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We’ve been through several hail storms. No damage. Even the solar panels withstood the crashing balls of ice. Mike

Interesting. Well, I can tell you from personal experience, you likely don't need it for your Ollie. Some years back, we came back from dinner with friends in Waynesville, one crazy night. Hail looked like snow in the banks, on i40, approaching Asheville. When we got back to Asheville, hail bits were melting, but still the size of steely marbles. Zero damage to our Ollie. Zero damage to our solar panels, as well. Can't say what would happen with extreme "grapefruit size" hail, but that's yet another night we were happy to have an Ollie, and not an Airstream or sob with a rubber roof. Vegetation around us was like a shredded salad, along with inches deep hail around our campsite. Life is good. Especially with my trusty Ollie. We've we developed a deep trust in our trailer, 16 seasons in. We take care of it. It takes care of us.

I am of the persuasion one can never have enough tow vehicle, (within reason) so with that in mind and as others have suggested I would not use an Ascent to tow the Elite 1. I like Subarus just not for towing. Trucks or heavier duty SUV would be a far better choice. Hope this helps.

That sh#t happened, unfortunately, for many of us, back in the day. And even I f we didn't fall, we were scared, as little kids, by the big drop. I read an article the other day about how failures and errors make us stronger, and why parents today should let their kids fail, and learn. I guess our parents knew that, all along. "Riding in the back of a pickup truck?" Loved it. More great memories.

Riding in the back of the pick-up truck everywhere we went is another one of those fond memories. Did I mention a 12 GA shotgun and 30-06 hanging on the rifle rack behind Grand Pa's head? Never know when dinner would present itself to the Country Boy. Grand Pa could hide anything in his stew. Possum, deer, every kind of fish, polecat, mountain lion, armadillo, squirrel, duck, and once rattler snake! He used to say "If you don't like it, you just aren't hungry enough yet. Bet you'll give it a try in the morning!" And we all survived. Swimming in the Trinity River down stream of Liberty all summer long. Making a rope tire swing and learning how not to tie the knots. That one hurt. Running trot lines with over 100 #3 stainless steel hooks. Mixing up blood and Ivory Soap to make catfish blood bait. Window sash weights every 30 feet on the line to make sure it stayed below the flowing logs. Getting hooked, pulled out of the boat, and taken down 20 feet to the bottom ... and surviving. Even falling into the outhouse as a 3 year old. Survived that too. If it was broke, we fixed it. If it was worn out, we took it apart to salvage parts for the next project of creative invention. Nothing went to waste. Those type of experiences are what made our generation so great. Sadly, now days the vast majority of kids don't get a chance to live and experience success and failure in life like we were fortunate to have done. GJ

So, the 80 per cent rule bit tonight. Not us. And, different scenario. Around 5, my husband was upstairs, I was downstairs, and we both heard a big metallic crash. Couldn't find anything around the house or yard to explain it. Then, my neighbor 3 doors down texted for our help. Their two year old boat lift collapsed, and they asked for help. They had it built to 20 per cent over capacity, but... well... Their boat is now tied up in my backyard/extra slip. Thank goodness no one was on it, when it dropped and collapsed. No one hurt, boat seems fine. We'll see tomorrow what the installing company determines as the fail point. Extra capacity is always good. I'm still in the "love the one you're with" group if your current TV is adequate, but, if you're buying new, size up. Imo. Better capacity, (towing and payload) just makes for a more carefree, enjoyable, and safer experience. With the Silverado or the Ram, we have no doubt we can accelerate or stop when necessary. The Volvo was another story. And, we don't enjoy the slow truck lane.

You need to understand that the tow ratings are for ideal situations, low, flat and no wind, and that as you go up in altitude the rating decreases, typically a 20% decrease by the time you reach 10,000 feet.. This is why you need to buy more truck than you think you need. https://thebossmagazine.com/impact-of-weather-terrain-towing-performance/amp/ My Land Cruiser has a big V8 and it is just barely OK for the big trailer in the mountainous West. It would be perfect for an LE1! John Davies Spokane WA

I tried the heat gun idea, but it didn’t give enough clearance. That extra material has to go away completely. The Honda generator has a very large vented gas gap that needs all the height clearance possible. I ended up cutting away the inside top wall of the lid in one corner and that just barely gives enough height clearance for the generator gas cap. The generator handle fits between the ribs on the lid since the generator is offset to one side of the Action Packer (see photo in the original first post above). Now the lid does fit and latch closed. The outer lid surface remains intact.

Drive safely, be careful and come back home alive.

Couldn't beat the price point and description of this one... Just ordered: For us... a game changer. Thanks for the link!

These boxes are absolutely top of the line. Jim Oliver swore by them.

Well... This thread may not get much mileage because it's happening during the Ollie Rally in Alabama. But here's an initial SITREP for all y'all that will capture our Sea of Cortez beach adventure over the next week or so... We're in Ajo, AZ ATM and about ready to launch on the 100+ mile trip to the beach later this morning... More to follow!

Oh so close. Looking for a good storage bin option for transporting the Honda EU2200i generator in the truck bed (with a bed cover) to keep things clean and organized. I don’t have the front Ollie basket, plus I want to keep the generator under the truck bed cover away from prying eyes. I tried one of my 24 gallon RubberMaid Action Packer bins and it’s ALMOST perfect for the generator, a 2 gallon RotoPax fuel container, and an extra quart of oil, with a PIG Mat in the bottom of the Action Packer to absorb any oil or gas drips (but I doubt the Honda will leak anything). Holds things nice and snug, EXCEPT for the height. The inside ribs on the double walled lid interfere with the generator handle and gas cap. Might be time to get out the knife and modify the lid by cutting away one full rib, and also adding a small vent hole in the lid for fume venting. Of course for running the generator it will be removed from the storage bin, and allowed to cool down before putting it back in the bin.

Oh wow, that’s horrible! It sure can do a lot of damage.

Amen. GJ

@Billsarvis I added a rear mount cargo carrier to our LEII. A bike rack could easily be mounted in the same manner. See: Regards, Don

This Craftsman storage bin has worked really well for our 3200i with no modifications. It also allows for a little additional storage as the 3200i does not use all the room in the bin. Its stout enough that it can handle the weight of the gen without issues. I purchased it at Lowe’s.

I agree. We learn more from our failures then our successes.

That's perfect!

That’s one of the reasons why we didn’t buy another AS. Good to hear your Ollie made it through that hail storm unscathed. I do worry about the solar panels. This hail protector is made for trucks/SUVs but I did see a photo of someone that put one over their NuCamp Tab400.

And, running thru the lawn sprinklers, on hot summer days, right? (We took a few sips there, too.) Thanks for the memories. And, apologies for the thread drift. Sherry

Oh, I so remember dialing only 5 digits. Great, wasn't it? Now, with cell phones, I don't even remember anyone's number. Just hit contacts, search, and go. (Always funny when some prompt says "dial." Haven't had a dial in how many decades?) Kind of like when I write to my cousins in a very small village in Norway. No street address. Just a name. Town. Post code for the town. It gets there.

Ironically, old southwestern bell before att breakup was the phone company with party lines. Our local phone company tat only served a small portion of Oklahoma did not have them. We also only dialed five numbers. 😀

Drinking from the water hose…those were the days!

@Dwain Kitchens, my 2008 elite 1 weighed in around 3900 pounds, (cat scale), loaded for camping, with some water (not all tanks full, partial grey and fresh.) We've towed with three vehicles. A Volvo xc90 ( heavy, and somewhat anemic t5, 4900 tow capacity), 2005 chevy Silverado(7500 tow capacity, 5.3 v8) , and a 2008 4 x 4 dodge ram 1500 hemi, 5.7). Best tow vehicles are in reverse order of what I listed. The Ram has been stellar. I would say that unless you really plan to stay on flatland, get a vehicle with a higher tow rating than the Subaru, and make sure that whatever you buy has a true tow package (not just a hitch.) Google "Subaru ascent towing issues" and you'll likely find lots of negatives from actual users, imo. I'd be looking at a truck, or, at the least, a SUV with a higher tow capacity than the Subaru. 80 per cent is just part of the equation. Tow vehicle Weight vs trailer weight, length of wheel base, transmission, etc., all impact the joy and safety of towing.

We just installed this before leaving on a 6 week trip. It's been a game changer! https://a.co/d/a6BiZn5

Well, let's see... I suppose ours would be this 48-foot Leopard Cat made in South Africa (including the stow-away). Twin 250 Yanmars, AC, air compressor (fills scuba tanks), fully integrated cockpit, power winches, 4 staterooms, 2 full heads, massive galley... Custom davit with 14-foot RHIB for tooling around to the beach. Bare-boated this baby out of Tortola, BVI in '18 for a week - absolutely fine a sailing getaway.

I’ve had this on my tongue for 4 or 5 years. Holds all my chocks, blocks, gloves, some tools and 20 big yellow legos. I got it on Amazon, there were several to choose from. It was a little over $100 then.

I will also say this. I really, really hate hanging doors. It's a very tedious PITA. Even "prehung" doors. For example, we spent a number of hours on 4 doors in our new pole barn/workshop a few years ago. Every time my husband and I install or re-install doors, I tend to think it's a test of our good and long marriage, and our patience.. I wish you luck. Look for the obvious out of square situations, and, proceed.

Wow, I'm pooped. Even with 3M General Purpose Adhesive Cleaner (08984), a 3M Scratch Brite sponge, and flat razor, it was a "BLEEP" to get the sticky residue off the hull. Thankfully the Bulb seal was only sticking well to half the trailer. Still took me over an hour to scrub-down and get clean. There's still grime to pressure wash off, but I think I will like it better than having the seal on the trailer. Time will tell. I have the new seal on the way, if I change my mind. I have already installed a EZE Gutter Guard over the door, just to keep the door seal, what's left of it, drier. I'm not sure if I will have time to pull off the door and reseal before the rally. Who wants to help? LOL 😜 I'm mean, it's not like raising a barn! 🙂 Pro tip: Putting the Gutter guard in the dryer for 15 minutes with some rags quickly softens up the rubber to make it go around curves easier. I had no sun that day.

For anyone looking to buy a new Ford truck, that don’t have access to one of Ford’s X, A, etc. plan discounts, I don’t think you can do any better price-wise than ordering a new truck from Granger Ford in Iowa. I haven’t kept up with them recently, but they had been selling new Fords at 3% below dealer cost - basically the same price as Ford’s employees get. I believe you could fly there and they’d even pick you up at the airport, and then drive home in your new truck. I don’t have any affiliation with Granger, and have never dealt with them, but I’ve seen many, many excellent reviews of them on Ford truck forums.

Hey Rene, I don't have any doubt you will pull it off with a flare. Patience is on your side. My wife and I knowing we were just a few years away from retirement started working our plan a little more than three years ago. It was an elaborate plan that has been adjusted a couple of times, but we have stayed the course. We started out by selling a piece of vacation property that we decided we weren't going to develop, and used that money to buy a small fixer upper for retirement. We pulled that off and 3 years later I'm finishing the total remodel and we are ready to move in in a few weeks. While all that was playing out we knew we wanted to travel in an RV and had to narrow down the type and brand/model that would be the mobile half of our retirement. Long story short after waffling between a couple options we settled on the Elite 2. All the time we were whittling down our RV choice we pulled the trigger on the required new tow vehicle. We settled on a Ford F350 with a gas engine and placed an order in Jan. of '21. The plan was to get it paid off as quickly as possible and then place the order for the Oliver. With the housing market at a peak we decided last April to place the current home we had been living in for sale and use the proceeds to pay off the truck, and all other debts and order the Oliver. Everything was falling into place. We rented the house next door to the remodel, I retired from my job to focus on finishing the remodel as quick as possible, and move into the retirement "cracker box" just in time to pick up the Ollie. Well as you can see, sometimes things fall into place. We are scheduled to pick up "Ollie-Haus" on the 18th of April and I'm hoping we are moved out of the rental and settling into the house by then. I'll need some vacation time at that point for sure. You have a lot of ambition and a plan you are developing, and I have no doubt as I said you will pull it off. Bide your time, make informed decisions and do everything you can to knock the debt down to a minimum and you will be there before you know it. I like your enthusiasm and can't wait to read about your milestones on the way.

First, thank you all for being generous with your time. I found many detailed answers in the forum and the broader community was a major factor in deciding on an Oliver. This will be my first travel trailer. It is perfect for me and my wife and our two miniature dachshunds. Kids started college and we are still a few years out from retirement. But we can see it coming up fast. My wife is a history teacher and I own my own business - so we spend most of our time in California (Ventura County) and summers and holidays in Williamsburg VA. My toolbox consists of a wrench and a roll of duct tape. But I am up for the adventure and look forward to acquiring new skills. I have to say I am very impressed with all of you and look forward to getting to know you. Rich and Christine Mutell

We are so excited for you! We loved Davy Crocket and want to get back there. We are just like you in many respects - first time trailer owners, still newbies as we only picked up in Oct 2021. Unlike you, we have but one mini dach and we roll coal down the road vs. a quiet hum 🙂 We are so happy with our "Lucy" and am sure you will be tickled with your Ollie!

Welcome Rich and Christine. I second Patriot's suggestion to stay in the area for a few days. It's so tempting to get it and high tail it back home. We picked up #1290 in November and tried everything out. We had one issue that I didn't address at the time. I had smelled an odd odor, but I mistakenly thought it was just new furnace smells. It was a small propane leak. It's being fixed now, but it was a two month wait to get it into a local shop here. Lesson here is to be very thorough on pick up, test everything, and if anything is not quite right, address it before leaving Hohenwald. Oliver is paying the local shop to fix it, so it's great knowing that once you leave, they still take care of you. It's a good company. Great choice for your first trailer. There's a lot of junk out there! Happy travels. John

I still have my slide rule. I still like paper maps. I also like my iPhone with all the nifty apps for camping and traveling. Like Steve, we pick up maps at welcome centers too! Mike

I would never leave on a trip without a paper atlas. And recently we’ve taken to stopping at the welcome centers when entering a new state and picking up their latest official state map. A large map gives you the option of seeing a Birdseye view and being able to “look down the road” further than you ever could with the tiny screen on your phone. Then we look at the GPS.

I wondered if I was doing my searches wrong as I think it's terrible too. John

Hi, Mike. We spent a lot of time on this forum, first deciding if we wanted to buy an Oliver, then learning all the particulars so we were well prepared and equipped when we took delivery. One note: the online search function here is terrible. We use Google and start the search phrase with "Oliver trailers" followed by whatever we're looking for. Have fun browsing.

Brian and Sondra, congratulations on your upcoming Oliver purchase!! It will open up a new world of exciting road trips and wanderings ahead. An Elite will provide years and years of enjoyment across this beautiful land. The last two years have really slowed down my traveling . . . only 139,000 miles on The Wonder Egg so far. So far, I've camped in 48 states, (missing Delaware), 10 provinces, one territory, have seen unbelievable giant Redwoods and Sequoias, monuments, canyons, ancient ruins, pueblos, Viking settlements, and camped with an iceberg grounded in a cove right behind the campsite. The Wonder Egg still looks like it just rolled off the factory floor and is ready for 15 more years of 4 to 7 month wanderings each year . . . roll on!!

There are a few of us out there who still own and enjoy our original 2008 and 2009 Elite shorties. So, 15th season for us, (and several others I know) something like 150k miles, couldn't tell you how many days used, but over 150 last year, and 100+ (so far) this year. Then again, I know a couple people who sold their shorties, and bought the bigger trailer later. Whether it suits you as a trailer or not really depends. If you're over 6'1", you may find it problematic, especially if both people are tall. The full size bed is cozy, and warmer in the cooler months, but, sure, I'd love to have the few inches extra space of a queen. The crawl-over hasn't been a big deal for us, yet. Maybe when we get older. We'll see. I'm the short one, so I get the inside post, and I don't find it to be a big deal, yet. If you have big dogs, or multiple dogs, you may find the space gets very small, especially in bad weather. We've had two small dogs, usually just one. We leave the big dinette set up as a bed, and use three big bins under the bed for extra storage. The dog(s) sleep(s) on the small dinette seat(s), on their own bed(?s). Otherwise, we have everything we need, in miniature, and then some, to enjoy our time camping. Life in miniature suits us. We don't carry a lot of "extra" stuff. Actually, we carry less every year. If an item isn't part of safety or first aid gear, or essential spares, and hasn't been used in the season, it gets culled at the end of season. Poof-- disappears to the garage archives, or goes to the Salvation Army. Disadvantages of the Elite are few, imo, as I think it's a great boondocking unit, and it tracks exactly behind the truck on narrow mountain roads. A 1500 pickup tows it like it isn't back there, and no Andersen required. Disadvantages-- for its size, it's rather heavy, and of course, it's pricey. A bit less rooftop space for solar, and less space for batteries in the smaller compartment. On the other hand, it's two less tires to replace every five years, and a bit less surface to wax and clean, and with the underbed bins, probably as much or more storage than the elite 2 with twins. Fits into spots designed for tenters, and too small for even an elite 2. As far as backing, couldn't say compared to a 2, but we've not had issues. The distance between ball and axle make it much easier than my squirrely old sunfish and trailer, which had a very short tongue. I've watched my husband, and also one of our friends, back our little trailers between trees with barely 6" on each side to spare. (We do this routinely at home!) Yes, they're experienced. But, you will be someday, too. You get the same marine quality fiberglass and gelcoat, same fixtures, etc. with the shorty. I have no desire to move to the bigger trailer, but that's a personal choice. Every trailer lives big on the outside.

Congratulations on your order and welcome to the forum. It’s all about owners helping owners here. We’ve been to plenty of campgrounds that were tight and we’ve been able to get into them every time, especially some National Parks campgrounds. Let us know how we can help! Mike

I just updated mine yesterday from white to black because the white ones were showing some mold/mildew stains and were getting hard to keep clean. For all 3 large windows and 1 small bathroom window on my Elite II, I ordered 18' of the weather-stripping (H109-376 from Pelland Enterprises), just to make sure I had a little extra. Before and after photos below. It cuts easily with a new, sharp utility knife blade. Use a carpenters square to get a nice perpendicular /square cut end. And note that each window gasket on the 3 big windows is a slightly different length since the center vertical upright is a little different location on each window. So use the original gasket from each window as your starting point. I made mine a little long to start and then did a couple of install, check, remove, trim, re-install go-rounds to get mine right. My original white gaskets were cut a little short and had a gap at the ends, as you can see in the picture of the original white gasket. There was a gap at top and bottom at each end because they were cut a bit short at the factory.

First time I’ve ever seen one of these. Bizarre looking thing!😳 Hail Protector SUV1 Size Portable Car Cover System for Truck, SUV or Van https://a.co/d/8vgbrYH