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We are based camped in Estes Park Colorado at Spruce Lake which is about 1.5 miles from the entrance of RMNP entrance. We went on line and locked in 2 separate days of park access plus passes. Park plus gives us access to the entire park including Bear Lake. We will be here for a week with so much to see. We are heading into the park at 10 am this morning. A brisk 48d here this morning 64 and full sun is the high, great weather all week. Things can change fast in the mountains so we stay weather aware all the time. We could hear the Elk bugling while enjoying dinner last night, awesome! A small herd of 6-8 deer walked by our site yesterday afternoon.😋 Onward! Patriot🇺🇸 Dinner last night, I cheffed up season and garlic rubbed tenderloins with a smoked blue cheese crumble. Breakast- our own venison sausage, cheesey eggs and a waffle. Roughing it! 😊

We are camping in the in Colorado Rockies as I write this post. I can’t begin to express how happy we are towing our LE2 with our F350 6.7 PS Diesel. You can get by with a half ton towing the E1 for sure. As our LE2, we prefer a 1 ton to get the job done for many more reasons than I care to write. Safety and long haul comfort is at the top of our list. We just could not pass up the Cabelas in Lonetree Colorado yesterday.😊 Patriot🇺🇸

Since you did not fill in the information about your trailer, it would be really helpful if you told us which model trailer you have, what year it is, what kind of batteries, solar?, generator? Without much info to go on, I'm confused. You're camping with no hookups but somehow expected there to be 120 volts available from your outlets? You state that the microwave and A/C will run. The only place they can get power (in your situation) is from the batteries, through the inverter and only if your trailer has the Lithium battery package. Further you state that you "Called Oliver service and [they] would not help me, no tech support for anything 120v." This does not sound right. Who did you talk to?

Drive across the park to the Grand Lake side, it’s quite a drive. The area around Grand Lake is nice, not as built up as Estes Park. Have fun! Mike

Thank you Bill! Everything will work out and settle down. I think the key here is not to let these things discourage us and prevent us from being happy, positive people. Cheers, Brian

Shooting in the dark here but if your microwave is working your inverter is working. Possibly your GFCI outlet is at fault, hard to say. Oliver service will definitely help you, they're some of the best in the industry, try them again.

Do you always wear that bear suit?

We did a little off-pavement driving in our travels around Kentucky last week. Managed to get through without resorting to 4-low. We also took a hazardous route through tall grass to boondock at Whiskey Thief Distillery. Having friends who are friends of the owner has its benefits! My wallet left these places a fair bit lighter.

I know that it is rare - but - there are times that I actually am lost for words. Two punches to the heart and gut in such a short period of time are tough by just about any standard. It is good to know that your Mom lived a wonderful life. Hopefully Ford will take good care of you such that your memories of this time can be met with peace in your heart and warm thoughts of your Mom. Bill

I don't believe it hurts anything to run the pump while connected to city water. There is no change in the valve configuration so whether the pump just pulls from the fresh tank or facilitates the flow of city water makes little difference. Regarding the waste tank drain. We also have the composting toilet so before even coming home from picking up our Oliver, I installed the adaptor fitting to allow draining with a standard garden hose. That fitting is even sold in the Oliver accessory display at the showroom. I purchased a black 3/4" garden hose about 15' in length before delivery day and I leave it permanently attached to the sewer drain connection. I have a hose end cap on the other end to prevent leaking while traveling. Link: Adaptor

This makes me laugh. We have lots of t-shirts too. We have a big shelf of new ones. I sort used t-shirts at laundry time by work only, (folded really small), car wash rags (go to a bag), and "dressier" tee shirts, which get only a half fold. Work only shirts, pants, and socks go in one drawer. "Good" stuff, other drawers .

I’ve been thinking about installing some type of shade or deflector shield on each of the curb lights along the bottom of Ollie-Haus to reduce the harshness for folks camping nearby. After considering numerous ideas, I decided to buy a piece of 1.125” aluminum “Z” extrusion and cut into 5 inch pieces to serve as stick on shields. (Edit) https://www.mcmaster.com/7062T16/ You may be able to pick this up locally and save the high shipping charge. Metal supermarket is a good source around the country. I chose this method as it seemed to me an inexpensive, easy, effective and non-permanent modification that should do the job. I painted the pieces glossy white to match the camper and installed with clear double sided silicone tape. Here’s some pics of the results.

It takes less than 10 minutes to drain. If you are on an uphill slope it drains quickly. I drain my gray water when we get home in most cases. My method is to back into my parking spot and then go back and set up my drain line and open the valve. Then I unhitch the camper raising the tongue a few inches higher than the ball. By the time I park the truck and get back to the camper it’s done draining. Probably five minutes. Depending on where you live, you can drain gray water on the ground, some areas recommend this.

We also have two connections for water, one for City Water and one for Fresh. Regardless of City Water connection, when the pump is on it will always pull from the Fresh Tank. Not a big deal as long as you know what is happening and monitor it. BL

Skipster, I just got back from a 5600 mile round trip to Glacier NP and Banff, Canada ..my Ridgeline performed good,but going up a down the continental divide was a little tough to keep the speed up..looking to upgrade to a Toyota Tundra.. one bright spot got between 15 to 17 mpg on the trip.. price of new trucks 😳. Stay safe out there!!

For your Elite I, you don't need a "big truck". I would highly recommend a Mid Sized Pickup like the GMC Canyon or the Chevy Colorado with the 2.7L I-4 Turbo DOHC VVT DI with Active Fuel Management engine. This engine is standard in the GMC and the high end option the Colorado. https://pickuptrucktalk.com/2023/05/2023-gmc-canyon-vs-chevy-colorado-spec-by-spec-comparison/ There are some owners that use this small truck (or its diesel predecessor) to tow the larger Elite II. All report success towing the 2000+ pound heavier trailer. But, that "success" is dependent on what your expectations are of a good towing experience. To me, it's being able to carry anything I desire and still be able to power up a 12,000 foot pass at the legal speed limit and coast down the other side never having to touch the brakes, using only the exhaust brake and downshifting. This is easy East of the Mississippi River where the highest point you can drive to is 6400 feet. Compare that to the highest paved road in North America, Mount Evans Road in Colorado that rises to a height of 14,130 feet. Since you hail from Montana, I'm sure you're all too familiar with navigating the western highways. We've owned 5 different tow vehicles including a 1500, 2500 and now a 3500. I've towed with all of them - a lot. For me, I could have my choice as we own both a GMC Canyon with the 2.8L diesel and a Silverado 3500HD 6.6L diesel but anything smaller than our 3500 is too small for our Elite II. We get better towing fuel mileage with it than with any of the others.

We have a GMC diesel Canyon and we love it. Will pull our elite II at hi-way speed up and over every thing we’ve been over. Been over the smokies Aderondaks in NY and the Whites of NH with no problem. on Average we get about 24MPG and 19MPG while towing. The small truck fits in my garage and it’s my everyday driver.

Our fix is a dab of goop on the upper and lower trac they can be snapped out easy enough but still stay in place on a rough road

There is no harm in doing this however, I did discover something recently that was different from my AS days. in the AS, when I was connected to a low pressure city water I turned on the pump for a boost, worked great. I recently did the same in our LEII. We were in a campground for two nights. Before leaving the campsite I checked the fresh tank and found I had 50% remaining where I had 100% when we arrived. It turns out, anytime you turn the pump on it pulls from the fresh tank regardless of whether you are connected to city water. This is good to know and I would have preferred it not do that but OTT said it was part of the design to do that. - Brian

Chris, Thank you for the kind words. I remember your trailer delivery was delayed due to a loss. She was 96, had a wonderful life and a large family. You are correct that the 7.3L engine has had few failures considering its widespread deployment. There are a few instances on the forums where cams/lifters failed in MY2020 vehicles but very few that took the engine block with them. I never do anything half way! An extended warranty, esp on the drive train is a good idea. The pinion seal on my rear diff went out, replaced under warranty. The transmission was replaced under warranty and now the engine. I will have a new truck when I get this one back. It took some fighting but Ford GAVE me an extended warranty out to 96k for all my troubles. You just got to be that squeaky wheel sometimes to get them to move on something. Hope all is well with you, Stacie and the pooches and, of course, your extended family. Cheers, Brian

I expect that is a length, not width, issue. Does your 3500 have an 8' bed? Could you trade for one with a shorter bed?

HA! Exactly what we do! Cracks me up!

Most of us leave the stinky slinky permanently attached to the drain pipe. It sounds like your gray water cable needs to be adjusted.

There is valve lube that you can add to your gray and black water tanks. This seems to help, just follow directions.

I leave the hose connected all the time. I’ve done this since Oliver returned the OEII to me after a service with it still hooked up. Once done draining, I put the end cap on the open end which seals the hose. For us, it is gray water only.

Perhaps the charts below will help - for lithium (see 1st chart) and lead acid and AGM batteries (see 2nd chart).

IMO, that is normal for a lead acid or AGM battery (batteries). I don’t have experience with lithium batteries, so can’t opine.

With me on my Creepy Crawler - even on concrete - I can't manage to get my girth under the axles to reach the two center top zerks! Besides - I've got plenty of T's! HA!