Frank C

I use these for the drain valves in the tanks and for the toilet seal: Thetford RV Drain Valve Lubricant - 24 oz 15843 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000BGK2L0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i_J1ZQNKVYXSMAS2H9RT56?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1 Thetford RV Toilet Seal Lube and Conditioner - Toilet Seal Lubricant - 24 oz 36663 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002NSU0ZW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i_E09NVBCQX20WYZ1A7V5G?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Exceeding your towing and tongue weight limits and ignoring the need for a weight distribution hitch is more than just a legal issue. It has a huge effect on the front tires and their loading/contact patch area. As the hitch/tongue weight goes up the front tire loading on the tow vehicle goes down, reducing contact patch area and friction, so cornering and braking are affected, along with an increased risk of hydroplaning in rainy conditions. If it only affected that person towing and ignoring the requirements, I’d be more than happy to just watch the tow fail video on YouTube (and there are plenty of them), but the rest of us share the road too.

From Ford’s published 2022 towing guide. The F-150 requires a weight distribution hitch for a trailer weight over 5,000 lbs. and/or a tongue weight over 500 lbs. You will exceed both of those numbers with an Elite II. Link attached to the full document. Anyone towing a trailer should find and read the guide for their tow vehicle to fully understand the limits and risks. And some hilarious assumptions that the manufacturers use to make their specs look better, like assuming a 150 lb. driver and passenger 😂. https://www.fleet.ford.com/content/dam/aem_fleet/en_us/fleet/towing-guides/2022_Ford_RVandTrailerTowingGuide.pdf

The recall is for a driveshaft issue, not the axle, and apparently it’s only an issue on gas engine F-250s with the aluminum driveshaft.

We use this 9’x12’ mat. We started with a 6’x9’ but found it to be too small. It folds up like a map into a fairly small size, and the way this bigger 9’x12’ mat folds, it can also be folded in half to make it a 6’x9’ if the campsite has limited space. It’s easy to clean and hoses off easily. We store it in the bed of the truck when traveling. Camco Large Reversible Outdoor Patio Mat - Easy to Clean, Perfect for Picnics, Cookouts, Camping, and The Beach (9' x 12', Lattice Blue Design) (42856) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01JRBPFZC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i_5H72K3NKHEBQWZNDHQ2M?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

We have the rear camera and find it very useful. We use it when on the road while towing to see what’s going on behind the trailer, and also use it for backing up/backing into campsites. The monitor has a suction cup mount that attaches to the inside of the windshield in your preferred location.

My 7 pin cable isn’t quite long enough to reach back to the jack post.

That’s only 12volts DC to the compost toilet fan, same as the bathroom exhaust fan. Low voltage so no chance of getting electrocuted.

I also keep my bulldog coupler cleaned and lubricated, and I also put grease on the ball as well. And yeah, the Bulldog will bite. I always wear gloves now when opening and closing the Bulldog coupler after getting fingers bit when the sliding collar snaps open or closed.

I added the bathroom door magnet catch, same as Mike and Carol. I also added a stainless cable tether to hold the access port on the propane tank cover do it doesn’t get lost. Some owners have lost the port cover by setting it on top of the tank cover and then forgetting to replace it, and then driving off. And a 7 pin plug holder from etrailer to keep rain out of the plug. A lot of trailer owners have commented about their trailer exterior running lights mysteriously being on when parked at a campground or in storage, and it’s because of water shorting out the 12v hot and ground with the wire for the running lights in the plug if the plug isn’t covered, draining the battery. All cheap upgrades but very useful.

No 110 outlet in the bathroom because it’s a wet bath. There is an outlet just outside the bathroom below the closet door.

Welcome! There are several critical towing capacity numbers you need to look at on your Ranger. You mentioned one of them and that is your towing capacity of 7,500 lbs., but you also need to find out the following info, which you should be able to get from the Ford Towing Guide for the Ranger (link below), and from stickers/labels on your truck. And the Andersen hitch is both a weight distribution hitch (WDH) and an anti-sway hitch. - The tongue weight limits (both with and without a weight distribution hitch). Look for a label on your hitch receiver on your truck. See photo below from my F-250 for example. Tongue weight is typically about 10% of the trailer weight. - Payload/cargo capacity limit (this will be on a yellow & white sticker on the door frame of your Ranger. See photo below from my F-250 for example. That number has to include your tongue weight, weight of driver and passenger and any luggage, the weight of any bed liner, bed cover or cap that you have, etc Most people with smaller tow vehicles will exceed the payload limit without realizing it. - Frontal area limit. - Gross Combined Weight Rating (GCWR). Based on the numbers I’ve seen, the Ranger is marginal at best as a tow vehicle for an Elite II with options and equipment loaded up. https://www.ford.com/cmslibs/content/dam/brand_ford/en_us/brand/resources/general/pdf/guides/20Towing_Ford_Ranger_Oct15.pdf

If you’re a Ford Super Duty owner (F-250 and F-350, 2017 through 2022), keep an eye out for a recall notice from Ford for a potential driveshaft issue. But you can still check for yourself to see if anything (loose thermal or noise shield) is contacting the driveshaft on your vehicle. I’ll be checking mine. https://abcn.ws/3IjZ8Am

That chart is really bizarre and confusing. Don’t rest your hand on the jack when it’s fully lowered or the jack will fail. 🙂

The need/requirement for use of a weight distribution hitch such as the Andersen system is based on the manufacturers specs for tongue weight limit of the tow vehicle. If you check the towing guides that are published by the manufacturers, you will find that most 1/2 ton pickup trucks have a tongue weight limit of 500 lbs. for a basic weight carrying hitch, and for tongue weights above that you need/ require a weight distribution hitch. And an Elite II will exceed a 500 lbs. tongue weight. And when you get above a 500 lbs. tongue weight you are probably starting to get really close to your payload/cargo limit of your tow vehicle (this is NOT the same thing as towing capacity) when you add in your camping gear, a bed cover or cap, a bed liner, Rock Tamer mud flaps, tools, etc. Here’s an example from Ford’s towing guide showing the tongue load limits for the F-150. And all the limits are based on assuming a 150 lb. driver and passenger. I don’t know about the rest of you but 150 lbs was a long time ago 😂

Let’s see…. Add a second axle, a twin bed option, a bit longer, wider and taller…. Oh, wait….

There is a sensor module for the awning wind retraction system that has a battery that needs replaced every so often. When the battery gets low the sensor starts chirping. Not sure which power awning you have so check your owners manual for the details. The sensor on ours is mounted on the inside surface of the outer extruded rail of the awning, around the midpoint of the rail.

Trainman, I think you’re misunderstanding what we’re discussing scissor jacks for. This heavy duty scissor jack is to lift one side of the Ollie completely off the ground for flat tire changes & wheel bearing maintenance using the labeled lift points on the Oliver frame. I’m not using this heavy duty scissor jack for stabilizing the trailer while camping. I do use the onboard stabilizer jacks as intended to prevent rocking of the camper when set up at a campsite. Oliver recommends AGAINST using the onboard stabilizer jacks to lift the trailer completely for tire changes, etc. although some owners have been known to do that.

We have the interior basement access door option. It’s something we could have eliminated from our build. It is a fairly small opening. We don’t use it for anything now. We tried it for access for putting shoes in the basement for a bit, but as we’ve evolved our camping setup, I use the basement for all the outside hookup items (shore power AC cord, TV coax cable, water hoses, water filters, water pressure regulator, etc) all in milk crates to keep things organized and easy to pull out of the basement through the exterior basement door.

Yes, your tow vehicle must have a trailer brake controller and the 7 pin connector near the hitch receiver to connect to the trailer brake/electrical/light system.

Same problem in the same AC vent when we were in Moab last year. The little birds were persistent. I’d clear out the twigs every day and they would start again right away. The only thing that kept them away was running the air conditioner. I’m planning to add some screening over the vents before we venture out for this year’s trips.

Welcome to the forum! For your payload number and tow weight/tongue weight numbers there are a few other things to consider that add up quickly. You’re going to need the Andersen weight distribution hitch for your truck, and that hitch system weighs close to 50 lbs. If you have a bed liner, cap or bed cover on your truck you have to count all that towards your payload limit as well. Tools, a cooler full of food/drinks, camping gear, bicycles, etc. all add up. And if you have your fresh water tank and gray water tank full that can be another 500 lbs of trailer weight.

Welcome to the forum! We have the twin bed layout. We like the extra drawer storage and countertop that the nightstand provides, and the extra aisle space for moving around. The twin beds are very comfortable (we have the upgraded mattresses). I’m 6’-1” and have no problems. And if one of us gets up in the middle of the night it doesn’t disturb the other one. Plus much faster/easier access to get to the access hatches for all the routine maintenance such as access to the valves for configuration for winterizing or boondocking, easier access to the furnace and water heater systems, electrical systems, etc. by just lifting up one twin mattress, doesn’t even require removing any bedding.

The Agile adapter is reversible. Flat on one face and curved on the other so it can also be used for lifting on an axle tube. The gear reduction seems to be about 3 or 4 to 1, so it definitely increases the amount of cranking, but the jack is pretty tall to start with, especially with the Agile block on top, and the ratchet handle makes for pretty quick work when raising.

The Oliver has taken over my life and my budget 😂. I have no other habits like smoking, drinking, or gambling to spend money on, just the Oliver and travel. So I purchased one of the military surplus HUMVEE scissor jacks and the Agile Offroad adapter block. I know there are some Ollie owners that use their stabilizer jacks to lift the Ollie for tire changes, but I prefer not to. The HUMVEE jack is brand new in box military surplus from an EBAY source here in the US. A very heavy duty jack. Beefier than the scissor jack I was using from my old (long gone) Dodge pickup truck. HUMVEE jack on the right, Dodge jack on the left in the first photo. Nice features on the HUMVEE jack like a ratcheting handle, a very large baseplate for a big footprint on softer ground, a gear reduction box (see photo, on the right end of the jack screw) to give a big mechanical advantage while raising the jack, and a nice carry bag included. I’ll be doing my wheel bearing repack in a couple months before hitting the road again with the Ollie, and I think this new scissor jack will be a big improvement for lifting the Ollie. It’s appropriately sized for the Ollie, from the specs I’ve found it’s rated for 3.5 tons. I tried a bottle jack but that requires wooden blocks to get enough lift height, and bottle jacks require additional safety measures like jack stands or the Ollie stabilizers. And the old Dodge truck jack seemed just a little undersized for the Ollie (it was from a Dodge Dakota pickup). And the Agile adapter block fits perfectly under Ollie lift points on the suspension subframe. https://www.ebay.com/itm/AM-GENERAL-5939822-MILITARY-TRUCK-SCISSOR-JACK-NSN-5120-01-375-0070-/284624079355?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m2548.l6249&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0 https://agileoffroad.com/product/agile-h1-scissor-jack-axle-frame-jack-adaptor/