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The big dedicated shower space in rvs for a dry bath, for us, has always been just inefficient movable storage. Clothes hamper, jacket drying, mop and bucket, shoe bin. Move it out to shower, move it back in, later. A ton of wasted space. Totally ok without it. Efficiency of a wet bath smaller footprint is great, for us.

Search doesn't do much usually, but in this case it gets a bunch of hits: https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/search/?q=TPMS&quick=1 https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/2482-review-tire-traker-tt-500-tpms/ After more than four years I still like it. I "flick" each transmitter in the morning before I leave camp to wake them up, that way the monitor will show the current cold pressure, not the hot pressure from the last time it was on. This is not possible with internal automotive type sensors. They will show you the correct pressure as you drive away, after a minute or so. Be sure to add one to the spare tire also. Install a short spare tire extension air hose and you won't have to remove the tire to add air. Definitely buy a TPMS, you will be much less stressed on the road, especially when you are far from services. John Davies Spokane WA

@Katjo I see you have a 2021 Ram. With a quick Google search I see 2021 Rams can come equipped with the built in TMPS system for trailer tires. Do you know if you have this feature on your truck…? I have it with my 2021 Silverado tow package. I had Discount Tire install the sensors in my LEII and program them to the truck. It works great and I monitor them on the dash LCD screen without having another gadget to deal with.

For planning, figure on 600# tongue weight for an LEII. Check the Titan owners manual for WD hitch requirements. I wouldn’t use the Andersen unless WD is required.

A good thing about frozen burgers is that you can grill them without thawing. We usually thaw, but there have been times when we weren’t able to and we just threw the frozen burgers on the Weber or the Blackstone and they cook fine. Mike

I don't carry a crock pot, nor an insta pot, since we rarely have hookups, but I do love campfire cooking. Our freezer in the truckfridge is very tiny, so my method of flat packing really helps. I do the same with burger patties. Make the patties, wax paper under and above, spray one side and season. Vacpac, flat freeze. Accompaniment for any red meat, or even pork chops, is often campfire roasted onion. Take as little off the onion as possible, top and bottom, with a sharp knife. Score lightly and remove the husk and thin first layer. Set the onion on its now flat bottom, on the cutting board, create 6 or 8 segments, not quite through. Open up just a bit, add butter or olive oil in the center. Add a bit of balsamic vinegar, if you have it. Wrap twice with foil, tightly. Cook in the early coals, tucked into the side of the fire, as you prepare everything else. It's done when you've turned it a few times, and it's soft. (Using long tongs, obviously. ) if it's done early, you can always set it on a hot rock while everything else cooks. Depending on the type of wood, and heat of the coals, 20 to 35 minutes. I buy whole pork tenderloins at Costco when on sale, and cut my own boneless chops. Marinade and freeze, flat pack. (Cilantro lime and Italian dressing are favorites for pork.) They continue to marinade as they thaw. Vac packed, they never leak.

@hobo, it takes a big person to admit error and help others. Thanks so much for the guidance. You'll undoubtedly save others from similar issues.

UPDATE ALSO: In the installation videos they show the outside frame should be taped to keep it in place. DO IT! I thought I would defy the local wisdom and simply hold the glass and frame in place while removing the old glass and putting in the new: Well two things happened (neither of which were good). First, while trying to push the new window firmly into the outside frame (to compress the caulking while seating the glass, I loosened up the outer frame thereby requiring I remove the outer frame from the door and re-caulk it since I broke the bead. Second reason for the tape is to hold the new glass in place while you are messing with trying to snap the inner and out frames together. I again learned a valuable lesson because when it was all over and done, it appears the glass slipped down slightly which has caused the inner frame to be slightly warped which prevents me from putting in the tightly fitted shade. Once you put the new glass in place, recommend you apply duct tape to it to keep it in position while you're wrestling with the frames. That said, I am now faced with taking the inner frame apart from the outer frame (praying I don't break any of the tabs on my newly purchased inner frame) and then removing and re-caulking the new glass and essentially doing the project twice.

We’ve used TST for over 5 years. Works well. Tireminder is also good. There are others. Just get one and use it! Mike

Then I guess you would also like a wet pool!😉 Mossey

Coincidentally, I received an email reply today for my inquiry to KTT: I replied that I was likely the reason for the latest bunch of requests, due to posting about Oliver not giving the customer a choice in suppliers. I also got the following from Southern Mattress yesterday: I'm heading out tomorrow camping with my brothers, but when we get back Friday, I'm going to contact The Original Mattress Factory, who made all of our current coil spring mattresses, about a custom mattress to match Oliver's spec. The drawing that's been posted is 29" wide, 74.5" long, with a 15" radius. But I've read 30"X75" Is that the tray dimensions?

I've had 2 trailers so far...one had a wet bath, the 2nd one a dry bath. The dry bath shower leaked from the bottom and pooled water on the floor, but it was nice that for the most part, the toilet, floor, and sink stayed dry and I could have my towels hung up on a towel bar. Nevertheless, I really have no real preference and would rather have more space in the rest of the trailer.

I agree 100%. We never have reservations along the way. In 15 years of travel we’ve always slept somewhere. Walmart, Cracker Barrel (fav), side of the road (US-50 and all over Canada) and small town fairgrounds. You won’t ever find yourself in a situation where you’ll have to drive all night. Many times we’ve stopped a police officer and asked where we could park for the night. Never been turned away. Just head out in the general direction of where you want to end up and let the road take you there. Try it this way, you’ll be fine and your stress level will go way down.

Two medicine CG.

We keep several microfiber cloths, about 12"x12" from Costco in the camper-after using squeegee I use one to finish drying toilet, walls and floor, takes very little time and bath is all clean

We live in Katy Tx-picked up Ollie and got truck in July. I'm finding that most state parks have something available Sun-Thurs. Also Corp of Engineer parks usually have availability. Harvest Hosts are good option. If you have a way to run A/C without electric hookup then some of the state run rest stops off of interstates can be used overnight and many are very nice, water available. (it will probably be hot through Sept) I'm finding camping spots easier to find this year than last year. School is back in session here so that helps. I hope you are not in a hurry to get home-lots of great place to see between Tn and Washington state. Planning is time consuming and a PIA, my soul wants to just wing it and we will do some of that next spring with some stops planned. Good luck and take your time. Once you pick a route I can give some recommendations-Caprock Canyon SP is a top pick in the panhandle.

We enjoyed Two Medicine Campground in 2018.. It is first come, first serve. The view of the lake was nice and medicinal to the soul. (Please forgive the photo bombing that Bosker managed as he soaked up the healing view)

We took delivery of out Elite 2 in last may and towed it back to eastern Canada with a Ford f150 2020 with v8 engine 4wd. When we got back home, we replaced the truck by a RAM 3500 Laramie 2022 diesel srw, crew cab because of the payload issue and we felt uncomfortable in the mountains of Virginia and Pensilvania with the half ton pick up. We are snowbirds and we travel 6 months in USA in winter time and feel more secure with a bigger diesel truck. The liability in case of an accident was another major factor for us. The mileage on the v8 was good, around 12 m/ g while towing. Sorry for typo, i’m french!

This is off Toyo's website. Scroll down to page 23 to start LT metric tires for pressure/load ratings. https://www.toyotires.com/media/pxcjubjs/application_of_load_inflation_tables_20200723.pdf Dave

Thank you. I will do the math again. I may have to jettison a dog or my 😏 passenger

I don’t mind a wet bath, I’d rather have the extra space where we spend the most time. I find the wet bath so easy especially to clean! We’ve never had a camper that’s big enough to have a dry bath so I have no experience to compare it to. We mostly use the campground bathhouse to shower anyway.

I’ve always been unclear as to what is so objectionable about a wet bath.

We camped at Two Medicine Campground. Loved it. It’s a bit of a drive up to the main entrance to Glacier, but not bad.

John & Dave, appreciate the inflation charts. Sent a request to Cooper for a inflation chart for the Cooper Discoverer HT3 Commercial Light Truck 225/75R/16 tires we installed last year, but no reply yet. Believe this is the current tire Oliver installs, too. We keep our LE2 Ollie's ready to camp weigh around 4950 pounds with empty tanks except for full 6 gallon hot water heater that is full except for winter camping when Ollie's ready to camp weight is around 4900 pounds. Like ScubaRX, we also have 5200 pound axles that were installed when Ollie was built, Oliver ran short on Dexter 3500 pound axles, so Legacy Elite Dexter 5200 pound axles were installed that have larger bearings and brakes. We ran Ollie's trailer tire pressure at 50PSI cold for the last six years. The BF Goodrich Commercial LT tires that were original equipment & Cooper Discovery HT3 LT tires we mounted have maximum capacity of 2680 pounds each @ 80PSI. The maximum weight we have on each tire (in our situation) is only 1238 pounds each without subtracting tongue weight on TV while towing. Also thinking about reducing pressure on the next camping trip, probably 45PSI cold after discussion in another thread. I also keep a digital thermometer for checking various temps from bearings, tires, battery compartment, and anything that looks like it needs to be checked 🙂 on camping trips.

Our older elites have no cupboard. I keep supplies (washcloths, extra microfiber bath towels, etc.) in a plastic file case beside the toilet. Easily removed. Fairly waterproof if I forget.

My wife found the following post on “Oliver Trailer Owners” Facebook page 2 days ago. Seems like good feedback to your questions. “Ann Barklow 8/18/2022: We have almost completed our cross country trip. We left on June 28 from South Carolina all the way to Bainbridge Island, WA and then back to South Carolina. We will arrive home this Sunday after four days in Tennessee. We had reservations all the way to Washington and on the way home we did not. Even though there is great advantages to having reservations we both enjoyed the spontaneity of traveling without. We never had trouble getting in anywhere and on weekends we did call a day in advance to make one just in case. One day we set out driving through Bighorn mountains in WY and even though we had planned at least six hours of driving we only made it an hour and a half and found an amazing campground and stayed three days. One camp ground we found later on was apparently abandoned so we had it to ourselves and it was beautiful. A little eerie and I wouldn’t have stayed there alone but it was an adventure. So my research is over and though we will still reserve sites we definitely liked it without better. Hull 1010 with over 8,000 towed miles since February.”

Vagabond Chicken Bundles. Foul wrapped meals are easy and very versatile. Add whatever you want to them, they always come out so delicious and no mess! This is a favorite of mine, I add a few sliced thin potatoes and it’s your entire meal in one foil pack!

I will attest to the fact that when replacing the glass, you might as well resign yourself to the fact that you'll probably end up replacing at least the inside frame. The inside frame is where the female tab (two serrated wings which ride over the square male post) are located. Regardless of how careful you are using the provided spreader clips, invariably, several of the wings will break off. In my case, six of them broke. I am not replacing the outside frame as new caulking is provided with the Zarcor kit and the outside frame is undamaged when separating the two halfs. If you don't want to mess with dealing with Lippert (window manufacturer), Zarcor has the frames in stock. I paid about $23 for the inside frame. If I were to do this again, I'd go ahead and order the inside frame moulding when I ordered the window. My guess is you could return it if you didn't need it. At least you'd have the part in hand if you did break some of the tabs thus finishing the project in relatively short order vice having to stop and order another piece.

I have an F150 with the 3.5 Ecoburst. It gets an average of 12 mpg highway in the mountain west while towing the Legacy II and 21 - 22 mpg highway sans trailer. Owners of F150's with the V8's I have spoken with report about the same while towing and less without trailer. What kind of milage do owners of diesel pickups tend to get while towing the Oliver? The Ecoburst requires 87 octane gasoline which is an upgrade from the 85 octane standard in many states. It would be hard to believe significant money would be saved with such a switch.

Dennis Dillon Ram in Caldwell ID (Boise) does most of its business with folks who buy and fly, they have a regular shuttle service to the airport, and they post all their prices as well as the window sticker. In better days, they would show a new Ram HD Laramie with $12,000 off MSRP. Those days are gone, I looked yesterday and they have lots of diesel trucks, just one gasser, a Power Wagon. The 2500s are at MSRP plus a $4000 discount if you finance through the dealership. My local Ram dealer has an Order now and pay invoice deal. I have no idea how long it takes to actually get a truck this way😳 There are some deals out there, maybe not in Texas. We bought a new 2022 Acura RDX PMC Edition last November, it is a limited run of just 200 cars. My dealer could not get one, in Seattle/ Portland there were four. Three dealers had them marked up at least $10,000 (20%), plus they had added extra cost “packages.”. We found one at MSRP at an independent Acura dealer in north Seattle. “We are a family run dealership, we never charge over MSRP.” So we bought that one. It pays to check around. Don’t necessarily buy from the closest dealer! I have bought two used cars long distance, one from Colorado and one from South Dakota, and drove each one home. It makes for a great road trip. John Davies Spokane WA

Thank you all for the good inputs. I am considering the pro and cons of keeping my F250 or buying a new F150. I still have to fix the fuel pump on the F250 regardless but I am leaning towards a new F150. I will keep you posted. Imelda

I used to hang around a seasonal campground. I have seen covers, that had flapped around all winter, 'buff' the paint off SOBs (Some Other Brands). If they used a tarp, even worse. Let alone a good snow fall could end up freezing the cover to the ground. Cover frozen to the ground means no entrance to the unit to check nside, unless you destroy the cover. Also you still want to remove too much of a load off the AC and solar panels. Hard to remove the load without damaging a cover? I have had an inch of ice and maybe 9 to 12" of snow on top of that and according to the solar controller inside it was still charging. Haven't plugged it in since bringing it home in 2017, where it rest between trips. Wish I was as ambitious as these others when it comes to waxing. A quick Maquires Wash and Wax twice a year is all I have done. However this Fall I fully intend to wax and buff...

I'm using Calmark cover. It's very easy for me to put the cover on by myself. I usually start from the back to front. The key is to fold the cover into a very small roll so I can unroll easily from the back and spread to the sides. Here, starting from the back using a ladder, climb one hand and the roll of cover on the shoulder. Put the cover behind the AC, unroll it over to the front of the AC using a pole. I also use pool noodle to cover sharp edges of the solar panels. Once the cover is unrolled entirely, spread it on both sides starting from the back. Now the final product after using bungee cords to tie it snug. I don't used the ropes from Calmark. They only provide 4 ropes. I use 12-15 bungee cords and find that much easier to work with. I also don't cover the rear bumper. I can do this alone within 30 minutes if I really want to but I usually take my time and take special care around a ladder and end up being 45-60 minutes. Taking the cover down is much easier and much quicker. You just climb a ladder on one side and lift the cover to the roof then carefully pull on the opposite side. The key here is the roll the cover into a really small roll. I'd recommend taking pictures how it was rolled when you get the cover from Oliver. Hope this helps.

I really like the Meguiars products and the one step 67 really removed the mild oxidation we had on our Ollie with very little effort. 👍🏻

It's cloudy here today, but here's the best I can capture with a smartphone:

Waxed the Tundra with the new polisher yesterday, beautiful finish! 👍 Next Ollie jobs, compounding & waxing Ollie and repacking wheel bearings. Next camping trip planned in July!🙂

Jim, I agree with your comments on the rotary buffer and the potential for burns and swirl marks. I especially don’t like the heavier weight of the rotary buffers some averaging almost 6# ugh. Our oxidation was not terribly bad, but it was visible. Its all gone now and I hope to keep it that way with continued regular washing and waxing. Thank you for the link and your view points and as always your thoughts are appreciated. For now I am going to stick with what works and really works well. This little $30 HF buffer along with Meguiars #67 and Meguiars Marine wax really impressed us with the results. Thank you for you thougths! - Patriot

@Rivernerd It actually took about 1.5 hrs to buff out the entire street side roof area. A lot less time than “flying elbows” 😅. I could not be more pleased with how it turned out and with little to no downward pressure on the HF a buffer/polisher just letting the tool do the work. Hope this helps! This really works well - https://www.meguiars.com/marine/products/meguiars-marinerv-one-step-compound-m6732-32-oz-liquid

We shoot for 300 miles a day. That gives us time in the morning for some coffee and gets us to our next location in time for a glass of wine before we fire up the grill. We’re retired, so we try to make the journey interesting and relaxing. We have covered more miles, a few times many more. When we go to Durango to visit our son and family we drive to Roswell, NM about half of the 900+ miles and finish the next day. Same on return trip. There just isn’t decent place to stop between San Antonio and Durango except for the very small Red Barn RV Park in Roswell. Once, while camping on the Missouri River in Leavenworth, KS we were jolted out of sleep at 2am by emergency personnel and told to evacuate immediately. The river was cresting and a few hours after we left the campground was under water. We headed south on I-35 and had fierce storms the whole trip to include tornado warnings all around OKC with several touching down. We stopped at a Cracker Barrel in Waco after almost 700 miles and finished the trip home in the morning. Our Ollie tracked like a champ through high winds and driving rain. No leaks either! Mike

These photos are just amazing....thank you for sharing John. So much to see and do, so much to learn.

Wow, John what a wonderful post. The photos are terrific and the information is very helpful. We're hoping to get out west next year and really want to go to Glacier. I put this in my bookmarks.

I know that many of the folks out in the mountain west know what they are doing with snowy weather. However, this storm is one for the record books - and even people that are "used to it" just may be caught off guard. That along with visitors that are not as experienced could combine for some real bad situations. Please be careful out there! Bill

Two Medicine campground from the Park webcam: https://www.npr.org/2019/09/30/765694898/up-to-4-feet-of-snow-montana-hit-by-unprecedented-winter-storm Wow, what a difference two weeks makes.... John Davies Spokane WA

We were there from Sep 12 thru 16. This year some of the smaller campgrounds went Primitive on the 17th. Some smaller operations like the less popular convenience stores and tours closed after Labor Day and most Park operations go completely off season on the 23rd. Our trip was complicated by the unexpected (but publicized) ten day closure of Going To The Sun Rd. It is crazy busy all the time, there is simply less stuff you can do and fewer open spots off season. The hoards of hikers come in at the crack of dawn and race up the mountain to park at the Pass, a local official called it the Indy 500. It is very unfortunate for a visitor who just wants to stop for a short time. The road construction on GTTS and on US 89 is ongoing, so expect issues next year at least. A reservation at a West Glacier commercial RV park would be prudent, if you cannot get one of the rare reservable spots, until you can locate a free spot inside the Park. Only a few Glacier campgrounds offer them, and in general most are unsuitable for a larger Ollie. As I mentioned before.... St Mary would be the best choice to the east, and the spots are larger there. But you can’t see anything ;( Apgar in the west is big too, but no reservations at all and only trees to look at from your folding chairs. Some CGs are tent only. Some you cannot tow a trailer to... it is a tough place to plan for a visit. https://www.nps.gov/glac/planyourvisit/permitsandreservations.htm GTTS is not open until around July, depending on the snow. It takes them a couple of months to clear it. There is up to 80 feet at Logan Pass... You must allow at least three days in case it is cloudy, to see the high mountains. I feel sorry for the one day visitors on tour buses when it is dumping rain.... John Davies Spokane WA

I have driven the Going to the Sun Road a half a dozen times and since Krunch doesn’t usually drive while on vacation, I have never really gotten to enjoy the scenery. So a couple of years back, we stayed in some cabins in St. Mary on Hwy 89 and the Red Buses were parked across the street each night and the drivers would wash them at the end of the day. After a couple of days of watching the bus wash, we decided to take a bus ride and it was the best GTTSR drive ever. I was Mister Prairie Dog, popping up and taking pictures or a look through the binoculars. I really enjoyed it and of course Krunch said it was ok, as she had seen it all on the previous 6 drives. Mike

Going To The Sun area: The big red buses are cool. They have a soft top and the tourists pop up all together like meerkats when there is a photo stop. (Not my picture): John Davies Spokane WA

It is smart to check the park website as often as possible, the campgrounds fill up fast; Two Medicine Campground and vicinity: The lighting changes dramatically minute by minute, and the mountains are either shadowed or lit up brightly. It is really hard to get good pics due to the variations....

We were at Glacier the week of 8 September. We got a site at Two Medicine at around noon. Amazing views.

Glacier NP has problems handling all the visitors due to the short season, curtailed federal budget, and limited facilities. There are WAY too many people for the available parking, and Going To The Sun Road is dangerous enough without a bunch of clueless flatlanders in rental cars or too-wide dually pickup trucks with extended mirrors. In July 2019 Glacier had more visitors than Yellowstone. The chart above is interesting, Visitation was low until the 1930s. There was a small train stop, a rough dirt wagon track and tents at Two Medicine for visitors. In 1913 the Great Northern RR started upgrading the facilities at East Glacier, adding a huge hotel next to the station, a better road and small hotel at Two Medicine. They advertised and started bringing in increasingly large numbers of tourists before the effect of the 1930s recession hit, big time. Here is the inside of the great lodge (not my photo); Well into the Great Depression tourism was down and a forest fire broke out at Two Medicine, the employees heroically defended the small building, and then drove back to the train station and reported to headquarters that it was saved ... Who responded back "Why?" Things probably looked bleak to them at that time. The Going To The Sun Road had opened in 1933 and the south entrance became increasingly less popular. ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Going-to-the-Sun_Road The big dip in the early 1940s is due to WW2; the railroads were carrying materiel and troops rather than tourists, who had no extra cash anyway. Our last visit here was in 1979, on the tail end of a big 5000- mile trip of exploration, which culminated in our moving to Seattle from Nashville TN. When we first went over Going To The Sun Road, the mountains were completely socked in by dense clouds. All we saw was the lower scree slopes. I don't recall any problems with an excessive number of visitors.... Forty years later, we got to see them naked and in their full glory. (The mountains, not the visitors.) ;) John Davies Spokane WA