ScubaRx

I specified the 5200 pound axles during the 2013-14 build of Hull #050 because Jim Oliver told me to. They came with the 5 leaf spring pack which fully rated them to carry 5200 pounds. We've towed it about 100K miles over the past 10 years, been to every state including Alaska. I've never had anything to break, drawers to open during travel or cabinet doors that won't stay closed. Virtually 100% of those miles have the tires at 80psi (which I don't think is a good idea, despite it still being recommended until recently). The easiest way to soften the ride is to lower the tire pressure. We now run about 60psi although tires are rated for 110psi.

You are correct that all delivered new Legacy Elite II’s will come with a pair of the same 5200 pound axles that have been supplied on the Elite’s since 2008 and for the reasons you stated. However, the same four leaf spring pack that has always been used with the 3500 pound axles is being retained rather than using the five leaf spring pack that is normally used for the 5200 pounders. Their reasoning behind this is that it gives the trailers a softer ride. Effectively, this means the new LEII’s will still have a GVWR of 7000 pounds since that rating is determined by the measurement of the weakest link in the suspension system.

And it doesn't get any better than that!

You are correct, of course, that my application of Newton’s laws is rather simplistic and for it to be realistic, it would probably need to executed in a vacuum using wet ice sliding on wet ice at a constant temperature. My singular intention was to try to dispel the constant fear that carrying a full tank of water will significantly affect your fuel mileage. My real world experience is that I’ve never been able to tell a difference.

Since acquiring our Hull # 050 in 2014, we have used three different tow vehicles. A 1500 gas pickup, a 2500 diesel pickup and now a 3500 diesel pickup, it being perfect for the way what we want to travel. I really can’t tell any ride quality or handling issues between the three trucks. The fuel mileage is much better with the diesels as opposed to the gas burner. Everything about a diesel costs more. For myself, I absolutely love driving one of the largest personal vehicles on the road and over the past 50 or more years I’ve always parked at the furthest side of the lot so parking space has never been an issue.

But then there's Gerrold's Laws of Infernal Dynamics: 1. An object in motion will always be headed in the wrong direction. 2. An object at rest will always be in the wrong place. 3. The energy required to change either one of these states will always be more than you wish to expend, but never so much as to make the task totally impossible.

Apparently, you missed his comment ("...I am in the market for both a Tow Vehicle and a LEII..."). I took that to mean that he is literally in the market for a Tow Vehicle, i.e. I don't have a tow vehicle, I need to buy one and I don't want to screw up and buy something that is too small where I'll have to learn to live with what I've got.

I'm glad you are using this method to buy your outfit. You will be glad of it and will get the most for your money. Most people decide they want a trailer, pick one out and "hope" their intended tow vehicle will be sufficient. Hope is not a strategy. Study and understand the numbers. If you don't understand them ask questions. Oliver's are not lightweight trailers. They never were. Most of the trailering world believes fiberglass trailers are light. They are incorrect. You can't have a tow vehicle that is too big. You may have more than you need but, in my opinion, that's perfectly acceptable. It took me 5 different tow vehicles to finally get there but now I can tow any trailer currently made and haul everything that either of us may ever need. Towing an Oliver Elite II Travel Trailer can be an excellent experience. Any vehicle other than a 3/4 ton or a 1 ton truck (or larger) will require an Andersen hitch to tow an Oliver Elite II to be safe and legal. Any vehicle requiring an Andersen hitch is not as good as a 2500 or 3500 truck for towing or hauling cargo. Using the Andersen is just subtracting 66 pounds from your Cargo Carrying Capacity in an attempt to adapt the wrong truck to the right trailer. Don’t buy the wrong truck.

This is very true. After all your fresh water has been used, it has moved to the gray or black tanks. The water weight will have increased slightly due to whatever effluvia we have added to it in the using. I have found situations where our fresh tank is nearing empty, the gray tank is full and the black is OK. If we are in an area where it is permissible, I will empty the gray. Then filling the the fresh will leave us with a net gain of the weight of the black water, but ready to continue. Through the years, I've heard many of us say we travel with a full fresh tank. We do and I think it is a good idea. You really never know when you may accidentally find yourself stuck somewhere with no access to water. Folks worry about the mileage hit from hauling the extra weight. Truthfully, according to Newton’s first law of motion, once an mass is in motion, it maintains the same motion unless acted on by force. In other words, after you've gotten the full fresh tank up to speed (using a force from the truck's engine) it does not require any additional force to keep it moving at the same speed.

Depending on the brand, AGM's weigh an average of 65 pounds per 6 volt battery. That's actually 260 pounds for the 4 batteries. Lithium batteries are considerably lighter than lead/acid. I have 4 x 100Ah Battle Born's that weigh a total of 124 pounds cutting our battery weight in half from what it was when delivered back in 2014.

John is correct. We don't generally stay in a campground but the ones that we have, had "No Vehicle Idling" signs posted. Even if you ignore the signs, your neighbors will likely call you out on it after a short time. On the other hand, it should be fine during "generator hours" if the campground has such an area. That reminds me of the old "smoking" sections that used to be in restaurants or other establishments.

On trailers built with lithium batteries, the charging wire from the truck is not attached. The alternator in the trucks do not produce the amperage needed to sufficiently supply the needs of the vehicle and have enough to charge the batteries at the same time. Attaching this wire will make the alternator run at full capacity all the time and would most likely cause the alternator to fail. Additionally, the wiring would need to be sized at 2/0 to carry 150 amps from the alternator to the batteries. The are other ways to accomplish this, but they have been covered previously.

Switches get wonky sometimes and flipping them on and off a few times sometimes does the trick. They’re easy to replace. If the wires at the switch are firmly attached, I’d just replace it.

Could be a faulty switch. Pull up the mat in the cabinet above the light. Apply 12 volts directly to the wires on the light to eliminate a bad light.

That question ("Can I tow with 2006 Ford F-150 XL 4.2 L, 6 cylinder truck?") was unanimously resolved within two days many posts ago, The consensus was a resounding NO. Thread hijack moved to https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/8915-bill-and-nancys-towing-vehicle-issue/#comment-87403

I realize this not what you want to hear but as most of us have already stated, this is not a good choice for a tow vehicle for the EII. It is underpowered and won’t provide you with a pleasant towing experience.

We have a building very similar to yours (sans the fallen tree). I’m very happy your trailer came through unscathed.

I have a 2.8-liter four-cylinder diesel Canyon SLT and a 6.6-liter eight-cylinder diesel Silverado 3500. We only use one of them as our tow vehicle for our Elite II, Hull #050. The combo weighs in at just under 18K pounds. We just returned from our winter western sojourn with a little more than 5100 miles traveled. We drove on the flats, in the mountains, with the wind, against the wind and averaged 12.8 mpg. Pulling a 5-6K pound trailer with a light duty truck sporting a 2.8-liter four-cylinder diesel engine and still getting 22 mpg is, like@Geronimo Johnsaid, just “amazing”, in fact, it’s unbelievable, really unbelievable.

Through the years I have acquired every size hole saw that Dewalt makes from 9/16” to 6”. I have used them many times to cut perfectly sized holes in wood, acrylic, fiberglass, aluminum and mild steel. It’s much cleaner and easier if you can put your piece into a drill press rather than trying to use a hand drill. This is a deep scrub into the upper edge of the basement door. I had it open and moved the trailer forward allowing it to contact the concrete.

The main problem with taking it anywhere other than Oliver is getting a perfect match on the color of the gel coat. My Hull #050 (and the next hundred or so builds) are a different color from the current ones. They no longer keep the old color in stock.

Yeah, the new Elite’s have ended up weighing more than our originals did. Our old one never weighed more than around 3900.

We are camped tonight not far down the road from you guys. I needed the oil changed in the truck so we stopped in Kerrville.

I believe the #3 key is to the lock on the super secret hidey hole. You will be told its location after six months of ownership. 😂🤣😂🤣

We are overnighting near Fort Stockton. It’s windy getting cold.

If he has any of that food left, we could be there by tomorrow evening and help him out with it.