Trainman

So I can understand this, Oliver wants my hitch ball measured at 23.5" from the ball top to the ground. Now do I need to set two big guys (500lbs.) on the back of the pickup box and measure to get to the 23.5" top ball height, or is this before the 500lbs. added to get the 23.5". 500lbs. is estimating the tong weight. trainman

The Fiberglass RV Forums is all over the place on WDH's, this is probably because more on that forum are pulling smaller/lighter trailers and with tow vehicles built much the same way. Thus you end up with combinations of mixed thought on what works for each. trainman

Thanks for a the replies, I have pretty much come to the conclusion that the Ridgeline is going to be too close to max conditions and the better choice would just be to upgrade to a 1/2 or 3/4 ton V8 pickup with a GVWR rating of 10,000 lbs. or so. I would rather go with the 3/4 ton if it can handle the Legacy 23 without the WDH, I think it can handle it. Do any of you out there pull without a WDH and are you using a 1/2 or 3/4 pickup. Thanks for the replies. trainman

I feel reducing ground clearance is not a good thing. I'd give it a no go. trainman

Everyone has there idea what works for them. In our case we wanted to be able to set up the cook stove/grille and the Little Red Campfire that maybe a distance farther then the propane hose would reach, yes you can just get more hose, but for us the extra 20gal. bottle was no problem for us to carry. So now we have both the extra bottle and the quick disconnects, we use both for different situations. trainman

Being a potential Oliver owner the size of the caring compartment does not intimidate me at all. Let's face it, we will be coming from a Casita where we carry a lot of the camping gear in the pickup and not in the trailer, actually prefer it that way as to not add more tong weight to the trailer. For those who may live in their trailers for long periods, or full timers, I can see where some may want more on board storage. I have just subscribed to Trailer Life and have not read the article as of yet, I will try to find the article online where I can form an opinion like others have. trainman

As some of you may of may not know the 2017 Ridgeline is what I would call on the border line of being able to handle the Oliver Elite II. The Ridgeline is rated at 5000# tow weight and 600# tong weight. It's GVWR is 6019#, the door plate also says GVWR Front 3131# and Rear 3229 so not sure if you add the two together, or just use the 6019# figure. I guess my dilemma here is my 2017 Ridgeline only has 11,500 miles on it and I hate to trade it off so soon and with that few of miles on it. We don't overload our trailer and we carry very little water on board as boondocking is not to our liking, plus we will not have solar panels and extra batteries on board, thus cutting down weight for our style of camping. I would think with our trailer lightly loaded and what we carry in the Ridgeline including ourselves we can stay under the 6019# weight. That's why I say, we are close to the max limit, I have yet to find anyone that pulls an Oliver with a Ridgeline, but have read about some that use the Tacoma as a tow vehicle with good results. I have in the past pulled a 14' utility trailer loaded with two UTV's weighting around 4000# plus the trailer and the Ridgeline has handled it what I would call favorable conditions. I guess I could start out with the Ridgeline and it doesn't workout, I can always upgrade to a 1/2 or 3/4 ton pickup. What do you think. Trainman

Were John and Susan from Ft. Worth, Texas and plan to take the tour this Fall and plan for our next trailer. We will be coming from a Casita to the Oliver, wow, what a difference that will be. Glad to be on this forum and have a lot of reading and question to do, just part of the buying process for me, wife says, just do it. Thanks, Trainman