Mike and Carol

I agree with John, you should size your generator according to how you will use it and where you camp. I had a Champion 3400 dual fuel that we carried for a couple of years. Nice unit, reliable and quiet. Also, heavy at 98lbs. I could lift it, but avoided unloading it from the truck and just ran it on the tailgate. When I realized that the only thing I used it for was to recharge batteries, I sold it and bought a Champion 2000, gas only. It only weighs 37lbs and is also quiet and reliable. I have tested it a couple of times to see if it will start and run my A/C and it does. I’ve never had a situation where I needed to use it for that but could if required. It is still just a means of recharging batteries on very cloudy days. Mike

We make it a point not to stop for any length of time in the heat of the day. If it is hot outside, it will be hot inside the trailer too. If we stop for a picnic lunch at a rest stop we sit at one of their picnic tables in the shade. Running the AC for a nap at a rest stop has never even been a consideration. We travel mid/late morning to early/mid afternoon. If it is very hot it’s because we are probably just moving through to get to cooler areas (think south Texas to Colorado!). There may be others who sleep in their trailer in the heat of the day, but just the AC noise is enough for us to avoid that.

Richard, congratulations! Hope the winter doesn’t last too long up there and that you are on the road soon. Mike

Maybe enough folks were deleting the side graphics that they just decided to eliminate them all together?

Comparing Airstream to Oliver is apple to oranges. Completely different products, manufacturing, construction, business philosophy, etc. I’ve had no reliability issues. Normal wear and tear, my inverter performs inconsistently but everything else works as it should. Mike

Hey Fritz and Susan, welcome! Look forward to meeting you both. Mike

Lake of the Pines is nice as is Wright Patman Lake and the COE campgrounds there. We recently stayed at Clear Spring COE. Not expensive lots of tall pine trees and not too far from Texarkana.

We make it a habit to stop at Buc-ee’s near Luling on I-10 on our way to/from Houston. We frequently pick up a pound of brisket to munch on while we drive. They are going to build one here in Boerne on I-10 next year.

Ours is oriented like Overland’s. We thought about turning it long way but, like Bill says, if both burners are going you have to reach over a lit burner.

Normally they are booked on weekends during summer months. Weekdays are better. If we’re going to stay over a weekend we make reservations a couple weeks (or more). If we’re camping just during the week we’ll call a day or two before. We generally don’t do any long term camping in Texas during the summer. HOT! Mike

We stayed at Monahans Sand Dunes State Park. It’s just off the freeway (I-20). Some of the sites were hard to get into and there is a lot of sand, everywhere! It was good for an overnight. We’ve not stayed at Lake Colorado. The annual pass is a good idea.

He made it. The Elite II does not come with this. If you take the surface piece under the pantry, add some hinges and attach it to the side of the kitchen you’ve got it. I think you can buy an extra one from Oliver. I’ll leave the rest to Overland on his mod. Mike

Texas is large and diverse. West Texas has dry arid areas plus mountains - Davis Mountains, Guadalupe Mountains, Franklin Mountains. Up near Amarillo you have Palo Duro Canyon (second largest in US behind Grand Canyon) and Caprock Canyons. You have beaches and saltwater coast starting at Houston going across to Corpus Christi and on down to South Padre Island. Pine woods are in east Texas near Arkansas and Louisiana. Texas Hill Country is where we live, between San Antonio, Austin and Fredericksburg. We’ve stayed mostly in Texas State Parks, probably about 25 so far. Some have FHU, some W/E and some nothing. Some are close to civilization and some in the middle of nowhere. It depends on how you define civilization. Texas State Parks are reasonable, the highest you’ll pay for a FHU site is $30. We stayed at Franklin Mountain State Park for $7/night (no hookups). There are a bunch in between. Caddo Lake State Park in east Texas, near Uncertain, has huge pine trees and lots of water. Davis Mountain State Park is just north of Big Bend National Park and is near Marfa. We liked Palo Duro State Park and Caprock Canyon State Park. It all depends what you are looking for. There are state parks around Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, El Paso, Amarillo, etc.

No 30A plug. I just use the little 30a adapter.

They make custom sheets for Olivers and Airstreams and others. I thought we found the info on their website. It’s been a few years. Mike

ABLifestyles has a website. They make all sizes, you could check there. We like our sheets and mattress pads that we got from them.

Just the box and suspension. Everything else in Los Angeles.

Like Sherry said, you can find some YouTube videos that John is in along with Shane from RVs of America in Salt Lake City. If you’re interested in Black Series, Shane is the guy to talk to. Also, there was a thread on BS in the Overland forum last year that John was contributing to. He’s got a HQ19 that he’s done a lot with, especially making it more of a 4 season camper. Here we are at Quartzsite a couple years ago.

Welcome Ajojo. I’m retired Army too... Hope this forum will be helpful to you as you go through the order process. I’d call the sales office and set up a factory tour, you can’t be too far! Mike

It sounds like you are just starting your research on an Oliver purchase, price seems to be your major concern and discussion point. You might also go over to AirForums and ask the same questions there that you are asking here to get a perspective on Airstreams since that is the standard you are using. There are less expensive fiberglass options if that would be more palatable. There are also some other manufacturers that are making some nice trailers that would be less expensive than a fully loaded Oliver. Check out Nucamp and InTerra. I just replaced my four old AGM batteries with two Battle Born Lithium’s as are other Oliver owners. After looking at practicality and running the lifecycle numbers the lithium batteries were the best option. Mike

I would think that most folks looking at an Oliver decide on options very carefully, depending on budget and camping style. I’m sure a few Oliver owners that are more financially set don’t worry about options and just order the full slate. When we discussed buying an Oliver we started with the base price, not the fully loaded price. We had financial constraints so starting low and adding those options we needed made the most sense. Starting at the upper limit would have been discouraging.

Not sure what your timeline is, but a trip to Hohenwald and the factory might be beneficial. It might take some of the stress out of your situation. Seeing how they are made and getting inside of one might allay some of your anxiety. Mike

We looked at the Tab 400 when they came out. The main issue we had was the bath and the fold down sink. Would be interested in how it worked out for you... We liked the dinette and kitchen and the big bed with skylight!

Axis are bigger and stay out of neighborhoods. The white tail are more like roaming pets. Big deer can be found down around Big Bend and up around Guadeloupe Mountains.

I’ve got a dozen white tail deer sleeping in my front yard right now.... ...and they are cute.