routlaw

One more thought on the subject. Understand that western snow is dry… normally. By that I mean it isn't usually the wet heavy icy stuff so prevalent back east or down south when they rarely get it. What this means is the driving conditions even with snow packed roads are a much different critter than wet ice packed roads. Not saying anyone shouldn't be cautious under these conditions but the differences in driving on dry snow roads is night and day different than back east… the vast majority of the time. It's not uncommon to be on the interstates with snow packed roads and people are still going 70+ MPH out here on the Montanabon. Wyoming is no different. All of the western states are very diligent about plowing too and what doesn't get scraped off either evaporates or melts in fairly short order. There will always be icy spots especially in the shade of cliffs, trees etc but it's truly amazing how fast the remnants after plowing evaporate even in cold temps. Just be cautious and take your time or grab a motel room for the night, or two

I have lived in Montana for almost half a century, never used or owned chains and don't plan to. I rarely ever see them on the road either other than 18 wheeler which are required to do so on mountain passes when the snow is heavy. Winter snow tires are the go to situation around here with the Bridgestone Blizzaks usually at the top or Michelin equivalents. Some people will still use studded tires but the only they offer for better performance over the previously mentioned is on black ice. However I have never used the snow tires for towing either though no doubt many have. Not sure I would trust those socks while towing. Just make sure you have a good set or all weather tires if nothing else that also performs well in snow. FWIW there has been very little snow this year so far. Even here in Bozeman where we always seem to be in some sort of polar vortex there is barely any in town. Not a good ski year from what I've heard.

And at what cost. It looks nice, saw some earlier videos of this thing in action. Hardly qualifies as camping IMO. He might get 200 miles up in down the roads in CA but try that east of the Sierra or around the Rocky Mountain Range those towing distances will drop dramatically.

Yes just read an article about this on Apple News a couple of days ago. Meant to post and link the story but have been busy with some house projects and forgot to do so. Don’t recall all of the specifics but Bill is correct they are in bankruptcy.

Yep I did know that. Thanks.

Our front graphics are becoming a bit tattered like many others so I might just take what’s left of them off. Personally I don’t think the front being naked looks all that bad myself but do like the company name at the rear which luckily those are still in good condition. The third brake light is totally shot and has been for sometime. Not sure what to do about that other than complete removal. 1st World Problems, not a big deal to me.

Never considered it, but for the record we have the Fiama brand and rarely if ever use it. Too much of a PITA to deal with. If you go through with it would love to hear your experiences in changing.

We don’t watch TV even when at home, let alone camping. Yanked ours out within the first few months of ownership. Agree with @Wandering Sagebrush the Furion products are crap. It would take a deeply troubled mind to invent a system so difficult to use. Same goes for the Furion audio system, never use it more trouble than its worth.

I have never installed mine mainly because it worked flawlessly without it. However with new truck that is supposed to recognize a TPMS system I have yet to get it to do that. Thinking maybe I should install it to see if that helps. Be nice to have it within the trucks system vs having a monitor on the dashboard.

Mine came with one, but only purchased it a couple of years ago, so apparently the more recent editions have changed with what is included.

Good grief this is quite a story and horrible experience. Glad you made it through unscathed. May I ask what tires (LT or ST and or brand) you have or had on your Oliver? PSI setting? I can't imagine what would cause so many tire failures in such rapid succession. To answer your questions I suspect you will receive a variety of different answers but I do not carry a jack along and use the built in electric leveling jacks if needed for an emergency. Oliver no longer recommends this but people have been doing it for years. If I were to bring an extra jack it would be a bottle jack stacked on platforms if needed. I have used bottle jacks directly under those plates exactly where the tech used his jack. BTW looking at those rubber grommets on you shocks they seem over tightened and cracking pretty bad. Might want to consider replacing those too. I have an impact wrench which makes for quick work with tire and wheel work but have never carried it along on trips, though I have thought about it for this very reason. Perhaps I should reconsider this. Good luck getting this all figured out.

An ambitious project! Good luck

Have you @Rivernerd ever considered the system linked below. It's not a hitch mount which personally I don't care for although I do own the original 1UP double hitch rack but rarely if ever use it. The Ride 88 truck bed mounts are really well engineered and made, which assumes you do not object to placing bikes in the truck bed. I prefer it myself. It does take up some storage room and unless you use a soft cover roll up tonneau will not work with most if not all hard tonneaus but can be implemented with topper shells. The system seems to be very reasonably priced too, far less expensive than most hitch mount systems once you factor in the Oliver hitch receiver. We have carried our road bikes and kayaks doubled up in the truck bed for years, but now that we are transitioning to trail/mountain biking the Ride 88 system seems to be the best I've seen yet. https://www.ride88.com/toyota-tundra

Until now I have never heard of nor seen curly cable safety chains. Had to look it up to see WTH this was about. Our Ollie #70 came with traditional linked chains but after implementing the Andersen hitch they were too short. Went to the local farm and ranch supply store to purchase a longer set which ended up being considerably heavier duty and also heavier to boot. A mixed blessing I guess. Really appreciate @topgun2 explanation on why one should cross their cables which makes total sense, but never bothered to investigate the reason.

Love the idea of induction cooktop for a litany of different reasons. As mentioned they are way more energy efficient. A few years ago we incorporated an induction range into our house after having a gas version for decades. Neither of us would ever go back to gas much preferring induction. The amount of control one has over the heating range is on orders of magnitude better and far more precise. It's nearly impossible to turn a gas cooktop down enough for slow simmers or any type of slow cooking too even with the use of diffusers, with induction it is a piece of cake to do this. As someone else mentioned it also provides addition work space when not using the burners, if you could actually call them that. There is no pollutants within the trailer either or our house for that matter, no issues with ignition at cold temps and high altitudes something we constantly encounter. Cutting to the chase I applaud Oliver for providing this feature! The only downside I can think of is the need for "possibly" more Li-ON battery and a large at least 2000 watt inverter, both which adds to the cost of admission for induction, but offset somewhat by fewer propane bottle refills. We look at gas cooktops propane or natural gas is a severely outdated technology, belonging in the 20th century dust bin.