John and Debbie

The do not exceed number on the door jam of the 2017 Expedition is 1408 pounds. Because it's a 4x4 EL they list max towing capacity of 9,200 pounds. Maybe keep the weight in the trailer and the tv weight low.

Very useful checklist. I am leaning towards the conventional toilet now. To be brutally honest, for years we had a toilet in our pop up trailer but used it only for pee. We usually camp in state campgrounds.

Good question. Hopefully we will get an answer from someone that has a composting toilet. Very good question though.

Hi all, so I am looking at ordering an Oliver and am leaning towards a composting toilet. My wife is struggling with the ick factor, but I think dealing with a black tank has a certain ick factor for me as she would most likely be in the tv reading a book while I was out dealing with the clean out. I don't see any down side other than it's not as attractive a toilet as the standard one. Not a big concern and a composting toilet allows for boondocking. Has anyone experienced a con with these toilets?

I live in Beaverton, Oregon. Tow vehicle will be 2017 Ford Expedition with heavy duty tow package. I tried to find how to add that to my signature. I am not too tech savvy however.

Thanks

Hi all, I looked for this topic, but didn't see it. If I can find it under another thread let me know. Obviously the best way to store your trailer is in a climate controlled garage, but if that is not available how do you store yours? There are storage facilities that have covered areas with roof only. Is that adequate? Those same facilities have open storage, but would it be wise to put an RV cover over your trailer in those places or would it generate too much heat and damage the finish, etc? Thanks for any suggestions or input.

It's reassuring to me. Thanks for your response.

How long does it take to wax the trailer? Are there any power tools that make the job easier? In looking at the "leaking" thread earlier, it appears that some people have had leaking issues, so I would assume that prior to waxing, a person goes around and inspects and reseals any areas.

Is a ten month lead time usual? I hope to order ours in early September for summer delivery. I would be ok with ten months as that would be July delivery

Provided that my wife sees it the same way, we should be ordering our Oliver in the next six weeks as we will have an in-office meeting with our financial planner then. The planner has already given the green light. After we get it we should pick your brains about how to best use it here in the PNW (Oregon) as you have already dealt with the same issues in Washington.

Thanks John

Thanks, that's reassuring. I was sure someone had already thought if this. I appreciate your thorough answer and even including other scenarios, like when the battery area has been breached or a door opened.

So just recently, someone stole a motor home in Oregon. They were able to find it, but there was some damage. Has anyone ever put some GPS tracking device in their trailer in case it's stolen. It could be hidden somewhere I suppose. I have a tongue lock on my present pop up trailer that slides under the hitch area on my trailer. It seems that in 2021 there must be some high tech way people can track if their trailer is moved (app on phone) and can then alert police as to its location. I wonder how everyone secures their trailers when they leave in their tv for the day or when it's parked by their house or in the storage facility.

Our max tongue weight we can have is 920 pounds. I thought the Oliver was about 700 pounds. I am thinking of the 30 pound propane tanks and no front basket. Will I be ok? My do not exceed number is 1404 pounds occupants and cargo. If 700 pounds for tongue weight and my wife and I are 340 pounds combined, wouldn't that give us about 364 pounds for our CCC? I thought the wdh helped us. I am new to all this.

I am sold on the Anderson WDH then. I much prefer quality over price. If the ride experience is better with a wdh, then that's a key factor. It also lessens the tw also as I understand.

Thanks for your comment. Initially I was thinking of the tongue storage box, but after reading comments, it appears that might not be a good idea afterall.

There's an option for a weight distribution hitch. Anderson I think. That seems to be a good idea. What are your thoughts on that option?

I looked at my vehicle specs more closely and it turns out that I have 9200 pounds of tow capacity.

Thanks for the advice. I appreciate it very much.

It looks like my 2017 EL Limited has a towing capacity of 9200 pounds. I think that I will be OK with it. I like the vehicle and I can get whole sheets of 4x8 plywood. Thanks for your comments. Now to get my wife on the same page. She is still talking about an R-Pod and I am thinking Oliver LE2.

We live in Beaverton, ten miles west of Portland. It has a six cylinder, twin turbo charge 3.5 L engine. It's more powerful than our Suburban thatbhad 8 cylinders and was 5.7 L odd as that seems. The Suburban was 1992 that we had for about 25 years.

It has the heavy duty tow package as it's a Limited trim package with the 7 prong connector and the manual brake adjuster. For 2017, the deciding factor if it has the heavy duty tow package is the 7 prong connector. Maybe I am OK after all.

The combined weight of occupants and cargo should not exceed 1408 pounds. I weigh 200, my wife weighs 140. I think the hitch weight is 700 pounds on the LE2. We would probably have about 6000 pounds in the trailer with water, clothes and food. Usually with our tent trailer we just hook up to city water at the cg. We haven't done boondocking with our tent trailer. I foresee doing mostly state parks and hooking up to water and electricity. I am thinking of the composting toilet so wouldn't use the black tank. Does this sound doable?

Thanks Susan for the well written response. You make very valid reasons for going with Oliver. Another member here pointed out the limitations of my present tv, that being a 2017 Ford Expedition EL with tow package. I learned a lot about GVWR, CCC, GCVWR and more. I thought my Expedition would be adequate for the job, but now I am not so sure. We live in Oregon. In a flat state like Florida, it might not be a concern. Of course, the plan is to travel all over the country, and that would include mountains.