Overland

Nice job and great pics!

I've had good luck with mine so far, just cleaning from the outside like Randy does. I did inspect the inside after reading @john-e-davies thread on dust control, and only found a thin film of dust in the rear window track and nothing to speak of in the others. That's with only 9 months of use, and 12,000 miles, so take it for what it's worth. I suspect that it's luck of the draw whether you get a well sealed set of windows or not from the factory, and I also expect that over time mine will worsen. In the meantime I'm just trying to keep the gunk out of them. I should probably keep some sort of protectant on them as well. I do wish it were an option to have a fixed egress window on the back (meaning not sliding but obviously openable with the emergency latches). That seems to be both the dirtiest and the least used in our case and a single pane of glass back there would make for a better view anyway. I believe at some point in the 200 hull numbers, before mine at least, Oliver switched windows to something that was supposed to either seal better or be less susceptible to the drains clogging. You can tell the new ones since they only have slits at the bottom and not the top.

There you go. But if your spindle breaks in half on your next trip it wasn’t me who said it was nothing. :)

I think that's from the casting/machining process. At least it doesn't look like it extends to either of the bearing surfaces, so while it doesn't look pretty, I don't think it's anything.

Wow, wasn’t expecting that interior. That’s a beautiful trailer.

Generally, I don't think anyone has had trouble getting reimbursed for repairs. I think how it's handled depends on the problem and how the owner prefers to deal with it. For example, the buttons on my MaxxAir fan stopped working on our last trip, and I asked Jason if they'd mind just shipping me the circuit board to swap out myself, since I didn't want to bother driving to Hohenwald or dealing with a service center for something that to me was easy to do. He said fine and I had the part in two days along with a box and prepaid label to ship the old one back. We also had a situation on our first trip where our fridge went out and I didn't feel comfortable pulling it out to diagnose, so Oliver reimbursed me taking it to a repair ship where we were. I'd say that the biggest issue in dealing with emergencies is in getting a prompt response. Sometimes it's great, and sometimes everyone is busy and you don't hear back. Or it's the weekend and all you can do is leave a message. But my impression is that things have gotten a bit more chill at the plant over the past 6 months and people aren't as overloaded as they were when we got our trailer. I also get the impression from the forums that overall initial quality has improved - at least I haven't noticed anyone complaining about issues like there was with the 200's.

Our fan on auto is super annoying. It switches back and forth between high and low constantly and whenever it does the entire unit has to switch off while it thinks about it. It's really a very odd contraption. It does seem to cool the trailer off pretty fast though, but I think that's more thanks to the small volume of the trailer than it is the AC. I'd be interested to know the real life dB levels of the Attwood. Maybe @john-e-davies can measure his.

If you have a smartphone you can download an app. The one I have is appropriately named dB Meter. On low fan, I get 65dB- 70dB standing directly under the AC and 60dB-65dB at both bed height and the dinette. Add 5 dB to those numbers when the fan is on high. So, roughly the same level as a vacuum cleaner for reference. That’s with around 35dB background level without the AC running - the trailer is pretty quiet which makes the noise seem even worse. I believe the Honda generators are rated at under 50dB, so yes these suckers are really loud. The odd thing to me is that it’s the fan and not the compressor that makes most of the noise. Seems to me like Dometic could stand to do a bit more engineering.

That’s not a bad idea adding a return vent from the bath.

I suggest we stop the combative posts right here. This isn’t that sort of forum. To answer your first question, I doubt there are enough Olivers on the road or for long enough for insurance companies to have evaluated their relative risk and be able to offer discounts. And I doubt that the market is valuable or competitive enough for them to do so anyway. Frankly, I wouldn’t look at insurance rates to tell you how roadworthy one trailer is relative to another. Likewise, you will have to accept logic and anecdotal evidence for the stability and strength of Olivers. If you need statistics to make your decision, then you’re going to be out of luck since none exist. As posted earlier, we do have evidence of one Oliver that slid into a bridge railing in the snow, which did flip and I understand was able to be repaired. We also have stories of a bear unsuccessfully trying to get in an Ollie, though I have to question how motivated of a bear it was, lol. Plus I think it was trying the wrong door if I remember the story. As for stability, all I know is that I’ve had zero issues and have heard nothing but the same from other owners. I’ve never read nor heard of anyone encountering sway with an Oliver, regardless of what tow vehicle they use. That doesn’t mean it can’t happen, but it’s good enough evidence of their stability for me.

I agree that there’s not enough dust control at the factory. Far too much ends up left between the hulls and inside ducts, etc. And even if you go through and clean as well as you can, a lot of hidden dust will get shaken out during travel, leaving a fresh coat of dust to be cleaned again. For what it’s worth, I do think that it all works itself out over the first several weeks of use. That is of little comfort I’m sure. I’d offer three suggestions: First, you might consider cutting an access panel in the closet floor, which would be easy to cover afterwards. Then remove the shower caddy and I’d think that between the two you would have enough access to replace the ductwork. That’s assuming the duct runs under the closet floor there. To be honest, I don’t know where the front ‘curb’ in the outer hull is in relation to the closet/bath wall. And if there’s enough overlap to access the duct. It may be right at the wall and if so then this obviously isn’t a solution. Second option would be to secure new duct to the end of the old and try pulling it through just by pulling out the old through the shower caddy opening. Maybe it would work though obviously you run the risk of tearing the new duct or losing it halfway through. Honestly though I’d assumed that this is what Oliver would have had in mind for replacement. You might use semi-rigid duct if you try this, which would be more difficult to pull but less likely to tear and you’d get better airflow through it as well. Third, there are companies that do ductwork encapsulation where they spray a sealant into the ductwork to both contain existing dust and seal leaks. But I don’t know if that can be used in flex duct or in ductwork that small. If you find a solution, please do document the work since I’m sure others might want to follow suit. In the back of my mind, I’ve been thinking about how difficult it might be to replace that run with solid ductwork, just to get better airflow into the bath. I agree that dryer duct is a bad solution, though that seems to be standard throughout the industry unfortunately. If you do replace it, you should definitely try to go back with as much solid ductwork as possible, maybe limit the flex duct to the tricky bits snaking around the shower. If none of that seems feasible, then perhaps trying to blow it out with an air line might get most of the dust although rereading your post it sounds like Oliver has tried that.

I turn one crate lengthwise and shove it toward the back, flush with the front corner, which leaves enough room in the back for a small toolbox or something similar - maybe 10”. I have some small plastic storage boxes shoved back there. Then I place two crates side by side in the front.

Yes, he had the external antenna on the mast. He was just using a length of PVC and running the cable through a window but I’m thinking I could use the cable port that Oliver installs and then find an extendable pole of some kind. The idea was brought up here before but this was the first I’d seen it done. The antenna for my cradle point is the 5 in 1 half dome. I don’t have a WeBoost right now. I’m not sure if I could connect the WeBoost antenna directly to the Cradlepoint or if I’d have to just place the internal WeBoost antenna near the cradlepoint antenna.

I'm curious what that plastic sheet was in the basement. Doesn't sound like anything we had on ours. Glad the milk crates worked out for you. They really do pack in there just right. On the table, have you considered replacing the top with one of the foldable teak ones? We had planned on storing ours at night, and had bought a fabric case for it from here. But we quickly learned that the folded table isn't in the way for sleeping, and in fact is pretty convenient to have up all the time. Plus, even folded it was still a bit of a pain to take down and store. When we were at Glacier last month, I saw that the camp host had the WeBoost attached to a mast on the back of his trailer. He said that it really improved the signal being able to raise it up - I'd say he had it five or six feet above his trailer. I'm thinking that might be a project for the future. As much as I like our Cradlepoint router for other reasons, it's antenna doesn't really get much better of a signal than we get on our phones.

You guys are going to make me give my dog crate lecture again aren’t you?

Yes, that's the filter. A good tip when emptying it is to first shut the valve leading to the fresh tank before unscrewing the clear bowl. This will prevent the water left in the line from sucking anything that was caught in the bowl back into the tank as you release the seal. Have a towel handy as it will always spill a bit. The city water bypasses the pump and fresh tank, so there's no reason to turn it on when connected. If you haven't already, I would disconnect the city water, add some water to your fresh tank, and then test the pressure with the pump on. That will help narrow down where the blockage may be. And if it does work, then you at least have the option of filling your tanks and working from the pump. You can actually use the onboard pump to flush out the city water line, same as you would compressed air. You just have to remove or reverse the check valve at the city water inlet and then turn the pump on. Since I always forget to check the obvious things, have you checked for kinks or a blockage in the hose? Also, how is the hot water pressure relative to the cold? If the hot is fine and the cold not, then likely there's blockage at the second tee. If it's the same, then the blockage would have to be at the first tee or in the line between there and the city water inlet.

For us it was good because the truck had to be a daily driver and we live in an older section of town with narrow streets, driveways, and tight radiuses at intersections. The extra length and poorer visibility of the F250 made it really difficult to get around, which wasn't evident on the typical suburban test drive. Yep, we all know that feeling. The creeping cost of this endeavor is why we named our Ollie what we did. All I wanted was a nicer tent.

They do that here too. My dealer gave me an F250 to try for a weekend. It’s a sales tactic, but I found it helpful.

That looks like a nice install. I think both you and Sherry have about twice as much ventilation through those horizontal vents than I have with the ones Oliver installed for me. While I don’t think my compressor runs excessively it does make me wonder how much more efficient it might be if I increased the venting. Or maybe a computer fan at one of the vents would be worth experimenting with.

Ah, a fellow Saab owner. I had two - first was a C900t right out of college that was a real blast. I kept that car for 18 years and still miss it even though I don’t think there was a single day I owned it that something wasn’t broken. The back was a full 6’+ with the back seat folded and we camped many a night back there. Later I leased a Viggen but frankly while super quick it was a handful to drive. They didn’t strengthen the body when they upped the horsepower so it had insane torque steer plus the front suspension geometry would flex under acceleration so you were constantly adjusting for it. My wife hated to drive it because it would literally jerk the steering wheel out of her hands. I never saw the stalling problems you had though. I seem to remember the T7 engines had anti stall so maybe something wasn’t working right on yours. I can’t speak for the other EcoBoosts, but the high output 3.5 has zero issues with altitude or grade. On our most recent trip we took our Ollie over a couple 12,000’ passes with ease.

For an Elite, I think it's a good choice, and will be perfectly fine offroad.

I think that might be true if you substitute "extreme offroad performance" in place of "decent".

Well everyone has different needs, and the important part is that you take your time, weigh the pros and cons, and try to be as brutally honest with yourself about what you need and want. Sounds like you're doing that. We've all been where you are, looking a things from different angles and trying to get all the various bits and pieces of the puzzle in our heads so we can make the right decisions. Many of us spent two or more years figuring it out, and are still making changes, figuring out where we made mistakes, etc. We second guessed our tow vehicle choice a million times and even though we feel like we made the right one for ourselves, we still have moments when we think maybe we should have gone a different direction. Same with the trailer. About the trailer, when you're weighing your options, be sure to give thought to the relative solar and battery capacities of the two, since you want to boondock. That's what made the difference for us, since I think we could happily live within the space of the smaller trailer.

I'm curious why you've ruled out a full size truck if you were willing to consider a sprinter. Personally, if I were considering a tow vehicle for an Elite II, I'd start with the new diesel F150 as the default to which other choices would be compared. It's just a great combination of towing ability, fuel efficiency, and range, plus the interior of the crew cab F150's make for incredible road trip vehicles. More space in the back row with the seats folded up than I had in my SUV. Not to mention the towing features - just little things like all the cameras, big mirrors, lane change that accounts for the trailer length, and having the truck keep up with the mileage on the trailer really help. And the trailer backup assist makes things so easy. I just think the hassle of dealing with WD hitches, poor torque, less room for stuff, and less stability on the highway would get old fast. Watching this board and others for the past few years, I've seen other people start out with borderline vehicles that they say are great, but then a year later they've quietly switched to a full size. Of course, if you go with the smaller Elite, then ignore much of what I've said. I'd give it a thought or two if I were you. Neither my wife nor I were crazy about driving a full size truck, but once we both got used to the size we couldn't imagine towing with anything else. She even told me the other day that she might prefer having a truck of her own instead of the little Tesla Model 3 she has a deposit on. People told me that would happen, and these trucks do grow on you that way.

I tried to get Oliver to give me a hatch like you're talking about in place of the shower caddy, but they forgot and had the hole cut before I caught it. So they gave me the porthole in the closet instead, which I think is fine. If I need to do major surgery, I'll remove the caddy like Steve says; but the porthole is good enough to check for leaks or tighten the connections. We never use the caddy so it's a bit of an eyesore for me, so perhaps someday I'll swap it out for something else. Biggest issue with those hatches is that they're darned expensive. I'm interested to see what Steve has in mind for his gasket.