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Saw this on Amazon and thought I’d share - it seems like a well made and easy to install solution if you want to insulate or block light from the MaxxFan. Attaches with magnets. MaxxFan Cover

Our son bought at Forest River No Boundaries, it’s the large model (19.8?) with a queen bed, two bunk beds and a dinette that makes into an additional bed. It’s about 23’ and well under 5K pounds. He pulls it with a Ram Power Wagon. He has two kids and two dogs, works well for them. We camped with them outside of Durango last fall.

Yep! That’s all folk’s! Mossey

Is THAT "ALL" you got?

Just not into the wind!

Yep, we’re on the road! We boondocked for up to a week with no issues. A mix of Harvest Hosts and NH and VT state parks with no utilities on our trip to Maine. We don’t use our inverter much, so most of the load is the 12V things in the trailer. With some sun, we were usually back up to 100% by early afternoon. Even when we had an electrical hookup I rarely turned our charger on, just relied on the sun. Mike

Our 2022 Single Rear Wheel Silverado 3500's tailgate does not hit anything,

CW, Like Mike, we also have two Battle Born 100 ah batteries. We have 340 watts of solar and a Victron MPPT solar controller. We don't have a built-in inverter but, use a 400-watt portable inverter for the wife's flat iron. We dry camp and deep shade, with temperatures above freezing, we go six days without needing a recharge. If there is any real sun at all, we could go indefinitely. Hope that helps. Andrew

"Our solar and two batteries have been plenty. All that to say that you should be good with either package. Mike" I haven't ordered yet, but I have decided on the lithium pro for us. I am aiming for March or April, 2023 delivery so have an e-mail in to Jason at Oliver to see when we need to order to get that delivery period.

Just a reminder for those Southern Ollie owners and soon-to-be ones. There were a lot of RVs that suffered severe damage then through lack of awareness and bad preparations. One Ollie owner in Oklahoma had his trailer completely freeze up, he posted a frantic thread about it, but I never heard the results, if it destroyed his tanks or not. If somebody can post that link, I think it would be a good warning for the rest of us. Don’t let that be you…. Once the drains freeze, you can no longer empty pipes and tanks! This shows that event, not the current forecast! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_2021_North_American_cold_wave It is going to be below zero here tonight, but at least here in NE WA we expect that sort of chill. It’s 48 degrees in the RV bay. Stay warm. John Davies Spokane WA

Many of us can make a real mess of things, too. We don't post those. 😄

This is a great idea for saving water while boondocking. Would love to see Oliver add this to their trailers: "Several RVs feature a SHOWERMI$ER system. You can flip a lever and the water that would otherwise come into the shower gets diverted directly back into the fresh water tank while waiting for the hot water." https://aquaviewinc.com/rv/

And, you've wasted a lot of propane. I've read about that happening on Forest River forums. I've been watching this since it was introduced, five or six years ago. Like Overland, I thought the exposed length of blue thetmal color changing tubing was ugly, and looked like a shoddy install. You'll find a wealth of comments on forest river forums. Some are happy, many say it doesn't work well with an instantaneous water heater. That, i don't know. As much as I think it's a plausible solution, correctly installed, I'll stick with collecting cold water in a kettle, and use it for dishes . (Heat it on the stove.)

Truma doesn’t even sell the Comfort Plus retail. It’s only offered via a factory install, so it’s highly unlikely that they’d offer an upgrade. For good reason, since the unit depends on a properly plumbed recirculating line to work - could you imagine doing the customer service with amateur installed units? I’m not seriously asking anyone to do this, of course - just throwing the idea out there since I know at least a few people have thought about adding a separate circulation line and pump. Thought it would be interesting to discuss. I already have the Comfort Plus with the recirculator, so I can attest to its value. It’s been nice (at least since I fixed Oliver’s plumbing error* 😡😂). * justifying Truma’s decision not to sell the unit retail. Until I found and fixed the problem, I’d just assumed that the problem was with the Truma. I thought it was unreliable and not worth it, but now I love it.

With commercial RV park prices on the rise, the marginal cost of additional "boondocking" power (i.e., solar panels and lithium battery packages) will be amortized more quickly. If you are even happier boondocking than buying RV park services, like we are, the marginal cost of solar with lithium makes more sense.

I think that from Oliver’s standpoint, if they we’re to go though the trouble of plumbing a recirculating line back to the fresh tank, then they might as well plumb it back to the water heater and just offer the Truma Comfort Plus as standard. But from a modification standpoint, I think it’s an interesting idea to plumb back to the fresh tank. Although I think you’d end up with a better looking solution just using a standard shower diverter valve - that little section of exposed blue pipe is a bit weird. I think you could do the plumbing all within the vanity with only the handle exposed, mounted to the right of the caddy. Might create a small campground flood if you inadvertently opened that valve while hooked to city water. 😂 Would be interesting to see someone tackle it. Of course, if you go that far…

Strap in on the back of the trailer, one of those carriers with a 2" receiver will carry a lot of stuff. Mine is carried in the pickup bed on my Ram Crew Cab with 2 ebikes, trailer box for trailer setup, and some time firewood. I guess size does matter. trainman

This is a trick I learned while tent camping in Alaska. You never want to unzip a tent door in the middle of the night, because you’ll never get back to sleep with all of the mosquitoes you let in. And it’s really cheap. Now if I could just get Krunch to use this bottle, I’d really be saving black tank capacity.😉 Mossey

I personally never see the top 5 leading manufactures of fiberglass travel trailers have a dealer network, with the exception of Big Foot and they also manufacture cabover campers which the other don't. Cutting out the middle man in todays world when you can sell all you can manufacture is much more profitable for them. and could be a way of the future for some products. Ford Motor Company has even given some thought to this, but don't know where they stand on this at this time. I think if I owned one of these companies I would be smiling all the way to the bank, remember just a turn in the economy, or higher fuel prices your business could turn south right quick. Even Oliver had to shutdown for a time back in the day, just lucky Mr. Oliver had the incite to make adjustments and return to Oliver trailer production. trainman

Since we don't Boondock, but have for one night at Walmart parking lot just because on no camping sites available. As far as a Composting Toilet I have seen one, but didn't feel I would ever want one, plus you need to get a Honey Wagon and no need to unhook at the campsite and hall your trailer to the dump station. As far as rearranging your trailer plumbing just to pee seems a little overdoing it, especially when there are other options, if you get my drift. trainman

The Garmin 890 is on sale for $379 at Amazon ($499 normal price). Looks like there are several vendors, one has it for $509. Mike

Hi folks, by way of a belated introduction, we're Jim and Karen from northern Virginia. We are first time campers and since September happy Oliver owners. We have been lurking in the forum shadows for months and really appreciate the knowledge and experience we've gathered from reading here. We've reached out personally to a few of you and want to publicly say thank you for your patient and thorough responses to our questions. So far we've put about 6K miles on our camper. We love it. Question: our son and daughter in law have seen just how much we enjoy the Oliver and are considering a purchase of a new camper. But they have 3 kids - ages 4 to 11 - and don't have the budget for an Oliver. They need to be able to sleep 5. For the group - if not an Ollie, what SOB trailer would you recommend or wish you would have bought? In a perfect world, I suspect they would like a 3 season trailer (they also live nearby in VA) and would campgrounds (we have been raving about state and COE stays) and occasional boon docking on weekends. Thanks in advance, Jim and Karen

Had the Natures Head Composting Toilet option selected on my 2022 Elite (canceled) build, after I found & purchased a 2020 Elite #643 with the standard toilet. Have found the black tank fills first & need to break camp to dump. Researched converting the Elite to composting, but hate the thought of removing a perfectly good toilet system. The thought of cutting & drilling fiberglass, plumbing, plus adding wiring, not to mention the $1,000 + cost. My personal solution: Modify my standard toilet with a urine diverting bottle system & extend the black tank capacity. Mission accomplished @ a low cost.

I would add to @Steph and Dud B, it's probably hard to find a trailer for 5 (and figure 7 to 8, when friends join later) without slides. Slides leak air and bugs, in our experience. These require constant attention, as does the roof, caulking, and everything else. But, if it's in the budget, and you can devote the time to regular maintenance, it gets the kids out camping. Which, imo, is most important.

Thank you for all your responses!! It helps! 😀 CW

Mike, did you boondock on those outings or mix it with campgrounds? I would love to not have to buy or take a generator and gas can and we want to boondock a lot but sometimes go to campgrounds. CW

Thanks for the warm welcome folks. Having owned 5 or so boats and having worked on the water for a few years (I’m a licensed USCG Master) I am ready to see what’s between the coasts. I tend to over research my toys but I like the simplicity of the Oliver. No slides, no engines, no leaks, less maintenance overall. Also really love the resale value of these trailers, its unique among RV’s. I’ve checked boat ownership off my list and ready for the “Next Thing”. I am sure Ill be asking more questions as my quest continues. Cheers S 😎

Well, I am pretty sure that it is just a resonator, did you notice an O2 sensor or cable sticking out the side? If there isn’t a sensor, I bet even the dumbest thief would look further forward. And your salesman may be trained, but did he actually remember and understand those details? Most salesmen are much less technically informed than the average auto enthusiast buyer, who often has spent days or weeks studying every review and video, and asking questions on forums like this one. And unfortunately some salesmen are complete clueless newbies. They are there to sell product. I would not believe their word about payload, cats, or any other feature, unless I had already seen it published somewhere else. BTW, LongStride, I appreciate your constructive comments here. Happy New Year, everybody. John Davies Spokane WA

Hey CW, that’s a good question. I’m not familiar with either of the lithium options you are asking about. I can tell you that I have 2 Battle Born Lithium batteries, 100aH each, that I installed last January. I also have the older 320W solar with the Blue Sky controller. (Oliver would probably call this the Lithium Amateur Package if they offered it! 🤣). This set up has not limited us in the least in our travels this year (6 week trip to Maine, 4 week trip to Colorado, 2 week trip to Arkansas). We are leaving tomorrow for Arizona for a couple of months and I’ve decided not to take my generator. Our solar and two batteries have been plenty. All that to say that you should be good with either package. Mike

As ChrisMI pointed out, cat converters are normally close to the engine. They need to get hot to work. This is the first one that I have ever seen so near the tailpipe (photo at left). I copied the pics from the Toyota USA website. This really bothered me. I began to think that perhaps I was misled by the trained salesman who told me that it was a converter. However, it looks just like the canister near the bottom center of the photo on the right, which looks like a normal location for a CC. They both look like a catalytic converter without a heat shield over it. The component closest to the engine with what appears to have a heat shield looks like what I would expect to see for a converter. Could this be a resonator to defeat the whine of the twin turbo? Hmmmm. If it is not a catalytic converter, I stand corrected regarding my post concerning the same. If it is not a CC, I would still be concerned that thieves would mistake it for one.

We live in Jacksonville, FL, area and it seems winters are things old-timers recall with fondness. Our winters are not much different than our other seasons - hot, muggy, buggy. Our 2019 Oliver is parked at our home in our pole barn which doubles as our outdoor cooking and gathering place, so the Oliver is being watched every day. A wonderful way to keep a check on the temp, humidity, barometric pressure, and dew point is to place sensors in strategic places in your Oliver. The SensorPush monitoring system is a great method for tracking climate data in your Oliver (SensorPush). I have 4 sensor placements (dinette, refrigerator, Truma water heater compartment, and one in the Barn itself). Also purchased the Gateway to monitor data from anywhere using my iPhone and our Oliver Cradlepoint WiFi system. Useful to monitor climate data while camping but away from the Camper. Highly recommended, and a cool technology. Maybe a bit pricey for some ($89 per sensor and $100 for the Gateway). We are comforted monitoring temp remotely while away from campsite so our valued camping partner (Magnum, our lab dog) does not overheat (or freeze) should Oliver climate control system fail.

Many states are decriminalizing calcium. I'm worried it will be a gateway mineral and lead our camper to harder stuff. 😁

We too have had water system woes,,, 2019 E2, new to us summer of '21. We are the 3rd owners of a 3 yr old trailer and have so far had problems with low flow at each of the faucets and the toilet. The toilet was first and we found calcium deposits in the valve. Cleaned them out and finished the trip with good flow. Got home and flushed the fresh water tank with good water (not hard), cleaned the filter at the pump and found it not clogged but removed maybe 1/2 teaspoon of debris, both plastic and mineral. Removed the anode from the water heater and found it was totally consumed. Flushed the water heater and got LOTS of calcium deposits out. I believe this was the first time the anode had been removed. Also at this time I flushed the system with vinegar using the winterizing setup. Next we lost flow to the outside shower hot faucet. Contacted Oliver and asked for a replacement cartridge, they didn't have the part or know of how to find one, ended up buying a new complete outdoor shower assembly with the box, hose and shower head; about $75,,, used the faucet in our old box so if you need a box, I can help Next we lost flow to the kitchen faucet and was not in the mood for Oliver service so I went to Lowe's and got a Delta and replaced the original with one I could get parts for. Next we lost flow to the bathroom faucet hot and cold and finished the trip with the faucet head removed. We had good flow thru the faucet itself so we washed hands and showered with a good stream from the bare hose. It actually worked ok. In these forums I saw the faucet was made by Dura Faucets, contacted them and got a link to amazon, bought a replacement shower head for $12.03. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0090W2SOU?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details So at this point we think we have this solved and I think at this time the reason for all this was that our trailer had been full of extremely hard water all it's life and had never been maintained. Here in the DFW area we have pretty good water in comparison but most places we travel to have hard or extremely hard water. So the takeaway is, while your faucets are working is to flush with good water when you can and decriminalize with vinegar regularly. Good luck, Ya'll, Dave

Based on many recent happy owners at pickup, I think this is under control. Oliver has pushed orders out to the future (note the very long wait time), which can try the patience as you wait, but I'd rather that. Every rampup has shown training and growing pains, but systems, imo, are way better these days. And, continue to improve with customer input. My 2008 was one of the "originals." With all the newness of that day, I'd still rather have it than any of the other brands out there. That build quality is baked in. We'll just see how it goes for the next 14 seasons ... 😀

I had the same problem with poor flow. Additionally, I had a constant weeping of water from under the handle. I tried the process where you run vinegar through the lines and let it soak. No improvement. I purchased a new cartridge and attempted to change out the old one thinking a bit of debris was the problem. I couldn't find any instructions on the web of how to disassemple this type of faucet. For the life of me, I couldn't get the old cartridge out even with the correct faucet socket. (I think someone over tightened the cartridge retension ring in an attempt to stop the weeping) I eventually removed and replaced the entire faucet assemply which fixed both problems. Hopefully you're not faced with replacement. If you are, there are some things to note. The shower head hose which Oliver provides is clad in chromed metal and is much nicer. The replacement faucet, I ordered off the web, came with a vinyl hose. The Oliver hose is also shorter. This is presumably because there are two long bolts down in the cavity under the sink. A longer hose could easily get caught on these bolts and therefore not deploy long enough to be used as a shower. My (not so elegant) solution was to place zip ties across the end of the bolts to keep the hose from getting between the bolts. In hindsight, I should have contacted Oliver to see if I could order the faucet from them but I defaulted to Amazon and had the new faucet in two days. But, I now have a full flowing shower.

Anyone else been eyeing the cold boxes that they're shipping the vaccines in and thinking there's bound to be bunch on eBay in about a year?

I would like to suggest an alternative to the 24 gallon ActionPacker, the 27 gallon Greenmade Tote. It is available at Costco for $8.50, much less than the ActionPacker 24. It is also available at other stores for $9-$14. It is lockable, although a determined thief could easily overcome the lock. I have driven through rainstorms with it, and in my hands it is waterproof. It fits perfectly in the Ollie storage basket. I carry my empty grey water waste tote on top of it.

Jumping in as we use them as well... size of Action Packer that fits the Oliver Front Tray. Not suggesting you buy from Amazon, just using it to show the size etc. Craig

Makes me wonder about those Airstream owners. He even got complimented for having 'thought everything through'. If I run into that particular Darwin Award applicant at a campground, I'll have to remember not to touch his truck or trailer - that could be a nasty shock.

Who wants to take their Truma apart? You know, for the benefit of mankind. PMing with someone about this so I thought I’d post my idea for discussion. See, I have this suspicion that the only thing that separates the Truma Comfort model that Oliver installs, from the Comfort Plus model with the recirculating line, is a single little copper tee. If that’s the case, then the more adventurous, perhaps foolhardy, of you might be able to upgrade those units. The software for the two models seems to be the same. I can’t do it myself, of course, due to laziness and lack of need. But you all know I would if I could. Here’s the part in question, the little tee just inside the inlet labeled 3: That tee, and the line it would attach to, are missing on the model Oliver installs. Intuitively, you’d think that there’s a separate pump for the circulator, but apparently they’re just using the same pump they do for internal circulation, and depend on the pressure difference at the points of connection to make the water circulate through the trailer. So I really do think that if there’s room inside the unit to add the tee, then you could do the conversion. Loss of warranty, chance of destroying your Truma, etc, etc. Should be fun. Any takers?😂

good morning 2022...

my tundra delivery date got pushed back to january 24....and im sad.! wanted to be in short pantz for xmas in texas... instead borrowed longjohns for new yrs in mn.!?

With 2 million new RVs on the road since the pandemic started, and the industry planning to sell another 600,000 this year, we expect to do more state park/forest boondocking than we used to. We just booked Memorial Day weekend sites in our usual full-hookup campground. They want $95/night this year! The state park is still $20 for residents.