Mountainman198
-
Posts
309 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
4
Posts posted by Mountainman198
-
-
what about using a collapsable, kids camping bunk bed in the dinette space until the kids are old enough to be by themselves in a tent? Some of the bunks even convert to a loveseat for daytime use (seating)
-
would you buy a home located somewhere you didn't want to live, just because it was less expensive? This question was helpful to me in overcoming the cost of a Oliver.
Good luck in your journey!
-
1
-
-
I am 6’6” tall and have a LEII (Twin) set for delivery in September. The bath is not an issue as it will be used while seated (mostly) anyway. Plenty of height to walk around in socks inside.
initially was going for the standard for the bed length but after looking at a few Twins decided to go the twin route and try it. If it does not work there are plenty of options to gain bed length and breadth, including converting to the Standard layout. I have a feeling I will make the Twin work as I am a side and stomach sleeper. Will report back this coming Spring
Most other trailers out there (save for Airstream) would not allow me to stand upright inside so a no-go, regardless of price. Airstream was out due to hail and, well, Thor.
If you can make it to the sales office do it and spend a lot of time in both twin and standard models. Stretch out, sit on the throne in the bath, walk around back and forth inside, sit at the dinette. I think you will find you can make it work.
good luck!
-
2
-
-
Before placing my order on a Legacy II I seriously looked at a new AS Bambi 22FB. It too is narrower than most trailers, the overall length I desired and I could stand up inside. Base pricing was about the same (2020) and I liked the layout. Upon further research though I chose Oliver for hull strength, construction quality, insulation, higher ground clearance and payload (dual axle vs. single).
AS certainly does have a interior design wow factor but so too does Ikea. Thor ownership was also a negative.
Best wishes in your search for the right trailer
-
1
-
-
from the buildsheets I have since I first started looking at Olivers;
2018 = 53.9
2019 = 53.9
2020 = 55.9
2021 = 57.5
-
2
-
-
4 hours ago, topgun2 said:
But - no two are the same! Yours is yours.
Bill
Once the picture of Matt Foley goes up on the wall and the hula dancer gets affixed to the counter this will be a certainty
-
1
-
1
-
-
Not too far behind you (Sept). Same interior colors and options as yours. Nice to have a preview of what ours will look like.
Enjoy!
-
1
-
1
-
-
My suggestion is to get ahold of a camper, pickup with a shell, van or even a tent and sleeping bag and pad and get out there and try the lifestyle. Whether you buy, borrow or rent doesn’t matter. Trying it (for a few days or a week at a time) will tell you quickly if you find peace in the experience or are freaked out by the changes you encounter.
If you find that you like camping then see if you can find a small camper to buy, even if you end up placing a order for a Oliver. While you wait to make your decision, or wait for your trailer to be manufactured you will gain invaluable experience which will serve you well in the ling run
Have fun!
-
1
-
-
6 hours ago, ScubaRx said:
So you show up on July 21, 2020, make vague claims, "It seems...should consider...hazardous hull" that apparently nobody but you has experienced and then disappear the next day never to be seen or heard from again.
-
Last visited
July 22, 2020
Hmmm
FYI… He died in a car accident not long (months) after taking delivery. His trailer was moved to CO by his daughter and purchased by one of our members this past Dec/Jan. I believe it now resides South of Denver.
-
1
-
-
On 6/16/2021 at 2:25 PM, SNY SD UP said:
so it appears that the book of preference (by some) is;
my only angst with this book is; i see was published in 2007, so how current is it? how many CoE campgrounds have been created or closed since then, and have they added or removed hookup / amenity options? i see newer (2018) books by others, so are they just updates or rewrites of the same. the cost of the book is running about $50, because it is no longer in print, and is scarce (the law of supply & demand), but WTH, we bought an Ollie, so i will buy this book, if it is the best reference.
just a FYI,
i did score a free CD https://corpslakes.erdc.dren.mil/visitors/booklet/Whole.pdf which can also be found on the www.CorpsLakes.us - Corps Lakes Gateway (dren.mil) website, in the Office at Great Salt Plains State Park, Jet OK. the reason i pulled it, was because of our limited cell/INet coverage in some of our boon-docking campsites, while trying to plan for locations on our route ahead. we look at the CD on the PC in SNY SD UP, find the future sites we are interested in. then when we have cell/INet, we start making our reservations for our CoE locations.
now at home (suffering from Post-Camping Depression), we are looking at that CD's link on the CoE website, as we begin planning our next outing.
Regards to all this Great Camping Season.
Bryan
Prices for the Hinkle book vary widely. We were fortunate to find one on the Thriftbooks.com site for about $30
-
A local dealer in N. MI has two of these on their lot. Have only seen them from afar (at a campground in Tucson last January). At $64k with solar and AGM and $70k (lithium), they appear priced at Oliver level. The idea of hydraulic suspension is cool. You will have to let us all know what you think of it after you have had it a while.
-
Glad I have a 2018. V8, trans cooler and better looking to boot!
-
2
-
-
We had looked at Black Series before deciding on Oliver but the dealer in Denver stopped carrying them due to quality issues. That plus seeing them in person was enough to make up our mind. Glad to be sitting where we are and awaiting our new Elite II in September.
-
1
-
-
Dude! Where’s my car?
-
1
-
-
14 hours ago, SeaDawg said:
Hinkle's book is in our library.
We do love the coe parks in which we've camped.
I second Hinkles COE book
-
Dog food, cat food and coffee. Bread, peanut butter, jam and oatmeal. Luna bars and jerky.
-
Nice looking Ollie. Which graphics color(s) did you select?
-
Makes the 2021 Ram 3500 Mega Cab 6.7l Cummins I spotted on the dealers lot seem like a bargain at $91k! 😆
-
1
-
1
-
-
17 hours ago, SeaDawg said:
The answer, is probably "yes".
Recently, we upgraded 200 watts of solar on our 2008 Elite to 400 watts of solar. We doubled our portable panel(s), also, from 100 watts to two 100 watt panels.
We combined the old controller as a slave mppt controller to the mix in addition to the new mppt (blue Sky). Ran the wiring from the furrion port to the slave controller, instead of directly to the battery, via the original onboard panel controller, which we removed.
We live on 2 105 ah agm batteries in our 2008. That's not a lot of power, considering we have a 12v dc danfoss/second fridge. I will caution others that we use very little power for other things. We have no inverter. We use a generator for any rare 110 applications, like power tools.
Our test so far :
Fine at home, with not much running. No need to plug in.
Last camping trip on NC, partial day shade, 12 days, only had to run the generator once on 12 days, after two crappy rainy days, as blue sky meter showed less than 75% power in batteries .
This trip, crummy weather. Overcast most of the day, full leaf cover. Still, only down by 5 hours at sunset. Ran the furnace fan a few times in the day (in the 50s in the morning here), but picked up enough sun that we felt no need to plug in the generator, though we used it to run some power tools.
At night we set our analog thermostat to low, which is around 55 . We're fine with that. Others are not. We sleep well at that temp, and the furnace doesn't kick on.
This is an experiment. When our current agms die, we'll likely move up to lithium. In the meantime, we're perfectly happy with over-panelling, and our current battery power .
I'll update as we go.
We successfully ran our SOB trailer with three 100W panels (way over-paneled), a mppt controller and two 80Ah AGMs and had lots of power to run the compressor fridge/freezer, lighting, device charging and 120v television. Granted, we don’t use much power and only have a 100w inverter. The 340w of solar, 2000w inverter and four 6v AGMs in the new Oliver should be overkill for us, but looking forward to it. We will get microwave delete and don’t plan to use a lot of amp-heavy appliances, save for the occasional toaster oven and coffee maker when plugged-in.
-
2
-
-
On 5/1/2021 at 7:40 AM, Fran said:
Alot of first time buyers....during This Pandemic buying Frenzy....most have not seen a Oliver due to how scarce they are....its alot of money to part with.....especially on impulse....just remember to accept that 90% of the people will not show....go about your day as usual......have them call a couple hours out so you know they are really on their way. If they keep changing the day and time....tell them you are no longer interested in selling. I have driven thousand of miles total looking at trailers and rvs....but first I do my research..get plenty of photos top to bottom, inside doors, especially maint records....detailed....in your case its new....most do very little research or make an effort to find one and go in it to see if it works for them. Just taping off the size on the floor with blue tape will give you an idea if its too small....I am one person and can make just about any small camper work for me....my issue is I look and see all the wasted space with the extra bed, extra dinette seat and wish someone would build a solo unit in fiberglass.....good luck and sometime it takes time to sell such a new unit...even at a discount.
Tab 400 made a solo model with a single twin bed
-
1
-
-
4 hours ago, John E Davies said:
If you install a DC fridge you will need a better way to recharge. For your gas fridge, use the propane mode when towing, but always be aware of the wind direction when refueling at a gas station. I have done this forever and have yet to blow something up. You can fix the lack of TV charging for the factory lithium batteries relatively easily, but you have to be able to fabricate a mount and run wires or hire somebody to do it. If your TV has a “smart” alternator you have to run a small gauge voltage sense wire all the way up to the engine bay, but most TVs do not require this.
Consider a separate DC compressor fridge located inside your truck, it will be very useful for stocking extra supplies. I carry a mid-sized ARB one for any trip longer than two weeks. I haven’t camped at over 8000 feet, but so far the gas fridge (running on propane) has been fine, even going over 10,000 foot passes. Run with what you have before getting too worried about upgrading.....
John Davies
Spokane WA
We have been running a Dometic CFX-35 in the bed of our tow vehicle now for a year and find it to be an excellent addition to the fridge in our current SOB trailer. Plan is to keep this compressor fridge in the TV after getting the Ollie in September. The setup we have to run the chest compressor fridge in the bed of the truck is a 100W solar panel mounted on the roof rack on the truck shell run to a MPPT controller which then feeds two 12v AGM batteries mounted to the front of the truck bed. Never had any issues with being able to run the dometic either in fridge or freezer mode 24/7 and then fully recharging the batteries the next day. This system is NOT tied into the TV electrical, rather a stand-alone system. Planning to use it after getting the Ollie to charge Ollie batteries when Ollie is parked in the shade by parking TV is full sun and running wires from battery bank in truck bed to Zamp port on Ollie instead of hauling around a ground mount, portable panel. The Dometic sips amps and is useful for either overload food or to freeze a lot of water bottles/freezer packs for use in a cooler when away from the trailer.
-
2
-
-
3 hours ago, johnwen said:
Thanks Bill. We didn't have the resources to pay for an Oliver until we sold the house last year. We really hate the idea of leaving the Casita behind, so we'll keep it in storage for a year or so after we get the Oliver to make sure of the "Oliver life." They look similar from the outside and we've even had a few people ask if the Casita was an Oliver...since we have no logos on the Casita.
We are doing the same (keeping current camper until convinced the Ollie is the way to go). However, I suspect the old one will sit unused and then later sold.
-
2
-
-
They chose the wrong bikes for the long way round. The franchise started going downhill from there.
Yes, I am a KTM owner. 🤣
-
1
-
-
This one works well. You can place it atop the Tow Vehicle or on the tripod.
We also have a cheapo Walmart flat indoor antenna that can be placed in the window facing in whatever direction the signal is transmitting. Works well for short range.
-
2
-
Modifications to add a fourth bed to a EII
in Ollie Modifications
Posted
We aren't having kids tag along on our adventure so the Elite II works well for our situation.
If our requirements were like yours I think we would just find a SOB with a front bedroom and rear bunks and spend the remaining $ on either building or renting indoor storage so as to protect it from roof degradation/leaks and sidewall delamination and maintenance when things happen. Once the kids were either grown enough to either sleep in a tent or out of the house, we would move to something like the Ollie.
The most important thing it sounds to you is to get the kids out camping sooner rather than later (Kudos to you).
Best wishes in your search for the right trailer to get your Family out on the road.