uncle's Ford LTD, I'm confident you can too. Nicky Ray Las Vegas, NV

I have not, but it looks quite interesting. The Lander area is beautiful, as are the Wind River Mountains, but it is crazy busy in summer. There is a wonderful mustang preserve, Wind River Wild Horse Sanctuary, close by, we visited a couple of years ago, and went on an ATV tour out to meet the wild animals up close. If you don’t care for horses, don’t bother…. BTW Dubois is pronounced DEW-boys. not that panty-waist French pronunciation. 😬 FYI if you like urban boondocking, the city park in Lander is quite nice. My waypoint comments: “Free RV spaces, public toilets, no hookups,. tel:307-332-4647, NICE, NEXT TO POPO AGIE R, REASONABLY SECURE, lots of space, no sign in. Max 3 days.” And Popo Agie is pronounced Puh-PO-zha. The Sinks are cool, a few miles up the canyon. I spent an entire summer at the geology field camp further along, and drove that road daily. There are lots of camping areas up high in the National Forest. Most of the open land on the valley floor is Wind River Reservation, and not accessible. If you are headed up north be sure to visit the Buffalo Bill firearms museum in Cody. Upper Sunshine Reservoir near Meeteetse has 5 star boondocking. Cody is even crazy busier than Lander. Don’t even think of camping there unless you have reservations at the state park or an RV park. John Davies Spokane WA

You probably already saw this, but I'll put the link here for others: https://explorenorth.com/library/roads/bc_driving_routes.html Not all have the really great photo albums, like this https://explorenorth.com/library/roads/hwy37photos.html

We were not provided numbers, either. When I asked, Oliver told me they do not keep a record and that the only component requiring a serial number for warranty is the Dometic AC. Wrong. . . . . Dometic reuired a serial number for warranty on the cooktop; stove has to be removed to access the service sticker. Anytime I have called a vendor regarding service or warranty (RV related and other) the first thing they want is the model and serial#. The seria# tells the manufacturer a lot about the component. Those ordering now should ask in advance of production. I don't think this is too much as ask for a $70K trailer. Perhaps Oliver will decide this is important.

This would be a fantastic side trip on our next Alaskan foray. You're correct about the exhaust brake. There are many descents that I never touch the brakes, just coast all the way to the bottom. Sometimes it's miles, feels pretty good to get 99 mpg for 10 minutes or so. Of course, you have to pay it all back on the next accent.

Hi everyone! I wanted to share a plumbing episode that I experienced in Albuquerque, NM last year (6/2020) after getting it serviced in TN. After two (2) days of driving, I hooked up my WPS (water/power/sewer) connections at a KOA and had a major plumbing issue, or so I thought... After shutting the water off and inspecting under my curbside bed, I found the culprit. It seems that, the offending hot water line to this tee fitting was cut about a half-inch too short when installed at the factory. Mind you, this happened after a few thousand miles on the road and after a few bad miles on I-40 in Oklahoma before this manifested. After understanding just exactly why this happened, I contacted our good friends in the service department and Jason was able to offer some very helpful assistance. Luckily, there was a Home Depot just a few miles down the road and I was able to purchase a longer length of the same hot water line installed on the Ollie and Jason recommended the "SharkBite" brass fittings as a permanent replacement for the plastic ones installed at the factory. This was a quick and easy fix and I have had no problems or worries since. The SharkBite fittings are the best and I decided I didn't ever want an episode like this to happen again, so I later replaced every elbow and tee fitting in my Ollie with the SharkBite brass fittings. The Team at Oliver was great and reimbursed me for all materials for the tee that caused this problem. I came out-of-pocket and did the rest on my own. I highly recommend these fittings and wish they would have used these in the first place. Below are photos of my experience... Nicky Ray

So, Paul was very busy today. Took out the old microwave that died from lack of use, years ago. Since we almost never camp with power, I want to replace it with a storage cabinet. Has anyone done this as a retrofit? Or at purchase? Looking for ideas. I'd like to keep the 110 outlet, but not necessary. We'll pull the rest of the fitting bits and threaded rod, etc from the original install of the unused microwave., and "archive" them somewhere in the garage. The space occupied by the microwave is huge compared to the storage inside the actual microwave cavity. Kind of excited to create a new dish locker. Or something.. Originally, I had hoped to replace the microwave with s mini oven, but none of the European models that fit the space have even fair reviews. So, cabinet it is. Perhaps convert to an oven in five or ten years. We'll have a spare gas connection, as we are also replacing the three way fridge with a danfoss compressor electric refrigerator. Sherry

And, both were too much for this teenage girl, or so thought Mom and Dad. Enter my six squirrel Maverick. A much less powerful ride, for the rest of high school and college. Lol. Good news, couldn't really go fast enough to get an expensive ticket, which I could not have afforded. I was the older sister. Taught all the young ones (but the youngest) how to drive a manual in the Maverick. Hence, clutch replacement in 4th year...😄 Dad helped me with that , though. Probably grateful that I gave the lessons, instead of him.

Yeah my mother’s Galaxy had the 450 V8 which was more than enough for a teenage boy 😀

Yes. My mom had the galaxy 500, upgrade from her little Falcon, but still 3 on the tree. Another great Ford landyacht. 😄 Lots of power. Just not as luxe as dad's Ltd.

Hi everyone... This is my first post in the forums. I became an Ollie owner on March 18, 2020 and haven't looked back. I'm a full-timer and I love my Oliver LE II and have zero regrets in my investment. I look forward to getting to know all of you and sharing my knowledge and experiences. This forum was a big help to me in the beginning, when I made my final decision to buy an Oliver LE II, sight unseen. Now I feel that I have something that I can share and give back to the community. Nicky Ray #612 - 2020 Oliver LE II 2020 Ford F-150 Platinum FX4

Spotted an Oliver Elite II going Westbound on I-68 through downtown Cumberland, MD. Looks like one of the older models. Black Dodge Ram 1500 Crew Cab with TN plates. The guy was driving like his hair was on fire...LOL, we could hardly keep up. Followed about 25 miles to our exit.

Yes, and my interior BC based mountaineering friends have said they like to have "bear bangers" along too, though you do have to know how to use them so as to avoid scaring the bear in a way that makes it run toward rather than away from you!

Thanks @John E Davies . We are at West Yellowstone headed to Cody. We have reservations there. The NMMV in DEWboyz was a little out of the way but it’s not often that we get to WY. I was about 2.5 hours from you a few days ago at Libby MT.

Welcome and I’m glad you are enjoying your Oliver! Full timers eventually end up with lots of insight and give great so we’re glad to have you here. Mike

Hi John, check this out... https://ferriesbc.proboards.com/thread/8185/northland-navigation-photos-discussion When we returned, we loaded our car on the Northland Prince Ship and went to Vancouver. This ship has long since been retired, maybe something like this may be an option if they have one now that has room for an Ollie?

I saw that the other day, I don’t quite understand why a miner would not have a proper self defense firearm in a “bear caliber” …. and/ or a satellite communicator. I have no sympathy for the guy, whatsoever. He is a loser who is very lucky to be alive. John Davies Spokane WA

Maybe don't share this article with her 😉 A Grizzly Bear Terrorized a Man for Days in Alaska. The Coast Guard Saw His SOS.

I just finished replacing those (2) high pressure hoses using those recommended by etrailer per my previous post. They seem to be much more robust and hopefully more immune to the elements. The OEM hoses were severely cracked as seen in the rather poor photo below. The next photo shows the replacement hoses. One tip should you need to replace these is to use PTFE type thread sealer (like OATEY'S) on the pipe threads.

For your viewing entertainment, here are the Top Gear guys driving beater 4x4s up Bolivia’s Death Road. Nearly 15,000,000 views so far 😬 You gotta watch out for those white Land Cruisers…… That kind of reminds me of Going to the Sun Road in Glacier. Bolivia's Death Road | Top Gear | BBC John Davies Spokane WA

So, there's a new player out there in RV AC-- GE. 13,500 and 15,000 btu models. A few rv manufacturers are using them in new units, so we should have some meaningful reviews soon. I found a few on GE's own website, very mixed on noise level, and too many reviews stating the 15k stopped working after a couple months. 13.5k had only a handful of reviews, most very good. To be fair, many of those saying the ac was noisy were new to rving. Many who said it was relatively quiet had owned rvs before. No decibel ratings that I could find, anywhere. https://www.geappliances.com/appliance/Exterior-RV-Air-Conditioner-15k-ARC15AACB https://rv-pro.com/features/ge-appliances-makes-inroads-rv-segment/

Looks like an interesting and scenic drive. Seems like the exhaust brake on a diesel truck would come in handy on the descent. I’ll wait for the after-action report from those brave enough to go! I still want to do Alaska, but when…..? Mike

I tow slow, mainly because I have been scared far too many times by wildlife crossing the road. Last summer I crested a blind hill to find three huge elk standing in the center of the two lane highway. Once you have experienced a panic stop like that you won’t even consider 80 mph, regardless of how many fences there are along the shoulder. If you do choose to tow fast, make very sure that your trailer brakes are actually working correctly. And have you ever even tried a full on emergency brake test? That will wake up any passengers….. Normally I cruise at 62 mph, it seems to be the sweet spot in terms of power, minimal downshifts and keeping up with traffic. I avoid Interstates entirely, unless I have no other choice. The fast guys are very welcome to pass me. I won’t mention mpgs, it is too embarrassing. Land Cruisers are known gas hogs because of the full time 4wd system, high ground clearance and lack of aerodynamic add-ons. John Davies Spokane WA

So we were due to pickup in Feb. We prefer to boondock but we have spent the past 2 months making reservations for state parks ( the ones that had openings) and such - mapping harvest hosts out....so we could Pick up our Oliver, sight see Georgia, South Carolina Florida, Alabama (Bellingrath Gardens has been on my list) Gulf Coast without have to worry about were or if there was boon docking available. Take the Natchez Trace Parkway from Miss to Nashville, ending up at the Oliver Rally in May. Then head back to Az. When we originally placed our order we wanted a particular color and pinstripe we had seen on the site but for a 2022 they were no longer offering that. It was disappointing but not a deal breaker. We really wanted to get a hull # under 1000. We would have been 1024. Still not a deal breaker. We were notified earlier today that a slot had become available - pick up the end of Sept. If we went for this today...it will be a 2021. We get the color , pinstripe and hull # under what we wanted. We both agreed .... fate! We are getting exactly what we originally wanted! The only difference between the 21 and 22 will be the bearings - we will have to do the maintenance instead of the no maintenance ones on the 22. We already do that so no big deal. So we will be hull # 914 and be picking up the end of Sept. We have so many items on backorder sure hope they arrive but if not....we will make it work! Theresa

We are using beddys the prior owner actually gave us. They’re awesome! You do have to tuck the one side a bit so they aren’t necessarily custom, but the zip feature makes our beds always look made very quickly. My husband and I are both a little OCD and having the beds not look cluttered is relaxing for us.

Yes, but they have sentimental value.

Technomadia's latest youtube popped up on my phone yesterday, discussing the flaws in their Travato. The ac (a Coleman Mach 10, old style) and its noise level and flimsy vents were some of their dislikes. Cheri mentioned both the new Coleman Mach 10 NDQ (NON DUCTED QUIET) and the Houghton unit from Advanced RV as possible replacements, noting the extremely high price of the Quiet AC from Advanced. I remembered this youtube from James at Fit RV, measuring the db from his Dometic Penguin, then the Coleman NDQ. I thought it might be interesting to compare with your numbers. https://www.thefitrv.com/rv-tips/the-pursuit-of-quiet-replacing-our-rvs-air-conditioner-again/ Sherry