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Indiana State Recreation Area Campgrounds: Salamonie Reservoir -North Racoon Lake -West Central Brookville Reservoir -East off I-74 near Ohio. Patoka Lake - South Central, near Jasper, IN Monroe Lake -South Central, near Bloomington These are all great campgrounds.

FWIW: For us, every road trip is different in terms of load-out and corresponding payload weight. It all depends on what we're planning to do on a particular adventure. Since we sold our 1-ton RAM 2 years ago, the days of throwing anything we "think" we would need in the 8-foot bed are long gone - as we never even came close to maxing out the payload limitation on the Big 3500. With he TUNDRA, we're limited to a measly 1400lbs cargo weight - it is what it is. So, we developed a simple spreadsheet that we fill-out before each departure which calculates how close we are to the 1400lb max limit (...remembering that this includes a full gas tank). Our list of cargo items is all inclusive with a measured weight for each line item - obviously, we don't take all these items (they wouldn't fit), but only calculate the weights of those loaded for a given trip. For example, the items listed below indicating "0-lbs" were not brought along with us this time. This is a screenshot of the spreadsheet for the current trip we're on now: We simply go down the list and insert the weight associated with the item (column D) if it's being brought along. If we're not boondocking, like on this trip, much of the heavy items stay in the Man Cave at home. Even if we're in the BD mode - the volume of space under the BakFlip bed cover usually limits the weight we can carry anyway. We typically run 75 - 100lbs less than the maximum allowed cargo weight, FYI. Kind of a PIMA, but I believe "weight and balance" is a necessary planning activity just like back in the day when instead of pulling a travel trailer, I was flying aircraft....

Or you could just lift the side of the Ollie that has the troublesome zerk with the rear jack. The idea of lifting the trailer is to remove the downward pressure on the suspension system. And do either of these procedures while the Ollie is connected to your truck. If you are going to be under the trailer and you don’t have any jack stands to support the trailer while working on the suspension, be sure to place wood blocks or what ever you use under your jacks when setting up, under the frame as a safety measure. Stay safe! Mossey

Thanks for sharing all this great information John. We truly do have some very nice and enjoyable state parks and reservoirs. I'd like to add a suggestion for those that may have relatives or friends in the region. Many of Indiana's state parks also have inns with restaurants and also cabins. These are great parks for a stop over combined with a meet up with loved ones and they can stay comfortably at an inn or cabin to enjoy the outdoor experience together during the visit. Here's a couple links for all the information you may need to plan a rendezvous visit. BTW the new inn at Potato Creek State Park, which is under construction, will be a state of the art facility that anyone would enjoy, and it's being built directly adjacent to the campground. https://www.in.gov/dnr/state-parks/inns/home/ https://www.in.gov/dnr/state-parks/rates-and-fees/family-cabins-fees-and-reservations/

While 98% of Oliver Owners will probably never make Indiana a destination camping trip, the state offers some of the best camping in the Midwest. With access along I-80 and I-94 in the North, I-70 and I-74 across central Indiana, I-64 across the South. North-South on I-65 and the newly completed I-69. This provides easy access for a couple days during travel through Indiana. The Indiana Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) manages the Indiana State Parks and State Recreation Areas (SRA). All Indiana State Parks have electric, water throughout the campground, dump stations, and well maintained restrooms/showers. Some even have dedicated fresh water lanes just inside the campground and not connected to the dump station. From reservoirs to Lake Michigan, and beautiful canyons, and Indiana Limestone cliffs, there is a lot for everyone. Indiana Dunes SP and Indiana Dunes NP have great camping off Lake Michigan. No hook-ups in the National Park. Lake Michigan is a 5 minute walk from the State Park campground. By November we will have camped in all 22 state parks and a large number of the SAR's. Our favorites, North: Indiana Dunes SP, Potato Creek SP, and Pokegan SP. Central: Turkey Run SP, Prophets Town SP, South: Clifty Falls SP, O'Bannon Woods SP. Also, there is Lincoln SP. The Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial is just across the road from the State Park. South Central: Brown County SP near Bloomington. If you need info please feel free to reach out to me. Indiana Hospitality is the best.

I have given up. The monitors never give accurate data and I have accepted that as fact.

Your incoming voltage is fine. Earlier you stated the the Klein showed, "they all were indicating hot/grd rev" Does the readout on your onboard show any errors? Look under your dinette seat at the back side of the power inlet (where your external power cord plugs in) and make sure all the wires are tight and not burned. Also examine the inside of the inlet (from the outside) to make sure there is no scorching which would indicate an overheating due to a poor connection. Unless there's direct short in the plug or inlet port, I done understand how the hot and ground could be reversed. Keep posting until we can work this out.

The Zerk is threaded into the bolt. Likely a 8 or10mm wrench to remove it. Or you can take a center punch and just see if you can push the little ball valve.

Yep, I always have two packed away. I've used them to help fellow campers but thankfully haven't needed to replace one of my own yet.

A gfci that won't reset is either bad, or is getting no power. If you're getting power, no tripped breaker, no loose connections at the gfci, replace the gfci. They usually go at a very inconvenient time. Part of their DNA, I guess

First thing I would try is replacing the GFCI outlet.

Personally, I would swap from the South Rim of the GC to the North Rim. There is a world of difference.

Hey, john great thread. Camped at many parks.. Versailles, Clift falls, Turkey Run , Brookvile lake, whitewater..They keep them clean and updated..

Truly an ugly vehicle, could hardly refer to it as a truck. I would choose a Rivian hands down over this POS. We have one running around our town, see it ever so often. I just don't get it how this appeals to anyone. Regardless none of these EV trucks will suffice for towing anything. Apparently there is new battery technology on the horizon however that is far more environmentally friendly with more power than Lithium.

Jd, you would be suprised of the number of people that actually READ this important topic and don't respond publically.... but do via PM. You can sleep well knowing that there are more reasoned owners that are not going with the ALCON's 5 spring 2700 product. That said, if you go back an look at the majority of my reponses, they are typicaclly in direct response to your "exeburant yet opionated" posts. We all have agreed that some owners may need to overspring their rigs. I have pretty much spoken the logic line for the fleet, not the few who should go with such a stiff spring. Why don't we just stand down and sit back and wait to see what OTT does on future models? Or do you just like sparring?

Be careful in how you plan for fall in Montana. Understand seasons in this neck of the woods can come and go in nearly a split second, and what most people think of the autumn months can be the dead of winter compared to their normal view of this season. Lived here for nearly half a century and have seen temps plunge to sub zeros mid September when the day before it was in the 70-80's or more. Colors start turning much sooner than other states too, usually by mid September and all but shot by the 3rd week of October if not sooner normally. Elevation plays a key role in this. The Flathead Valley area as well as Glacier will usually have color lasting a bit longer due to the lower elevations at base but again there is no guarantees other than to expect rapidly changing weather patterns. Yellowstone elevations are much higher as well and thus tend to end sooner. Hope this helps.

Hi folks, following up on this topic with some information we gained recently on hitch-mount bike racks used on travel trailers and RVs. From above, it looks like @Steve Morris and @MAX Burner are both using 1Up heavy-duty racks. Good plan! As it turns out, not all hitch racks are 'rated' for use by their manufacturers for 'RV' or 'travel trailer' use, independent of whether they are capable of carrying e-bikes or not. In the case of Yakima, with whom I spoke yesterday, 'RV use' means 'mounted more than 72" from the rear axle of the vehicle'. In more general terms, a rack either is, or is not, designed to withstand the more extreme accelerations and displacements imparted upon it when hung out on the end of a long trailer or RV. In case you are wondering, based on a quick measurement it is about 7' / 84" from the rear axle of our LE2 to the hitch mount. The 1Up EquipD we have used, twice and on relatively short trips of 300 miles or less, is not rated for RV use, as one can see from the chart below (used without permission of 1Up but available on their web site, somewhat buried): Fortunately, our 1Up EquipD has not failed - yet. But for an upcoming trip we've borrowed a very expensive Specialized full-suspension e-MTB for my wife to use. It is about 50 lbs., and this weight got me curious about the load rating of the 1Up EquipD. Which led me to this chart. The thought of my friend's very nice, very expensive e-MTB bouncing down some New Brunswick, Canada secondary road and into the front of the following vehicle made me reconsider our plan. 😵 The very helpful Customer Service folks at 1Up confirmed that the EquipD was not intended for use on an RV or travel trailer, and might be subject to a failure of the vertical plates holding the greater rack assembly to the hitch tongue. Further, the very helpful Customer Service folks at Yakima suggested that their HoldUp rack was somewhere between 'likely to fail' and 'might fail' when hung on the end of our LE2 and loaded with 80 lbs of bikes. So the Yakima HoldUp on offer from a friend was disqualified as a substitute for our 1Up EquipD. Until we can upgrade our rack (probably to a 1Up HD rack), moving forward we won't be using the EquipD on the back of the LE2. For this trip the bikes will go in the bed of the TV, using a fork mount, 2x10-based rack I fabricated in our driveway last night, while being devoured by mosquitoes. We may still bring the EquipD with us, empty and on the back of the LE2, so that we can move it to, and use it on, the back of the TV for day trips away from base when the LE2 is detached. Lifting the 50 lb. e-MTB into and out of the bed of the TV and securing it to the fork mount rack is a bit of a bear. The rack sales specialist at our local REI had no understanding of 'RV / travel trailer' rack specifications, BTW. YMMV. Hope this helps further inform the bike rack discussion! Tim

If you are just trying to lift the tire that is associated with the zerk that is not accepting grease, the trailer aid will probably work. I wouldn’t take the wet bolt out, but I would remove the zerk fitting for cleaning or replacement. If the bolt has to come out, I suggest going to a trailer shop and letting the professionals handle it. And if you are going to continue doing your own grease jobs, invest in a battery powered grease gun. Mossey

I'm reading every word of every comment on this topic. I got my Beech Lane delivered today, and I'm hoping to put it in tomorrow. I was recently towing the Ollie in 113 degree heat and the poor Norcold wasn't so cold. I'm hoping the install goes as smoothly as some of you have described. I'll also take pics and provide a follow up.

The Wonder Egg was born with a 'spring over axle' configuration and sits higher than the average Ollie. I always travel with full tanks, for convenience and most importantly, to lower the center of gravity and provide extra stability in high wind conditions and cornering.

Nobody said that. 🤣 At your number, you two are petite! Gallup says the average weight Americans ‘“say they weigh” is 181 (average of adult men and women). Let’s add 10 lbs each for the little white lies and you have realistic 380 lbs AVERAGE for an American couple! Easily 400 for an older couple, those of us who eat well at home and at camp! I’m 6’ 2” and 220 LBS. Though I always weigh 230 at the doctor’s office, dressed with jeans and leather belt, hiking shoes size 12, with phone, and wallet, keys in pocket. At 318 lbs total, Chris would have to weigh only 88 lbs and that leaves zero lbs for our pup Charley (65 lbs) and ANYTHING else in the cab! Put the dog in the trailer to save GVWR!!! No, not our special pup. Do you have any bags up front? Phones, computers, camera, a smaller cooler, a packed lunch? I’m an industrial engineer with years of estimation experience. I’d say the 3 of us with our stuff in the cab in our truck is 450 lbs min, just plan on 500 being honest. I weighed all that in place at the scales and we have 1300 unused GVWR, the amount any 1/2 ton truck has to work with from empty! God bless @ScubaRx. He has every suspension upgrade in his E2 to carry 10K lbs max, likely 8500+ in his Ollie and room to visit several flee markets on his winter missions out west. Love you @Steve Morris, and love our discussions. You ever get that Pepwave mounted? 🤣 Can’t wait to meet you, and your pretty thin wife, on the Oliver trail. ”On the road again…” Best wishes, JD

I agree fully with @ScubaRx, except he underestimated the average weight of two adults. The truck picture shows it. These Toyo trucks sit with much more space between the rear tire and the fender vs the front. This pic the front gap looks a little larger than rear. That takes weight off the steering. The Anderson should be tightened some to help. Also see the pic showing what’s in the back of the truck, the plywood platform, the cooler, etc. wail until the shelf has stuff on it. Yep, overloaded.

I bought a pickup almost 40 years ago, too. But then, I immediately turned it into a station wagon with a capper. I sold that about 25 years ago, and the two times I really needed one since, I rented it at Home Depot for $19.95. I haven't missed it at all, and replaced it with a subcompact turbo wagon. We didn't even have a pickup truck growing up on Grandpa's farm. Surprisingly, the Land Cruiser has a higher cargo capacity than some variations of Toyota's 1/2 ton Tundra. GVWR is 7385, max towing is 8100, max tongue weight is 750, and cargo capacity is 1360 pounds. And I've removed the 40 pound roof basket and 150 pounds of seats, before adding the fridge and drawers. The fridge was needed for the tiny trailer, and still comes in handy with the Oliver. Especially for preparing frozen food at home for extended trips. I get you on the tiny trailer. It's not for everyone, but we enjoyed it for seven years. It sure beat tent camping on the ground! But at 70, a little more comfort in the Oliver is very welcome.

Maybe you bring too much stuff? 😜 I came to the Oliver from a (square) teardrop, and backpacking before that. So compactness and comfortable camping go hand in hand. We routinely carry six chairs with us, but four of them take up less space than the larger lounger. My outdoor kitchen, which travelled in the tiny trailer, too, folds down about the size of a small Costco folding table. We easily travelled a month from Ohio to Florida last year, taking four seasons of clothes with us. We can easily carry the 12' Clam, our propane fire pit, a third 20# propane can, etc. for comfortable and fun excursions. We have yet had trouble fitting stuff without resorting to packing to the rafters. We even brought home a tree in the bathroom from last year's Oliver rally! I don't want a pickup. This is the vehicle I've aspired to for 40+ years since first test driving an FJ40, and I won't be replacing it with anything else. And it will hold its value and be more reliable than any pickup ever made. Hell, both it and the Oliver will outlast me, and my kids have already argued over who has dibs on both. 🤣

Absolutely! As in any hooking up/unhooking situation, make sure you have chocks in place. Only once have I had any binding where the ball didn't easily drop out of the hitch. Raising it a couple more inches and the truck dropped right out.

Had no doubt that Toyota would step up and do the right thing. Had little doubt that there was any other way to solve this issue, either... For anyone who owns one, I hope you choose the dealership to perform this swap wisely.

Looks like Toyota is stepping up to the plate. A massive undertaking no doubt. https://www.motor1.com/news/727930/toyta-replace-100k-engines-tundra-lexus/

Honestly, I don't how any of you manage, towing with SUVs! Go back to @John E Davies posts and you will see the custom shelving and everything else he did to store just a few small items. We feel inside storage of the Oliver EII is good with ample room for kitchen, bath, clothes and personal items. Where do you put all the camping items in an SUV? The Oliver has little outside storage. The front bin for generator (we stow a fire ring and cooking grate there). Then you have the awkward trunk. All we keep back there is the shore power cord, hoses, an accessory bag, empty jugs for fuel and radiator emergencies and our campground blanket. Back of the pickup is needed for lawn chairs, grill and stand, a folding table, tools and much more. To allow boondocking for a full week, we bring extra water too (35-gal tank). The only constraint is the black tank (will just last a week), but no, we're not composting poop. 🤣 Get a pickup truck eventually and make it a 2500! Still use the Anderson, unless you purchase a modern beast of a truck. It will make setup and tear-down quick and easy and if you find something you want to buy along the road, you'll have the room to bring it home.

Or even easier, once you get the ball under the hitch, back up an additional 1 to 1-1/2". Then slip on the whale tail, pull forward to take out the slack, and drop the hitch onto the ball. Much quicker, and probably less strain on the jack. There are/were nine of us towing with a Toyota 200 Series. I think yours was the only LX, but I'm not positive.

This is the most important reason to use the Andersen hitch as designed: liability in the event of an accident. If your tow vehicle owners manual instructs to use a weight distribution hitch when towing more than 5000 lbs., "Just Do It." FWIW, I don't find installing or removing the whale tail to be much trouble, using the trick recommended by Jason Essary: once the hitch ball is attached, raise the front "stabilizer" jack (which also raises the rear of the attached tow vehicle), until you see slack in the chains. Did it a couple of times this past weekend.

Man oh man….. We’ve had two tundras.. a 2011 and currently a 2016. Add Debs 20 some odd years of Tacomas and it’s safe to say we are Toyota fans. Our 2016 has 188k miles currently, the 2011 had 125k when we sold it . All good, issue free miles. We started shopping for a new Tundra a couple weeks ago, figuring it was time, and figuring it would be a no brainer… just get a new one…why drive anything else.. We took one out for a test drive, a Limited Hybrid….. and didn’t like it.. We couldn't believe it… A couple days later, we stopped by a Ford dealer and took an F150 XLT Hybrid for a spin, figuring we better do our due diligence and much to our surprise, we liked it a lot. I haven’t spent much time on the Oliver Forum for months now, and just happened to check in this evening…. And the first thread I checked out was this one…and I’m glad I did… I think.. Now I’m wondering what other stuff I’ve been missing around here.. 🙂

I knew it was only a matter of time….

Yes and only slightly better looking than the Airstream horse trailer AKA the Basecamp. 🤪

That’s exactly what I see in my mind when someone mentions a Tesla truck, just butt-ugly. I believe that this particular one runs on 450,000 Triple-A batteries though. There is a lever on the side that releases them all when they need replacing.

Monitor your power source. You can do this easily by looking at the EMS panel. In our Oliver the panel is in the attic and its readout is in red LEDS. If the voltage drops to around 104V, the EMS will cut off shore power. If the Xantrex is drawing a lot of power (as it will by default when charging your batteries), with an unstable shore power source this could bring down the voltage to the point of EMS shutdown. This removes the power drain and allows the voltage to rise. Once it is sufficient, the EMS cuts back in and eventually powers the Xantrex. The resulting battery charging draw will bring down the voltage, etc., etc. I had this happen to our trailer at a campground that had unstable 30A shore power. Even if your batteries are fully charged, the Xantrex starts off by attempting a full charge and then rapidly changes from Bulk charging to the Absorption stage which draws much less power. You can also reconfigure the Xantrex to charge batteries at a much slower rate so its power draw is not so severe. May help, may not... We have the Lithium Pro package and Xantrex charging is set by default to 150A.

While camping yesterday the a/c and 110 outlets stop working. The GFCI outlet under side bed table was not trip but would not work either (test and reset buttons wouldn't work). I was hook up to shore power and the EMS showed no error codes. No circuit breakers were trip, only items that run off shore power won't work, I do not have an inverter. Today after getting home last night (had to leave campground/ temp outside was 96) hook up to my 30amp power and still the same results. I have very limited electrical knowledge, I did plug in my Klein RT210 tester into all the outlets and they all were indicating hot/grd rev. Any help will be appreciated. 2019 Legacy 2 Hull 514

"Some sway" can go to fishtailing shockingly fast in the right conditions. Had a similar experience with our first rig, a trailer behind a V8 Ford Explorer. We had a Hensley hitch, but the dealer installed it incorrectly and we suddenly got strong sway while crossing a big bridge. i was able to maintain control but it was scary.