Ray and Susan Huff

You have the optional twin mattresses from Oliver? Since they are thicker than the standard pad, do the back cushions still fit between the mattress and the window frame? Or did Oliver make them slightly shorter to compensate for the mattress height? Looks to me like these are Ultra-fabric seat cushions, not the mattress. I guess I'm confused.

Thanks for your informed advice. I was hoping we could take I-40 as we have friends near Oklahoma City we'd like to see. I'll take a look at your suggested routes. When we once drove from S. Cal to Memphis via I-40, it was the beginning of March. We were held up, briefly, at Albuquerque for snow. Do such events last long that time of year? I'm not as worried going out, as we'll be driving a 4-wd. It will be coming home, towing the Oliver. But then, we will have a place to sleep and eat if we get held up. Also, are their toll roads on the way?

Thanks . . . . we have used those on the road. I want to know, in advance, what to expect.

We are ordering a 2021 Elite II and deciding between (4) 12V wet cell and (4) 6V AGM packages, with inverter and solar options. Our current RV has (2) 12V flooded Interstate batteries, 1000W inverter and (2) 100W solar panels (inefficient flat panel). This configuration maintains battery charge with conservative power use - fridge on propane, LED lights, propane hot water, and phantom draws from electronic gizmos. Would appreciate hearing the pros/cons of the two options above. We camp 50/50 power hookups/dry camping; rarely use the inverter, but nice to have if needed. Will be carrying a 2000W portable generator. Do not care to have Lithium batteries.

FYI regarding 3.2L Powerstroke engine: We have 2013 3.2L Powerstroke F350 4x4 Super Duty Crew Cab long bed. Have had zero problems (well, 1 small thing - TPMS apparently is sensitive to overinflation, but not an engine issue). Our current RV is a MB Sprinter chassis; Sprinter is our reason for switching to a trailer. We have thought about trading the pPU for a short bed model, to reduce overall length, but then a newer diesel will have, as you stated, modern diesel issues. We have full faith in our F350; we know it works; something new, with more sophisticated technology and engine computer - who knows! BTW: I grew up in Felton!

Interested to hear how the weather was for delivery. We will be making the trip in late Jan/early Feb 2021 from the Pacific Northwest.

Yes . . . . a PNW rally would be amazing!

We just secured a build date for a 2021 Elite II !!!!!!! The first available slots were Dec/Jan but we opted to wait for February delivery, when the weather is better and to avoid severe Mid-west weather conditions, realizing that no matter the time of year, the weather is very unpredictable. We will be traveling from SW Oregon (driving a 4wd F350 Super Duty ) with two possible routes: 1. I-5 South; hwy 395 to Reno/Las Vegas, then SE to I-40 2. I-5 South to I-40 Option 1 will be our first choice, to avoid I-5 through California; option 2 if conditions on hwy 395 are prohibitive. We would appreciate hearing from others who have made the trip to Tennessee around the same time of year (late Jan-early Feb) regarding: Weather/road conditions along this route Places to stay enroute, especially on the return. Any other information to help trip planning. This is going to be a cross country adventure for us. I made one similar trip (early March) from Oregon to Memphis - 50 years ago! My husband came cross country from Mississippi 40 some years ago (September). The furthest east we both have recently been (not counting air travel) is Payson, AZ; my husband to Weatherford, OK . We have 7 months to plan . . . . the wait will be torturous!

We just secured a build date for a 2021 Elite II - expected delivery date Feb 3. Wondering how your delivery went . . . . . where did you travel from to Tennessee and how was the weather? We will be coming from SW Oregon - planning to take I-5 south to I-40 (2600+ miles). Road conditions permitting, an alternate route will be through Reno/Las Vegas. Edit: Our build date has been bumped up so we will be picking up our Oliver on December 7 - not such a long wait! 😀 So, I'll rephrase my question. I'm hoping the weather will be better in the first part of December as opposed to the first part of February. We hope to make the journey, both ways via I-40 for the majority of the eastbound trip. Would appreciate comments from those who have traveled cross-country that time of year and suggested overnight stop overs (on the trip to Hohenwald) and more leisurely stops on the return. We will be driving an F-350, 4wd, so not worried about the trip out. Just hoping higher elevations along I-40 are not to treacherous that time of year (Flagstaff and Albuquerque) as well as from Reno north to Oregon. Would like to avoid S. California, if possible and crossing the Sierras - Reno to I-5 via Susanville (Hwys 395/44 is our route of choice as we have relatives in Redding).

We just did the same . . . . put down a deposit to secure a build date . . . . . chose a later slot as we didn't want to travel from PNW, cross country in Dec/Jan. Our situation mirrors yours. Have had a high-quality 25' Class B+. No reliability issues with the coach . . . . but the MB chassis is too unreliable for us to confidently take long road trips. Twice we have had issues with wheel-speed sensors; very inconvenient when the Mercedes brain says, "nope . . . . the engine isn't going to continue to run under these conditions". Still under warranty, but MB service centers are few and far between when you get away from highly populated areas. We trust our 2013 F350 to get us where we want to go. As for linens (assuming you plan to get regular mattresses and not use the standard pads) I made fitted sheets to fit the non-standard twin mattresses on our current RV. Easy to do, using flat top sheets. You can find many blogs and Youtube videos with step-by-step instructions. We also purchased bunk size mattress protectors from AB Lifestyles.

We plan to configure the dinette area as a sofa when not used for eating. We eat a lot outdoors and for two people, I can see a need for two sitting areas. Also, if you plan to work on the road, the dinette will make a fine office. As for storage, we had the pleasure of seeing an Oliver in person this past week. I was amazed at how much storage there is; not sure I would like to Full-time, but for extended periods, with some creative storage solutions, it would be great. We will choose the storage cabinet in lieu of a microwave or MW/convection oven and take along our Breville Mini-Smart toaster oven. If you don't already have a tow vehicle, consider a crew-cab pickup with rear seats that fold flat; these could easily be transformed into organized storage. Otherwise, a pickup with canopy and pullout trays.

So many options . . . . . my head is spinning. Maybe we'll just "throw" them in the back of the pickup and be done with it! Of course, I'm kidding Would those who carry the bikes in the pickup share your set up? We prefer to not use a fork mount, in order to keep it simple. Our Pickup is a long bed (F350 Super Duty crew cab). How much other cargo do you carry there? We don't have an Oliver yet, so not sure what will be riding in the bed. For sure a Honda generator, inflatable kayaks and kayak gear. Many of the things our huge Leisure Travel Van basements carry. Maybe the mount in front of the trailer is a better option. Or just don't take the bikes . . . . . again, I'm kidding 😁

Seems the only solution, based on this and the previous response is for Oliver to use a 2" receiver. First, let me say, it was Jordan, not Jason, as I previously quoted; Sorry - I have a terrible time with "J" names (we have three "J" daughters-in law!) More recently Jordan stated, "The 2 inch receiver on RVs is an unfortunate casualty of over litigation. I am hoping the liability precedent gets overturned one day. On it! I'll let you know. That being said, it seems the only solution, at this time, is: 1. fabricate our own receiver, as some have done. 2. use the 1UP and carry only one very light bike - an expensive option since we'd have to trade up for a carbon fiber bike. We would still need to carry the "heavy weight" in the pickup, so might as well put them both there. 3. purchase a 1 1/4" bike rack, but I don't find one approved for use on the back of a TT. Here's another shot in the dark: Would this allow us to mount a rack between the pickup and the trailer? https://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Hitch-Ball-Mount/Curt/D210.html Our pickup is an F350 Super-Duty 6.2l diesel turbo 4x4 long bed crew cab with towing package. I think it is rated at around 15-20,000#. Our rack is a 1UP Heavy-duty double, weighing 46#; bikes are 2 x approx 35# I don't have the measurements on the rack, but it extends 26-1/2" from the receiver. The carrying capacity is 200#. We want a platform rack; if ours won't work, then something like a Swagman XTC 2 Tilt. Let me know your thoughts on this; we prefer not to haul the bikes in the pickup bed, since loading onto a rack is much easier. Bottom line: we really want to use our awesome $700 rack!

Live for 3 at least minutes with LP/CO leakage or installed for at least 3 minutes lol 😏

Where did you find the short power strip? did you fasten it with command velcro or something else? Regarding the outlet above the microwave cabinet. I saw in another post, that there is a cord port in the ceiling of the cabinet, presumably for the power cord when an oven is installed. Is that port still there with the microwave deleted?

TV runs directly off the batteries? Not through the inverter?

So, this has me thinking: Why does the extender affect the tongue weight so adversely? Is it the added distance from the receiver to the rack? The total weight of the rack, including the extender, and the bikes is within the 150# weight rating of the receiver as installed by Oliver.

Thanks for the great photos. At least we have a pickup, so carrying bikes is a bit easier, and we did this when we had a 5th-wheel. It's just a pain to have to remove a wheel. The 1UP has spoiled us, being so quick and easy to load/unload. And it hurts to think we have a $700 bike rack that we can't use unless we leave the Oliver home. Does anyone out there know of a way to remedy the situation: the expander cutting the tongue weight in half which would take the overall weight over the recommend maximum.

Thanks for that info. That all seems fine except for the galley. Where do you plug in an appliance, say a toaster/toaster oven/coffee maker/ or induction burner (just to name a few). Is the tv plugged into the outlet in the overhead cabinet? I guess you plug a hair dryer in the outlet under the closet and dry your hair in the bathroom door mirror? Or under the dinette. I am going to ask if they will move the outlet above where the microwave oven is installed (we are taking the microwave deletion option) down to inside the cabinet so it could be used for something

All of these "safety" things are a pain in the neck. Our home's hard wired smoke detectors started alarming for no reason; turned out they were bad and were replaced under warranty. They are so unbearably loud!! The only way we could silence them was to remove them from the ceiling and rip out the sealed battery (that's what our electrician said to do), since they were being replaced under warranty. Smashing them with a hammer at least made us feel better 😁 I realize RVs must have these detectors installed to pass inspection, but it's just another annoyance we can live without.

Well that stinks! What weight is "the overall weight over the recommended maximum", I wonder. GVW, weight on bumper receiver, or weight on bike rack? Did they explain? When I asked about using the hitch extender on our van (because the van's receiver is recessed into the rear of the RV), 1UP said it would work. The extended added 7" to the reach of the rack. Thanks for checking on this for us. What are you going to do?

Is the unit an LP detector or LP/CO? Our Leisure Travel Van LP/CO detector (I don't know the brand) gave us false alarms (mounted at the base of a dinette seat) always in the middle of the night!). No propane leaks - propane was off. Turned out there were some faulty alarms installed during the period of time when our van was built. Replacement alarm fixed the problem. The only time the new one has gone off was when my husband was winterizing and set a bowl of antifreeze - that spilled when he was removing a water filter - on the floor near the detector. I don't know when RV industry began using these combo detectors; we had a 2014 5th-wheel that had separate units: LP detector in the kitchen baseboard under a cabinet and a CO detector mounted high on the wall in the bedroom. Maybe LP and CO detectors do not have the same ideal installation location?

Maybe "vinyl cling" is an option 😄

I thought about no swooshes, but then I like that they break up the monotony of the all white exterior. I am thinking about no decal on the front. I like the logo, but it would be less maintenance without.

I've been looking at a lot of photos of Olivers, on their webpage and on the forum. I see some have solid colored "swoosh" decals on the sides while others have pin striped. I like the pin stripe and wonder if it is still avaiable. Are there other choices to be made that are not mentioned on the Oliver site?