Overland

Leaks are rare. Just keep up with maintenance and if the caulk joints look like they’re aging then that’s the time to redo them. Rust is a non issue.

They did it from the start - the one and only. That's one of the mods that I'm really glad they did for me, since they could do the cutout to match and they didn't cut either of the outside vents.

SeaDawg did a retrofit (the Truck Fridge version of the Isotherm), which is documented here. Try2Relax also did one (NovaKool). Another good discussion of pros/cons and brands, including photos of Try2Relax's install is here. We have the Isotherm and love it - but it was a factory install - happy to answer any questions, though.

If you don't need your truck bed for other things, I think the best solution is a topper. Yes, things will get a little dusty but in general your stuff will stay protected from theft and the elements. To make things easier to retrieve, many people install a bed slide or a set of drawers (or both). If you do need to use your bed for other things, then a topper is a no go. A bed cover is the usual solution, with or without a bed slide. I wanted a rack on mine, and went with a Leitner Designs rack because of its versatility. With that, I can slide the cross bars forward for hauling tall stuff, mulch, etc. in the bed; use them in the normal position for kayaks, ladders, etc., and add a full rack when camping for solar panels. I can also add an intermediate rack to get another tier of storage. Eventually I want to add a slide and drawers to the bed itself. For dust and weather, I bought a pallet full of navy surplus Hardigg cases a few years ago and those things are air tight and practically indestructible. I have two of the storage boxes that are made for the Leitner rack, but they're not particularly waterproof. Here's my usual camping setup - solar up top, Leitner and Hardigg boxes in the middle along with LP and CO2 for tires, then in the bed go a few more Hardigg cases, grill, table, off road jack, winch, jerry cans, etc. Everything is out in the weather, but the advantage is that it's all easy to retrieve.

Those Benchmark Atlases are the best. The apps we use are All Stays, Ultimate Campgrounds, RV Parky, Overnight RV Parking, iOverlander and Boondocking - all for iOS though most will have android versions. We'll also visit the BLM and USFS pages for the areas we'll be traveling, to check out camping opportunities and download maps. You can also order MVU maps from the USFS for free that will tell you along which roads you can camp. But yes, we've found that a quick visit to a local USFS or BLM office for recommendations is what often leads to the best campsites. It also lets them know that you're out there in case something were to go wrong. Your best bet east of the rockies will be national forests, though sometimes other departments have free dispersed camping. Different states have different rules about overnighting at a rest stop. Generally, big rig drivers don't like RVers in 'their' areas, like truck stops - but then, those are usually noisy and smell like diesel anyway so not the best place to stay a night. If you're in desperate need of a place to overnight, stop by the local police or sheriff and ask. Often they'll know a safe place and will let their officers know that you'll be there so that you won't get bothered.

I just got a set of these per Mike's recommendation. Like most things that RV Water Filter Store carries, theses are really high quality. They're surprisingly heavy, probably because the plastic housing is a really dense material that almost feels like ceramic. Mine came with plastic male connectors of the same dense material rather than aluminum, and they're replaceable in case one breaks. The covers are thick rubber and grip well on the connectors. The included plugs that allow you to keep your hoses looped together to keep them clean is a nice bonus. One drawback is that the round filter washers don't work with these so I'll have to get some flat ones.

Also if you go to the Oliver University link that you’ll find in the Travel Trailers section of the menu above, you can download the current owners manual which will help get you familiar with the trailer’s systems.

To answer your first question, this forum is a darned good place to start. As for your second, all the electrical components play well with one another and you can’t really damage anything unless you try hard. The chargers (solar and shore power) can both operate simultaneously and neither will charge the batteries unless they need it. Then there’s an automatic transfer switch that prevents you from, say, trying to charge your batteries by plugging into a wall socket and a generator at the same time. Fairly fool proof, really. If you want to learn more, there are plenty of folk here who are very knowledgeable about trailer electrics, and someone posted a link to a good primer from Victron a few months ago that I’ll try to dig up and link to again.

You'll find all the info you need here. Ewa Zajch is now at extension 21 rather than 22. Just give her the size of the one you want replaced and be sure to let her know if you want the bright white or antique white color.

Not sure. Topgun mentioned that Jason was working on updates so some things may have gotten lost in the process. Looks like one of my posts is missing too.

Supposing you are pulling your Ollie and decide you need to go shopping and fill up on some items. It seems to me that pulling into and out of all entry ways of shopping centers and maneuvering down parking isles would be too hard. Thus, do you always go find your camping spot, disconnect, and only then attempt errands and shopping? As opposed to pulling in with a 30′ motorhome or even shorter truck camper? Depends on where you're going. If it's a WalMart or something similar with a large parking lot, then we'll just stop by on the way. If it's someplace smaller, then we'll camp first and then go. Are good headphones a must when camping so as not to disturb neighbors when watching TV late at night? How quiet is it to those outside your Ollie with windows opened and closed? The Ollie insulates noise very well - it's something you'll appreciate when you have noisy neighbors. We like to have music going while we cook and eat, and I'll open the curbside window so that I can hear outside. You have to get it pretty loud inside even then to be able to hear the music too far away from the trailer. But you'll want a nice set of noise cancelling headphones if you ever want to watch TV with the AC going. In the EII single bed model, when using one bed as a couch, is the other bed close enough to use it like an ottoman, putting your legs up across the aisle? Definitely. Why don’t they use the same pedestal style table with hole in floor between the single beds like they do in the regular floor plan? If you want a nice Dakota fiber granite top, two legs, and some mounting plates, I know a guy. Is there not a plug from truck to trailer to charge batteries when driving while pulling trailer? And if so, wouldn’t just starting and idling truck always be a way to charge batteries while camping, I suppose replacing a generator? Sort of. The distance from the alternator to the batteries is so long that you get a lot of voltage drop through the thin wires. On top of that, the drop is enough that modern truck electrics often won't recognize that there's a battery there and won't charge. And fuel consumption on the truck is much higher than a generator. Plus, no one in camp likes the guy who lets his truck idle for two hours. Speaking of generators, like the small Honda often mentioned on here, wouldn’t the easiest way to run one be simply connecting to outside propane connector, so as not having to deal with large cans of gasoline? Many have done just that. What reason is it that not every RV is equipped with an instant on demand continuous hot water heater like a Truma? Likely because of cost. But also, the Truma is nice, but fragile. I go back and forth on whether I'd rather have a traditional hot water tank. With the tank, you get some extra water carrying capacity as well. I’m assuming there is a good water filter that filters all water in entire coach? Not stock. Many people add an inline filter when hooked up, and some people filter when they fill the fresh tank. Others, like us, just drink bottled water and don't worry about it. We do carry a filter but only because I like to pretend that I'll need to pull water from a stream just any day now. Is leveling your Oliver the biggest chore when arriving at nightly sleeping spots, and is that always/usually necessary? Some amount of leveling is almost always necessary, but I can't say that anything on the Ollie is a chore to set up/take down. If I had to list one, it would be backing into a spot.

We carried this guy with us prior to the Ollie (and still do when we tent camp). For occasional use, I'd be fine with having one of those mounted in the bath; but over time, I think the composting is easier.

For Don - [attachment file=Shunt Wiring.png] Let me know if you got the PM I sent.

Well, fortunately Mike didn't wait around two years hoping for my advice on antenna placement. Or so he claims.

Don, no message yet. I guess the messaging system still isn't working right.

lol, just saw that your post was 2 years old.

Looks great - is it a kit that they put together or did they build it from scratch?

You might try just taping the antenna up in the attic between the insulation and hull first. We moved our Spot Trace there and it doesn't seem to have any trouble getting a signal through the fiberglass. Sirius may need a better signal of course, but worth a try.

Yeah, but now you have a reason to get a cool new faucet.

Similar to Steve, mine has the drain because I asked Oliver to do weird stuff to my trailer. I’ve been using it to empty the fresh tank but now that I’ve discovered that I can pump it out the water heater itself I’ll probably do that since it seemed to be a lot faster.

It certainly seems like a common problem, if not normal. I experimented with mine while sanitizing the fresh tank a few weeks ago by covering the overflow with my hand while filling the tank and having the drain open. I was hoping that the drain might be blocked with plastic shavings or something and that it would push out with some extra pressure. No luck, though I didn't want to let the pressure build up too much for fear that it would pop the overflow drain hose off the tank. I did find out though that if you have the Truma you can do the same trick that you can if you had the extra hot water line drain like Steve and I do. Just open the Truma drain and turn on the pump, and it will pump all the water out the Truma. You may be able to do the same trick with the standard water heater.

Well thought through and nicely executed. I really like this solution.

Steve, I like your ideas, though personally I think assembling and disassembling the bed up front would be as much if not more trouble than doing the same in the rear. The only advantage is the possibility of sleeping one more, but you'd have to weigh that against the downside of pretty lousy bath access. Have you looked at using the Lagun table option in the back? I'm thinking that you could mount it to the side, far enough forward to set up a double bed in the rear. Then all you have to do at night is push the table over and rearrange the cushions into a bed. If you're set on the front bed, a few people have made the front dinette area into a sofa/daybed like this - making it into a double would just be a matter of designing a support, as you said (sorry, I don't know whose trailer this is): Here's how the king bed setup normally works on the Ollie. Imagine that with a double bed and a Lagun table mounted just forward of the edge of the bed. I think it would work well for you: [attachment file=Screen Shot 2016-12-19 at 2.58.34 PM.jpg] [attachment file=Screen Shot 2016-12-19 at 2.58.18 PM.jpg] If in your drawing you're showing the washer where the pantry normally is, you won't be able to do that. The pantry top and bottom are moulded into the inner shell, and even if you were brave enough to cut it all out (you'd have to be quite a craftsman to make that work), behind that is the battery box and wheel well, the latter of which certainly isn't going anywhere.

No, you can take the standard deduction.

Yep. You could get the credit on both. When we did ours, we took the credit for all our panels, batteries, charger, charge controller, inverter, monitors, wiring, etc. Saved us a ton of money. Most don’t realize that you can take the credit on the factory solar option and battery upgrades when you buy new.