Mountainman198

I'd be up for a N MI rally, especially if we can do it on Mackinac Island. Would be fun to hitch a team up to the Ollie, driving from the doghouse with my feet in the front storage tray. What could go wrong?. 😜. Watch out for the road apples!

Welcome to Traverse City and Leelanau County. Looks like you hit a few of our favorite spots.

I like your idea of the van-based outdoor kitchen. I had a Eccotemp propane on-demand water heater like this one, housed in a big pelican case, mounted to the exterior of my expedition trailer. I would think something like this would work for your situation, perhaps better than the Ollie shower port. It would also give you redundant systems as well as allow you to heat the water from the van tanks when not parked next to the Ollie. https://www.eccotemp.com/eccotemp-l5-portable-outdoor-tankless-water-heater/ Please keep us informed of your progress. This project sounds cool.

Dog Canyon campground, Guadalupe NP. 60 miles South of Carlsbad, NM, just barely over the border into Texas. Only 4 RV sites. No hookups but potable water and flush toilets nearby. The 4 RV sites are close together but the hiking, scenery and wildlife are wonderful and the peacefulness is great. I have been there three times now and two times was the ONLY camper in the whole campground for several days. A bit out of the way but worth it. https://www.nps.gov/gumo/planyourvisit/dog_canyon_campground.htm

the burner was what I found locally and it was cheap. Figured I would try it and see how it works. If it is too much of a afterburner I can always downgrade later.

Ditto what everyone else said above. Get ahold of the Oliver Sales office. You will not get a hard sell or pressure from any of them and they will have the latest pricing, options list and can connect you with a Oliver to see near you. Welcome to the Group!

I don’t like to cook in my Ollie and usually cook with a Wok when not grilling. When there is electric (like many of you) I use my portable induction cooktop. When there is no electric, I have been using a small, single burner high pressure burner. It is not very hot and does not like wind. The search for a high output, single burner propane burner that I can use with the Ollies low pressure quick connects yielded several units, all bulky or heavy. Plus most were North of $150. I am a fan of .50 cal ammo cans as they are durable and compact and a clean-stow in the pickup bed. Also simple to label with a sharpie since I had already built a self-contained, low pressure firepit from a ammo can, I decided to look for components to build a high output single burner version for cooking The 50,000 btu burner came from a local home goods store (Menards), the propane orifice and valve from the local propane supplier, the burner grate from salvage and the ammo can from JAX outdoor store. All-in the unit cost $40. Haven’t tested it yet but I dont see why it wont work well Here is the final product.

Great Rig! Old school is way cool. Love towing with a manual vs. automatic and not having to deal with DEF. Keep on truckin'

I DO use the Andersen WDH with the Tundra and keep it on the few times I use the Ram as then I do not have to remove the chains. All but 1.5k mi have been run with the Tundra. I see often that people appear to tighten the tensioners on their WDH so much that that they have problems crushing the poly bumpers when on the level then splay the chain connectors when hitting dips in the road surface. I run my tension as Oliver had set up for me on pickup day and have found neither issue with excessive ball wear or with connecting the whale tail when re-hitching. I could see where these both would present as problems were I running high levels of tension on the chain tensioners.

2018 Tundra SR longbed 4X4 with 1430 lb payload. Have towed all over the SouthWest, Midwest and thru TN and KY with no issues. Tow with the Andersen hitch. 12 mpg and plenty of power and braking. Added Firestone airbags and inflate to 25 lbs which eliminates any jouncing. Also tow with a 1 ton Dodge diesel single rear wheel 4X4. Mpg towing with the diesel is 16 mpg and obviously much more cargo capacity. Between the two, honestly I prefer the Tundra. Nicer ride and my 1 ton is huge overkill IMO for the Elite II the way I drive (65-67 mph). I have spoken to owners of the new Tundra who tow a 25' Airstream and they said it tows great. If you can find one, I don't think you can go wrong. I am a displacement guy so the 5.7 V* is high on my list but from what I have heard, the new turbo V6 Tundra does the job too.

Been hitching mine dry. Approx 8000 mi towing in less than a year. No abnormal wear so far.

Great use of tech but I am going to wait for v.3 which will use smaller, watch batteries. I heard the stacks are going to be built like Pez dispensers.

I dont know about others, but in my trailer I refer to it as the late night practical joke switch as it makes it easy to turn off the hall and bath courtesy lights on someone on the throne.

There is so little external access storage in the Ollie it would be a shame to lose the bumper storage just so you don't have to carry a bottle to the bathroom to empty it. Once you dump the black tank the whole bumper storage should be treated as contaminated and therefore storage of items becomes limited. I would rethink this and either buy a second bottle or carry a larger tote in the back of the truck into which you can empty your pee bottles and then visit the toilet or dump station to dispose of the larger amount all at once

Ordered my 2021 without microwave. Do not miss a microwave but DO enjoy the additional pantry space for toaster oven and misc stuff. The space is finished nicely and the door and latch match upper cabinets. IMO the deletion was worth the trade and offset cost.

Brilliant! Another item for the list

I am a huge fan of Mr. Miyagi. Wax-on, Wax-off. Found several tins of the discontinued, 3M Marine Ultra paste wax. Its pretty easy to apply and buffs out nice. Plus, It gets me ready for the Summer Parade Season with my parade wave (elbow, elbow, wrist, wrist). 🤪

See my above link for Tooletries. They are also sold on Amazon. Silicone and no adhesive. Easy peasy to install and move

Command Strip products are awesome in the Ollie. If you havent checked them out yet, Tooletries makes a shower storage line that works in the Ollie as much more than just shower accessories. I have two of the “Henry” holders in the bed area of my trailer to hold all of the remotes. They are silicone so do not scratch and also have several of the “Arnold” hooks around inside the trailer for string lights, keys, etc. In the shower, the “Frank” holds the shampoo and conditioner on the wall and out of the way. https://tooletries.com/collections/shower-bath-organization Also just ordered two of these for the living area https://30watt.com/products/sudski It is fun finding new things to make life inside the Ollie more dialed-in

Has anyone towed their Elite II with a Mitsubishi Mighty Max? Thinking it might get some high m.p.g. going downhill (so long as I can keep the rig straight). For uphills I am hoping for a miracle. 🤪

Yes indeed.

We carry a few of these in the camper and a couple in the TV. Convenient when you are only out for a few days and dont want to use the toilet. Just open and lay into the bowl. Double bag when done and throw in trash. They can be found at Cabelas and REI when in the road. https://www.amazon.com/Anywhere-Lightweight-Backpacking-Zip-Close-Towelette/dp/B089QRH56F/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?crid=WWFQZX6G6AGQ&keywords=cleanwaste&qid=1652302465&sprefix=cleanwaste%2Caps%2C233&sr=8-3

No, not going to make the Rally this year, heading to MI for a few months. Hopefully will make it next year and meet many more Oliver owners then.

1300 miles later and we arrived to a spot most of you will recognize. David Crockett State Park. Heading to Hohenwald for service tomorrow and will stay at the campground at the Sales Office. Trip was uneventful, here are my observations towing with the diesel vs. Tundra: 1) MPG - 16 total trip. As high as 16.4 in Kansas with a side wind. Even with the higher cost of diesel, I figured I saved about $15 in the cost of fuel on this trip. If You had to buy DEF it would be less. 2) Ride - a bit stiffer than the Tundra but not bad. Zero jounce as could be expected 3) Braking- much better with the Dodge but not for the reason I expected. The aftermarket brake controller I had installed in the Dodge worked far better than the integrated unit that came in the Tundra. Much better adjustability and much more power. I could never get the trailer brakes to lock up with the controller in the Tundra but it was easy with the aftermarket controller. Tundra forums cover this issue if anyone is interested. I will be ordering a aftermarket controller for the Tundra when I return home. 4) Transmission - towing with a stick is great. Made me wish that Toyota offered a 6 spd manual. Oh well. 5) overall - The Dodge is way more truck than I need for towing the Elite II. While a fun experiment, the Tundra will get put back in place soon as the Dedicated TV for the Ollie. The Dodge will go back to towing the car hauler. I can see where if you were hauling a lot of gear in the bed the 1 ton ( or a 3/4 ton) would make a lot of sense or if you towed a lot in the mountains a diesel would make sense or if the cost of diesel ever comes down it would make sense for the fuel economy but since the Tundra can’t tow the car hauler and Dodge no longer makes diesel trucks with manual transmissions, its back to the Tundra for towing the Ollie. Oh, and we stumbled across the worlds largest ball of sisal twine in Kansas. Clark Griswald was nowhere to be found.

As recent as 2021 they still came with printed manuals. Agree that having it in print is handy, especially when off grid with no cell reception.