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We could not go to the Lake Guntersville rally because we had a family gathering at Jalama Beach county park campground, west of Santa Barbara, CA. This is a really nice campground, right on the ocean. We had our Oliver, my sister had her Casita, and other family members rented cabins. On our way home we stayed in Snow Canyon State Park, near St. George, UT. A really fabulous park.

Here’s a whole romp of abbreviations for you: 4X2 or 2WD - 2 Wheel Drive 4X4 or 4WD - 4 Wheel Drive 5er or Fiver - Fifth Wheel A/C - Air Conditioning AC - Alternating Current A - Amp or Ampere Ah - Amp Hours Al - Aluminum AS - Airstream ATF - Automatic Transmission Fluid ATS - Automatic Transfer Switch AWG - American Wire Gauge BC - Brake Controller BLM - Bureau Of Land Management BTU - British Thermal Unit CCC - Cargo Carrying Capacity (payload capacity) CG - Camp Ground COE - Corp of Engineers CW - Camping World DC - Direct Current DEF - Diesel Exhaust Fluid DS - Dump Station Egg - Fiberglass Trailer FG - Fiberglass FHU - Full Hook Ups FT - Full Time FW - Fifth Wheel GAW - Gross Axle Weight GAWR - Gross Axle Weight Rating GCVW or GCW - Gross Combined Vehicle Weight GCWR - Gross Combined Weight Rating Gen - Generator GTW - Gross Trailer Weight GTWR - Gross Trailer Weight Rating GVW - Gross Vehicle Weight GVWR - Gross Vehicle Weight Rating HP - Horsepower LE - Legacy Elite LEII or LE2 - Legacy Elite II LED - Light Emitting Diode LFP or LiFePo - Lithium Iron Phosphate LP - Liquid Propane LT - Light Truck (tires) NCC - Net Carrying Capacity (payload capacity) NPS - National Park Service OTT - Oliver Travel Trailers OTTO or Otter - Oliver Travel Trailer owner OTTOR - Oliver Travel Trailer Owners Rally PU - Pop Up PSI - Pounds per Square Inch RV - Recreational Vehicle SP - State Park TPMS - Tire Pressure Monitoring System TS - Transfer Switch TT - Travel Trailer TV - Tow Vehicle TW - Tongue Weight V - Volts VA - Volt Amps (Watts) VIN - Vehicle Identification Number USFS - US Forrest Service W - Watts Wally World - WalMart Wh - Watt Hours WDH - Weight Distribution Hitch WES - Water/Electric/Sewer

The collective nouns for otters are bevy, family, lodge or romp (being descriptive of their often playful nature) I submit that any gathering of Oliver travel trailers be termed a “romp”. This would also be in keeping of the acronym OTTOR: Oliver Travel Trailer Owner’s Romp.

funny - folks often refer to me as SOB, now I know what that means (Some Other Brand) - might be a compliment

Sales "Driod" - Kind of gives a bad name to droids - Good one JD. ------ Truck, what's that??? Towing- Huh! But I can get you in one for $$$$ per month...72 of them...CARMAX = paymax...

Hmm. I'm usually in the opposite mode.. Smaller, fewer, less to tote, carry, clean and maintain. I will say that our small trailers live really big on the outside. And, of course, bigger campsites are better...

John I have used that same gauge for probably 30 years and most of our techs that don't have fancy digital ones use it too.

Most things are trade offs. Even your example of gear ratios has the downside of lower gas mileage, more noise from higher revs, etc. But I’ll play along: my answer is Budget.

Nice fan, and nice installation. Practical Sailor tests marine fans periodically, and Caframo fans are always in the recommendations. Quiet, powerful, energy efficient. Btw, they tested one of your style in 2008. In an update in June 2017, the fan was still running. Roughly 9 years of daily use... Sherry

Yellow is Oliver’s ground wire throughout the trailer for the 12v circuit. The hot wires change colors by circuit. The confusion happens when Oliver wiring meets an appliance manufacturers wiring. All of the lights in my Oliver that I have messed with have black and white wires. I don’t remember for sure, but I bet black fixture wire is the hot input and the white is ground. I think there should be some slack in wiring near the fan that you could pull out until you reached the butt connection. I am confused by your description of the pantry portal being by the door. The pantry I am referring to is the tall cabinet on the street side between the bed or couch and the dinette. On the bed side of the pantry is a cabinet and it has a portal to get to the wiring for the radio and solar charge controller. Other circuits run through there as well and there may be a connection for the Max Fan. Oliver uses flat 3 and 4 way connectors and if the is one there, it would have 3 black wires. One would be the supply/hot wire from the breaker panel in the attic. The other 2 would go to the fans. So by my way of thinking the supply/hot wire is getting to that connector because the bath fan works. If the problem is in the supply/hot wiring, it should be that connector or the butt splice near the fan itself. All of that should hold true for the ground side as well. My LEII hull# is 193 and it is a 2017. What is your hull number? Oliver does not make process changes willy nilly, so the hull numbers can help us help you by finding hull numbers close to yours and things are similar. Keep us updated and I’ll respond as my connectivity allows.

OK, here is a strategy. Without driving a truck you have no clue if it is right for you. Tell the sales droid at that dealership that you want to go on a 20 to 30 minute test drive with FOUR NEW 1500 (light duty) four wheel drive pickups, one from each of those four brands, on a route that includes both side streets and freeway. Tell him you need to get an initial feel for them to see what appeals to you before you can get down to specifics. Ask for a mid- level trim, crew cab, and short bed for each so that they are sort of comparable. Ask for the biggest engine that would be suitable for towing. Drive the exact same route with each truck. Drive them all back to back, then make notes about the your impressions while they are still fresh in your mind. Be sure to note any big sales discounts on previous year new trucks and don’t ever tell him you might buy off their used lot. Just say you are undecided but wanted to try new trucks. Then take his card, thank him profusely and LEAVE. Whichever truck you liked best, try to find it as a rental and drive that sucker all over the place over a weekend. Hit the road and go to some cool places, use it as you would if you had an Ollie. After this, you should have enough info to go out and pick something that wll work for towing and most of all, one that you will enjoy driving. All the major rental agencies have light duty pickups. Finding the brand you want might be harder, they may want to hand you the keys to a Ram rather than the F150 you want. Even if you can’t get the one you liked best, take whatever they have, the general driving experience will be very similar for your weekend test. Then you can go back and test individual used or new trucks with enough experience to make an informed decision. Then you can decide, light duty or heavy duty, packages, trim level, accessories, etc. This is hard work, but keep a firm hold of any emotions or stresses, and above all enjoy yourself. You can research and stare at trucks day after day, but until you actually drive one you simply have no clue... the one you arrive back at the lot in, grinning like the village idiot, might be the right choice. John Davies Spokane WA

AGM means Absorbed Glass Mat as in AGM batteries. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/VRLA_battery

Did you try unplugging the remote cable at the inverter end and then holding the inverter power button in?

Hz stands for Hertz, as in 120 volt, 60 Hz AC power. Your Progressive Industries remote display will show “60H”. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utility_frequency

Another one seen on fiberglass trailer forums: MFG meaning Molded FiberGlass, as in an MFG camper.

I like Romp. Then a group of Olivers at sea (traveling together) should be called a Raft of Olivers. Also I didn’t know until now that there are white otters, and yes they’re as cute as you’d expect -

Personally, if I were looking for a used F150, I'd limit my search to 2015 models and above, since there was a pretty significant update that year - new body, engines, features, better crash rating, etc. You might even consider limiting your search to the 2016 model and up, since they added pro trailer backup assist as part of their tow package, and I think that's a worthwhile addition. Platinum and King Ranch models are nice, but it seems like most people find the XLT and Lariat trim levels to be the sweet spot. Currently, Ford offers two tow packages, the standard "Trailer Tow Package", and the "Max Trailer Tow Package". I suspect that the packages have been unchanged since at least 2016, but I don't know for sure. The max package will add an engine oil cooler, larger fuel tank, heavier duty hitch/bumper, integrated brake controller, and higher ratio gearing. That's a lot of stuff for ~$300 new, so IMO you should look for that, and I'd think that package would be shown on any listing. I believe that unless the truck has one of those two packages, then it won't even have a wiring harness for the trailer, so that's definitely something you'll want to look for. If you see "Max Payload Package", then the truck will also have a higher gear ratio, though not necessarily any of the towing features. It looks like the rear view camera is standard now, so I'd guess it has been since 2015. I think there's an upgrade (on the Lariat and above models, maybe?) that gives you surround cameras, which are nice, but certainly optional. So to sum up, I think that a 2015+ 3.5 eco boost XLT with one of those towing packages will get you what you need and be a good investment. The Max Tow would definitely be a worthwhile upgrade, as would a 2016+ model. Going up to a Lariat or above trim package will get you niceties, but not necessarily more capability. That's all just personal opinion of course.