bugeyedriver

I took The Wonder Egg to Alaska last year. It had everything in the front and below the belly band covered with multiple layers of Vortex and automotive paint to match my gelcoat. Overall, I was very satisfied. Nothing will ever chip my front lower section again, however, a few small bits of the automotive paint were chipped. These were easily covered over with touch-up paint from any auto store ... the key is to find the right brilliant white color match for your trailer. John's Stone Stomper gravel guard would preclude those tiny hits in the lower front. I spent 200+ miles on dirt roads in Alaska and felt very protected. BUT . . . The only bigs whacks my rig received weren't on dirt roads, instead, it was the numerous large construction trucks speeding in the opposite direction on narrow, paved two lane highways without adequate tarps on top, tossing off rocks and hurling stones from their wheels. I received a nice front windshield chip on the truck and one high placed chip on the front shoulder of The Wonder Egg. When you see one of those construction trucks approaching, the best course of action is to move to the right as far as possible and slow down until they pass.

"The Wonder Egg". Because 11 years ago, Oliver put so many fabulous things on my trailer that other brands would not accommodate. It was a wondrous thing!

I had my latest graphic applied by a business that does car-wrapping. They have huge printers and are accustomed to preparing the surface and adhering the graphic in place, bubble and wrinkle free on a quality 3M product. If you have a good digital image of what you desire, I bet they can accommodate you.

Jaque, You can do this. It was a learning curve for all of us. Here, on the forum, you have a huge support group that will assist you in any way it can. Take it slow at first, slowly master the fundamentals, and then blast off to JOY! Pete

My heart goes out to the Oliver family, and all of the workers at OTT. May you find solace in your time of grief and may your spirits soon be at peace. I will always fondly recall meeting Jim on Christmas Day, 2007, spending more than two hours with him as he showed me the early Oliver, the one with John's picture on the front. It was more than the trailer that impressed me. It was this friendly man, Jim, hearing his enthusiasm and vision for the Oliver Travel Trailer's future and his sincere concern for the care of all of his family and employees. With John's vision as a catalyst, Jim has truly built a LEGACY of a large, loving family and a robust trailer that will enrich the lives of countless families, enabling them to travel and see this great land up close, in a trailer that will last a lifetime. Thank you, Jim. May you rest in peace.

I think they look good, and the larger openings might help with brake cooling better than the little holes on the other ones.

The Wonder Egg, hull #14's awning says HORIZON on the outside, the arms are marked FIAMMA, and the housing has a DOMETIC sticker. Go Figure! When my end caps became brittle from UV, I ordered new ones from gowesty.com. I ordered for the F45i. Here are the part numbers. Left end cap - part # 04275-01C Right end cap - part # 04274-01C Before putting the new end caps on, I painted them with a white Krylon plastic paint, which has UV protection properties. They have lasted much longer than the originals, at this point. (Although it looks like they will need some TLC when I get home)

Have you positively confirmed you have gas pressure? Can you light the stove? Does switching tanks have any effect? If you have a three way refrigerator and disconnect the shore power, does it go to gas, or DC? If it goes to DC you have no propane. Try flipping the switch for the heater a couple of times to "wake it up".

Due to where the exit port is on the grey tank (rear, street side) I've found that by significantly raising the nose of the trailer (easy to do on an Elite One) and tilting towards the street side (battery side) I can easily drain that tank in 3 minutes, or less.

I have two of those Xtreme heaters in my early model Elite. But they do not run on DC power, and at 350W times 2, there would be a toll on your battery's amp hour storage. If camping in an overcast snowing environment, solar replenishment to the batteries would be at a minimum. They work very well if shore power is available for the long term. They are positioned to protect my external shower and the water heater, which are my unit's vulnerabilities. Pete

N 50 38' 48" W 68 43' 28" Manic-5 dam, AKA Daniel Johnson Dam

Indeed he does. I'm fortunate to have him as my traveling buddy.

Timing is EVERYTHING . . .

I've been to this rally several times and found the folks to be welcoming and just plain great. Alas, I cannot be there this year because I'll be in Canada, but would encourage any Ollie owners to go and meet other molded fiberglass trailer owners. Look at how great their 20 and 30+ year old trailers can look, learn the fine art of Dutch oven cooking, make new forever friends, and just relax and have a great time. You can't go wrong. Sign up! Over the last 11 years, I've learned the fiberglass owner community is a family. It is wonderful to meet friends, catch up on their lives, and share your recent adventures. Go . . . enjoy . . .

The Wonder Egg (Legacy Elite #14) weighs just under 4000 lbs fully loaded with water and clothes & food for extended camping. I have about 90 lbs in the back for my bike hitch, bike rack, and bike - no basket on the front. My current tongue weight is 400 lbs. Without the hitch/rack/bike hanging out the back, it is 440 lbs Although the Wonder Egg's axle has a max load of 5200 lbs, I could never imagine stuffing another 1000 lbs of gear into the trailer.

John, Most of us, going down the road are attempting to get somewhere and may not be able to read the mind of a passerby as to rendezvous spot. And I would also think many Ollie owners are not on the forum at all. Over the last eleven years, whenever I see a fellow fiberglass trailer (we're all in a very small community of travelers) in the opposing lane, I flash the lights, roll down the window, toss out my arm and wave like a madman. I think I get about a 20% return wave and it feels grand. My most unique encounter with a fellow Ollie owner was when there were only about 20 Ollies in existence. I stopped into an RV park just to dump and put on fresh water, in California. While I was in process, a couple pulled up in their rig, pulling another Elite. The driver hopped out and we both simultaneously exclaimed "Who the HE** are YOU?" Well they owned a hull number well before my #14 and invited me to camp in their yard and get acquainted. It's a wonderful world . . . Pete

It looks to me like heat going horizontally from the fire under the pan, heating the edge of the countertop nearest the stove. The main discoloration being adjacent to the primarily used burner. Do you use a wide diameter pan whose edge is near the countertop? There is a minor amount of discoloration beginning to manifest itself near the other burner.

Buddha & Buffy, Welcome to the forum and the Ollie family! Also, welcome to the Texas Hill Country . . . Fredericksburg is a wonderful place to settle. I'm about 40 miles down the road, in Fair Oaks Ranch. You'll love the Fall, Winter, and Spring climates here. Summer, not so much. But with your LEII, you'll be able to seek whatever climate your hearts desire. This is a great place to ask questions about the LEII and get ideas on how you wish to personalize your own Ollie. Now all you have to do is anticipate your trailer's delivery . . . it may feel like forever but it will be here before you know it. Pete

Jennifer, It is so nice to see you have graduated way beyond driveway camping in Revilo! #14, The Wonder Egg, is still going strong and will be in Quebec this summer. I hope our wandering paths cross in the future. Camp on!!

I allowed my fresh water tank to drain once while on my last leg home. After having numerous passing cars honk and point and watching their faces, I realized they thought it might have been the "icky stuff" and from then on, in order to play nice with the public and not trash their opinion of us travelers, I've never "let it go" while driving down the road. I could never imagine letting out the black water tank in other than an approved tank.

On my Elite, I've always found the source to be the galley sink. If the road is rollicking of bumpy enough, I think the p-trap at the sink sloshes the water out and the fumes are able to enter the Ollie. I've always been able to remedy this by pouring water into the sink to refill the trap.

Nice objective test, Overland. So, with 100% battery power to begin with, it appears you were able to achieve about 2.5 to 3.0 hours of inverter powered A/C usage given your conditions at the rally, right? What was the lowest DC voltage level you allowed your system to see?

I don't consider it a $150 wrench, but a $150 accurate insurance policy, which is ever so important for those of us with only one wheel on each side.

I couuuuuld . . . . . . . theoretically . . . . . . . very theoretically . . . . . . :)

UPS just delivered my $155 torque wrench an hour ago. It's still in the box. For 11 years, Ive used a cheap, non calibrated, torque wrench which was jostled and banged around and never set back to zero after using. Who knows what my torque values have been? But I have been lucky so far, knock on wood. This new fangdangled gadget does not need to be set back to zero and can be set in much more nuanced degrees than my previous cludge. The way I see it is that another ten years of be-bopping around the land for another 130,000 miles with this OMG expensive tool, will only cost me $15.50 per year. And it will be accurate! Cheap insurance as far as I am concerned. Thanks, Overland!!!