ScottyGS

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

Ok... here is my $0.02 on the towing question. There is only ONE authority on how much you can pull with any tow vehicle and that is the manual for that TV. And you should read the fine print. Most half ton pickups will brag about their towing capacity. My F-150 is rated for 9,900 lbs. BUT... when you read all the fine print you find that that figure drops 50% if you do NOT use a weight distributing hitch. Can a half ton pick up pull the LE2 without a WDH? in my opinion... all day long. But you should read this article if you plan to do that. https://www.hardworkingtrucks.com/get-sued-tow-trailer-with-pickups/ As far as I am concerned the Anderson is worth it for the liability issue alone. Good Luck running the numbers. Scotty

"The very best thing you can do is to store the trailer under complete cover. That minimizes all the bad things that slowly degrade your rig, plus it hides it from bad guys." A picture is worth a thousand words.... Scotty PS... yes we realize how fortunate we were to find a house with a garage like this. Nice to have our trailer under cover.

What news of the 2019 Rally? Dates?

Condensate usually forms on the wall above the bunks; especially where the silver band is that hides the joint where the two shells come together. Keep an eye on that area for moisture. Easy to do when sleeping. If moisture develops flip you mattress's up to let them air out. Scotty

Have had the natures head in our trailer for two years now. Pretty easy to deal with. Change outs are simple and you don't have to do them that often. Scotty

Sooner or later Tow Vehicle threads wander into the area of ..... "Do I really need a weight distributing hitch?" Read this before you decide that: https://www.hardworkingtrucks.com/get-sued-tow-trailer-with-pickups/ Best of Luck and Safe Travels, Scotty

Thanks for the tip John. We have a loooooong to do list at the new house. I think garage lighting will have a pretty high number. For now, we are just glad she is under a roof... secure... and will be at home instead of an hour away in storage. To work on her, i will probably just pull her out into the sunlight. But lighting is something to think about. Good News is I didn't hit that fluorescent fixture when I backed her in. :-) Safe Travels, Scotty

Buzzy, So sorry to hear of your loss. We still hope our paths cross sometime in the future. We are in process of selling our NJ home and moving to Mars Hill NC. (Mars Hill is about 20 minutes north of Asheville) We bought a home that has a garage BIG enough to fit our trailer in. Hope you have a great camping season. We are planning on attending the 2019 Oliver Owners Rally, so maybe we can share a campfire and a beer or two with you there. Here's a pic of the Flying Sea Turtle in her new home. Gregg & Donna

Fine... give them all the editorial control they want. But BOLT THE DAMN THINGS DOWN on the article trailer. Thanks for the info David. Sorry we didn't get a chance to talk at the rally. Next one, we need to have a few beers over the campfire. Take Care, Scotty

Jason, very glad to see the article in Trailer life magazine on the LE2. However, I was VERY NOT GLAD to see pictures of the small storage areas that ONLY Oliver owners should know about in the article. Don’t know if the folks that allowed the pictures to be taken were Oliver associates or “helpful” owners but anything you can do to discourage this in the future would be very much appreciated. This (yes I am being intentionally vague even here) is a great feature of your trailer, but NOT a selling feature. Please PM me if you have any questions. And btw..... this is not the first time this has happened in this publication. Thanks, Scotty

A hum from the HW50C (under the port side bed) started about a year ago. It was never there before and it can get annoying when trying to sleep. Only when plugged in to shore power. PI said to try cleaning the contacts - that didn't work. Donna says it doesn't bother her, but it drives me a bit crazy... mostly because I suspect it should NOT be there. Was your unit from under the bed or from the unit under the dinette table. Gregg OOPS... think i am confusing Progressive Dynamics and Progressive Industries.