rideandfly

I really like the fuel economy of several diesel TV available. Also like the diesel lower RPM needed to reach maximum engine torque for towing. For us selecting a TV to be a daily driver, good overall fuel economy, and tow/load capacity to haul camping gear while towing Ollie. With the new breed of smaller displacement turbo charged gas engines, found the new Tundra 3.5L twin turbo engine to deliver good fuel economy unloaded and after several miles of testing getting over 15MPG towing Ollie in eastern US after finding the sweet spot for gear/RPM/MPG combination with cruise control on. Not as good of MPG as many diesels, but good gas engine low RPM torque performance reaching maximum torque at 2400RPM. Used CAT scales to find our 1/2 ton TV curb weight after installing accessories. I did not document accessory weights during installation. Installed side rails, folding hard bed cover, bed mat, mud guards, and Timbren SES rear suspension kit. Weighed TV with all contents/cargo removed, accessories installed, full 32 gallon fuel tank, and no occupants. Subtracted Curb weight from TV GVW to learn payload capacity. Calculating your truck's maximum payload and towing capacity: https://www.readingtruck.com/calculating-your-trucks-maximum-payload-and-towing-capacity Edit: I'm off topic again. Retired from the railroad, never met an unhappy steam or diesel Locomotive Engineer. 🚂

Thanks for posting! Nice photos! My Daughter and family are in Michigan, will check on them. It's 80 here today. 🙂

Agree, we like using the cruise control, too. Our highest mileage/Ollie tow day so far was 720 miles, without use of cruise control that day, long towing day for us. We normally shoot for 250 miles per day, but needed to beat a hurricane back to NC on the high mileage day. Last experiment towing our LE2 with our 2022 Tundra on interstates & 4 lane roads. Set cruise at 63MPH yielding 61MPH GPS speed for following test. Tow haul mode used with 7th gear and engine speed at 2150 RPM. One way test from Crossville TN (TN plateau area) to Denver NC yielded 15.8 MPG. Round trip from Crossville TN to Howenwald TN and back to Crossville yielded 15.5 MPG. During the last tests while climbing a 5% grade reduced speed to 55MPH and dropped down to 6th gear. Met some very nice folks this day. Took this photo at a TN rest area on a trip home from Colorado when we had a 2016 Tundra. This was taken during our trip with the longest towing day:

Here’s the BattleBorn lithium storage video: For storage I charge the BattleBorn lithium battery to over 90% and turn the 12V system off with the battery disconnect switch. We do not have any power connected to Ollie during storage.

We had a 2016 SR5 5.7 4X4 Tundra, fine truck & Ollie TV, but did not get as good MPG as the 2022 3.5L twin turbo Tundra we now have. Our 3rd gen Tundra gets 22 to 24MPG not towing traveling on interstates at posted speed limits. Some folks on the Tundra forum don’t get as good MPG, but throttle control, speed, tires, contribute to results. After installing running boards, hard tonneau cover, mud guards, Timbren rear axle load enhancement system, bed mat on the 22 Tundra. Actual load capacity, after a CAT scale visit, was still higher than the advertised 1400lb load capacity. Toyota was very conservative with the listed load capacity on our 2022 Tundra. There are many fine Ollie tow vehicles available with the Tundra being one of them.

There is a serial number on the axle. Dexter will send you a build sheet with Dexter component part numbers used, It’s in the frequently asked question section under “How do I identify my axle” https://www.dexteraxle.com/Contact/FAQ/Axles

We had a cracked bathroom exterior fan cap that that would drip water on the shower floor when raining. Did you drive through rain when the water appeared?

Dennis, First time we saw an Oliver was during 2010 before the LE2 was available. We absolutely loved the Legacy Elite! We wanted to eventually buy one. When the LE2 became available, it checked all the boxes for us being the maximum sized camper we wanted for the two of us. We prefer to tow with 1/2 ton pickup that’s also used as a daily driver. As far as the wet bath goes, we found wiping it down with an auto shami after showering works great. The majority of our camping is at federal and state parks. Some of the federal campgrounds have smaller campsites, but our LE2’s size works in most of those campsites. Ollie’s is very stable towing, and like previously mentioned the 7’ wide trailer is easy to handle compared to 8’ wide trailers. It’s also efficient towing, on round trips from NC to TN plateau area, we’re seeing +15mpg with a late model TV powered with a turbo V6 gas engine. Our Ollie is equipped perfectly for us and we love the interior and exterior finish. Best way to describe camping in an Ollie is very pleasant!!!! 🙂 Best Regards, Bill and Debbie

We purchased the Shurhold 3100 Dual Action buffer from Amazon. Great for weekend warriors! 🙂 Learned about it from another forum member here. Experimented on our vehicles first, before using it on our 2015 LE2 Ollie. Last Fall compounded and waxed the roof and nose of Ollie with great results. Before the next camping trip going to compound/wax the rest Ollie. Still had Meguiars 67 One Step compound and Meguiar's Flagship Marine wax on the shelf, used that with the Shurhold buffer & pads on Ollie. When we run out of Meguiar's Wax will start using Shurhold's wax. They have many videos on their website and on Youtube. Plan to use wax for normal annual care for Ollie's finish. https://shurhold.com/ https://youtu.be/rd9G8r4VQdk https://shurhold.com/collections/buffers/products/worlds-best-dual-action-polisher

Moved to this state for a job and retired here. It's a great place to live and play. Took this shot at Linville Gorge, not too far from Linville Falls Federal campground, on the BRP. We like camping there late spring and early fall.

Yep, We never reserve a campsite at Mount Pisgah. Most of the Federal campgrounds on the NC BRP have about 1/2 of the sites as walk-up sites that cannot be reserved. These campgrounds can fill up during Holidays. When it's +90s and humid in the lower elevations of NC, Mt. Pisgah at 5,000 above sea level has very nice temps in August, see highs of 70s to 80F. No water/electricity at the sites, but not really needed with Ollie. I have been using a portable dump tank at Mt. Pisgah, but thinking about taking an extra length of black/grey dump hose keeping Ollie closer to level because of the descending grade at both ends of the dump station. Don't know if Balsam campground has walk up sites or a dump station, it's above 5,000', it's a Federal campground not too far from the NC BRP. The highest campground in NC, around 6,500', is Mt. Mitchell SP, but it's tent camping only.

After seeing an Oliver Legacy Elite for the first time during 2010 at Mt. Pisgah Campground on the Blue Ridge Parkway, we really liked Oliver Travel Trailers and wanted one! We also enjoy riding a motorcycle two up on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Before buying Ollie, compared the pros & cons of buying a toy hauler to buying an Ollie. Oliver easily won for us because we also wanted Ollie for cross county travel and did not want to take a motorcycle on those trips. Plus we really like Ollie's looks, how efficient it is to tow, and how pleasant it is to camp in. When we camp on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Federal campgrounds and want to take a motorcycle, we tow the motorcycle with another vehicle. It's allowed to stay in two campsites as long as you use two geezer cards for $10 per site per night. When we take a motorcycle, we don't stay during holiday weeks, so there's plenty of extra sites available for everyone. One of our 2022 Trips to Mt. Pisgah Campground on the BRP:

Agree, New Year's Resolution, will focus on learning to relax more during 2023! 😁 Hope you & your Family have a happy & safe New Year!

Just testing! ☺️

Wishing everyone and their family a safe and wonderful New Year! Bill and Debbie Ollie LE2 #75 .

We had a Diamond Back covers on a previous Tundra and Frontier. Really like Diamondback covers. Should have purchased one for our 22 Tundra, too.

Ollie is getting a late Christmas gift in January, a Victron MPPT solar controller! 🙂 Merry Christmas!!!! Bill and Debbie LE2 Ollie #75

Merry Christmas to you and your family!!! Hope everyone here has a safe and wonderful Christmas!

Congrats on your new to you Ollie #49! Merry Christmas!!!!!

Auto Owners Purchased our LE2 used during 2016. Increased the insured value two times so far, looks like we will need to increase it a third time to keep up with increasing replacement value. 🙂

When it's time to rebuild our 5200lb axle brake assemblies including installation of new bearings/races, will probably install disc brakes instead. The 5200lb axles have larger drum brakes compared to the 3500lb axles and do a good job stopping our LE2 Ollie, too.

Pete, Absolutely beautiful! Been thinking about eventually replacing the drums & brakes on our 2015 LE2's 5200lb axles. There are very few 5200lb axles on LE2's in case some are wondering, Oliver installed a few on LE2's when they ran out of 3500lb axles. Will give Ron a call when ready to pull the trigger on that project. Thanks for posting!

Agree, we see very dangerous practices at gas stations. When I top off the fuel tank of my airplane at an airport without fuel services provided, safety precautions must be taken to prevent fires & explosions. It will be interesting to see the development of hydrogen powered vehicles.

SeaDawg, Beautiful photos of a great year!!!! Thanks for posting!!!!! Some of our Ollie TN & NC adventures during 2022:

Steve and Mike, Thanks!