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We test drove, rented, and tried just about everything under the sun. A few observations: Outside newer rams where there is an actual difference in rear suspension (leaf vs coil) there is little difference between 3/4 and 1 ton offerings in ride. Payload with a diesel 3/4 ton (except new GM 2500s) really makes upgrading to 1 ton trucks worth it. Swapping shocks will make even your old F350 ride better than just about any new truck In a year or two Ford will have the 2021 F150 advances on the SD. With a capable vehicle I'd hold out for that before buying anything on the market. Or at least see what the 2021 F150 offers. If there were a heavy duty payload package F150 with all the safety features (and maybe adaptive cruise and lane centering) that'd be on my short list. Ecoboost and Diesels are less fatiguing than listening to a V8 drone going up a a pass, whether it's a 7.3L Godzilla or a 6.2/6.6L/5.0L. Having towed with a 18'5" SUV and a 20'10" HD Truck a few observations: Bigger fuel tank, and better mileage from the HD diesel makes long trips easier Parking into a tight spot is definitely harder as not only is the truck 2'5" longer, but it doesn't have the turning radius to maneuver the trailer as quickly. I would still have gone with an 8' bed if Washington State ferries didn't get silly when you break 22' - as such we went with the shorter 6'9" bed. When towing the Ollie it wouldn't make a difference as it's the 40-50' bucket then. Our height is more of a limit to non-ollie parking than our length when we head into the cities as some garages are just a little too short. Sea-Tac's airport parking at 7' is plenty for us though. There's no such thing as overkill.

Take a look at your payload sticker in the door jamb: In this example 2020 Taco, it has 950lbs of payload. -650 lbs of tongue weight (most LE2s are well over this, so this is a delicate balancing act) - 125lbs of gas leaves 425 lbs for you, your pasengers, and any stuff in this example. So you really need to nail the tongue weight, and travel light.

Mike and Carol are the only ones I saw with experience with the Taco. The 3G Taco isn't amazingly more capable than their 2G. Your fuel tank size, payload, and rear axle weight rating will be your limiting factors. It's possible, but to tow within limits you are going to be spending a lot of time on weight and balance and a lot of time pulling into fuel stations.

If I were alone, I'd still go for the LE2 because: I like my truck Dual Axle gives an added margin of safety - but the LE(1) still seems stable with a blowout More Solar Inside height (6'1" vs 6'6") (remember there is other stuff hanging down) Extra sleeping length Love the pantry - I like to eat. I do wish the LE2 came with bigger tanks than the LE(1)

We have dual Dometic 9500 power awnings. What I do wish we had was an easy screen room option like some of the other awnings. It extends and retracts with no problem, it can be stopped in any position (except when the wind sensor goes off, then it comes all the way in unless you cut the power). Wind sensors - when properly set - work as desired and we really haven't had many unintended retractions. We have had a save when a microburst hit the campground. The flexibility to deploy the awning from inside is pretty awesome. Sitting at the dinner table and sun is in the eyes? tap button. Pouring outside and you need to get the shoes you stowed under the stairs and put them on? tap button. Sounds too windy and you're already in your PJs? tap button. Time to go in the morning? tap two buttons and work on everything else while they come in. It drains as intended, the angle is adjustable. Zero regrets vs the manual offered. If the motor dies, you can still crank it with a 3/8" socket (which is I think the only SAE measure on the awning - everything else is metric. If the choice were between this and something that could support a screen room and clothes line or something like that, I might have a different story. But for 2019/2020 the difference is just whether you are the motor or Dometic is the motor (and some snazzy LED lights).

About every 800 miles, less in the city. Ideally an official solution on the DM would involve deferring regen and eventually forcing a manual regen. I know the PSD when properly equipped won't regen until you tell it to - that is usually a fleet option though. Since I bought my truck off the lot I didn't look too deeply into GM's equivalent options. Edit to add: there are also options like the Banks iDash that can force/monitor/do other things, but I really am more interested in a factory option. New generator (propane) comes tomorrow, and I'll happily use that instead of voiding the warranty on my engine.

We didn't really do a PDI, so much as letting the sales team walk us through everything they could. I was pretty familiar from my pre-delivery studies, so we went until the wife was familiar. Seeing where all the valves are (especially the fresh tank drain and truma bypass) was probably the most helpful. We then used everything during our two nights at Davy Crockett - ie boondocking fill port, solar charging, fresh tank water, city water, etc... and found no issues. What took longer to find/figure out: street side screens didn't have black spacer on the bottom leaving a gap for bugs. Trim below left/bottom drawer was catching on the drawer. Both easy home fixes with some VHB and the screen spacers shipped from Oliver.

The 7.2 kW generator on the hybrid is interesting. That represents around 10 horsepower including losses. I am pretty sure that the F150 will be quieter than even a 2k inverter at 1.5kW when running that load, but could charge batteries much faster -- assuming you have the appropriate charger and batteries. I'd love to see something official like this on the Duramax, as I'd feel more comfortable heading into the mountains with 80 gallons of Diesel vs 30 gallons of Gas. Even the DMax at an elevated idle is still quieter than 2k/3k Inverters.

There are some fiberglass rallies. We were going to go cross-country for the Guntersville gathering. But--we won't be going to any rallies until this whole thing blows over. Spring maybe? Too many folks underestimate the impact of the disease and don't take/respect appropriate precautions.

Here is the multi pro hitch for those wondering what compatible means. It will also clear the ball at its highest setting. the Anderson or other hitches will hit the step when it is deployed.

Have about 2000 miles towing the Oliver now. As expected, the Sierra HD pulls just fine. We are using the multipro compatible hitch from B&W. So if I drop the tailgate step, it won't nail the hitch. More stable in every way than the Lincoln was, except maybe a little bouncier when I hit the "oh shoot" sized bumps. That is largely due to no longer using the Andersen hitch in my mind. Air bags aren't necessary but they would probably help. Moving from an SUV, we are glad to no longer hear the hitch clanking around in the receiver. 20lbs propane tanks fit under the Diamondback HD cover, but they need to be opened to transport the 30 pounders. As far as electrical doodads: Our "invisible trailer" camera remains on backorder due to COVID-19 (but at the same time GMC has revised the part number twice) - so still using the wireless camera setup from the factory. The TPMS system works great, so that is at least one less box in the truck. Only downside is it is only viewable in the NAV screen. So I have three screens in my truck: center gauge cluster, rear view mirror, and the NAV. I have three pieces of fairly critical information while towing: TPMS, Rear Camera, and Phone based maps. All three of those have to share the NAV screen, despite there being other logical places to put them. I can see my truck's TPMS on the center of the gauge cluster, but not the trailer. Supposedly GM can over the air update and fix all this -- I am not holding my breath. Since the firmware I see on my truck was released, I think Tesla has probably dropped 10 fairly substantive updates. The lane change camera system is pretty nice, but so are the giant tow mirrors. General driving, I average 20-22 MPG when mostly freeway. High teens when "town" and "city" driving dominate. upper-mid teens around home in the mountains. Best tank was 26mpg with a strong tailwind the whole way. 18.x mpg towing at 60mph on the flats, and still respectable at faster speeds. The ecoboost would do well until I pushed it or there was a headwind, and it was like the consumption went off a cliff. For normal towing, we are looking for fuel every ~500 miles to ensure reserve. Getting the big duramax is definitely a plus vs the 1500 with its "car" sized filler neck, the HD with it's semi-truck sized filler neck has me spoiled at truck stops. I just Dieseled up at a Costco on a normal pump and it seemed like an eternity to tank up compared to the truck pumps which flow 4-6 times as fast as the auto side. I still haven't really decided what's next for the truck - I originally was looking at an auxiliary tank. The benefit there would be fueling the tractor might be easier than the blue cans. But for towing, I haven't seen a huge need for it yet, it'd certainly be fun, but the Diesel with a 36 gallon tank has much longer legs than the ecoboost with the 26 Gallon tank.

Thanks, but sometimes I feel like I am just a fancy version of the guy with a spoon and a lighter!

My Coffee Paraphernalia: Comandante Coffee Grinder Hario Filters/Holder Super fancy Kettle Generally not a fan of items that are one-trick ponies - but coffee is a heck of a drug.

Yes: 1x MONITOR-VTBMV-S BAM030712000 Victron Battery Monitor BMV-712 Smart 1x TEMP-VTBMV ASS000100000 Victron Temperature sensor for BMV-700 series 1x BATTBMS-VT-BUS BMS300200000 VE.Bus BMS 1x BATTBMS-VTLYNX LYN060102000 Lynx Distributor They have a high amount of hours for labor in my mind: for the batteries and BMS: Labor @ 16hrs = $2,080 For the multiplus: Labor @ 21hrs = $2,730 to swap for an MPPT solar controller: Labor @ 12hrs = $1,560 If I did everything myself, with the right parts and right tools in front of me -- I really doubt it'd take ~50 hours to do everything. So I do have an ask back to them to check it --- they say they would revise at intake and some of that is an erroneous easy start install added to the multiplus-- but I'm not keen on committing to $6k of installation so I may drive by for a better quote.

That math says that if you want Lithium, you probably want to just pay to have the factory do it - especially if you have the tax credit incentives to do it. My quote from Amsolar for 400Ah of Lithium (albeit with all premium components) is $5k material and $2k labor. I can offset some of that by adding some solar to get the credit, but that will also cost.

Hi Jordan, We're working remote from our trailer for the last month / next couple months as well. So feel free to fire away with any questions.

529 had a few filters worth of shards, haven't checked that hose though. One of the reasons we don't use the freshwater tank for drinking.

Also worth pointing out than many regulators have a safety in them that can be triggered if you turn the gas on too quickly on an uncharged system. So a "bad" regulator may have functioned as designed. Usually shutting off the gas at the tanks, disconnecting them, closing all the stove valves/turning off truma/fridge/etc... Then reconnecting and slowly turning the (primary) tank on.

Yes, they only add ~1/4 inch if height, the tank fits into a lip on the halo and just enough added height to prevent the tank from resting on the pretty thin sensor.

We have the Mopeka Tank Check Sensors. You can either monitor with their standalone monitor or your phone. Most of the negative reviews deal with the standoff spacers supplied, so we installed the Halos. We even went one step further and installed the WiFi gateway - which means we can watch the propane even when we are away. Our Ollie has TMobile installed in the outdoor WiFi Ranger and a Verizon JetPack - so it generally has WiFi anyplace we leave it for longer times.

We have been on pretty long trips with the Oliver, we're about to kick off on a multi-month trip away from home again. The only thing I wish it had, would be a washing machine - ideally a separate washer and dryer. Even before COVID, I wasn't too keen on using campground laundry facilities where folks are inevitably washing their dog beds and cloth diapers. Everything else, we do without. We do use the convection microwave for morale items like cookies and pizzas. Since I do work remotely from the Oliver, I am jealous of folks with toy haulers that fit sit/stand desks in the garage. But as others have said: this thing fits where others don't and no larger trailer has the same quality. We've been to "full" campgrounds that let us get the best view spot that was for "tents only" as we could fit, but no one else can. For me it would be hard to go to something that relies on wood for its structure or that lets rodents get into the undercarriage after the Oliver. If Oliver made a 2' longer one that I could put 24" washer+dryer in, maybe with some other floorplan/usability upgrades that I've whined enough about on here, I'd probably trade up. Other than that I'll stay where I am. We'll probably add a Clam tent for some outside time/space.

I like the lay flat seats inside. I always thought the idea of having a tent on the back of a crew cab so two people can sleep was redundant. I’ll be interested to know what the payloads on well equipped hybrids are, and what their range is when actually towing.

We got it. It's one less key on the keychain that I regularly need. I do wish it supported some smartphone/smartwatch scheme for unlocking rather than just the code at that price.

If you're willing to detour. Here are the things I've enjoyed on I10/20: Palm Springs - just the lifestyles of the rich and famous and some cool 70s architecture too Joshua Tree NP - interesting NP Quartzsite - great boondocking Picacho Peak (need to be in good shape for this one - definitely read up on the hike) Saguaro NP - different country than the PNW for sure Pima Air + Space Museum Mt Lemmon - drivable Kartchner Caverns - COVID might rule this out Coronado Overlook - great chance to see the border Bisbee, AZ - Copper Mine/Art town Tombstone, AZ - the legend of the movie meets a version of Disneyland where everyone has guns and might be drunk too Hatch. NM - home of the Hatch Chile Truth or Consequences, NM (cool name) - next to Elephant Butte Lake park -- also a cool name interesting view Texas: headwinds and barbecue. Dublin, TX - Old Doc's Soda Shop - used to be where I stopped for Dr Pepper made with cane sugar, they don't make that anymore but still interesting. Ozarks

I haven't used the convenience plug with the generator, I usually have run the generator off the street side. I have used the convenience plug when the pedestal was at the front, curbside of a spot with nice view at the rear of the spot. You could also just carry a longer power cord and achieve the same result. I've rarely run the generator on the trailer though.