Rivernerd

The Tire Minder TPMS system we recently purchased for the Elite II we picked up on November 10, 2022 was relatively easy to program. It performed well during our 2000+mile journey back to Idaho. With ambient temps ranging from the teens to the 50's F, we noted about a 3-PSI pressure increase from 50 PSI "cold" to 53 PSI "hot" as the tires warmed while on the road. It will be interesting to see what happens when towing in warmer temps, next spring.

I note your post notes work on an Oliver with a Dometic furnace, and you list "Hull 1111" under your name. But, your automatic signature block says "soon to be Elite II owners." Do you need to update your auto signature, or are you upgrading from an Elite I to an Elite II?

Photo of scored 2-5/16" hitch ball attached. I guess time will tell (when we use the Oliver next spring) if the scoring gets worse, or just "settles in", after trying the 4-fold wax paper lube method.

Torque the set screw as tightly as you can. Mine was not properly torqued at the factory, and so came off during our 2000+ mile drive home to Idaho a couple of weeks ago.

Makes sense. Thanks to you and Bill (Topgun2) for the explanations. I infer that, since waxed paper shouldn't seep when friction warms it up, that should be the preferred way to reduce coupler-to-ball friction, yet avoid the seepage issue, even with my 2022 version of the Andersen WD hitch. So, I think I'll try that method.

I also upgraded to the 2-6/16" Bulldog coupler, and purchased an Andersen WD hitch with the 2-5/16" ball. I installed it myself at the Oliver campsite the day after we took delivery. Per Andersen's ALL CAPS. BOLD AND HIGHLIGHTED INSTRUCTION on page 5 of their Installation Manual to "DO NOT GREASE THE BALL OR COUPLER," I didn't. Yet, after towing 2000+ miles back home to Idaho, there is a wear pattern on the 2-5/16" ball strikingly similar to the one pictured in John Davies' initial post above, just not as deep. Photo attached. So, I plan to try the wax paper trick for the next trip or two, and evaluate whether the wear is increased. But this makes me wonder what prompts Andersen's dire warning to not grease. Are they afraid the lubricant will allow the coupler to separate from the ball?

Oliver has added no insulation, and no other return air vents so far. I reference "more insulation" and "additional return air vents" in my post above as recommended "additional improvements" that Oliver could implement going forward.

1-7/8". See the Andersen Fitment Guide, link below. https://help.andersenhitches.com/weight-distribution-help-guide That should be enough to eliminate the conflict between the truck tailgate and the Bulldog coupler. And, according to the Andersen weight distribution hitch installation guide, having the trailer a bit nose down is better than a bit nose up. See link below: https://help.andersenhitches.com/install-weight-distribution-hitch

Good suggestion. Oliver has already chosen to install Truma Varioheat furnaces in all 2023 models. I believe the improvement in cold-weather performance in trailers with that furnace are due to Truma's insistence on use of Truma's specified ducting and design, including the return air vent in the bathroom. But, our experience camping with our Varioheat-equipped Oliver in single digit overnight temps above 5000 feet indicates that additional improvements, including more insulation in critical areas and additional furnace return air vents, could move the Oliver toward becoming a true "4-season trailer" even in more extreme climates. I believe Oliver does care about improving the quality of its products as the model years go by, and so would welcome the input. In my judgment, the Oliver is already superior to Airstream's offerings, or we would own an Airstream. Such improvements may not cost much more during production, and yet could push Oliver even further ahead of its competition.

I had the same reaction to Oliver's $800 price for the backup camera. But then I thought through how I would run the wire between the hulls from the camera to the power switch, and whether I could feasibly install a power switch in the main switch panel, so the camera does not operate 24/7. I am pretty handy, but we ultimately paid the premium to have Oliver install the backup camera in our Hull #1291 during the production process. The work was nicely done. We were glad to have it during our 2000+ mile trip home to Idaho.

We boondocked one cold night in Oklahoma on our way home from Hohenwald a couple of weeks ago. We ran the furnace all night. By morning there were white flakes falling from the sky. The power drain on our 390 Ah Lithium Pro Package was about 15% (meaning the Lithionics app showed about 85% State of Charge on all 3 of our batteries that morning). Even though the next day was mostly cloudy, our batteries were back close to 100% State of Charge by that evening just from solar recharge. Our trailer, like all Olivers with lithium batteries, is not recharged by the tow vehicle alternator. While battery drain should not be an issue when running the furnace overnight for up to 4-5 nights, you should also keep tabs on your propane supply. We burned through about 1.6 gallons of propane every cold night. So, with the two stock 5-gallon propane tanks, you should be o.k. for those same 4-5 nights before getting your propane tanks refilled.

All 2023 Olivers come with the Truma Varioheat furnace. One of the 2023 demo models on the Oliver showroom floor has Truma AC, water heater and Varioheat furnace. The other 2023 demo has the Dometic AC, Suburban water heater, but the Truma Varioheat furnace.

It's not me! I was never licensed in Oregon, and am no longer licensed to practice law anywhere, having retired 5 years ago. But, before you even consider retaining counsel, I recommend you contact Oliver's Sales and Operations Manager Rodney Lomax. His email address is: rlomax@olivertraveltrailers.com. My impression, when I met with him personally about two weeks ago, was that he has a high level of integrity, and cares very much how Oliver is perceived by its customers. I recommend you offer the explanation found in my post above (that the gas line must have been connected to the Varioheat furnace by an Oliver tech during production, because only Oliver could have installed the gas line in the trailer) and politely ask him to intervene to get Oliver to cover the repair under warranty. I will be quite surprised if he doesn't get the problem solved for you, by Oliver, not Truma. Before contacting Mr. Lomax, I would buy the necessary wrenches (it looks to me like 3/8" drive 17mm and 19mm crowfoots will work in that tight space, attached to 3/8" ratchet extensions, and controlled by 3/8" ratchets). You may even be able to get an open-end wrench on one of them--you likely will not know until you try it. I would then hold the "bottom nut" with one wrench while tightening the flare nut with another wrench--carefully, a little bit at a time, until the leak stopped. This is the way brass flare nuts are commonly tightened. If you are not comfortable with that approach, then take it to an RV service center, and ask Oliver to pay the bill.

That fitting connecting the gas line to the Truma Varioheat could not have been installed by Truma. It must have been installed by Oliver when the Varioheat furnace was installed in the trailer, and the gas line, which was installed by Oliver during manufacture, was connected to the furnace. If the flare nut connecting the gas line to the furnace was not properly torqued, that failure was by Oliver. Did Oliver service pass the buck to Truma in response to your service ticket?

Ergo, there is no effective warranty on Dometic products installed in Oliver trailers. Oliver passes the buck to Dometic, which has no service centers that will work on Dometic products installed in Olivers, because Oliver has no dealers. A complete circle of coverage denial. As a retired trial lawyer, this gets my blood pumping. Although we have a Truma furnace, we have other Dometic products installed in our 2022 Elite II, including the cooktop and toilet. I am quite interested to hear Mike's response. Please report.

One consideration: Do the antennas, cell booster or WAN packages come with switches on the main panel by the entry to the trailer? The backup camera does, and that was a significant factor in our decision to pay the premium for Oliver to do the install. This gave us not only the switch, but the connecting wires already in place between the hulls. You might consider submitting an inquiry to your sales rep. For what it's worth, we opted not to include either the cell booster or the wireless WAN. Instead, we upgraded our Verizon cell package to included unlimited data, then used our cell phones as mobile hot spots. That system gave us internet access wherever we had Verizon cell coverage. But, of course, we did not have the bandwidth to stream data-intensive programming, like on the TV.

No filter. But there will be no pet hair in our trailer, because pets are not allowed. One reason we purchased a travel trailer is my severe cat allergy and significant dog allergy. The return air vent in the bath is 2" OD, the same size as the supply vents in the trailer. It just looks big in my photo.

No. We didn't want the communications add-ons you reference, but we did want the backup camera. For what it's worth, we paid Oliver's premium to install the backup camera because I feared the same issue you are now facing with regard to wifi, satellite and cell boosters: where do the wires go between the hulls, and where does the power come from? With a March, 2023 delivery date, it probably is not too late to update your order to pay the premium for those communications add-ons. Yes, its spendy. But then you will have the cabling and power supply infrastructure in place to replace any component that becomes outdated.

See this excellent post by John Davies for instruction on how to adjust "Nev-R-Adjust" brakes on an Oliver.

Did you check the adjustment mechanism on the bottom of the assembly? You should be able to back off the adjustment screw a bit to create more separation between the shoe and the hub.

We not only asked, but got lucky. We were also initially told "no," because there were no open, later, production dates into which we could be slotted. So I put in a request, advising that if a later production date opened up, we would be happy to defer delivery to get the Truma AC upgrade. When that later (September 29) production date became available (which meant a November 10 delivery date), Rodney Lomax called to confirm, and we accepted, even though it meant towing our new Ollie back from Tennessee to Idaho in November instead of September--when driving conditions in the west can be icy. Mr. Lomax also made clear that getting the Truma AC was not a sure thing, because it depended on that first shipment of Aventa units from Truma being received before production began on our trailer. That shipment date was projected, but not guaranteed. We understood the risk, and accepted it, knowing that we might be driving back to Idaho in icy conditions with a Dometic Penguin II AC unit instead of a Truma. As it turned out, the shipment was timely received (in this era of supply chain issues). We got the Truma AC and, despite an early winter in the west, and the delays in Hohenwald detailed in my report, ended up with a timely weather window. It allowed us to complete the trip home on mostly dry roads (but dealing with some cold nights with lows in single digits and teens at high elevations). Our first notice that the $3800 Truma upgrade included the Varioheat furnace came when we received an updated Deposit Receipt from Oliver in July noting that the Truma upgrade included the Varioheat furnace instead of the stock Suburban. At the time, we were focused on the Truma Aventa AC, and honestly didn't have a preference for either furnace. But, since the Varioheat furnace came as part of the package, we hoped it would be an improvement. For what it's worth, we did have some furnace ignition issues on cold nights at high elevation in New Mexico, Colorado and Utah last week, but we suspect it was the elevation (4800 to 6200 feet) affecting propane gasification, which probably would have occurred with either furnace. But, as noted in my report, we are pleased with the more robust ducting, and the additional return air vent that came with the Varioheat. I am sorry you are having so much trouble with your furnace, and apparently wound up with balance beads without the screened valve stems. I recommend you submit a service ticket to Oliver, advise them that you have had two stuck valve stems, and ask them to ship to you 5 of the Counteract filtered valve stems they mailed to everyone else who mistakenly got balance beads. Swapping out valve stems should be much easier than trying to remove all of the balance beads. In your shoes, I would have a less positive view of Oliver as well...

I have EZ lube fittings on my raft trailer. They are great for extending the time between bearing repacks, but I am not comfortable letting my wheel bearings go more than 2-3 years without a full repack, even with a shot of grease into the zerk every 6 months or so. I go by the old saying "Its' not the age, its the mileage." If your trailer only gets used 4 weeks a year, and is only towed 4K miles during those 4 weeks, I would be comfortable waiting to repack the bearings until I got to 10K miles or 2 years. There are pros and cons to Nev-R-Lube bearings. See this thread:

Thanks for the tip!

I adopted John Davies' turnbuckle approach with our new Elite II picked up on November 10, 2022. After camping 12 nights at various places in 7 states, and towing more than 2000 miles, I am pleased with the setup. At one back-in campsite, the whale tail ended up angled relative to the hitch ball. When reattaching the whale tail, I further loosened the turnbuckle on the "long" side, which enabled me to get the whale tail onto the bottom of the ball mount. Then I snugged up both turnbuckles, completing the process with Robogrips. IMHO, this is an additional benefit of the turnbuckle system. But, the turnbuckles don't fully replace the front chain extensions on our 2022 Elite II. They replace 10 of the necessary 23 additional links, so before leaving for Hohenwald, I bought two 15-link lengths of 3/8" chain to serve as chain extensions, to ensure that I had enough chain. And, yep, I now get to cut two links off of each chain, as they turned out to be surplus. Thanks, John, for the idea!

After I replaced the empty tank with our full spare, we had that same thought. So, we put the lever between the two tanks, so it pulled fuel from both. But, alas, it only made a little bit of difference. At 6200 feet in Cortez, CO, even with the system drawing from both tanks, it still took up to 10 "whumps" to get ignition at ambient temps down to 11 degrees F.