Frank C

I have a WeatherTech folding hard cover and a home built bike rack mounted over that. Plenty of storage underneath for all the stuff that we carry. And the rear crossbar of the bike rack can be slid forward or removed so I can fold up the bed cover when I need full access to the truck bed. The bike rack framing is T-slot extrusion from McMaster Carr and the fork mounts and rear wheel cradles are from Amazon.

Is the battery type set correctly on the Zamp controller? The display says that it’s set to AGM type batteries. You may want to double check your battery type just to make sure.

Yes, awning power is switched off when using the screen and the Carefree support poles.

We added a screen to the awning along with the Carefree support poles. It’s been great as extra living space with a bit of privacy, but it’s still quick to stow away in case of high winds.

We have the twin bed floor plan and we use the access door on the nightstand to put shoes in the basement. I put a small wire rack shelf in the basement to give two levels of shoe storage (his & hers).

Maybe I misunderstood your original post, but are you thinking you can get a Legacy Elite II for between 20K and 40k? Dollars? Even if you’re talking Euros, 40k isn’t enough for an Elite II.

Looking at similar discussions on other trailer forums like Airstream Airforum and the Escape forum it looks like the breakaway switch is not fused by other trailer manufacturers either. Whether it is a regulatory retirement issue or not isn’t clear but the industry practice seems to be no fuse on the trailer emergency breakaway power circuit. So I wouldn’t say this is an oversight by Oliver or a flaw. It looks like it was a risk assessment decision by the manufacturers, balancing the risk of fuse problems vs. the risk of electrical short in a mission critical emergency system. And based on discussions here and elsewhere, fuse problems (wrong value installed, fuse holder corrosion, etc.) seem far more common than dead shorts in wiring.

Definitely a good question... “To fuse or not to fuse?” I think the manufacturer logic is that you wouldn’t want to have a fuse that could even have a possibility of blowing in an emergency breakaway situation. If that switch is activated in a trailer breakaway scenario, I want the trailer brakes to be applied no matter what. I don’t want a fuse to blow if it’s a slight over current situation, or a loose fuse holder or corroded fuse contacts that could affect the emergency braking function. The fuse blowing would disable the emergency application of the brakes. If having no fuse means that there might possibly be some damage to the wiring with a really prolonged high current draw after breakaway, then I think that’s a worthwhile trade off to make sure the brakes get applied and stop the trailer. There’s no current flowing through that circuit in normal operation while towing or parked (although hungry mice could be a factor). So I’m not worried about protecting anything other that the trailer itself in a breakaway emergency. If there is some short circuit that is causing current flow in the breakaway circuit in a NON-emergency situation then it should be pretty self evident and I’ll probably notice that right away when I’m trying to move the trailer since the brakes will either be locked up all the time, or non-functional when I do the breakaway switch test as recommended.

Confirmed that we are a cult? 😆

We have two full camping seasons under our belts now with our Elite II, and we’ve only had a couple minor problems with things that are out of Oliver’s control. We had water in the backup camera lens (Oliver sent a replacement next day and it was an easy swap out), and a gasket on the bathroom fan cover came loose and needed replaced. Everything else still works as new. We shopped around for several years, going to RV shows and dealers comparing trailers, and were very close to purchasing an Airstream Nest, but found a lot of articles and web posts about huge problems with the Nest (Airstream has since discontinued the Nest). Once we did a visit with another Oliver owner and then did the factory tour and saw how they were built, we were convinced. The Oliver company and people have all been great to deal with. When the family name is the company name, it makes a difference.

I’m considering the same setup for an external cellular antenna on a mast. Found this one on Amazon that has a U-clamp setup to attach to a round pole. I haven’t figured out the thru-hull connection yet though. It comes with a 5 meter long cable so that should be plenty long enough. High Gain 10-12dBi External SMA Male/Dual TS9 3G 4G LTE Bracket Mount Signal Booster Antenna for Netgear Nighthawk M1 MR1100 Verizon Jetpack 8800L Mobile Hotpots Router MiFi Mobile Hotspot Router https://www.amazon.com/dp/B088FBV6HF/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glc_fabc_2z3aGb6DGB749?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Ford F-250, 6.2l gas engine. I figure around 600 lbs. tongue weight on the trailer based on what most owners have measured. 3,334 lbs. payload capacity on the truck so no problem hauling all the stuff we take with us when camping. Only “dream” vehicle change would maybe be the same truck but with a diesel engine.

We’ve been members of Harvest Hosts for two camping seasons now in our travels with our Oliver. Well worth the money. It’s been very useful for quick overnight stops on the way to our destinations, and some hosts have had a power hookup available. Some great overnight stops to see things that we otherwise would have missed out on if we had just done the Walmart or Cabela’s parking lot overnight stays. Nowhere near I40 but one example of a great HH stop is the Glenn Curtiss Aviation Museum in New York. This was one of my favorite HH stops. Otherwise a lot of wineries as HH stops. We did get the upgraded membership that includes many golf courses as well. We’ve been planning a trip out west for next year and there are a LOT of HH stops all along I40.

Yeah, payload capacity is what convinced me to move to an F-250. We haul a lot of “stuff” when camping and I didn’t want to have to worry about payload limits. Just the loaded Elite II tongue weight (tanks full, etc.) and a driver and passenger will use up 1,000 lbs. of your payload. And I have a bed liner, the Rock Tamer mudflaps (which are really heavy), a rigid bed cover, an over the bed cover bike rack, plus bikes, camp chairs, portable solar panel, portable gas grill, folding tables, toolboxes, water filtration system, etc, etc, etc. My F-250 is optioned with the HD package and has a 3,334 lb. payload limit.

I just level the trailer with the standard Oliver electric stabilizers and that takes a little bit of load off of the tires. No other stands or jacks used. But I haven’t had any problems yet with the tires getting flat spotted after last winter storage. Wheels & tires are covered to protect them from exposure. And the trailer is plugged into a house AC power outlet to keep the batteries charged. It is a two person job though to get the cover on the trailer. It’s a lot of fabric that is pretty clumsy to handle. And I have not seen any signs of chafing or scuffing of the fiberglass gel coat finish caused by the cover (and I inspect my trailer very careful all the time when I wash and wax it during camping season).

Calmark cover. And a couple of the Damp-Rid buckets inside the camper to absorb any excess moisture, but it’s always extremely dry inside the camper if there’s nothing inside to generate moisture such as people breathing or cooking. https://calmarkcovers.com

As you can see it’s a point of debate. But you have to look at more than just towing capacity. You have to also look at the payload/cargo sticker on the specific truck you are considering. It’ll be on the driver’s door jamb. And it’ll be different ratings even on two of the same truck sitting side by side on the dealer’s lot depending on how each truck is optioned. An Elite II with 500 to 600 lbs of tongue weight plus a driver and just 1 passenger will eat up 1,000 lbs of your payload capacity, and that’s BEFORE you start adding any other accessories like a cap or bed cover on the truck, a bed liner, and any luggage, a loaded cooler, etc. A lot of the high option (Limited, Platinum, King Ranch, etc) half ton trucks have less than 1,500 lbs. payload ratings.

We tow our Elite II with a 2019 F-250 with the factory upgraded tow package, 6.2 gas engine. 12,500 lbs. towing capacity, 1,200 lbs. tongue weight capacity, 3,334 lbs. payload. We haul a lot of stuff when camping. The bed of the truck is full of stuff like camp chairs, Andersen jack buckets, portable solar panel setup, portable 3 stage water filtration system, toolboxes, 9’ x 12’ outdoor rug, folding tables, plus the weight of the Rock Tamer mudflap system, a rigid bed cover, over the bed cover bike rack, bikes, etc. so having the high payload capacity is a must for us. The ride is pretty stiff when unloaded/not towing. But I’m used to it now. I do use the truck as my daily driver.

You could maybe tow an Elite 1 for short distances, but no way is the Tesla model X adequate for an Elite II. Model X towing limit is right at 5,000 lbs. and a loaded Elite II will be well over that. And the payload limit is a problem as well. 1,300 lbs payload will be used up pretty quickly with the trailer tongue weight and 2 adults and luggage in the car.

I use quick connects on all of the water connections on our Ollie. Makes setup and tear down at campgrounds a lot faster. Bought extras so I could have one attached to the cap that is already on the fittings. And I put a 1/4 turn ball shut off valve at the hose end to turn off the water quickly anytime we leave the camper for an extended time. And a 45 degree elbow so it doesn’t stick out too far.

Happy Thanksgiving to the Oliver company and all of the Ollie owners family!

The main reason is that the 2” Bulldog coupler on the Ollie is rated at “only” 7,000 lbs, but the 2-5/16” Bulldog coupler is rated at 12,500 lbs. Some Ollie owners have a loaded weight close to or even over 7,000 lbs., so upgrading the ball size along with a higher rated hitch and a bigger tow vehicle gives a lot more towing capacity and safety factor.

First, thanks to John for the incredibly detailed install photos and notes on the Bulldog upgrade. I’ve been considering doing this update to the larger Bulldog coupler. Still undecided. I’m under 6,000 lbs for my loaded weight, but I’m always a fan of overkill/big safety margins. For me the one worrisome single point of failure in the whole towing setup is that EVERYTHING is held to your tow vehicle by a single 5/8” diameter hitch pin holding your hitch into your tow vehicle receiver. So no matter how large the bolts on the Bulldog, or whether you use the Andersen hitch, etc., we all still have to trust that one single hitch pin (with safety cables as the backup in case of failure). And I’ve found that a lot of the off-brand hitch pins don’t even list a weight rating. I’m using an Andersen stainless steel locking hitch pin and Andersen claims a shear strength of 30,000 lbs. so I guess I’m ok there. Maybe the Bulldog upgrade at my next service visit to Oliver.

We have the Truma. Very happy with it. But as John mentioned, it’s better suited for camping at full hookup campsites. The point of the Truma is to be able to have more hot water for longer showers, etc. so that means using more water and filling up the gray tank faster. So the Truma makes sense at a full hookup site where you have a city water connection so you don’t have to worry about running out of fresh water, and you can empty the gray tank as often as needed. No problems with ours as long as I remember to turn on the propane.

Just remember that despite what the MeWe privacy statement says, if they are offering a “free” site to join, you have to ask how they are paying for their expenses such as app and webpage development, server hosting costs, etc. I’m sure any good lawyer that MeWe hired would make sure that privacy statement has plenty of loopholes for MeWe to use for their business. We all know Facebook shares our data for targeted ads and more, and Facebook makes no secret of it anymore. We/our data is the product that Facebook uses and sells for their income. And Oliver hosts this forum as part of their business to support the trailer business and hopefully sell more trailers. MeWe has to be monetizing its users somehow. I doubt they created the site out of the goodness of their hearts. And there are already three Oliver Facebook pages (Oliver Trailer Owners, Oliver Owners of America, and Oliver Travel Trailer for sale) plus this forum.