Mountainman198

Glad I have a 2018. V8, trans cooler and better looking to boot!

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.

Dude! Where’s my car?

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! 😆

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.

Tab 400 made a solo model with a single twin bed

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.

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.

They chose the wrong bikes for the long way round. The franchise started going downhill from there. Yes, I am a KTM owner. 🤣

This one works well. You can place it atop the Tow Vehicle or on the tripod. https://www.amazon.com/KING-OA1501-Portable-Omnidirectional-Antenna/dp/B01MSDL4UU/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=king+portable+antenna&qid=1618153214&sr=8-3 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.

I searched and searched the Net and local brick and mortar over to find what may be one of the last tins of 3M Marine Ultra. A email to 3M reveals that this product has been discontinued and Their suggested replacement is the liquid-based 3M™ Perfect-It™ Boat Wax, 36113. As a fan of paste waxes, a liquid replacement is not great news but I will try a bottle and see.

Thanks for doing this Fritz. Nice Job. I have printed both lists (yours and mine) and will compare over coffee tomorrow morning. From first glance it looks complete. I'll pass along any adds I may have which would be of interest to any new owner.

This is a great idea if not already done. My delivery is not until this Fall but I have been adding items I am seeing as either significant or recurring in the Forum to my own checklist. Perhaps if each new owner asks the same questions about the same issues at delivery the appropriate level of focus will be made so that the issues are resolved permanently.

We are planning to keep the LP cooktop inside the camper. It will only be used to heat water for coffee, tea and hot cereal as meal cooking will be done outside. No plans on upgrading to portable induction as our current single and double burner portable electric cooktops work just fine. It is always nice to have multiple methods and fuels with which to cook. In addition to indoor propane and portable electric, we are also carrying a double burner propane stove, Weber Q series grill, wood-fired BioLite stoves and a small multi-fuel Primus stove. Having not only a plan A and B but also C, D and maybe even E gives us peace of mind that hot drinks and meals are never far away.

I have flip-flopped back and forth between regular fabric and ultrafabric now at least 5 times (final order not due for a few months yet). Will be ordering the twin with couch with standard cushions. Ultrafabric upgrade is $849 in this configuration and color palate is limited to a single color (gray). My current plan is NOT to order ultrafabric and use the standard fabric until such time as it gets damaged, worn out or I get tired of it . At that time I will have an upholstery shop recover all the cushions in ultrafabric, in a brighter color. My thinking is that I can use the standard fabric while I decide and cost to recover might even be less than or equal to $849. Heck, I may like the standard fabric and never upgrade. Has anyone else ordered the standard fabric then had a local upholstery shop recover their cushions in ultrafabric or something similar? If so, what was the cost?

I bought an extra mounting plate for my Lagun table when I ordered it. Hoping to do something like this with either a hitch mount and the lagun or might try and figure out a way to affix a mounting plate to the side of the front storage box.

Look on the bright side, lightly used, previously depreciated tow vehicles will flood the market. SOB trailers will also flood the used market. All of this should result in fewer campers on the road and more availability at campgrounds. At least this was my experience during the last round of high fuel costs (over $4/gal). As for impact to personal travel plans it will force us to do a more adequate job of routing instead of merely traveling willy-nilly like pollen in the wind. Also, use of gas apps and GoodSam fuel discount locations will become a focus.

I have not tried it yet either. Whomever tests it first should post results. I am not against spending $ to secure the tanks but if a simple solution is possible I'd rather spend the $ on campground fees or gas.

Has anyone tried this approach?

I don’t have my Oliver yet but I do have a Lagun table that I installed in my current camper. The lagun apparatus came without a top and I found a great bamboo cutting board and it simply attached to the bracket with six wood screws Your options are endless.

I use a more portable version of that scale. They are great for distribution of trailer load to achieve optimal tongue weight. I carry it in the TV

Can anyone who has a Elite II tell me if their wheels are hub-centric or lug-centric? I don’t have my trailer yet but am trying to determine if I should be concerned or not if the wheels are or are not balanced at time of delivery (assuming the tires would be balanced as hub-centric?) Thanks