Rivernerd

Those are the same reasons I plan to replace my springs, now that I know there have been a number of failures with the cheap Chinese 4-leaf springs. I had a leaf spring fail on my raft trailer many years ago in the "middle of nowhere," and it caused a logistical nightmare. Even after spring upgrade, the amount we load onto the trailer will not change. But I will have greater peace of mind when towing Hull #1291 far from home!

It seems that the only suspension component on 2022+ Elite IIs that limits the GVWR to 7K lbs. is the 4-leaf springs. The bearings on each 5200 lb. axle should be rated to 5200 lbs., like the axle is. It stands to reason that replacing all four of those 4-leaf springs with heavier duty "Made in America" 5-leaf springs could enable an 8000 lb. GVWR (2Kx4=8K) , at least in practical application. Do any of you engineer types out there disagree with this analysis? That said, I don't plan to increase the load on our Hull #1291 even if we upgrade to the 5-leaf springs, because we tow with a 2019 Tundra. The low Tundra payload capacity is our real limitation, not the trailer GVWR. But, I like to overbuild, so a beefier suspension than is absolutely necessary appeals to me.

Coil springs would be nice.

I bought my first combustible gas detector 25 years ago after I watched a Washington Natural Gas investigator use one to find a natural gas leak near one of our water heaters. Like you, I am a DIYer. I like to use the tools the pros use.

No. We have the Oliver-installed shower curtain, which keeps the toilet area, including the return air vent location, fairly dry during showers. And, like you, we squeegee the shower walls to speed up drying of the wet bath. Given the amount of air flow whenever the furnace is running, we have experienced no moisture issues in the underbelly. I believe the more abundant source of any moisture in that area comes from condensation when outside ambient temps are low and humidity is high. The flow of return air through the underbelly, which is enabled by the return air vent in the shower, actually helps dry out this condensation.

Below is a photo the return air vent in the bath installed by Oliver in our 2022 Elite II Hull #1291. The photo is taken looking down; our standard Dometic toilet is visible in the upper right corner of the frame. This 3" vent allows hot air pushed into the bath by the Truma Varioheat furnace to return through the underbelly to the furnace. It does not create a draft. Below is a photo of the other side of the bath return air vent, taken from underneath the front dinette seat. In addition to this factory 3" return air vent, I added a 4" vent on the aisle side of the front dinette seat. A photo of that "owner-installed" vent appears above in this thread. The additional 4" vent further improved the flow of return air through the underbelly of the trailer. That allows us to camp in colder ambient temps without putting the plumbing in the underbelly at risk.

Yes, because I believe that closing it off would cause our Truma Varioheat furnace to throw error codes. See my post above on this thread about the furnace filter affecting performance of the Varioheat furnace.

Yes. See, e.g.: https://www.amazon.com/Vent-Cover-Built-Ventilation-Plastic/dp/B0822VXRNQ?th=1

One caution for Truma Varioheat owners: The Truma Varioheat air intake is right behind the return air vent. I tried adding a furnace filter over that air intake, but it generated error messages. Closing off all or part of that return air vent right in front of the Truma Varioheat air intake could create more problems that it solves. See my April 25, 2023 post in this thread:

Agreed. That is why I also installed a vent on the aisle side of the front dinette seat, to allow more return air from the front of the main cabin back through the underbelly area to the furnace. See photo below.

I used my $27 Smart Sensor combustible gas sensor to locate a propane leak at a fitting on an outdoor propane tank at our church last year. Our noses smelled the mercaptan odorant in the propane to alert us to the presence of the leak. The sensor then isolated the source to that fitting, which was repaired. It works outside, as well as inside. I now carry a Smart Sensor detector in our Hull #1291. Then I don't have to worry about whether the stoichiometric air/fuel ratio inside the trailer is within a dangerous range when searching for the location of a propane leak. https://www.amazon.com/Detector-Portable-Combustible-Adjustable-Sensitivity/dp/B07H671NJ3?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&psc=1&smid=A2PG0JPHUSQSX8

See photo below, showing both the bottom and top vents I installed. As you can see, they are cut into the wall above and below the closet door, allowing air from the main cabin to flow into and then out of the closet. I am advised that Oliver is now installing such vents in new trailers being manufactured.

Trust me, they do. Think of it this way: the furnace blower creates positive air pressure in the trailer's main cabin. If you left the closet door open all the time, this positive air pressure would push warmed air into the closet. The two vents work in a similar way: the positive air pressure pushes the cold air near the floor level of the main cabin through the lower vent (i.e., a hole with louvers) into the closet. As the warmed air rises, it exits the top vent (hole), creating a convection current in the closet.

Our Hull #1291 did not come with return air vents in the closet. I installed them, one top and one bottom. Our experience has been that before the addition of those vents, the closet stayed about 20 degrees colder than the main cabin when camping in cold weather and running the furnace with the closet door closed. After the vents were added, the closet temps stay just a degree or two below those in the main cabin. Convection of heated cabin air, between the bottom and top closet vents, explains the difference.

Until late 2022, I agree. But, once Oliver started offering the Truma Varioheat option on Elite IIs, a return air vent in the bath was added. Then, Oliver began installing return air vents in the top and bottom of the closet area. I call this attention to "the benefits of proper return air placement."

No. We have the Lithium Pro Package, which includes 390 Ah capacity (3 Lithionics 130Ah). The Lithionics have Battery Management Systems (BMS) which will automatically turn them off if they reach about 10% State of Charge, protecting them from overdischage. For many years I used 12V deep cycle AGM batteries to power my CPAP machine on wilderness river trips. I had to monitor them closely to avoid discharge below 50%, to avoid damaging them. Now I use LiFePO4 batteries with built-in BMS on wilderness river trips. They are much lighter weight and yet provide a greater discharge range. That experience persuaded us to spend the extra $$$ on the Lithionics package for our Hull #1291.

I bought the Truma before we took delivery of Hull #1291 in November, 2022. It worked o.k., but required me to remove the cover of the "doghouse" each time I wanted to check propane levels. So, I invested in a pair of Mopeka tank sensors in 2023. They have worked well. So, I haven't used the Truma since!

Because we always carry a spare 20 lb. propane tank, we opted to forego the front and rear low-pressure propane connectors on our Hull #1291. We prefer to be able to position our propane camp stove quite a distance from the trailer anyway. Your report has confirmed that our choice was the right one for us.

Thanks for sharing. I have precisely the same light configuration on my ARE canopy on my Tundra tow vehicle that you do.

That works great, if you have both: (1) a 30A female to 15A male adapter and (2) a 15A receptacle on the pedestal.

See this thread: There are two views: (1) the EMS built into your Oliver is enough, and it's immune to theft and, the contrary group (2) double protection helps some of us sleep better at night, even at the risk of an external protector "growing legs." As noted in the above-referenced thread, I carry a Power Watchdog. It not only provides peace of mind, but it has detected bad wiring at more than one campground pedestal (by just not allowing power to get to the trailer). On the topic of "What are we forgetting": I recommend a quality 50-ft. 30A power cord. I bought ours in case we ended up having to park the trailer further from the pedestal than the stock Oliver 30A cord would reach. I have not yet needed it for that purpose. But, I use the stock Oliver 30A power cable to keep our Hull #1291 plugged in to the 30A receptacle in the shed where I park it. Last fall, I was glad to have that backup 50-footer stowed away in the "basement" of the Oliver when we arrived at our state park campsite, because I found I had absentmindedly left the shorter Oliver cable in the shed when I disconnected it from the shore power receptacle!

We took those same two items (a quality pressure regulator with gauge and an inline water filter) with us when taking delivery in November, 2022. We used them at every campground stop on the way back to Idaho. I put the pressure regulator on the "upstream" side, with the water filter immediately downstream of the regulator, then a short length of hose to connect to the city water inlet. FWIW, I noted that water pressure varied significantly at the places we camped.

Good to know!

Yes, and yes. Water quality and pressure vary widely from campground to campground.

We have the Truma Aquago water heater in our Hull #1291. I am impressed by its performance so far. That said, the $1K quote just to replace the plastic tank confirms my concern that Truma repairs are remarkably expensive. You can't buy parts, as all work must be done by an authorized Truma repair center. That is why I have determined that, should our Truma Aquago ever develop an issue that requires repair by a Truma service center, I will replace it with a RecPro or a Fogatti. Right now, the RecPro is $410: https://www.recpro.com/rv-tankless-water-heater-on-demand-hot-water-heater/ The Fogatti is $500: https://www.amazon.com/FOGATTI-Controller-InstaShower-Optimized-Performance/dp/B093Z6HQX4 Even if you need to hire a plumber to install a replacement tankless RV water heater, your total bill may not reach $1K. And, you will then have a brand new water heater. Going forward, I believe you can get parts for both the RecPro and the Fogatti, so anyone can do repairs.