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No, we have never seriously thought about changing our 2008 to the bigger Elite II. And, definitely, would not think about the Escape. It's still a molded fiberglass hull, but that's about it for similarity. Boxy, Imo. One hull, not double. Brown woody interior so like so many other rvs. Steel frame vs aluminum. It just never appealed to us . They do have a really nice group of owners, and a nice forum. It's all about choices. If one rv worked for everyone, there wouldn't be so many choices.

We love our Elite II. But, if I was single I would be towing the smaller Elite I. Mike

Not really. We store extra stuff in the big truck bed. Leave the back dinette set up as a bed, and have room for three large crates of coats, bedding, etc, under the bed. We often travel with some empty cupboards. And we are two. Plus one or two small dogs . It really depends on lifestyle, and, what you feel you have to have. Not as much roof space on the Elite. But, we'll have 400 watts (non factory) on the roof soon. We've had 200 for 12 years. Battery compartment is indeed smaller. But, we have room under the bed for extra lithium. Someday. . In the meantime, we've managed primarily without hookups for 12 plus years, with two group 27 agms. Upside? Wider selection of tow vehicles. Smaller footprint. Smaller campsites. 3 tires to maintain, instead of 5. No Anderson. The places we fit are tiny. And, we're really happy with that. If I were camping solo, the Elite would definitely be my choice. As a couple, I would truly love to have a bigger bed. But, that's ok. We camp shoulder seasons, for the most part. The warmth of the slightly smaller bed is often welcome. Height could be an issue, as the Elite allows less headroom. People of average height are ok, but over 6'1" or 6' 2" might have issues . The side dinette is small as an extra bed. 24 or 25 inches wide, by 6' long. That could also be an issue, as an extra bunk. Just my thoughts. There are a number of solo campers here with Elites. I hope they will see this thread, and chime in. Sherry

This is our first travel trailer so our experience is limited to a few trips in our Ollie, totaling about three weeks. We have the curbside power Dometic awning. Oliver advised that a streetside awning is not available on an Elite I, related to structural capacity if I remember right. We use the awning every day after having adjusted the wind sensor so that it doesn't close with just a whiff of wind. Unless the wind is strong we keep the awning out during rains and find that it is tilted enough to efficiently drain the water off the lower end. We also had the awning out during a snow: big rookie mistake. Luckily we noticed in time for me to clean off the snow that had accumulated and retract the awning to prevent it from collapsing. We typically retract the awning when the winds pick up rather than relying on the sensor, though it does do its job. We haven't bought the support poles/tie downs. I'm not ruling it out but at this point we're happy without them. The look is clean, there are no poles/tie downs to trip over and it extends and retracts with the push of a button. If I had to do it again I'd stick with the power awning. - Brian

Yes, I understand they are going to Girard, but I don’t know which model. I also understand that there will not be a manual option; the only options will be electric or auto-electric with wind sensor.

The single axle really has plenty of room for two, so I think for one + dog, it should be relatively luxurious. At least it would be for me. But the other advantages of the Elite II are a larger solar array, battery bank, and water tank. I think if you're planing to boondock a good bit, then you should probably weigh those more heavily than the extra square footage - keeping in mind of course that plenty of people boondock just fine with an Elite I.

I have never wished I had the larger LEII. The smaller LE is slightly more expensive (2709 per foot vs. 2446/ft), but full timing would justify the extra space and weight. The smaller trailer is very maneuverable and fits into smaller spaces. It also depends on how much stuff you want to carry. I tow with a medium sized Toyota Tacoma with comfort, so the TV options are many.

If by yourself, the smaller trailer will definitely be easier to manage. Not that the LE2 is awkward, just that the extra length makes maneuvering (backing especially) a little more traumatic when solo. I love “Mouse” but if I were single I would more likely have the little one. Or a different RV entirely. What is your proposed tow vehicle and how do you plan to camp? How much “stuff“ do you want to bring along? The smaller interior volume of the Elite makes the combined trailer/ TV cargo capacity much more important. Welcome to the forum. John Davies Spokane WA

I believe Girard's plants are in Alabama. Could be that Dometic's relocation was going to cause some product delays, which caused Oliver to look around, or it could just be that Girard's sales department did a good job getting a new client. It does seem like Oliver had been consolidating around Dometic products lately, but that could just be coincidence. I'm curious to see them. Personally, I'm pretty happy with my Carefree.

If any one is interested in watching a space launch. Jetty park is one of the preferred spots. If you don’t mined being a little further away. I suggest The Great Out Doors Rv and golf resort. I lived at the resort for Five years. We were able to view every launch from are back patio. Not up close and personal, but you will see a great view and hear and feel the rumble of the launch. And if for some reason the launch doesn’t happen you still have the amenities golf, pool fishing restaurant etc. may be a bit pricey for some but a very nice resort.

What I've found over the last two years is our EII lives much larger than it would appear given its sqft. The EI would most likely feel similar with 1 person or 2 folks that don't need lots of space for comfort. For my money, about the only advantage of the smaller O - other than price, is the ability to tow with a smaller vehicle. Both are very nimble in smaller spots. Ditto on the fan - works fine as a vent hood.

Thanks for being on guard. Mossey

The Girard site says the motorized awnings have crank "handle/manual override". I wonder if manual operation is the same as a non-motorized awning and, if so, could be treated as a manual awning simply by not using power? Waiting to hear which model Oliver is installing

Yes, I tagged the previous poster as a spammer. Foreign IP address with a cut and paste post advertising a product. You must have posted your reply at about the same time I tagged him.

Probably won't be considered a complete success until they can fly in jean shorts and flip flops?

Every electric awning we've had on deliveries could open partially. And was adjustable for slant. That said, I'd prefer a manual awning. No power draw. For us

I feel relatively secure as far as Tornatos, in early Feb; ice storms, we can wait out since we won't be in a hurry to get home. Our delivery window at the time we secured a build slot was December on. We still think Feb is better than December or January, as far as weather goes. Hope my hunch is right.

My 2017 LE2 battery tray is W 14.25" x L 21" and the LifeBlue spec's the 200AH LB12200-HC at W 6.6" x L 19.0". And looking at the picture of the LifeBlue batteries in the LE2 battery tray on the options page, I don’t see how a 3rd battery would fit in the tray. Mossey

Indeed.

With more fashionable space suits.

You’re more likely to be hit by a tornado in the deep South during December, January or February — meteorological winter — than in June, July or August. But they are few and far between. We've encountered them several times in Arkansas but its usually been in March or April. Any traveling on I-40 in the Western US in January runs a risk of running into ice or snow. It is (somewhat) dependent on altitude. We've made the trip westward many times in January and February while traveling to Quartzsite. We've hit ice once as far south as San Antonio. We've taken I-20 several times and, as it runs well below Dallas/Fort Worth, and we never had any problems. I've never used (or even seen) snow chains. I read somewhere years ago in a forum that they were not generally recommended for travel trailers, anyone with experience feel free to correct me.

While it may be possible to manually retract the awning in an emergency, I believe that extension and retraction of the Girard awning is intended to be done electronically with the remote. Although Oliver or those of you with electronic awnings might still convince me that the electronic awnings are better, I think my current preference would be a simpler, manual awning with side support arms. Seems like it would be more stable in wind, could be set at more of a tilt to shed rain better (to provide cover for a least one partially open window in the rain), etc.

The vent hood was a small concern for us as well but in practice it hasn’t been an issue since most things get grilled outside. The max fan does do a great job of keeping moisture out of the trailer when cooking.

Congratulations to SpaceX and NASA. Our astronauts,Behnken and Hurley, are safely back on earth, after 64 days and the successful space station docking, stay, and return. I watched the first splash down in 45 years with, literally, tears in my eyes. Launched from Florida, splashed in the Gulf off Pensacola, I'm kind of Florida proud tonight, too. So many people worked so hard to make this happen. Sherry

The LifeBlue warranty is not that good, month 60-120 they are providing a 30% discount on a replamemt battery. Based on today’s price, you would be >$1400 out of pocket with the shipping for the low temperature model. Times 2 if both batteries went south.

I've spoken to sales about the warranty. They don't have specific paperwork on it yet but told me they believe the same warranty offered by LifeBlue would apply when sold with an Oliver. https://www.lifebluebattery.com/ewExternalFiles/Warranty .pdf (yes, the space is actually required before the file extension.) They said information would eventually be posted in the university section. While I'm sure the batteries will last at least 10 years when properly cared for, LifeBlue as a company seems super sketchy. Without assurance from Oliver that they will handle the warranty claim, I'll probably drop the LiFePO4 upgrade from my final order before my build starts. I'd rather spend more on something from a company that actually has a history honoring claims or even just a history of selling batteries 🤪

It’s all about more storage.

Only concern for me was bed length. LE is a narrower unit too, and you might have to sleep sideways?

Thanks for the reply John. I am looking at F-150 or RAM 1500 with max towing packages right now. I am in a good spot as my current daily driver will go to my son soon as planned and I definitely want to get back into a truck. I could go up to 250/2500 but would really prefer 150/1500 as my daily driver. 150/1500 can handle towing weight just need to decide how much payload I want to have to for tongue weight, cargo and passengers.

About every 800 miles, less in the city. Ideally an official solution on the DM would involve deferring regen and eventually forcing a manual regen. I know the PSD when properly equipped won't regen until you tell it to - that is usually a fleet option though. Since I bought my truck off the lot I didn't look too deeply into GM's equivalent options. Edit to add: there are also options like the Banks iDash that can force/monitor/do other things, but I really am more interested in a factory option. New generator (propane) comes tomorrow, and I'll happily use that instead of voiding the warranty on my engine.

If Mike disappears from the forum suddenly, the moderators would like to assure everyone that it will only be a coincidence.

I have had the same problem with my detector as well. It would go off more and more frequently even though it was only less that three years old. Probably a combination of age, normal dust, and the fact that my trailer had been in Oliver service very frequently. Remember the old service area was very dusty. Anyway, I decided to just replace the detector. I found the Atwood 36681 detector in white at Panther RV Products for $49.95. I paid around $20.00 for shipping but that may have been for quicker shipping, don’t remember. That was about a year ago and I haven’t had any issues since. These detectors don’t seem to have a very long service life to begin with (depending on environment) so I think that there are a couple things that can be done to lengthen the detector life. Cover or remove and seal it in a ziplock type bag would protect it during solvent cleaning in the trailer or if the trailer is in a heavily dusty place such as the old service area or similar. Simply covering with plastic wrap would help greatly. In reality, the detectors should be sealed in plastic at the factory (due to dust and solvent) At installation and until delivery day so that the customers can have a new detector with full life expectancy.

We were glued to the big screen watching SpaceX launch. I gotta say we really needed to see something positive given the news cycle as of late. Kathy and I were so happy to witness such a successful launch and yesterdays docking with the space station. Despite all the craziness going on presently...the Space Coast persevered how awesome! 🇺🇸