rideandfly

We towed our LE2 Ollie several years with a 2016 5.7L Toyota Tundra. It's hard to actually know what your ready to camp rig weighs until weighing it. We're thinking about buying a new 2022 Tundra 3.5L twin turbo next year, will see when maximum weight capacities (should be higher) are published and we can drive one. The 1/2 ton Tundra has been a reliable safe tow vehicle for our Ollie rig for several years and thousands of miles. Tested another mid-sized pickup as Ollies TV, but still thinking about another new Tundra as Ollie's TV. Here's the CAT scales results with our LE2 Ollie and Tundra. I always like to put rig and vehicle weight capacities on one sheet for quick reference. We were approaching gross TV weight with Ollie connected, full fuel (38 gallons), two people on board, and gear in the back with about 150 pounds of gear to load. Our Ollie's ready to camp weight around 4950 pounds, we keep Ollie & TV light as possible.

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 4.0L Frontier and happy with the fuel economy increase to 15MPG to NC (checked by actual gallons burned) with Ollie being over double the weight of our previous light-weight aluminum camper, with same average speed. 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 method ratings. If you look at 2014 Ford towing brochure, if I read it correctly, even the Ford 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

David, Hats off to a fine job and modification!

We have a Hayes electronic SwayMaster installed on our LE2 Ollie. Not sure if this device is still on the market, there were problems with this unit working with some OEM vehicle sway systems. This unit applies trailer brakes when it detects sway events. It's equipped with a GPS to activate system above 45MPH. It's also equipped with a directional gyro that applies trailer brakes during a sway event with rapid direction change. On two occasions I had the brakes to activate when I was towing too fast down mountains halfway through both curves. At the time I thought both cases were sway events that activated the SwayMaster applying trailer brakes. In hind sight, I don't believe I experienced trailer sway or instability. Did not sense or see any sway or instability. Only thing experienced was trailer brakes being applied, due to going too fast through the curves with rapid direction change through the curve. I slowed down and never experienced this scenario again. Have always wondered why Ollies are so stable when properly loaded and towed reasonably. Is it the suspension and commercial light truck tires that contribute to Ollie's stability? I'm sure during slick conditions, improper loading, or towing recklessly any trailer can have a sway event.

Like John says, Scammers will make fake certified checks. Lets say the seller accepts the check putting it into their bank account. When the bank finds it's a fake check (days later), the bank takes the funds back out of your account when the fake check bounces. The vehicle title is already signed over to the scammer, too. When a cash deal is done, I do it at my Bank and let the bank notarize a Bill of Sale and title transfer depositing the cash directly into my account, the Bank can check the bills during the transaction. I like to do all of my DMV vehicle transactions at the Bank, notarizing the transaction, seller & buyer have to provide the notary personal identification. Like to be sure funds are in my account when transaction is made, too. Also like the Bank's video surveillance of all in house transactions.

When we purchased our Ollie, had our bank to wire funds to the sellers bank account. Last time I sold an airplane the buyer wired money to my bank account. You can open an additional bank account and use it once, close it after the transaction so your not giving out your normally used account number. Wiring money with a bank is a small fee compared to the value of an Ollie. Sold a motorcycle last year for much less than the value of an Ollie and the buyer had to take out a loan from his bank and they made a certified check to me. Before the buyer came to pick up the motorcycle, I had him to send me a copy of the certified check, I looked up his bank on internet and called them with all of the check information to be sure it was a legitimate check before accepting it. My favorite way of doing business is with a bank wire.

Foy and Mirna, Look forward to learning more about this gathering. We have not camped in FL, yet. Thanks,

Nice shots, we REALLY like COE campgrounds!

Congratulations! Being fortunate enough to find indoor storage to keep Ollie and other stuff out of the weather is so nice!!!

It could be an Egg Camper by Free Range: https://www.eggcamper.com/

Did the same at Discount Tire, never getting under any part of the trailer, leaving TV connected lifting one side of trailer at a time.

We store Ollie in an airplane hangar. This hangar has an open front:

Great report. Was wondering how fuel economy would work out, that's good news with a supercharger! Looking forward to hearing about the CO trip, too.

We did not make it to the restaurant on this trip, don’t have any further info on their current situation. We had a fine time camping there last week! Love spending time on the BRP! 😊

Camped at Mt. Pisgah NC on the Blue Ridge Parkway to get out of the heat in the lower elevations last week. Highs at home in the mid 90s with high humidity. Highs at Mt. Pisgah, at 5000', were upper 70s and lows lower 60s at night. Found a nice shady site, did not take solar panel this trip, just gen-set. No electricity or water on these sites, but can't complain at $10 per night with the Geezer card. Use a 15 gallon Camco tote and tow to the dumpstation daily, hard to completely empty Ollie's tanks with downward sloped dump station in both directions, prefer to use a tote. Nice campground for a walk: View from the top of Devil's Courthouse on the Blue Ridge Parkway, we had been seeing smoke from Oregon fires, but this shot turned out OK, nice hike to the top, too

We had two AGM batteries in our Ollie and replaced both AGMs with one 100AH Battleborn lithium. Installing a lithium battery was a great decision for us. Our Ollie does not have factory solar package or inverter. We use a portable 100W solar panel, but decided not to take the solar panel on this mountain trip. Run a Honda Gen-Set about 60 minutes daily on this trip to heat water for showers and charge battery to 100%. Saving LP gas for refrigerator and cooktop use. Using one single lithium battery, it stays above 70% after 24 hours of use before recharging with Progressive lithium charger with gen-set. Really like how fast the lithium battery recharges, too! Saved weight using a lithium battery. Our LE2 ready to camp weight is under 5000 lbs, with other Ollie mods. Edited

We have been towing our LE2 @ 4950 pound ready to camp with less than 500 pound tongue weight with a new mid-sized pickup in the Appalachian mountains, heading to a 5000' elevation campground next. Tested on up to 8% grades so far. Will reveal results later and vehicle when finished testing, unless seen by someone here in a TN/NC mountain campground first. Our 2016 Tundra was rated for 9800 pounds tow capacity and did fine towing our LE2. Added airbags to the rear differential to reduce rear sag. Everyone tows differently, but when we're in the mountains, get in the slow lane with the big trucks going up and down grades. We keep Ollie light and our TV under gross weight with Ollie connected.

Last time we attended Oshkosh was 1982. We're planning on camping & visiting 2022 Fly-in! Would love to hear a report on your Tundra, too!

Welcome Dave and Kimberly! While camping at Mt. Pisgah NC on the Blue Ridge Parkway we saw an Oliver Legacy Elite for the first time. The nice owners gave us a complete tour and we loved their beautiful Ollie. Oliver had temporarily stopped production at that time, so we waited until Ollies were back in production, finding a nice LE2 during 2016. Best Regards, Bill and Debbie 2015 LE2 #75

Used this Oliver video for setting up sound from Furrion stereo speakers when using Jensen TV on our 2015 LE2 #75. Don't know if Furrion TV works the same way.

Talked to NuCamp and they said they were going to build three Barefoot protoypes before starting production of this camper in the US. They are also working on supply chain issues right now. There is only one prototype so far, but not available for interior inspection. My guess it's a hull prototype without finished interior. The dining area converts to a 6'X6' bed. Overall exterior height of the UK model is about 7.7', but that's probably without AC.

This year Mud Daubers decided to crawl through weep holes into the drainage galleys to build their nest where Ollie is stored. Debbie got them cleaned out, but took more time than normal cleaning out Mud Dauber nest. Right now we're storing Ollie with white electrical tape over the bottom weep holes, in an airplane hangar. Ordered 1/4" black rubber sheet to make new plugs for window weep holes to keep insects out during storage. Should be easy to remove before camping.

Nucamp built one US Barefoot prototype so far and will build more prototypes before going into production. Guessing they will be building them sometime in 2022, but they will not say.

Thor owns and controls Airstream with several other RV companies. One of the reasons we purchased Ollie, we were also considering AS and wrote their CEO a letter wanting to know if there were plans to replace wood floors with better materials in the future. No reply. We took the factory tour with Jason May 2016 when a used LE2 in MO happened to be available, too. Jason helped seal the deal for us buying an Ollie, but we could not pass on the used Ollie in MO! https://www.thorindustries.com/thor-companies Another lightweight fiberglass camper that is currently built in the UK and Nucamp has rights to build in the US is the Barefoot travel trailer. It's an interesting fiberglass egg that will have appeal to those wanting a smaller camper that can be towed by smaller tow vehicles. https://www.go-barefoot.co.uk/ https://nucamprv.com/barefoot/

We level Ollie with Camco leveling wedges under wheels first, put TV in neutral and center on Camco Blocks, next disconnect from TV, level with front jack, and last let rear jacks down to stabilize Ollie.