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I'm not expecting a hermetically sealed clean room, but the leak from the tailgate was the problem with my F150. One drive through the desert and my bicycle drivetrain had to be disassembled to get all the grit out. That's why I am kind of thinking of the "work pod" which is fully sealed with its own floor. Combined with slide out drawers and a slide out shelf it should do most of what I want. Easy access from the side of the truck into the upper storage. A service body with a cab height cap would probably be ideal, the downside is I want features that most work trucks don't get - 360 cameras etc... So that'd probably mean buying a truck and pulling the bed. Not too hard as I am just down the road from Reading, PA -- home of Reading Bodies - but costs $$$. Aesthetically my least favorite, but from an organization/access standpoint probably my favorite. Pulling the generator out of its own, sealed compartment sounds good. Also no fuel fumes on anything else. Expedition looks like an interesting beast - 610 lbs tongue weight for the standard and 630 for the max before WDH needed -- better than the F150 and potentially within reason for an LE2. Pro trailer assist is here, which SD won't have. The price eclipses a well optioned super duty with power stroke. It would definitely be the better in-town vehicle once the towing is done and would need some sort of cargo divider.

I had a 3.5 EB, my buddy had a 5.0. We both got similar numbers unladen and towing. Neither felt like a slug. Going up pikes peak, the EB had the advantage at elevation. 5.0 is lighter so it usually has more available payload than a comparable EB. Advertised MPGs favor the EB, but real world they are about the same. We were pulling race trailers of similar weight, and the biggest hit to MPG was speed as they were about 8.5' wide and also tall. Never did we ever feel slow, but at ~65-70 mph MPG dropped below 8. The 3.0 Powerstroke would be ideal, but I think with its weight you get like 1200lbs of payload in a nicely equipped f150.

For those of you towing with trucks, what are you finding that works for tow vehicle organization/weather sealing? With my past tow vehicles, jumping under the cap and rummaging for stuff wasn't fun when what you needed was up by the cab. Also getting the tailgate to actually seal out dust in the desert was never easy and intuitive. I am contemplating a service body with something liked the decked system (https://decked.com/products/service-body-gmc-2500-3500?variant=14301069606978) or even a sealed insert (https://brandfxbody.com/products/inserts/low-profile-models-2/) The issues with all the options in the weight - but the shorter aluminum/fiber glass bodies are only about 500 lbs and losing the stock bed saves about 250 lbs. Also finding the shorter bodies is harder as most of them are 8-9'. I want my TV to still be able to make it into a city/major airport without full land yacht status. Looking at the double/extended cabs with the 6.5" beds. Service bodies also make the truck look full on commercial - good or bad and probably kill the aerodynamics / mileage.

If anyone has a wiring diagram that'd be a huge help too....

5.0 is a great engine too. It should tow fine assuming you don’t overload the payload and rear axle rating. If it needs to downshift, let it, the 5.0 can rev just fine.

The gas XD should actually have pretty decent payload - would need to verify in the door jamb sticker. However they are not viewed as being very reliable from Consumer Reports (take their reporting with a grain of salt). Also the Titan needs a weight distributing hitch - that isn't bad but the simplicity of a 3/4 truck dropping on the ball and plugging in and being off vs the WDH are pretty convincing. If you can put off purchasing at this point, I would wait to see what MY2020/2021 brings for the new F150 and other brands' models. If nothing else, it should help depreciate some lightly used stock significantly - probably across other brands too. Ford Pro Trailer Assist is pretty convincing as it might be the only way I get my wife to park a trailer.

So I arrived here after seriously looking at the Northwood products. The Northwoods are much better than your average travel trailer, but still not at the level of an Oliver. Northwood's frames are better than the Lippert trash on 90% of the market's trailers. Oliver's frames are even better being made of aluminum with beautiful welds. A house is only as good as its foundation. While Northwood does build and insulate better than most, the only trailer of theirs that I would buy is the 22G travel trailer - no slides to break/leak your heat/let dust in. PROs for the 22G: fully featured kitchen with microwave, range, oven, double sink, and big fridge with freezer. Dry bath. CONs: if anything on the outside leaks, there is a lot of wood to rot. The space comes from being 8'6" wide and 11'2" tall vs Oliver's 7' wide and 8'6" tall (9'7" to AC). Lower carrying capacity (even the fifth wheel 5L has only 2945 - but it will be easy to fill it with clutter that takes you over gross. Two tiny windows on the street side. PROs for the 5L: pretty much all of those for the 22g plus: fifth wheel is more maneuverable for the length, all the comforts of home and then some. More fresh, gray, and black water. CONs: 13'3" height is now pushing it for overpass and tree clearance - especially on the East Coast. You now need to plan your routes in advance. 95 square feet of frontal area. Slides to keep working, keep sealed, not break (I could feel drafts in a new trailer). Now your setup and teardown has to involve moving them (and clearing anything out of their way). Because of slides, you now have carpet. How long is cleaning that vs a wipe down of all the fiberglass/linoleum in an Oliver going to take? Hitching up to a fifth wheel is a little more involved than a receiver (gate down, hitch, gate up). Fifth wheel means you can only pull with longer bed trucks or risk RV/cab interference on turns, or you need to get a sliding hitch (more $$$, more maintenance). Because of length, you are now barely under some of the best parks' limits, but will over many others. Crosswinds? no thanks. Also it has heat registers in the middle of the floor, nice thing to step on barefoot or stub your toe on... Oliver PROs: fairly seamless interior and exterior means easy to keep clean and sealed. Small size is maneuverable and easier to tow (even the standard f150 mirrors are wider than the trailer). 60 sq ft of frontal area should translate into 30-40% less drag than the Northwoods. Well insulated and fairly simple. Excellent resale thus far. Quiet inside. Can be towed with some SUVs and full-size vans. CONs: less featured, less space, more expensive, wet bath, floorplans might not be what you want. I have neighbors with a big fifth wheel, they might take them out for a long weekend a couple times a year, but the mostly sit parked. The logistics of moving something that big doesn't seem relaxing to me. Plus the decor of the Northwoods (and their friendly neighbors Outdoors RV) and most of the stick builds reminds me of my grandparents house 30 years ago.

Well here's the latest iteration of the brainstorm trying to keep it simple, allowing us to use the rear area without being in bed. Day mode: The rear cushion is the bed, folded over. The exposed fabric could look more like upholstery but it is not the surface that is slept on, sheets would be between the two halves. This overhangs the middle U area by 2" to give a 54" width when unfolded. Lagun table or normal pedestal could go in the middle. Converting to night time is as simple as folding up side cushions and unfolding bed and adding comforter. This would give a 54" bed, it could be even bigger if I put the side cushions elsewhere. Side cushions could be used as part of the wall to (try to) keep doggo off of bed. Biggest plus for this is the support structure for everything is already there, so it's just a fairly simple custom mattress/cushions. Still not sure if I would keep the front dinette or turn it into something else -- two eating places seems redundant in an 18'x7' living space. Steven

It will really depend on how well I am able to make the supports fold/unfold. The other upside is not sleeping cross cushion seams, at least from head to hips. Luckily I still make it through the night without going to the bathroom, and the fold up cushion is on the wife's side so she can do as she pleases. The only issue would be when our schedules are out of sync. I looked at a similar setup in the rear, either as a permanent double which would allow either a small seating area for two, or a pedestal washer + wardrobe on one side and drawer dish washer on the kitchen side. Or the bed could fold up and allow seating for four at a table - this is assuming an 8" mattress folded over at 16". I could increase the seating area height with thicker cushions or another storage box with cushion on top. Thank you for the pictures of the rear bed setup - not too many good pictures of that! The twin up front looks good too. The washer is actually the drawer looking thing between the front dinette seats. The pantry is modeled as a solid block in my sketches with no cuts into it. Luckily my work gives me the "opportunity" to sleep in hotels 10-15 nights a month. When I am not gone with work, our goal is to travel around with the trailer and spend a lot of time outside of it. So I'll probably sleep 10-15 nights a month in the trailer. Plus we do a fair amount of leisure air travel, so wife will get reprieves in addition to her time she "gets" to spend in an office all day. Also the plan is for little/no modification to the fiberglass hull, so everything should be near 100% reversible. Steven

I sketched a few options for turning the front bed into a day couch/night bed. This would allow us to keep the rear area, which should have the best view, for hanging out. As a bonus, we could sleep 4-5 fairly comfortably. Obviously I'd need to design bed supports for the part that overhangs the aisle. This would be split into two portions with a wedge shape cushion to fill in during the day. Two split beds, but for us the wife would be even with me if she sleeps in the aisle. This is probably my favorite as of now: the foot cushion (or two cushions) can be folded up or removed for bathroom access. Perspective view of the third option Day mode view of the couch. Middle area could be used for additional storage, or as shown here with a pedestal washer.

If I had a TV that is working for me now, I wouldn't buy a new truck until probably middle of next year. New 2020 F150 (new diesels and maybe hybrid) and new eco diesel 2020 RAM 1500 should be out and details for the 2021 Tundra should also be available, hopefully with the ability to purchase by late summer/early fall 2020. The new Tundra looks promising: https://www.tfltruck.com/2019/05/will-the-2021-toyota-tundra-have-a-twin-turbo-v6-hybrid-with-450-hp-and-30-mpg-rumor/ - if those rumors are true then it could be great- just as long as it doesn't come with a tiny gas tank and they fix their payload issues. 2019 Tundra crew has only 200lbs more payload than a RAV4. Hybrid also offers some interesting options for power the front wheels with electricity only to help you get unstuck. The Power Wagon and some of the GM gas trucks are closing the MPG gap on many of the diesels, with lower costs and higher payloads without the maintenance issues with "clean diesel".

That's not a bad burn rate compared to keeping a stick build warm in Utah... I was under the impression that the 50A plug was four prong: 2x 50A 110V legs, neutral, and ground? That's how a 4-pin dryer is except only 30A for the two legs. Dad's an EE and friend's an electrician so maybe they can help. I am not expecting the floors to be toasty warm, but at least the area around the bed shouldn't be as cold/develop as much condensation. I missed Jason's call today - so I'll send him an email and try to talk to him tomorrow about options. Priorities are 50A service, Solar, and maybe some solution for the rear bed. Thanks again for the help! Steven

It is something I am considering. Paying for a bunch of brand new components that I would have to try to sell at a reduced cost doesn't seem efficient. But then again I don't see used Olivers being sold for major discounts that often. I want the best of both worlds. 30A would probably work out fine, but the idea of using as much free/cheap electricity as possible would be great to make it through winters. With a 50A plug, I could run a space heater, the hull heater (which would effectively be semi-heated floors too), and heat strip and have the other phase available for all the normal things already in the LE2. I'd rather have an oven than a microwave in general, thus looking at the convection option. I figured our dog should sleep in the same place - but I don't know if she will figure the same. If she can get to us in the middle of the night and park her butt in front of my face - she will. Steven

Thanks for the detailed reply - somehow missed your solar post in my searches. I got to check out an LE2 in person today. Actually bigger inside than I expected. Fit and finish up top were good and some beautiful welds on the frame for sure. The fridge freezer compartment was impressive as it seemed better built than the ones I saw in stick build RVs - but its been a few months since I looked at them. I think the marine heater for the basement and a space heater would probably meet 100% of my needs and 90% of my wants. How much of the stuff you wanted did Oliver do vs you had to do yourself? I got the vibe that they seem to want to stick to the given menu. How well insulated is the LE2 - anyone have propane burn info for winter? I would be interested about more info on the bed situation, as the rear area is the part that still has me a little perplexed. We need to sleep together, but only need about half the space. We'd probably keep it as a full-time bed as I don't see the need to feed 4-6 inside my trailer that often - but who knows when we'd need to convert it back. Also interested in maybe a curb to street side lay and adding an additional wardrobe between the windows and the pantry/stove on each side. I've also toyed with a sofa bed or Murphy where the smaller table is, with a taper to allow access to the bathroom - as ideally the back of the trailer should have some good views at some of the spots we've scouted. 50A service would help with heating as well as cooktops - the nicer inductions require 2-phase power. But that would limit our options for cooking away from 50A service without a split phase inverter as well. I'm kind of at a tossup between portable induction and trying to get a square cooktop into the round hole that's there. I could probably leave things be and just be fine -- but I certainly would prefer 50A service and heating on electricity - if I have to do it myself and replace already purchased components it's probably cheaper and easier to do a 200lbs tank for the winter. Those freezers look perfect - hopefully between them and the one on the Ollie we can keep ice cream cold enough. Finally the shades in the unit I saw in person looked like they worked better than the ones in the videos on youtube - might still look at some hatches to help with winter and sunlight for day sleeping.

For the first few winters we will probably just have the trailer and our hookups - which is still a world away from being 4 days from your next boat stop and running out of milk, or breaking your glasses (and the eye place at that next stop is now closed). After a 2-3 years we'll probably start by building a little shed/house for laundry and some of my bigger tools and probably a trailer port/garage for the RV to help keep it nice and comfortable. Winters in the area aren't as bad as the "true" northeast, it's IECC zone 4 like DC. Here's a good comparison of averages between Philly (LI is about the same), Albany, DC, and Springfield Mass: https://weatherspark.com/compare/y/22721~24883~20957~25632/Comparison-of-the-Average-Weather-in-Philadelphia;-Albany;-Washington-D.C.;-and-Springfield Any thoughts on any of the other items listed in the original post?

Yes, unfortunately. The only thing worse than living in snow is trying to fly into the NYC area when it snows - especially Thanksgiving and Christmas. I have an idea of small living as I lived on a 32' sailboat which got old pretty fast due to: no iPads, TVs, or electricity, and you can't even go out for a walk unless we anchored, buoyed, or the rare treat of docking someplace. Our goal is to live in it a few years, then park it on a pad someplace (my vote is Poconos) and live in it while we build our forever home. Once that is up, we'll use it for travel/vacation. My wife is (un)lucky in that I am gone for work a lot -- so it is often just her and the dog. Steven

Hi all, We've been dreaming of RV living for a while, but came to the conclusion that none of the stick builts do what we need. The bigfoot trailers look like they might be a better match from a floorplan standpoint, but having grown up on boats I like the fiberglass inner hull of the oliver as well. The frame construction is also far ahead of anything else I have seen. We're in our 30s with a 35lbs dog. My job lets me travel throughout most of the year and commute by plane, but in the winter -- I'll probably have to hunker down in Philadelphia-Newark-Long Island area. So not nearly as cold as some places - generally not consecutive days where no above freezing temperatures are seen - but still subject to cold snaps and plenty of snow. Ideally, we'd pull into a winter hole up site in December and skirt the outside and maybe tape off the windows with insulation. Then come March, we'd leave and start seeking new places to visit across the country until the next December. Several of the areas of land and campsites I've looked at for winter time have flat rate 50A hookups available. So that leads to to my list of issues that keep the LE2 from being perfect: I'd like to be able to use more of the 50A offering 3x the power of the 30A service. I will be much cheaper and we won't be as reliant on the gas guy to top off our external tank. Ideally I would be able to use more electricity for heat than the heatstrip offers, IE a mini-split, Truma Combi Plus, Alde Hydronic (floor heat anyone?), or Aquahot. These are all combined heaters that can run off propane or shore electric, so would free one of the existing cubbies for heaters. mini split would also free up the roof for another solar panel meaning generator-less is probably more likely/freeing up the tongue for storage box. I could use a free standing electric heater to supplement the furnace, but need to ensure enough heat makes it to the basement to keep the plumbing running. Also would like to ditch the propane range for cooking and go induction to a: cut down on moisture and b: speed up the cooking process. Probably would like a bigger freezer. I work weird schedules - not a huge fan of the pleated drapes so something with more blackout during the day like the MCD or even shutters would be nice. The exterior flap that bigfoot uses for the front of their trailer would actually be pretty awesome for the side windows to seal them off in winter. We aren't ready to sleep in separate beds, but the King bed is also way oversized for us. My wife's about tiny and I am about 160 pounds and she generally leaches off my heat, so rather than 80" width, we could do with probably 50" width twin is just a shade too small for both of us - but it has been done in the past -- I'll still get trapped in the corner but less wasted space. Ideally that could be used for another wardrobe and/or a washer/dryer combo. My wife is not a fan of our dog joining us in bed during tick season -- we'd have to come up with a way to keep the dog out and a place for the dog to be happy elsewhere. Lastly, as hinted earlier, storage is a concern. I could fit my stuff and tools in about 35% of the space, just not sure the remaining 65% will be enough for my fashion-forward dearest wife. Might look at a van tow vehicle for her extended walk-in closet. But mostly in the logistics of where trash/dirty clothes/etc go before going to the dump/laundromat/etc... So what's just plain naive or easily workable?