Chukarhunter

I faced a similar decision as you when I finally pulled the trigger on my 2020 Oliver II. I purchased my current tow vehicle many years ago, choosing the most capable tow vehicle at the time that would fit in my low height urban garage. When it came time to buy an Ollie, I could not find a better tow vehicle that would fit in my garage aside from a few $100,000 plus vehicles like BMW, Toureg, etc. They wouldn't work for me because I need a very capable off-road hunting vehicle on many of my camping excursions. My current vehicle has a GVWR of 5,720 lbs, 7,000 lbs towing capacity, 700 lbs max tongue weight, but only 1,120 lbs cargo capacity. The engine develops 320 lb-ft of torque at 3,200 RPM. It has a towing package and auto-height adjusting rear air springs. From the numbers you give for your current tow vehicle, you should be safe towing an Oliver II and you will likely feel safe when towing, but only if you have the discipline to pay attention to how you load the trailer and how well the Andersen hitch is set up. The sway control built into the Andersen is not really needed in normal towing, but could be invaluable in an emergency maneuver. The real benefit of the Andersen hitch in a marginal tow vehicle is the ability to actually achieve the rated cargo capacity which requires precise weight distribution between the front and rear axles. If you are under the GVWR of the tow vehicle when towing, but the rear axle is 300 lbs over its max axle rating (and the front axle is 300 lbs under its max axle rating), safety will be compromised and you will be out of spec even though you are at or under the vehicle GVWR. I suggest that you load your tow vehicle how you would normally drive without camping gear (i.e., driver, passenger and dog?) with a full gas tank, and then weigh it, recording the weight on each axle. Then put a known wight (say 200 lbs) into the front of the truck bed and re-weigh to determine how much of the additional 200lbs falls on the front axle and how much falls on the rear axle. Now look at the headroom left on each axle (how much below max axle weight rating). Lets say for example that after weighing the vehicle with 200 lbs cargo in the truck bed, you have 800 lbs cargo capacity left (GVWR minus combined weight on both axles) with 300 lbs of headroom on the front axle and 500 lbs headroom on the rear axle. If you expect to run your Ollie II with 600 lbs tongue weight plus 50 lbs for the Andersen hitch (total 650 lbs), you will need to shift at least 150-200 lbs from the rear axle to the front axle. The Andersen can do that. If you need to shift much more weight than that to the front axle, then your tow vehicle probably won't work (can't be set up safely) without running with an empty truck bed. As many have said here, you will have issues associated with the under powered engine as I do. That said, I have never found that to be a trip killer based upon the way I have used my Oliver. I don't mind occasionally dropping to 55 mph on long hills and I have become used to the noise and poor gas mileage associated with the frequent need to operate at the higher RPM of the engine's torque band. I also typically tow almost exclusively at 5,000 ft altitude or lower. If there is a 30 plus mile an hour headwind, I may just put off travel until the wind changes I would never choose my current vehicle to tow the Oliver II and you wouldn't choose your current one either. However, if it comes down to starting with the tow vehicle you have and upgrading later, or not getting the Oliver, my vote is choose the Oliver if the current tow vehicle you have can tow the Oliver safely. Lot's of great new tow vehicles will come on the market in the next few years including SUV's like the 2003 Sequoia and hybrids and electrics. I am very much looking forward to upgrading my tow vehicle, but it is not urgent.

I have owned my 2020 LE II for 18 months and towed about 10,000 miles including 2,400 miles from Hohenwald to Oregon when I picked up the trailer. My vehicle is rated to tow 7,000 lbs. Horsepower is about 245 and torque about 320. Payload is a dismal 1,120 lbs. I couldn't afford a new tow vehicle and the Oliver at the same time I have been mostly satisfied with my towing experience but certainly look forward to getting a beefier tow vehicle at some point. I definitely feel safer towing the LE II with my current vehicle now than I did towing my former 3,000 lb tent trailer with terrible towing manners. If you can afford more tow vehicle, then don't hesitate to get a new one. If it comes down to no Oliver, then you can start out with your Tacoma with the Anderson hitch and upgrade your tow vehicle later. It seems that many have done that. Oliver will set up the Anderson hitch properly when you pick up the trailer. If you pay close attention to loading and leave the toys at home to stay within all specs, you will not be unsafe on the road. The double axle LE II tows extremely well without sway. Look to adjust tongue weight to no more than 9% and plan on a mostly empty truck bed. Pack any extra weight in the Oliver on the floor or bunk centered over the axles as much as possible. Move this weight to the pickup when you set up camp. And don't travel long distances without first emptying the blackwater tank which adds considerable tongue weight. When loaded for a week of camping, my LE II weighs about 5700 lbs with 520 lbs tongue weight (plus 60 lbs for the Anderson hitch) and my tow vehicle is usually pushing its GVWR of 5,700 lbs. I limit tow vehicle payload to one driver, one passenger, one dog and less than 100 lbs of cargo. (If I had young children, it wouldn't work). And yes, I need to stop for gas every 200 miles or so. Note that to achieve the full GVWR safely, it is critical that the weight be properly distributed over the front and rear axles of the tow vehicle. That is what the Anderson hitch is for. My current tow vehicle is a 2004 4Runner V8 Limited with 220,000 miles. The 2004-2006 V8 4Runner is the only 4Runner ever built with a V8 engine and a towing capacity of more than 5,000lbs. I am the original owner. Eying the 2023 Sequoia as a possible replacement.

Another place you could check for a phantom draw is the light in your rear storage garage. I am kind of embarrassed to admit this but recently while camping I opened the streetside rear storage hatch at night and it was lit up inside! I had never really thought about there being a light in there. It could have been on for over a year since I picked up our Oliver for all I know.

It is interesting that Truma markets their units by specifying "watts of cooling capacity" on their website instead of Btu's of cooling capacity. Stating the input power in watts only tells you the maximum input Btu's for the unit, but tells one nothing about the output (cooling) Btu's, i.e., the maximum BTU's of heat the unit is capable of removing from the trailer over a one hour period. In the case of the Truma, it appears that a 2,400 watt cooling capacity corresponds to 15,000 Btu/hour of cooling capacity. As Geronimo Joe correctly points out, 2,400 watts input is 8,189 Btu's so the Truma converts 2,400 watts of input Btu's into 15,000 Btu's of cooling. This relationship is commonly referred to at the Coefficient of Performance, or COP. In the case of the Truma, the COP is 15,000/8,189 = 1.83. This is really, really inefficient. This past summer I installed a high efficiency Lennox unit in my home (to replace a failed air conditioner). The unit modulates between 30% to 100% capacity based upon cooling demand. At the minimum 30% capacity and a 15 degree differential between outside temp and inside setting (80 degrees inside and 95 degrees outside), the unit will supply 10,700 Btu of cooling while using only 730 watts of input power for a COP of 4.3. Under the same ambient conditions at 100% power, the unit will supply 35,000 Btu's of cooling while using only 2,700 watts of power, a COP of 3.8. Unfortunately, one-piece RV air conditioners are already pushing the limits of achievable efficiency, given the one piece design and requirements to be ultra compact. They must be designed with smaller heat exchangers/coils and fans due to space limitations that in turn requires high velocity fans to work well, hence the noise. I don't expect the Truma will be all that much quieter than all the others out there today. I expect what is needed to achieve a breakthrough in much quieter operation (and much higher efficiency) would be the development of a two piece rooftop air conditioner for RV's, much like home air conditioners (and heat pumps) that have an outside compressor unit and an inside air handler and coil. The same size inside unit as installed in the Oliver today could then have the space freed up to use a larger coil and a quiet, low velocity, high volume fan, gaining higher efficiency and much quieter operation.. The compressor itself could be mounted on the roof immediately behind the existing inside unit and be connected to the internal air handler (inside unit) with small refrigerant lines, just like today's outdoor units designed for the home. The result would be a quiet, more powerful and more efficient air conditioner (or heat pump) that could be easily run with an 1,800 watt generator or battery power. Of course, it would also probably cost a lot more than today's units but my guess is there is a large, untapped market for a truly quiet, higher performing two piece unit, even at a significantly higher price.

Oliver under a full moon in front of a large campfire (No flash used). Boondocking in the Owyhee country of Oregon.

Thanks for sharing your experience with the smaller 900 watt EU1000i and the Progressive Dynamics 60 amp converter/charger. I checked the specs on the PD60 amp model and it requires a 1000 watt input to deliver 60 amps to the batteries at 13.6 volts which means it has a conversion efficiency of less than 82%. Since the charging current is not adjustable in the PD60, anyone with a PD60 must use a generator rated at a minimum of 1,000 watts continuous to charge their batteries and the EU1000i will not work. So to summarize: If your Oliver has the Progressive Dynamics 60 amp converter/charger, then you cannot use an EU1000i to charge your batteries. If one has the PD45 (45 amp converter/charger), then the EU1000i is more than adequate and moving to a larger generator would not provide any charging benefits. Finally, if one has any one of the inverters (2000 watt or 3000 watt), the EU1000i will definitely work because the maximum charge current is user selectable. Also, because the inverter/chargers are more efficient (rated at 91% nominal efficiency versus 82%), the EU1000i should be able to comfortably charge the batteries at a 55 amp rate and possibly even 60 amp.

All really good information in this thread. I am bumping it because I have also considered getting a 1,000-watt generator (Honda or Yamaha) to use for topping off my batteries instead of my current generator which is the Honda EUI 2200 Companion. My LE II charges the batteries via the 2000-watt inverter/charger so while boondocking last week, I decided to determine how many charging amps I could deliver to my batteries with a Honda 1000-watt peak generator (900 watt rated) before overloading the generator, after accounting for electrical losses through the inverter charger. The 2000-watt inverter/charger in my Oliver can be set to a maximum charge current limit of 0-80 amps in 5-amp increments meaning it is capable of delivering 80 amps to the batteries IF the batteries can accept 80 amps. I have the lithium phosphate batteries so they will always accept 80 amps charging current up to full state of charge with my EUI 2200, but the smaller generator would not be able to deliver 80 amps to the batteries without overloading. It is straightforward though to calculate how many watts a generator must deliver at 120 volts for the converter/charger to deliver any given number of amps to the batteries at 14 volts, ignoring losses. What I did not know was how many watts the generator must deliver to also make up for the losses in the converter/charger and wiring. Using the formula volts x amps = watts, I knew that the minimum watts that a generator must deliver at 120 volts to provide 80 amps to the batteries at 14 volts would be 1,120 watts. 14 volts x 80 amps = 1,120 watts. The Honda EUI 1000 is rated at only 900 watts continuous so I knew it could not support 80 amps charge current to the batteries, but I did not know what the maximum charge current that a 900 MW generator could support when accounting for losses. The maximum charge current with no losses would be 64 amps 14 volts x 64 amps = 900 watts. While I was charging the batteries at 80 amps with the EUI 2200 last week, I read the 120-volt input amps to the inverter from the panel, and it showed that the generator was supplying 10.2 amps of 120-volt power to the inverter. This meant that the generator was supplying 1,224 watts to the inverter including any bypass current to any other 120 trailer loads. 120 volts *10.2 amps = 1,224 watts I did have my satellite receiver operating on 120-volt power at the time, so I assume that the inverter/charger itself was requiring approximately 1,200 watts at 120 volts to deliver 80 amps to the batteries at 14 volts. This implies that inverter/charger losses were about 7% meaning 93 percent of the 120-volt input power was reaching the batteries. (1200 watts - 1,120 watts) / 1,120 watts = 7% losses Now, using the loss factor of 7%, a 900-watt generator could be expected to deliver a maximum of 837 watts to the batteries in my Oliver. 900 watts x 0.93 =837 watts This means that the I would need to set the maximum charge current in my inverter/charger to no more than 60 amps, or the 900-watt generator would overload and shut down. 14 volts x 60 amps = 840 watts For me, this means that if I switched to the 900-watt Honda generator it would take about 33% longer to top off my batteries than it does now with the larger EUI 2200 at 80 amps charge current. For example, if it would otherwise take 3 hours of generator operation to top off my batteries with the EUI 2200 at an 80-amp charge rate (i.e., 240 ah into the batteries), it would take 4 hours to get the same 240 ah into the batteries with the 900-watt generator. Some with the inverter/charger may find this longer run time unacceptable. I personally think it is a reasonable tradeoff when boondocking, given the much lower weight, quieter operation, and lower fuel consumption of the 900-watt generator. (of course, it would not run the air conditioner) If I can ever find the Honda EUI 1000 in stock anywhere again, I will probably pick one up. It also explains why SeaDawg has been more than happy with their Honda 1000. I assume they have the 45-amp converter/charger so there would be no charging benefit for them of using a larger generator. It would not charge their batteries any faster. I am not a professional and may have made mistakes in this assessment. Please correct me if I have.

I have paid close attention to tongue weight as I have a marginal tow vehicle. My 2020 Elite II came out of the factory at about 5,500 lbs with full fresh water tank and a tongue weight of about 550-570 lbs (Shurline 1000 lb scale). It had the front cargo carrier (since removed and stored) and 20 lb tanks plus the solar option. I do not have a composting toilet. Since every pound of cargo capacity in my tow vehicle is precious, I have endeavored to reduce my tongue weight to no more than 9% of fully loaded trailer weight which for me is about 520 lbs, and succeeded. (I agree with others on this forum that 9% tongue weight is just fine for the LE II). All I did to reduce tongue weight was remove the front basket (-35 lbs.), switched from 20 lb steel tanks to 17 lb composite tanks (-20 lbs) and switched to four 105 Ah Lithium Ion batteries (-100+ lbs). As others have said, how one loads the trailer for travel can have a large affect on tongue weight. Anything loaded behind the door has a negligible affect on tongue weight, or even positive effect if loaded in the very rear of the trailer. Anything loaded in the bathroom or closet has a significant effect on tongue weight, as do the contents of the black water tank. I suspect those reporting tongue weights in excess of 600 lbs carry at least 50 lb. in the front basket, and have the 30 lb propane tank option. This alone would add close to 100 lbs. of tongue weight on top of the 520 lbs that I now typically see when pulling my LE II.

My 2021 LEII came with 4 of the Brightway flooded batteries. They fit snug but easily in the tray with enough room for thin padding on the sides.

Lornie and I have owned our LEII for a year and have traveled quite a bit with our two cats (and our dog). We have the standard floor plan and we ordered the optional inside access hatch to the outside rear storage compartment without really knowing whether we would ever use it. We quickly discovered we could place the cat litter box in the back storage area (i.e., outside the living space of the trailer) and leave the inside access hatch open to the storage area. Cats go in and out to use it and as a bonus, only kick litter into the storage area and not onto the trailer floor. Less odor as well. Works perfect for us. When we ordered our LEII, the inside access hatch option was only available on the standard floor plan but that may have changed.

The advantages of lithium-ion batteries over flooded/AGM batteries are numerous, although the relative importance of each benefit to some extent depends on how you plan to use your trailer. I have owned my 2020 LEII for one year now and almost always boondock. Oliver didn’t start offering a lithium package until one month after I placed my order and the first thing I did after arriving home from Hohenwald was to swap out the 4 lead acid batteries it came with for four 105 amp-hour Group 24 Lithium-Ions. Since I already had the 340 watts of solar and 2000-watt inverter/charger, it was a simple swap to make as Galway Girl points out. No changes in cabling required or anything else. For me, the greatest benefit is the much higher rate at which the lithium-ion batteries will accept a charge. If you go with AGM batteries and solar, Oliver will require you to use four 110-amp hour AGM batteries weighing over 200 pounds, even if you don’t want or need that much battery storage. I was told that this is so Oliver can test the performance of the solar system before it leaves the factory and that explanation makes sense. This is because the maximum charging rate of an AGM battery roughly 150 watts (12 amps) up to 80% charge and only about 60 watts (5 amps) between 80% and 100% charge. A single lithium-ion battery, on the other hand, can accept a charging rate of over 1,000 watts (100 amps) all the way to 100 percent charge. The 2000-watt inverter/charger Oliver installs can deliver about 1,000 watts (80 amps) to the batteries and the 3000 watt inverter/charger can deliver about 1200 watts (100 amps) to the batteries. This can all be confusing so I will explain what this means in the field. If you remember one simple rule, it becomes much easier to understand this. The rule is: volts x amps = watts. My Oliver solar panels are capable of 340 watts on a sunny day. At an average charging voltage of 13.5 volts (controlled by the solar charge controller), the panels are capable of delivering roughly 25 amps to the batteries, ignoring losses (340 watts / 13.5 volts = 25 amps). If you have 4 AGM batteries, once they reach 80 percent charge, they can only accept about 20 amps of charge current (4 batteries times 5 amps each) which means the solar panels are throttled back to only produce about 270 watts (13.5 volts *20 amps = 270 watts) to protect your AGM batteries. This slow charging between 80% and 100% means you are wasting potential solar energy and your batteries will likely never recover to full charge after you have started your trip, (this is true even if you use a generator unless you want to run the generator for 6 hours/day). With my lithium-ion batteries, my solar panels always deliver their full capability, unless and until my batteries reach 100% charge. I am a high desert bird-hunter and so I boondock in the fall/winter. The solar panels are not always adequate for longer trips in the winter due to shorter daylight hours, sun much lower in the sky, and cloudy weather. For winter trips more than 3 days I reluctantly take a generator and hope I don’t need to use it. If I do need to use a generator though, I only need to run it for an hour to put 80 amp-hours into my lithium-ion batteries. One would need to run a generator for 2-4 hours to put 80 amp-hours into four AGM batteries. A bigger generator doesn’t make a difference since the limitation is in the batteries and not the capacity of the generator. In fact, I can put 70-80 amp hours into my lithium ion batteries in one hour using the smallest/quietest /lightest inverter generator made (Honda EUI 1000 at 28 lbs). The newest LEII has a 3000 watt inverter/charger that can put 100 amp hours into lithium-ion batteries in one hour, but will still only put 20 -40 amp hours into AGM batteries in the same hour. One other consideration is that with lithium-ion batteries, you can get by with fewer than 4 batteries and still have more usable battery storage than you get with 4 AGMs. When you factor in the difficulty of charging the AGM’s above 80 percent with solar in the field, you really only have 40% of usable storage with AGM’s (50% to 90%) whereas the lithium ions give you up to 85% usable storage (15% to 100%). Translated to amp hours, the AGM’s give you about 170 usable amp-hours/day before charging is mandatory (40% of 420 amp-hours), whereas the lithium ion’s give you over 350 usable amp-hours/day before charging is mandatory (85% of 420 amp-hours). My understanding is that the Oliver lithium-ion package comes standard with two 220 amp-hour lithium batteries at roughly $3,000 more than AGM’s. For those that don’t need 420 amp-hours but still want all the benefits of lithium, I think Oliver should also offer a lithium package with only one 220 amp-hour lithium-ion battery at a savings of about $2,000. This would mean the upgrade to lithium-ion would only be about $1,000 above the four AGMs instead of $3,000, while still providing more usable battery storage than four AGM’s. Hope the above makes sense. I am no expert and welcome corrections/clarifications from other forum members.

Thanks for sharing your experience on with using a trailer dolly on gravel. I think I will pass this one by. I will definitely look to putting on a front hitch when I upgrade my current undersized TV. My current backing maneuver would probably be impossible to do if my TV was a full size pickup.

In my current situation, I would only use it on the level. The only place I can store the LEII is in the backyard off of a one-way alley. I have to back the LEII about 200' down a very narrow alley and then cut it through a slightly angled 14' gate and then curve it to achieve a 90 degree turn before I hit the neighbors side-yard fence. Making the 90 degree turn without my tow vehicle hitting the side of the gate opening is a challenge. I am reasonably proficient but it would be much easier if I could just back it in through the gate, unhook, and then move it into the final parking spot using the dolly. The working surface is gravel and I am concerned the small wheels could be a problem.

Great idea. The idea of relocating the forced air furnace return duct(s) is something I have independently identified as a must do since I have spent many nights recently in temperatures down into the teens and like others don't expect to have to worry about freezing water lines or cold batteries. The place that Oliver chose to located the single return vent in the LEII is the worst possible place they could have put it. Besides being the noisiest place, it compromises the function of a good forced air heating system. Placing the return so close to the supply ducts means much of the heat never circulates in the trailer and instead is drawn under the dinette and back into the furnace almost directly from the supply vents. Also, failing to have placed a return duct in the bathroom renders the hot air supply vent in the bathroom almost worthless when the bathroom door is closed since pressurization of the bathroom creates backpressure on the supply vent. Further, with the bathroom door closed, there is insufficient free air flow through the furnace heat exchanger resulting in reduced efficiency, more propane consumption and possible cycling due to the heat exchanger reaching its thermal limit. So my thought is the most important single thing to improve the heating system in the LEII and significantly reduce any risk of freezing pipes or batteries is to put a small return vent (4" x 4") in the bathroom as low as possible below the existing supply vent (below the T.P.). Even with the door closed, the bathroom will now be warm but much more importantly, the warm air in the bathroom will be pulled under the bathroom sink into the hull and flow over all the plumbing lines and fresh water tank to the back where the furnace intake is. To complete the job, I think that after removing and closing the approximately 50 square inch return vent under the dinette, it should be replaced with a 16-20 sq. in. return in the bathroom, a second 16-25 sq. in. return under the dinette front side, and a third 12-16 sq. in. return in the rear street side across from the furnace to heat the outside shower plumbing. This should result an a balanced heating system with fairly constant temperatures throughout the inner space and within all inner parts of the lower hull as well. Added benefits should be a more comfortable trailer and less propane consumption. Thoughts about this?

A few pics of the latch

Here are a few photos of the strike plate. I did notice the door hangs slightly lower on the handle side compared to hinge side, but it does not appear to affect the operation of the door in any way and the latch appears to be centered vertically in the strike plate.

I did report the sticky door issue to Oliver and I told them that it appeared that the strike plate was not adjusted out enough given the thickness of the weatherstripping but the screws were tight against the adjusting channels (slots). I suggested to Oliver that I could file the adjustment channels where the screws go through the strike plate a bit to allow it to be adjusted more toward the outside of the doorway and Oliver said that is what they would probably do. Unfortunately, after I did that, I realized that the strike plate was already tight against the outside fiberglass shell so it cannot be adjusted any further towards the outside of the camper. As to the door coming open while traveling, it never opens when traveling down the road in a forward direction due to air pressure but twice I have seen it swing open in my side view mirror when I pulled into a gas station. I absolutely agree with others that one should always lock the door including deadbolt before moving the trailer so I just need to be more disciplined and always lock it before towing. I am curious if the problem might also be at least partly due to the way the hinges of the door were attached over the top of the weatherstripping. As you can see in the picture some of the weatherstripping is pinched under the hinge which might in theory cause the door to misalign. Does this assembly of the door hinges with the weatherstripping pinched underneath look abnormal to any of you compared to your Oliver? Steve

The sticky keyless door handle is frustrating and can certainly cause feelings of panic when you can't open the door. We encountered the same problem on the way home from Hohenwald and the issue persists. I am reasonably sure that the issue is the weatherstripping on the inside of the door is very thick (works very well) but sometimes prevents the door from shutting tightly enough for the latch to extend fully into the door frame. I expect in a year or less when the weatherstripping naturally compresses a bit, the door handle will work like a charm. The problem occurs when you close the door but the latch doesn't fully extend into the door frame. There is no way to tell by looking that the latch only partially extended into the door frame because the door looks closed and the deadbolt locks just fine. When you unlock the door however, the handle can jam and the only way to get the unlocked door to open is to first push lightly on the edge of the door to the left of the handle until you hear a "click" which is the sound of the latch extending into the door frame all the way. Then it opens just fine. If you are inside and the door handle won't open the door, pull in on the door (you may hear a click) and then the handle will open the door just fine from the inside. The unfortunate thing I have found is that if the door is otherwise closed but not locked with the deadbolt, it can open on its own when driving down the highway. This has already happened several times to me. I am now in the habit when I close the door from the outside to always push on the edge of the door after I close it to hear the "click". Then I always lock the deadbolt if I am towing so there is no chance of the door popping open on its own while traveling. I view this as a mild annoyance that will probably fix itself as the door's weatherstripping becomes a little bit compressed over time.

What I have learned is that for later models of the Oliver with the Progressive Dynamics 2000 watt inverter, one does not need to upgrade the converter when switching to Lithium Ion batteries. I ordered my LE II last February before Oliver offered an LI option. At the time of ordering I asked Oliver if they could put in the LI version of the PD 4045 (or preferably the PD 4060) but they could not accommodate me. I decided I would wait until I had changed out my batteries to LI and would buy the conversion unit and put it in myself. However, once I picked up the trailer and switched out my batteries to four LI batteries, I concluded that the converter upgrade is not necessary for me because the inverter will always charge the LI batteries to full when set to the "custom" charge profile for LI batteries (14.4 v). This was a surprise to me. What I learned is that whenever connecting to shore power (or generator), the inverter charging section will charge the batteries to full. This happens even if the inverter is turned off when first connecting to shore power. When the Oliver sees shore power and the inverter is off, the inverter comes alive and the screen shows that 120 volt power is bypassing the inverter but charging the batteries at 80 amps (or less if the user selects a lower charging current). I am guessing that the converter/charger is also charging the batteries alongside the inverter charger, which would mean the batteries are receiving up to 125 amps of 12 v charging current until the LI batteries reach about 80% charge. Then the non-LI converter backs down and the inverter/charger completes the charging to 100% at a constant 80 amp rate. I am not an expert on this by any means, but what I have concluded is that later model Olivers with the 2000 watt inverter do not need to upgrade their converter/charger when switching to LI batteries, because the Progressive Dynamics inverter/charger seems to do the job just fine.

John Davies advice is spot on (as usual). The GX 460 is not at all a good choice for towing an LE II. However, If you are in a situation where you already own a GX 460 and are not in a position to upgrade your tow vehicle immediately, the GX 460 may serve as a safe "bridge vehicle" to tow the LE II until you can upgrade, especially if the alternative is passing on the LE II altogether. I faced this situation last year when I was looking at trailers I could tow with my 2004 4Runner V8 Limited (200,000 miles), a vehicle that would tow the smaller Elite easily. Alas, I toured an Elite 1 and realized I was too tall to comfortably stand and sleep. Before eliminating Oliver from consideration, I did my homework and spent many hours on this forum soaking up much wisdom on towing. In the end, I ordered an LE II for August 2020 delivery and proceeded to bring my 4Runner to as close to new condition as possible, all the while dreading the 2,400 mile "test drive" from Hohenwald back to Oregon. Maintenance upgrades included new transmission fluid, new brakes all around, new shocks, and new rear air springs, with all OEM parts. From what I can tell, my 2004 4Runner V8 Limited is very similar to the current GX 460. They are both built on the same 110 inch wheelbase, and my 4Runner actually came with the Lexus GX 470 drivetrain (full-time AWD) and the automatic leveling rear end. The engine in both is similar as well with similar torque, although the GX 460 has more horsepower than the 4Runner, (less important for towing). The 4Runner is rated to tow 7,000 lbs with the Andersen hitch, whereas the GX 460 is rated at 6,500 lbs. Our drive home from Hohenwald was comfortable. The LE II pulls nicely with the twin axles and Andersen hitch. We spent two nights at Davy Crockett park and then set off for Oregon. Day one I drove 350 miles, day two I drove 730 miles and day three I drove 715 miles and day four 550 miles. No white knuckles. The engine is adequate for interstate driving, including I-80 across Wyoming (barely) on a 95 degree day with 20 mile cross-headwinds. Steeper off-freeway grades at altitude are a different story. Brakes are strong and not a concern if set up properly. Mileage about 11.5 MPG. As John said, one reason that the GX 460 (and my 4Runner) could never be an acceptable tow vehicle for the LE II long-term is the meager payload capacity. After considering tongue weight and the weight of the Andersen hitch (essentially three passengers sitting on the back bumper), you are basically limited to a driver and one passenger with next to nothing else in the car. A driver and three passengers is out of the question. Even with a lightly loaded vehicle, you would need to carefully manage tongue weight and be disciplined enough to stay within limits each time you tow. Since arriving back in Oregon I have added close to 3,000 miles of uneventful towing all within Oregon. I do not regret my decision to limp along with my 4Runner until I can upgrade as I believe I am being disciplined, safe and responsible; and I now own an LE II! I also recognize that I will not have the flexibility to fully enjoy the LE II until I am able to upgrade my tow vehicle, hopefully to electric.

We picked up our Ollie II in August (Hull 657) and had what may be the same or related problem. In our case, we could not get into the trailer at a gas station. We had not locked either the latch or the deadbolt. After much anguish I finally got it open and figured out that the strike plate was very slightly misaligned from the factory and needed to be adjusted out maybe a 16th to 32nd of an inch. Otherwise, when the door was closed softly, the latch failed to extend all the way into the striker plate when the door was otherwise closed and latched. After several hundred miles of driving, the latch apparently became jammed in the half extended position. The simple solution was to apply a little pressure against the outside edge of the door by the lock until you hear a "click" when the latch fully extends. Once the latch has fully extended, the door opens fine with the handle.