Commanche

Kayle, We just bought a Dodge Durango for our Elite II, since with the V8 it's rated at 7800 Lbs. If you get the V6 you get 6200 lbs. We have not pulled the trailer yet,but will shortly. You might check out DodgeDurangoForums for a lot of info.

Maybe we should have test driven a new pickup, before we crossed it off our TV list. We have a 97 F150 that Carol hates to ride in, so we went the SUV route. I did a lot of online research to get something that would work with our Legacy II. The mid sized SUV's were mostly limited to 5,000 lbs and the large SUV's like Expedition, Tahoe, and the like were so expensive. WE decided on a Dodge Durango with the V8 Hemi engine with a 7,800 lb towing limit. Really passed on the V6 even though it has a 6,200 lb towing limit, wanted that extra power for towing in the mountains. It would probably work ok on the smaller Oliver. Need to get some break in miles on it before we pull the trailer. Oh, and it's RED. Wouldn't that be cool, a couple of old geezers rollin' down the road with a really hot Durango and equally cool Oliver trailer. I am ready. Stan

Any time you hang something on the back of a travel trailer, you really have to be careful of your weight distribution and especially tongue weight, or in this case, lack of it. I'm sure the engineers on here can further explain that. Stan

Commanche....Was a horse we bought for our youngest son, when he was a teen, over 30 years ago. He rode him till he turned 16, and decided cars were more his speed. I rode him for a few years till my colt was ready to ride, then my wife Carol rode him till he passed on about 5 years ago. He was a fine horse and fun to ride. The horse chapter in our life is closing, still have one old retired boy, and opening a new chapter of hitting the road with the new Ellite II. Stan

We are going to the Mid America RV Show in downtown Kansas City, a pretty big RV show in its own right. Not to look for a RV of course, but to look at all the other "stuff". Stan

Don't know about other fiberglass trailers, but I pulled 2 horse, 3 horse and gooseneck trailers, but on our trip back from the factory it pulled very nice. There was no wiggle or buffeting from passing semi's and it tracked true. I tried to keep my speed at about 60 or 65 mostly for gas mileage, but I still only got 9 mpg. But that old 97 F150 never did get any decent gas mileage. We are on the hunt for a new TV but I'm not sure if there is anything out there that will get better then the low teens while towing. Stan

What happened to all those people from the "early days"? Don't seem to see much activity from them, sure they have a lot to contribute, especially for us newbies to the fiberglass trailers. Oh, and how to I load pictures? Stan

Steve Wow, that was quite a study, ought to answer a lot of questions, but I still have one more. Not having any antifreeze in the traps does not have the possibility of the gaskets drying out? I don't know,just asking. Stan

Hey Dave, you can come up here to Kansas in Jan or Feb and check out that "cold weather" camping. We can put you out in the pasture down by the pond, oh wait, the pond will be frozen and covered with snow. Oh well forget that, that just sounds like a bad idea. Stan

Yeah, i know what you mean about that. We are stopping at Round Spring Camp Ground near Emminence, MO which is exactly the half way point on the way home. Davy Crockett State Park looks like a nice place, the opening picture on the web site looks really nice. Stan

Today was to be the day we were to head out to pick up our trailer. Well, that plan went down the hopper due to circumstances beyond our control. Robert called last Friday and said when they took the trailer to be weighed they discovered their shipment of axels were 3300 instead of the required 3500, and thats what was on our trailer. Bummer. Robert did say that as soon as the right axels were available from the supplier they would send their own truck to pick them up. Hopefully it could be this week yet but maybe next week. Seem to me the supplier should know exactly when the right axels would be ready to ship. And how come they don't have some on hand? After all, they are the ones that screwed up the shipment. I'm pretty much disappointed with the whole process from the start. When we signed the contract in July, we were given a completion date of Oct 2, but nothing was in writing on the contract. Then for some unknown reason to us, that date was pushed back, and it took repeated inquiries to get a firm pick up date. Now this. Doesn't make for a very happy camper. Just hope things go better from here on out. Stan

We are getting the solar package, weather that decision is good, bad, or indifferent, we will see. Not going with a generator, so that was not a option. Goggle HandyBob's Blog, lots of good info there. Getting excited for next week. Stan

Ah, Savannah, GA. My daughter and her husband moved there this summer, he is a Col in JAG corp, and we hope to make a visit around Christmas. Never been there, but always wanted to visit. We will be flying in, not taking the Ollie. We had considered heading east after picking up the Ollie next Thursday, but those plans did not work out, so we are coming directly home after a overnight in MO. Stan

I would love to do a trip to Alaska, but that's down the road, maybe the summer after next. We still have some old pets, old horse, old cow, and old cat to "pass on" before we can take some extended trips. We are heading out to pickup the trailer next week and plan to stop over at Round Spring NP at Emminence, MO on the way home. Anyone ever been there? Stan

The day for picking up the trailer is Oct 22, actually the 23rd, after a long drive from KC. Exciting times for sure. Was wondering how long the pre delivery inspection takes, and do they have a check list to go through. I found a pretty good check list at http://www.angelfire.com/trek/buenavist ... hecklists/ that just about covers everything. We need to nail down the insurance coverage next week. I checked with State Farm and their quote for $500 deductable was $620. Don't know how that compares. May check some others next week. Stan

I know the dry weight and tongue weight, but has anyone got a weight of their trailer heading down the road after all packed up for say, a week or more of camping fun? Of course everyones weight will be different depending how much useless stuff you drag along that just goes along for the ride. Not that any one out there does that, but who knows. We usually go down the driveway and have to turn around 2 or 3 times to get stuff we forgot. Useless stuff for sure. Be interesting to see different peoples weight. (trailer weight of course) Stan

Rob, We just sent a email to Robert to change from the AGM to the 4 T105's and add the small sine inverter with 2 plugs. Carol wanted to make sure she could run her MAC laptop. So much to learn, so little time... Wait, I'm semi retired, I should have plenty of time. Stan

The 4 T105's are a upgrade from the "standard two group 17 batteries". So what is the standard? Are they 105's also or something else. Guess that is the question you need to ask. Stan

Dave After talking to Steve, who has the AGM batteries, we decided to stay with the AGM's. I suppose if I had not ordered them yet, I may go with the T105's, but at this point we will stay with what we ordered. Stan

We ordered our new Ollie with the AGM Batteries. Now I am having second thoughts after reading Handy Bob's Blog and his link to Sterling power.com. Both said they were not worth the extra cost and may not last as long as the T105's. I also looked at AMSolar and they had the opposite view point. Question...Is there anyone out there that are using the AGM's? Plus if going with the T105's is it worth the extra cost to go with 4 instead of the 2 that is standard? Guess we should have done some more research on solar and batteries before making the decision. Reading Bob's Blog threw a whole new light on the subject. At this point we are tending to make the switch to the T105's. Would appreciate hearing from those of you with experience in solar and batteries. Stan

My wife and I are planning a trip to see a new 23.5 and enjoy a factory tour next week. Did you make the trip to the factory, and if you did, what do you think? Got one on order? Stan

Your local DOT enforcement officers have portable scales that they use to weigh trucks, but I'm sure they are very expensive. I have contributed funds to their cost, not once, but twice when I was hauling rock and sand for a concrete company. ouch Actually, when I take a steer to the butcher shop I go to the local fertilizer place and use their scale. I usually go after hours so as not to take up their time, but I have to use a pair of binoculars to look thru the window to read the weight. But it works. Stan

So everyone thats pulling a Elite II without a WDH is over limits, per the manufacturers specs. Guess all those years I was pulling a horse trailer with 2 and sometimes 3 horses plus the slid in camper, I was really over weight. I didn't know anything about WDH's till I started looking at RV trailers. Over on the Airstream forum the subject gets pretty intense. Stan

Guess I need to call Robert tomorrow and check on this stuff. Our trailer is still "on Paper" so I don't think they started it yet, at least they did not call for the second payment yet.

I read thru that long blog on rv solar and "wow". I need to print it out and really study it so I have some idea how everything works and things to check. Now that I have a trailer coming down the pipe line with the solar package and the AGM batteries, my question is...Would this setup meet the approval of HandyBob as it is setup at the factory? Being a "electronic idiot" the questions start raising their ugly heads. Stan