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There's not really anything about buying, maintaining, or using a travel trailer that is financially responsible. My advice is to spend what you want, not more than you can afford, and enjoy your trailer. If you want to save money, forgo the trailer entirely - $70,000 pays for a lot of hotel rooms.

I am a bit surprised that Truma would publish technical numbers in a marketing document that show little to no comparative advantage. While anything better would be a huge improvement over the Penguin II, the fact that they're A/C mode only, and will surely carry the typical Truma cost premium/tariff, puts these at a significant disadvantage beside the Houghton units. Maybe this is why they are only being made "available on select new RVs" from partener OEMs and are "currently not offered on the aftermarket" for retros by/for us folks. From an OEMs perspective, the Aventa features are sure to gain them points with the RV buyer, where a higher per unit cost is just passed on and buried. Beyond the sale, the end user costs of admission associated with Truma products are of little concern to the OEM. Absent a heat mode, the Aventa is of no interest to me as a replacement unit and Truma's marketing strategy just further stymies desirability. But, if I were in the market and Oliver offered a completely integrated hot water/heating/cooling solution, I'd bite. (provided the hot water component included recirculation of course) I really like the Aquago Comfort as far as it goes. If the A/C and heating products perform as well, Truma quality alone is worth the price to me.

Some of us mod because we want to. Others don't. That's ok, too. It's really up to you. In our 14th season, some things have (unsurprisingly) needed replacement. Others, our choice.

Unfortunately I’m always trying to perfect/customize everything I buy, especially hobbies/toys. Trying to avoid the F’s because I don’t like to rent…However, the force is strong and I’m well on my way down the spiral. Thought I was safe with an RV, I guess not.

We, too, are in the minority and are traveling with an almost teenager in our Elite II twin bed model. The dinette conversion has worked very well for us and has proven to allow enough space. I've found there is the feeling of a bit of division when in the trailer from front to back and we all have our own areas. You could also easily put in a curtain on a tension rod to create even more of a separation if wanted. We generally leave the dinette converted for the duration of each stay, use it as a sitting area during the day and only convert back to table when needed or packing up to leave a site. While a sleeping pad on the floor works OK when there happens to be more than the three of us, it isn't ideal and I've wondered about securing some sort of foldable bunk platform on the dinette base that could be completely removed. The fiberglass Parkliner, which is no longer in production, had a removeable bunk above the dinette in one of their models that you could search out and possibly try to replicate in some way. Interested to see what your solution is if you decide on an Oliver.

5.334157984146174

I just received another new product announcement from Truma. For those interested, here is the link provided.

I have not posted in a while. My Oliver family has had me very busy in the shop. We are getting ready to go camping and then head to Greece for a 10-day vacation. I will be suspending my crafting for the month of August and will start back up the first week in September. I plan to ship all orders through August in the next week. New orders will begin shipping in mid-September. Below is my current challenge, a 35” x 22” x 1.4” Lagun tabletop in black walnut. While this sounds simple, the challenge is in the weight. Lagun Table Systems have a maximum weight of 50 pounds. It includes the top and any items you are going to place on it. My target weight of 15 pounds for the finished top leaves 35 pounds for day-to-day use. The walnut blank I started with 35” x 22” x 1.4” thick weighed in at 29 pounds. I decided to back cut the bottom in three sections down to ¾” thick, with 1” wide edges and two cross supports. It came in at 15.2 lbs. Beautiful to look at, light as can be, and engineered to be strong for a lifetime of use.

I am not referring to member Overland, though I bet he has spent even more than I have on his Ollie and Raptor, but to the huge financial hole you dig for yourself when you transform an off-the-shelf truck into a capable overlanding/ adventure vehicle. It is way more costly than doing the same for a motorcycle, that term is "fully farkled" F.A.R.K.L.E. -- Fancy Accessory Really Kool Likely Expensive I keep track of everything I do to "Mouse" in a road travel log/ service spreadsheet ... https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/2774-how-to-davies-rv-travel-log-service-inventory-spreadsheet-excel-numbers/ .... mostly for when the time arrives to sell him; for that I created a simple "For Sale" doc that lists everything, as it might appear in a classifieds ad. I have resisted until today in adding everything up. I knew it would be pretty high. An RV is not as bad as a boat AKA "Hole In The Water That you Throw Money Into", but still.... this excludes any labor time, it is parts only.... nor does it include any special tools or materials that were needed. If you would like to see the entire doc, for entertainment purposes, or if you would like to use it as a template to make your own sales ad, feel free: **2017 Oliver Legacy Elite II “Mouse” Hull 218 FOR SALE Info Rev 08:06:21.pages.zip FYI, I do not have any plans to sell "Mouse" any time soon, and please do not tell my wife about this thread. John Davies Spokane WA

Since I'm dealing with a number of messy issues with my new to me LE2, I wanted to shift my attention and share with y'all a couple recent mods that I'm proud of. Some were the genius of others on this forum that I copied and some are my own.

If you ship, be sure to get it shrink wrapped and put on a flat bed truck. There is an awful lot of really nasty chemicals between your place and Tennessee in mid winter, that can destroy the finish on your aluminum frame. I personally would not do it….. You could take delivery in person, then after three days in TN checking all the systems, take the southern route through TX, and then up I-5. If you don’t rush it, and wait for systems to pass, and the roads to dry, you should have no major trouble. Message Susan - https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/profile/3706-ray-and-susan-huff/ They towed their Ollie back to SW Oregon in December. Successfully. John Davies Spokane WA

That’s a pretty amazing list of accomplishments..big and small.

I had a link sent to me from Truma to their AC announcement. (Guess I'm on a mailing list.) Link to Truma AC page: https://go.truma.net/aventaThe graph (down below) is of current consumptions and makes it look like it's much quieter than the competitors at first glance...but what's being graphed is Current. Sound levels are in the notes for each portion of the graph. Looking only at noise levels vs. fans speed you would see this chart. They didn't state which competitor they are comparing to... Just passing along what I found. Craig

I suspect that if you weighed everything that you've introduced to that vehicle since 2018, you'll find that your payload capacity is full... Andersen hitch 60 pounds Oliver Tongue Weight 600 pounds Two slightly overweight adults and a 100 lb dog 460 pounds Two mountain bikes 60 pounds Mountain bike roof rack 30 pounds These things alone will put you over 1200 pounds. That still gives you almost 400 pounds to play with, but be careful if you are overloaded and have an accident your insurance company could abandon you. Please watch this video, it should open your eyes.

15.257 X square root of 13 divided by 12 + .75

I don't know the "born on date" of the LP/CO monitor in our previous Leisure Travel Van, but the LTV was build in 2016. We had several false alarms before LTV replaced it with a new one. Seems that in 2016, there was a batch of defective Atwood monitors. Perhaps your 2015 model was one of these. Good thing is, these are inexpensive to replace and fairly easy to install.

There are a few posts about delivery, here: https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/search/?q="Painted cowboy transport"&updated_after=any&sortby=relevancy&search_and_or=or We're in the south (Florida), so we picked ours up, in February 2008.

Dust to Glory 2005 Trailer There is a sequel Dust 2 Glory, I have not seen it, it has much higher quality video (drones instead of copters) but I have heard it is a little lame. Bruce Brown also did the original On Any Sunday that kick started the dirt bike craze when I was a little bit younger…. it prompted me to sell my Norton Commando 750 Sportster and start dabbling in enduro racing in 1972…. John Davies Spokane WA

So I’ve got 2021 F150 and still learning features. In the FordPass app there is feature that runs a light check for you. Nice to avoid getting in and out of truck to check when you are solo so thought I’d share.

Across the back is an interesting solution that no one else has proposed. Maybe a youth sized bottom disco bed? 62" long, 11" of height for your feet underneath, and supports 200 lb. It could be quickly folded and stored during the day, keeping the cabin more "open " for seating. Lightweight. Useful later when the kids want their own tent. You'd probably have to add some flat d-rings (and lashing or carabiners) somewhere on the benches to keep it from moving around .