Mike and Carol

Tow vehicles at the margin of their limits are okay “most of the time” but instances like this really underscore having a tow vehicle with more capacity than is needed “most of the time”. “Some of the time” we need to get unstuck from mud or sand, we need to do mountain towing in hot weather, we need to do some emergency braking, we have to tow in high winds, etc, etc. I’m glad GEICO stepped up and helped, that’s what we all want with an insurance company! Good luck on the rest of your travels and thanks for sharing your experiences, it helps us all. Mike

We like both of those having lived in AZ and TX. Our daughter graduated from NAU in Flagstaff while we were there and we have spent much of our camping time in AZ.

What a great adventure!!

The intermittent brake disconnect issue drove me crazy for a couple of years. I had my Ram checked and rechecked, I rewired the 7 pin connector, and had a couple of different technicians go over the trailer. Finally pulled the brake wires out of the axle and there it was, bare wires from bouncing around inside the axles for 100k miles. Frustration!

We installed two BB 100ah batteries in January, 2021. Later that year I added a third battery when they went on sale. I’ve had no issues. Terminals are tight, no wobble like what Will is testing in the video. It’s within about a month of when I got my Ram 2500 and it now shows about 58,000 towing miles. Mike

We are not going to be able to do Q this year. Family situation is keeping us close to home for the foreseeable future. ☹️

Jamie and Sandi, welcome to the forum! Lots of experience and expertise here. We loved our travels in Maine. John, add Maine to your travel list! We had a great visit there and plan on returning….. Mike

I have three of these batteries and they are fine, going on 5 years. Did this guy bother to check with BB before he posted this video and told everyone using the batteries to stop using them? If this was the danger he exclaims why is BB not recalling them or at least sending out warnings? With 400,000 batteries delivered I would think a major safety issue would already be addressed to avoid the inevitable legal issues. What am I missing? Mike

Your Progressive Dynamics converter is a circuit card located in your fuse box under the dinette seat (PD4045). Yours will not support lithium batteries, mine didn’t either. Your hull is the same year as mine. I ordered a new one, it was about $150. It has a switch for lithium batteries. It’s fairly straightforward to switch them out. If I did it you can too. While you are down there, check to make sure your main breaker didn’t flip off. Also, I would check under the bed with your Bluesky for the red circuit breaker to make sure it isn’t off. You might have another one under the dinette seat, I do. Make sure it is set. If you are hooked up to shore power and not getting 110 in the trailer I would suspect one of those breakers broke and needs to be reset (push the little flag back in to place). Hope this helps. Mike

Our 320W panels top off our three Battle Borns without issue. The only time they don’t get too 100% is when it’s a very cloudy day with no sun. MIke

We found that after about 5 years our AGM’s started declining. We replaced them with 300ah of Battle Born lithium 5 years ago this month and we’ve never even been close to running out of battery power. If yours are four years old, it’s probably age combined with the cold weather that’s putting a stress on them. BTW, 300ah doesn’t sound like much compared to what some folks have installed but it’s been plenty for us even for extended boondocking. Mike

Great pictures!

Some of what is necessary depends on what solar controller you have. We have Bluesky, so I had to do some reprogramming which was fairly simple to do. We replaced our four AGM batteries with three BattleBorn 100Ah batteries. We did do some wire/cable cleanup, but it was not difficult. 300Ah has been plenty for us when we’re camping without shore power. As Bill suggests, do a search, there’s been a lot of information posted on lithium upgrades. Mike

I’ve had most work done (bearings, brakes, etc) locally. Most maintenance is generic and can be done by any experienced RV maintenance person or by the owner. Mike

Casita did a pretty good job with this new trailer. Tank sizes, especially black tank, dry bath and large fridge are all good selling points. At about half the price of an Oliver this is going to provide some competition. I hope Oliver is working on their next trailer! Mike

The SL Mini doesn’t transmit TV, it provides internet connectivity so the user can stream whatever his device is capable of streaming. Carol and I are sometimes both on our iPads streaming different video content from the SL Mini. Mike

We haven’t had any content shifting issues. My impression so far is that the trailer seems more sure footed with the ALCANs. Mike

Happy Thanksgiving to all! Mike and Carol

@Kpaladin, welcome! Congrats on your “new” Oliver. We’re just down the road near Boerne. Hope to meet sometime soon. Mike

Like BIll, I don’t know of anyone who has moved their switches. If they are in the back you would be able to monitor the jack on that side but not the other side. I prefer them on the front so I can use the bubble level on the front jack to get the trailer approximately level. I’ve found that when retracting the jacks I estimate about an inch per second, then I do a visual check before finishing. Mike

David, great write up! Looks like they did a great job. We’ve stayed at Cumberland Mountain State Park a bunch of times, one of our favorites. Mike

I’ve towed my Elite II well over 100K miles since 2016. I towed with a Toyota Tacoma for 5 or 6,000 miles. I towed with two different Ram 1500’s (both 5.7L V8) for 50,000+ miles. I am currently towing with a Ram 2500 6.7L diesel, around 60K miles towing. Impressions: 2012 Tacoma (I-6, TRD Supercharger): maybe 200 miles per tank. Always looking for and stopping to fuel up. At or over load limit even with the smaller bed. 2016 Ram 1500, 2020 Ram Rebel (both 5.7L V8): Much more comfortable towing. Towing range much greater. Still aware of payload limit, but nothing like the Tacoma. Good tow vehicles. 2020 Ram 2500 (6.7L I-6 Cummins diesel): Am I towing? No worries about payload, towing range good. Engine brake does 90% of the braking when going downhill. Big diesel stays at less than 2,000 RPM most of the time, pretty effortless towing. My bottom line is that a half ton is a good TV and daily driver. Tacoma, Colorado, etc are marginal TV’s usually operating at the upper limit of their capacity, significantly reducing the margin for error. 3/4 ton and up are ideal, enough truck to stay well within limits and offering flexibility, safety and a very pleasant towing experience. Mike

In 10 years we’ve had our Oliver serviced by Oliver service folks twice. Every other time has been by a local RV repair shop with no Oliver training. Most RV issues are generic and a qualified RV tech can almost always get resolution. Oliver has covered my warranty issues when addressed at my independent RV repair shop. Even when we temporarily had an authorized Oliver service location at Princess Craft RV up near Austin (2 hour drive) I stayed with my local guy, just 10 minutes away and very competent and trustworthy.

Thanks to Donna and Scott and also Paula and Cleo for all their work to make this rally happen!!

We got it at Quartzsite at one of the vendors set up outside of the big tent. Not sure what the brand is, there are no markings. It slides into the one of the two Keder Rail slots on the Fiamma awning. There’s a short piece that slides in and then the larger part of the awning zips into the smaller part at the top. Mike