Mattnan

We started by connecting the way we were showed during our orientation, just the way Mike described it. Admittedly, my backing up and straight line positioning skills need some work. This admittedly took some time and trips in and out of the cab of the truck. I will admit I now generally use the method described by SNY SD UP. This seems to work better for me. When perfectly straight and level the chains are equally tight. A slight change in elevation of the truck or trailer, or slight angle left or right does manifest in a difference in chain tension. To me this is an indication we have this set up about right. I checked but have never needed to adjust the red bushings yet. I can tell you after this thread I will definitely check that link regularly and may add a little lock-tite. Thanks for sharing. One more thing to the exterior check list!!

Not sure if a tractor might work for you? I know Mainiac on this forum occasionally uses his John Deere with a hitch set up. A lot of boat yards also use a tractor with a ball on a front fork. You might be able to rent a tractor. I know they are easy to rent up here! Good luck!!!

We are lucky ours is in our unheated barn in Maine. We winterize and it is plugged in to keep the batteries charged.

Our first trip is the first week of June just 50 miles away on the coast of Maine. It will likely be chilly and probably black fly season. We put the trailer away in the barn washed and waxed. We will just need to dewinterize, try all of the systems, and load up. We usually plan to head south in January every year but with covid we chose to stay home this winter. It felt right for us. We checked on the Ollie today as we are showing the trailer tomorrow to some folks that are thinking of ordering a new Elite Ii. "Beacon" was in great shape and ready for viewing tomorrow.

Rookie mistake and learning opportunity that hate to admit!!! The first time we dumped our tanks the gray tank reading was reading 15%. I was not too surprised having read this forum. So we jacked up the front of the trailer using the front jack. This got our reading to 0. We put away all of the hoses, removed my rubber gloves did a very quick, not very thorough walk around and got in the truck to leave. We even commented how smooth the whole process went!! The truck started forward and I heard terrible scrapping and grinding sound. Of course there were campers now behind us to use the dump station. I got out of the truck and we quickly realized I forgot to lower the Jack. We got some advice from other campers but the bottom line was the jack shaft was bent beyond repair. We ended up cutting the shaft off with a saw. My wife contacted the Jack manufacturer directly and they express shipped a new Jack to our next campground. Fortunately, I didn't damage the frame or fiberglass. The Jack arrived 2 days later. Removing the old jack and installing the new one was pretty straight forward. But the whole thing was embarrassing and a PIA. The trailer had to remain hooked up to the truck was installed so this did cost us some time site seeing in Savannah. The good news is I have the motor from the original Jack that has almost no use!!! I have a spare if needed.. So lesson learned!!!! I share this along with the embarrassment in hope this helps someone else avoid the same mistake. We were in a rural area and mobile techs get very slow and not in a hurry to help us out. Good idea to bring tools if you don't! Now if at a dump station I will live with a 15% full tank for travel and after unhooking at a full service site raise the trailer when we are unhooked!!!!! Dump away!!!!

I am not sure if you are getting the Andersen hitch or not. We purchased the Andersen Hitch and we tow with a half ton Tundra. During our pick up and orientation Oliver adjusted the Andersen Hitch for the drop of our truck when the trailer tongue weight was added. I amnot sure if the still do this. They were super helpful as we also had some small corrosion issues with our 7 pin hook up. This was solved with some special "jelly" We are complete novices when it came to camping. We have made our share of mistakes, believe me!!! Good luck with your new Ollie!!!

I am looking for a new tv, anyone know where I can find that '76 Pinto? I don't go on Facebook or instaface or snapwaggon. (Thanks Belichick) I did ask my wife to show me the Facebook announcement. I have no issues with what they are proposing. They have already been solicited by someone looking for a deal on an Ollie if they provide content. I guess that is social media marketing. I like this Forum and the only other other Forum (Downeast Boat Forum) that I belong to because they are well moderated, informative, and leave politics, religion, self promoting influencers, and drama off of the site. I hope this Forum continues in that vein. So what do you think about the 76 Pinto as a tv???

We didn't have the Oliver installed Lagun table. I did purchase a Lagun table kit directly from Lagun. We installed our own custom table. Based on this I would say yes just unscrew the original top and screw a new table on. I would test fit where you locate the bracket on your table. You might find not placing it in the center will give you some nice options. We followed Overland's side mount instructions. This gives us lots of flexibility. Good luck!!

Hi Pat and Molly. We used a sea coast and nautical theme. We live in mid coast Maine. My wife takes photos so we had a number of them printed on canvas and hung them using 3M strips. The photos included Maine lighthouses, coastal scenes, navigation buoys, and a nice one of our downeast boat. We also added a custom side mounted Lagun table per Overlanld's design. Our table top was a custom made folding mahagony table like one you would find attached to a binical in sailboat cockpit. We customized the exterior with vinal graphics. They are photos of Pemaquid Lighthouse. We named our Ollie "Beacon" Banana Banners in Bowdionham, Maine did the vinal graphics for us. We were referred to them by Mainiac. They have done graphics for several Oliver owners. I have seen folks also use some custom final graphics on the interior too. MCB did some nice ones in and on the outside of his Ollie. Also from Banana Banners. We also purchased bed covering to fit the theme. Good luck this can be fun.

We also had an error message on our Norcold fridge I can not remember the code. I think it was "E" We normally drive with the fridge on dc as we don't drive with the propane on. We were in southern Florida. When we arrived at our campground in the Keys we realized the fridge was out. We have medication that must be refrigerated so this is important for us. We read the manuals tried all of the reset bottoms. Tried unplugging and plugging the fridge. Nothing seemed to help. It would not work or allow us to switch to propane. Oliver was moving their service dept that day so getting help was difficult. One of the workers at the campground was a retired mechanic. He helped us a bit at his suggestion he disconnected the battery bank. Then we reconnected. This allowed us to work the fridge on propane. We lost a bunch of food but the campground allowed us to place the medication in their fridge. We were able to coordinate a technician to come look at the fridge. The campground was very strict and strict on who the would let in for repairs and wouldn't let the first technician on site. Poor reputation and taking folks money and never returning or fixing the problem. The strickness probably saved us time money and frustration. The 2nd technician came the next day. He was terrific. He got the fridge working he really could not give us a great answer about what went wrong. He did say sometimes the mother boards could be better. We didn't have another problem for the rest of our trip. RV techs are hard to find in the Keys. However these norcold fridges are also heavily used in the marine industry!! Our tech was terrific but admitted 99% of his work was on boats.. We had to do some work and place a lot of phone calls etc. This did work out. The invoice for service was handled by Oliver. I was also having issue with one of my rear stabilizer jacks but this was just a fuse. As a newbie it is easy (at least for me) to get frustrated and harried especially when I can't reach folks. I am learning to relax a bit more when this happens. Oliver has been very good with support. Folks are generally nice and will help out!!

Our break away cable was a bit short on our 2008 Tundra. It came out a couple of times. One time pulling into a parking lot with a drop from the road and steep very short up hill. Like a water culvert. This happen 3 weeks into our initial trip. It was unexpected. Same backing into a tight spot down a hill. We added a big stainless caribbeaner. That solved our issues. The cable was just a bit short. I believe there was another post about this before it happened to us. I believe it is important to have this secured to the truck and not safety chains or weight distribution hitch. Lots of really nice folks on this forum helping us newbies.

From one Mainer to another, I would recommend having one! Very low cost insurance.

Interesting idea and topic. While most anything can be accomplished with enough money, time, and determination; I wonder if this is practical. Given the budget, a used Oliver is minimally going to cost $45k if you are lucky, difference in hitches, 120 electric, plumbing fittings, desire to change heating systems, plus the cost of shipping and probably vat tax, and likely registration issues, I would think finding a suitable used European trailer that can be modified might be more practical. I think Oliver is terrific but there must be something in the European market. The Hymer looked interesting. I wonder if something from one of the Nordic countries would provide the cold weather amenities you desire. Good luck I will be interested to see how this turns out.

Welcome to anotha Mainah! There are a bunch of us Mainer owners on the forum. We are up the coast in New Harbor. I grew up in Cumberland and we kept our boat at Handy Boat in Falmouth until we moved to New Harbor. Maniac has the State of Maine on the front of his trailer. It is a different design from what you describe. Maniac, Bob Hunt, referred us and several others to Banana Banners in Bowdionham, for graphics design and creation. We have also referred others. So far everyone is happy with the results and experience. They would be worth investigating if you don't already have someone lined up. Good folks! We are going to Portland tomorrow. We are thinking of taking our new puppy out on Casco Bay Lines as part of his socialization, along with a few other stops! Welcome and enjoy your Ollie!!!!

Terrific it looks awesome Your Ollie is nicely personalized. Great job!! Thanks for sharing.

We installed the Tekonsha P3 brake controller which plugged into a factory connection on our 2008 Tundra. We have an Elite II. Very easy install and instructions. Easy to use. Very happy with it.

We towed our Elite II with our 2008 Tundra D cab about 5000 miles last winter. We have the tow package and needed to add a brake controller as it was not built in with the tow package in 2008. We use the Andersen hitch. We have the front basket and it is filled with our chocks, Andersen levelers, and blocks for the stabilizers and a few tools. The bed has a torneau cover and I have a tool box, clam, chairs, table, grill Artic cooler, extra 5 gallons of water, little giant ladder, dog food and a variety of other items. We also have a bedliner insert. Our truck is stock with 90,000 miles. We are generally between 59 and 68 mph on the highway. We have the 26 gallon tank (I wish we had a larger tank) We get 10-12 mpg, less on steep grades. We are close to max recommend payload with our 5.7 liter. The truck has plenty of power. No issues and the Oliver tows great. The only issue I have with the Tundra is the brakes they have always felt soft. My son has the same vintage Sequoia and has the same feedback on the brakes. I would like a 3/4 ton but my Tundra has been very reliable and owes us nothing. I feel comfortable near the max payload. I would try going with your Tundra for a while and just try to allocate your weight accordingly. Good luck and enjoy your Ollie.

The graphics came out great and placing the Alwives in the bathroom is a cool idea!! I like how you added them around the Ollie. I have to admit we might be slightly partial to the Oliver color stripes/graphics. I think that was a terrific choice!!! Hope you're enjoying the maiden voyage. It was a cloudy 42 degrees here today. Keep sending warm weather pictures. I know Bob Hunt knows of a cool antique firearms dealer store in Naples. Stay safe!

I installed the Lagun table following Overland's instructions. I did use some aluminum backing plates. We had our table made buy a local craftsman with slightly narrower dimensions. We can fold everything up and put it in our front closet easily. We are very happy with this and we can leave the table up and position it to allow access to the twin beads, basement, and overhead cabinets. Overland's plan was really terrific. We have the basement door too. Just a thought---- You might want to consider Oveland's method for your dining and game table and I have seen some folks have added a fold down counter top extension to the right of the cook top for extra prep area. There are treads on the countertop extension on this forum somewhere. Good luck please share pictures of what you do. Hint ---- by not centering the Lagun bracket in the table you can gain significant flexibility in how you deploy the table. Ours is mounted closer to a corner of the center section. Done through trial end error using a cardboard mock up. It is a fun project.

For 2019 there was a choice. I am not sure for 2021 models

Thanks for sharing this. Great information and benefits us all. These scams SUCK!!

We were nervous at first and I am still very cautious. We had very limited experience towing a 22ft boat. Never towed a camper. The advice already provided is terrific and accurate. Try some short local triplets and practice backing up locally in a large parking lot with some cones. Follow the advice, take your time and just plan ahead. Cold luck.

Just an opinion. We tow with a 2008 Tundra with the 5.7 litre and tow package. It is the entry level trim package with very few options. We have owned the truck since new and have been very happy with the reliability and the truck overall for our needs. When we decided on purchasing the Elite II last year, it was clear the truck was capable and had plenty of power. We watch the payload numbers and are probably right around the payload maximum. We have and use the Andersen hitch. The truck only has 90k miles and is comfortable to me. It performed well on our first 45 day journey. We didn't really get into any significant elevation. We hope to try some elevation this year. The truck runs fine and owes us nothing. We realize it is out dated. It is practical. I did consider getting a new truck to tow the Ollie. I test drove GMC, Ford, and Ram, HD diesel trucks. If I was starting out and didn't have a tow vehicle and was getting a truck to pull the Ollie I would get an HD truck. I would probably get a 1 ton. It is definitely over kill but the incremental price difference was only about $1500 over a 3/4 ton. The diesel gets much better gas mileage than my Tundra. No need for the Andersen hitch. Never worry about payload and the engine brake would be really nice. I think the brand of HD truck is a personal choice and the virtues of what brand is best is debatable. I thought one of the trucks, for me, was as comfortable as my Tundra. Good luck. I kept my Tundra and the $ in my pocket for now. Good luck in your decision!

We had this happen on early on our first trip. The fan solution solved it. I think there maybe a thread on that here or the Oliver Facebook site. I remember Nancy four the solution for us. It was little unsettling in our new trailer.

Thanks for posting the picture. We are planning on going through Little Rock this spring. Looks like an awesome stop. Safe travels.