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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://theberkey.com/

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

Disregards the link, I found it, thanks!

I would pull out all of the drawers and look for water damage to the wood framing under the sink with a headlamp. Even with the plumbing leak repaired, there may be residual water damage that has allowed mold or mildew to grow. Also, remove the plywood panel under the sink, on the floor of the cabinet, that enables access to the receptacle that powers the fridge. You may find the source of the odor there. Also, ensure that your gray and black water tanks are empty. Even standing gray water can stink, especially during the summer months.

Thanks we really like parking our Ollie under cover at home vs paying for a storage lot. It’s been a work in progress for sure. Since you don’t keep your Ollie under cover just be ready to address or stay ahead of the slow creep of your gel coat beginning to oxidize a chaulky white on the roof top and corners. Then there is the degradation of all your caulking from UV. Fun times!

All GREAT advice. I'll be 61 this year and consider myself semi-retired as I teach 24/7 (hours per week/months per year) at a local university. My wife is a few years behind me. We just picked up our 2021 LE2 a few months ago but joined the forum several months before that to do some reading and self-education. Do a lot of research and consider how that information applies to you. We started picking up some of the miscellaneous stuff before we even picked up our LE2. I visited the factory and was working on the build list when a 2021 came up for sale that saved me about $25k although, no factory warranty. This is our second travel trailer and is light-years ahead of the Coachmen we used to travel around in. I would tell you to pull the trigger on it sooner rather than later as you can start doing holiday and weekend trips to work out the kinks and learn how you want things to go for you. You can also make sure most big acquisition expenses are taken care of prior to actually retiring. I've towed boats and campers all my life and definitely the tow vehicle is a serious consideration as it can make trips much more peaceful, or more stressful. We have a 3/4 ton diesel but, they're not for everyone. Weigh out your own considerations and charge forward!

Later, I bump the thermostat up to 71 degrees, and now it is 70 degrees in the trailer, and 88% humidity! Outside is 75 degrees, 68% humidity, and full overcast. It’s almost like the AC sucks the humidity out while the compressor is running, holds onto it instead of sending it overboard, and then dumping the humidity back inside when the compressor shuts off. Vert confusing!

GC - Remember that the EZ Lubes do not really free you from bearing maintenance. I'm not aware of that many (if any) owners that have made this switch. I'd send a PM to Jason in Service and see if he has any experience with this. Bill

RV number 13 and hull number 1307 - it must be a "thing" for you two. Welcome to the Oliver Family. Sorry that your Truma furnace was "bad" from the factory but glad that you got it taken care of and it all worked out. You've got a bunch of Oliver company in Texas and you always have family with any of us. Let us know where you go. Bill

dmay56 Many Olliver Elite II owners use a 1/2 ton truck with the weight distribution hitch. If you are not going to travel in the western mountains, the 1/2 ton is sufficient, in my opinion.

Like Mike and Carol and Steph and Dub B, I use bottled water and only use the fresh water tank for washing dishes, and , bathing. However, with RV's I owned prior to "seeing the light" with my Oliver, I used THIS kind of stuff to make sure I was OK even though I normally used bottled water then too. Since I too sanitize my fresh water tank like John Dehne and am sure that there is nothing "dangerous" about that water, I've simply developed a habit that costs a bit more money but allows me to more precisely monitor the amount of water I'm drinking. Bill

The main thing would be to keep it out of the weather. Direct sunlight, rain, hail etc. The floor being dirt wouldn't matter too much to me unless it flooded and turned to mud during wet weather. You would ideally want electricity and water available near where it is parked and easy access, maybe even pull thru but backing is not too hard to learn to do. A connection for dumping would be a real plus. Sounds like a great starting point.

I covered both front corners with 3M Clearbra, from the belly band on down, for less than $50 DIY (including the purchase of two plastic squeegees and spray bottles for both the soapy slip and alcohol grip mixtures). Mine is a foot wide. Simple and easy to install if you take your time. No rock issues have reached the gelcoat yet.

Be sure to look at trailers other than Oliver, that way you'll appreciate the quality that Oliver Travel Trailers puts into their product. We picked ours up last August and have logged over 11,000 miles and close to 15 National Parks. We've encountered no problems with the trailer to date.

Hello, We were in your position a couple years ago. Never owned a travel trailer, we wanted to travel the country and Discover all the various places. We landed on the Oliver after looking at several other types and manufacturers. We are very happy with our purchase of Hull 1182 a 2022 model. My suggestion on what I would do differently is "Don't wait". We were going to wait until closer to retirement but then just pulled the trigger and have not looked back. We went to the Rally this year and met several really great folks. We are planning some longer trips we want to take with lots of great input from the forum. Right now we take shorter trips to some state parks in Ohio/West Virginia and enjoy getting away and learning more about our Oliver.

www.Livelymachine.com custom fabricated “Rock Stoppers” and www.XPEL.com 10 mil paint protection has worked excellent protecting the front of our Ollie. Patriot🇺🇸 2020 OLEII - Hull #634 aka- “Beauty & the Beast” - 2021 F350 6.7 liter Diesel Lariat Ultimate Tremor

I think it is very good that the sagging crossmember did not break the gas line. If you haven’t already, take a very close look at all the propane lines you can get to inside the trailer. Was there any damage to the fiberglass belly from hanging down unsupported? Even Ollies can have bad problems. I am glad yours was relatively easy to correct. John Davies Spokane WA

I got my copy in the mail the day we left for the rally. Pete and Bosker came by our campsite to see our radio setup and chat about radios. Bosker told Pete when it was time to go, he had heard enough about radios and wanted to finish his walk. Brian

They go hand in hand. Enjoy the journey . Our experience has been that not everything goes "as planned," and we make few reservations. National parks are an exception.

I plan to place an order this year also, and I too have had moments where I am like, "That really is ssssoooo much money." And I too cannot find another trailer that is as nice as an Oliver! Excited for you and your wife!

In the supplied bag, yep! The 450P, hose, power cord, and nozzle/gauge fit nicely in a Cabela’s plastic ammo can. Still occupies the same volume, but easier to stack. A tip I found a few years ago on the Toyota 4Runner forum.