Mike and Carol

I agree with John on this. I’m not too worried about noise, and rolling resistance isn’t going to make a significant difference in MPG. Sometimes we do things because we like a certain look or a functionality that is contrary to practicality. Mike

This Rebel is more than enough to tow an Elite I. It’s essentially what I am driving now. I see it has the brake controller which is a plus, that will also give you the trailer brake status on your instrument panel if you choose. The 5.7L Hemi in the Rebel is plenty for the small Ollie. Rebels are not any more powerful than any other Ram 1500 with the 5.7. The Rebel just gets you some cosmetic trim upgrades and some suspension upgrades. I wish Ram would up the Rebel HP a little like Ford does with the Raptor. Maybe slap on a supercharger? The Rebel TRX does that with the bigger V8. Mike

The Ram 1500 can have a 23, 26 or 33 gallon gas tank. My 2016 had the 33 gallon. My current 2020 has a 26 gallon. They factor in a full gas tank when they figure payload capacity so the 33 gallon will yield a lower payload number. I was a bit concerned going from 33 to 26 gallons but honestly it hasn’t made much difference. We stop every 2-4 hours anyway so filling up isn’t the issue I thought it would be. I think most Ram 1500s come with the 2” hitch receiver and 7 pin connector. The towing package comes with some extra cooling, a larger alternator and brake controller. It’s important to make sure the towing features you want are listed on the window sticker. Mike

Interesting thread. Where we live in the Texas Hill Country north of San Antonio has some advantages for RVer’s. We have mild winters with no sustained below freezing weather, so no need to winterize. We do usually get a week of night time temperatures in the 20’s but usually well above freezing during those days. Being right on I-10, it’s an easy two day drive to Arizona, Colorado or the Florida panhandle. If you are young and ambitious those can also be done in a day. San Antonio is in the top 10 largest US cities so has all the cultural, medical, sports, airport and shopping that goes along with being large. We’re not in the city but only a 30-45 minute drive to any of the big city features. What we don’t like are the hot, humid summers that usually last from June through September. We usually make a July/August trip to NM, CO or AZ during those hot muggy months. Mike

This is what we do as well. Water from our fresh tank is used to shower, flush, and wash dishes. Any water use for drinking, coffee or cooking is bottled water that we buy or fill and bring from home.

I’ve had good luck with Champion Inverter Generators. I had a 3400 watt dual fuel that I ran only on propane. It was heavy (90+ lbs) and a little more than I needed. I sold it and bought a 2000 watt Champion on sale at Tractor Supply for $349. It only weighs 37 lbs, is very quiet and does a fine job of recharging batteries. I also tested it with the air condition (with EZ start) and it did fine.

We had this issue that Ken describes. After a couple of years our outlets wouldn’t work when on shore power. Lose wires in the junction box...

When visiting Nashville, we like Cedar Creek COE. It’s a very nice campground and pretty close to downtown. We stayed at Two Rivers RV park near the Opry, it was nice but pricey. In Hohenwald we’ve either stayed at the Oliver showroom or Fall Hollow campground. It’s been about 5 years since we were at Fall Hollow, not sure how they are doing now. For Lodging in Hohenwald, we’ve stayed a couple of times at the B&B at Fall Hollow. It is simple but clean and convenient to Oliver. We also stayed in Columbia at the Hampton. There used to be a B&B at Natchez Hills Winery, actually at the owners home. I don’t think they still operate it. Amber Falls winery has some rental cottages and they are also a Harvest Host location. We go to Amber Falls whenever we are in Hohenwald. Nice people and pretty good wine. Mike

I don’t know what inverter Oliver is installing now. The 2000 Watt Xantrex I have has two settings, On and Off. When connected to shore power I keep it “Off’ and all the AC outlets work. When not connected to shore power and I want to use an AC outlet or the microwave, I turn the inverter “On”. While plugged into shore power while in storage, I make sure the inverter is “Off” so I don’t drain the batteries if there is a power outage. I’m sure any inverter that is “Off” does not disable AC outlets when connected to shore power. Mike

Has the price come down on these? I could use a little extra oomph from my Rebel. $750,000,000.00 is just out of my price range. Maybe I could find a used one....

Sherry, on your Elite I how high does the ball need to be to keep the trailer level? This is an important measurement for Sheri to know when buying a ball and mount. We have two Sherry/Sheri’s here, trying not to get confused! Mike

Agree. If you are going to get a truck and plan on living in your Ollie I would favor a 4X4 for those situations that one is needed. The reason I prefer a truck over an SUV is because I would rather have my camping gear (grill, chairs, clam, rug, etc) in the bed of the truck rather than inside with me in an SUV. Mike

Your “brake light controller” is actually a “brake controller”. When you step on the brakes in your Escalade or truck the brake controller sends a signal to the electric brakes on your trailer to have them slow the trailer at an equal rate as your vehicle brakes slow your vehicle. Your seven pin connector at the hitch connects the tow vehicle electrics to the trailer so that when your tow vehicle brake lights come on so do your trailer brake lights. Since you don’t want a diesel, if you get a Ram or GM truck you’ll want to look for a V8. If you get an F150 the 3.5L V6 works well, or you could go with the 5.0L V8.

My plan is to replace my tires (BF Goodrich) next spring/summer when they go over 5 years. I was also thinking AT’s.

I think the Oliver Rally is being planned for mid to late May in Alabama. Would a Maine rally be earlier, like April?

I’ve used two Ram 1500’s to tow my Elite II. If you want to forego a WDH you’ll need to bump up to a 2500 or F250. Sway is not an issue with 1/2 tons, weight distribution is. I have my Andersen set to remove about 1.5” of drop in the back so that everything stays level. I have the 5’ 7” bed and we have enough space to carry our camping stuff. Mike

If we’re, say, half full and need to dump before our next location we just fill the black through the black flush, then dump. It’s actually good to travel with some amount of liquid in the black tank so it can do that agitating cycle while you’re driving.

Which inReach model do you have? The majority of our camping is in locations with cell service. The times we’ve been without, we didn’t venture far from our campsite. I can see where satellite based communications has better coverage, something to consider.

I’ve been reading reviews and this one seems (Oyster2) to perform well. It offers a monthly subscription. My only hesitation is that it uses batteries that need to be replaced. I’d like to be able to have a constant power source. It’s US made, Lonestar Tracking is located in Houston. https://www.amazon.com/OysterLTE-Cat-M1-Tracker-Year-Battery/dp/B07X8B5627/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=LoneStar+Tracking&qid=1603033541&sr=8-6

Reviving an old topic..... There have some recent posts on both FGRV forum and Airforums of travel trailers being stolen. Yesterday it was an Airstream stolen from a storage area, a week or two ago there was a fiberglass (Scamp, I think) stolen from a repair facility. So, I’ve started thinking again about GPS trackers. There seem to be a number to choose from. I know some Oliver owners have been using the Spot Trace and am wondering if you all are still happy with it? It gets mixed reviews online mainly due to the billing and subscription price increases each year. Does anyone use a different brand? Any recommendations? Mike

Maybe he could bring it to the next rally and we’ll put an Oliver Elite IV sign in the window! Should we PM him and ask him to post a picture on the forum?

Like Bill, I made my own blocks. Mine are stacked pieces of pressure treated 2X6’s. I drilled a couple of holes through them and added yellow nylon rope for handles. I usually put one or more legos under them to raise them even more. Here’s a picture:

I have raised the trailer without unhitching if it’s not too far off. I have also unhitched from the ball but kept the Andersen attached. When done, just lower back down, close the hitch and done. I also use blocks under the jack to limit the distance the jack has to move to just a couple of inches.

It’s been a few years, but it seems that they did. Most hose kits come with one and I think what was provided was an opaque 90 degree fitting. I got a Valterra Dominator hose and it came with a clear 90 degree fitting. What Oliver provided us was perfectly functional and I still have it for back up. I like the Valterra because when you scrunch it up it stays scrunched up, much easier to store. When you un-scrunch it to the length you need it stays that length. Mike

I haven‘t watched the video, will try to later. Some comments: once you hook up your hose to the connection in the bumper there is no need to unhook it when done. Just cap the hose and stow it in the bumper. Next dump you just pull it out, attach whatever you use to go into the ground drain (I use a 90 degree clear attachment) stick it in the hole and dump. The black water gate is under the back dinette seat. The gray water gate is under the street side bed, a good distance downstream from the black water gate. Gray water joins the black pipe under the bed. The cable for the black gate is quite long, the cable for the gray is much shorter. As you look at the handles, black is on the left, gray is on the right. I close the black before pulling the gray. After I drain the black tank, I usually do two rinse cycles, filling the black to about 80% or so and then dumping. On the second the water is clear. Then I do gray. Your gray water will rinse the pipe downstream from the gray gate but not the section upstream to the black gate. It’s a pretty simple operation really. I don’t think it is much different that other RV’s, except that the hose can stay connected. I get lots of comments on that, folks wish their RV allowed them to keep the hose connected, saving steps of unhooking, capping both ends, then putting the hose into whatever storage solution they have. Mike