Rumline

We've had ours installed for nine months now. Still as solid as day 1 and our son is not gentle with it at all. Very happy that Bill made and sold these.

At risk of taking this thread further off topic, can you please elaborate on your experience doing first-come-first-served at Yellowstone? I've read a bit about it and it doesn't sound like a great way to run your trip. From what I read about visiting during the summer months, you have to arrive so early (before 7am) that you can really only get in one line per day, then even if you score a spot of someone who's leaving, you have to wait around until as late as 11am for the previous campers to move out. If you don't get a spot, it's at least a two hour drive out of the park to go find a commercial spot. Sounds like a lot of time spent with marginal success rate. If the above is not accurate I would love to hear about that.

I've been pretty lucky so far. Was asleep at the switch and had notional ideas of going to Yellowstone this summer. I just booked two weeks ago and there were still a number of the 40+ foot sites available for June (reservations opened Jan 1). Shorter sites have even better availability, but in Yellowstone the spots are only single wide so you need enough room for your tow vehicle and trailer in the one spot. And this year Fishing Bridge RV Park is closed for the whole season, so I imagine the other campgrounds in the park are more booked than they'd normally be. We stayed at Bolsa Chica State Beach (just north of Huntington Beach, CA) over Christmas last year and had no problems getting reservations a couple of days after reservations were opened for December. I agree with Ken, that kind of rule would go a long way to deterring some of the reservation games. There are also a number of things they can do to prevent bots from making reservations, but, ya know, that takes effort & stuff.

I have nothing to add, other than to say: As a weekend warrior, I can't wait until I have this "problem". :-)

I like this idea! Regarding the bamboo silverware holder from Target, I bought one when we first picked up our trailer but it was only stapled together and quickly fell apart from, I assume, being bounced around while driving. I am glad that yours is working out for you, but I'd also like to know which brand you purchased. I think the one we bought was from Lipper International.

I like the vent idea for several reasons. My only hesitation is it allowing warm moist air out of the shower and into the rest of the trailer. I'd want to install it low if I could to allow cool air to enter the bathroom when showering and then to leave when the furnace is on, but then that opens up water concerns. Maybe modifying the bottom seal of the door so that air can transfer but water will still get caught/diverted by the lip.

I wasn't saying the electronics are useless nor is it "an ego thing;" I have no desire to compete with anybody on backing up trailers. The post that I quoted previously seemed to be saying that people typically worry about towing capacity and space in the tow vehicle but should instead focus on electronics, which is what I disagree with. If I misread that statement then I apologize.

When I bought my Expedition Platinum I had the dealer swap the 22" wheels upon delivery with 20"s from a Limited. They only charged me labor to reprogram the TPMS. Just an idea. Love towing with the Expedition BTW. Drove through a 45 mph crosswind/dust storm south of Raton, NM in December, and the car and trailer were very well behaved. So far I'm averaging 12 MPG towing with it (hand-calculated) over 4600 miles driving between 65-70 mph on the highways. The power out of this engine is amazing, and it's nice to be able to drive up grades at 60 mph with the engine humming along at 2800 rpm. You get over the size within a month or so; mine came with the 360 camera and it was a big help at first, but I don't really need it anymore, 5 months in. I respectfully disagree with the above. The trailer blind spot monitoring, at least on my Expedition, is unreliable enough that I can't count on it. They also do not replace the need for proper tow mirrors. I've never once used the Pro Trailer Backup Assist. Even though this is my first RV, I honestly have never felt like I needed that feature. And believe me, I haven't just been taking it to palatial RV parks and pull-thru sites. Speaking strictly for myself, I would not base my selection of tow vehicle on any of the electronic do-dads, and I'm a 30-something techie. I chose the Max Tow package (or whatever it was called) because of the mechanical upgrades it brings, not the least of which being a proper two-speed transfer case. Everybody is entitled to their own opinion, and I respect people buying stuff for whatever reason makes them happy. My advice is simply to not get too wrapped up with towing tech gizmos until you take care of more important considerations first, such as sufficient payload capacity, reliability/serviceability, suitability for your family's towing and non-towing needs, comfort, budget, etc.

Yeah mine has the valve but it's always been open since I picked up the trailer. No problems so far including with winterization.

Regarding scratching legs, does your hypervent stick up above the lip of fiberglass that holds the mattress in? Mine is only an inch or so thick and does not stick up/out to where scratching legs would be a problem. But yes the cut edges of a DIY job are sharp. I first used duct tape to enclose the cut edge, and then later when I had time, melted them slightly with a heat gun. That dulled the sharpness. I did not have any issues with scracthing occupants, but my bedding did catch on the sharp edges at first. If I hadn't done the duct tape immediately I'm sure I would have torn a sheet at some point. I think you're right about needing to keep the loop material exposed so air can circulate. That's what we do and we have had no problem with condensation, even with three people and two dogs inside with the outside temp in the 20s.

In my experience, (having recently shopped extensively for tow vehicles) website / brochure payload specs seldom match what's on the door jamb sticker of actual vehicles, except for the lowest trim, least-configured vehicles. I wouldn't put too much stock in the above being correct (I don't mean you, John; I mean the specs). However I would be happy to be wrong in this case.

That's a fair price. I think I paid ~$100 for the material. I would have paid $180 to avoid the hassle of cutting/shaping it myself.

Having driven the Grand Cherokee version of that powertrain (and towed the Elite II 3200 miles with it, including in Colorado) I would say that it's up to the task. Cooling was a known issue but all that means is you can't floor it up a steep grade. I never hit the red line on the temp gauge or got derated but I tend to drive conservatively especially when towing. Regardless, the important metric is payload capacity. My Jeep only had ~1150 lbs of payload, which we ran out of easily with the whole family, gear, and Ollie loaded up. I assume that this will have slightly more, maybe 1300lbs tops. If there's just two of you and you can travel light or load up the trailer instead of the tow vehicle then I would have no problem recommending the Ecodiesel.

+1 for Marinco.

This is very interesting and I appreciate the discussion. With regards to these plus an RV such as the Oliver, I'm not sure how I feel about hanging 100+ lbs (2 bikes) on a 40 lb rack 18" off the back bumper. I just started looking at folding e-bikes, with the idea that they could be carried inside either the Ollie or tow vehicle. Does anybody have any thoughts on this concept?

I'm interested to see what you think of it; I've been thinking about that as well. My thoughts are that it might prevent you from having to winterize if you're driving though cold weather. It is the most exposed delicate plumbing component although I'd still be worried about other things freezing. It sounds like it'd be very effective at keeping the thing warm overnight while camping in cold weather. On the other hand, battery capacity is more precious to me than propane, since I'm not cool enough to have lithium batteries. ;) I guess if you're somewhere that has electric hookups that's not a concern. Can you operate the unit (run hot water) while the Electric Antifreeze kit is installed?

I called Truma and they said to flush it out ASAP but no damage should have occured. I flushed it out Tuesday as it was snowing (air temp 35°, nothing was sticking). I heated up the trailer up to 60° prior to doing anything with the plumbing. Regarding the lack of a valve on the output hose, I believe there may be a backflow preventer installed. See pic: Edit: photo uploading doesn't appear to be working. I'll try again later.

Sorry for the threadjack but I have a related question. I forgot to close the bypass valve (mine appears to only have one valve on the intake, nothing on the output hose) when I pumped antifreeze into the trailer. Did I ruin the Truma? It's going to be a couple of days until I can flush out the antifreeze with water and then drain the water...warm days keep disappearing from the forecast.

No problems with odor here either, even though I have the "stinky" traditional toilet. I've learned to leave my shower drain valve open most of the time as well, especially when dumping.

Wow that is strange that they lowered the tow rating to 6200 lbs across the board. It doesn't make sense because the 3.6L V6, HEMI V8, and EcoDiesel all have the same 6200 lb tow rating. That means they must have tweaked something with the chassis to where the engine makes no difference at all. DEF is not a concern for the Ecodiesels, and presumably any small diesel. Mine only goes through 2.5 gallons every 5000 miles with my daily commute. I just get a jug at AutoZone and I'm on my way. HD diesel pickups use a lot more....

We have a Jeep Grand Cherokee Ecodiesel and with the Andersen hitch (WDH required) it tows the Ollie great. We average 16.5 mpg (hand-calculated) towing the Ollie, and with the 24 gallon fuel tank that gives us just shy of 400 miles of range. Ours has the air suspension and it is really nice for getting the vehicle level. Sure the WDH helps but you can't level it out completely with that. Towing in the mountains here in CO has been no problem. It has an 8-speed ZF transmission and using the paddle shifters makes it easy to hold a grade without drama. The car is comfortable and has all the bells and whistles other than Android Auto / Apple CarPlay, but those come standard now on the 2018+. The main downside of this vehicle is its payload capacity...only 1200 lbs. We can barely carry any cargo in the vehicle when we have my wife and I, kid, and dogs. If we take grandma too we'd be over weight, and she's only 110 lbs wet. Also some other owners have reported issues with the cooling system being able to keep up when towing up a long grade. We haven't had a problem with that yet but I don't try to tow at 70+ mph up a hill. With that said we just traded the Jeep for a 2018 Expedition to get additional payload capacity. From what I've found the large SUVs (Tahoe, Yukon, Expedition) have higher payload capacities (at highest trim levels) than equivalently-equipped half ton trucks. Haven't towed with the new car yet, they say we need to wait 1000 miles to get it broken in first. Alison, does yours have the CCD suspension or the regular suspension? How do you like how it rides with the trailer? I understand that neither suspension option has auto-leveling. How much does it squat for you?

Hull 344 came with the port also. I'm pretty sure it's the 6" but I never measured it. It's got plenty of room for my arm to get up in there. RobertH what year/hull# is your trailer?

It's only a one-handed operation on mine. We do what Mike and Carol described.

This is what I have recently discovered as well. I thought 1/2 tons would be more capable than they are, at least once you load them up with comfort and convenience items. I have a Jeep Grand Cherokee which is adequate for towing, but I'm looking out for what the next vehicle may be. It has 1200 lb payload capacity and 7200lb tow rating. I looked at a F150 Limited, only 1250 lbs payload. Ram 1500, 1300 lbs. Seriously? My little Jeep is not so bad after all! Still waiting for the 2019 Sierra 1500s to hit the lots around me to check those out, but so far it looks like a Yukon or Expedition are more capable than any of the 1/2 tons when it comes to an optioned-out tow vehicle. Both have payloads of ~1450 lbs at their highest trim/option levels. A diesel 3/4 ton would be much better as a tow vehicle and about the same price as the Yukon/Expy but I also need it to be my daily driver and family's main transport...an SUV is a more practical form factor for us.

That 1300 lb rating I posted is from the Tire and Loading Information sticker on an actual 2019 Ram 1500 Limited vehicle. Yeah their website and brochures quote large payloads, but that must be for 4x2 base models.