Leaderboard

We have our hull number. It is 1423. We pick up our Ollie next Wednesday, August 9. It is about to get real!

Steve, There are (8) SS screw fasteners on each side of the top of the cowling that secure it. These screws are countersunk in the cowling and filled with self leveling sealer by Oliver Service at the plant on new models or older Olivers post a retro fit. So if you remove the cowling naturally you will need to reseal these fastener areas. Oliver adds the sealer to preempt any possibility of these fasteners if not torqued properly from leaking water into the top of the unit through the fastener counter sunk holes. I have never had the cowling off, others that have may chime in. I did add an extra small circle of PPF to the top of the cowling over the fasteners to preempt any concerns if the self leveling sealer were to fail. Patriot🇺🇸

I'd call that seriously off the grid. Congratulations! One of the best things , for me, about camping is minimal impact. We make our own power, mostly solar. (As we do, at home.) The return to a simple life is very rewarding, to us. And, it "grounds" me, and my husband. We are happiest when we have just the woods around us. The songs of the birds, and just the quiet song of the trees moving in a breeze, restores my inner peace. Restorative. Energizing, in a calm and good way. Letting go of "everything else" leaves us with heightened awareness of the goodness and greatness of our surroundings.

we’ve got one of the 15 gallon rigs.. it has lived in the back of the pickup off and on for a couple years, and we’ve never used it… The bed of our truck is a pretty organized place, with everything stowed away in its place, with things that get used a lot pretty accessible, and things that don’t get used can take some effort to access… which is the case for that piece of gear. The few times we’ve stayed in a campground without sewer hookups long enough to require emptying our tanks amidst our stay Ive just disconnected the power and water, raised the jacks, hooked the trailer to the truck and dragged it to the dump station, because as crazy as it sounds, for me, it’s less of a hassle moving the camper then emptying the bed of the truck… and then putting it all back in.. We can be ready to roll in 10 minutes or so. If I leave the wheel chocks ( the ones behind the tires) in place when I pull out of the campsite they provide targets to help guide me back into the exact same position the camper was in before I moved it, which is kind of fun anyway🙂

@SYoung Welcome to the forum! We park our Ollie here at our home. I had a 13X55’ slab poured and then had a metal building constructed to keep our Ollie out of the weather especially the sun. We also keep our Ollie plugged in to a 30amp outlet. I also bird proofed our “Ollie Hangar” to keep the birds from nesting and/or perching and crapping all over the roof of the Oliver. We are a year in and no birds nesting, perching or crapping on our Ollie. I blocked off every area or ledge they could perch or nest on with 2” thick hard insulation foam. My suggestion: add a 4-5” nice level gravel base or crusher run where you plan on parking under that pole barn. Figure out a way to bird proof it as much as possible. Birds will make a real mess on your gelcoat over time. Run a 30 amp power cord and a water line or hose if you can. Figure out how to keep the sun off of it while parked. The suns UV can be pretty rough on gel coat. We got a little creative and made a place where we can enjoy a campfire, tell a few tales, and even a few true camping stories. 😎 This works well for us and our Ollie is well protected from the elements. It’s especially nice when I wash the Ollie as it’s always in the shade. Welcome and I hope this helps! Patriot🇺🇸

Hello, I have been meaning to introduce us since we became Oliver owners. We are Bobby and Nadine, we live in East Texas and are lifelong campers. This latest purchase raises the total count of RV towables to 13 (over a 43-year period). The Oliver is our second fiberglass trailer, we owned a 16’ Casita for several years and enjoyed it, but it became too small. We were in the market for an Air Stream, but my wife reminded me of the Oliver we saw once at a fiberglass rally. We were both so impressed we called Phil and placed our order. We picked up our new LE II back in December of last year. Glad we made this choice. The folks at the factory have been great and I would recommend the trailer to anyone that is interested in luxury camping! I wanted to share a recent experience: We left home in early June for Lake Placid, NY. On our way we stayed near Connellsville, PA. To our surprise we woke that morning to 44° F! (cold by our standards) Being from Texas and having never traveled this far north this was quite a shock. So, I set the thermostat on the Tuma Vario Heat furnace. Yes, it made it warm in short order but the noise coming from the vents was deafening. Sounded like an angle grinder on a sheet of steel. I promptly turned it off thinking the thing would self-destruct. Thankfully my wife had remembered to pack “the Cube”. I plugged it in and after 10 minutes it was nice and toasty. We used the cube heater off and on till we returned home. I contacted Jason Essary in service for warranty repair. He told me that Truma had a mobile service technician in Texas. I called Truma directly with the supplied number and scheduled an appointment. The tech (Todd) drove from the Austin area to my back yard 3 days later. He checked the unit out and said it was 100% covered by Truma’s warranty. Unit was defective from the factory. He replaced the noisy unit with a brand new one and extended the normal one-year warranty to two! The entire service call lasted less than 45 minutes. Super service, and a super nice guy. Well, this howdy turned out to be much longer than I wanted it to be. Just wanted to share. Bobby Christall Hull# 1307

Ok, after much consideration and some mentoring from @mountainoliver I finally purchased and installed a storage box for my trailer tongue. It was not the least expensive option but I got an incredible deal on it through a local vendor (truck parts/accessories store). These have an insulated top, one hand opening feature and are very well made. Thank you for all the ideas and suggestions on this thread. Brian

Here's some pics of the installed locks. They're pretty close to identical and require no modifications whatsoever on my 2021 LE2. I had to get some 1" stainless 8-32 screws and locking nuts but that's about it. I like the keys as they feel much better than the old stamped ones. The locking mechanism on the inside is a little different engineering wise but, no lock will keep out a determined thief anyhow. We'll see how they hold up over time but they look just fine.

Our Truma AC was one of the first installed by Oliver last fall. At that time, Oliver was not yet sealing the screw wells. After we twice had water leakage through those screw wells, we were instructed by Truma and Oliver to seal the wells with silicone caulk. Before I did so, however, I removed the cover to see if I could examine the sealing where the unit penetrates the roof of the trailer. The cover lifted off easily once those 8 screws were withdrawn. It was also easy to get the cover back in place, and to reinstall the screws. In your shoes, I would remove the cover, carefully inspect the condenser fins, then reinstall the cover.

Something to seriously consider is buying now, given the relative abundance of late model Elite II's on the market now. You might want to consider shopping now as I've seen a range from under $50K, to a killer deal on a brand new, fully optioned one the owners had to let go. In May, 2021, the few that showed up disappeared within 48 hours. So buying now is allows you to shop by budget and/or equipment...and based on values over the last year or so, buying new in two years isn't going to be less expensive, and used prices likely won't drop much, but selection may. If you haven't already, check out the Classifieds here and the FB Olivers Trailers For Sale page. Most are duplicates, but can vary a bit....along with the oddball listing on RV Trader.

We went into it on gut feeling -- Ah, the Golden Gut! Sometimes it works and when it does, it's all the better. I had no idea of the valuable research, like what Boudiicca908, and others have worked. Just so happened there was a nice older used one 4-sale in our town. Bought it 2 days later! Thinking, when will this opportunity happen again? Not likely and no regrets. We joined the Oliver Forum two weeks after our purchase. We started the other direction, thinking you wanna RV, gotta get a Class-A diesel-pusher. Bought a good used one and sold it a year later, getting our money back, TG! Then we bought a Class-C that had trouble climbing the mountains out west, and after 4 years, sold it just 3 weeks prior to buying our Oliver. I say go for it! Yeah, make sure you want a travel trailer (TT). I never thought to rent, it takes time and it's not yours, but that is the cautious route. If you buy a brand new one and it doesn't work out, you'll take a hit. There are great used ones listed right here in the classifieds. If you are going to buy a TT, buy an Oliver no doubt, absolutely not one of those overpriced nostalgic tin-can models! Lol Best wishes and enjoy your next adventure!

The longest we have made it truly “off the grid” by your definition is 11 days. We have an extra cooler for frozen, pre-made food (will upgrade to a 12v cooler one of these days), a composting toilet, a filtering jerrycan for extra drinking water purified from the creek, a sun shower for bathing, and a “scrubbing” laundry bag for when we inevitably run out of clean cycling kits. By the end we are craving fresh fruit, but it can be done!

I don’t think that would be what you want to do. Like Bill said, it doesn’t free you from bearing maintenance. The EZ Lube system is really only useful in situations where the axles are completely submerged in water—often. Like a boat trailer.

@SYoung: First off... WELCOME! You'll find an amazing amount of information on this forum to help guide you through your Oliver experience. Just some quick thoughts: 1. Depending on construction of your barns, to eliminate either standing or flowing water in the vicinity of the Ollie, it could be a good thing to cover the dirt with landscaping cloth and a few inches of gravel. This would allow better drainage and entry into the trailer without bringing in muddy feet. 2. A key consideration is keeping it covered and out of the sun to slow down the oxidation of the gelcoat - there are quite a few "chalky" OTT out there because of prolonged sun exposure. 3. It would be advisable to have at least a 20amp circuit available inside the barn for keeping batteries conditioned, and a potable water bib to allow for filling fresh water tank. 4. More "nice to have" items would be plenty of storage for RV-related accessories, a workbench, and septic tank access for flushing out gray/black water tanks. Hope this helps. Good luck with your purchase! Cheers!

I got this idea from a social media posting, but here's a quick mod that makes the "secret compartment" below the Pantry easier to access: 1. Pulled off VELCRO from cabinet. 2. Installed a couple 8" drawer slides from Amazon: 3. Replaced the VELCRO onto the drawer slides: 4. One and done, can't even tell the difference; except for the convenience factor - time for a cold one. Cheers! A & D

It sounds like your Truma A/C came with the optional "water-maker" feature installed.

I mounted a piece of square aluminum tubing (1" x 3" x 12") under the front inspired by @mountainoliver and then I added a strip on aluminum on the inside back for additional rigidity. I don't think I needed that as they welded nice aluminum angle brackets along the front and back. I will NOT be carrying a generator in this box, it is primarily for our camping needs. I just have an issue putting things that are wet or dirty in the basement so close to the sleeping area although I try to clean them as much as possible before putting them in there. BL

https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/6729-how-to-check-your-sewer-grey-vent-under-the-galley-counter-top/ https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/6721-how-to-secure-the-loose-grey-drain-vent-plumbing-under-the-galley/ I 100% agree about using a tank treatment, if you never add anything it can get pretty gross in the grey tank. John Davies Spokane WA

Look under the dinette seat and trace the gray pipe from the bath into gray tank. Ensure that it is firmly seated into the top of the tank. When our trailer was made that connection was just a friction connection, the pipe was jammed into the top of the tank. A year or two ago that connection came lose after some bumpy roads. The gray tank pipe from the bath was out of its hole with part of the pipe on top of the tank. It is now permanently attached! We use Happy Camper in both black and gray at the end of trips, keeps the odors in check. Mike

I have found our Truma to be better at lowering the temperature than the humidity unless it is is the dehumidify mode. The dehumidify mode makes it painfully cold in the trailer but also does a great job lowering the humidity. I have also found that the Truma condensate drainage is very sensitive to trailer leveling. If the trailer is just slightly off level, the condensate drips on to the roof and then accumulates above the awning seal. The space above the awning seal can hold a lot of water. Last week, while camping, I would sometimes look at the Truma and adjust the level to make sure it wasn’t dripping from the condensate pan onto the roof. Oliver says the Truma has a very shallow condensate pan. Hope this info helps

https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/4376-7-cup-pur-water-pitcher-fits-neatly-in-pantry-affordable-filters/ The very first night we camped was in the nearby Fall Hollow (?) RV park that Oliver paid for. Our site had the fresh water spigot located BELOW ground, a few inches away from the waste pipe. Needless to say I did not use the fresh water supply. You can seriously contaminate the fresh tank, it is best to never drink directly from that supply. Use a cheap blue filter when you fill and some sort of filter system or bottled water for human use. Just say no to E. coli. John Davies Spokane WA

...as a follow-up: In general, the Berkey gives potable water from the OTT fresh water tank - even if sanitized, the fresh tank system could become slightly contaminated between trips depending on the nature of the water after topping-off. So, the Travel Berk gives us the peace of mind by having a final layer of filtration before we consume Casablanca water when boon docking. It also allows us to avoid using bottled water and having to deal with the plastic empties.

The travel stand is extra. Makes it so you can put it deeper onto a platform. We always buy our Berkey gear around the holidays when the site discounts everything - it was $20 bucks for the stand. We got our first Royal Berkey back in '07, lov'n it still....

Good move.

Howdy from fellow Texans. Welcome to the group. Glad to hear your issue was resolved quickly. I’m sure you wish you had some of that cool weather these days after this heat wave we’re enduring. We spent June and July in Colorado, heater ran every night! Mike

Last summer while in Colorado we camped in State Forest State Park just north of Rocky Mountain NP. We were at 9,100 feet and boondocking. All propane appliances worked as advertised, furnace, fridge, hot water and cooktop. Blackstone, Weber and Outland fire pit also worked fine while we were there. I was worried the furnace might not kick on but it did and kept us warm after the sun went down. Mike

Tali hates tailgators (sic). We've never used one of these waste totes. But if I rigged up a carrier on the back bumper with a remotely controlled release.....hmmmmm.

We use a Travel Berkey and filter our tank water for drinking. Lots of varied opinions on the internet about the Berkey, but I can only comment on my experiences. I have used it in remote parts of Africa, Southwest Asia, Central and South America, and have never had water issues. I have seen some pretty sketch water through these things and I have never gotten sick or had ill effects. We like the travel size and it sits on the dining table while camping until we need the table. Not for everyone, expensive, but it also doubles as our emergency water supply in Florida which is prone to hurricanes. https://www.berkeyfilters.com/products/travel-berkey

We never drink from our fresh tank but still seasonally sanitize it. We usually carry 10 gallons of drinking water in one gallon containers. It stores nicely in milk crates in our TV bed. We will likely run out of food before water and restock as needed. I always chuckle when I hear “off the grid” camping. My thoughts are you are only “off the grid” as long as you have a plenty food and water supply and clean clothes. The grocery store, or laundry mat has the magical way to pull you back into to town for supplies to keep your “off the grid” camping trip moving forward in my experience. Just another view point. Patriot🇺🇸

Thanks - That tip on BayTec was exactly what I was looking to learn.

It’s nice to know that you are getting #113 back in to shape. Regular cleaning and maintenance goes a long way with an Oliver, some 2016’s still look and feel new. Mike

Looks good!

@Patriot Nice storage!! Love the fire pit set up as well.😍

@MAX Burner, I really like that mod. You've done a great job upgrading your bath_shower. Overhead light with the upgraded Maxxfan dome with light, and creating more storage with the hatch, and the Scandvik mixing valves.

Interesting - I was camped at basically the same elevation west of Buffalo about two weeks ago and the furnace handled the morning temps (mid 40's) without a hitch. I'm sure that I've got the same model furnace as you do. Quality control is a wonderful thing. Good luck in finding the solution. Bill

The fact that a hail storm can total an Airstream was one of the main reasons we excluded them from consideration.

FYI: We also have filtered and softened well water at home which we use to top off the sanitized fresh water tank before our trips. However, like @Wolfepack, we use a Berkey Travel filter on the road and a Berkey Royal at home. We've never had an issue with the Berkey - using it to filter the well water from our OTT tank. The Berkey travels in a case beneath the forward dinette seat and on the night stand when not towing. Its really nice to just lean over and fill your glass from it when thirsty at night... OK, spoiling the wife - totally worth it! Cheers! A & D

@MobileJoy: Hear, hear! Well said, amigo!

Found it

We used to drink water from home (in jerry cans) almost exclusively while camping. I didn’t think this would be sustainable on our 5 week trip this spring, so I decided to give the Ollie tank a very thorough (2X) cleaning and combine a 3-stage filter with regular Purogene use at every fill. We are also pretty discriminating about where we fill. The system worked beautifully, and it was a nice change to be able to drink water right from the tap. BayTec - 32oz Purogene Drinking Water Treatment and Water System Sanitizer for Water, Sanitizes Water Storage Systems, Provides for Long-Term Storage of Drinking Water https://a.co/d/2ZJp9l2 Blu Tech R3, RV Water Filter System, 0.2 Micron Water Filter for Campers with Compact 5-inch Filters, 3 Stage Premium RV Water Filtration System, for RVs, Vans, and Boats - by Blu Technology https://a.co/d/fATO3Vq

Oliver university has a video on how to sanitize the water system. I do it at least 2 times a year. We have great well water and drink from out tank without any issues. If you are on city water that is treated and chlorinated you shouldn’t have any issues as long as you drain the tank after each use and at least flush all the lines and tank when refilling for a trip. Safe Travel's

For many years we drank from our fresh tank but then I got to thinking about all the little places water can sit between trips, especially since we have well water, so we switched to bottled water for drinking and the fresh tank for bathing, etc. Probably overkill, but it also stretches how long our fresh tank lasts on trips.

Hi and welcome to the forum. As far as advice on trailer camping and retirement in general: 1. Don’t push retirement out too far. I received great advice years ago to “retire as early as financially possible”. And we followed that advice. We’ve know too many friends and relatives who kept putting off retirement for various reasons, and then ended up with health issues, or passing away, that cut short their time to enjoy retirement. There are too many stories like that even here on this forum, and trailers for sale in the classifieds section due to health issues encountered after the trailer purchase. Thankfully we’ve been able to enjoy our time with the Oliver, and have covered a good bit of the continental US at this point, and plan to continue. 2. If you’ve never owned a trailer (or any camping experience?), I agree with the above advice to try renting one and traveling with it first before committing to a big purchase like the Oliver and the necessary tow vehicle. The reality of “traveling the open road and seeing the country” can be a shock to some people compared to their dream. We’ve seen a few folks buy an Oliver, then encounter the reality of camping, trailering headaches, etc. and sell the trailer shortly afterwards. 3. Don’t skimp on a tow vehicle. Get one with more than adequate payload and towing ratings. Most folks consider a 1/2 ton pickup to be the true safe minimum to start with for an Oliver Elite II. 4. Be prepared for all the expenses that come after the trailer purchase (after you get over the initial shock of the Oliver price itself with all the factory options you add). After purchase expenses for the trailer and tow vehicle typically include the following: -Sales tax (6% of the purchase price here in Pennsylvania for us at time of title registration after purchase). -insurance -a trailer cover (the Calmark cover Oliver sells is $1,300) -tire covers for storage. -water filtration system, hoses, fittings, etc. -tire pressure monitoring system -hitch lock -tow vehicle mud flaps such as Rock Tamers -bed cover for the truck -jack blocks -wheel chocks -leveling blocks -extra sewer hose -portable waste water tote tank (for campsites that aren’t full hookup). -portable generator (for boondocking) -misc campsite accessories (chairs, rug, clam shelter, portable grille, awning shade screen, etc) -a good portable tool kit -trailer storage fees -trailer annual maintenance, etc. -repairs! Things do break since RV industry standard components in general aren’t the greatest for durability or reliability. -Harvest Host membership -campground per night fees (cheaper than a hotel but still not free) The list goes on and on, and it really adds up. You can expect another $10,000 to $15,000 in expenses for the above items after the initial Oliver purchase price. Not trying to scare you 🙂, just be prepared with the checkbook. It ain’t a cheap hobby. It reminds me of the boat owners I know who say that BOAT is an acronym for Bust Out Another Thousand 🙂.

While driving east towards Hohenwald, the sign below caught my eye. It is located about 6 miles west of the center of Hohenwald at GPS coordinates (approximate) N 35.559305 W 087.654186. Once I got to the Mothership I asked about the sign and was told that it has been there for approximately two years! Such a nice tribute to such a nice person that I was very privileged to know. And, in some small way, all Oliver owners can take a measure of pride in being associated with a company and product this man helped to create. Bill

The first thing welder said was, "That wouldn't be an LP line, would it?" I said, "Yeah, the tanks are off and I released the gas in the line." and he proceeded without worry. There is a little kink in the line, as you can see front of the T, but it holds pressure, so I left it as-is. Yes John, good observation. The vertical line is right there, going up to the kitchen (edit: Furnace and HWH) which could have been damaged. We camped 3 days, just after fixing this and if there was an interior leak, I certainly would have smelled it. I would think it would be difficult to eyeball/follow that line along its entire length. No sag, no fiberglass damage visible. CRM and rideandfly, thanks for your comments. I'll bet there will be a couple hundred OTT owners getting under their frames this week!

Our Cover ARRL Field Day is fast approaching — June 24 – 25! Whether you’ve planned the weekend as an opportunity for outreach, time for training, just plain fun, or some combination of these, there are innumerable ways to get set up and on the air. As just one example, here’s Pete Marks’s, K2PLM, “rolling ham shack” out in Lincoln National Forest in Alamogordo, New Mexico for last year’s Field Day. Pete’s trailer was built with ham radio in mind, and is equipped with a 160 W solar panel, a 1000 W dc-to-ac inverter, and 210 Ah of battery storage. It even has SO-239 connectors on the exterior and interior. This issue features our annual Field Day Guide that you can pull out and take to your Field Day site, so you have resources like a Section list and bonus point worksheet close at hand. [Pete Marks, K2PLM, photo] https://www.arrl.org/this-month-in-QST

Yes, that's our friend, Pete/ aka Bugeyedriver. Scroll to the end:

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

This recall is for only some Oliver Legacy Elite travel trailers and does not include Legacy Elite II trailers. We will be notifying all impacted individuals by USPS mail and by email. If you print the attached document to have a service center inspect and/or replace your cooktop, please email Regina Rogers and let her know you have taken corrective action. Thanks!

This spring loaded one-way valve controls the grey tank ventilation. It is supposed to open under suction (like draining the tank) and close at other times (to prevent stinky odors). These are used in houses, and those are known to get plugged up. So you should perhaps check your Ollie vent every year or three.... especially if you are smelling the tank contents. You must remove the rear galley drawers - grab the two orange drawer thingies with your finger tips and squeeze them toward your palms, and lift the drawer up and out of the slides. The vent is right at the back upper corner: The little cap/ cover swivels around, you can pry it loose with your fingers to look inside. Push the plunger up and down a few times to make sure it isn't sticking. Here is what it is supposed to do: Here is an interesting comment from the Oatey FAQ about RV use: Q Is the Sure-vent approved for use in a RV? A Yes, with exceptions. When the RV is stationary, the Sure-Vent will properly vent the drains for the kitchen and bathroom. If the RV is in motion and depending on how the DWV system was assembled from the factory, positive pressure could stop the Sure-Vent from opening. I have noticed a very occasional stink when towing in especially challenging terrain - very steep grades, lots of increasing elevation change and lots of hairpin turns. I am not sure if the gases are coming out of this valve or out of the sink drain...? Or if that is even related. Amazon - Oatey 39012 1.5 in. NPT ABS in-Line Vent, Black FYI, my vent was not even visible, the sewer pipe assembly was hanging down unsupported, this thread might be worth looking at: https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/6721-how-to-secure-the-loose-grey-drain-vent-plumbing-under-the-galley/ At the very least, give the black pipe a shove to make sure it isn't flopping around, that motion can break glue joints. That is a whole lot of info about an obscure little device most people don't even know exists...:) I am not even sure if this is mentioned in the Owners documents. Can someone comment? John Davies Spokane WA