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It's not a big deal. We did this years ago. It's a terrific upgrade. Just do it. You'll be very happy. So nice to have an overhead light in the bath. We used butyl tape. Drilled small pilot holes. Once you've drilled a few, not so scary. Read the whole thread. Lots of great advice, from a number of installs.

There have been plenty of other discussion and "how to do it" on most of my recent modifications. In fact I relied to a great extent on member posts on what they did and where they got the parts to do it. The modifications I made, in no particular order are: - Installed quarter turn PEX shut-off valves in the hot and cold water PEX piping just prior to the outdoor shower. - Insulated the heck out of the space below the drivers side bunk bed with adhesive Reflectix. Two to four layers, depending on the available space - Used the well documented John Davies method of providing interior wall bump protection and anti breath condensation during cold weather use. (I had a wet mattress last Elk season just from my breath condensing on the wall near my face.) - Modified the bathroom heating duct with rigid flex ducting and rigid elbows to greatly improve the air flow. Almost doubled the velocity of exiting air! - Insulated the heck out of the undersink area of the bathroom, using the aforementioned adhesive backed Reflectix. Four to six layers in this case. - Used pipe insulation to cover all exposed PEX piping in the undersink area of the bathroom. - Installed a fixed bathroom faucet in the bathroom. - Installed a Scanvik Shower Mixer and shower hose to replace the prior "extendable" shower. - Installed shut-off valves in all four water connections under the bathroom sink. - Installed a marine deck hatch in place of the prior washcloth rack. Installed the pump switch in the lower left corner of the deck hatch. Photos will also show a prior modification where I replaced the kitchen faucet with one more suited to how I do dishes... Photos follow. Enjoy!

@johnwen, you are correct- yellow is ground and red is 12VDC. I believe you were referring to the image below: Please note, I later relocated the fan control to the upper storage cabinet above the refrigerator and microwave oven. The power connections for the fans remained unchanged from what is shown above. Regards, Don

Looks like one of our AS is in that pic! HA! Kinda like Cadillac Ranch near Amarillo....

Nope. Marked the holes with a sharpie, then hit the marks with a "spring punch" (this forms a small indent in the gelcoat which keeps the drill bit from walking off target), then drill. No biggie. Post your efforts to share your experience... Have fun with it!

GJ, Mike and many others, have better batteries than we! 450 AH of lead acid here. I read here that two 300AH Epoch batteries fit, which is totally amazing! By the time we upgrade, 2025, 2026, I'm hoping some manufacturer can stuff 800AH into the bay size holding four 6V golf cart batteries!

We used an equalizer hitch with our Tacoma and airstream. Basecamp 16 x. It was a great hitch and we had a lot of squat in the Tacoma wo the equalizer. We now have a F250 Tremor, factory 3” lift and reportedly the 250 and 350 both have 350 rear springs. We tow our LE2 on the ball and generally have had a great experience. The only issue was on a trip to Fruita, CO with a particularly strong gusty crosswind and had to slow down some. Otherwise the setup is stable as can be. One of the primary reasons for the upgrade to a F250 was the ability to tow wo a weight distribution hitch. In the greater scheme of things hitching a WDH is a minor issue but certainly something to avoid if possible. The other primary reason was payload.

We used the Andersen WDH with three different trucks. When we went with the Ram 2500 diesel 3.5 years ago I sold the Andersen and have been towing on the ball since. Never a single sway issue. Never had an issue with the other trucks either, but it sure is easier to hook up and go without a WDH hitch. Mike

The key to the install of this stuff is to clean, clean, clean prior to even thinking about applying the gutter material. Bill p.s. and a nice warm day doesn't hurt either - 80 degrees plus

Measure twice, drill once. 😁

Lithiums are a nice upgrade, but we camped for years with four AGM batteries in our Oliver and they did a fine job in all kinds of conditions. Mike

I think it took us about three hours, to do all the windows, back over a decade ago. Fastest on a warm day. We've replaced a couple over the years. 20 minutes for one. Well worth the time.

I’ve done it twice. It took the better part of an afternoon to do all the windows. Mike

I have three and would be hard pressed to figure out how you got four of them in there unless yours are the ones mounted sideways with buss bars utilizing great care and extremely brilliant craftsman skills. For the normal DYI owner, three 100 amp BB's seems the limit. GJ

Please share with us the Bulldog shock info and assessment after you get some miles on them. GJ

A couple of 'Retirement Homes' for travel trailers that needed a rest. Sometimes even Boats need to find that special place. Wyoming, Montana and Nevada.

I agree with greasing out of service the Anderson sway feature for our F-150. But I don't take apart the Anderson to do so. Just grease the ball with a short burst of spray lithium grease. To keep grease build-up just wipe it off each time you unhitch. I also wipe out the Bulldog as well for the same reason. For the F-150's, I have and recommend air bags and Bilstein 5100's on the rear. Sure fixed the porposing issue and the rear end (with or without Ollie) feels MUCH more planted. GJ

I was there! We rode our bicycles from San Diego to St. Louis that year. I remember cans of spray paint all over. John

National Forest Campsites are very convenient and in more remote areas, empty. Read the Sign First, maybe Two Times... then Proceed with Caution. Photos: Caribou National Forest, Utah and Gold Panning options in Colorado. Do you have any signs to offer, or ignore them and invite Black Bear into your campsite after Sunset... leaving food on the Forest Service Picnic table? Did you know that in order to cut hanging branches in the National Forest that would drag onto your Travel Trailer sides or roof top, you need to have a Class in Operating a Chain Saw, before using one at any of the National Forest Campsites. Although legally, we have several long handled Trimmers, sharpened at home to make it easier to widen road width and access... for everyone. Many remote roads have become overgrown with brush along the sides of the road. Trees may fall onto the Forest Service Road... locals drive around or over the tree. We stop and pull the downed pine tree Off the Road, so we do not have to drive around half of the road. Sometimes we have to use our imagination... HOW... not having to use our long handle axe in the back of the tow vehicle. We have Two Shovels. A His and Hers. Filling large pot holes in the compact dirt road is a hobby. When full of water... necessary. Camp Host(s) at remote sites in Wyoming get Propane provided for Free to keep an eye of campers coming in and out of the area they are watching. I heard some get some financial incentives and pick the camping site you like the most. You get a sign : Camp Host. You also can post: 'Bears-Secure Food' signs to post. Wyoming and Montana campers may become part of nature's food source if Frying Bacon and not expecting company... sooner than later. Really... There must be some Oliver trailer owners that have pushed the boundaries of Popular Camp Sites with Signs and took the less traveled road gone into areas where Bear Signs are nailed to trees for those who do not carry a Side Arm... to make noise, when needed the most. Yellowstone Park is the ONLY place I have seen Human Beans chasing Grizzly Bear to shoot... photographs with children and flip flops. Spring is coming and you better get ready to scout out some better camping spots in 2024. Before the Signs Appear. 🙂

Couple of questions for y`all. Did anyone countersink the drill holes? Think I read somewhere using a countersink bit helps prevent gelcoat cracking. Also, how much lower does the light bezel hang than the original? I'm pretty close to the ceiling in there as it is. Thanks.

@theOrca: Great summary, brother! Nicely done - very satisfying, right? BRAVO ZULU!

When I drain our fresh water tank I first turn on the pump then open the kitchen and bathroom faucets until the pump stops pulling from the tank, after that I open the drain valve and raise the front of the trailer, doing it that way only takes about 30 min or less to drain. Of course, then I have to drain the gray water tank which I try to dump on some nearby foliage.

Headed further south! Now in High Falls GA. A lot warmer here, and the traffic in/out of Atlanta was horrible! Headed down to Mobile tomorrow.

That's a great upgrade.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/airstream-ranch

Scandvik catalog link. The one in above photo is likely the first, upper left. Our now 16 year old scandvik faucets in our trailer are still going strong, as are the 15 year old replacements we put in the boat. I like their quality. Good luck. https://www.scandvik.com/index.cfm?method=products_Category&catID=325

One important fact of using a map to determine where to set your trailer. Sink Holes... east of Cedar City, Utah camped at he Cedar Breaks over 7800 feet elevation. As a geologist I recognized the Sink Holes immediately. Some thought they were from Volcanic activity. Some thought Meteorite Craters. They fill with snow in the Winter and in the Spring they appear to be small ponds... then disappear downstream to Navajo Lake that ground water fills for boating. In the summer... Navajo Lake... evaporates as all Sink Holes drain into this low area. Visit Cedar Breaks sometime. Lots of camping spots to discover. But... when you see pine trees leaning and large circular holes swallowing trees... it could be you, your tow vehicle or Oliver sinking into a huge sink hole next. Timing... today or hundreds of years later... who knows. Great camping and look for Agate to the north of the road into the area, among the ravines about 3/4 mile to the left of the pine trees in the first photograph. Sink holes do have some pluses... and avoid the minuses. Bring a back page or 5 gallon bucket. There are unlimited agates... today... and in a century... a sink hole make bury it all.

Ken and I both have 3 BB’s. There’s no room for 4 and three gives plenty of capability. Mike

Might be a y, not easy to tell from photo, but y capacity is still only 3600. The stout electric motors can surely pull more, but at what long and short range expense. Def not an x, based on door handle configuration. Not a safe combo for that big airstream, imo. We have a hitch on our tesla x, but choose not to tow. We have two perfectly capable trucks. Predictable. Battery chemistry continues to evolve. We'll all see what the future brings, if we're lucky enough to live so long.

As I said earlier, only the Elites made between 2007 and 2009 were delivered with the 5000 pound couplers. The next Elite built by Oliver was Hull #073 delivered in 2015 and was equipped with a 7000 pound coupler. The current standard OEM for both the Elite and Elite II is the 7000 pound coupler.

I'd personally never put gas, or a gas genset on the bumper, but others might. For a number of reasons. Rear end collision hazard, top among them. Difficult to use rear exit window in a true emergency. Theft opportunities. Changes tow balance, etc. There is a tray available for the tongue, if your trailer doesn't have one already. All you need is a small, lightweight genset to charge the batteries, imo. We only carry a Honda 1000. It charges batteries, when solar fails in crummy weather. It won't run ac. Slightly heavier, in the 220 to 2400 watt range, may run the ac for you, as well. Still something I can lift and move. Not as easily, but possible. Does your trailer have the front generator connection? We do, though we've never used it.