Mike and Carol

rferg800, welcome! You make some good points that I’m sure will start some good discussion. Just some general comments as my brain wakes up this morning…. We have been happy with the Dometic fridge. We only run it on propane or 110 if we have it. It is very efficient on propane. We also have the 30 lb propane tanks, but would be happy with 20 lb tanks for a couple of reasons (easier to lift, easier to exchange/refill, can easily swap out with what I carry in the truck). We have the older 320W solar/Blue Sky system with 4 AGM batteries. They worked well for years. I swapped them out with 2 100aH Battle Borns and have found them to have ample capacity. I’ve thought about adding a third, but haven’t been able to justify doing it just because I have room for one more! Congrats on your order, hope to hear more from you. Mike

Carol and I hope everyone has a happy and safe Thanksgiving wherever you may be! Mike

I’ve got the yellow Camco pedestal surge protector. I’ve never locked it up, maybe folks don’t like the yellow color and only go after the black progressive units. I may be too trusting, but we’ve never had anything stolen from our site. Mike

Congratulations on your order! We weren’t sure about the solar either but have found we use it quite a bit, especially in a lot of the National Park campgrounds that have no hook ups. As Bill said, it gives you flexibility on where you can camp. Mike

There are plenty of F150 with the 3.5 V6 towing Oliver’s with no issues. I’m sure they will chime in. Congratulations on your upcoming Ollie! Mike

I didn’t realize how big a difference a diesel makes on braking. With the air brake on I rarely touch the brakes on downhills and slowing. Mike

We have USAA and they use Progressive for customer RV insurance. Mike

Replacing our AC is near the top of my mods list. We’ve been complaining for years about the noise, it has even influenced our camping locations… we tend to go to much cooler climates and endure the AC while we’re escaping the Texas heat. Although loud, it does cool the trailer down pretty quick. We’ve camped in 100+ degree weather and ran the AC on low. Ear plugs help! Mike

This is the hitch I got when I went to the 2500. Top of the ball is just under 24” and I get about an inch of drop when the trailer is connected.

With an F250 I don’t think you need to worry about an Andersen hitch. I used the WDH for 5 years with smaller trucks but when I got my 2500 last year I took the Andersen off and now have about 10K towing miles without it. Absolutely no issues. Mike

If they are still using the Cooper tires, I just put a set on my trailer last January and I’m very happy with them after a little over 10K miles. I’m thinking I’ll use the same tires on my truck. Mike

Hey Don, look forward to seeing your new trailer! Mike

When I went from a Ram 1500 to a Ram 2500 I stopped using the Andersen. I bought a quality hitch that fits the 2.5” receiver without a sleeve. It has made hitching and unhitching a lot easier and faster! Mike

We’ve found that the duct in the bath doesn’t do much. In cold weather we just keep the bath door open all the time when we’re not in there doing something.

That’s reasonable. I used 55 for a couple of years and have settled on 50 now for the last year or so.

We’ve stayed in MO state parks (just last month at Table Rock State Park near Branson) and had no out of state surcharge. We also stayed at Red Rock Canyon in OK a few years ago when it was still a state park and had a very nice stay, sounds like it has gone downhill since becoming private. Mike

Hello to the Elite II heading south on I-35 in Kansas just north of the Oklahoma border at around noon today. We were traveling without our trailer, which seemed really weird. Mike

Are you using your air conditioner?

I’ve changed and removed tires several times with the on board jacks. There are lots of threads discussing this. Mike

Welcome. This is a good place to ask questions. I lurk over on Escape forums and I think you’ll find a lot of good information here. Mike

I thought so! My son and his wife are class of 2004. I’m 1976 (genuine old grad), just had our 45th reunion. Mike

Looks great! I have to ask about the gray blanket with the gold stripe on your bed. It looks like the gray blanket that was on my cadet bed at West Point…. Mike

Good question. I am assuming that since I was charging the AGMs that the lithiums are getting some charge as we travel. I know whenever we arrive at a site we’re at or near 100% charge but that is probably largely due to the solar panels. I didn’t change anything that might affect TV charging. Mike

Not sure I understand. I have a Blue Sky solar controller. Last January I replaced my 4 AGM’s with two Battle Born Lithiums. I did 10 minutes of reprogramming of the Blue Sky and swapped out the 6 year old PD 4045 with a new one that is lithium capable. Done. The system has performed great during several months of camping. If I ever decide to sell, someone will be getting a great set up. No risk. Mike

I hope so! Thanks for the optimistic report!