John Welte

I am thinking of getting the Garmin RV 780 as it's smaller. I will have the TPMS also to put somewhere. It's going to be tricky to find places for both things that still allow me to see the road.

"Flat tire - I carry a "plug" kit that I can get in WalMart. I've always carried one of these kits - with or without the Ollie in tow." Bill what's this item? Any pictures of it? John

We live in Oregon where it's required to have both front and rear license plates. I think it's crazy to not have both ends with license plates. The dash cam would catch the number on the plate in this case and make it easier to catch the guy. Now all they have is the truck appearance and if the driver had his mouth open, then maybe the images of his surprised wide open mouth would help identify him through dental records.

Regarding pricing, I like to compare the number of hours or months of work required to buy something versus the price. For example in 1978 when I first started working a good wage was over $10k/year. 40 years later it was 60-70k/year. It seems the number of months required to buy a car is about the same now as then. Not a scientific study, just my observation.

Our delivery date is November 7 so we're looking at options now. I plan on getting the back-up camera option that can be on for rearview observation while driving. I did get a TST tpms to monitor the tire pressures and temperature. My cockpit might start looking like a Boeing 777 before long.

What year was that?

I like the smaller display. I have a similar tray in my console.

Is the Truma less prone to problems?

I will be towing a LE2 with a 2017 Ford Expedition with heavy duty tow package when we pick up our trailer in November. We live in Oregon. I know it's not a robust tv like a Ford F250 or more, so I wonder if any of you have found a Garmin RV to be useful to keep you off grades that might be an issue. I understand that these RV specific units might be useful. Has anyone tried or have one of these units? Thanks

I picture the tire riding up the curve, but can't understand how a person could get the tire up as the picture shows. The trailer would need to be lifted up by a crane and placed that way unless I am missing something.

"One preference I have of the Southern Mattress over the latex is weight; the latex seems a bit heavy to move around while getting into the bins beneath the beds." That was a concern that I had too, as I know you have to be able to access areas under the mattress.

Hi all, does anyone have experience with these two mattresses? We will need to finalize options by August and wonder if there are advantages to Southern Mattress over the Oliver KTT option. Mattresses are big, so if you do get one from Southern Mattress, do they ship it to OTT? Thanks

Guess that's why he's called Topgun.

Certainly cheaper than the KTT mattress. Lighter too. It looks like a way to save money while still getting a comfortable bed. I might go this route.

Welcome to the forum. There are lots of helpful people here that can answer your questions. For us, it was the composting toilet as my wife didn't want that. You might check the Facebook page called "Oliver Travel Trailer for Sale" for late year model trailers that are for sale. Some are only one or two years old. Good postings with pictures and what options they have. They sell for about what they paid for them. They're not like cars that depreciate as soon as they leave the lot. Happy hunting!

If you do get that, can you give your 2 cents worth (5 cents worth, due to inflation)?

I know about that jack, it was the wording that confused me, like maybe he put a portable jack in the front aluminum box. I plan to get that box and put levelers and other things needed at set-up there.

What front jack?

"It's really not a huge job. The toughest part will be matching gel coat color. " I know nothing about this, that being said, I was impressed with the color matching abilities of paint stores like Sherwin-Williams that can do a great job matching colors even matching paint that has faded. It might not apply here, but as I said, I know nothing about this, but perhaps they can help. My apologies for offering possibly useless ideas.

Reason #1002, my wife can use it on me.

That was the name of it. It looks like it would work great.

I have gone on a few multiple month bicycle trips carrying everything and each trip I carry less. The first trip I had so much that I couldn't close the panniers completely. So, you're right, go with the minimum.

I saw a Bluetooth leveling aid that a person can mount in the trailer once the trailer has been leveled so that each time you're getting your trailer leveled at new sites, you just watch the monitor and know when to stop riding up on the Anderson levelers. That seemed to be a good idea.

No hurry Bill. I just figured that someone more organized than me, which would be a big group of people, would have put a list together.

I have a 1956 German Rheinmetall typewriter with a sheet of paper in it where I type things that I want to bring to Hohenwald. It's a big job figuring out what to bring. Probably someone has already made such a list. I realize that everyone's list will be different, but there are probably a high percentage that everyone brings. Do you know of any list like that? I hate to invent the wheel again if someone has already come up with the wheel. What can I say?! I have a lazy side.