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No better time to fly our flag!

…and the Army is celebrating 250 years today!

Why is it that this reminds me of the 2 years, one month and 29 days I spent in the Army? Absolutely no disrespect here in that it was one of the best things that I ever did! Bill

One of my brothers lives in Brainerd. Brainerd weather doesn't always look at the calendar. Lol. It SHOULD be in the 70s, but 40s or 50s can happen in June. At least it cuts down on mosquitoes.

We've seen lots of awnings trashed by wind, usually when left out while the owners were away somewhere. We never leave our awnings out when we're not present and alert, even overnight. That said, we love our dual electric awnings. When camping in hot weather, I try to park the trailer in a North-South orientation so we have maximum shade on the trailer body. In the morning I deploy the East side awning, then the West side in the afternoon. Works really well.

Basically - it is "we" who got what we asked for. The "packaging" of various options was primarily done for two reasons - we (the owners) were yelling (loudly) that we wanted better quality control and the packaging helped limit the number of different variations thereby simplifying the production process and, therefore, increasing quality. At the same time, Oliver developed a multi-tiered quality control approach where each "station" on the production line was required to note that they had completed the "tasks" of that station and these things had been inspected for quality control. Then, at a later date, when a quality issue was found, it could be traced back to the station where the issue occurred where either further training was taken or different processes were instituted. The second reason was that the vast majority of Ollies were being produced with these same options anyway. Bill

Happy Flag Day!!!!!!!!!

This information is from September 2022, so it’s not as current as you might want. We started this portion of our trip in Ottawa, IL after my mother’s family reunion and the destination was TRNP before heading back to Florida. THNP has 2 campgrounds, Cottonwood is in the south unit and Juniper is in the north unit. Cottonwood has about 70 sites in 2 loops, north and south. The south loop has small areas and it would be cramped for a LE2. The north loop has larger sites, more suitable for LE2's and larger rigs. We could not get a reservation in Cottonwood in advance, so we booked a night in Sully Creek SP, just south of Medora. We headed to Cottonwood first thing the next morning. There were not any campground hosts available when we arrived, so we proceeded to drive through the campground, we didn’t see anything large enough in the south loop and then found 3 available in the north loop. Since I always what to know what’s around the corner or over the hill, we drove around the north loop again and found 2 of the available sites were already taken. We took the 3rd spot and I walked up to the self serve check-in station and filled out some paperwork. We ran into a campground host while walking back to our site and he showed us a site that was reserved for the new shower/restroom building construction crew and said that we could use it for the next 3 nights because the crew was off for a few days. So we moved to that site and had a great stay. We did drive to the north unit to see the Juniper campground and over all liked the north unit better, less people but also so less to see and do. We wanted to say in Custer SP in South Dakota, but couldn’t find anything and headed to Badlands NP and dry camped for 3 nights, just off SD-240 about 9 miles south of Wall, SD and before you get to the entrance to Badlands NP. Look for a dirt road on the left and other campers a mile or so off the highway. You should also be able to see 2 or 3 radio towers several miles in the distance also on the left or east side of SD-240. Drive along the dirt road until you find something you like. A word of caution, it's very windy! Good luck, Mossey Cottonwood campground - TRNP Outside Badlands NP on SD-240

Our first RV experience was a Class C rental in Alaska in 1999. When you are still working and Alaska is calling, an RV rental is an awesome way to answer. We shared our 3 week rental with friends that were Class A owners and shared their knowledge and expertise, making the experience a joy. However you get to Alaska, you’re sure to have an amazing RV adventure! Mossey

In concept I agree with both points...to a point. I very rarely use ours for backing up Ollie. The vast majority of our miles are solo. So I prefer to get out and access the situation, some times two or three times for a difficult back in site. Generally speaking I travel with Ollie during daylight. 99.9% of the time my parking lights are off. So, I chose to power up our rear view camera from the parking light circuit in the attic. On a few rare occasions it was also helpful to flip on the parking lights just to see what was going on behind me. One example is there was an erratic driver behind, then to the side of us. He came within 6" of the side of Ollie twice. I slowed down, and kept doing so until he got the message and passed us. The dummy was was reading a road map while drinking coffee at 65 MPH. Accident avoided. Another was to see if my son was still back there after a fuel stop. So in addition to backing up, they can be handy at times for other purposes.

We have the manual Fiamma awning and have used it quite a bit. We’ve done a lot of hot weather camping and it provides shade when sitting and cooking outside. It has also provided shelter during light rains so we can sit outside and enjoy the weather. We have a sunshade that easily hooks onto the awning providing even more shade and enables the awning to be used even in pretty windy weather.. I’m not a fan of automatic awnings, but it seems that is where RV’s are trending. At Lake Guntersville. At US Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs. Lake Guntersville.

We visited TRNP and Glacier NP (Two Medicine) in September (2019). Weather in ND was warm during the day and nice and cool at night. Lots of sun. At Glacier, weather was cool during the day and cooler at night. Very little sun, I had to run the generator at Glacier a couple times since there was not much solar activity going on. Two Medicine is a pretty dramatic site, mountains all around. Camping at TRNP, lots of blue skies. There were also lots of Bison wandering around the campground. At Two Medicine campground, GNP. No sun, cool damp weather. This park is a must see!! More Two Medicine…

It stores quite nicely on a bed with a blanket on the fan housing when underway. The real benefit for us is its mobility and ventilation support. Mossey

We've done a number of Alaska trips, never with the Ollie. Flew up 20 years ago and rented a small class c. Delivered several rentals from Indiana to Alaska over the years. It's a very long trip. Our favorite part of the trip had always been northern bc, and the Yukon. But, you can fly in and rent there, too. Not Ollie purists. We've rented campers on several continents, when expedient. Love my Ollie, but not shipping it to Europe, Australia, or Iceland. Rentals often make so much sense. Glad you had fun. May is a bit chiller, bit a great time to visit Alaska. Fewer bugs. Fewer tourists. Fewer fires. Good on you for great timing.

Not sure, but did notice in years past they started offering bundled packages (decor, electronics, solar/batteries, etc.) and thus, eliminated many of the individual options while increasing the overall costs.

The manual awning was standard on our 2020 OLEll; the Dometic power awning was the option, which I have no regrets getting.

We always have paper maps with us. With the flick of a switch for national security reasons the country’s national GPS system can be degraded or intentionally interrupted or even turned off. Sadly many drivers that can’t read a map or don’t carry a map are oblivious to this. I am a huge advocate of our TST -TPMS system. Unless you have X-ray eyes 👀 😂 and can see all things going on with your tires inside and out, I don’t completely trust just a visual walk around. And we all know the likely hood of a blow out at a gas station or pull off is remote. It’s usually when you’re clicking off the miles on the “superslab” and hopefully you’re not in the hammer lane when your tire decides to grenade. I think @topgun2 can share a story about a blow out he had on a previously owned SOB camper and experienced such a situation. I will stick with our TPMS monitoring air pressure and tire temps along with a visual inspection of our rigs tires when we fuel up. Solid technology to help keep us rolling safely.

Thanks so much for the replies. No sooner had I written my post when a gust of strong wind ripped a neighbor’s awning into shreds! So our perspective changed on seeing that happen. We may try the reprogramming.

For sure you are not a light weight camper! Great installs and planning. What size fuse taps did you use for the three additional loads? GJ

I had a 2005 Sequoia with the 4.7L. It worked pretty well on the flat lands. But in the hills not so well. In fact, my son and I got passed by the US Olympic Cycling time seven times north of Denver when we were goin up-hill (Not mountain, hills). My son was handing out free ice cold waters to the Cycling Team as they passed, we picked up their empties on subsequent down-hill runs. We all were laughing our heads off. That 4.7 will work, but just not enough power for even hills let alone mountains. Once we finally got to flat lands we were fine and smoked them all! But my son said, "Dad, you need a truck". It would have been ok (Not OK) if I had he 5.7. But in the mountains it was sketchy. The next year I bought a F-150 Crew Cab 4x4 FX tow package. With the addition of Bilstein 5500s shocks on the back and Firestone airbags I could not be happier. Since we USE our truck off road hauling free flying (No motors) glider pilots up to mountain launches, for us, getting a F250 or larger was not practical. Besides we use our TV as a daily driver as well. So the F-150 SuperCrew was and is out ticket. PS: By the time you get decked out, your OE2 will most likely be around 6,000 pounds. With your mountain use, I am with the above owners. Get a truck. In your case one with four wheel drive and off road package (Something like the Ford FX4). Then there is the tire swap on the TV to meet your style of travel. I have Nitto Recon's on mine.

Given the distance from your home to Alaska, that was an excellent idea. It appears you had a great time as you experienced some spectacular scenery! I made the trip once so far, from Texas to Alaska with The Wonder Egg. Besides the stunning vistas In Alaska, I vividly recall it was an exceedingly long drive to get up there. Haha . . . maps don't give us the right perspective of distances, due to distortion in their layout. Don't get me wrong, the long trip up was filled with memorable, serendipitous moments and memories were made, but covering the vast distance by air and renting a camper locally was a great idea for you to save time, wear and tear on your rig, and check another one off that bucket list. Well done!

Great idea

When I picked up my New Ollie LE 2 in 2021 the Remote Panel wasn't working. I called Xantrex many times and installed a new Remote panel and Cable all to no avail. I gave up. The Inverter charger always worked but checking settings was a Yoga Class! So last week I had some time and called Xantrex. The Rep read my notes from previous calls on her computor. Talked to her manager and they sent a new XC 3000. It was the communication board on the old one that was faulty. I installed it and everything is working fine now!!! Just wanted to put a thank you here to both Oliver and Xantrex Tech. They really went the extra mile for me.

I honestly hadn’t expected the bleach soak to get them as clean as it did. I threw the Dawn dishwashing liquid in just for surfactant reasons. I figured I’d have to do the scrubbing again - but didn’t have to. I wonder if scrubbing them the first time (last year or so) had a residual effect. At any rate, the bleach + Dawn + water overnight definitely got the gaskets to damn-near new condition. Pleasantly surprised they came out as well as they did.

Hey Everyone, Just wanted to share some info on the Sirocco Fan install that I did recently to #145. We've had posts on this type of install before... John Davies I believe was the most robust with a metal backplate between the ceiling over the bunk and the fan base itself. This install is a bit simpler. I used a plastic sheet to act as an interior backing plate AND a drilling template. Lots of measuring and fretting were involved before actually drilling the holes. The result was better than expected. The mounting is rock solid! I used 6-32 x 2 inch machine screws with washers to mount the interior plate that the fan installs onto. The supplied backing tape is very sticky so make sure the plate is exactly where you want it before peeling the backing off that stuff. When you drill... there is an air gap above the ceiling so be prepared for that (I wasn't for the first hole) and make sure the drill is as perfectly straight as you can hold it. One thing worth mentioning is.... You will be forced to place the fan so that the stowed position is tilted FORWARD. If you try to mount it so there is enough room that the fan can fold toward the rear You will most likely have some plate mounting holes that hit the aluminum L bracket that holds the side wall of the attic. Again... lots of measuring and noodling about the placement. For power I just tapped into the cigarette lighter plug in the wall, very simple. The fan moves a lot of air even on low power. I believe it will be very nice for those hotter boondocking nights that require a LOT of fan power. I have purchased a second fan and will mount it to a small cutting board with a Cig lighter plug wired on so we can move it around as needed. I thought some folks might be in the same boat as I was in wanting to mount this fan above the bunk but worried that it might not be sturdy enough. Seems very solid. Will let you know if the next series of bumpy roads changes that. Happy Camping, Scotty

We just returned from 12 days RVing in Alaska, but not in our Oliver. It's a long way from CT to AK and with doctor appointments, etc. it really isn't possible for us to be away from home that long, so we flew out and rented a Class C motorhome. What a great decision! We had a blast and really liked the little Minnie Winnie RV. It was the perfect couples camper, only 24.5 feet long (just like our LE2) with a single slide and a very functional layout. And in great shape, too, being a 2025 model year. Just as easy to drive/park as our dually truck. We did Anchorage, the Kenai Peninsula, Talkeetna, and 3 nights in Denali. If you've never seen AK we'd recommend putting it on your bucket list for sure. FYI, the RV rental agency we used was Great Alaskan Holidays - www.greatalaskanholidays.com. Highly recommend them if you choose the fly/rent route.

My mistake. My 2019 Tundra has the V8 5.7L engine, not a 4.7L. The 5.7L has enough power to pull the Elite II up the mountains of the Pacific Northwest.

Sadly the manual awning was not an option on our 2023, we have the Girard power awning. Wonder why they scrapped the manual option, Im thinking maybe because they switched from Dometic to Girard?

Just pulling into Abilene, KS, going through town saw an LEII parked in a driveway. We’re hear for two nights on our way to Colorado, Utah, Wyoming.

The few times I’ve left the awning out overnight I regretted it because I had to get up and crank it back in. So, I’m with you 100% there. Mike

Us too, we never use our manual awning. Tried it once to know how to extend it, and since it was such a pain to do so, I haven't wanted to open it again. If we had the powered model, I would have used it on this rainy morning for a little protection at the doorway when we took our dog out for morning business. Also if we had the powered model, in a heartbeat I would rewire it to bypass the auto-retract feature. I dislike features that idiot-proof for idiots! People should realize when it's windy and know to retract a power awning when leaving the campsite. 🤣 Last time this subject came up, I offered all who complained of their powered models to trade for our dependable manual awning in like new condition. We got no takers.

You are wise to avoid the snow and stay really weather aware in the shoulder months, weather can change quickly. In 23 we camped right outside Rocky Mountain NP at Spruce Lake CG in Estes Park. (Super close to RMNP) We got to know the couple running the CG and they told us that in 2022 in the last week of Sept they had 6” of snow. As @routlaw said “anything is possible”. Last fall on our 48 day trip out west we had amazing weather in Sept and Oct. I recall we only had 2 days of rain and perfectly cool temps. We will likely only travel out west in the shoulder months. Winter certainly has its beauty and totally changes the landscape. I am in the crowd that has zero desire to camp in snow or pull our Oliver in winter conditions for sooooo many reasons. Sodium chloride aka rock salt on icy roads being the biggest one. One of many great advantages of living here in the south aka the “land of cotton” are long summers and short winters and very little rust on our vehicles. Wishing you safe travels!!🇺🇸 Patriot

The 5th Annual Mini-Rally was held at the Shore Hills Campground in Boothbay Maine from June 2 to June 8, 2025. The weather was sunny for 5 days with occasional showers on 2 days. The event included a pot luck supper and door prize raffle, golfing match, cornhole match, presentations by CGI and the local Oliver sales and service center, Tim's RV and a catered lobster bake/barbecue chicken dinner to end the mini-rally. Below is some pictures taken during the event. One of 6 trolls at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens: A few of the Olivers along the river: Campground River at Sunset: Fish Ladder Tour The golfing participants: Pot Luck Supper: One of the many door prize raffle winners: Cornhole (bean bag) Tournament: Lobster Bake:

How is October 21 - 25 “over Halloween”? And besides, they announced at the Rally this year this year that the rally would be moving to the fall next year. Personally, I think it’s a great idea, by late October the weather should be moderating and there’ll be almost zero chance of a tornado.

Just called Lake Guntersville State Park campground and they are not taking reservations for this rally yet (12 or 13 months out only). I thought perhaps Oliver made arrangements with the park for early reservations but apparently that's not the case.

Received this kit today. It plugged into same harness. I had mounted the previous controller bracket with VHB tape, so it came off quickly and cleanly. All I had to do was mount the new bracket. Easy menus to configure it. I'm really going to like the 3 boost settings for downhill braking in the mountains. Got the trailer wheels off the ground again, one side at a time, and the brake response is like night and day. The new controller is immediately responsive. With hindsight I can now see how the old controller had been getting less responsive, likely cause of my truck brakes overheating on steep declines during our trip back from Texas last fall. I also figured out a way to set the self-adjusters without going through the adjustment opening behind the wheels. With wheels off the ground, wife or friend applying the brakes lightly (or use brake lever on the controller), rock the wheels backwards and forwards and you can even hear the adjuster clicking each time. I found the forward brake shoes pretty close to the drums, but the shoes on the rear axles were much looser, likely from less weight being the rears when braking. I got all 4 wheels where you could hear and feel the shoes just lightly scraping the drums while spinning the tires. I'll fine tune the gain, as we get on the road tomorrow, on a long flat stretch which we just don't have in our neighborhood. "On the road again..."

We hope to attend next year. It would be our first Oliver rally.

In our 2 years, we haven't been able to make one yet. I never know until I'm offered an event calendar for work. However, Fall season is more likely an opportunity for us and the weather has got be be better, certainly given the rainout which occurred this year!

Heck - some of us are scary enough even without getting dressed up! However, a mask just might do me some good.😁 Bill

Same. I ordered mine with the camera. Total junk. However, if I have some bikes back there, it might be useful to keep an eye on them. I did the same until I had two blowouts in the same camping trip. I now use a TPMS device that keeps track of not only pressure but temperature. I use this in addition to the old school method of "kicking" the tires.

Ditto. If a 25 footer were to magically appear, I would try to be the first in line to admire it. But not likely to trade in my Ollie for one. I suspect that the majority of existing owners feel the same.

I like it. Only thing better would be a Tim Taylor modified Binford model.

Great job MIke! One of my favorite up-grades. Much more efficient unit boon-docking and works without worry. I like the fact that if I have to do anything, it is turning the setting down to keep things from freezing. Again, the vents look awesome. BTW, I did have the door come open on our last weekend trip. If you have the door loaded up make sure to use the locking clasp. Best, M It was good to see you at the rally.

PS: Beautiful install Mossemi!

Respectfully disagree. Prior to my March 2023 installation DIY, I had done extensive research on this very topic. At that time, of all the alternatives to the Dometic OEM 3-Way, this Nova Kool had the largest freezer. In fact it is pretty close to the size of the Dometic's. How is this possible? The Nova Kool has much more compact cooling system and as such they have run their freezer space nearly to the back wall. So on the surface view, it LOOKS like you stated. In reality it is MUCH deeper. If I recall, the Nova Kool freezer size is: 6” H X 11” D X 10.25” Wide You can do the math to get to a more accurate percentage, but it does not appear to be 50%. GJ

And here is the Bulldog before and after pics. The OEM gray matches my truck and the labels came off easily. Not easy to drill these holes. They used 1/2" 4" #8 bolts and OTT had drilled 9/16" holes, so I did the same (started with a 1/4" hole and stepped up, using a HD Unibit to finish). I placed them on the workbench side-by-side and used a Sharpie to circle the hole position through the old coupler onto the new one. I was so happy that both bolts pushed through first try! Torqued to 86 lb-ft (11Kg-M), DONE!

After I got done, I emailed the Andersen rep again and asked if she would mail me a new Andersen label and she replied the next morning, "of course." Now that everything is clean (used 3M Skotch-Brite pads to sand), you can push down the ball and it grabs with friction. And you can pull it up and it turns easily (about 4mm free play to the snap ring). If this persists after towing some it will allow for any hitch angle, just lift and turn. I'll let you know. No grease going on this new build and it doesn't matter if the ball looks like it's wearing, it's all solid steel at a rating 2x the GTWR!

A couple days ago I successfully installed the Mechman 320A high output alternator and cable upgrades, previously on the former TV, to further enhance the Savana’s charging system. I should mention that a battery swap was done two months prior with the ACDelco top post battery a better choice for performance and reliability. Even though Mechman does not offer an alternator for the Savana, the mounting bracket and wiring appeared exactly the same as the Silverado’s; so my hopes were high that the stock 150A alternator could be replaced despite the seven year gap in year models and GMC 6.0L vs GM 5.3L engine size, respectively. Another consideration, the high output alternator requires a smaller pulley and thus, a bit shorter serpentine belt. Again, the new belt from the Silverado install was a perfect fit for the Savana. ACDelco battery, as installed. Removal of the stock 150A alternator in progress. Mounting bracket cleaned and readied for Mechman 320A. Side-by-side alternator comparison. Mechman alternator a perfect fit. Note additional grounding cable at the mounting bolt.

@Snackchaser Your persistence paid off handsomely. Thank you for the documentation! Mossey