Leaderboard

Hey Everyone..... If you are looking for towel racks, hooks, bins, clips, paper towel holders, tissue box holders, shelves, soap holders, racks.... <stop for a breath>...that attach with suction cups that WILL NOT fall of the walls of your Oliver. Look no further! www.fecausa.com These things are pretty awesome. I am not connected with this company in any way except that Donna bought some hooks and a paper towel rack and they just WORK. It's like they had Oliver in mind when they came up with the idea. Hope you all find this useful. Scotty

Just back from our first trip with the new truck. We did a long weekend in Fredericksburg, TX. Lot's to do there, more to follow. We traded in our trusty 2012 Tacoma on a new Ram 1500, 4X4, 5.7L Hemi, Crew cab, short bed. It's the Lone Star trim level, a Texas thing, that's the same as the Big Horn everywhere else. Main reasons for the change were the small gas tank on the Tacoma and the weight limitation. I wanted some specific features on the new truck for towing but didn't want to go through the wait of ordering - big gas tank, brake controller, and 3.92 rear axle. We found one a few hours away in the right color with all the electronic gadgets and doo-dads. It certainly feels like a big truck compared to the Tacoma. Quiet and comfortable. Bottom line, towing was much less effort than with the Tacoma (surprise!). I put it in "Tow/Haul" mode and let it do it's thing. It's only about 50 miles from our house to Fredericksburg, half freeway and half state highway. All hills, not much level road. Gas mileage was about 12mpg. Heading north on I-10W I kept it at 65 and on the state highway between 60 and 65mph. Hope to get better mpg on level ground. It maintained steady speed up all the hills. If in cruise control, the transmission would downshift on some of the downhills so braking was minimal (it has the 8-speed automatic). Speaking of braking, the brake controller is much easier to set and adjust over the Prodigy P3 that I had hanging under the dash on the Toyota. I also appreciate being able to have what it's doing displayed on the dash. Also, being able to check truck tire pressure, temps for oil, coolant and transmission is nice. Lots of information and data. All in all I'm happy with the switch. The only drawbacks so far are that it won't fit in the garage (yet) and it's not as easy to reach things in the bed. I did have to drop the ball on my Andersen hitch one notch and tighten the chains a couple of turns.

We ordered one of these and put it on the door of the fridge like Stan did and it is staying put. Just back from a trip and no signs of it coming off. Might get a second one to put on the pantry door. The only downside is that, at first, I was reaching for it to open the door of the fridge! Mike

I think it is a good thing and will have one installed sometime. The only drawback is the height. We measured our present Thetford and the Natures Head is seven inches taller. Might need a foot stool.

We were poised to purchase a Ram 1500 Ecodiesel in anticipation of our May delivery in Tennessee-a beautiful vehicle. Our towing experience is limited and a number of family members and friends (all lifetime truck owners and outdoor enthusiasts) were adamant about the limitations of light duty trucks. After doing the payload math, inclusive of tongue weight and all of the items we intended to travel with, we were rapidly approaching the upper limits of the tow vehicle. The majority of our outings are in the western U.S. with some elevation challenges that impact horse power and torque. We opted for the bigger truck and are pleased that we did. Driving out loaded for the 2000+ miles from CA to TN our mpg was 20.5 . On our return trip, with our proud possession in tow, we made 15.5 mpg without incident and our Oliver was barely noticeable from behind the wheel. BTW-John's numbers on Ram pricing were spot on in March when we purchased and may be better as the new models are released.

I have an '06 Ram 3500. It is powerful and capable, but it rides much worse than the newer "Gen 4" trucks when unladen. The new 2500 with coil springs or airbags in back would be worth considering if someone wanted to step up from a 1500. They ride _really_ nice empty but can still handle a heavy tongue weight. The 6.2 Hemi engine is great for towing if you want to stay clear of a diesel. I recently drove a new 2016 Power Wagon with the 6.2 and it was plenty nice, though it didn't have any real low end grunt, compared to my Cummins 5.9.... The gas engine likes to rev. To the O.P. ... Ram is having huge discounts on 2016 models right now. The 2017s are coming this Fall. If you can't find a HD Laramie for $11,000 off MSRP you are not trying. It's a really good time to buy a new truck at a great discount. I've been watching these trucks in Idaho: .... http://www.dennisdillonchryslerjeepdodge.com/all-inventory/index.htm?search=Power+wagon&saveFacetState=true&compositeType=&year=2016&make=Ram&model=2500&bodyStyle=&internetPrice=&listingConfigId=AUTO-new%2CAUTO-used&showSelections=true&showInvTotals=false&quick=true&showReset=false&showSubmit=true&searchLinkText=SEARCH&dependencies=model%3Amake%2Ccity%3Aprovince%2Ccity%3Astate&facetbrowseGridUnit=BLANK&facetbrowse=true&suppressAllConditions=compliant&showRadius=false&lastFacetInteracted= John Davies Spokane WA

After removing the microwave glass, we tape the door closed. Found the bathroom faucet bumps against the wall during travel, so we installed clear bumpers where the faucet contacts the bathroom wall. Sounds like checklist items.

I think that you would have to have a _really_ strong interest in, and commitment to, the environment to use one. They require a lot of fussy maintenance. You do know that you have to dump the urine tank regularly, then dump or spread the compost, and recharge the holding tank with peat? While not not nearly as nasty as dealing with raw wet sewerage, neither task is pleasant or mess free. While it may be OK to dump a large container of concentrated pee on the ground it will stink and you should do it well away from any campsite. Maybe combine it with a gallon or two of gray water.... It's not something I would be happy to do in a busy campground, but you could carry it to an outhouse. I would love to be able to order a cassette toilet installation, to be able to roll the cassette over to and dump into an outhouse, but Oliver simply won't do it. When I get an Ollie I will probably use a portable macerator. Busy or closed dump stations are THE worst thing about owning an RV. I wonder if Oliver would be willing to design and offer a built in macerator dump system in place of the big gravity drain hose everybody hates. http://www.gonewiththewynns.com/all-composting-toilet John Davies Spokane WA