Mike and Carol

Assuming you have propane to all of your other appliances…. Ensure that your quick connect is fully seated. Pull the collar all the way back and insert the hose making sure the collar goes all the way back forward locking the hose in place. Do you have a regulator on the appliance your are trying to use? If so, you may need to remove it since propane from your trailer tanks is already regulated. Mike

We attended the rally for a few years but not the last couple. My understanding is that the organizer quit organizing and now it’s just an informal gathering. There is usually information over on FiberglassRV Forum (I just checked, nothing on 2023 yet), this years was in early February. Mike

@hardrockis one of the founders/developers. He hasn’t been on the forum in a while. You could send him a PM to see if he could provide a status. Mike

Yep, you’re overthinking it. When you have your trailer hooked up set you brake controller somewhere in the middle. While going at idle speed, say 5mph or less activate your trailer brakes but not your truck. If your trailer skids and you are on pavement, adjust down until you don’t. If you are on gravel and skid, adjust down until you don’t, then up to the first setting where you do skid. After a while you’ll be able to feel where the setting should be by activating the trailer brakes and feeling how much drag you get from the trailer. It’s not rocket science and there is no exact setting. Others may have different methods and thoughts but this has worked for us. Mike

The clam won’t keep you dry in a good rain. We find ours especially useful in cold weather. We put the panels on and set up the fire pit (propane) and it provides a warm outside room. Mike

I can’t speak to the automatic retracting. The Fiamma has support legs that must be used. If the automatic awning doesn’t have support legs there would be a lot of downward pressure on the awning from the sunscreen. Mike

It attaches to the awning’s Keder rail, there are two in our Fiamma manual awning. It’s two piece, the smaller slides in to the awning then the large panel just zips on to the smaller. I don’t think it would work on an automatic awning. On our manual awning we are able to withstand pretty high winds with the sunscreen attached and the support poles tied down. We got it at a booth at the Quartzsite Big Tent show 4 or 5 years ago. They have them on Amazon for about the same price we paid back then. It provides good shade and privacy. Mike

We like our Clam, too. One of our favorites is our sunshade that slides into our Fiamma awning.

When you pick up your trailer the tires should be at the new recommended pressure (probably 55psi, not the old 80psi). We’ve used 55 for thousands of miles and 50 for thousands of miles. Both seem to be much better than the old 80psi which we used our first year. We watch pressure and temperature on our TPMS and both increase in the heat and decrease in extreme cold. No issues at either 50 or 55. Mike

Sounds like a great trip! Post some pictures when you get time. Mike

I just found an old email from Oliver in the summer of 2015, price for the Elite II went up to $48,500. Mike

Not sure. The date on the brochure I posted is December, 2014. Mike

Interesting. When we started looking in the summer of 2015 the LEII base price was $41,000. The price went up a few thousand before we ordered in the fall of 2015 2015_Legacy_Elite_options 12 11 2014.pdf

Spend some time over on Airforums to get a feel for initial quality issues and reliability. We personally like Airstreams, they are an iconic part of American camping history. If it weren’t for Oliver we’d probably be in one. Good luck on your decision. There is a forum member here @BoondockingAirstreamwho owns both an Oliver and an Airstream. He’s pretty active on the Airforums (Ray Elklund over there), maybe he could give you some insight. Mike

A good thing about frozen burgers is that you can grill them without thawing. We usually thaw, but there have been times when we weren’t able to and we just threw the frozen burgers on the Weber or the Blackstone and they cook fine. Mike

We’ve used TST for over 5 years. Works well. Tireminder is also good. There are others. Just get one and use it! Mike

Welcome, Steve. You probably have questions. Lots of answers here, so ask away. Mike

We camped at Two Medicine Campground. Loved it. It’s a bit of a drive up to the main entrance to Glacier, but not bad.

We keep our Coopers at 50. We have the AT3 not the HT3. Mike

For me, saving money on fuel is not a reason to choose one type engine over another. I get a little over 14 mpg normal towing. Lower in the mountains, higher on flat lands. 20 mpg around town not towing. I’ve towed with a supercharged I-6 gas, two gas V-8s and now a I-6 turbo diesel. Ease of towing and ample cargo capacity are what led me to get a 2500 diesel. Mike

If you are going to camp without hookups the majority of the time, go composting. If you will have hookups the majority of the time go with a conventional toilet. We have a regular toilet since that was all that was available back then, we do boondock and can go 4 or 5 days before we need to dump. We’re usually ready to move anyway. I like things to be simple. When my hot water tank gives up I will replace it with another tank, not a Truma. I don’t want a composting toilet because the flush and dump of the regular toilet is easy with very little to go wrong. That’s just me. Mike

We’ve been to Catalina a bunch of times. Gilbert Ray and the other Maricopa County Parks are great as well. We also like Lost Dutchman, Dead Horse, Kartchner and others. Mike

We usually go to Arizona for the month of January. We’ve got reservations at Catalina State Park starting January 2, then more around the state. If there’s ice in southern Texas it usually doesn’t last long. Mike

I’ve been running 50psi for a long time. I should do what John did and remove our TV, haven’t used it in years. MIke

That’s some great work! Now on my to-do list. Mike