Overland

Hold my beer...

People shop towing capacity and space but what we’ve found is that it is the towing convenience features of full size pickups that really make the difference in real life. Things like extra cameras, backup assist and blind spot detection that extends the length of the trailer are huge, yet they’re things that you don’t appreciate until you’re using them. We looked at the new Disco and while there was a moment of temptation, I’m glad we went with a truck, despite its size. You get used to it pretty quickly and you’ll probably find that the utility of having a truck in the family will offset most or all of the size inconvenience.

Cool. Anyone know what the retrofit cost is?

Speaking of the non-WD tongue weight limit, it seems to be an industry standard for ½ ton trucks rather than anything that's been calculated for specific models. That is, if it were calculated individually, you'd expect to see differences between brands, wheelbases, etc. Class IV hitches are supposed to be able to handle at least 1,000lbs tongue weight, so that's not the limiting factor either. I'd love to know where that number came from.

I suspect that the 5000lb is a reverse calculation from the tongue weight limit; i.e., they don't want people doing what John D is by loading up the rear of their trailers just to get the tongue weight down. As for departure angle, there's no limit other than the elastic limits of aluminum and steel. To find your limit, just try different inclines until you bend your frame, then back off slightly. ;) (actually I think you'd bust a few welds before bending the frame - a worthy experiment either way)

Ah, but where’s the fun in that?

I only have a few inches clearance on my crates so I don’t know if they’ll fit with the casters. It would be tight if they do. They seem to slide pretty easily on their own, but it’s a thought.

I've found that our (non standard) inverter draws around 2 amps with no load. That's higher than than the Xantrex but we knew that going in. It's also slightly higher than the advertised draw of 1.7, so there's possibly some measurement error there. Even at the higher draw rate, we don't worry too much about it. Like the advice above, we turn it off when we aren't using it, but 2 amps isn't enough to make us shy about using it. We turn it on in the morning for coffee, and at night for the toaster oven and the hair dryer, and also for music, since we decided to go with a 120v speaker for that.

I had our circular one printed at 24". That's what Mike and Carol recommended to me and is what they did on the Lone Star Ollie.

Cool - even more versatile! Are those memory foam pads? They seem to roll up really compactly.

I've never forgotten to place my chocks, but I have tried to drive away with them still under the wheels. That doesn't work too well. I bought some of these for the chocks to remind me.

Ah, well I guess I'm not so smart. No matter, since yours works both ways now.

Steve and Tali beat me to it, but I'll put in another vote for condensation.

I can almost guarantee that you had the awning arm rotated the wrong way like Tom suggested. I did that once and scratched my head for five minutes trying to figure out why it wouldn't work before I realized what I'd done. It's just like you describe, that the foot is too long to make it past the retainer. It's probably one of those things that Oliver needs to add to their orientation, since I'm sure it's confused others as well. I managed to get mine out of the grooves on our first trip as well, and actually broke one of the little metal guide fins off the arm trying to get it out. But that too was my fault since it was pitch black and cold and I was rushing to get it in when the wind picked up suddenly. I suspect that, again like Tom said, I'd twisted the arm the wrong way and tried to jam it in. Fortunately, the broken guide fin doesn't seem to make any difference. By the way, after examining mine afterwards, I think if that ever happens again, you can unscrew the endplate on the awning and that will relieve the tension to let you slide the arm back out and get it re-situated. For what it's worth, after those first few learning experiences, I've had no problems and with a little practice they go up and come down without much thought or effort. I've found that they don't quite close up perfectly flush, which bugs me for aesthetic reasons, but I don't think it's a problem otherwise. I do feel like the orange tabs will eventually break, and I've been meaning to order a spare just in case. I don't know if the Fiammas are any better, but I don't think that Oliver had much of a choice at the time. Perhaps the Dometic awnings are better made, though I doubt it.

My cables must be shorter than everyone else’s because they just dangle down without hitting the ground. The electrical I just lay over the tongue. I did have one of those caps but it fit loosely and just seemed to collect water and debris.

I spoke with the printer again today and we were able to cut the price in half just by consolidating some of the graphics into a single print. The long stripes on the side were producing a ton of waste material so by combining as many files as we could made for considerable savings. Should be ready next week - fun!

I was told that the warranted lifespan for either is 5 years. Interestingly, the limiting factor for the warranty isn't for fading but for removability. After five years, the vinyl and glues begin to dry out and become brittle and apparently become more and more difficult to remove and replace. However, looking at the 3M website, the specifics of the warranties (plural) are confusing as there are exceptions and limitations depending on the application and different warranty lengths for different aspects of the products - so 5 years I think is more what the local shop will stand behind. Having said that, the printed version is supposed last longer since it's a multi-layered product. There's the base vinyl, the latex ink (which I was told was very much like house paint), and then a thin protective layer placed over the ink. I think the price difference is due to 1) I have to buy the entire roll, 2) there's more waste since each color is cut separately, and 3) it's just a hassle for the shop vs printing.

That's a better price than the best I've gotten, which is $32 for the front logo alone, same size as yours - but not too far off I guess. Either sounds reasonable to me, but I'm doing some side graphics as well, and that's driving the price up considerably since they're about ¾ the length of the trailer. Total for the front, both sides, and two small graphics is $250+.

Mine will end up being two color either way, since they'll cut out the white on either. One of the reasons that the cut vinyl is more expensive is that they'd have to order the right blue, which means I buy the entire roll. Expensive stuff.

Other people have run into the same problem with fuses. I don't know if it's just easy to wrongly insert them in that particular panel, or if whomever is doing it is rushed. Or maybe with X number of trailers and X number of fuses, it's inevitable that the occasional one gets screwed up. I've started up the furnace after forgetting to turn on the gas a few times and the furnace has always just started back up after a delay. I believe I had to cycle the thermostat off and on again.

Did you go with cut vinyl (each color cut separately then pieced together on transfer paper), or printed on a single piece of vinyl? I have the choice of either, though all the companies I've spoken with are pushing the print. It's cheaper, but the vinyl it's printed on is thicker and there's a bit of grain to the print, though I doubt that's noticeable at any reasonable distance. If you were given the choice, is there a reason you picked one over the other? I believe the stock Oliver graphics are cut vinyl. Thanks!

Installation difficulty will depend on where you want to install it. I opted out of the factory stereo, so I had a good spot, though I had too much cabling to try to snake it down between the hulls, so I had to run it through the pantry. Time consuming, but the cables are zip tied in the front corner and are out of sight enough that I forget they're there. If you want to install the monitor like I did, you'll need a hole saw, some care, and a fearless disposition. But it comes with a cover plate if you need to hide a reasonably sized mistake. You might consider installing it somewhere hidden, perhaps right by the shunt or solar charge controller. In hindsight, I should have done that since mine just repeats info that's easier to read on the Color Control. But vs. bluetooth, there's a benefit of just being able to glance at it without having to pull out your phone, so consider your choices. Here's where I installed both the shunt and monitor:

I doubt that's true, but even if it were, the BMV 700 draws 4mA, which is only 35 Ah/year. The 100-hr rate capacity of a Trojan T-105 is 230 Ah, so it would take over 13 years to completely drain your batteries at that rate. Hopefully, you'll recharge at least once in that time frame. If you get the Victron, then I'd definitely get the newer 712 with built in bluetooth. I have the 700 in my trailer and the 712 for the house battery in the truck and when I get a chance, I'm going to swap them. The reason is that if you later go with a Victron solar charge controller, it will want to use the same port that the bluetooth dongle uses, meaning you will no longer have bluetooth. I got mine from Inverter Supply and highly recommend them. That may be who's selling on Amazon since their prices are identical.

I’m not crazy about the front end, but the interior and features are attractive. As is the base price, though I bet it could get above $100k real quick. Also, I’d be very nervous about going with a new company. Tesla has shown that the key to success is less in the design as it is the manufacturing. I don’t know if it’s time yet for an all electric truck for towing, but certainly it’s far past the time that all the manufacturers offered hybrid versions. A small gas or diesel turbo for cruising with electric boost for acceleration and steep grades should be a killer combination. Of course, I also think it’s past time for powered trailers with independent stability control so that you don’t need a big honkin truck to tow.

It's awesome to see them succeed. Their site and videos were primary references when we were speccing out our Ollie and our electrical system in particular was largely influenced by their bus setup.