SeaDawg

I really like this format, especially the condensed view, on my phone. 😀

That's great news, Susan. I don't want to hijack the thread, but you may be able to research some old land maps, which were labeled with owners' names. It can be a tedious exercise, but I found many of our family's ancestral farms that way. I'll send you a pm.

Welcome to the forum, RichD. You won't be the first who has moved from Airstream to Oliver, if you decide to join us. There's a recent extensive thread comparing the two that you may have already read: https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/4428-oliver-eliteii-vs-airstream/ I've always been fond of the shape and shine of the airstream, but the Oliver has been a comfortable, sturdy trailer for us for 13 seasons. Sherry

Back in the day, when Oliver was building only 5 or 10 trailers a month, we could send any fabric we wanted to their upholsterer. I, too, miss that custom touch of personality that the early trailers had. My trailer sports a midmod print in green and gold. The downside is, I can't "change up the look" as easily as I could if I had selected a solid neutral cushion. It's been hard to find coordinating items in 60s colors. I've been thinking about making slipcovers for the small dinette. We keep the big one made up as a bed, so it's only 4 cushions. I'm looking at some blues, these days. I will say, Oliver has chosen some beautiful fabrics for their standard selections, much more attractive than the brown swirly prints that I see in the sticky units we deliver to Alaska. Maybe if enough people asked, Oliver would add some brighter hues to the fabric selections. Can't hurt to ask. Sherry

I do see that Oliver offers an upgrade now for 2 6v agm batteries. Hopefully, that was true in the 2017, also. This reminded me of some very old posts, where early owners modified the early tray to fit larger batteries, and at least one owner did install trojan t105s. (Which, I agree, are very good batteries.) Sherry

Billghon, welcome to the forum. We have a 2008 elite. We have camped in weather with lows in the teens. If I were going to camp in zero lows (which I would hope never to do,) I'd want a composting toilet, and I'd winterize the trailer. I have the original, older trailer, so today's insulation is better. Maybe, someone with a newer trailer and real winter experience will chime in. Sherry

If the newer battery tray in the Elite will hold two Trojan t105s, that would be a great improvement. Maybe we should ask the owners of the 2017 Elite?

Thank you for the notice. We hope everyone will be very careful out there. Sherry

My 2008 Elite has a smaller battery tray, and can only hold two group 27 size batteries. My Agm batteries are 105 amp hours each. But, agm maximum recommended discharge is 50 per cent. Longer life if you discharge less.

Have you seen the new listing for a 2017 elite in Northern California?

It does look different. The admins are running some updates at night. It's only partially updated now, to allow us to use the forum. There will be some more changes soon, but I don't think you'll see much but improvements when they're done. Thanks for your patience in the meantime. Sherry

Thompsonkd, are you still under warranty? When did you pick up your Ollie? Pretty sure you have a two year warranty on your dometic, at least on parts?

As far as I know, Nikola still hasn't exhibited a true prototype for either the cool pickup or the semi . I love the concept. But, I'd like to see tires moving under stated power before I put down a deposit . Rivian has been testing in several locales. My deposit is on the Tesla Cybertruck. Only hoping it fits in my garage.

When we disassembled and parted our dometic, I gave Scubarx / Steve our eyebrow board, which was only a month old. You can pm him. He might or might not still have it. It's almost 3 years ago. He keeps a lot if stuff in his truck, to help others. Good guy.

KenB, if you find the photo, I'd love to see it. Oliver did more custom work in the earlier days. Wouldn't be totally surprised if they built one like you're describing, pre-2017. Sherry

Hi, Daniel, and welcome to the forum. You just missed a few Elites. But, with patience, you'll find one. Not as many Elites out there as the Elite II, so you'll need to be ready when one pops up. Keep an eye on the forum Classifieds. One of our members did an extensive post on changing his regular toilet to a Nature's Head composting toilet. Here's a link. Grab some popcorn, as promised in the title, it's a long thread, but complete. The older Elites, like my 2008, don't have the same insulation of the post 2014 models. Mine has a fabric-like insulation. 2009s probably have a spray on (don't remember the brand.) How cold does it get where you plan to live in the Elite? Sherry

Overland may have been one of the last to get that kind of customization. You could ask your sales rep if service would install after pickup. Some owners have added and upgraded solar om their own. Here's a link to Rideaceuces upgrade:

They look big, but I think the typical Streamline is (only ) 7.5 ft wide. More than an Ollie, but much less than most "modern" stick built trailers .

Hi, and welcome to the forum. The Elite owners here are a smaller contingent. One of my best friends owns a Casita Spirit. I believe the Ollie I has about 1/2 inch to 1 inch better headroom. As I recall, the ac is also a bit further back in the Ollie, so that could possibly be helpful. Best bet for you is to contact the sales office, and find an Elite owner within reasonable driving distance. It's not the same height or width as the bigger Elite Ii. The other issue is the bed. Did you have your liberty set up as a king? That's not possible with the elite, only the bigger elite ii. The entry door will make you duck in any model. If you're in Florida, or NC, you're welcome to see mine, and see how gracefully a 2008 has aged. 😁 Sherry

Pretty cool way to convert a topper to a tent camper. Could be a great solution for exploring without the trailer, or extra sleeping space for guests. Years ago, my in-laws had a neighbor lady who camped in her little Ford Ranger with a topper. Threw a foam mattress and a portapotty in the back, and traveled all over. Tight quarters, but she wasn't very big. I really admired her, as she did this well into her 80s.

thompsonkd, did you check for 12v at the fridge? My guess would be the eyebrow board, just because ours gave us trouble, but that's a "guess." There are two control boards. The eyebrow, and the lower main board. There are a number of reasons that you might not be getting power. You can Google and find the technical manual online for almost any appliance, these days. I found one for both our norcold, and our dometic. But, they're written usually for several models, and the newer rm2454 is slightly different from the older models, as I recall. You'll find much more complete troubleshooting and diagrams in the tech manual than the user manual. But, it's made for technicians, obviously, so it's not easy for all users to follow. Good luck. Sorry you're having trouble, especially on a holiday weekend. Sherry

Quite true, Overland. I didn't "double" my storage replacing the dometic, by any means. Maybe a .5 cubic foot. And, I got a smaller freezer. Susan, how I get that much "stuff" in my fridge is the same way I packed for the old fridge. Containers sized for the time we planned to be gone. Freezing items flat, so they stack better. Removing excess cardboard packaging helps, too. We also carry a lot of fruit and veggies, but many items can be stored outside the fridge . Tomatoes, onions, potatoes, squash, etc. are best stored in a basket, actually. Peppers, zucchini, waxed cukes are fine outside the fridge for several days. Apples and oranges are fine. Paul likes to eat them cold, so I just put one or two in the fridge each day, not the entire bag. We can manage quite nicely for two weeks without going to the store, if we like. And, that was the same when we had the Dometic. We also use a cooler for beverages, and sometimes put some produce in there, on top, as lettuce can freeze in the wrong spots in any fridge. Sherry

Dean, their boards are great. Our neighbor fixed his 20+ year old dometic fridge with a dinosaur board. When we were looking, dinosaur didn't have our needed board. It could be different now, years later.

Do your other 12v and 110 outlets work? Are you plugged into 110? Have you checked that you actually have power to the fridge outlet? The eyebrow board on our Dometic rm2454 gave us fits in the last year if its life. I sometimes had to hold the start button in, or duct tape it down. Also, check the connection on the end of the eyebrow board. It seems that you are not getting power to the board, or the board is bad. We had to buy a new eyebrow, about two and a half years in, from a dealer in Arizona . It started acting up about two months after the 2 year warranty.

Getting ready for an upcoming trip. I thought I'd share some of what I do to stock for camping. My first shopping trip is to the home fridges and freezer, and my home pantry. I pull staples from dry goods. Partial bottles of ketchup, mustard, mayo, hot sauce are just fine. I might not come home with a partial, to add to another partial bottle. I often shop at Costco, so large quantities get broken down and portioned when I get home. Then, marinated or seasoned, and vac packed, labeled, and frozen, in the case of meats, poultry, and fish. I like to freeze items flat, on a cookie sheet,, so they stack better.. My freezer is a great start for camping proteins, just as it is for meal starters at home. The day before we leave, I usually make and chill a container each of pasta salad, potato salad, and cole slaw. Freeze sliced lunch meats. I precook a pound of bacon, and pack it in a flat container or ziplock. I cook/"boil" 6 to 12 eggs, as we like boiled eggs, and they can become egg salad for lunch, a quick breakfast, or a high protein snack. I try to make a list of proteins and ingredients on hand, so we often only have to add produce and bread in a two or three week trip. Sometimes, not much of that, either. I carry milk in shelf stable quarts. In cooler weather, I often make a batch or two of soup, and freeze it. Sometimes precook pasta, and store it in ziplocks, with a little olive oil. Depends on the season. I don't have a microwave, but precooked rice, pasta, etc, can be reheated easily stovetop, or in foil packets on the fire. It's nice to have some meal items prepped for the first few days or first week. Keeps dinner interesting, but easier, after a long day of exploring. Sherry