Patriot

BackofBeyond - You bet, I just like our Trek 920’s kept under cover and out of view. For local rail trail rides our Kuat Transfer 2 works great for transport.

Emptied a brimming full rain gauge this morning - 5” from this system so far. I emptied the gauge at 7 am, we’ll see how much more we get before it moves out at noon. The 1700 acre lake we live on has a lot of dead fall wooden limbs and debris scattered and floating around. Storms like this dump a lot of unwanted silt into the lake from the streams that feed it.

Our rain gauge this morning here in Western NC and it’s still raining...so glad we live up on a ridge. Check the mailbox and the rain gauge, just me. 😂

Mike, I heard Brooks made the transition to civilian status. I deployed to the Gulf War destined for a “classified tent city” in Southwest Asia out of Kelly AFB on a C141 in Oct of 91. Spent a lot of of hot humid training days at old Camp Bullis. I also have a lot of great memories of San Antonio. I really enjoyed my time spent serving. 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

JD, Comanche was his name and he was a certified USAF patrol dog. The day of this photo I was assigned at Brooks Air Force base in San Antonio as the Supervisor over the base military working dog program. Brooks was a sort of a sleepy small Areospace R&D base. As for Comanche he was an exceptional Rottweiler having a kind temperament and 100% loyalty/handler bond. That said, he was quickly all business when it came to his work as a patrol dog. He excelled in attack sleeve or decoy work, scouting and tracking. What I found most interesting is he did not constantly bark or act overly aggressive. He was not a dog fighter, just an overall great partner. He was quiet and extremely fast during training sessions and spot on in obedience and in the obstacle course. I have fond memories of working and training him. A great loyal partner and glad I still have this photo of him.

An eternal heartfelt thank you to all Brothers and Sisters in arms who have served our great country honorably. Let’s also remember those who gave all for the continued freedoms we presently still enjoy. If so inclined maybe post up a photo of your service days. May God continue to bless this awesome country of ours. 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 “Freedom is not Free”

This is great news - what a nice post prior to Veterans Day. Thank you for posting.

Site 81 at David Crockett SP was an excellent level long and wide asphalt site with water and electric. We spent (4) nights there. I would highly recommend this site if available. Just a thought.

Here is what we use, as we are avid cyclists. So keeping it fairly simple and straight forward, we added a topper to our TV keeping our bikes clean, dry, and out of view of prying eyes. A bike rack on the rear of the Oliver would require us to remove the bikes and then reload them into our TV to go ride a bike trail or tour a local town or sight see, not logical. Naturally if your TV is an SUV or Van this is not an option then your left with hanging bikes off the back of your Ollie, just not something we care to do. We can easily pack our bicycles, Gen, Yeti Tundra cooler and all camp set up gear with room to spare.

Yes, our landscaper 😂 he has a backpack blower and blows them across our road into the woods for a long winters nap.

We picked up set of these awhile back and used them on our last week long camping trip in mountains of SW Va. They worked great especially during the day and night we caught a lot of the remnant winds off hurricane Zeta. They perform as advertised and made for a very stable no rocking Ollie. I still used the rubber chocks as seen in my pic. Just a bit of feedback if anyone is considering a set. Happy Camping!

Great minds think alike. Last night....here on Blueberry Hill.

Jim here you go- David

Mike, That sure looks good! 👍🏻

Your welcome, send me a PM if I can help with ant other questions. Be Safe!

Airedales - They are 285/75R18 Goodyear Wrangler Duratracs and they did come stock with the Tremor pkg and includes a full size Duratrac spare. 👍🏻I did a bit of research on tirerack.com and they have overall pretty decent ratings. Likely due to a more aggressive design tread - no mileage warranty. With just over 2k on them so far I like the way they handle and ride, no complaints. With additional miles they may or may not produce a little road noise, we’ll see. The Tremor cabin is really quiet so little too early to tell. To my surprise they do NOT hold a lot of gravel in the tread due to tire larger lug width and design. The down side is when a larger stone does get tread seated and tossed it can potentially be a windshield cracker for a vehicle following. I periodically check my tires/tread and unseat any stones when driving on gravel roads. I also purchased the Discount Tire insurance coverage for these tires ($187) since they run approx $320 per tire. Essentially coverage includes a balance and rotation anytime I need it and a non prorated replacement with a brand new tire if DCT cannot repair the tire. For the life of the tires, not a bad deal. I like DCT as they hand torque all lugs when completing the B&R. Hope this helps! -Patriot

Your rig looks great! I will always be partial to Tundras. I have owned a few over the years and they have been stellar. Your topper looks great, I am pretty much brand loyal to ARE, never an issue, it’s all about the install. Details matter. Moving from the Tundra to the Tremor has been interesting and a lot of fun. So far we are very happy overall, zero complaints. Thank you for the kind words. - Patriot

Thanks for the research, I have read this a few times, and never had any problem with an ARE topper after owning a few over the years. Very solid well built toppers. An excellent install is key. Roof rack for some works, I am just not a fan for a number of reasons, mostly personal taste rules the day. I suppose a roof rack maybe/IS required on smaller imported LC SUV TVs pulling an Ollie with extremely limited cargo/trunk capacity. Maybe ARE will make a topper for SUV roofs? 😉😂

Thanks! Here is a build link. It really depends options you choose and shipping costs to your dealer. The plant is located in Ohio. I received a 15% discount as I know the owner well and have done plenty of business with him in the past. here- https://www.4are.com/build/

They are surely not for everyone especially the expense. But as I mentioned dry gear is really important to us. That said the install is extremely important. I had an excellent installer and researched and used the best topper bulb seals made. As for dust and water...a proper install with rubber bulb seals I have never had an issue. I am tall as well and really don’t have any issues with packing or unloading. Would I label it as fun? haha...Nah, but ya gotta be limber for sure. 😊 As for security, it’s only as secure as a unoccupied home, one broken window naturally the bad guy is in. The camp gear we carry is not irreplaceable, but our Yeti Tundra, our generator, Clam, camp chairs and a few other items are covered, dry and out of view. 👍🏻

Bill, Geat question. The black aluminum divider you see actually separates the front topper glass from with an internally hidden hinged rear window glass which is screened for ventilation. I really like this design as it allows for great airflow/circulation in the topper while stationary or rolling down the super slab. Inside pic shows the system that allows for turning the opening and closing knob for the screened window. The window can be adjusted to what ever opening with you choose and they stay that way while traveling if you wish. No sloppiness in the hinge or handle closing mechanism. I also really like the hidden hinge system on the rear access window over the tail gate. Naturally personal taste, but it aesthetically looks cleaner on the overall fit and finish.

Thanks! It’s my understanding that a Yakima roof rack can be installed. I am not sure about the weight limit, I did not inquire as I really have no use for a roof rack. If we can’t carry our gear inside the cab and under our topper out of the weather - we likely have too much stuff. We have the high capacity tow 535 pkg and zero issues with trailer sway when traveling on the interstate or windy conditions. As for the Tremor suspension/ride? We just rolled over 2k on the ODO and we are very pleased with overall super quiet interior & comfort level when empty as well as towing. Much more comfortable and needless to say powerful than our former half ton TV. The Ollie towing mileage was impressive @ 17.9 - 18 mpgs on our last week long trip. This was only the computer feedback. At some point I will do the math and compare. The topper added approx 200# of weight to the bed which is nothing. I read and heard the the F250 & F350 Tremor supposedly have the same identical suspension. I have yet to confirm this as fact. However with the 535 pkg listed below it may be accurate.

Thank you!

After a 10 week wait we took delivery and install of our ARE Z topper yesterday. We recently upgraded to a larger more comfortable, much more powerful TV and like stowing our bicycles, Gen, and other camping gear high and dry out of sight and out of mind. I had upgraded rubber bulb seals installed vs the cheap foam tape that flattens out usually within a few months. The foam tape when it flattens out can result in a potential topper bottom edge bed rail paint rub, a no go. Another tip, I had the installers secure the tape to the bottom rails of the topper NOT the bed rails to avoid any cleaning of adhesive on the bed rails should I decide to remove the topper temporarily. This is our third ARE topper over the years and I can report that the fit and finish and Iconic Silver paint match is spot on excellent. Totally worth the wait. Just a bit of feedback for anyone considering an ARE camper topper.

Can we give multiple likes for this post? 😊 So true, we all learn from each other.