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In an effort to reduce any nicks or dings to the front of our Ollie we had 10 mil XPEL paint protection installed on the front corners, dog house etc. I also recently custom ordered a set of these “rock flaps” for our F250 Tremor TV from a fabrication shop called livelymachine.com. I just was not overly impressed by the other brand of rock tamers or rock stoppers that mount to the hitch for a number of reasons. These rock flaps mount up underneath the bumper directly into the receiver left and right side square openings on our F250 Tremor. A really nice fit and finish and very well made with aluminum powder coated tubing and all stainless hardware. Once mounted they are not going anywhere. If you are interested in pricing and shipping costs or have technical questions about rock stoppers please contact livelymachine.com. Cheers and Happy Towing!

We sold our Tiffin class A diesel pusher last spring and picked up hull 845 July 2nd. We have been living in Oliver since then and have logged about 3,000 miles. There have been a few issues with Oliver, and I expected there would be. One was Oliver’s fault. The ac plug on the fridge came loose. The factory had put a zip tie around the plug, but someone forgot to actually zip the tie. That was an easy fix as I had been reading the forums, thank you to everyone who posted about the ac fridge issue. The other two issues were parts supplier related. The auto switching propane regulator failed when it attempted to auto switch. It would not allow propane to flow from either bottle. Not good since we were boondocking. A trip to a hardware store to purchase a single regulator and attaching it to Oliver allowed us to use propane until Oliver sent a new regulator. The third problem was a bad smell inside the trailer. At first we noticed it only after a travel day. Then it gradually grew persistent. I tracked it down to the air admittance valve in the kitchen sink drain line. It is in the upper right hand corner of the cabinet behind the cook top. A piece of duct tape around the offending fixture confirmed my suspicion of the offending part. It looks to be a pita to replace I’m sure it’s code, but I’m not sure it’s needed in this application. We usually don’t have hookups so we don’t run large amounts of water down that sink. It may work fine without a vacuum break. Time will tell. Overall I am very happy with the trailer and it is living up to my expectations. We will be traveling for at least two more months I think we have the initial bugs sorted.

I’ll start a retirement go fund me to speed that along.

We're all waiting for Overland to retire so he'll manufacture his nifty sidemount invention for the Lagun for all of us... 😅

This may interest you - I think that most people would describe the counter space as minimal but adequate. Certainly we could get by without the extension, but it's one of those mods that we'd have a hard time giving up now that we have it. But people manage to cook in the small Ollie, and I've prepared plenty of meals on a rock next to a campfire, so really, you just adjust to what you've got and discover that it works fine. An option you might consider is the Lagun table but with one of the folding marine tops rather than Oliver's standard. They are typically lighter, larger, and more versatile. Sadly, the place where we got ours has closed, but if you google for 'folding marine table top', you'll find quite a few choices. We find that we're more likely to use the dinette table as additional counter space, particularly for staging things coming off and on the grill, drinks, etc. We use the Lagun for dining, which frees up the dinette for that purpose. You'll also find that the small counters at the fridge and pantry are surprisingly useful. This is our setup, and we're pretty happy with it - it's downright luxurious imo:

Well said! And I strongly urge anyone asking the question "how much can I tow?" to read Dave's statement above however many times it takes to fully understand what he is saying. I see the word "overkill" used a lot in this and other forums. In my opinion when it comes to breaking ability, weight of tow vehicle VS. weight of trailer and the amount of cushion or reserve left in the tow vehicles overall abilities that there is no such thing as "overkill" properly defined this would be "safer", "more reliable", "less stressful" and "much more enjoyable". I own a Ram One Ton and have towed 5th wheels, Gooseneck Equipment Trailers and Dump Trailers that are at the maximum of what my truck is capable of in all respects for decades..... In all of those situations myself and everyone around me in traffic were at a greater risk because of the fact my Rig was traveling at its maximum capacity... while capable and rated for it the fact remains its literally on the edge of disaster and I was responsible to keep it on the safe side of that edge every second. I do not consider this type of travel a vacation by any definition of the word. My reason for purchasing an Oliver is so that I can hook it up behind my One Ton and enjoy my drive more than I would with a 40' long 30,000lb 5th Wheel behind me so I caution those of you that are considering towing your Oliver behind any Rig that would be at its Maximum all the while you are in motion/driving for all of those same reasons. The physics are the exact same despite the gross weight being much different in the event of a sudden need to break or high wind or ice or another bad driver an Elk/Moose/Deer/Dog your still at a much larger risk of experiencing a catastrophic event that you could otherwise avoid with a larger tow vehicle that provides another type of "insurance" you cannot purchase from an insurance agent..... the ability to break, swerve and hopefully avoid a wreck in most cases. Good Luck to you all and please know we are not giving this advice because we want you to be just like us it is because we want the roads to be safe for you and for us and our loved ones and the larger your tow rig the safer we all are no doubt about it. Don't fall for the overkill hype!! Dan

The answer to your questions depends on how your wife perceives meal prep when camping. Does she have visions of "like at home" meal prep or is she willing to make concessions? That being said, at home I am an avid cook/baker. Our kitchen is spacious and outfitted with all the "necessary" tools that make meal prep and baking easier and more enjoyable. It would be disconcerting, to me, if I were to compare it to the Oliver kitchen. I am happy to shift my mind-set, when camping, and have found the smaller Oliver galley to be well organized, as efficient as prior larger RV kitchens (such as our 5th wheel), and an improvement over the like sized galley in our Leisure Travel Van. One trick I employ: We have a wooden bread board (a recycled pull-out board from my HS Home Ec Dept). My husband installed rubber feet on the bottom so it fits snuggly over the stove top. We actually made this for previous RVs and were able to reposition the feet to fit the Oliver. It protects it glass top of the stove, when not in use, extending counter space. When using the stove, I place the board on the bed next to the galley and use it to set things out of the way, until needed (if that makes sense). I also use the small counters (pantry and microwave cabinet areas) extensively during meal prep; the dinette table, not so much. We do not have the microwave, but rather carry a small toaster oven for cooking. I use the nightstand for it. Regarding meal prep outdoors: I do very little outside. I like being in the kitchen, where everything is handy and I don't have to carry a lot in and out of the trailer. Also, at certain times of the year, bees/yellowjackets/hornets can be very annoying when preparing food, and eating too, outdoors. Cooking outdoors is too much like tent camping; we have a great indoor kitchen and choose to use it. When downsizing from a larger RV (30ft 5th-wheel) I quickly learned a valuable lesson: in the smaller space, it is important for everything to have a place and keep things put away. This makes any task more manageable and reduces stress. I pack things so items oft used are easy to get to (without having to empty the contents of a cabinet/drawer to get them. We utilize the tow vehicle to store items not often needed to conserve interior storage. Just a few ideas . . . . . hope this helps.

Lily Bay, Greenville, Maine on Moosehead Lake is always a favorite...

We use this occasionally to add a little counter space. We also have one that goes over the sink, but seldom use it for that purpose because it limits sink use...

I agree with Mike - that's a strange behavior. Does the Xantrex log error codes that can be checked?

We picked up our LE2 this summer and have camped 20 days thus far. We have the twin beds and no lagun table. I too was worried about the meal prep space, 2 burner stove and no oven. We purchased a Weber Q2000 series to use outside when it’s not raining and frigid (we live in Vancouver WA). I have been happily surprised how functional the kitchen has been to use. The counter space for prep is better than the larger trailer we rented in the past. I utilize the covered area on the stove and the dinette table to place items when I’m doing the prep. (I do protect the stove cover from scratching with a cloth). Personally, I prefer the cooktop orientation sideways but that’s a personal opinion. Pam

We don’t have the lagun table or Overlands extension. We find there is adequate counter space for what we want to do. We do use the space on top of the fridge and the dinette table for big projects. I’ve often thought about doing Overlands extension project, it would be nice…. Mike

Here is my two bits (for what its worth?)- I started out in this rv world pulling a tiny camper that also hit near the extreme end of my towing capacity. I went ahead and did it. Once. My vehicle was at it's max "design spec" and acted like it. It's fuel range was at 150 miles. It was pulling its heart out. Stopping was there... but fortunately never had to really test it. I called a spade a spade.... decided all I was going to do was prematurely ruin a great SUV making it do something it wasn't really designed to do. This is not to mention the safety aspect that ... I have since come to realize was also border line. Towing vehicle weight, wheel-base, BRAKE power, tongue weight... and several other things, all were "border line". Anytime you are pushing a design spec to near its max.... you have to decide how long you really want to do that.

You are correct. The gray tank vents back through the drain pipe from the shower and lavatory. It is tied to the outside vent pipe under the closed up vanity, then going through the wall into the closet and up through the roof. Closing the shower drain has no effect here because it can still vent through the AAV.

Playing in the backyard is fun too!

You can't, unfortunately - Oliver doesn't do customization anymore. But ask anyway, so they'll know that people are interested. It should be a factory option or standard, imo. These two threads should answer your questions, but if you have others just ask: Nope, those are just 4" cushions that we had made, with grey marine vinyl. We started off with mattresses from Southern Mattress, but soon realized that cushions would be just as comfortable and would make for a much better "lounge" for sitting and dining. We just use sleeping bags and stuff them up in the closet shelves during the day. For us, that's so much simpler than dealing with sheets and stuff, and making the change was a huge improvement for our style of camping. That's correct - I don't know if you'd need anything to secure the drawers these days. You might ask recent buyers if they have had any issues.

I'll also be "looking" at a 2022 1/2 ton when they are available and the Toyota is high on my list of trucks to look at. I've had absolutely no problems with either of the Ford 150's I've owned but my old Tacoma is still just about the best truck I've ever owned. This should be an interesting comparison. Bill

We towed our LE2 Ollie several years with a 2016 5.7L Toyota Tundra. It's hard to actually know what your ready to camp rig weighs until weighing it. We're thinking about buying a new 2022 Tundra 3.5L twin turbo next year, will see when maximum weight capacities (should be higher) are published and we can drive one. The 1/2 ton Tundra has been a reliable safe tow vehicle for our Ollie rig for several years and thousands of miles. Tested another mid-sized pickup as Ollies TV, but still thinking about another new Tundra as Ollie's TV. Here's the CAT scales results with our LE2 Ollie and Tundra. I always like to put rig and vehicle weight capacities on one sheet for quick reference. We were approaching gross TV weight with Ollie connected, full fuel (38 gallons), two people on board, and gear in the back with about 150 pounds of gear to load. Our Ollie's ready to camp weight around 4950 pounds, we keep Ollie & TV light as possible.

No! Not sure what could be causing that. Our fridge always stays on AC when plugged in and propane when not. No switching between the two. Does the fridge switching match the inverter relay? Maybe one of our electrically smart owners will weigh in. Mike

Would a case of Lone Star be acceptable? 🤪

We sanitize the fresh water tank with a half cup of bleach and it takes two full drains to get rid of the bleach taste. We take the water from the fresh water tank and run it through our Berkey Filter before using it for cooking etc.

So funny....It's the other way around for us... We are patiently waiting for our delivery - our trailer is NOT waiting for us! Trust me when I say ours will not be sitting lonely in the lot waiting for us. Got a hull number this week...927...our excitement grows each day! Just about burned out on planning and watching YouTube videos - we are ready to start living our dream and joyously making all the mistakes for ourselves 😁

I too do not drink from the fresh water tank and bring my own. My experience with different water sources (aside from plastic taste) is that most campground water tastes terrible! Mineral content and rust come to mind. At the NF campground I managed the water was tested every day for public safety however it always had a tinge of yellow from the two sixty year old 50K gallon tanks and wasn't the best tasting. This begs the question about cleaning out the fresh water tank. Obviously, sediment settles. How on earth is one to clean the bottom of the Oliver tank? I have first hand experience with a clogged fresh water outlet. The black gunky grime/algae from the stagnant water clogged the outlet, the bathroom faucet and the pre-filter! I used a combination of bleach first then vinegar to get things rolling again...but I hate the idea that there is rust and sand sitting flat against the bottom of the tank. On my Casita, I added a waterproof marine deck plate that allowed me to completely wipe out and clean the tank at the end of a season. There was ALWAYS a film of rust no matter what sources or pre-water filtration I used attached to my fill hose. I hope that the tank in the Oliver doesn't ever need replacing due to a build up of sediment. I can't even fathom how it would be done. I will continue to do a fresh water vinegar treatment every year and try not to lie awake at night about sediment. I don't intend to ever drink out of the tank unless I'm dying from thirst.

Again, I'd say it's lawyerspeak . But,, I haven't used tank water for drinking in 40 years. We carry water from home in five gallon containers (refillable, if we find good water), or buy gallons at Walmart, aldi, or lidl.

Went down to the Wind River Range in Wyoming the 3rd week of July and just now finishing up with photos from the trip. We camped one night the Grand Canyon of the Snake River which by the way is a drop dead gorgeous canyon with some nice USFS campgrounds although close to the road. From there we headed down to the Green River Lakes area in the northern part of the Winds. Had crystal clear blue skies and no fire smoke until the last day. Great hikes beautiful country just an awesome trip. For anyone inclined to take this on be forewarned there is 20 or so miles of very rough gravel road to get back in there, no cell service for at least an hours drive out. Figure about 15-20 mph going in with a few patches of smoother gravel for a few but not many miles. To provide an idea of how rough the road is, we shook 3 of the window frame shades of their mounts, the solar controller in the basement became dislodged from its installment screws, one of the cables for the pins that latch the rear bumper broke loose. Anything not tied down was strewn all over the camper. I'm probably forgetting a few things. Trudi and I had briefly visited this place some 40 years ago and its been on my bucket list ever since. Highly recommended, I would go back in a heartbeat. Regarding true boon docking there are many places along the Green River to accommodate and initially this was our plan until talking with another family who tried it for one night but the bugs and ants were so bad they couldn't even get out of their camper, a Lance in this case. With those words of encouragement we opted for the USFS campground @$6 per night for the geezer crowd. By any measure the vast majority of campers here are tent campers, and the new rage of clamshell tents that carry on top of trucks, suvs and fold out into a top mounted tent. There are two loops here, one small higher the other a bit large and closer to Green River Lake. No reservations, its far too remote and in fact never saw a ranger and there was no camp host at all for the entire week. No problem at all getting a good site and most people only stay one or two nights. BTW the lake and campground itself are approximately 8,000 feet elevation give or take a few. Posting a few quick and dirty iPhone photos below. Green River camp above. Most of the sites here are very large probably between 1/4 or perhaps 1/2 an acre on average. Campsite at the Grand Canyon of the Snake River. Green River Lake sunrise with Sqaure Top Mountain. Preferred a b&w for this one. Beach at the far end of Green River Lake, about a 2-3 mile hike one way, we did the complete loop around with a few other excursions for a total of about 8-9 miles View from the west shore of the lake returning from hike up Clear Creek Canyon Clear Creek approximately half way to the end of the canyon where a natural bridge crosses the creek. Another view of Square Top on the route out from Clear Creek. I was nursing a plantar fasciitis one one foot this day so the almost 12 mile hike just about did me in. We had a few outrageous sunsets accompanied by a rising near full moon. Thanks for looking.

We have a 2015 RAM 1500 eco diesel and I love it. Pulls the Ollie great. Get about 16 mpg overall with the trailer. I have gotten as high as 27 mpg on long highways trips without pulling. But I think the 2 re-flashes of tranny and EGR system for an emissions settlement may have dinged the mileage a tad. With a diesel, it just feels like you are not straining too much.

We have found the standard toilet uses very little water when you "need" to flush and can go almost two weeks, without needing to dump, if we take advantage or other places to go, when we are out for the day. Andrew

This is a cool thread, had not seen it before. I'll start out with a few in the early years of owning the Ollie. Goosenecks State Park, Utah. While there are some semi-developed campsites located back up the road with picnic tables and the likes we chose to drive further out on this bench, mesa, peninsula, reef or what ever you like to refer these geologic landforms. We were able to back right up to the edge overlooking the goosenecks as the San Juan River winds and cuts its way through land. Gorgeous evening, Trudi taking in the sights. Thanks for looking.

Plum Valley campground, Davis Creek, CA, in the Modoc National Forest. I had to put it into 4WD at one point, and the road had a little stretch with rocks and roots, but it was a good test of the Oliver in a real off-road situation. Had my co-pilot get out and spot me as I maneuvered through some pines. It's a tough trailer!

Allow me to add some thoughts to the conversation. True, Glacier NP is a not to be missed place but do NOT underestimate John's comment about the conditions out west currently and they are NOT likely to change even through September. You would be well advised to keep checking and paying attention to the wildfires throughout any part of the west before departing on your trip. The AQI in Bozeman, Montana where I live was 163 at the top of the morning and will most likely reach near or above 200 before the day is over. Just 80 miles west of here in Butte where our daughter lives it has been 200 or near so for days. My wife and I were in the Wind River Range of Wyoming this past week enjoying very clear air, deep blue skies and puffy whites punctuated with a few thunderstorms but by Friday afternoon and Saturday morning the smoked had rolled into the area and as of this morning the AQI there is in the 130's or so. None of this is likely to change until some major and drastic change in the weather patterns. Understand too, smoke from wildfires will and do travel hundreds and thousands of mile away. It is not the least uncommon for us living in Montana to have a summer filled with smoke from CA, OR, WA, NV or ID fires. On most days the mountains are completely invisible due to the smokey conditions this summer. I'm not making this up. Not trying to rain on your parade by any means and with some luck hopefully things will clear up before your departure and if they do understand there are campgrounds within Glacier that are all first come first serve and those include Apgar and Avalanche Lake on the west side. Two Medicine and Swiftcurrent on the east side are a mixture of RSVP's and FCFS however both of these are fairly remote and require some time to get into. The roads are windy with lots of elevation changes and take some time to negotiate. Plan ahead! This will be nothing like driving around the eastern part of the US. On a more positive note I am finding lots of USFS and BLM campgrounds that do not take reservations and are all on a FCFS basis and better still do not fill up even on the weekends. IOW's there are still plenty of camping sites to be had out west even without reservations if you know where to look. However as John has implied the more popular national parks, such as YNP, Glacier, Grand Tetons are more likely to be booked. This year GTNP went to the Advanced Reservation System exclusively meaning there are no walk-ins or FCFS sites throughout. YNP does have some campgrounds on FCFS basis but most are RSVP. The Ultimate Public Campground app is a must but I also use the Free Roam app which shows hundreds and thousands of dispersed or boon docking sits that are free. Allstays is worth having as well but it will include RV parks and the like, sort of a jack of all trades but not an expert at anything. Let us know if you have more questions. Be glad to help if possible.

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.

We had our first boondocking experience this past Friday when returning to Texas from picking up our Oliver. It was a short overnight stop through Harvest Hosts (our first time using them) at Melrose Plantation in Melrose, LA. Just parked in their parking lot and the next morning after breakfast we took a tour of the plantation before heading home. It was a fun stop with lots of history. And look at the size of the 150 year old trees with resurrection fern growing on them.

Last month we camped with some friends in Castle Valley, UT, which is east of Moab, in our two travel trailers. This was socially distant camping – eating outside at separate tables and wearing masks when needed. We decided to have the two trailers antiparallel, so that the doors would face each other, and the awnings, rugs, and tables would be in between the two campers. The fall colors were really nice!

Little BLM campground southeast of Farmington, NM

Forest Service land, west of Rio Rico, AZ

These are all from our trip the past three weeks: BLM land just south of Sevilleta Wildlife Preserve in NM - Mojave Preserve, dirt road several miles inside the southwest entrance - This is the view from a short hiking trail off the CG at Organ Pipe, which Mike mentioned above. What a great little campground. I think this is FS 761 outside of Sedona. It shows up as Loy Butte Road on Apple maps, but I don't think it's labeled as that elsewhere. It's a popular road to camp on (I think the only one near Sedona), so finding a spot can seem frustrating, but keep driving and your patience will be rewarded. Not a great photo, but this is Zepata Falls BLM CG just outside of Great Sand Dunes. Really nice, but a very punishing three mile road to get there. And I don't have a photo, but I'd also highly recommend the campground at Natural Bridges in Bear's Ears. It's small and the spaces look tight, but the Elite II will fit. But then there's also ample backcountry camping available on pretty much any road outside of the park.

Meanwhile - back east, here's some swamp love. This is a Harvest Host at Breaux Bridge, LA. We stayed there last week on our way to SETX. Give me a couple of years to catch up! Love your out-west pics! By the way, to get a gator to smile for the picture, you have to tickle them underneath their arm - now THAT'S and adventure.

Dry camping today in the Alabama Hills, CA, at Tuttle Creek BLM Campground with the creek two feet away from the trailer!

This is not a great shot of the campground, but this is from Needles Outpost just outside the edge of the Needles unit of Canyonlands National Park. I was making my itinerary up as I went in late October 2016, and the campground there inside the National Park was full when I got there in mid afternoon, but I was able to score a site just a few miles back here at the Outpost, which is off the grid. Remember to bring your own water though they do truck in tanks for the showers. This private CG is carved out from a very pretty setting up against some red rock cliffs and buttes, and looking out toward the features of Needles. I was happy to be situated very close to the entrance so I could start a looong and potentially hot hike very early the next morning so as to mostly beat the heat. The hiking there is just tremendous - I did the Chesler Park/Joint loop which I can highly recommend. You overlander types might like the road to the back side of this hike from Beef Basin - looks like a pretty remote feeling 4WD venture from what I could see on my edge of it. The twilight picture is from my camp site at the Needles Outpost and the rest from the sweet hike the next day.

In between Arches NP and Canyonlands NP there are a bunch of BLM campgrounds and dispersed camping areas. This is Horsethief campground just outside of Canyonlands NP. Nice level sites with at table and fire ring. Vault toilets were very clean. Only about 15 minutes outside of Moab.

I'd always thought "boondocking" referred to dispersed camping - i.e. using places where it's legal to camp but not in an established campground, and campingin a campground w/o hookups was "dry camping." But I'm happy to go with the local flow here on this forum and thread - the point in this threat being places where you'll be happy you have a camper that lets you break free of hookups! Here are a few views from a sweet dispersed site on BLM land just east of Capitol Reef NP off of the Notom Road. There are SO many spots like this near CR and also the Grand Staircase Escalante NM.

This is Gros Ventre Campground in Grand Teton NP. We had nice fall weather for a few days before it got cold.

Joshua Tree NP, Indian Cove campground.

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument is south west Arizona.

Quartzsite, AZ, Dome Rock. In January there is a big RV show in town followed by a Fiberglass rally at Dome Rock. BLM dispersed camping. Find a spot and camp!

This is better than the factory solution because you can open the drawer with the table installed. Not to mention also have the basement access door. Color me jealous!

That is an excellent execution of a great idea. Thank you for the thorough instructions.

Wow, nice work!

If anyone wants to make the block I made, here's the list of pieces you'd need to order: #3075 Extrusion, 24" #4303 Bracket, 4 pieces #4302 Bracket, 2 pieces #3320 Bolt Assembly, 14 pieces You'll also need some stainless ¼" or 5/16" bolts to fix the block to the hull. I think most can be 1" or 1.25" long but you'll need two 3" bolts for the two vertical ones that go through the bed extension. I used lock nuts and large fender washers to spread the load against the fiberglass. I also cut off all the bolt ends around the bed side with a dremel and cutoff disk and filed them smooth so not to damage the mattress or cushions.

So, I remeasured and it's actually 12" from the bottom lip of the counter. I've edited the post. On ours, that leaves about 6.5" for a mattress. Our current mattresses have pillow tops that put them over that, but the extension will still scoot past them. We're swapping out for cushions now that were doing the Lagun Table (next project). I'm having them made 5" thick so no problem for us, but I knew it would be for others. In the closed position, it takes up right at 2" of bed space. I suppose there's nothing stopping someone from putting the extension from Oliver on a table saw and cutting it down to whatever size worked. It would just leave a rough edge that you'd have to sand down and polish. A lot of work, but not impossible.