rideandfly

When Ford came out with the Original Maverick auto many years ago, it was $1995. The new 2022 Ford Maverick pickup's base price is $19,995. Coincidence?

After David started this thread, started looking at all 1/2 & 3/4 ton pickup grills, some look OK but some don't look very good including most manufacturers. With all the higher HP power-plants and more stringent EPA requirements , additional areas for cooling is probably needed, too. When we replaced diesel power-plants on industrial machines with the newest EPA tier engine, we needed more space to accommodate larger radiators and coolers meeting EPA engine's emission requirements. Speaking of the newer pickups, my Wife likes smaller pickups for daily drivers. The new 2022 Ford Maverick looks interesting for a daily driver, not so much for towing.

Yep, it's a Diamondback. Like the construction, durability, locking system, and everything stayed dry. The Diamondback system was not too heavy, helping out with payload, too. The aluminum finished Diamondback looked OK with the Tundra's chrome look grill, too.

Liked the grill on our 2016 SR5 and believe different grill finish/paint could help 2022 looks. Will be interesting to see different trim level grill looks.

Looking forward to seeing the 2022 Tundra. Better fuel economy and more payload. 👍

Yep, it's Carolina BBQ! Here's the link, always stop there when in the area. It's not too far from BRP, too. https://www.carolinabbqnewland.com/

David, Great looking campground and photos! We're going camping there after seeing your post. There's a great BBQ in Newland, going to check them out, too! 👍

Dave & Becky, Welcome from North Carolina. We're north of CLT. Please let us know if we can be of assistance before or after your Ollie purchase! Best Regards,

Garageboy and TravelTogether, Welcome from North Carolina. We scheduled an Oliver plant tour during May 2016, before heading to TN for the plant tour the former owners of our Ollie LE2 put it up for sale in the classified section here. We went for the plant tour and drove to MO later that day to see Ollie. Purchased Ollie #75 the following day! No regrets!

We installed a Micro-Air EZ Start. Run our 13.5K Dometic AC with a Honda 2000W gen-set without issues. https://www.microair.net/collections/easystart-soft-starters

One of our favorite campsites at Hunting Island SP SC barrier island, was lost during a recent hurricane. When it was full moon and high tide, sometimes a little bit of the surf would make it to the trailer's tires. Always had thoughts of waking up "lost at sea". 😬

Pennie, Congratulations! You may have your new Ollie in time for fall colors! 👍

That's what we call ours, Oliver Sign!

Sometimes during Open House at Rallies, I place a low amp blade fuse, 5A between the running light pin and 12V power pin on the trailer's 7 pin connector. This will illuminate Ollie's running lights. Stole that idea from another trailer owner. See trailer plug alignment tang over the fuse placed in top two pins. Used this larger fuse only as an example, use 5A:

Our 2015 LE2 has a LED strip.

Thinking the same thing. Guessing your light will not work with running lights on. Edit: Running lights on our LE2:

Some other Ollie folks here are just starting Keto. Just scanned some of Debbie's recipes and emailed them. Good idea about vacuum packed items!

John, Before buying our LE2, we towed a 2000lb aluminum travel trailer out west a couple times from NC with a 2013 4.0L Nissan Frontier. Best fuel economy I could get with this rig was 13.5MPG. Called this trailer a lightweight aluminum brick because of the lack of aerodynamics. The Trailer Frontal rating for the 2013 Frontier pickup was 60sf. When we purchased Ollie in Missouri, towed Ollie home with the Frontier and could not believe the fuel economy @ 15MPG to NC (checked by actual gallons burned) with Ollie over double the weight of our previous camper. In 2014 the trailer frontal area dropped on the 2014 4.0L Frontier to 30sf with same engine and pickup frontal area. Believe these changes were made due to SAE J2807 towing methods. If you look at 2014 Ford towing brochure, if I read it correctly, even the F-550 Super Duty is restricted to trailer frontal area of 60sf, page 13: https://www.fleet.ford.com/content/dam/aem_fleet/en_us/fleet/towing-guides/Ford_Linc_14RVTTowGuide.pdf This is a good discussion on the FGRV forum on the same topic during 2016: https://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f56/trailer-frontal-area-77307.html

We camp at Linville Falls Federal Campground on the BRP when the temps in the lower elevations are below 90F. The places to hike, drive, and eat in my first post are close by Linville Falls Federal Campground. Linville Falls Campground on the BRP: Met a couple from SC at Mt. Pisgah on the BRP when they had a truck camper, they toured our Ollie, next time we saw them at Mt. Pisgah they had a beautiful new Ollie. We head to Mt. Pisgah @ 5,000' when temps in the lower elevations are above 90F. Last time we camped at Linville Falls on the BRP, they were there, too: Here's a shot one morning at Mt. Pisgah, beat the summer heat there without AC when it's hot everywhere else: Our favorite sites @ Linville Falls on the BRP marked in pink:

Davy Crockett State Park at Limestone TN is not too far from Johnson City:

Bandit's Roost COE is close to Boomer on Rt. 268. We camped there a couple weeks ago when David & Kathy were there in their Ollie. This is a shot of the Lake when we had an all aluminum camper. We like Kayaking there:

We camped at Julian Price Campground several years ago. Fun lake to Kayak on! No electric or water on their sites. Sites A30, A32, A33, A34 & A35 look like nice sites with some sun. E loop has some nice sites with sun, too. Last time we were there restrooms were not clean. We like the non-reservable sites for last minute access. Probably busy on the weekends, too. With the Geezer card should be around $10 per night. There is a private campground at Linville Falls with hookups: http://www.linvillefalls.com/ If anyone in the group likes chocolate, there is a Kilwins chocolate factory at Blowing Rock. There's a BBQ resturant at Blowing Rock, too, don't remember their name. https://www.kilwins.com/stores/kilwins-blowing-rock-1 If you head toward Asheville on the Blue Ridge Parkway, Christa's at Pineola on Rt. 181 & BRP is a good place for breakfast and lunch. There is a campground on Rt. 181 between Rt. 221 and BRP that has hookups, but have never camped there. If anyone likes hiking, drive to Table Rock parking area for an easy hike to the top with nice views. Grandfather Mountain is a State Park, but have not been there for years. Linville Falls Park is another nice place for a hike to overlooks to see the falls. If it has not been raining too much and you have a 4WD vehicle, Wiseman's View is a beautiful place to visit. After we visit Wisemans View, we will continue on Old NC 105 to the end when it turns back into pavement, but if it's been raining much, don't recommend traveling over the complete road. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g49294-d4339937-Reviews-Wiseman_s_View-Linville_North_Carolina.html Wisemans View on Old NC 105: Old NC 105 view of Shortoff Mountain while riding a dual sport bike:

Pennie, Don't be in a hurry to head home after picking up Ollie. Stay at the local campground one or two extra days in case there are any initial issues to be corrected. It's possible Ollie may need to be towed back to Oliver to have a simple issue corrected, too. The job I retired from was involved with industrial machine rebuild, manufacture, R&D, pneumatics, electrical, and hydraulics. My Wife does not consider herself to be mechanical, but she is happy to help me with many projects. During these projects she has fine and useful ideas without a mechanical background, just common sense. With the support group you have here, you will do great!

We started using Meguiar's products over a year ago with great results removing stains and creating a beautiful finish. We normally wax annually, but did not travel much during 2020 with Covid keeping Ollie inside a hangar. Did not wax Ollie during 2020 or 2021, so far. We were camping a couple weeks ago when it was really hot, found shade trees to park under to keep Ollie cooler. After returning home found a thick layer of tree sap on the top of Ollie. After using Meguiar's Flagship Marine wax over a year ago, tree sap/spots came off easily with normal washing. Black streaks, always wondered why they appear like your above photos and when we stored Ollie outside for a couple years. We live 15 miles (like the crow flies) from Charlotte Douglas International Airport NC under approach path to well used runways. Could jet exhaust be causing these black streaks?

We also use the TV as a daily driver. Right now a 3/4 ton TV is not on the radar for us. Put many thousand miles on a 5.7L Tundra towing Ollie around the lower 48. It will be interesting to see the new generation 2022 Tundra's cargo carrying capacity, but don't know if it will still be a 1/2 ton pickup, will see. We travel light with Ollie & TV. Our LE2 (no factory solar system) weighs in at 4940 pounds ready to camp with slightly less than 500 pounds of tongue weight with empty water tanks except for full 6 gallon water heater as per CAT scales last month. Lower tongue weight helps reduce overall weigh of the TV while connected to Ollie, increasing cargo carrying capacity of the TV helping keep TV under maximum cargo, axles, and GVW weights. Used to leave gear in the TV we only used once every year or two, that gear now stays home unless needed for a specific trip.