Ralph Mawyer

I'm debating making some changes to my 2020 Elite II. Second owner, bought fully loaded with original sealed wet cell batteries. The latest fully loaded models would have the Truma AC and Lithium Pro Packages at $102K? Other than those two big ticket item and the move to a DC/AC only fridge, does anyone have a list of other engineering changes that might have occurred. I like knowing what I have and have resolved any open issues, but have been looking at resale value, then buying new, just as comparison to putting money into the current trailer. Thoughts?

Ping Craig, looks like I was quoting him.

Kinda strange, but no photo of Oliver on the home page of the raffle.

Small world. Tonya's side of family lives there and her parents lived outside there for years. Going back for a high school graduation, thus the transition route to YS. Weather in May, might drive me west vs north, we'll see. Tonya may have to learn to enjoy boon docking. 😉

I'm going to piggy-back on Mike's post. I'm real late to planning, but we leave Emporia/Kansas City Kansas on May 15 and will need to be in Gardiner/North Yellowstone 22 May or a few days later. Is this simple plan reasonable to do: Emporia (2-days Travel) - Custer SP (4-5 Days basecamp) - Gardiner (2 Days Travel) a reasonable plan to explore Wind Cave and other sites above? UPDATE: Looks like Custer SP is full to the brim... Or should I consider a National Park site with hookups, since I get the Senior discount? Could split it between Badlands NP first than near Wind Cave. Still deciding on whether to cut through Kansas or just hit the Interstate north, then west to SD. May try and wing travel day stops, but will reserve if I can work out a plan. Just a bit compressed on time oncoming back from Africa last weekend and then off again.... (First World Problem, but a life event highlight..that and 5000 images to edit. 😉 https://www.ralphmawyerphotography.com/Travel/Africa-2023/Botswana-Africa-2023-Field-Selects/

Anyone in the forum with an Elite II pulled the trigger on one of these? The non-disposable third row seats is a buzz kill for sure.

Can't find the source, but you can add me to the list... Ralph Mawyer 2020, 2013 LX570 Hydraulic Suspension/6 Spd, Tekonsha P3, Toyo AT3, Andersen

Thanks Steve, the tech and I tried it, but didn’t have a lot of room on top. We really put some muscle into and got no movement at all. We were really afraid we’d damage the gel coat or worse. May 2020 delivery.

Steve, I’m guessing yours was the first Oliver Truma did. Mine was going to be the first, but was a failure. We couldn’t get old unit off. Did they have trouble getting your old unit off or if not, how did they do it?

Nothing on my end. Tech said they’ had an inquiry from Florida. I was going to ping him and see if that went through.

These articles seem to be reworked industry boilerplate. Not sure Casita is a player in the RV mainstream marketing space. They clearly should have probably been #1, on weight and quality alone v

Check the nut/bolt hidden in the hinge. Mine kept dropping and found the nut almost fully backed off. Need to remove plastic end cap on hinge.

Not to be too cynical, but this reads like an industry boilerplate article with a few tweaks, but not enough to reflect what Oliver brings to the table. ...6v batteries ...If you want to add solar panels to your Oliver Travel Trailer, call your nearest store and set up an appointment with our service team. We will get you and your trailer in as soon as possible! ...no mention of Lithium

Didn’t today, but likely the solution. I talked to service later in the day. They put two guys on top at the back corner and one inside pushing up. Then peal it back to front.

Easily doable, just look where you want to go, not where you don’t. I was a bit desensitized after doing Black Bear Pass to Telluride with a Land Cruiser group, without the trailer. I was happy Oliver is only 7’ wide.

Did Ouray to Silverton, but only saw the road.

Well, the first attempt by Truma to replace the Domestic AC in an Oliver was a big fail...for the simplest of non-Truma reasons. After we got the interior box removed, along with the mounting bolts, the external unit should have just lifted off. It would not move, I mean two guys pushing from the external edge and from the inside pushing up. Called Oliver Service, they said it was mounted with butyl tape and may be tight. From what we could see the rear had a 1/2" thick rubberized molding piece supporting it. It wasn't butyl. Even using body shop plastic wedges we could get no play in trying to separate the unit from the 'tape' or the tape from the trailer. We debated taking the AC apart to separate it, but that could have still been a dead end as you really need that piece and whatever is up front to come off the fiberglass and we didn't want to damage the gelcoat by try to cut between the 'tape' and the surface. So, we put it back together and will see what Truma and Oliver can come up with. It's possible in my May 2020 delivery cycle they were using something different than butyl tape, because it was locked in. The unit set in the Alabama sun for its first year, but has been covered the rest of it's storage life..so not sure if sun really made much difference. Almost like the difference in LocTite Red vs Blue. If it was in a shop you could use a fork lift to ease the unit up, but you still have the issue of whether the tape will come with it and/or damage the gel coat. I don't know how often Oliver Service has had to replace an AC on older units, but I'm guessing not many. If you are having yours done, you'll have to remove the interior hold-down bolts to determine how hard/easy it comes off. If they can work out a non-destructive way to remove the mounting 'tape', we'll give it another try. This is an issue, irrespective of whether replacing with a Truma, Houghton or something else. More to come, I hope....

I had someone locally who wanted to see how we outfitted our Elite II. I sent them to Mike for a much better design experience. Refined, but not overdone. Guessing more Carol's influence than Mike's, other than 'no clutter please'. 😉

I’m 6’3”, was 245lbs. Depending on your pillow his feet will likely touch the rear wall periodically. Nightstand not issue if feet at that end. Width isn’t too bad, but there is a wall on one side. 🙂 Works for me and I tend to rotate a lot at night. In photo, head propped up reading at the moment. About 6” to rear wall

Overland West is based at a county park and RV camping is in the existing campground. They also have a boondocking camping area which is for tents and small overland trailers. I'm guessing with the corporate buyout a few years ago and the expansion to multiple events, it's just more structured and likely dependent on the facility they rent.

The touch lights are flakey. Mine over the sink particularly so. You can remove the cover and see if the spring contacts are messed up, but I've not read of any true repair process. I got a few spares from Oliver Service. FWIW, they aren't crazy about them either.

I’ve been using that rack for a few years on my Casita and now Oliver. No issues, but rarely loaded beyond 30-60 lbs.

I do have the Truma water heater. That doesn't look to be an integration point with the AC. The furnace has a couple of options from reading other posts on here and some preliminary discussions with the tech on the phone. Didn't seem to be significant issue, e.g., just bypassing AC wires to existing Domestic thermostat or existing lines to new furnace only thermostat. The Truma uses yet another remote for the AC. I think that will be five at last count. They AC vents to front and rear, with the thermostat in the middle, lower case area. I may have mis-remembered, but I think the Tech said the AC can handle a 30-40F degree differential from ambient which we can easily test in Texas. I didn't think to ask, but will be interested in how he routes the condensation drain, hopefully plug-n-play with the existing one.

Sure, I gather Houghton is quieter, but guessing the Truma will be fine and it will be a done deal. From my discussion with the tech we probably have a few options for dealing with the furnace thermostat, but as John and other have done, not a hard problem to solve. Now if I had service install the full Lithonics package for $16K I'd have a 2023 trailer...which would still be a bargain if I remember the fully loaded price for 2023.

Austin Service Center is a remote truck as Mike mentioned. Service Tech is doing mine onsite in three weeks, unless magic happens and he squeezes it in before our upcoming Alpine trip, but looks unlikely. Anyone want to buy a Dometic as a spare? 😉