Mike and Carol

We camped across from Sean and Kristy (LOLOHO) in Gros Ventre Campground at Grand Teton National Park at the end of September in 2019. We enjoy their videos. Mike

Our TST has worked well for us. We’ve been using it on our LEII for 4 to 5 years. Mike

Thanks for sharing this. I definitely learned something. Wow. Mike

I would like to see a larger Oliver, too! Before you give up camping take a look at the Intech Terra Oasis. It’s larger and isn’t a Thor product. It has a welded aluminum frame and cage. RVs are only part of their trailer manufacturing, looks like pretty good quality. Mike

Do a search on “sensitivity” and you will find a number of threads that discuss this. Mike

These are the exact same ones I carry. Mike

We’ve enjoyed every minute! We picked up in the spring of 2016 so we’re at about 5.5 years. Still getting comments at various locations and still being stopped at gas stations and supermarkets by curious folks. Mike

We’re at about 65,000. After this trip we’ll be close to 70,000. Yes, I do keep a spreadsheet. 🤓 Mike

In my 5 years of Andersen use I never had the situation you are describing. The chains don’t tighten over time. Was there a kink in the chain? Sometimes a link will twist a bit and then not line up right. I’ll have to give this some thought. Mike

Hey Jeff, I think your Tundra will do fine. The Elite II is heavier and longer, but there are lots of folks towing with a half ton and 5.7L. We’ve been in a lot of tight FS, BLM and COE sites, I don’t think you’ll be too restricted with the larger Oliver. If you go to the Oliver main page there’s a “See an Oliver” button on the top right. That would get you set if there is someone in your area who can show. There are a lot of loyal Oliver owners, the likeable part….. 🤣. Welcome to the forum - Mike

Glad it worked out so well! Getting an Oliver that quick is unusual. Welcome to both of you and we look forward to meeting you. Mike

We were headed north on 285 between Clines Corners and Santa Fe, NM today and spotted an Elite II heading south. It had a blue butterfly logo on the front. I know I’ve seen that logo before but can’t remember who it is. We also saw several Casitas, 2 Scamps and 15 or 20 Airstreams all heading south. We were getting worried that we were heading north into some kind of trouble! We’re camped outside of Durango and all is well…. Mike

I have a plastic bin/Tupperware on the left side of the space that contains spare parts, fuses, tape, and other odds and ends. It doesn’t move at all, that’s over several years. On top of it, we have a large first aid kit and a fanny pack. To the right, closer to the bath we have a cloth shopping bag filled with spare paper towels and toilet paper. It stays pretty secure as well, but is very lightweight so I don’t worry about it. Mike

Mine is around 55. Campground pressure is usually lower, when we use it. We have been to a few campgrounds that had very high pressure and they loaned pressure gauges if you didn’t have one. Mike

I also pulled that long rubber debris catcher. It is a real pain to keep clean and with the eze gutters really isn’t necessary. Mike

It sounds like you are considering the Oliver Elite and not the larger Elite II. I’m not sure what you would want to change or modify on the interior. It is basically a blank slate that you can decorate any way you want. The fiberglass walls make it super easy to hang stuff. I’ve seen pictures, fabrics, tiles, vinyl decals, etc. The possibilities are endless. A lot of Elite owners keep the larger table down and the bed available all the time using the smaller dinette for meals and sitting. We have the twin bed Elite II so I can’t comment on sleeping in an Elite. Finally, we don’t find the interior dark at all, quite the opposite. The white walls and windows make it bright. You should try to see one in person to see for yourself. It is a narrow trailer at only 7’ wide, it’s been fine for us over the last 5+ years. Mike

That’s good to hear, we need to have a manufacturing base in North America for these critical components.

Battle Born assembles their batteries in Nevada, too. However, the lithium cells all come from China. I don’t know if the car manufacturers will be dependent on China for battery materials even if they build or assemble their batteries in the US. We currently see empty new car lots because we’re dependent of foreign chip manufacturers. I’m concerned about supply chain disruptions if we are reliant on foreign resources for critical parts, like we’re currently seeing with chips. Mike

All with Chinese batteries? Are any of the batteries made in the US?

Did you buy a Walmart geezer card or something for a lifetime 10% discount? Should I try my National Parks geezer card?🤪

When filling our fresh tank at home I use our larger unit. I also use it when washing the trailer. When we are out and at a campsite with a water hookup I use our smaller unit when filling the fresh tank. If we’ve been camping with no hookups and fill at a dump station or other location I use the softener if there isn’t anyone waiting. If we’re in a hurry I just use a blue Camco filter and fill. The water softener doesn’t restrict flow in any noticeable way. I’ve never used the boondock water upload port. My small unit is stored in the basement when traveling and set up next to our Culligan filter next to the trailer when we have water hookups. I don’t do anything to winter proof it. When we had the rare single digit cold snap last winter, I had our trailer in the driveway with lots of heat going, to include the basement where we store our little softener. Mike

In Texas, our favorite, hands down, is HEB. In fact, we find we miss our HEB’s when on the road. When on the road, we venture into any grocery store that is convenient. We do prefer most grocery stores over Walmart, but we’ve given a lot of business to Walmart when traveling. We eat pretty simple, grill a meat (beef, pork, chicken, fish) and a veggie and we’re good. Walmart is fine for paper goods and non-food supplies. Mike

The 16K grain softener I used for a couple of years did not fit in the basement and it was very heavy. An 8K grain would be more manageable, although I’m not sure it would fit in the basement. I checked Amazon and they have our small softener HERE. It’s lightweight, fits in the basement standing up and lasts an entire 6 to 8 week trip. It’s easy to recharge with table salt, and only takes 30 minutes or so. Mike

Hull #110 is not too far from ours. I’m a bit surprised at the condition it was in when sold, and I am very impressed with the clean up job! You’ve got it looking great, nice job!! Pete, @bugeyedriver will probably read this and can post a picture of his front end treatment. If not, I’ll drive over to his house and take a pic! He’s a neighbor. Mike

We’ve been using a water softener with our Oliver for about 4 years. My post above from Dec 2020 has details. You can find a selection of portable RV softeners on Amazon, where we got both of ours. Softened water may not be for everyone, but we’re used to softened water at home and it’s nice to have the same experience while traveling. Mike