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I'll apologize for the thread drift, and we can get back to the op's question. My Maverick was a plain jane, small six, bench seat three on the tree, "Wimbledon white" (your mom's was probably the Freudian Gilt color 😃) , economical and easy to maintain little vehicle. I could do much of maintenance and repair myself. Certainly underpowered, it probably saved me a lot in speeding tickets, as I had a pretty lead foot in college days. I got $1000 trade for it on my Dodge Dart special edition, after 4 1/2 years and 75000 miles. Never a lick of trouble, other than replacing the clutch, as I taught the next younger three how to drive a manual transmission with my little Maverick. (My next younger sister was a tough pupil. She eventually got a Maverick, too, but the cooler "upgrade" with the automatic trans and reclining bucket seats. She may even have had a glove box, as opposed to the cubby 🤣.) The three on the tree was great for rocking out of snow banks. Mine was never garaged. A lot of great memories. Wish I still had it. I did save a badge, after a lady drove 3 or 400 feet across an almost empty school parking lot to crash into my little car. The kids in commons study hall went wild, and two rushed to my room to "tell on her." The other great feature was the heater. It always worked well, as opposed to the vw bugs many of my friends drove. We had to keep blankets in their cars. Those were the days. Simplest is better, for me.

Not sure about that contest you speak of, but you can forget about that Taco ever pulling an LEII.

I was just out washing the Ollie. I had pressure washed it when we got home with all that road dirt, but it's still dirty. It's so hot out, I only got the roof washed and dried and will do the rest tomorrow. I did take a minute to remove the Anderson, everything but the frame mounts for now. That's a relief. I'll go with the OTT suggested 55 PSI for now, even though the load tables say you can run as low as 45. 80 PSI does make the trailer skate around a bit, squirrely is right. The TV likely has worn ball joints. I know the tests. When I have a bad ball joint, I replace all of them, bushings and other parts along the way. This way, I don't have to do the labor again, and should get 10 years worry free out of a full rebuild. Shocks, yes certainly if they're original or worn-out replacements. Thanks, everybody!

jd1923: FYI, Oliver TT is now recommending 55 psi in the Oliver tires. The first year I owned the OTT, I ran at 80 psi. Things were a little stiff. I now have 60 psi in the Ollie tires and the ride is smooth as can be.

My ‘06 Laramie 3500 leather seats were OK for short trips, but not for cross country when combined with the harsh ride on choppy surfaces, But nether my wife nor I are at all tolerant of bad rides, we have always owned premium vehicles with great seats. These helped a lot, but did not help fix a lot of faults with the truck.. https://corbeau.com/baja-rs/ PS, in a full sized HD truck they are incredibly @#$&*! difficult to get into to get into, they have really deep side bolsters. But they are ohhhh so comfy on a ten hour trip. John Davies Spokane WA

First time I've ever heard anyone say their Oliver was swaying, not to mention with a 2500 (if anyone else has, please link the thread). Somethings up. As others said, check the truck suspension then try towing without the Anderson.

I found a PDF for the Dexter Axle Parts Catalog. Which might be handy to cross reference Dexter part numbers to NAPA and other manufacturer’s numbers.

Ditto to John’s comment. Before anything else you should check & replace all of the front end steering and suspension components (ball joints, shocks, shock bushings, etc) and the rear shocks & shock bushings. A 22 year old high mileage truck like yours likely has a lot of worn and age degraded components.

Before you start messing with springs, make sure the front end is tight. I am not sure about the 2001 models, but my 2006 3500 5.9 was notorious for destroying ball joints. I replaced mine with OEM ones at 90,000 miles. There are much better aftermarket ones that will last forever if you plan to keep the truck forever. They are expensive. If the shocks are tired, replace all four. What tire pressure are you running? I hope not 80 psi F/R. That will make the ride really hard and squirrelly. Try 55/60 depending on the bed load. If you are towing with ammo or anvils in the bed, you will need more air in the back. Let tire temperatures be your guide. What is your payload? You do NOT need the Andersen with that truck! A $50 fixed dead weight mount and ball is fine. Try to find a 7500 rated ball with extra long 1” diameter shank, made for mounting through fixed truck bumpers. I got mine from eTrailer. You can fine trim the coupler height to level the trailer if necessary using hardened 1/8” fender washers from a bolt supplier. If the truck still feels odd, go with aftermarket lifted springs front and back, my truck only had 2” of up travel in front before the axle hit the stops! You do definitely need better seats. Take a look at the excellent Corbeau suspension seats with adjustable backs. John Davies Spokane WA

I've seen a crap load of vehicles in my 70+ years. That thing far surpasses any vehicle I've ever seen in pure unadulterated butt-uglyness. Hopefully they're giving them away to blind folks. I used to think it couldn't get any more ugly than this: I was wrong.

Fuel prices are high here in AZ! Any of you on the Kroger grocery fuel points program, get their credit card! We have Fry's here in AZ and it's a Kroger company. No fees on this card. Kroger Rewards World Elite Mastercard® | Home 1-2-3 REWARDS Credit Card (krogermastercard.com) SAVE AN ADDITIONAL 55¢ PER GALLON OF FUEL! Each time you redeem at least 100 fuel points at Kroger Fuel Centers for the first year! After the first year, you get still $.35 off instead of the $.10 per 100 grocery points. We could not survive the current inflation/economy without it!

Crow Head NL had an abundance of icebergs There’s a clear blue strip on this iceberg

Icebergs near Twillingate Rock Cut trail a walk on the edge of cliffs

Background: Using @John E Davies's modification (HOW TO: Connect a STANDARD SAE 4 pin harness (or 4 pin with backup lights) to your OLIVER FACTORY 7 pin wire), May 15, 2022); as inspiration, we installed the same LED light bar (Amazon $90) on the bumper to compensate for blocking the tail lights when carrying cargo/bikes. Our application for the light bar is for a permanently mounted fixture and not removable when the 2" carrier assembly is disconnected from the bumper. Others have mounted it to the carrier assembly exclusively - we decided to have the light bar function with or w/o the carrier attached to Casablanca - so, it gets mounted to the bumper in our case. Process Description: The light bar is shipped with a 4-Pin harness and male/female plugs and a separate (16AWG white) wire for the backup light feature. First thing we did after receiving the light bar was to connect it to the factory 4-Pin female plug on the TV to function check the assembly. It is a 2-row multi-color light bar (red, orange, and white) which illuminate depending upon the driver's input. Basically, marker, L/R, brake, warning, and back-up lighting features are present. Function check proved successful - we didn't want to get too far down the installation path and find out we've received a bad unit from Amazon (been there, done that...). The light bar comes with metal clips as well as a 3M-type adhesive strip for mounting. We decided to mount the bar about 1/3 down from the top of the bumper using the 3M strip for best observation/view from those following behind. Determining the routing for the power harness was interesting and somewhat different than John's "How To" procedure. First off, we learned that the wire colors from the light bar were non-industry standard going into the provided 4-Pin plug, but coming out of the opposite 4-Pin plug the colors were standardized. Furthermore, as you may know, and as John described, the 2017 OTT 7-Pin wire colors are non-industry standard either. We needed to make a wire color/function matrix for what would be 5 Anderson Power Pole connections in the bowels of the TT because we would not be using the light bar provided 4-Pin connector. Power runs from the OTT 7-Pin harness located on the street side under the garage floor; left-rear most area just outboard from the waste water dump mast. The light bar electrical harness will pass through the left-rear bulkhead in the proximity of the small round red reflector left of the spare tire cover. Through a Blue Sea Systems Cable Clam (Amazon $23), the harness passes through the aluminum diamond plate deck into the waste water hose compartment, then through the bumper to the light bar. Removing the black mat, 3 floor panel wood screws and removing the floor panel exposes waste water dump mast, red/blue/clear PEX lines, and several split combed electrical harness as shown above. Also above, note the sacrificial wood piece placed on bulkhead to avoid an incidental perforation of water & electrical targets in the vicinity of where hull penetrations will be drilled from outside. We removed the small red reflector, cleaned off residue from its adhesive and prepared the drill site with blue painter's tape. The 4-piece Blue Sea Cable Clam (rubber gasket, base, grommet, and compression cover) requires a cable penetration hole and 4 mounting holes for the base. Carefully measuring, marking, drilling the holes places the Clam where the reflector used to reside. Cable penetrations were then drilled in the diamond plate deck and on both sides of the bumper - wiring harness was double heat-shrinked and grommeted at each penetration to avoid chaffing. Once the "power run" penetrations were made good, we connected the 4 non-standard LED bar wires to a corresponding set of standard 4-Pin wires using Anderson Power Poles which make for a clean connection bus. Finding and isolating the non-standard 7-Pin wires within the OTT harness was next. As John described in his "How To" post, there are 3 buses easily accessible, one each for back-up, ground, and marker lights. The L (red) & R (brown) are found in the same split comb as they exit and head for their respective light assemblies. The Anderson connectors are convenient in the manner in which they can be attached "side-by-side" - used for years in the HAM radio community, they provide a positive connection even when coupling different gauge wires; which was the case here: Penetrations were chamfered smooth and the harness was "double heat-shrinked" and grommeted at penetrations to avoid chaffing. (Unknown why this pic insists on rotating itself....!) Function checked light bar - all good, zip-tied 7-Pin harness, replaced split loom, screwed in garage floor panel, placed mat in position, closed garage hatch and got a cold one. I'm happy with this mod - D likes it, too with an enthusiastic "thumbs-up"! "Ravel-ON!" Cheers, A & D

At the risk of really taking this thread off track and turning it into yet another tow vehicle discussion.... (Asbestos suit on) This has really turned into a journey through trucks. For context, we have driven Subarus for about 20 years. Trucks are a bit out of my comfort zone, so of course I did a ton of research. We started out with Ford vs Ram, and Ram 1500 was an early front runner. However, after going through three different Ram dealerships in the Dallas area, we decided that if we purchased a Ram, we would never want to take it back for service. All three dealerships made me wonder how Ram ever sells a single truck. I'm sure there are dealerships out there that are good - however fighting through the "we don't have what you want but will gladly have you overpay for what we have" and "I know the website says you can order but we really prefer to have our money on a sale today" we went back to one of the Ford dealers that we had really enjoied working with initially. So - with no paperwork signed yet - we are currently looking at a F150 XLT (ducks) 3.5L V6 ECOBOOST 4x4 3.55 ELECTRONIC LOCK RR AXLE short bed with the Max Trailer Tow package and the 2KW onboard power. 36 gallon extended range tank, box link bed package, 360 cameras etc. Not willing to go up to the Laramie for the Parking Assist -I will just have to learn how to park the beast. 🙂 I don't have the door tag on this one yet - it's being transferred so I need to go look at it - but based on a similar one without the second alternator it should be 1,800 lbs. available payload capacity. Spec HP @ 6k RMP is 400 on the 3.5L Ecoboost V6, and with the 3.55 axle setup should have approx. 11,200 towing. Given the a LE II axle max (per spec, not counting the hidden 10k rumored spec) is 7,000 lbs and that's the only thing we have in our future to tow, should be sufficient. Inspired by several others on the forums I have been building a gear weight spreadsheet. We currently have an LE I - likely two to three years out from the LE II - so I have that to work with as well. In all seriousness - glad to get thoughts on this plan from those with more experience. We have been looking at the 250 (in theory, very few actually exist that are not diesel) but availability seems challenging. We don't want to go diesel due to the fact that this is primarily a tow vehicle - I have too long a commute for it to be a daily driver - and everything we have been told is that diesels that sit, quit. For context we hope to be able to take longer trips in the 4 - 5 year time horizon. Dream trip is Canada, Newfoundland, etc. If that makes a difference in any advice. Again - thanks so much for all the quick thoughts around the 4x4 and tire size! Finally - Rebecca said I should include a photo of the type of car she had in college. This is why she has the Mini Cooper Clubman 6 speed manual now. Her car was a 1979 Datsun 510. Mine was a 1979 Mustang Hatchback, no photos because it was the embarrassing unfortunate Mustang, part of Ford's wandering in the wilderness design period. It's taken 40 years to get over that and look at another Ford,

Suspension work and brake jobs are a specialty of mine. See pic of the front-end restoration I worked on our Class-C, an '03 Ford E-450 chassis, all new Moog ball joints, steering, Super Springs, Hellwig sway bars, and Bilstein shocks. So yeah, I need to go through this new truck once the weather cools down some. I'm ashamed to report, that I received the Oliver with 80 PSI, knew it was wrong, but then read on a few websites that trailers should be at the max pressure. So, I had a weak moment and thought more pressure is better than less and we drove our first trip at max pressure. (I read John's post about tire pressure after we returned.) Reading John's answer this morning, I'm thinking that this is likely all there was wrong, making my "ride really hard and squirrelly" not truly trailer sway, just squirrelly. I already dropped the pressure to 60 PSI and I'm thinking to bring in down to 48. Yes, proper pressure will certainly make it track better on the road. Next time I hook up, I will measure TV ride height before and after to see if the rear truly sags. I'll be happy to ditch the Anderson. I'll pull all the parts eventually and save some more weight. Thank you, John and others who commented.

Two weeks ago, I saw one of the F150 Lightnings in-the-wild in Burlington, VT. It was from Quebec and pulled about a 4000 pound "stick built" trailer behind it. It was a very nice looking truck, (even with the electric cord from the camp pedestal running to the plug in the front left fender - Haha) I spoke with the owner and asked him how well it towed and he said "Effortlessly". Then I asked him what his range was while pulling his trailer, the response was "One hundred sixtly kilometers" That's 100 miles, folks.

I don't have a dog in the hunt, but I "think" you may already be heavy forward with your Cummins diesel. An Equalizer sends more weight forward. Maybe try test towing without additional hardware? See how it feels? Most 2500 owners here do not use an Anderson, nor sway bars, from what i have read. We have 1500's, nothing but the hitch, but an original elite. 2500 owners,,Cummins diesel, please weigh in.

Great tip!

Thanks very much everyone - since I can't find the truck I want and I'm ordering one, I wanted to get the best advice on specs so I didn't have to kick myself later. I appreciate the info on the tires and on the 4x4. I

Last week before we picked up it was suggested that a "Where's Ollie" thread might be good for folks to post pictures of where they've been, maybe with a few comments about the location. I'll get it going.... This is Hillman Ferry State Park in KY at Land Between the Lakes. Nice campground, with lots of lake water activities. You can get a site right on the lake to fish from!

Have you tried to get a voltage reading at the pump with your VOM? If you don't have a VOM, you could also test for voltage at the pump positive (red wire) with a test light probe: Realize that this is a basic question, but at least you'll know if the pump "is" or "is not" getting power. Battery voltage at pump & pump not running = bad pump. If there's no power to the pump, you're probably "ok" to assume the pump is functional. We've had several pumps fail over the years and that's why we travel with a spare. One is none. Two is one....: Keep us informed of your troubleshooting progress - good luck! Best, A & D

BTW, our Olivers look way better than the silver-looking stuff in the first photo.

I have one in Texas as a spare that I would be willing to part with. It has the Lithium switch. Just PM me. GJ

Those are beautiful pics and LOVE THOSE kayaks!

We are with Elli Rose 🌹 in the Traverse City Region of Michigan. Only 3 months since we picked her up. She’s a dream to travel in. Here are some pics along the way 🙂A good place for lunchOn the 45th!Leland, otherwise known as FishtownFrom the dock…can’t beat nature’s paletteA break for dinner from our trek on M22 Cherries everywhere 🍒 Sleeping Bear Dunes…the water looks like the Caribbean 🏝 Until tomorrow 🥰

@rideandfly Thank you! Love that it made you smile!😃

Ouray CO is now on our must visit list, too.

We’ll be there from July 1-10, and nearly at Lake Powhatan June 16-19th. It is such a beautiful area, and has been our go-to for camping for over 30 years.

We hope to go back during August, at 5,000' above sea level Mt. Pisgah has nice temps in the summer! Campsites for $10 per night with the geezer card. 👍

We are about 70 mi from Natural Tunnel SP and go there about twice a season. I recommend you also visit Big Stone Gap, Norton VA ( WoodBugger check it out and you'll understand), and the small towns around area while you're there. Lot's of beautiful country to see and history.

I’m okay with what we do. We drive to a location and stay a while, then drive to another, burning diesel all the way. But, if we’re home, I’m driving around town every day for errands, helping kids and grandkids, etc. The fuel I use is minuscule compared to big rigs driving across the country daily or trains and planes burning lots of petroleum. Even our wonderful windmills take gallons and gallons of petroleum lubricants daily to produce whatever electricity the wind allows them to produce. So, I’m at peace pulling my little Oliver to our national parks and recreation areas and enjoying what our country has to see. Mike

Lost Dutchman State Park, AZ. What a beautiful park

John - There are numerous ways to "lock" the hitch of the Oliver - both while moving and while parked. I always use a "locking pin" such as shown in the photo below to prevent anyone from simply lifting the bulldog latch. At delivery, Oliver does supply a "pin" to keep this latch closed but it does not lock. Since this locking pin is reasonably easy to defeat - think crowbar or stout hammer - I will take other theft prevention measures when leaving my Oliver in questionable places. This "locking pin" is available at most Walmarts and/or search coupler lock on Amazon - there are numerous styles to choose from. Also you can use this Forum's search function - try hitch locks or just locks - since this subject has been discussed numerous times. Bill

Camped at Mt. Pisgah NC on the Blue Ridge Parkway to get out of the heat in the lower elevations last week. Highs at home in the mid 90s with high humidity. Highs at Mt. Pisgah, at 5000', were upper 70s and lows lower 60s at night. Found a nice shady site, did not take solar panel this trip, just gen-set. No electricity or water on these sites, but can't complain at $10 per night with the Geezer card. Use a 15 gallon Camco tote and tow to the dumpstation daily, hard to completely empty Ollie's tanks with downward sloped dump station in both directions, prefer to use a tote. Nice campground for a walk: View from the top of Devil's Courthouse on the Blue Ridge Parkway, we had been seeing smoke from Oregon fires, but this shot turned out OK, nice hike to the top, too

Camped earlier this week at David Crockett Birthplace State Park TN in North East TN. It was in the upper 80s close to 90 some days. Found a shady campsite in the small RV area to make it pleasant. Campsites are close together in this area, but really enjoyed the shady trees. It's a beautiful mountainous area. Debbie feeding a donkey at the Crockett home-place.

On our way to Kentucky we stayed at another Harvest Host location. This is Century Farm Winery in Jackson, TN. Had a nice tasting and sat by the vineyards sipping our purchase! Good location and friendly folks.

Alright, here's another new one, this one a forward control layout - nice! I think this is great looking, with some cool features. The tilt-down bed side is an awesome idea and the topper looks amazing. https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a35812872/canoo-electric-pickup-truck-revealed/ https://electrek.co/2021/03/10/canoo-unveils-fully-electric-pickup-truck-set-for-2023/

Good choice and to her advantage.

For those of you who might like to see a short version of the launch, the Verge did a five minute supercut version of the truck debut. It includes the sledge hammer to the body, the window glass fail, and Elon's "one more thing," the electric atv. Shows off the stowed integral ramp for those of us who sometimes haul an atv or a bike. https://www.theverge.com/2019/11/21/20975927/tesla-cybertruck-announcement-watch-live-stream-elon-musk-online-how-to-date-time Sherry

Hi Bill, I love that part of the state, be sure to check out Bannock State Park (a stellar ghost town, but no camping) and the Big Sheep Creek Backcountry Byway. “Passing beneath the high rock cliffs of Big Sheep Canyon, one can look down into clear, deep pools of spring-fed Big Sheep Creek. Perhaps nowhere else in America can one see so many trout without leaving the car.” . https://www.visitmt.com/listings/general/scenic-highway/big-sheep-creek-backcountry-byway.html A word of caution to those who have never been in that area, there is zero cell service away from the major highways and the towns and services are VERY far apart. As always, a satellite communicator and emergency gear is advised when traveling the back country, and top up the tank often if you aren’t driving a diesel. John Davies Spokane WA

Ollie was at Deer Creek State Park, near Midway Utah.

We could not go to the Lake Guntersville rally because we had a family gathering at Jalama Beach county park campground, west of Santa Barbara, CA. This is a really nice campground, right on the ocean. We had our Oliver, my sister had her Casita, and other family members rented cabins. On our way home we stayed in Snow Canyon State Park, near St. George, UT. A really fabulous park.

Horseneck State Park, Westport, MA This was a nice spot overlooking the ocean. We were in row two and there are no electric or water hookups. We used our generator for the first time to make coffee in the morning. Not the reason we have it but a nice perk. (Please note the hard earned pun!) The park was about $30 for the night. There were a lot of spaces but it was also pretty full - lots of fishermen. It was convenient for visiting New Bedford Whaling Historic site. The park is between RI and Cape Cod. The pretty sunset a bonus.

Ridenfly, beautiful shot. We've been there, but you're a far better photographer. Anyone going to Mt Pisgah, the cg has no views. But across the road, at the inn, the layered views of the mountains is just awe inspiring. Until noon. Go for breakfast. Reasonable prices. Absolutely the best restaurant views on the parkway. Bar none. Floor to ceiling glass in the restaurant. I posted a photo years ago. I'll see if I can find it. Just, omg, go there for breakfast... After the sun moves across, dinner views arent so great...imo. If you don't have the time to drive the entire parkway, and the Shenandoah , honestly, the fifty mile stretch around Asheville gives you the best of the parkway. If you have a little more time, the Linville viaduct is an amazing engineering feat, and not that much further. Life in the parkway/ slow lane is great. Sherry

This is Caddo Lake State Park on the TX/LA border. We're on our way to the rally, stopping at state parks and COE campgrounds along the way. Trivia: Caddo Lake is the only naturally formed lake in Texas! Mike

Canoe 12, We fish at a wildlife club in NC with a small private lake where a fishing license is not required. Sometimes we purchase an annual SC fishing license while camping in SC. Is there a national fresh water fishing license? Read about a petition for a Seniors National Fishing License. Would be nice to have so we could post photos of fish caught around the nation in front of our Ollie. Thanks,

Mike, Nice looking campground and site!!!!!! We will be camping before Christmas in SC, will post some photos here!

This is Round Pond Recreation Area at West Point, New York. Campsites are spread around the pond with picnic pavilions, boat dock and beach area. Sites are nicely spaced, we couldn't see our neighbor - the next site was about 30 to 40 yards up the road. This is just across the road from our site looking across the pond. This was the third week in October.

The Thompson's Ollie is at Pulpit Rock Campground near Decorah, Iowa. Great weather--high 60's, nice breeze and sunshine. No bugs here this early in the spring. Decorah is in Northeast Iowa which is part of the "driftless region that includes parts of Wisconsin and Minnesota. The glaciers bypassed this area resulting in a very hilly and interesting terrain. The rivers and streams run clear and many have wild trout. Great bicycling here too. Biked about 20 miles today. Don thumb_IMG_1806_1024.jpg-copy.pdf thumb_IMG_1807_1024.jpg-copy.pdf thumb_IMG_1809_1024.jpg-copy.pdf