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We have to leave, if in a storm surge are, as most of my family is. You are correct. We minimize, hopefully, by putting stuff we care about high. Reinforce garage door. Etc Pretty much toast, here. Very tired. We move inland to higher ground in the morning. Where we helped a friend install storm shutters. Run from the water, hide from the wind, is the mantra. God bless everyone in the path.. Packing, these days, means have batteries and flashlights.

We did an overnight at Gun Creek, COE in Benton, IL. $9 electric only with our America the Beautiful pass and it worked perfect. We enjoyed dinner at the Gun Creek Golf Course Club House and followed up with breakfast this morning. We made pretty good time east bound and are now in a KOA in Crossville, Tenn. Pretty nice digs for a KOA overnighter. Naturally we haaaaaad to make a stop a the Buc-ees here. YUM!! Ha! This Buc-ees sells diesel too at $3.04 a gal, not bad. Gun Creek COE. We have never been so happy to see trees again! Buc-ees in Crossville, Tenn is much smaller than the Sevierville, Tenn super store. We still got our Buc-ees fix! 😋Ha! Safe Travels and Happy Camping All!

Hydraulic spring compressors are easy to operate, and are pretty safe. See link below for $129, with free shipping: https://www.vevor.com/strut-spring-compressor-c_10324/vevor-strut-spring-compressor-4-5-ton-9920-lbs-hydraulic-jack-capacity-1-ton-rated-compression-force-auto-strut-coil-spring-compressor-tool-hydraulic-spring-compressor-for-strut-spring-removing-p_010965229806?adp=gmc&srsltid=AfmBOopoeYWWikeQmCcGKl47slQH4-rLCtrA7WJZn_-l09Cs4PORifLmAoo That is what I would do in your shoes.

Even worse April-May. Remember camping near Moab where we could not grill outside, nor want to sit outside. Find campsites with lots of junipers to block the wind. Wind is created from the mix of hot and cold air which is a given out here, where just a few miles away the elevation is 3-4000 higher or lower. We had a calm day today, likely because the stratus clouds kept the heat down. Enjoy the calm days! Was a great day and now ready to leave on our trip!

Appointment at 0730 at Alcan in Grand Junction, and plan to do the same with the old ones...after a thousand or so miles :)

Okay, that’s our definitive answer. Anytime someone is evasive in answering a direct question it only means one thing and one thing only. They are not proud of where their product is made and that means china! Okay, TruRide is off my list. I can buy less expensive china made springs most anywhere. The cheap ones I bought with u bolts, nuts, and bronze bushings are for emergency roadside replacement just to get me home. When I can go to Colorado I’ll get the USA made springs and not need the emergency spares. Those will go in the yard sale pile. Less junk to haul around.

According to the TRP website (TruRyde parent company), they merged with EMCO in 2016. EMCO was founded in Oklahoma but has a large spring manufacturing facility in China. Fingers crossed that your springs came from the OK facility and are made with USA steel. I had a back and forth on email with TruRyde, asking about country of origin on both the manufacture of their springs and sourcing of steel for both TruRyde and EMCO springs which fit our application. It was the strangest of exchanges where I asked several times for their sourcing of steel for their springs. I was met each time by different yet similarly evasive responses to my direct questions. I shook my head and gave up on them. Below screen capture is from EMCO website.

Your experience is about to be tested with Milton coming your way. Good luck and hope that everything goes well for you guys. Bill

99.999% probability that they are of chinese origin with steel from a ‘59 Buick. So on the bright side they may in fact be made of mostly USA steel. 🤪

Sorry I can’t directly help with your issue but my Dometic fridge would not run reliably on propane either. The Oliver folks tried everything and replaced everything, even replacing the fridge with a new one and it still wouldn’t run reliably on propane. I’m sure they thought that I was doing something wrong but many friends saw the issues while boondocking. I finally just replaced it with a compressor fridge. Best decision ever, five years and zero issues. Seems like a lot of mainstream brands are switching over to compressor type fridges now that lithium batteries and solar power are more mainstream as well. And, hope with the help of other Norcold owners you can get to the bottom of this issue.

From my experience, don’t leave anything outside without an anchor that’s bigger than you think you need. Mossey

There's not exactly a bunch of things near the Badlands to block or even slow down the wind. That wind comes down off the mountains to the west and can really blow. I've been there when it is calm (relatively) and not crowded. It is a special place at both sunrise and sundown. Bill

Be really careful with these inexpensive, rental spring compressors. Changing coil-overs can be dangerous. If you aren't comfortable with this type of repair - pay someone to do it. You may also be able to buy fully assembled coil-overs (strut and spring already assembled). It's quite often less expensive than buying all of the individual components and then assembling them plus you get all new parts. Replacement is much easier as well in most cases.

With the wild horses at Assateague Island.

For the last few hours members of our "family" have started to feel the effects of this hurricane. This is only the beginning of a 12 to 16 hour period that is forecast to bring up to 20 inches of rain and a record storm surge. Hopefully everyone will make it through this storm safely and the damage that it is sure to cause will be somewhat limited. God speed to all of those in the storm's path. Bill

We’ve stayed at Gun Creek, nice campground. Cumberland Mountain State Park in Crossville has a nice campground, especially area 5. Buc-ee’s usually has the lowest price gas and diesel, we usually stop. We’re getting a Buc-ee’s here in little old Boerne Texas on I-10 in a year or so. Mike

Got a chance to lube the Oliver today. Using the Dewalt power grease gun and the LockNLube with 90-degree adapter, took me 40 minutes total. Had one stuck Zerk that a flat punch freed up quickly. One Zerk at the top of the EZ-Flex is hard to get to, but it just made it. The power tool and 90-fitting made the job so much easier (after 40+ years doing it the old way)!

This may not be the case and Our fridge runs well on all three sources, but I understand that they are more sensitive to being Level (especially) whilst using propane. I "fired" up ours (empty) yesterday and it was showing -8 in the freezer and 33 in the fridge in about 8 hours. This was in my driveway and ambient temp was in the 70s.

Got ours installed yesterday and with Ron's advice, I now have the same two Beech Lane exterior and interior fans. I had some trouble fishing the wire down. I fed a length of coaxial cable as a fish tape, and it kept getting coiled up and caught halfway. Eventually, I used a mirror and hook to pull it down, and still only about 30 minutes total. I'm not sure of our make/model. It's a 3-way fridge with 5 vs. 10 cold settings and the fin length appears twice as wide vs. the picture Ron shared. Notice the fan on the coils, drip tray below and grommet below that. I used a leather punch tool, to punch a second hole in the grommet just fitting the second wire. Turned it on at 7 PM last night, put a tray of ice cubes to freeze and 6 bottles of water inside. Started it in DC mode and it consistently pulled 15A, close to 17A total with the Victron MP2 running and other peristatic draw. 17A over 15 hours = 255AH. SOC was 99% so I figured I should see 56% SOC now with 600AH batteries and that was very close to the SOC reading at 10 AM today on the Victron SmartShunt. I taped two Ruuvi Sensors in place. One to the interior freezer door and another in the top furthest corner of the fridge door. This morning the freezer was at 10F and the fridge 46F. Turned to interior fan on and off and have not yet noted a difference. It's hard to tell as these temp numbers change slowly. The exterior fan set at 90F has been running regularly at low speed. The fridge sensor was installed on the outer door in the warmest corner of the fridge. I'm going to move it today, tape it under the upper fridge shelf to get a better average internal reading. A proper fridge should get down to 38F or lower, though we do not store dairy products or anything perishable for more than 2-3 days. The temp should improve with the new sensor location and 3/4 filled with food. Chris is filling the fridge with foods today. We're leaving tomorrow morning, starting our road trip to Texas. We'll see some of you there!

@Kim Y. Congrads. Hope your summer with your new trailer was a lot of fun. Be sure to contact Oliver Travel Trailers and tell them that you have the trailer so you can be notified if any recalls happen. You can find a page to make that notification on the Oliver web page.

I am guessing that picture below is the one you are referring to. This link will take you to the website for 'LET'S GO AERO' the company that make the bike rack in the picture. Mossey

I'm not sure what anyone can do to prevent a storm surge of 10 to 15 feet. I pray that all those (especially you and the family and the Mossemi family) in the area of the storm remain safe. Certainly Milton is one powerful storm!😟 Bill

Good pics from jd1923! Here are a couple more that show the microwave without the "brace" on top. In the case of my microwave - the top brace was never installed during manufacturer such that the only thing holding it in the cabinet was the trim frame. Obviously the trim frame didn't hold it in place very long and with the help (via phone) I added the top brace. Unfortunately, even the top brace didn't hold the microwave securely - perhaps it is all those dirt roads I travel looking for trout that combine to shake it loose. The oven bounced around in there such that the "feet" on the bottom actually eventually broke off! In any case, as long as you have things apart I would highly recommend that you add additional bracing between the cabinet and the microwave such that the oven is basically wedged into the space and does not move with or without the brace. I simply used scrap pieces of wood for this purpose. Bill

If you have front struts yes, just shocks then no. BTW, you can visit an Oreilly's, AutoZone or other national auto parts stores and borrow a spring compressor for the day (they charge your credit card for the tool and refund upon return). Hope you find another alternative. Shops here usually get you in the next week (service shops not RV shops). I should head north and open an auto service shop if there is that much demand! just kiddin'!

Thank you. Tampa Bay. We are now about as ready as we can get. We will see how it plays out.

Rob, special tools make it easier but not always necessary. Fronts are in general more difficult. Any Mobile Mechanics in your area? They would not have issue with customer parts. Shops speel crap re warranty which is BS. In reality they want profit on parts in addition to their exorbitant shop rates! Another point, shocks have absolutely no bearing on wheel alignment. If your truck drives straight down the highway and tire wear has been even, do not align it. Only get alignments done at alignment shops, not general repair shops as they can certainly make the alignment worse. Good alignment techs work alignments daily an it takes more knowledge than reading numbers on the machine. Any alignment shops in your area? They usually install shocks. Muffler shops too. Also local tire shops but not the National chains i advise, find an alternative so you can cancel that appointment! $200 labor with your parts is reasonable, or 1 1/2 hours at the hourly shop rate. Hopefully, I gave you some ideas to research. Best wishes, JD

When is it not windy out here? 😂 So far the wind blew in CO, UT, ID, WY, SD, Just sayin.

Sherry, which part of Florida do you live? Prayers to your family and ALL who have suffered Helene. Hope Milton is not as devastating!

My wife and I know those exact feelings all too well... We got extremely lucky with Helene. Water came within inches of coming into our home but the majority of our neighbors weren't so lucky. Many had +4 feet in their homes and lost everything. Two of our neighbors had just completed renovations in order to sell and both homes are completely destroyed. Then we think about those who have it so much worse than we and our friends do... along with so many losing their lives and then we feel guilty for complaining at all.. We are very thankful that we and all our friends are all safe and sound, and praying that we get a miracle and Milton spares us all. I'm at the point where even though we're currently in the bullseye, that I can't hope that it turns further North or South because that just means I'm hoping someone else gets hit instead of myself and my family. I'm now getting ready to leave and I'm running from an approaching storm for the first time in my life.. Be safe everyone..

We’re sort of finishing up our late summer/fall four month western trip. We’re at Lost Dutchman State Park enjoying the 110 degree weather! There’s another Oliver here as well but we haven’t seen the owners yet. While on this trip we’ve seen Olivers at our Monument Valley campground and at our Grand Canyon south rim campground but unfortunately never were able to make contact with either one. We also met up with a fairly new Oliver owner while we were at Dead Horse Ranch State Park in Cottonwood and had a very enjoyable day with them. Not too many years ago we could be on one of our four month trips and never see another Oliver trailer. Now we see at least one on every trip. Great to see more Olivers on the road. Looking forward to meeting a bunch more in Texas in a couple of weeks. Safe travels everyone!

I was just thinking about this last night. Perhaps we have not been exposed to virtually any news coverage concerning those in Florida and south Georgia because the news here in western NC is all about what is happening here. Yes, Florida folks may be better prepared for and "used" to these storms, but the problems associated with them are the same for all effected. And, now the weather forecast is showing a fairly good chance that Florida is about to get hit again. Hopefully this "brewing storm" will not be bad. But, even a bit of rain will not help at this point. Bill p.s. For anyone planning to head towards Western North Carolina over to view the changing leaves - the Blue Ridge Parkway is currently closed. While some areas of it may reopen over the next few weeks, it is unlikely (in my opinion) that most of the Parkway southwest of Asheville will reopen anytime soon. This along with interstate highway closures of major portions of 40 and 26 (north of Asheville), I'd suggest a change of plans and either plan for 2025 or for States much further to the north.

I've had a hard time responding. Times here in Florida and in our western north carolina neighborhood are very hard. We are very grateful that all our friends, family, and neighbors are alive, and safe. Stuff can be replaced. As you who are affected work through recovery, PLEASE be very careful. When you are tired, and emotions are high, it's easy to misstep, or not see a hidden hazard. We are working still on Florida cleanup, ours, family and neighbors, and will not be going to nc till we are not a greater part of the problem. Our community has been amazing. Everyone has worked together to help each other. This is what we do, as normal folks. In our part of Florida, we pretty much have it handled. We are more accustomed to the immense devastation. (Sometimes, we get almost numb.) Please pray for wnc, and support the true helping organizations, if you can. Grateful is my most common feeling these days. Followed by guilt. Everyone in my circle may be affected, even losing everything, but we are alive, uninjured,,and seeing the dawn bringing a new day. This is not true for so many families. My heart is broken for all of them. God bless and keep those who lost loved ones. And for those who lost their homes. If you are the praying kind, please join me. This storm affected so many. Across the southeast.

One week update from Mars Hill NC. Seven days sure can change a lot of things. We like many others were not prepared as well as we could have been. Like far fewer others we were lucky beyond belief. Madison County is about 15 miles due north of Asheville NC. There are three main towns, Mars Hill, Marshall, and Hot Springs. Mars Hill is the only town NOT on the French Broad River, and as such was spared much (well, all.. ) of the destruction that Helene brought with her. Downtown Marshal and Hot Springs were devastated. Many buildings are gone. The ones that are left sustained heavy flooding and damage. Other nearby communities not near a river, like Weaverville, were hit hard and are still without power. Why? I think it might have something to do with wind, micro-bursts, and other stuff above my pay grade. Why does a tornado take a house but leave the one next door unscathed? Mars Hill was without power for 2 days, without decent cell service for 4, internet for 6, but we never lost water. Like I said... lucky! We had enough cash on hand, enough gas in the vehicles, plenty of food. The freezers held out and we did not loose anything. Steaks and stuff still frozen solid when the power came back on. We didn't open the door at all. Lanterns from the trailer were available after we remembered where we stored them when we emptied #145 for the trip to the RV repair place. Speaking of the trailer... We were relived to find out it is NOT a BOAT! RV Services has a locked lot (lots of trailers stored there) and was dry. They did loose electric for a week but are back and we should be ready to pick up next week sometime. Lots of lessons learned. We had prepped a bit in the past so we had the stuff we needed... but it was not stored where we could get our hands on it readily. So, some wandering about was done... but we had time. Things on our list for the future: Starlink (already on order), Honda EU3200, Small ham handheld and take the damn test already. Trying to pick stuff that will be useful in non-emergency times as well. We are thankful for our friends and neighbors. We live in a small tight knit subdivision with no HOA. People look out for one another and take notice of those folks who might not have any business here. Been carrying everywhere just in case... thankfully not even close to being needed. All for now. Thanks for the kind thoughts and prayers. Hope to see y'all soon. Scotty (and Donna and Mistletoe the Westie)

From a Pharmacist's standpoint this should NEVER happen. From a corporate standpoint there should have been an immediately initiated memo stating that anyone that had lost their maintenance medications due to the storm should have them replaced AT NO COST to the patient. When Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast in 2005 there were thousands of displaced persons seeking refuge in and around Tupelo. Even though I did not work retail Pharmacy except on a relief basis, I still saw many people that were unable to get to their meds before evacuating. We never turned a single person away and never charged them a cent. They had too many balls in the air to have to deal with not have vital meds.

I just got back from the facility where I store my Oliver. I'm very happy to report that all is well, Twist is still there high and dry. Unfortunately though I had several discussions with people that live in and around the town of Mills River. All of those that I talked to are still without power, water and sewer. Free water is being distributed in a number of places as is free food. Even while I was at the storage yard a young fellow drove by with cases of water in the back of his truck asking if anyone needed it. To his credit - he wouldn't even take the $20 bill I offered him to help pay for his gas. And, out of the five people that were near me only one took a case of water because the rest of us simply didn't need it. A local Holiday Inn is offering free showers to anyone needing one. FEMA has arrived in our town as of this afternoon and I noticed that several of the downed power lines that were down as I drove back towards town were being worked on. Our electric provider (Duke Energy) has posted that virtually all of the Transylvania County residents should have restored power no later than Friday evening. And, most important, it has been reported that there have been no deaths in the county due to this storm. Bill

Our hull, older than yours and @Ronbrink's has only 5 levels. We run on #4 unless it's really hot outside. Have not tried out the new Beech Lane dual fan yet with fridge on and full of food. Leaving a week from tomorrow for the Texas Rally (a slow 10 days getting there)! The fridge always ran pretty well, freezer great. Hopefully with the fan will allow for better cooling in the fridge section, getting water bottles in the door shelving cold more quickly.

Hey Gang, Just completed a short tow of my LE2 with the new Nissan Titan XD. It was short and I kept it under 50mph for towing break in and because the leaf spring was stressed but... It towed pretty well. I used the Anderson as I had previously with the F-150. One of the first things I did research on was using a WDH with the new truck. Here is what I found: In the Owners Manual On page 10-38 " *2: Use of a weight-distributing hitch system is recommended when towing over 5,000 lbs. In the Towing Guide On page 5 - "For Armada, Frontier, Pathfinder, and Titan vehicles, a weight distributing hitch ball mount (Class IV) is recommended if you plan to tow trailers with a maximum weight over 5,000 lbs." On page 22 - "2. Use of a weight-distributing hitch system is required when towing over 5,000 lbs." There is some confusion over the difference between a "hitch ball mount" and a "weight distributing hitch system". But clearly page 10-38 of the owners manual and page 22 of the towing guide are saying two different things. So... What's your opinion? I am going to use the Anderson for liability. The Titan XD is heavier and has higher payload and towing capacity. Does the Titan need a WDH over 5k and the Titan XD not? Anyone work for Nissan? Or have any advice on contacting them? Seems a bit sloppy for an important topic in a tech manual. Thanks, Scotty

True that! At times when positioning to dump the back of the Oliver will be a tad higher than the tongue with the TV sloped downward; like the dump point is on a slight peak, perhaps to accommodate runoff. That was the case yesterday at the newly installed dump site next to the new park headquarters at Tyler SP. Typically a lift with 60-70 psi gets it done, but as much as 80 at a few sites encountered.

That’s a great solution for all of the dump sites that were designed for dump valves located in the middle of the camper. We Ollie owners have to get creative! Well done! Mossey

Just to emphasize that point, if you would be involved in an accident, you can be sure that the insurance companies will look into the details. If they find that you weren’t using a weight distribution hitch even though one was recommended, there’s a good chance they won’t cover the damages to your vehicles nor your liability for any damage or injury to other parties.

After four years of towing my LE II and reading countless threads on the Anderson and cargo capacities in general, I have come to the following conclusions. The Anderson improves the towing experience and aids in control of the vehicle in emergency maneuvers. The additional time to hook up the Anderson is negligible compared to the increased safety and driveability it provides If your manual states that a weight distributing hitch is required when towing over 5,000 lbs, it is because it is probably not possible to take advantage of the entire cargo capacity of the TV without using a weight distributing hitch. This is because cargo capacity as stated on the doorjamb sticker is always a product of the maximum front axle loading capacity plus the maximum rear axle loading capacity. It is often overlooked, but you can be driving down the highway with your Gross Vehicle weight 300 lbs UNDER the rated GVWR, but if the rear axle is loaded over the maximum rear axle weight, then you are overloaded. When a vehicle manufacturer states that a weight distributing hitch is required when towing over 5,000 lbs, they have assumed that when towing a trailer with a 500 lb tor higher tongue weight, it is not possible to load the vehicle to its rated cargo capacity (i.e., loaded to maximum GVWR) without overloading the rear axle axle. If you weigh at a scale, it is important that you weigh the front axle and the rear axle. If one is over its rating, the maximum rated cargo capacity of your TV is irrelevant. I am no expert and I hope others will correct me or provide the appropriate caveats to my description above if advisable.

Hey Bill, Couldn't agree more. Thought for a bit that I had a choice... but I kept reading. Once they say "required" the choice is made. But it is frustrating that Nissan... and probably a lot of other mfg's are either non-precise, or more likely just want to cover their hind quarters. Shame too... The truck is a beast... I call it a 5/8th ton. I am sure it would do fine without a WDH but I really don't want to sit in court and have the plaintiffs attorney read out page 22 to the jury. Happy Camping Scotty

I have an F150 Super Crew and likewise the owners manual makes similar statements, anything over 5000 lbs and 500 lbs tongue weight should use a WDH. Another way to look at it is look at the max tow and tongue weight then cut it in half without a WDH. I will add this, over the last couple of weeks I have installed new rear shocks, Bilstein 5100's and the Road Active Suspension System to my truck. The difference is not subtle! Better ride, better comfort, better handling, and better load carrying ability and stability with these new products. I would describe the ride as taut but smooth. There is a certain (probably modest) amount of weight distribution with a properly installed RAS setup. How much I do not know and the company does not make statements addressing this spec. Due to the rear height increase with the RAS system it was necessary to reconfigure my truck ball hitch (lower) to properly accommodate the Oliver hitch. Took the rig out for a short spin this afternoon, parked it a couple of times to measure how level the E2 was with new kits and still the the nose is down by an average of about 3/4's of an inch. Not bad, but probably does indicate the need for the Andersen WDH for those who want absolute level while towing. I should also add the tanks were empty and trailer only partially packed, with nothing in the truck bed. Hope this helps.

Try it with and without and you will soon know what you prefer. I skip the Anderson around town, campsite to nearby campsite, but always use it on the highway. There are so many threads here where owners' of 250/2500 trucks voice opinions, many do not use it. My manual says yes for 5000 LBS or 500 LB hitch weight. It's night and day to me when towing over bouncy roads.

We just took home a 2024 Nissan Titan XD pickup as a new tow vehicle for Hull # 145. I thought it might be of interest to the community the reasoning that led me to this decision. Our old TV was a 2016 Ford F-150 with 110,000 miles. This was a good TV for most of our trips, but as our half ton owners know.. you have to be very careful about payload. Short trips were no problem but longer trips that require more gear... we were limited. So... I figured a ¾ ton was in our best interest and started our research. I was looking at the 2500 Duramax (Diesel) from GM. Chevy or GMC didn't really matter and I really thought that would be the answer. But... It's a BIG TRUCK! I didn't mind, but it was too much for Donna to climb into. And, if I am honest with myself... great for towing but not so great for regular driving. So I started looking at half ton Chevy 1500's. The Baby Diesel just didn't have enough payload. When I started looking at V8's I actually found one that had an 1800 lbs. Payload. Yep you read that right... but it also had 22” wheels. That really wasn't going to work unless I put in a shock kit that makes the thing dance and some weird color lights to accent the under carriage. Then, I became aware of the Titan XD from watching a you tube video. So, I turned my microscope in it's direction. Here are the main reasons for choosing this Tow Vehicle. Reliability - The 5.6 Liter V8 has been around for a while and while not the best mpg wise... it doesn't rely on a turbo for power, or have other gas saving features like Direct Fuel Management, which shuts off cylinders when the computer decides you don't really need them. Just a powerful V8. If I wanted a V6 or V4, I would have bought one. Plus DFM can cause problems when you hit the 50k mark. Comfort & Ride - 18” wheels give the truck a much nicer ride than a ¾ or full ton pickup. This is very important for Donna. She is recovering from back surgery and I need to keep her comfortable. All in all the ride is as good or better than our old F150. Payload & Toughness – This was the kicker. Payload on our Pro4X is 1,840 lbs. That lets us put a topper on and still have almost 500 lbs for stuff after accounting for tongue weight and the two of us and the dog. If we max out the payload we still have about 9k left before hitting the GCVWR. If we ever put that much stuff in the Oliver we are going to need a LOT more than the ALCAN leaf springs to keep the trailer from falling apart. The XD has a lot stronger frame and suspension. I would say somewhere between a half ton and a ¾ ton. Just enough oomph for when we have our LE2 hooked up but still manageable when we don't. Why we feel Lucky! - When I found out about the Titan XD, I also found out that 2024 is the last year they are going to make them. So, I knew I had to act quickly. The other good news is that dealers are offering pretty decent discounts on them. So, if you are like us and in the market for a new TV you might want to look at the Titan XD. Act fast because when they are gone... they are gone. And, final note. You WILL need the Anderson WDH with this truck. On page 24, the towing guide says a Weight Distributing System is “strongly recommended” for trailers over 5,000 lbs. But on page 22 in the notes..... it clearly states that weight distributing systems are “required” for trailers over 5,000 lbs. Nice of Nissan to add a little bit of confusion to the WDH discussion. We could confidently state that the guide only recommends... but the plaintiffs lawyer in court will have some expert read aloud from page 22 that it is “required”. So, I guess I will continue using it. All for now. Please let me know what questions you have and I will do my best to answer. Scotty

@ScottyGS I hope (and assume) the 2500 trucks you drove had the step rails. These step rails would make it easiser for Donna to climb into the truck. Without them it would be extremely difficult.

Hey Everyone.... Update and closeout of this thread. We test drove both the Ram and Duramax 2500 trucks. They are awesome tow platforms but.... a bit too high for Donna to climb up into with her back situation. Our TV would be about 1/3 towing and 2/3 regular driving. I think we have found a good compromise and I will have a post on that in a week or so. Thank you all again. Nice to have knowledgeable people to bounce ideas off of. Happy Camping!

@ScottyGS With your wife having back surgery, in addition to your investigation of what 2500 to buy be sure to check out what passenger seat is available on your selected truck. Lots of trucks do not have the same mulit-adjusted seat as the driver seat (so not as comfortable), You want the passenger seat to have the same 8 point adjustment that the driver's seat has so she is comfortable. (unless she is the driver) PS: I personally like the RAM 2500 Longhorn 3/4 ton truck. David @GraniteStaters had a RAM 1500 and upgraded to a RAM Longhorn 2500 with air suspension that he used all last winter traveling the south during the winter. He loves the truck. I suggest that before you give up on the RAM check with David.

We towed with two different Ram 1500’s and now with a Ram 2500 (77,000 miles). There really isn’t any noticeable difference in the ride between the 1500’s and our current 2500, towing or not towing. I don’t mess with tire inflation, what’s on the door frame is what’s in the tires. The 2500 is taller and larger inside, but the ride is fine. The Chevy LTZ is a fine choice. Go for a test drive, you’ll be surprised how they smooth out the ride in the bigger trucks. Mike

The 2500 will feel much better and smoother when towing. HD trucks drive better hauling and towing. Without load, any brand 2500 will feel harsh and bouncy. If you buy a cap and keep camping gear loaded always it will drive somewhat smoother when not towing. I’ve been a long time Dodge truck owner. I wouldn’t want a truck with ‘Chevrolet’ written across the tailgate. That said, though I could not afford one, I would die for a GMC Duramax with 10-speed Alison trans! Best wishes, JD