Greetings From Missouri

[dgward]

I am from Southwest Missouri and have been following the Oliver trailer story for a few years now. After looking at Bigfoot's, Airstreams, and Foretravel class A's I always come back to the Oliver travel trailer. Like many of you, I have been taken by the quality and design of the Oliver. Although Airstreams are nice, I live in hail/tornado/severe storm country and travel the south, so the weather around me is likely to be a stress on any RV. So I'm thinking the fiberglass Oliver would withstand hail much better than the aluminum Airstream.

My tow rig is a 2017 Chevy Silverado 1500 High Country 6.2 We also have a 2013 Chevy Volt, so I'm interested in placing LiFePO4 batteries in the Oliver, if we place an order or purchase used. Other than Lithium over AGM, there isn't much that I would say needs to be changed/upgraded in this small but efficient and gorgeous rig. I've read many post's as a guest, so it is time for me to become a user/prospective owner. I'm near retirement and would like to take extended boondocking trips, so the composting toilet and solar package are top selling points for me.

[BackofBeyond]

Welcome to the forum DGward.

 

The lithium's are nice, but just don't make the cost/benefit grade for my tastes. Perhaps long term, after the AGM's have met their demise. The composting head works well, for me, but I think its a push when it comes to overall effort, but wins on the boondocking test. The solar, for its user simplicity, is a good set up.

 

Had I to do it all over again, I would have tried to find  what I wanted in a newer - used Oliver EII, at a reduced price, but as I was near/entering retirement, I just decided to go all out, and get exactly what we wanted. You can't take it with you - the $$ that is.

 

Good hunting,

 

RB

[Mike and Carol]

Welcome to the group! It sounds like you’ve done good research and are reaching the same conclusions many of us did. We’ve been out in hail, half inch, and there is no sign of any damage. I was concerned with the solar panels and AC cover, but there is no evidence of ever being in hail.

 

Southwest MO is a great part of the country. I was born just across the border in Pittsburg, KS and my dads family is all from Joplin/Carthage/Asbury, so we spent considerable time there. Mike

[Overland]

On the cost/benefit of LFP batteries, it can certainly be easier to justify on the front end than retrofitting later, particularly if you believe that the increased capacity will save you the cost of a generator.

 

In our case, we went with four 100Ah Battleborn batteries, at what I think was a pretty good deal at $3,100.  That's a big price tag - but, had we not gotten the LFPs, then we would have gotten the AGM upgrade, which was $1,075 at the time; the generator connection at the front of the trailer, $469; a Honda generator, $999; and some accessories for the generator like a cover and some other things, which I had priced at $110.59.  All that together was $2,653.59.  So on the whole, going with LFPs cost us $446.41.  But then we included the batteries on our taxes along with the solar for a 30% energy tax credit on our "2nd home" and so in the end came out about even.  And to date, we've only had one instance where we could have used a generator, which was a week in November in the Smokies where we couldn't find a campsite in the sun.  But even then we could have made it had we been smarter with our electrical usage.  We also have a 12v marine fridge which is an added drain that most people won't have.

 

I'd suggest that if you up your battery capacity, you should probably consider some extra solar to help charge it.  A suitcase unit is great provided you have room in the truck to store it (bigger ones are pretty big and heavy), or you might be able to talk Oliver into a 3rd panel on the roof.  That used to be an 'off menu' option, but as time goes on, those options keep disappearing.

[SeaDawg]

Our Oliver was in a hailstorm in North Carolina a few years ago. We were visiting friends in Waynesville when the storm passed through, so I was a bit nervous about what we'd find when we got back to camp.

I found hail the size of steely marbles still on the ground around the trailer, but neither the Oliver nor the solar panels sustained any damage.

Sherry