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It has been two years ago that Nancy and I purchased a used 2019 Elite II. The Oliver is a perfect Boondocking Off or RV Park travel trailer. The 27 Foot 2019 Airstream has been parked in the RV Garage, since the purchase of the Oliver. Many would notice immediately the Oliver has much less room than an Airstream. That is True. Although, what the Oliver may lack in length and also a bit narrower than an Airstream... the Oliver has EVERYTHING the Airstream has and a stronger frame. The Oliver Elite II is narrower than an Airstream by 12 inches. The Airstream, for more clearance OTG, I had installed a 3 inch lift and upgraded the 15 inch tires/wheels to 16 inch Michelin LT tires and Wheels... just what the Oliver came with from the factory as stock. The Oliver has the SAME clearance as the Airstream with 3" lift and upgrade to 16 inch Tires. So, both our Airstream and Olive Elite II both can handle Off the Grid travel. Six lugs... and those Michelin E Rated tires... take you everywhere without fear... so far. The Oliver, with the shorter length advantage, can travel easily on Off the Grid Forest Service Roads and Two Rut Trails. Our Airstream can travel the same roads... but only 80% of those roads the Oliver can easily travel. New Mexico and Wyoming photographs. The rear bumper limits the Airstream on uneven roads. The Oliver... no problem. Having Oliver factory Two Solar Panels and the Four Six Volt Batteries... we have had NO 12 volt problems. The Propane Components operate very well at all elevations we have traveled in the Rocky Mountains. Ten Thousand Feet.... no problem. Parked out side with Solar Charging... ready to go when we feel like loading up and hit the road. Yaaa Hooo.... I include some photos of OTG Boondocking travel... to replace the Airstream examples. We use a Folding Ramp for us and the three Blue Heelers to enter and leave the trailer easily. It folds up and we use it when refueling the Tow Vehicle on the back seat and the Heelers can walk down and go up easily. Just a FYI. If you are an Off the Grid Boondocker with an Oliver Elite II having 12 volt Solar, Propane, Electric, Battery Appliances... you are 100% ready to disconnect from RV Parks are travel the Wilds of the Western USA this Season. Our three Blue Heelers have their pillows set that they find comfortable and anxious to spend the night in comfort. The 2019 Airstream and 2019 Olive Elite II have the appliances we need for Off the Grid. With the ALL Electric model Airstreams being produced today... the 2019 Oliver is as modern as we need. Our Homes On Wheels. 🙂

You can find them from $197 to $149 online…. Not cheap, but could save a low-back strain - as can other methods mentioned.

Interesting other 'Former Airstream Owners' that found the Oliver Elites as excellent choices. Both are heavy travel trailers and ride firmly 'attached to the road' and very stable owing in all kinds of conditions. I was going to sell our 27/28 foot 2019 Airstream, after the first year testing out the 2019 Oliver Elite II. But just could not do it after making it a very reliable Off the Grid Airstream. 🙂 After 'tweaking' the 2019 Airstream with added hardware and improved the interior pop rivet issues with Lath Screws... it was solid. Interior cabinets had been attached to the walls with unreliable screws and few brackets. After improving the interior, I could not let it go after making the Airstream Off the Grid upgraded. Also upgraded to 16 inch wheels and Michelins. The Oliver... has much less to upgrade to be an 'Off the Grid' upgraded. Fewer screws to manage on hinges and hardware to secure cabinets. Less is best... Not much to go wrong as far as cabinets. Even the appliances have been cooperative. The Truma hot water system was not repairable after purchase and removed it. Probably going to find a simpler system and not concerned with 'instant hot water' when Boondocking. A folding table, a pot of hot water off the propane stove... and maybe jump into a river... makes you feel.... ahhhhh some. Yep. The plug to the electrical outlet of the Refrigerator had dropped out and found that once we put the Oliver on home power and did not work. Pulled the drawer out and saw the plug not plugged into the outlet. The Truma had three service receipts, two I have in my folder for repair and obviously was not replaced or repaired. My mistake not doing a 100% top to bottom inspection. You may want to remember this if you plan to buy a Travel Trailer out of Warranty. My only complaint. After owning three Airstreams, the third was easy to upgrade with better brackets and hardware from coming apart. On or Off the paved roads. Each Airstream was modified from the 2006 Airstream. The Oliver worked out so well for us, it is now our 'Special Purpose Boondocking Travel Trailer'. The manufacturing and marine hardware make the Oliver the #1 Choice for anyone who camps out and needs a reliable 'Home on Wheels'. The Airstream in comparison uses similar hardware that your home uses for hinges, and fabricated cabinets that are mounted inside with screws. The Oliver 'build' leaves little to vibrate loose, when being used, compared to the majority of other Travel Trailers. I would not hesitate to call the Oliver much easier to go from paved to unpaved camping locations. Fewer parts to come loose. I am a Geologist who is always 'looking for interesting' places to explore. Wife and Heelers enjoy the open spaces, mountains to wander among and come home satisfied with our choice of trailers and know which is best for the NEXT Adventure. 🙂 I also Tow on the Ball with the a 2016 F350 Diesel 4x4 without worry or sway. Same with the Airstream, towing on the ball without needing Weight Distribution or Sway Control. A smooth ride and never regret experimenting with towing options. The Airstream or Oliver Elite are easy to sell when the time arrives. We plan to keep both and am confident that the Oliver and Airstream will manage to provide everything we expected from a Travel Trailer while Boondocking.

I have recently completed the conversion with the Isotherm that Oliver uses. Not too bad, hardest part was disassembling Norcold 4.1 and then reassembling it after removal from my smaller Oliver Elite. Had to remove refrigerator door and cooling unit in order to fit through the Oliver door. The Isotherm Cruise 130 fits through narrow passageway after removing its door. BTW, The Norcold works fine after reassembly and currently trying to sell.

Awesome pictures. Once I get some time to travel, I will be adding some of my boondocking experiences.

Great pics, Ray. Glad your Oliver is working out so well! Mike

My mind just went bonkers trying to calculate the number of popped interior rivets on that guided trip. I did get rather proficient with drill, punch, and rivet gun. Did I mention that I’m slowly getting over aluminitus.

So, it's moving into wheel bearing examination season and my low back is already starting to scream at me. Those 16" wheel/tire assemblies are, by no stretch, an "easy lift" while trying to align the lugs with the wheel - haven't weighed them, but they feel like 50 - 60-something pounds. A real back strainer, for sure and for certain. Found this Gaither "Trac Tire Jack" somewhere on YouTube. The vid sold me on it immediately and ours arrived yesterday. Haven't tried it out yet, but by initial evaluation, it's going to make the wheel bearing drill a lot more fun than it already is. The unit is well made from solid steel, powder coated bright red, and the only moving part is the roller. This will certainly be a go-to tool in our shop... Check it out at: https://gaithertool.com/products/new-products/trac-tire-jack/ Cheers!

Changing the sink connection to the black tank, if using the tank for just urine, makes a lot of sense. Many rv bath sinks drain to the black tank. The Swedish separett toilet has a line that can be dedicated to a tank or drain field. I'm kind of surprised that natures head, and airhead haven't already marketed a connection, as most rv toilets are mounted right above the black tank.

If mounting heavier (I.E. Inverters, converters, DC-DC Charging) equipment to vertical surfaces several owners have found that just epoxy, JB Weld or other such products over time fail. For this reason, I use and suggest also adding SS Fender washers and small bolts thru the vertical Ollie surface, the mounting board and the mounting holes of the electrical gear. For our 3,000 watt Renogy Inverter, I used stainless steel four sets of 3/16" bolts, fender washers and nylock nuts. For my grins I also used JB Weld between the vertical hull surface and the cutting board mounts. No worries on our 15,000 mile Alaska trip and over many Rocky Mountain fire roads., Geronimo

I searched for this on Amazon and one seller showed for this item at full retail. This tool came up in the search. I may have to get one of these! Amazon.com: PONO 330 LBS Heavy Duty Adjustable Rolling Wheel Dolly,Tire Moving Tool Cart for Changing Car, Truck, Skid Steer, ATV, and Trailer Tires,Easy to Use Tire Lifting Tool : Automotive

Nice tool, though pricey (like everything else today)! I have a crowbar with a spade end I sometimes use this purpose. I also use a huge 6-ton floor jack and when it's time to remount, I lower the jack with the wheel in position and get it to the point the wheel only needs 1/4" lift to mount. Yes, save your back!

I was able to re-use 2 (+) cables that were on the batteries and those coming into the battery bay from the inside connections. I had to make 2 new ground cables for the battery as they were farther apart for the new batteries. I also added a common bus bar for all grounds as I installed a Victron smart shunt for measuring battery bank status.

I had just enough leftover web sleeving after covering my bike security chains to treat the Oliver tow chains. Marring the bulldog is one thing, but very expensive ebikes is another!

I wonder if some positive air flow would improve upon the basement heating and return?

Same here, it’s a slow recovery process, brother 😎👍🏼

"slowly" ????? 😊

I'm thinking a 4" Valterra vent between the forward dinette seat through the bathroom bulkhead near the toilet would be just as efficient, IMO.

Here is my latest modification for an antenna pole holder. I used a 3” (bolt side) x 4” (height) x 5” (wide) .250 inch thick right angle with two .375 U-brackets while utilizing existing bumper bolts, washers, nuts and holes. I made sure the round pipe was 2 inches away from edge of the right angle aluminum (towards rear, away from Ollie) so that this pipe did not interfere with the swinging bumper when closing/pinning with locking pins. Make sure the 2 holes in the right angle are away from the right angle radius so that the large existing washers will not be on top of this radius (so washers are flush on top of metal). The U-brackets will allow you to move the pole upward or downward, along with removal for when towing so the lights are not blocked. The 22 ft flag pole I purchased is fiberglass from polesandholders.com and it is collapsible. The flagpole holders from this site will not work for my chosen bumper location. The inside flagpole holder pipe diameter will be determined by your flagpole outside diameter measurement.

So... for those of you with "older" OTTs and want to know to what level your gelcoat has oxidized, try this: Take off the Oliver Logo and find out! Which is exactly what we did this afternoon - a couple plastic razor blades, a heat-gun, some "Goof-Off", and a little elbow grease and about 45 minutes later: The new graphic is from the movie credits - we've been to many of the places on the map and thought it fit our lifestyle... The graphic is held in place temporarily with painters tape and will be fixed permanently after we have CGI do their magic in Fredericksburg during the eclipse rally. Yellowing was apparent but not as bad as expected. Until the rally in April, we'll be using the same 3M anti-oxidizer that CGI uses to blend in the gelcoat with the Cyclo and bring it back to life. Piece of cake... Cheers, all!

We have been using the "second jug" method and it's worked out pretty well for us.

The Natures head sits right on the black tank so the mod should be pretty straight forward. I could see making this change down the road. At the same time, emptying the urine jug in the local toilet is about as easy as it gets. I have considered getting a second jug and cap for those occasions where emptying isn't immediately possible.

Amazon took a while to deliver these, and they came while we were away. These are the correct parts. I bought a set for spare parts. For only $12 for two pair, good to have on hand: Side to Side Adjustable Locking Device for 563/569 Series Blum Tandem Drawer Slide - 2 Pair (4 Pieces) with Installation Screws - Amazon.com

Several have modified the toilet to drain the liquids into the black tank. The folks that showed us their trailer before we ordered ours had just completed the job that day. I remember that one member here had changed the bathroom sink to drain into the black tank, as well, to avoid urine crystallization problems. Plus, that saves some of the gray tank space. If/when we switch to an AirHead toilet, those are the modifications I plan to make.

Very late for this but here goes: Ram / 2500/ Tradesman / 2014 / 4x4 / Diesel / 6.7 turbo / 3.42 posi / Hull #1460

You'll want the graphics on before they do the ceramic coating, else it won't stick. Plus, the ceramic coating over the graphics helps protect them. If you let them know ahead of time what you're doing, I'd imagine they would polish the top front first to give you time to apply the graphics before coating.

Thanks, Just watched Jim and Frances YouTube video link about vehicle's Bluetooth in his last post, highly recommend seeing this video, too.

This is excellent information (OBTW: we have the same truck/year model) - had no idea of the FOBs intricacies... We start the engine remotely on occasion by pressing the FOB door lock button quickly 3x and holding down on the third press. Thanks for sharing!

CGI does a great job. Hard working guys. John

I may have misunderstood your question about the upper and lower vents. I first assumed you were talking about vents inside the trailer. The vents outside, I had to block them off. I kept them removable so that I could work from outside as well as inside. Oliver sent me some old obsolete cabinet doors of white plexiglass. These can also be seen in the older forums about the installation along with commentary.

To remove the old fridge I removed the fridge door and the refrigeration unit from the back. As you get into it you’ll see what needs to be removed. Just keep the unit upright and be careful with the heat transfer putty and it can be reassembled with no issues. The NovaKool install, I removed the trailer screen door from the hinges and taped the lower hinge in the closed position. I also removed the NovaKool door and hinges and it went in sideways with 1/4 inch clearance. I also added a strip of painters tape on the entry door frame to prevent scratches. I would highly recommend that you make your own measurements before you even buy a new fridge as I think but don’t know for absolute certainty that Oliver has used slightly different door designs and maybe sizes as well. The NovaKool fit my trailer perfectly with two inch top and bottom openings. You’ll see the stages of the installation in the forums. I did however have to make two sets of upper and lower grills for the two openings. The first set I made at home out of aluminum but I didn’t like the difference in color between the aluminum grills and the stainless steel bezel around the fridge. I later had two more grills laser cut out of stainless steel.

Wouldn't the venture principle only work if there was a source of intake air, to replace that sucked out?

Epoch recently had the 460ah battery at $1700 and it appears they have sales on them fairly often. One advantage of the 460 model IMO is the included external battery gauge and on/off switch. If you’re looking to keep the rest of the equipment the same in your trailer the extras might be beneficial. Having said that, with the current pricing I might be tempted to buy just one 300ah battery. It will likely provide more usable power than your current setup and is a very economical option. Many on here have gone with 3 100ah BB units and find that capacity works great.

I added a toggle switch to the charge line. This makes it available for future use if needed. Mossey

Thanks Fellas - exactly the kind of info I'm looking for! I'm leaning toward a single Epoch 12v 460Ah (https://www.epochbatteries.com/products/12v-460ah-lifepo4-battery-ip67-heated-bluetooth-victron-comms ) ... a single unit so no series/parallel wiring needed - should be a straight switch of the Neg/Pos from the dual 6V series/parallel to the single Neg/Pos poles of the new Epoch (am I missing something on this?). So, no new cable should be needed and, in fact, I can do away with all of the series/parallel interconnects - will certainly make the battery compartment much neater. I can easily switch the shore power charger to LI and I'll connect with the BlueSky folks to confirm the settings (might be a bit different than with you aforementioned (3) BattleBorns?). Getting really excited, too, about the economics of this. (4) Trojan t-105 6V AGMs = around $1200 - $1400 for (1) Epoch 460Ah = around $2000 So, for me the add'l cost to upgrade to Lithium amounts to only $600 to $800 ... makes the upgrade very palatable! One other item I've uncovered is that Charging the Lithium from the Tow Vehicle is questionable in this arrangement ... anyone with thoughts? ... worst case scenario I can disable the tow vehicle charging (remove/cut the specific wire from th7-pin?) and, in emergency, recharge using a generator?

Any theft deterrent that we can employ, short of standing outside our Ollie's with a shot gun, can be defeated. As in the military, the best defense has multiple layers to slow down or degrade the attacker. I also submit that our security devices should minimize storage and weight for travel. Here are my suggested layers of defense: Layer 1. For long term (Not Occupied), I start my security prep by lowering the trailer tongue. Simple. Free. No added weight. Layer 2: For this layer I use two items suggested by John D years ago: Unlike the Proven Ind. cover, they easily fit into a kitchen drawer and weigh a lot less than ten pounds. They are a deterrent that some bad guys will walk away. I cover them with large coffee can or a bucket for both weather protection, and also so that passers by can't see what I have in store for them. Most do not bring the power tools required to defeat these devices. For those really serious thieves that do have the power tools please proceed to Layer 6. For those less prepared thieves that do not have the power tools, please proceed to Layer 3. Layer 3. After they get through chewing their way through Layer 2, they then will likely try to dead lift our 640 pound tongue weight. However their sore backs quickly veto that approach. They have a eureka moment when they see the front jack. They eagerly remove the cover and activate the jack to raise the bulldog onto their hitch. But the jack does not work because I removed the fuse. They cut the wires and splice them around the fuse. But drats that does not work either because my DC Master Switch is in the OFF position. So sorry guys. More time burned. Layer 4: Now they are really getting nervous as their 60 seconds and gone plan is out the window. But determined they are and they fetch their vehicle scissors jack that is buried in their TV. But to use it near the tongue, that you will recall is near the ground, requires them to excavate a small trench. They waste time figuring out that they can move the jack aft and try to raise it from there. But that typically means that the jack will not extend high enough to get the bulldog over their super duty truck hitch. Sorry for your back injuries from trying to power lifting our 640 pound tongue weight. More time wasted. Layer 5: In their haste, they had failed to notice that I also have a security lock on the Bulldog. More time wasted to saw off that lock. At this point the dumb ones give up on my Ollie and go to yours. But the Professional thieves have a different path entirely. Instead of taking the time to attack hardened steel, they bypass them entirely. They back up their truck to the bulldog, grab our safety chains/cables and wrap them tightly around their hitch and run them through two carabiners. Fasten them and hall ass. Truly 60 seconds and gone. Layer 6: But wait, you took a few seconds to bolt and double nut your safety cables/chains to together up under the fiberglass propane tank cover. Now they have to go fetch real tools to unbolt or cut your grade 8 steel bolt. More time wasted. Layer 7: Your last straw of hope in getting your trailer back is that tracker you placed over Ollie. Why here? Because no double bubble and better reception overhead. The above are the best seven of my 12 "Home Alone" fun things to mess with thieves. But if you want to explore others consider: Exploding dye packs, trip wires to screamers, and my all time favorite is an electric fence transformer grounded and attached to the frame of Ollie. 🙂 GJ PS: My favorite fun movie is the Christmas Special "Home Alone". I liked the original one the best.

I know a guy in Virginia that makes these vents up in any size if anybody needs one.

An incremental update. I finished the upper and lower grills so I’d call the installation complete. The fridge has been running continuously on either DC or AC since I received it coming up on a month now. We have been on a long weekend camping/test trip and we’re pleased with it’s performance. It maintains upper teens to low 20’s in the freezer and low to mid 30’s in the fridge regardless of the outside temperature. The compressor seems to run for about 5 minutes and then is off for about 5 minutes if it’s hot (95 or so) outside and is off a bit longer if it’s cool (mid to upper 60’s) outside. So far the 320 watts solar and four T105 batteries have been able to keep up. Testing will continue on upcoming trips.

I've had a couple of conversations with Oliver about that. For a while they were considering using a compressor fridge in the Elite I, since they're smaller and easier to get through the door, but in the end they found another unit that would work. My guess is that at the moment, they're worried that the battery capacity isn't enough. I definitely think that supplemental solar is needed.

Buzzy, don't in any way get discouraged by these last comments. National Parks are certainly cool, but there are millions of acres of virtually unoccupied land available for exploring. Even in Utah, with all it's big parks (and hoards of tourists) you can easily get off the grid in stunning scenery. Especially if you make your trip at one end of the busy season, or in late Spring or early Fall. I love exploring in rural Montana, ghost town hunting. In some places where you are wandering around on bumpy dirt ranch roads you might not see another vehicle or human for half a day. OTH, if you head by highway toward Glacier or Yellowstone, you suddenly will see yuppified boom towns, crowded campgrounds and tour buses full of Old Age Pensioners headed to the Big Attractions. Pick your poison. I hate crowds. ;) In contrast Great Basin NP, which is pretty much unknown and on the road to nowhere in NV, gets about 80,000 visitors ...... annually. BTW, when driving around out here be prepared for long hauls and keep the tank above half full. Sometimes it can be 100 miles to the next services. What fun! Southeast Montana along the primitive Big Sheep Creek Backcountry Byway: http://www.onlyinyourstate.com/montana/beautiful-byways-in-montana/ John Davies Spokane WA

Having just spent two months in Wyoming, both on and off the grid, I can confirm John's analysis of campsite availability. Where possible, I made reservations in advance and in those places with established campgrounds that didn't take reservations I always tried to arrive prior to 3pm (these are camps that usually had no hook-ups but did have a pit toilet and a central water location. In places like Yellowstone you MUST plan on arriving MUCH earlier. I arrived at Pebble Creek Camp in Yellowstone at 5:45am and was second in line. All non-reserved sites in Yellowstone were taken no later than 9:30am for the two weeks that I was there (mid-August). If one plans to stay in a place like Cody or West Yellowstone in order to do laundry, restock, take a bit of R & R (read that as being able to have a meal cooked by someone other than myself), etc. then you should allow at least three months prior to arriving to make reservations and/or get to the national forest campground very early in order to get a site. Even places that one might expect to be empty for boondocking that are as much as 20 miles up a dirt road will likely have others in the area and the nicer sites will probably be taken even though no people will be there (during the week). Having said this I must also say that I never had trouble finding a site for the night - all it takes is a little planning and getting on the road a bit early in the morning. Bill

Buzzy, for Western states the Benchmark atlases are hard to beat as a primary reference, supplemented by highly detailed NFS maps. The problem with the latter is that they are pricey and in some states like Idaho you may need a dozen or more. Plus they show no elevation data, which makes navigation a lot harder than it should be. https://www.benchmarkmaps.com/products-page/atlases/wyomingroad-recreation-atlas The Benchmark ones are way more useful away from urban areas that the similar Delorme ones - once you try the black BM atlases you will toss your red Delorme ones! While Google Earth and other resources are great for planning, I do long road trips with a Benchmark Atlas nearby, my Garmin RV760 LMT on the dash, for autorouting and Points of Interest, and my iPad Mini on a RAM mount, running MotionX GPS, usually zoomed out to about 2 miles to the inch for complete situational awareness. At this scale I see lots of features that the Garmin is completely blind to. http://gps.motionx.com/ipad/overview/ I usually view the excellent downloadable (included) MotionX Terrain maps, but I also have downloaded most USGS 24K topos (free) for my areas of operation. The beauty of this program is that it lets you view many, many different types of maps, including satellite and conventional road, but those require a data plan and cellular coverage, which in many places out here are simply unavailable. You MUST have cached maps! This is critical! It _is_ possible to load topo maps onto many NUVI models that have a flash card, and it is possible to display both topo and road features simultaneously with effective Auto Routing and voice prompts, but the display gets a little weird and I do not often do this. Plus Garmin TOPO is a little lame. Having two displays showing two different map types is a revelation when you are wandering in the boonies. The very best resource I have found for this stuff is a sub-forum at Expedition Portal: .... http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/forums/46-Mapping-Navigation-GIS-(Software) Here is a good start for you: .... http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/156098-Overland-Navigation-Overview-and-Tutorial?s=d2dbbcd414c6594cc6df60746eae59cb John Davies Spokane WA EDIT: There are a number of excellent local forums dedicated to overlanding, plus there are regional forums at Expedition Portal. While their focus is far more "off roady" than the stuff we have been talking about here, those folks _really_ know the back country areas around them and are friendly to visitors to their website asking for advice about places to visit. Just be sure to emphasize the fact that you will be hauling a trailer and do not have a locked and lifted Rubicon to pull it with. Avoid the 4x4/ Jeep forums as those are way too dirt oriented to be useful to an Oliver owner. In the past I have posted questions online about visiting southern Utah and the Colorado Plateau and these folks have been extremely helpful. JD

Make the dates straddle the Great Solar Eclipse on 08/21/17 (my birthday!) and you will have a winner. http://www.greatamericaneclipse.com/best-places-to-view/ John Davies Spokane WA

What if... I find the perfect spot, set up camp, enjoy the sunset and find out at around 2am the land I am on belongs to the infamous Sawyer family.

Ditto on the 25 cent plastic piece in the Dometic Toilets that is not sold as a repair part. Causing us to buy new toilets for over $300. Dometic brand seems to have distanced themselves from the customers that they need. Suspect that the only ones they care about are the OEM guys and not us.

I ran across one concern about the 300ah Epochs. One of the reviews on their website suggests that there is no way to turn off the heating function of this battery. If you store the trailer outside in a cold environment then the heaters will come on to warm the battery and unless you have power available they will eventually hit low voltage cutoff and shut down. Seems odd that there is no way to disable the heating function. The 460ah battery has a power switch to shut the battery down. John