John E Davies

Do they put safety stands under the axles? I always use the factory jacks to support the entire weight of the trailer when removing wheels, but I will not venture underneath even a foot without backup jackstands in case there is a failure. BTW there have been complete failures in the past that have not been discussed widely here. I am not sure why; people should understand the benefits and risks. I would not hesitate to jack up the trailer in a safe pull-out to change a flat. But I am alaways very aware of where I put my limbs. The scary cautions and “never do this!” warnings from the factory are because of the lawyers. The fact that the techs do it at the service shop suggest that this is not such a huge problem..... OTH if I lived in earthquake country I would never ever store the trailer raised up. I would want it to be able to bounce around and absorb major shocks which could wreck the jacks and the frame if they were extended. John Davies Spokane WA

Use the factory jacks, take some of the weight off the suspension. Lower the trailer in spring time and drive away. No worries. No flat spots. IMHO the factory recommendation to not use the built in jacks AKA stabilizers for their designed purpose is pretty ridiculous.... John Davies Spokane WA

The picture of the older wheel that shows maximum 60 psi was interpreted wrong, I added a comment and picture here at the end of that thread. http://olivertraveltrailers.com/topic/wheels-model-warranty-care/http://olivertraveltrailers.com/topic/wheels-model-warranty-care/ Here is the picture, enhanced for better clarity. It says 80 psi. Oops. John Davies Spokane WA

I looked closely at that picture and it says 80 psi not 60. Here is a copy with the contrast enhanced. No worries. John davies Spokane WA

You beat me to it. Thanks for posting those links. Note that an Elite weighs 5000 pounds with a single 5000 pound axle, so the tire pressure for that trailer must be higher, in the 55 to 65 psi range. But 80 is still too darned high. At the factory they don’t know which type of trailer a wheel set will end up on, so they keep them all pumped up hard. But it sure would be nice of them to let some air out when they bolt them up to an Elite II. BTW in 2009 when that other thread originated, very few people used TPMS on trailers. So running all the tires rock hard made at least some sense. John Davies Spokane WA

http://olivertraveltrailers.com/topic/how-to-tire-pressure-placard/ Depending on the load 40 to 45 is appropriate. I am now running 45 with no issues. I keep lowering it, I may try 40 this year. LOL.... If I end up on a really choppy forest or ranch road for many miles I will drop them to 30 psi and re-air when back to normal roads. I believe that a TPMS is mandatory if you run at these pressures, since you will have way less time to react to a slow leak than if you are running at higher pressure. I don’t know if this info was ever added to the Owners Manual. Mine has pages of boiler plate legal messages, pictures and warnings but zero actual recommendation for the proper pressure. Can somebody with a new trailer please check that section and see if this info was ever added? Thanks. I hope this helps. John Davies Spokane WA

ALWAYS balance all five tires. This is just common practice for all vehicles except trailers. I have never seen a balanced trailer tire as delivered. I had mine balanced the day after delivery. Excessive tire pressure is worse and can even blow out shocks. If you are running more than needed, the sidewalls cannot flex and absorb road impacts and those get sent into the frame. The factory sends Elite II trailers out the door with almost twice the recommended pressure. I have never understood why. John Davies Spokane WA

https://home.howstuffworks.com/question117.htm/printable I agree about unplugging all the loads, then try resetting it. If it still doesn’t work, install a new one. These things fail all the time and you may have just gotten a bad one. You could ask for a warranty replacement, but in your situation I would just buy one at Home Depot and swap it out. It is not difficult, just be sure the shore power and inverter are OFF and then double check them again. If you replace it and the new one does the same thing, you have a wiring problem. You need to have a circuit tester (LED lights) in your kit, you can check every outlet. Make sure your tester can test the GFCI. Many do not have that feature. You need one like this: https://www.amazon.com/Power-Gear-Tester-110V-125V-50957/dp/B002LZTKIU FYI most outlets are hooked up using the little holes in the rear of the housing. This “back stabbed” method is fast, easy, unreliable and possibly dangerous. Most residential electricians do this when they wire up a new home, it saves a TON of labor. However! It is always best to hook the conductors under the screw terminals instead, and use wire nuts if you need to connect several wires together. Back stabbed wires are very bad in an RV where the connections will be stressed during towing. I have never looked at my trailer outlets, I wonder how the factory wires them? Maybe I will go look..... https://www.handymanhowto.com/electrical-outlets-side-wire-versus-back-wire/ Good luck. John Davies Spokane WA

I can’t answer that question about normal park sites, but how else can you explain it? The Oregon Parks server did not freeze from overload, it worked fine for other pages, all the green sites immediately and simultaneously turned red. There was most definitely black market price gouging of eclipse viewing spots. I don’t specifically recall seeing any state park sites. Craigslist was full of ads. We ended up camping three nights at a tiny fairground parking lot in rural Idaho, for $20 per night. That was really grim, but the sky was cloudless and the event itself was beyond spectacular. John Davies Spokane WA

It’s rigged, a computer program grabs them up the instant they become available. I am sure of it. When the Oregon State Parks system decided to open up 900 extra rough camp sites (using overflow parking areas) for viewing the August 2017 total eclipse, reservations opened at noon on March 15. I was logged in, had two sites chosen at two different campgrounds, each open on a different browser window. I refreshed each window and I was poised to hit reserve .... and within a few seconds after noon ALL 900 sites were gone. That is fundamentally impossible since it takes several minutes for a human to go though the multiple steps for one reservation. It had to be a bot. There was a huge outcry at the Oregon Parks Facebook page but nothing was ever done about it. The spots should have been handed out by a lottery. Many of the gazillion brand new RV owners who are hoping to “just go camping” mid summer are going to be very disappointed since the campground infrastructure has not grown. There just are not enough spots. Mid to late summer is a disaster here anyway due to nasty wildfire smoke. We try to camp more in spring and fall. Sad. When I see local RV dealer tv ads saying ”Go camping this summer in your new RV!” it makes me a little angry because that is so deceptive. Not only are there not enough places to camp, many of the spots are already reserved from months earlier, and the dealers don’t have the desire or capacity to service all those new junk stick and staple units they sell at 40% off. This is a result of the booming economy and severe cuts to park budgets. Grrrr. It was easy to find a campsite in 2009.... John Davies Spokane WA

Here is a camprground submission page, or you can access a similar link using the app. It is easy and satisfying to submit corrections. Like when the access road to a nearby lake campground landslid into the water a couple of years ago, I told them that the place was shut down indefinitely and they updated the info within a few weeks. When the road finally reopens, I will let them know again.... https://support.ultimatecampgrounds.com/uctic/open.php?topicId=20 Good stuff..... John Davies Spokane WA

I have been using this app as my primary research tool and it works very well. I never cared for the default maps (Apple Road and Apple Satellite, and Open Streetmap) but they did the job. The latest update adds Google Maps (Road, Terrain and Satellite). What excites me is the Terrain maps, which are wonderful if you live where the ground is not dead flat. The terrain maps look like topo maps without all the numbers or small details. They are super easy to read and interpret.... here is Round Lake State Park in N Idaho Here is the Apple road map view. Hmmm, it looks pretty flat. [attachment file=F479D23E-1281-4DA8-B914-7AF20654D09B.png] And the Apple Satellite view. Lots of solid green, what is that? [attachment file=E141058A-C61A-43A7-BED6-2958DE7AA5BF.png] And the wonderful Google Terrain view. Where did those mounatins come from? I highly recommend this app. Click a campground symbol and a brief desription window opens. Click the “I” button for full info, including links to website, images, etc etc. you can apply filters to look for places with certain recreational features, or only those above say 6000 feet, or those with hookups. The data is very much dependent on user submissions so if you find a mistake, email their support crew with a detailed description and they will make the change for the very next data update, which happens often. http://www.ultimatecampgrounds.com John Davies Spokane WA

You are welcome. It is much better to understand this now, rather than a few miles down the highway from Hohenwald with your new trailer in tow... Think about a pickup, seriously. They are a great choice for an Elite II and the newer 1500s drive very much like a big car. The HD trucks not so much, but one of those would let you ditch the Andersen hitch so you can use a simple quick and easy $30 dead-weight ball mount. I use an Andersen but I am not a fan.... John Davies Spokane WA

I did not know that. Thanks. It sounds very stupid to me, and I would throw mine in the trash if I had a WiFi Ranger. If the battery bank is getting down past 12 volts the last thing you need to be doing is surfing the Internet. It is time to switch on your brain and start switching off active circuits. edit.... they do fail, they have a $30 version. “The V2 model is more reliable and robust than the original 24V Step-up Converter.” https://wifiranger.com/shop/product/66-24v-step-up-converter John Davies Spokane WA

You haven’t told us any details of your Grand Cherokee ... this screen shot is for model year 2016: Note that this 5.7 Hemi uses a 3.07 ratio. The SRT 6.4 hotrod uses a 3.70 ratio. Switching to 3.70 or even bigger would make a tremendous difference in the amout of power. It would also make your vehicle a real hoot to drive when not towing. A dealer could do the swap but it would be cheaper if a drivetrain shop did it. Regearing the axles will actually decrease strain on the rest of the drivetrain. It is a win-win situation. http://www.new-cars.com/2016/jeep/specs/grand-cherokee.html Just thinking out loud. Always check your vehicle VIN to make sure, don’t rely on the Internet. John Davies Spokane WA

LOL, that is great. You made me smile. Thanks. John Davies Spokane WA

You really don’t have any overhead for a 7000 pound trailer, your GC will be maxed out unless you travel light with only a couple of people. I say try it for a while and see how it does for you. If you think it handles the weight OK but could use more grunt, for around $2K you can change both ring and pinions to a lower ratio (bigger number) to get lots more more torque. What axle ratio does it have? Some V8 GCs come with 3.07 ratio which is VERY bad for towing. My Land Cruiser has almost identical power as your trucklet but a 3.9 ratio, so it does OK. I run oversized 33” tires so I may actually change them to 4.33 to get back the lost power from that alteration. If you want to find out your your axle info, give your dealer the VIN and he can give you a printout. Unfortunately light duty SUVs have ratios designed to maximize empty cruising mpgs, which is bad for towing performance. There isn’t anything you can do if you need to carry more weight, except upgrade to a bigger vehicle. http://www.rvforum.net/SMF_forum/index.php?topic=104043.0 BTW your GC would be a perfect fit for the smaller Ollie. John Davies Spokane WA

True, but one huge handicap is you have to park a Tesla for 40 minutes for a partial 80% charge from a Supercharger station. An hour + for a full one. Bigger battery packs in trucks will mean longer charge times. A double sided gas pump can handle two cars every five minutes, where are you going to park all these electric vehicles with trailers while they reload with electrons? If you are overnighting, and there is a connection right there, no worries. But what about in-between stops? But if the towing range is 600 miles that would probably be a moot point. If it remains at 200, it will be a problem. No more five minute gas-and-go pit stops. It will be harder to cover lots of miles in a day. Unless you can do the whole trip nonstop. I just don’t see how that will ever become an acceptable situation. Maybe it could work for small self contained van type E-RVs. Our highways and bridges are falling to pieces from neglect and the constant pounding of forty ton semis..... What we really need are cargo teleportation pads.... No more heavy commercial traffic! Highways filled with self propelled Eco-Olivers driven by all those out of work truck drivers! John Davies Spokane WA

You never know. I thought the Betamax system was the greatest ever. Nobody knows what future battery types will be able to do. OTH you run into very serious heat management and fire risks with current ones, they can’t just keep making these bigger and bigger. Can you imagine smashing through the belly pan of your Rivian by running over road debris and crushing some cells...? Uh oh. You can keep increasing the operating voltage to reduce the current draw, but at some point that gets very hazardous. Campgrounds with 30 or 50a hookups may be every where in the East but they are not out here. For sure the campground system isn’t able to run a bunch of RV air conditioner and other loads while simultaneously recharging massive Rivian battery banks. That is a huge amount of current. But there could be technical ways around that bottleneck...like charging the TV at night. But I bet the overnight fee will go up by $10, a “Rivian Fee”, just because they can. John Davies Spokane WA

Great! Would you mind sharing the weight details of your truck? What useful load do you have? “Ample capacity” is not real precise. Thanks. John Davies Spokane WA

Nah, the Rivian owner will just fire up his little cold fusion power pack and recharge the truck in an hour. These will never be useful for real, long distance RV towing. But for very local trips, to the lake and back with a boat, or to Home Depot for building supplies they may be great. But the owner will always have severe range anxiety... because in inclement conditions or steep terrain it will be so hard to calculate. Do these have regen? If so, when you hit the red mark at the top of the Ike Gauntlet, you could u-turn and coast back to the bottom... And then trade it in on a real truck...... John Davies Spokane WA

That is a little mind numbing but very informative. Thank you. I laughed out loud around 9:00 minutes when he started describing the trailer he wanted to buy, a 35 ft toy hauler with a 2800 POUND TONGUE WEIGHT. Holy moly. The thing about toy haulers with a big rear garage is that they must be designed to carry half a ton or more of vehicles all the way in the back while still maintaining at least 8 or 10% tongue weight for stability. When they are loaded down, the tongue weight will be reduced to that amount, hopefully. But towing a toy hauler with that rear garage empty can be very bad indeed, due to the huge tongue weight when all that rear ballast is gone. I do not understand why anyone would buy one of these monsters.... you really need a fifth wheel setup with a big dually pickup. It is insane to use a regular hitch for this thing. Sorry to drift off topic. Toy haulers make me really mad. But that is a great video. John Davies Spokane WA

Rivians spotted in the wild.... https://insideevs.com/pickup-truck-rivian-r1t-r1s-suv-side-by-side-image/ These are rather smaller than I thought they were. They are more like a mid sized truck, unless that photographer is a giant. I still hate that wierdo front end but the ground clearance and overall sIze would make these wonderful offroad, as long as you didn’t stray too far from your charger. Amazon and GM are interested in investing in Rivian. With enough cash Rivian should be able to bring these on line. I wonder what the true towing range would be... John Davies Spokane WA

Carl, your truck has a max CGVWR (Combined GVWR) which includes the trailer load. This figure is standard for all similar 2500 vans like yours, but the actual empty weight (and your max payload) will vary enormously, based on what equipment and accessories were installed. Lots of vehicles can, on paper, tow a heavy trailer, but the CGVRW (and tow vehicle axle limits) will determine how much extra stuff you can carry in the tow vehicle. It is not much good to be able to safely tow say 5000 pounds when you can’t also carry all your gear or extra passengers.... I have no specific knowledge of Sprinters but I do know that there is a bewildering number of different wheelbase, roof type, body style etc etc, and it is not reasonable to expect the Oliver sales staff to know if your vehicle is a good choice, or not. You need to run the numbers for your own truck, and see how much personal stuff you will be able to throw in the back with say 4500 pounds of trailer attached. I have no doubt your van will pull an Elite, the question is, how much reserve weight capacity does that give you? A high percentage of travel trailers you see going down the highway are just too much for the tow vehicle. The driver either is clueless about it, or he knows he is overweight and has added extra equipment in an attempt to make it work; both are accidents waiting to happen, and it is financially dangerous for the owner from a liability standpoint. This subject comes up here all the time. It can be frustrating, especially for those new to towing. You need enough truck for the total load, plus a safety reserve of ideally 20% or more.... John Davies Spokane WA

Philip, I need that hat. Plus a nice shirt.... When will we be able to buy Oliver branded merchandise? We have been asking for a very long time. Many of your owners are folically challenged and could put an Ollie hat to good use. Thanks. John Davies Spokane WA