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I have been super happy with the RAS on my 2017 Tundra DC 6.5’ bed. I installed on the middle setting and it’s been great when it’s unloaded and running around town with just the truck, and absolutely no squat with the Oliver attached.

Got back from dinner and the Host had changed the entrance sign to “FULL.” Got here at 12:30 and after we quickly setup camp, a neighbor stopped by and said, “You got the best site, #12. A trailer pulled out just before noon.” We’re sitting at 9,550 FT and not a bad view for our last two nights before heading back to AZ!

Agreed these newer trucks are on a completely different level in performance as well as comfort, features and amenities. Approaching rocket science.

Dan: Recognize that the vast majority of us on this forum are Retired Ole Farts. We certainly made our share of mistakes and learned from them. I used to call my Grandfather a "Ole School" guy. Over time I came to realize that he was actually a lot smarter than I gave credit for. But he had the gift of letting me make my own mistakes, so that I could learn from them. As a leader in the EV Team and a member of our forum, I thank you for your thoughts and reality checks presented. Granted I doubt that many of the current OTT owners will follow your foot EV foot steps. For now.... But I would guarantee that in the not too distant future, the technology will be at the point of people wondering why we were ICEing it for so long. Your advantage is you have the technical and experience to be out in the lead in this area. Good for you. And good luck as those ROF's tend to be right..... all the way up to the moment that reality strikes. Sort of like there is no such thing as global warming. No offence to the MAGA members of the group! Really! Seriously! Geronimo John

It is absolutely amazing what a few mods to a truck design can do. Like: Taking 700 pounds off the truck (Conversion of body from steel to AL.) Having a near 400 HP Twin Turbo engine with a 10 speed GJ

Love Floradora

Camping at Sunshine CG, dinner at Floradora’s Telluride! They’re ready to celebrate America this week. Wish I had come here when still a skier!

This post was meant for Where's Ollie. Can it beoved?🙃

Who said Iowa was flat? I always knew Iowa was rolling hills of farms and cornfields. I had no idea of how steep some roads could be! This is from a few weeks ago on our current trip. We rounded Omaha on I-680, crossed the Missouri north of Council Bluffs, the same town Bill had mentioned. Somehow Apple Maps showed me what look like an interesting country route to our destination at Arrowhead Park... I could NOT BELIEVE the roads, steep limestone dirt roads, sometimes a 10% grade which on dirt you better be careful. And we live in Arizona where steep is normal! Hard to see how steep in a picture, but you'll get the idea. Iowa was beautiful in the 2 campsites we stayed and the country roads in-between! (So was every state we traveled, every state in the union!)

It comes down to the surface area of the contact patch, pad on disc or shoe on drum. Disc brakes likely have some efficiencies but certainly not 10” discs over 12” drums. The main advantage of disc brakes is the cooling which is much greater since air cannot flow inside drums where the heat is created, and brake fade is caused by the materials over-heating. A simple way of looking at is, I (we) replaced axles rated at 7K to 10K. The brakes must also be capable of stopping the rated weight. Simple conclusion is it provides a 43% increase in braking power (10 / 7 =1.43).

Thanks but for the record I live in Montana not WY but we often travel to and through WY, camp, hike and bike. From what I know the payload does differ a fair amount depending upon what other options are installed from moonroof to off road package. For the most part other than toys, ie bikes or kayaks we are fairly light travelers. Even over estimating our load with everything we might bring along I don't get anywhere near what the lowest payload might be on this truck. Future experience might prove otherwise, hopefully not. Like many others on the forum I have had great success with my previous eco boost engine pulling the Ollie for over 10 years. A 3/4 ton would be great for towing but just not in the cards for me for a litany of reasons. Once I have this new one in hand I will report back on all of the concerns we have all come up with. It's interesting how the Ford truck forums have so much vitriol for this one model of truck though, just on the issue of towing and none other. Almost funny how so many people get worked up over these issues. Oh well.

Nope, you Army guys are tougher than me. Don’t like turbulence either!

And pack whatever you can in the Ollie if you're running up against your payload limit. 100 lbs packed in there only adds 10-15 lbs to your payload.

I've read that the PB Platinum models have a payload capacity around 1250 lbs. The Lariat will be a bit more, but not sure how much. Do your calculations and be safe! Cargo weight adds up in a hurry with just the most basic things (passengers, canopy, hitch/mudflaps, tongue weight...) The 6.5" bed would be what I would pick for many reasons including the longer wheelbase, which will improve your ride. Living in the great state of Wyoming, and the inter-Mountain West, if I was towing with only a 30 gallon gas tank, I'd for sure carry an extra 5 gallons in the back. My tank is 36 gallons and I have already needed it! Good luck and hope the new truck works well for you. Dave

So, jumping out of airplanes isn’t on the agenda either? It’s been a few years since my last jumps but I still think I could do it, even as I’m in my 70’s! I think Highway 550 is a scenic and exhilarating drive from Ouray down through Silverton. Traffic generally moves slow and the drive doesn’t have to be white knuckle. The drive around by Telluride is much tamer but also very scenic. You can’t go wrong either way. Stay in your comfort zone!! Mike

I have towed our 2022 Ell with a 2014 and now 2019 3.5L eco boost. Both trucks XLT with tow package. The 2014 had a 6.5' bed and the 2019 has a 5.5' bed. Both tow the Oliver easily. We live in Ohio and have towed it to Alabama (rally), Miss, Tenn, KY and WV camping and have had zero issues. Payload was a learning curve at first but after loading and unloading stuff we never "used" vs stuff we take "in case" it became easier. I think the only issue with the Powerboost and some other options would be less payload capacity. We are looking to move to a 3/4 or 1 ton truck this year to accommodate more extended trips. Getting away from the Anderson Hitch is a bonus for me, lol. Scott

That's a big accomplishment. I always said that the people who say it's flat are vehicle drivers.

We saw one in 4000 miles of towing from Portland, Oregon to Denver, Colorado.

But if you already have them at 100# they're OK, leave them alone for now and do 90# next time.

First off, to stick to the purpose of GJ's post, it appears that Dextron dealers carry the Nev-R Lube axles. Alcan does not carry the other. OTT does not install EX-Lube either and perhaps they can be special ordered. Everybody who has upgraded to D52 axles has purchased Nev-R Lube axles, which is what I also did last week. Alcan called me first thing Monday to confirm Dextron will build my special order D52 50.00 axles (they stock the more common D52 50.50 size). I high-jacked this thread the other day, something often tolerated in Ollie-and and wrote the statement, quoting myself above. Mike @Mike and Carol replied with this: Simply put, I'm chicken! Our TV can do it, the 1/2-ton TV can do it. I've watched the YouTubes on this dangerous road, so no thank you! When young, I used to ski the mountains of USA and Europe, like Kirkwood at Lake Tahoe or Cervinia (the Italian side of the Matterhorn). Later in life I've become afraid of heights, don't like 2nd-story ladders, don't enjoy gondola rides anymore and we're going to Telluride today! 😞 Somehow I can still bomb up the steepest dirt road in AZ on my dirt bike (slower on the downhills), but won't ride ATVs traversing a mountain, don't like that leaning sideways feeling and same on some roads. I believe it's an inner ear thing I've acquired through the years. And towing down a steep mountain can bother me at times, like AZ I-17 +/- to Black Canyon city, which I run a dozen time a year because I have to! It's the most direct route from home to The Valley, or I can drive/tow Hwy-89 down Yarnell mountain which I do to go to Wickenburg or Quartzsite. I drive slowly down, keeping an eye on the sideview mirrors allowing the speed-demons to pass whenever possible. Our older Dodge Cummins 2500 is fine TV and I've rebuilt it to like new. With it's 2500 rating and Cummins, it surpasses the Tundras and Eco-boosts many of you regularly use (maybe this post should be in the towing section). I was online shopping for more modern TVs the last few late nights. Those with greater than 440 torque, more than a 4-speed trans and with the exhaust brake! I could not find one used on Auto Trader and Craigs that fit my needs! We MUST have and 8-ft bed and I prefer 2WD for its lower stance and stability. Do not want a quad-cab or worse a crew cab. I've seen what y'all back into your back seats! 🤣Love our half doors which keep the cab short, making up for the longbed and back there is only our Pickleball bag, extra shoes under and behind the driver's seat and Charley's bench seat that he loves. In upgrading our TV, we could not find these features! 95% of trucks are 4WD quad-cab short beds. I would love a 6 or 10-speed Alison trans, or the 10-speed Ford but $7500 will get my an awesome stage-2 rebuild on the old Dodge and there is a premiere rebuilder in Phoenix. I believe the exhaust brake which @Patriot mentions often would make me feel much better on 8-10-12% downhill grades that are everywhere out here and I can add the recommended Pacbrake system for $2K which is possible since we already have a Cummins, btw no DEF required which you all know is a PITA. On the other side, I could sell the '01 Ram for a little more than the paltry $18,200 paid and not re-coop most of the additional $10K invested to-date in its rebuild. Uninstall and reinstall our Pepwave router system. And pay $50K, or $60K for a good used truck that would be better in many ways but not have the features we like. And they just look good together. What was I thinking, we're family!

Thanks, JD...will do 90#

Wow, I can't imagine a bike journey like that! Congrats to you for such a great accomplishment! I only rode about 70-80 miles per day in "flat" Iowa.

90 lbs is the better number. Generally a stud will snap from over-torquing. Studs should also be clean and dry. If that single stud happened to have some grease or oil on it plus the 100#, that would do! To repair, remove the drum. On a workbench hammer out broken stud with a HD center punch. Line up the splines from back side and hammer in place. If you have the old-school bearings, removing the drum means repacking the bearings, not necessary with Nev-R Lube of course. Thought I would also copy instructions from the 2016-OTT-Owners-Manual.pdf here, where it states to use the stabilizer jacks to change a tire and provides the 90# torque spec (Oliver jacks and 6-bolt studs have not changed, from the first hull to the last). Loosen the lug nuts on the tire you want to remove. Check for a stable footing under the jack and place an ABS footing pad or block of wood about 4” in height below the jack foot plate. Raise the jack until the tire clears the ground, then finish loosening and removing them. Pull off the old tire, slide the hubcap out backwards and insert it on spare. Set spare tire evenly on the lug nuts and hand tighten lug nuts. Retract jack back to travel position. Now tighten lug nuts completely. Lug nuts should be torqued to 90 ft lbs. Place the flat tire in the spare location.

Camped with another Oliver at Angel Fire RV Resort, Angle Fire, NM; Midway COE, Waco, TX; Galveston Island State Park, Galveston, TX; Outer Banks, NC, KOA, all in the last 12 months and the year isn't over😊. Passed several on the highway.

I went into etrailer.com, but didn’t find a 6 on 5.5 bolt pattern offered for 3500 axles.