Got our build slot today.

[larcat]

Welp, after first talking to Anita in 2021 and putting maybe 30k miles on the microminnie we ended up with, we paid for an X23 build slot today. We live in SETX and have been scheming for an Oliver for a while now. Did the factory tour 2 years ago.

We should be taking delivery during our annual trip to Tenn. to see family. Decided to skip thr solar awning -- spider sense tells me we'd break it somehow.

We'll catch flack, but we'll be using our 3rd gen Tacoma as a TV for a good while. No plans for mountains, and when we do we'll get a full-size. We live in SETX, and it is _flat_ here.

 

[FloraFauna]

Congratulations and welcome to the Oliver world!!  Many good times ahead, I am sure.  

[Mike and Carol]

Welcome!  I initially towed with at Tacoma as well.  It didn’t take long to upgrade to a half ton.  Will be interested in how it goes for you.  Mike

[Patriot]

Welcome and Congrats and enjoy the delivery day! There is something really special about taking delivery of a brand new Oliver, it was for us.

Before you know it your day will be here! 

[Todd B]

Hey, our's was not brand new and it was still really special 😉

Welcome to the clan! 

[Boudicca908]

On 7/8/2026 at 5:47 PM, larcat said:

We should be taking delivery

Congratulations and welcome to the family. It's exciting! 

[larcat]

Thanks for the welcome all. We're really excited 🙂

Mike & Carol --- any tips vis a vis the Tacoma?

[Mike and Carol]

11 hours ago, larcat said:

Thanks for the welcome all. We're really excited 🙂

Mike & Carol --- any tips vis a vis the Tacoma?

My Tacoma was a 2012 and I had installed the TRD Supercharger, so plenty of power.  The limitation was weight and range.  Be careful not to overload - tongue weight, your body weight and cargo add up fast.  I was stopping every 200 miles or less to fill the gas tank.  Also, be aware that the overall weight of the Tacoma makes it easier for the trailer to push around in certain circumstances. I was always cautious on downhills and downhill curves.  We’ve always liked the Tacoma’s we’ve owned, they just aren’t optimal for towing a 6,000 pound paperweight!

After upgrading to a couple of half tons we’ve now been towing with a 2500 diesel for the past 5 years and the difference is night and day.  A Tacoma will do the job, just be wary of its limitations!

Mike

 

Edited Saturday at 02:14 PM by Mike and Carol

[John Dorrer]

Congrats from Hull #1045, Jolli Olli.

 

Happy Camping.

[larcat]

If anyone's got any thoughts here I'd appreciate it.

Right now we haven't optioned either the solar awning nor a second awning. We don't boondocks un our current trailer, so we don't have a lot of context there.

My thinking is that:

1) We'll park when boondocking where the awning is going to be much more useful on one side than the other.

2) The solar awning sounds great but just sounds like something that would wear prematurely, and obviously isn't flexible.

3) A 400w foldable + the roof solar should be sufficient if there's good sun.

We've got some time to nail this down and would love people's thoughts.

[larcat]

On 7/11/2026 at 9:11 AM, Mike and Carol said:

My Tacoma was a 2012 and I had installed the TRD Supercharger, so plenty of power.  The limitation was weight and range.  Be careful not to overload - tongue weight, your body weight and cargo add up fast.  I was stopping every 200 miles or less to fill the gas tank.  Also, be aware that the overall weight of the Tacoma makes it easier for the trailer to push around in certain circumstances. I was always cautious on downhills and downhill curves.  We’ve always liked the Tacoma’s we’ve owned, they just aren’t optimal for towing a 6,000 pound paperweight!

After upgrading to a couple of half tons we’ve now been towing with a 2500 diesel for the past 5 years and the difference is night and day.  A Tacoma will do the job, just be wary of its limitations!

Mike

 

Thanks for the context and pictures, it's appreciated!

[johnwen]

Congrats!

[jd1923]

On 7/8/2026 at 5:47 PM, larcat said:

We'll catch flack, but we'll be using our 3rd gen Tacoma as a TV for a good while.

Not near enough yet. I towed ours one hour with a Lexus GX470, around town on flat highways, got home and would never do that again. The GX is closer to a half ton truck than a Tacoma. After that, I would only tow with a 3/4 ton truck. Trade in your Tacoma for Tundra 5.7 at least! 🤣

13 hours ago, larcat said:

If anyone's got any thoughts here I'd appreciate it.

Right now we haven't optioned either the solar awning nor a second awning. We don't boondocks un our current trailer, so we don't have a lot of context there.

Not enough information here to help you. Haven't boondocked before but is it something you really want to do. Not much boondocking it Texas at 98% private lands. Boondocking opportunities west, but then there's mountains!

There are Oliver owners that say they boondock, but they also book 1-2 months at campground/RV Parks, so they really don't camp much without plugging in.

How much money is the solar awning upgrade option? Cost is always a criteria for consideration.

We have 320W rooftop solar and a 400W suitcase which we rarely use. The awning PV would be of very little use to us since we have only used our awning 4 times. With solar up there, maybe I would use it more, or would have to for solar. And when camping a campground site might be the wrong direction for the awning. I park when boondocking to find level ground and for wind considerations which might not afford sun on the awning side.

We have a 50A DC-DC charger that we use much more since we don't stay at one campsite more than a few days. In 180 Oliver overnights, a week is the longest we've stayed in one spot. Solar is better for sitting in the BLM for the 14 day limit. DC-D charging is better for those who break camp every few days. The Victron Orion XS 50A is our favorite electrical upgrade.

Explain more about your future use plans so we could better advise.

[larcat]

1 hour ago, jd1923 said:

Not near enough yet. I towed ours one hour with a Lexus GX470, around town on flat highways, got home and would never do that again. The GX is closer to a half ton truck than a Tacoma. After that, I would only tow with a 3/4 ton truck. Trade in your Tacoma for Tundra 5.7 at least! 🤣

Yeah, 100% on our short term radar, just not today 🙂

1 hour ago, jd1923 said:

Not enough information here to help you. Haven't boondocked before but is it something you really want to do. Not much boondocking it Texas at 98% private lands. Boondocking opportunities west, but then there's mountains!

There's more than you would think, between National Parks (Big Bend for instance, you can't "boondock" but there are a number of park-interior primitive campsites you can bring a trailer to), state parks on the gulf shore, and National Wildlide Refuges! The difference in public lands was definelty something that took getting used to, moving down here though.

1 hour ago, jd1923 said:

There are Oliver owners that say they boondock, but they also book 1-2 months at campground/RV Parks, so they really don't camp much without plugging in.

How much money is the solar awning upgrade option? Cost is always a criteria for consideration.

We have 320W rooftop solar and a 400W suitcase which we rarely use. The awning PV would be of very little use to us since we have only used our awning 4 times. With solar up there, maybe I would use it more, or would have to for solar. And when camping a campground site might be the wrong direction for the awning. I park when boondocking to find level ground and for wind considerations which might not afford sun on the awning side.

We have a 50A DC-DC charger that we use much more since we don't stay at one campsite more than a few days. In 180 Oliver overnights, a week is the longest we've stayed in one spot. Solar is better for sitting in the BLM for the 14 day limit. DC-D charging is better for those who break camp every few days. The Victron Orion XS 50A is our favorite electrical upgrade.

Explain more about your future use plans so we could better advise.

Our primary immediate use is going to be gulf shore off grid camping. The awning is pretty mind-bogglingly expensive at 5k though, and the x23 has 400 on the roof. Back of napkin says a 400w folder + the roof solar should be sufficient. Per dc to dc, that's good to hear --- I like that it's off the shelf with the new trim (it's not really a new model, imho.)

Long way of saying I think we're going to opt out of the awning for our build.

Thank you for the info and thoughts!

[jd1923]

11 hours ago, larcat said:

There's more than you would think, between National Parks (Big Bend for instance, you can't "boondock" but there are a number of park-interior primitive campsites you can bring a trailer to), state parks on the gulf shore, and National Wildlide Refuges! The difference in public lands was definitely something that took getting used to, moving down here though.

Where did you move from? We lived in IL, VA, AZ, TX, FL and back to Arizona. 

We know Texas, lived in Georgetown/Austin area for 9 years. We spent a weekend in almost every corner of the state, our son playing USTA tennis tournaments. But back then we stayed in hotels.

Arizona is 51% public lands between FS and BLM, 31% Indian territory and only 18% private land! To get more public lands you must visit Alaska. It's a boondocking paradise out here, camp almost anywhere you want. 😎

11 hours ago, larcat said:

Our primary immediate use is going to be gulf shore off grid camping. The awning is pretty mind-bogglingly expensive at 5k though, and the x23 has 400 on the roof. Back of napkin says a 400w folder + the roof solar should be sufficient.

So, you have the desire and the need, but is the solar awning worthwhile at that price point? $5K is a lot of money. For about the same money in parts cost, I installed a complete Victron MP2 3KW inverter-charger, 50A DC-DC charger, MPPT SC and 400W suitcase solar and 900 Ah Epoch LiFePO4, OMG!

The Renogy 400W suitcase, with Victron 30A MPPT SC, wired it to an external port, internal wiring and external cabling and connectors for about $600 total parts costs (no labor). We hardly use it! I find solar panels are a pain to setup, they charge slowly and you have to be at one campsite long enough to need it and take advantage of it.

Ease of use in a solar awning would be great! Just push the button, But what if the sun is on the other side? Are you going to spend $10K to equip both sides? Don't think you can always park in the direction facing the sun. When parking I'm worried about being level, being out of the afternoon sun and wind direction too!

If your at Port Aransas nicely park with the curbside of your Oliver facing the sun as it rises from the east over the gulf and you want to be there for a couple weeks, the solar awning might the right choice. We have a simple manual awning, no solar and we used it 4 times in 180 overnights.

Everybody has different needs in an Oliver. For us, we don't camp anywhere for longer than a week, most of our stays are 2-5 nights. our 900 Ah will last that long running the A/C for half the week along with all other electrical needs. Solar charging is more beneficial for those that stay put for a few weeks, because if you move more often DC-DC charging is much more efficient.

We added a Victron Orion 50A DC-DC charger, total parts cost today with say 80 ft of expensive 4 AWG wire should be about $800 plus labor and any TV alternator upgrade when necessary. Please do not ask OTT to install this as they want $2K just to install the charger and wire the Oliver side, and the truck side wiring is left up to you. We love this mod and connect it every time we hitch up.

Our Orion XS 50A DC-DC charger on average produces 40 Ah for every hour towing! Drive an easy day, engine running for 5 hours and you will have 200 Ah added to battery SOC. You've been at a campsite 3-5 days and your battery SOC% is low, it's time to move on to your next location, charging as you tow to your next campsite.

This is our favorite and most effective electrical upgrade by far (besides the Victron Mulptiplus II). I'm the tech/installation guy, though my wife Chris loves this mod! She's checking the Victron Connect app, while I'm towing, checking as our SOC% keeps growing!

11 hours ago, larcat said:

Long way of saying I think we're going to opt out of the awning for our build.

Not that I have one, but my vote would be NO on the $5K awning, but of course you need to weigh your options for the camping life you desire. I knew very little of our needs 3 years ago when we purchased our Oliver. If I had better understood the value of the DC-DC charger, for our on-the-move travel style, and I did that upgrade ahead of the suitcase solar addition, I may not have added the suitcase. We do appreciate our rooftop solar, no fuss no muss, keeps the batteries charged when parked, runs the fridge while towing, etc.

You can always hold off for now and upgrade later.
(Some of the mods I mentioned are in the links below.)

Best wishes to you and your new Oliver! JD

Edited 15 hours ago by jd1923

[Galway Girl]

Welcome to the family.

As you wait our  Blog has lots of info on various gear, upgrades, solar, and campgrounds visited .

The link is at the bottom of our signature below.   

 

https://4-ever-hitched.com/trips-overview
 

[Boudicca908]

On 7/13/2026 at 9:42 AM, jd1923 said:

There are Oliver owners that say they boondock, but they also book 1-2 months at campground/RV Parks, so they really don't camp much without plugging in.

And there are Oliver owners who boondock almost exclusively. Hopefully more will pipe in here for you. I live waaaaay down in southwest Florida; I 'boondock' at Cracker Barrel when I'm just trying to get closer to my destination, which is almost always in the Rockies -- about 3,000 miles away from home. Once I reach the west where BLM, USFS and other public lands are abundant, I typically boondock for weeks at a time without plugging in anywhere, but I am mostly at higher elevations so I am reaching for a light blanket rather than the AC. This year has been an exception for me on this; I got away from Florida a lot later in the season. I have the Lithium Pro package (mine is (3) 130 Lithiums) but I am frugal using power. I hardly ever use my microwave. You should also consider where and what time of year you want to camp -- seasons will impact how you use power. Does your Oliver have propane heat? Does it have a propane refrigerator? Mine is 3-way so I can use DC, propane or AC -- but I don't think the new units are like that. 

On 7/13/2026 at 9:42 AM, jd1923 said:

a campground site might be the wrong direction for the awning. I park when boondocking to find level ground and for wind considerations which might not afford sun on the awning side.

I agree with John here. I only have the single awning on the right (curbside) and often enough it's not where I would need it for optimal sun protection. It all depends on the access, even when you are boondocking, and how you decide to position your door, etc. I used my awning a lot my first year but rarely use it any more. Some people create shade with different methods, like hanging shade cloth. I've wished for shade on my left side, but apparently not enough to do anything about it. :) 

I would opt out of the solar awning.  There are other forum members who will give you more concrete data on power use and other options. 

Have fun as you think about your options. 

Edited 1 hour ago by Boudicca908