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All My apologies for not replying earlier. I am on the road and just now was able to log in. Please allow me address some concerns here. First, I nor our product/ Happy Camper Solar, are affiliated with Oliver Travel Trailers or Oliver Technologies. I am good friends with Scott Oliver and others in the Oliver family and staff. They are very family and customer focused and very much want to sell a quality product. I have been the chairman of the Oliver Travel Trailer Owners Rally but I am not an employee of Oliver. I bought hull # 73, live near Hohenwald, Tennessee, in the Huntsville Al area and have a great relationship with Oliver. Secondly, My company Happy Camper Solar and my two business partners have no plans on selling our product to Oliver as an Oliver accessory. It should be easily installed on the Elite and the Elite II. The framework of the tracker is being designed for the current solar panel configuration. We are developing this product from our own funding. My two partners are engineers, one with many years doing engineering research and development for the US Army Corps of Engineers and headed the Energy Department for the US Army. My other partner has been a engineer doing work in energy research for the US Department of Defense. I retired from BAE Systems as a Vice President, the second largest defense contractor in the world. We built ships, planes submarines , missile systems., and a lot of classified defense systems. I am NOT an engineer but I know business very well. Thirdly, Solar Tracker. This is a framework that supports movement of solar panels to gain the maximum efficiency that we can design. It moves the panels automatically from early morning to late evening, up and down, left and right to track the sun’s activity rather than sit flat on the roof. It does nothing to the solar panels themselves. It is a vehicle to move, rotate, articulate and increase the efficiency of the solar panels to capture the suns energy. It is not cheaply built nor will it be cheaply sold. The technology is far advanced beyond the current commercial capability. Last, we are still developing the solar tracker. We are retired and have time to do this right. The two engineers are putting so much into the tracker capability, it is unbelievable. Soon, we will have the first tracker installed on my Elite. We will use this prototype to test. I have a friend that has agreed to test the prototype for the Elite II. My focus at this point is safety and reliability. This tracker has a number of electronic parts that has required a large amount of writing computer programs to make it reliable and functional. The technology is being designed by two engineers that are building capability that will hopefully exceed our needs as campers. I hope to be able to provide you with a video demonstration soon. Our marketing plan at this point is to sell directly to the consumer. I will try to keep you posted on our progress soon. THANK YOU coy gayle

NAN- I'm in TN, about 2 hrs. from the plant. If your game, I can help you with you concern. You can practice with my 16ft farm trailer, in a big open a field. If your any kind of competent driver, we will have you ready to go in a jiffy. Come a day early, practice - go forth in confidence! RB

A short lawn mower trailer will be so much harder for a new owner with no experience to back up successfully that you might just give up. If you go that route, just use the time to understand the basics. Like which way to turn turn the steering wheel to make the trailer go the way you want it to and using your mirrors. Also engage your spotter to help you. During your pickup day ask Phil to acquaint you with the standard hand signals. Remember, we were all there once and it will come to you. Good luck and congratulations on your new Oliver.

Can't beat a free lifetime warranty. Not much risk for the dealer considering the already long manuf warranty on drivetrain and length of time most people keep their vehicles. I do want to add a 'for your info' comment on extended warranties based on my previous years selling Honda and Toyota vehicles. Extended warranties are a huge cash cows for dealers and especially for the finance dept person who does all the closing/financial parts of your transaction. Those warranties have enormous markups and the finance 'mgrs' are free to get as much or little as they can for each. They will gouge if they can, or sell for $50 profit if that is all they think they can get from you. I have known some buyers bold enough to have them get their book out and show their cost and offer them $100 or $200 profit if they want to make a sale. I would think any of those warranties could be had for at least half of the price they initially ask for one. After all it is the last chance they have to squeeze a few extra dollars out of you. At least say to them, No, not at that price. They Will Come Down! I believe the last new car I bought in 1990, they wanted $1800 for ext warr. and I said I would pay $700, and he was happy to take it. It did pay for itself, for I broke the drivetrain on the sports car right after manuf warr. was up. It cost 2 grand to fix. Oh yes, one more thing. You'd have to google search to find one, but nowadays there are one or more ext warranty salesmen out there who work for dealerships that sell most every make of vehicle on one of their many dealerships in that city, who over the internet will sell you any manuf. ext warr. for $150 or so over cost. They are legit and sell exactly the same as you local dealership. Guess you could play one against the other if need be. Check it out.

First choice would be to find someone in the campground to help you. People are generally want to be helpful. The problem is finding the person that is actually helpful and know what they are doing. When I was dragging my race trailer from coast to coast, I brought "disc cones" in different colors with me to mark the spot I want to be in and any obstacles. so a rock gets a couple disc cones, the edge of the road where it drops into culvert, where I know there are low hanging branches, etc... Basically throughly survey the site before I even try to pull in. I plan on using rvschool.com to brush up (it's been six years since I pulled anything) and also get the wife ready to drive and park it.

Got these because it was so simple to install with no moving parts, air lines, etc. Before we left on our trip to MI, I had her loaded down more than usual and noticed a couple of inches of drop that didn't make much difference in towing but thought I would try to correct it when I got back home. Literally a 20 min install. I will update with a pic of TV when hitched to Ollie and update how the ride was was while pulling. Before:

Yeah, I'm aware of the diminishing returns for the gears, but the wider range certainly seems helpful. Being able to run 3.xx rear end instead of a 4.xx top end can really help unloaded fuel economy. The 8 and 10 speeds do this in their 3.xx rear ends while having a lower first gear than a 6-speed with a 4.xx. They also have lockup (which many of the 6 speeds did/do have) in more/all gears, so if you are towing in 4/8, you are still efficient and delivering as much power as 5-8. The cylinder shutdown doesn't create a Prius out of an HD truck, but the 6.4 Hemi was delivering the same gas mileage as my 3.5 "eco" boost in a 1/2 ton - so it is somewhat effective. If I could order today, I would order gas. Another bonus that I didn't mention is with gas, any aux tank or jerry can that works for the truck also works for the generator. So now I wait, (un) patiently, awaiting the word if there will be more ramboxes for 2019 or if I am holding out for 2020. A search across the country found nothing that meets my requests without also having $4000 sound systems, bucket seats, $1500 20" wheels, $1200 12" nav displays, and $1000 sunroofs that all drive the price up $10k. So I'd rather buy a cummins with that money, but none of the cummins builds are as I want either. The delays are a blessing, as maybe they will have the trailer tire pressure monitoring available by then, and I will know where we are living so I can order closer to wherever home will be.

I find that my 10 speed shifts very smoothly and doesn't hunt for gears at all. It also stays in 10 when towing except when accelerating or going uphill, of course. If anything, I find it too reluctant to shift - particularly on undulating roads, where the truck will allow the speed to drop on uphill sections much more than I'd prefer. When that happens, though, I just lock out the top two gears and it's fine.

Nan My 2015 Toyota Tundra is easy to drive and quite the pleasure. My wife Karren uses it frequently to do her Master Gardner projects and has absolutely no problems driving and parking the truck. Park away from everyone, do not try to get into those crowded parking spots up close to the store. Walking a bit farther is better than trying to maneuver a truck into a parking space designed for a Prius. A big advantage of a 1/2 ton pickup like the Tundra over the 3/4 ton like my new GMC 2500HD is the smoother and easier handling of the 1/2 ton Tundra. The 3/4 trucks do drive a bit stiffer, and, the diesel requires a bit more attention compared to the gasoline Tundra. I am certain you will be just fine in the Tundra. As for backing an Oliver, it is really easy, just back slow, check mirrors and camera, and if backing alone, I always get out a few times during the backing process to check behind me for obstructions and to envision my maneuvers. NEVER get in a rush when backing. At very slow backing speeds, even if something went wrong, the damage would be minimal compared to those macho backers who want to show off by "speed backing". I am an old man and I drive like one - no shame in it. Careful is key.

Just purchased 2019 GMC Sierra HD2500 4WD crew cab Denali with Duramax 6.6L Turbo Diesel V8 engine and 6-speed Allison transmission. The dealer offers a LIFETIME powertrain warranty as incentive (seems like a good thing for a diesel truck?). Have not towed anything yet, but expecting to experience a different compared to my 2015 Toyota Tundra (which towed the Oliver just fine). Now, purchasing ARE truck cap and Master Glide cargo slide. All it takes is money (and apparently, lots of it).

Nan, Don't stress over it too much. The absolute worst thing you can do is hook up a little, tiny lawn mower trailer and try to back it up. The shorter the wheelbase on the trailer, the faster it reacts (or actually overreacts) to that your input. I have towed trailers all my life and I HATE those tiny trailers. As suggested, I'd rent something at least middle-weight, maybe a 14-16 foot U-Haul and practice with that. You'd be surprised how quickly you get the knack. If you get in trouble backing up, just STOP and pull forward a little and start over. No big deal. Feel free to contact me via PM is you want to further discuss. Hobo (Paul & Donna)

Nan, Driving a pickup is definitely a different experience than driving a car. But, once you get used to it, you'll likely prefer the pickup, as I do. I see better ahead and to the sides in my truck, because I'm sitting up higher, and it's got a great big windshield and big side windows. And, I have great power. And, when I signal to change lanes, I find people are a bit more likely to fall back a little ( not always,) than when I'm driving a car. You're simply a bigger presence in a truck. Learning to back the trailer will take some practice, but honestly, that's better learned with your own trailer. You can try John's suggestion, but if you do, put some weight in the uhaul trailer.. an empty or light trailer tends to back really squirrelly. Most campgrounds have at least some pull through spots. You may have to reserve, or get there early, til you learn how to back. One skill at a time. If you want to try before you pick up Ken's, go " test drive" a few. Or, drive a truck. Use some air miles and rent a nice truck at Enterprise, and drive it, really drive it, for a weekend. The 2500 you're buying is the same size as a rental 1500, just the 1500 has not as much power, and a smaller fuel tank, and different suspension. The ride will be a little different from brand to brand, but turning radius, etc, isn't that much different. Today's trucks aren't the trucks of yesteryear. The interior is pretty plush, the ride is fairly carlike. I learned to drive a truck with manual transmission, as a kid. I love driving modern trucks. Sherry

Rent a large U-Haul box tandem axle trailer for a weekend and tow it all over - first on secondary highways and country roads until you get used to it, then on city streets. Find an empty parking lot on a Sunday, set up markers (paper cups filled with water) and practice maneuvers and backing. Buy the full U-Haul towing insurance! Use cell phones and hand signals to communicate with your helper. Buy a cheap set of walkie talkies for when you are out of coverage.,... This will be easier than finding somebody to teach you, and if you have issues you can ask here. Did you buy the backup camera for your Ollie? That is a huge help. John Davies Spokane WA

UPDATE - 21000 miles, 12000 of them towing the Ollie - still love this truck. Averaged 14-15 mpg on the last trip (8300 miles). Biggest issue is remembering your towing something, and looking down and realizing your going 80 mph.....yikes. And the Ollie - just as satisfying, can't think of one thing I'd complain about, but much to praise. A great match. GMC 2500 and the Ollie EII.

Congratulations - it's a shame that Oliver doesn't customize anymore, but you'll have fun doing it yourself and you'll be able to control more. I'm curious why you chose the standard toilet if you're going to be boon docking a lot. A couple of comments - You might look at a Cradlepoint router rather than the weboost and wifi ranger. It's basically the same thing combined into one unit, but highly configurable and easy to do your own antennas, etc. I saw the new awnings at the rally. They seem sturdy and well made. If you're at all handy, I'd think about doing your own shower rod rather than the track. You can do a nice stainless rod across the toilet that functions much better. Some people with the auto drain complain about the control panel lights at night, so something to think about. It's something you can always add later and then determine for yourself where to put the panel. I'm surprised that Oliver isn't doing the mirrored doors anymore. I thought that was a popular choice.