Oliver Apex X23 video (field test)

[Patriot]

 

[Galileo]

Aside from the 48volt electrical system and a few accessory changes, the main changes seem to be cosmetic - black trim and such. 

[rich.dev]

12 minutes ago, Galileo said:

the main changes seem to be cosmetic - black trim and such. 

Yup, and why on earth did Oliver switch from the MaxxAir fan with cover to that weird brand name fan without a cover? 🤷‍♂️ 

The issue is that the new fan will close in wet weather, so there’s no vent option while cooking in the rain. The MaxxAir with cover could stay open in wet weather, which would pair perfectly with the new awning windows that also stay open when it rains!

[Galileo]

The thing that gets me most is the tires. “Aggressive tread” for sure. Maybe they make sense, but they look like what you’d use if the trailer wheels were actually used to propel the thing. I suppose if you’re braking down a muddy hill they come in handy. 

Im not one easily impressed by trim and accents. But, seeing all the bright orange and lime green sports cars on the road these days, I guess I’m the old guy who’s behind the times. 

[routlaw]

Agreed its the same old chick dressed up in a different skirt, nothing really of substance here that one couldn't implement themselves and many or most of us have already such as the Bulldog shocks, LT off road tires etc. It preposterous they are promoting this as an off grid off road travel trailer yet still using the basic old leaf spring dexter axles rather than an independent suspension. The least they could have done was adopt the Curt independent suspension as so many others have for a better off road experience. Then there is the same old (mostly) bulldog hitch rather than a full articulating hitch.  The gravel road they test drove this thing on is joke. This might be off road for back east but it sure isn't out west. And what on earth is the point of going off grid just to set in your camper and run the air conditioner just because you can. People out in this neck of the woods who choose to go off grid and off road are certainly not setting around knitting, watching tv in an air-conditioned camper. What happens when that solar awning jams, or gets off center and will not retract properly. The 48 volt system seems a bit weird too. There are several dozen more ruggedly built campers than this for off road and over landing that do not use a 48 volt system and get by fine with a tried and true 12 volt system. What happens is you have issues with that system in the middle of nowhere?

The interior is certainly nice and at least theoretically love the new windows and shades but thats about it. All the black isn't appealing to me, might be to others. Not sure who is in charge of marketing at Oliver but man oh man this is making much ado about nothing. By no stretch of the imagination is this an off grid/off road camper any more than my old 2015 model is with some modifications. They really need to rethink this before releasing it to the public in its current configuration. 

Not impressed. 

Edited 21 hours ago by routlaw

[CRM]

6 minutes ago, routlaw said:

The 48 volt system seems a bit weird too. There are thousands of more ruggedly built campers than this for off road and over landing that do not use a 48 volt system and get by fine with a tried and true 12 volt system. What happens is you have issues with that system in the middle of nowhere?

I agree. I did some napkin math when the specs first came out and it seemed to make much more sense to have 600-900ah of 12v over 400ah of 48v and run everything though either 12v or the inverter. Even the AC efficiency came out better running a 120v inverter compressor unit over the 48v Houghton unit, especially at the lower BTU rating of the 48v Houghton. 

[jd1923]

3 hours ago, Galileo said:

The thing that gets me most is the tires. “Aggressive tread” for sure. Maybe they make sense, but they look like what you’d use if the trailer wheels were actually used to propel the thing. I suppose if you’re braking down a muddy hill they come in handy.

Yep, that's about it! They're just for looks.

59 minutes ago, CRM said:

seemed to make much more sense to have 600-900ah of 12v over 400ah of 48v

Besides A/C efficiency... Ah = Ah! 🤣

He already converted the 100 Ah 48v battery to be equivalent to 400 Ah on a 12V system. 600+ Ah on 12V is 200+ Ah better. One problem that can occur in a 48V RV system, is when the 48/12 DC-DC converter fails, you cannot use your trailer jacks, any cabin lighting, the CO detector, USB chargers, the fail-safe for the trailer brakes and every other 12VDC device (unless they also integrate a 12V battery). 

[Galileo]

4 hours ago, routlaw said:

And what on earth is the point of going off grid just to set in your camper and run the air conditioner just because you can. People out in this neck of the woods who choose to go off grid and off road are certainly not setting around knitting, watching tv in an air-conditioned camper.

We’ve been accused of “glamping” because we have a nice trailer. 

I’ve heard of ‘glamping’ obviously, but didn’t think we qualified. Now, if you’re cruising around in one of those 4mpg 40 foot coaches with a laundry room, hot tub, 4 slides and a 50” TV - THAT’s “glamping”. 

[routlaw]

The Apex X23: All hat and no cattle as the saying goes. 

[Galileo]

7 minutes ago, routlaw said:

The Apex X23: All hat and no cattle as the saying goes. 

I thought it was “all boots” but - I’m not a native Texan. 😂

[jd1923]

6 hours ago, Galileo said:

We’ve been accused of “glamping” because we have a nice trailer. 

I’ve heard of ‘glamping’ obviously, but didn’t think we qualified. Now, if you’re cruising around in one of those 4mpg 40 foot coaches with a laundry room, hot tub, 4 slides and a 50” TV - THAT’s “glamping”. 

So, you're not glamping, but we sure are! 🤣

I would say an OEM Oliver, one purchased without any lithium package, little to no owner mods/upgrades, yes that shiny fiberglass is only skin deep. Leaky windows, the Dometic P2 A/C and with other OTT installation issues, it is hard to be comfortable.

Glamping means comfort! Yeah, the G is for Glamour, but nobody is glamorous parked in a campground or anywhere else without all the creature comforts you desire! When you seriously upgrade the Oliver, at some point you're no longer roughing it!

To start with, throw out the little $89 TV that OTT installed and replace it with a Samsung 32" 4K TV monitor, on a better mount and add a soundbar. Then correct the awful furnace ducting, vent the closet, bath and basement, and do something about those leaky windows! And it will take a while to move all those misplaced switches, water valves and breakers out from under the beds! And speaking of beds, all the OEM cushions and mattresses are way too basic to be glamping.

The next item going to the junkyard is the common RV microwave (I use a Craig's Free Stuff ad and a driveway full of stuff is gone in hours)! A small Emeril Air Fryer fits there perfectly. We have 6 ways to cook indoors and outside, including the dual-burner Napoleon grill/griddle, cooking on the fire ring, a mini pressure cooker and an induction cooktop. Not hotdogs and smores, but glamorous meals for sure.

It's not glamping when you get stuck somewhere making life uncomfortable. Or you can't use the bathroom or run the A/C while on the road or taking a break. Got to have freshwater tanks full, the one onboard and 35 gallons extra in the TV for if/when needed. With two 30# LP tanks full, 900 Ah LiFePO4, 720W solar, a 50A DC-DC charger topped off with the Victron MP2 3KVA inverter/charger, we can be VERY comfortable for a week or more and even throw some loss sole a 10 AWG extension cord to power their trailer overnight.

And of course, remove the old-school rooftop cameras and nobody uses Wi-Fi repeaters anymore, or campground cable or Wi-Fi, OMG! Got to add a cellular router and antenna and the Starlink Mini is a must. Can't be glamping if you're not online 24x7!

Then you could be riding on the lame Oliver OEM suspension or upgrade it with new D52 axles, Alcan Springs, Bulldog shocks and speaking of Bulldog upgrade the hitch coupler too.

I can't believe OTT went with the 4-leaf Alcan Springs on this odd X23! Just so they could derate it to a 7k suspension? The tires are so out-of-place on the white egg! My forecast, OTT stops making the X23 after 2 years of meager sales. There are several REAL off-road trailers in the marketplace, and if that's what you want, it's not an Oliver.

Some old guy said, after having a knee replacement, "I should have done this years ago!" Just like those of you who have that freight-train-engine sounding Dometic P2 still sitting rooftop! Even if you claim, "We hardly use it." You're fooling yourself and either way, once is enough! Our Chill Cube keeps the cabin cool on battery for 3 full days with daily highs of 94F outside! And at nighttime when outside temps drop, you can hardly hear it running while it's sipping 2Ah. Why did I wait 2 years?

This is only the half of it and then there's the TV! I won't bore you with the technical details but the 45L CFX5 fridge in the truck bed never runs out of cold drinking water in our desert. With room for new groceries, it's much easier than adding to the fridge inside. Pantry full and closet floor lined with adult beverages and soft drinks, craft cubes in the freezer - yes, we're glamping!

I was 3 nights camping in The Valley for a major sinus surgery. Everything I needed to recoup was at arm's length, only a few paces to the bathroom, truly all the comforts of home. Spending nights in a hotel was not an option, not near the comfort.

Love our Oliver!😎

Our first RV was a 39' Fleetwood Discovery diesel pusher with 3 slides. Thought the way to go, was to go BIG! It had the big screen TV, but otherwise, it was awful. The Class-A is only comfortable on US Interstates and large paved lots in RV Parks and must have 50A service. If you get stuck, you have to run the generator because unless you spend another $50K in solar and lithium, all you power you have unplugged is enough to reheat up a cup of coffee in the microwave! Don't try big city streets or much in dirt roads. Only ex-truck drivers are comfortable in a Class-A.

BTW, generators and glamping do not mix. 🤣

So, when you're done with all these electrical and mechanical system upgrades, you gotta make it look as good outside as it runs inside. We know it, but it's the only way people will know we're glamping too! 😎

Edited 10 hours ago by jd1923

[CRM]

14 hours ago, jd1923 said:

Yep, that's about it! They're just for looks.

Besides A/C efficiency... Ah = Ah! 🤣

Yep, obviously the Ah is Ah, but what I was trying to say is that running an inverter A/C off of 12v batteries though an inverter is more efficient than the Houghton 48v running directly off of the 48v battery. 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Clearly designed for the Overload Overland community.   IMO, the blackout theme detracts from an elegant travel trailer in an effort to reach out to the Overload crowd.  The suspension upgrades seem reasonable, and I like the new hitch.  A concern with the 48 VDC system is what I believe to be a single point of failure at the power management controller.  The older I get, the more I want simple systems.  We just bought a new 4Runner, and the dash and multi media features almost had me returning it with less than 200 miles. 

We will stay with Hull 364, and do gradual upgrades as needed.  The batteries and refrigerator are on the list
 

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

12 hours ago, routlaw said:

The Apex X23: All hat and no cattle as the saying goes. 

Understated 

[jd1923]

5 hours ago, CRM said:

Yep, obviously the Ah is Ah, but what I was trying to say is that running an inverter A/C off of 12v batteries though an inverter is more efficient than the Houghton 48v running directly off of the 48v battery. 

Chris, I like the idea, but why is this true?

[CRM]

5 minutes ago, jd1923 said:

Chris, I like the idea, but why is this true?

When the Apex was first announced I looked up the specs on the Houghton 48v units and compared it to the numbers I see from running my Turbro. I'll have to go back and re-check the numbers.