Mike and Carol

We camped outside of Flagstaff in August, temps were in the 50s at night.

Yes. If I get another Ram (either 1500 or 2500) I will get the Ram Box option. I am not fond of the look of a cap/canopy on a pickup. I prefer the look of a tonneau cover. The seals work well, I’ve not noticed any moisture inside after a rain or after washing. I keep a number of tools, bungies, and other things that I would not want to get wet in there. If the cover of the Ram Box was a drop door design I think more customers would get that option so they had more options as far as covering the bed, but I’m happy with the boxes and the tonneau cover.

I’ve had Ram 1500s with and without the Ram Boxes. I used a Bakflip tri-fold tonneau cover on both which provides nice security for stuff in the bed. I don’t mind the squared sides of the bed with the Ram Box option. That space isn’t always real usable anyway and I like being able to put tools, supplies and other things that need to be accessible in each Ram Box. If you are going to go with a cap, like John says, don’t get them.

January is a good time to visit parts of the southwest. We plan on leaving the first week in January to spend all of January in Arizona and then possibly do some southern Utah before coming home. John’s advice is good. January in southern AZ is good, January in northern AZ can get dicey. Flagstaff and even Sedona to some degree will have lots of snow off and on. Southern UT and NV are usually good but can have some occasional weather. Elevation increases cold and precipitation. You haven’t said what kind of camping you do. We avoid commercial RV parks and stay at state and national parks, COE, FS and BLM areas. Right now, NM is pretty much still closed down as far as state parks and other public areas go. AZ is open, we will be staying at Kartchner Caverns SP, Catalina SP in Tucson, Lost Dutchman SP near Phoenix and Fool Hollow SP. The issue you might have with AZ state parks is that they are hard to get into. We made our reservations 6-12 months ago. Same with other public campgrounds, AZ is popular that time of year. Texas is open and has some nice state parks and other public campgrounds. Mother Neff SP outside of Waco is nice and there are a number of nice state parks between Austin and San Antonio. If you are traveling in January/February there can be some inclement weather along I-40. I-10 across southern TX through NM into AZ is pretty safe. Southern UT is nice. Any or all of the national parks are well worth visiting. There are some nice public campgrounds outside Arches and Canyonlands around Moab. Mesa Verde NP is also worth a visit, being in southwest Colorado it doesn’t get the same cold and snow you associate with Colorado. There is also nice camping around Lake Meade in NW AZ and up into southern NV. I don’t have any experience with commercial RV parks. Since NM has been closed down for COVID we do stay at a very small commercial park in Roswell when we’re going to Colorado. Mike

Mine isn’t black but it’s close....

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