Steve Morris

That’s been one of my only complaints on our trailer. Why would they use black material top and bottom!? It’s like an oven underneath! Even having a reflective top would be a huge benefit.

No, I had not read that question earlier. It should function fine either direction. The only negative would be if the weld that holds the tube to the plate were to fail, the collar wouldn’t capture the cross pin, allowing the rack to become lost. But I’m pretty confident that the Reese receiver is far better than the no-name options available, and have not seen a review with a weld failure. Ours has been fine for over 12,000 miles now.

Mine frequently end up in the silverware drawer under the stove. I’m missing one now that’s completely gone. If you find a replacement, please post a link.

Some ford trucks are missing a brake pedal spring, which can result in total loss of braking. Here is the recall information: https://www.nhtsa.gov/?nhtsaId=25V401000 Summary Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2025 F-550 SD, F-450 SD, F-350 SD, and F-250 SD vehicles. The brake booster pushrod retaining spring may not have been installed, which can allow the pushrod to disconnect from the brake pedal and cause a sudden loss of brake function. You can search to see if your vehicle is effected (or if any vehicle has a pending recall) here: https://www.nhtsa.gov/recalls

8 ~Oliver Door Lock ~Basement/Battery door ~Master tongue lock ~Bike rack locks (all keyed alike ~2 Bicycle keys ~Cable lock across tongue box ~Toyota key But at camp, I only carry the door lock key, and while travelling, just the door key and the Toyota key. I have two duplicate sets stashed, because I once arrived at camp with just the door key. So I spent four days without unhooking from the truck, leveling, dumping, or external power...

It gets better!

Current location: Fish Creek Ponds Campground site 222 in the Adirondacks. Absolutely beautiful! The view from the door

Lowrider! We are currently at Hamlin Beach State Park, in New York, on the shores of Lake Ontario. On the way here, I realized that I’d never seen this Great Lake before, despite several trips across New York over the decades. It is a very nice park, with brand new bathroom/showerhouse combos, and lots of beach, shelter houses, laundry, playground, etc. Tomorrow we leave for Fish Creek Pond in the Adirondacks for the six night TearUp ADK rally.

Prompted by similar posts on the Facebook groups and here on the Oliver forum, I finally assembled my portable solar kit. I’ve had a Bluetti 200W solar panel (which does not have an integrated charge controller) for several years to help keep the EB70 in my truck charged up. I added a second after we got the Oliver, as well as a Vicrton MPPT 100/20 charge controller. My original intention was to interrupt the line between the solar port and the battery. But I really didn’t want to do something that invasive. So instead, like many owners before me, I built a suitcase case to supplement my suitcase panels. A Cabela’s plastic ammo box works great to mount the charge controller, an SAE solar port, and an MC4 PV port. It also holds the 10 gauge SAE and 30’ 10 gauge MC4 cables, inline fuse, polarity reverser, and MC4 tools. All in a handy box. This will be handy next weekend, when we leave for a ten day trip to New York’s Adirondack area at Fish Creek Pond. There are camp sites all around the lake; every one a waterfront spot. But no hookups and lots of trees. So hopefully 800W of solar panels will keep us well charged.

Same result here. Foolproof, easy to fine tune, and responds instantly. It is the overwhelming choice in the Toyota community; not a joke.

We’ve had the solar version of the Trac-4 on Curiosity’s roof since the first few months of ownership. Having its own GPS and cellular unit works pretty well. Occasionally it looses its location and tells me it has left the home geofence, but that’s rare. The hourly report works for us. I don’t need immediate location. In fact, it is more install and ignore. But if it gets stolen, it should be easy to find once the thieves stop for a bit.

@Jason Essary I'm assuming that we can't make reservations at the campground until one year ahead of time (except Alabama residents who can reserve 13 months ahead)

Toyota's GPS is notoriously awful, and until recent models of trucks and SUVs, Android Auto and Apple Car Play were not offered. As an upgrade, I simply overlaid the OEM screen with my 11" iPad. It has a cheap magnetic cover, and when placed as shown, the magnet in the flap sticks to the steel speaker grill on the dash. It's stayed locked in on some rough trails with no movement. I use a magnetic USB-C plug, so that if I need the OEM screen or backup camera, I simply flip the iPad up onto the dash. I've used Waze for years, but was having some trouble on the trip to Lake Guntersville. So I tried Apple's Map application for the first time in probably a decade. It worked really well! It re-routed me in Nashville when there was a wreck. It would be nice if it had the police and object on the road features of Waze, but I'm going to try it for a while. I tried the RV Life app when we went to Florida, but didn't care for it. Not a fan of Google Maps, either, as it's taken me on even stranger routes than Waze trying to save a few seconds time. For out of cellular range, I can download regional maps into GAIA GPS or use my Garmin InReach's tiny screen. Or, use one of the many maps I always carry with us.

I had never considered one until I started reading stories about drivers intentionally pulling in front of cars, slamming on the brakes to get in a crash, then claiming they were rear-ended. Someone on here had a car back into his wife at a stop light and claimed she’d hit him. Only the dash cam saved them from fines and insurance claims. There are some sleazy people out there, and I want all the protection from their scams as I can get.