Overland

A few smaller mods that we really like - Exterior 12v outlets, with a switch by the door. Use them for outdoor lighting since the built in lighting produces a ton of glare and attracts bugs like crazy right to the door. We also used ours to power my wife's telescope, and even a 12v electric blanket. USB outlet in the hidden storage. Great for charging iPads while away. Dimmer for the cabin lights. I'm not crazy about the specific dimmer the Oliver installed, but being able to dim the lights was a must for us. Get the CradlePoint router that Cobra1169 recommended in his thread. It's awesome.

After our first trip, we've decided that the gas stove is perfectly fine. With two 40 gallon tanks, propane use just isn't a concern for the length of our trips and the stove seems to work well. We have to use a handheld sparker to light the burners since the built in igniter doesn't really work all that well, but that's a small issue. But if I do decide to get an induction burner for the house, I'll get that Volrath and will definitely take it with us on the road. Also surprisingly, we cooked a lot inside. Never an entire meal, but there was always something going on the stove along with whatever was out on the grill. If it had been just me, I'd have used the camping stove more, but now that the wife has the option to get out of the cold, she does. The indispensable electrical gadget we learned is the Nespresso.

Just to update, we just finished our first 4000 mile trip out west and I think that we're O.K. with the trailer's clearance as it is. I did bonk the steps once, and wish that Oliver would still do the single step as an option (willing to trade with anyone who wants a double step). I'm also concerned about the way Oliver mounted the disc brake actuator hanging under the frame, but that deserves it's own lengthy post. But apart from those two items, I think - think - that the clearance is good enough for anyplace that we're otherwise willing to take the trailer. I'm still concerned, however about the limited suspension travel, and think that we'll have to find a solution for that.

We bought the Vornado on Mike and Carol's advice and we love it. We think it heats the trailer faster than the furnace, and is definitely quieter. We keep ours stowed in the closet when not in use. If you aren't plugged in, the heater sucks batteries, of course. Normally, we found ourselves at 80% charge in the AM, and warming the trailer up with the heater would take us down to 70%. We would then let the furnace take over from there, but if we kept the heater on until we left for the day, it would be down around 50-60%. With our extra solar, though, we found that if we're expecting good sun we can run them down that much and still have 100% charge before night. We tried running the heater along with the toaster oven, but the inverter began to complain, lol.

John, you might be interested to know that Oliver is still installing 1 amp fuses for the fan, and they're still blowing. Our toilet wasn't working optimally, and fortunately I remembered your post and checked the fuse. Works well now. Because of my awful delivery experience, I had to use the trailer and shower for a few days in the Oliver parking lot. When I returned home and had a chance to fill the toilet I did notice that a fair amount of shower water had found it's way into the bin. I don't know where it's coming from since the rubber gasket seems to seal well. Regardless, I think with that experience that a shower curtain should be recommended, since you don't want to add moisture into the bin. I also find it a pain to clean around the toilet and a curtain should help keep that area cleaner. We tried the vinegar spray, but didn't care for it. I later found it was easy to just rinse the bowl with the sink sprayer - with a little care it's easy to do without getting any water where it shouldn't be. We also tried the coconut coir but I think my wife mixed it a bit too wet, which combined with the fan not working to make us decide to just restart the system a week into our trip. We used peat moss that time and the toilet has performed to expectations since. I think the only advantage to the coco coir is that it's compact for travel, should you need to dump the bin while on the road, but we can carry along a few gallon zip locks of peat just as easily.

I'm glad that yours are working. Mine are not. Oliver's insistence on using the Dexter kit was a small disaster, I think. I would recommend that anyone wishing to have disc brakes do the install themselves, or use a third party, using the same equipment as Steve.

LOL The VoIP problem was real, but I don't think that's all of what's going on here. When I was there, Ritchie was having an issue with multiple people taking service calls and making appointments, meaning that multiple customers were showing up expecting service with Ritchie being unaware and unprepared to deal with them. There was a small herd of Ollies trying to get service the day I finally got my Ollie out of the shop. He was stressed, to put it mildly. I understand that a week later he fell ill and had to undergo surgery and Jason has taken over in the meantime.

It may have been posted before in this thread, but the original Olivers were spring over axle, which is apparent in a lot of the old photos. I don't think I've ever seen an Elite 2 raised. It could be that the Elite 2 is just too big and heavy to sit that high, or it could be that Oliver's top heavy tolerance has waned. I'm very interested though in the modifications that were needed, since none are apparent. If you went through the trouble of modifying the subframe, it might be possible to use a longer spring and increase the tire size a bit. You might get 1 size up before the wheel well became your limit. Might, being the key word - I wouldn't count on it. But right now, if you tried putting bigger tires on, they'd rub against one another. John, if anyone were to fab what you suggest, I think I'd go a step further and weld in a couple of cross pieces connecting the two sides. That would stiffen it up and perhaps also give you mounting points for sway bars.

I don't trust the 120 covers either. Those are marine grade 12v outlets with rubber plugs, and they're switched from the cabin. (At least, they're supposed to be. )

Yes, those are the shocks sticking out around the tires. The arrows, like Reed/Karen said are blemishes, and there are two 12v outlets above the 120v. Can anyone comment on the state of the finish on that subframe? It looks like they found an old one at the dump and rattle-canned it silver.

Lol. Actually if I had to do it over again - considering the price of the trailer, tow vehicle, all the extras, and all the troubles with production - I'd just bite the bullet and go with an Earth Cruiser, which I think is a much better vehicle than the Earth Roamers, and much less expensive.

Just to update, Oliver was willing to experiment on our trailer to see how the Dexter over/under kit worked and if they might consider offering it as an option. Unfortunately, according to Scott and Jason there are two issues. First, adding the kit required some changes to the Oliver suspension itself. I'm not sure exactly what the issue was, but Jason told me that they had to fab new suspension mounts, which I believe he said were taller and made the overall lift in the neighborhood of 8". I don't understand the issue so I'll need to ask the person who actually did the work what exactly was replaced and why. I can't really see anything different in the photo below (though the finish on the subframe certainly raises some questions). My suspicion is that they needed to relocate the shock mounts and that in turn required other changes. When I find out, I'll update. The other, more important, problem is that with the trailer up that high, Scott said that it was wobbly even wheeling it around the shop. With that in mind, he decided they weren't comfortable selling it like that. So, it sounds like if someone were to do this that they'd need to fab an anti sway bar of some sort, and that, combined with the other suspension changes means that this has become far more than a bolt-on project. Oh well, it is what it is, and cheers to Oliver for giving it a go. Poor Snowball looked a bit ungainly standing up on its tiptoes anyway. Those wheels suddenly look so tiny...

Great looking truck - I'd be interested to hear a review after your first trip.

Robert gave us our factory tour and I was disappointed when I heard that he'd left the company and we wouldn't be able to work with him. My condolences to his family and to those who worked with him and knew him well.

My advice on the isotherm is to skip the stainless door if you're thinking about it. It seems like a fairly thin and soft stainless and it's polished rather than brushed - I think it will be completely scratched up in no time, so if I had to do it again, I'd go with the standard finish. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't make it out of the shop unscathed, especially since when I saw it they'd already pulled off the protective film (not smart). Definitely get the ASU model though, and don't forget to specify the door swing direction and that you need a 4-sided mounting flange.

That photo always cracks me up.

Flying Snowball - I like that. Actually, I was thinking last night that I could take the one with just the big snowflake and extend one end out to make a "tail" and then I could use it on the side as a stripe.

Thanks, I'll have to look into the types of vinyl. I saw one that said it had micro-perforations that were supposed to do the same thing.

I'll definitely keep the blue - I like it too. You're right about the legibility. I don't want anyone to run into me trying to read what's on the logo. It is fun, isn't it? I've been thinking on and off for a while about doing something but couldn't figure it out, then I had to look up something in the owners manual this morning and saw the 4-seasons logo, and it clicked.

I'm hoping most people will just see mountains and snow and think I must be a better skier than I am.

Thanks! I had a feeling that yours was a little larger than 20". Was it any trouble to get it to curve around the trailer without wrinkling?

You and my wife are definitely on the same wavelength. I'm O.K. with the name on the back, but she's like you - she'd rather keep it simple. I was hoping to keep it to two colors, but I was worried that the white snowflake might get lost against the light blue background, and something just doesn't seem right about grey snowflakes, so I tried the blue. I prefer white though. Once I get the actual artwork going, I might try some outlines or something to help the white flakes pop.

Looks great. Which floor is that? Goes really well with the charcoal.

I think most of those same ones were out there when I was at Oliver two weeks ago. I don't remember the lighthouse, but I did see the ladybug and the three on the other end. Check out the storage trays with the solid sides. That's new.

Sorry, that's kind of small - here are some larger versions...