ScottyGS

Pro Backup Assist was a big reason that we chose the F-150 as a TV. It has been extremely helpful for a guy that had little to no towing experience previously. (That would be me) I have found the Pro Backup Assist to work very well. It's been great when I need to get the job done quickly and efficiently. That being said... there are some drawbacks. On a sunny day, if the light hits that sticker just right.. you can get an error message. Same for backing up the crest of a hill, when the angle gets too much for the camera to "see" the sticker. And, it does take some time to engage. But it is a good system and helps me a lot. BUT.... I am aware that skills are skills and look for opportunities to go manual. If I am in a large area, or have lots of time, AND... if there is no one around to laugh at me. I try to improve my backing up skills. As far as my ego in this area... I don't really have one. And besides, unless you are really close to me you can't tell if I am using Pro Backup Assist or not. At my last home, my neighbor would compliment me on my backing in skills and I would just smile. :-) Happy Camping, Scotty

Hey Katherine and Chad, ‘skimmed through a lot of this thread so,please forgive me if I go over old ground. apppreciate what you are going through deciding on a TV. We did the same. So, here are a short list of things to consider: 1 - Do the tow weight capacity math yourself adding the amount of after margin you are comfortable with. Download and read the owners manual and pay attn to the fine print. 2 - one question I did not see was...... how good are you at backing up a trailer. My answer to that question was... complete newbie. Which is one of the reasons we decided to go F150. The pro back up assist is invaluable when learning to tow your Ollie. 3- plug for the F150. Yes we are prejudiced but find it is a great veh towing or not. You get used to,it pretty quick. Donna has no,issues driving it and I have come to prefer it to,the car. BUT.... measure the garage first to see if it will fit. We had 4” to spare. all for now. good luck scotty

Hi RB, Certainly if you are required by law to disclose you are carrying concealed, I,would do that. For any state that has reciprocity with your permits. I was thinking of the restrictive states like NJ that do not have reciprocity. The logical thing to do if you are traveling through would be to unload and lock your firearms in a case. In that instance, I would NOT answer any questions about firearms or give permission to search. Politely and respectfully of course. Many folks not from NY / NJ area are aghast when I tell them about the crazy NJ gun laws. They just passed a ban on mags over 10 round capacity. How does 18 months in prison sound? Just wanted to warn fellow travelers not to fall victim to that craziness. Brian Aiken is the guy sent to prison for possession of his legally owned, unloaded pistols. Gov Christie commuted his sentence, but did not pardon him. Travel safe my friend. Hope our paths cross sometime soon. Scotty

Just two things....... then I will shut up. <for a bit anyway> 1. The whole hidden compartment debate centers around Oliver “advertising” their existence over the objections of quite a few loyal owners. at least imho. 2. Some well meaning advice for those who choose to carry firearms (really.... I am writing this with the best of intentions). Don’t advertise that you have them in any way. It’s not only keeping the bad guys ignorant, it’s the good guys too. There are states (NEW JERSEY) that will send you to JAIL for being in possession of your legally owned pistol that is unloaded and locked in a case. Yes, even though federal law allows this and is supposed to “pre-empt” state law. It’s happened, look it up. Don’t answer questions from law enforcement about firearms and NEVER consent to a search of your vehicle. I am not anti-cop and am an ex-LEO. ‘Next up on guns. Educate yourself on the use of deadly force in self defense. An excellent book is the Law of self defense by Andrew Branca. No one ever “wins” a firefight. If you do everything right you are still looking at about five years of hell, possible financial ruin, and loss of career (if you are still working). Off my soapbox for now. Happy and Safe travels my friends. Hope to see you at the rally. Scotty

We don’t talk about that here. ?

To Oliver the compartments are a selling feature. This has been brought up many times and they will just not stop letting these be filmed and photographed. Makes me want to sneak in to all the demo trailers with a tube of liquid nails!

Bill, sorry to hear that the predictions were correct. We left for NJ Friday afternoon and arrived yesterday. Our trailer is snug inside the garage so no worries there. Hopefully this is all for the winter. Scotty

If I am interrupted by someone while connecting or disconnecting I ask them to wait. Unless of course the person interrupting is Donna........ then I write myself a note as to where I was. ;-) Checklists are good too. I usually will run through them at the end to make sure I have not forgotten anything. One habit I got into early was to do a walk around when I was done. If getting ready to leave I would include the TV too. I start at the driver front tire and walk toward the trailer. I check everything on the walk around, all the safety pins, the latches, levelers, hose connections, tires etc. I figure it’s a good habit to get into and I usually find something not to my liking. The little stoppers for the hose connections are a favorite to forget. You wrap up the hose and then forget to go back for the stopper. Happy Holidays All Safe travels Scotty

If your running lights are on dimly check for moisture or condensation in the pigtail. Where you plug into your Audi. Moisture will make a connection that keeps the lights on Scotty

We have the 3.5 and it tows the LE2 very well. The pro backup assist is pretty awesome. Get about 20 mpg highway without towing and 12 mpg with the LE2. I would opt for the larger engine especially if you are going to the mountains. scotty

OOPS! Jumped on my soapbox with an LE2 in mind. I think that because the Olivers tow so easily we forget to read the fine print in the owners manual at times. And the truck manufacturers don't make it easy for us to decipher what is required. <of course.. i forgot to read the big print.. sorry> Scotty

Towing a 7k lbs trailer with a half ton pick up requires a weight distributing hitch. Get our your magnifying glass and start checking the fine print in your owners manual. This will not be an easy task, but you have to do the math yourself. Pay attention to the small print and asterisks. I would be happy to wager serious money that a half ton GMC pick up without a WDH has a towing capacity of about 50% of the rated capacity. I town the LE2 with a 2016 F-150 that is rated for 9,900 lbs. When you get that magnifying glass working you find that without a WDH the limit is 4,950 lbs. BTW.. I am positive that the F-150 could pull the 7k LE2 without a WDH safely all day long. Most 1/2 pickups will. But if you get in an accident any lawyer worth his salt will try to pin blame on you. So, how deep are your pockets. Here is an article that says it much better than I can. https://www.hardworkingtrucks.com/get-sued-tow-trailer-with-pickups/ The Anderson is well worth the money in liability protection alone. Pretty easy to hook and unhook once you get used to it. Probably the best upgrade you can get on the LE2. Good Luck, Scotty

For roof work I have found this ladder to be pretty good. Stable platform that is comfortable to stand on and secure enough to lean over and climb onto the roof. If memory serves not too expensive either. Got it at Lowes. Scotty

All, We are getting this upgrade in January. Will post pics and impressions then. Our first test run for this rig will be in May going to the OTTO rally at Lake Guntersville. That's about a 5 hour drive each way. I will be keeping a close eye on the rig and will probably point the rear camera down so I can see them from the cab. Our bikes are e-bikes and we are using the 1 up bike rack which itself weighs in at 47 lbs. https://www.1up-usa.com/product/2in-super-duty-double-bike-rack/ This is a good thread. Thanks for starting and contributing to it. Lots of us have interest in carrying two bikes with a single receiver. Scotty

Zen and the Art of Oliver Travel Trailer Maintenance. Someone should write a book. :-) Russ, Don't know if your garage is heated but if not you might want to think about monitoring the temperature. I have an unheated garage in NC and use one of those inexpensive weather monitors that have a remote that can be put outside. But I put it in the garage. I find that even without heat the garage is running about 20 degrees warmer than outside temps. Down to about 25 degrees that is..... garage was 48. Don't know if that will change as the temp drops lower into the teens. Anyway, good to keep an eye on and if temps get down to 27 degrees for an extended period you can use an electric heater inside the Ollie. Just tilt your mattresses up and pop the hatches so it will keep everything between the hulls warm. Scotty

Hey 404, I think the bane of Oliver owners is that you feel like an idiot and a sage in alternating waves.... Fortunately we have each other and usually everyone is not on the idiot wave at the same time. :-) Welcome and hope our paths cross soon. Scotty

John & Eileen, Welcome to the family. It is cold and rainy in the Asheville NC area now and probably will be cool temps for your trip home. My advice would be to not put any water in the system. Dry camp with bottled water and take showers at the campsite facilities. Or, hit a hotel room once on the way. For the trip home.. Don't overlook WalMarts, Cracker Barrels, and other free overnight areas. We drive 81 quite frequently and there are lots of places to overnight. You come in late, grab a meal, fire up the heater and hit the sack. In the morning you can make or grab coffee and get an early start. Very efficient way to travel... especially in the winter with short days. If you look for a pay campsite every night you won't be traveling much with all the hooking and unhooking. Look into the AllStays App. It lists all those places and a lot of other good RV sites in a map format. https://www.allstays.com/apps/ Good Luck and Safe Travels, Scotty

Sanitizing the fresh water system is part of the standard Maintenance routine. Got this checklist from Warren Parlee a while ago. Good Luck, Scotty Sanitizing the Fresh Water System 1 Frequency: Twice per year. 2 Materials: Bleach, 3 ft. hose, Gallon size pail, Vinegar. · Prepare the bleach mixture by multiplying the tank capacity (32.5 gallons for Elite II) by 0.13. The resulting value of 4.2 ounces of bleach is added to one gallon of water. · Using the 3 ft. hose, add the bleach mixture to the fresh water tank via the (EZ) Winterizing System. · Finish filling the tank with water. · Run each of the faucets (including the outside shower) until you can smell bleach. · Let the water stand in the system for 4 hours. (Double the formula for one-hour standing time.) · Drain using the drain petcock on the bottom of the fresh water tank. (See Ollie owner manual.) · Refill the fresh water tank using one quart of vinegar to five gallons of water. Add vinegar via the (EZ) Winterizing System. · Run the vinegar mixture through the system. (Caution: Do not let the water pump run dry!) · Fill the tank with water and flush the water out again. · Refill with clean water. · That’s it! Warren Parlee 07/18/2016

Not sure of the answer to that. But... I just looked at the new pictures of the LE2 on the website and it looks like they made an improvement to the trim. Our 2016 had very thin plastic trim. It started to crack after the first year. I pulled it off and just left it bare for a while but then the fiberglass started to rub so I knew I had to make this upgrade. For new owners... if you are in the ordering stage... I would not worry about this. If Oliver beefed up the trim and that works for you .. fine. If not... it's an easy cheap upgrade. Either way it will be all good. Scotty

Saw an Elite 2 going West / North on 26 near Weaverville NC. About noon on Saturday 11/ 10. Anyone we know? Scotty

The hot water trick works very well. Boil some water and run it down the side of the tank and then feel for where the warm turns cool. That's where your level is. We also use the one tank strategy and when it goes dry switch over and look for a fill station. Scotty

Dave, Thanks for posting this. I have been wanting to do this for some time and finally got around to it. The Amazon link still works. I didn't measure the amount needed for the LE2 and just got the 10' length. It took about 7 feet total so now I have some left over to store forever and never find a use for again. :-) Installation was easy.... I pressed it on by hand. This product has some type of malleable metal inside the vinyl cover. It stays on very secure and makes the propane cover sit solidly as well. I was getting a bit of rubbing on the bottom fiberglass and this trim solves that problem. You will need a good utility knife to cut to length. The hardest part about doing this is finding suitable trim material and Dave has solved that problem for us. Scotty

Wow! What a thread... sorry I have been remiss on checking the forums and didn't see it sooner. I will add three things. (ok... maybe say some again) One.... Get the Tow Ready 20142 now and take it with you. https://www.amazon.com/Tow-Ready-20142-7-Flat-Adapter/dp/B00C4AYR3U Amazon has it for $18 bucks and its cheap insurance to eliminate the annoying trailer disconnect message. Trust me, even if you know lights and brakes are working it is a major pain and startling when it goes off. Thanks again to David S for saving us Ford 150 owners from this hell! Two ... I have recently been driving back and forth from NC to NJ. 650 miles and we have been doing it without towing in one long day. When you add the trailer to long days like that it is just HARDER to do. Can't put my finger on why that is but IT IS! So, please give yourself every break that you can and support each other on the trip. Adding winter.. mountains.. and multiple long days in a row is a LOT to deal with. Three... When towing and needing to burn some miles, we use what we call the meander strategy. Start damn early, share the driving, take breaks when we need them and hit Wal Marts, Craker Barrels, casinos and any other place that will allow an overnight stay. We use the All Stays app for ipad - worth every penny of the $10 it cost. Sleeping this way is very efficient as you can get a meal, buy supplies, and bed down early so you can get up early and start all over again. Finally.. Please keep us informed of how you make out. Best of Luck and if the going gets tough the tough can GET A MOTEL ROOM and be safe and sound. Better late than never. Have a better one and looking forward to hearing of your safe and successful trip home with your new Oliver. Scotty

Pete, Thanks for sharing. We have e-bikes and the same American rack that you do. Total weight would be about 175 lbs. and I just don't trust the Oliver bike rack bracket. I was considering having them upgrade me to the newer version. Be very interested to hear how you make out with this. Would you please give us a "ride" report after you have a few hundred miles with the rack. I considered putting some kind of bungee set up on the bikes in case the American arms loosened up. Those ratchets are pretty strong but you never know. Thanks and hope to see you in May at the next rally. Scotty

2016 F-150 does not clear. I expect it depends on how you have to adjust the ball hitch. (Anderson WDH) We had to put it pretty far up to get things riding level. I was wondering if installing airbags on the rear suspension would let us low the ball and then level the ride with air. Anyone have any knowledge on that? Thanks, Scotty