Bryan in NC

I'm a novice when it comes to towing, but here are my $0.02 cents and the priorities I used when searching for a replacement for my Tundra. Given the choices in your survey, I'm assuning you don't want a heavy/super duty truck. An F250 gasser was on my short list, but I ultimately settled on the truck in my signature because the truck is also my daily driver and MPG is important to my wallet. My truck has a max payload capacity of 2,571 lbs, a max tow rating of 12,921 lbs., and a max tongue weight of 1,300 lbs. We don't plan to come close to maxing out any of those numbers, but the cushion is comforting and the truck will handle better when not maxed out. You are in a great position of knowing the trailer you'll be pulling before you purchase your TV. Make sure you know all of the above numbers for the specific instance of the TV you choose before you buy it. Max payload will be on a VIN specific sticker on the door jam of the truck. You may have to dig for the other two; e.g., you can find an Ford's max towing rating and max tongue weight at https://www.ford.com/support/towing-calculator by typing in the VIN when you're at the dealership. I think GM is putting the max tow rating on the door sticker, but I've heard it not VIN specific and will most likely be unreliable. This number on RAM's website is also not VIN specific. Good luck with your search and let us know what you decide on.

Welcome Mark!

Happy Resurrection Day everybody! Hallelujah, He is risen indeed!

Love these rules! We have a 90 lb female golden and a 50 lb male chow/border collie (a chowie 😂). Although we just picked up our Ollie and haven’t traveled with them in it, they were one of the reasons we changed our order from an LE1 to an LE2.

Thank you!

I’ll have some biscuits and gravy please. I guess you’re hitting Spring break traffic. Safe travels!

Thank you neighbor!

Any time Steve!

Thank you and congratulations on your soon to be Ollie!

The folks in the diesel lanes appeared better behaved 🙂 Probably because most were towing also.

Thank you Bill! Unfortunately we won’t b attending this year. Our daughter is heading to Africa to do some research and we we will be visiting her before she leaves.

Thank you!

Thanks Brian! Sondra and I are in Raleigh.

Sondra and I arrived at Oliver on Thursday (3/30) at 8:30 AM. Phil greeted us and gave us the factory tour that afternoon. Even though it was “after the fact”, I wanted to see the layout of the wiring, plumbing, etc. Very informative. Ryan performed our walkthrough, and Chase handled the final paperwork. They were all great. We stayed one night at Camp Oliver. We were able to check out most everything. We were not off shore power long enough to reveal much about the solar and lithium setup and I forgot to run the water heater off of electric while we were there, but I did so during our trip home. All systems checked out and we found no issues with the fit and finish, etc. We camped next to Steve and Deb Morris who had their delivery the day before. Wonderful couple and we enjoyed part of the evening with them. Two other trailers were there as well, but for service. One was an LE1 from NY, but we didn’t get a chance to meet the owners. Dave from the Atlanta area was there with his LE2, but wanted to get on the road before the storms hit the area. Dave’s currently pulling with an older F350 and would like to get a new/newer TV. He asked about our F150, but I told him we didn’t have any experience towing with it yet. That, of course, changed the next day when Sondra and I headed home. Dave, if you’re on the forum, the F-150 did well from the perspective of someone with very little towing experience (I haven't towed a trailer in years and that was a 12 footer with a Jeep). We took I-40E most of the way, which included going over the Smokies. Winds were gusty Friday and Saturday, but the truck and tailer handled it like champs. No problem maintaining speed up hill, though I imagine Dave would notice a degradation in power compared to his diesel, and the transmission shifted well heading down. I believe the steepest grade we hit was 5%. We camped two additional nights with full hookps: first, just west of the NC border, then near High Point, NC. I paritally filled the fresh tank before leaving Oliver and did not dump the grey and black tanks util Sunday morning, before the last leg our our trip, so that we could use the trailer at rest stops. Trailer and owners are home safe. All in all, it was a very positive experience and we are looking forward to many years with our Ollie and hopefully meeting many more of you. Areas we need to work on: Backing up the trailer for the first time took me nearly a half hour to position it correctly within the Camp Oliver site. We had a pull through on Friday, but, with our tiny bit of experience, we surprisingly backed into Saturday’s site on the second attempt. We have a narrow, curved, up-hill driveway at our house. That took countless attempts to find the right approach and the best side to follow, even with the help of a neighbor. We were prepared for this and plan on widening the driveway and straightening a portion of it. The Andersen WDH was initially a pain in the a**. Almost made us wish we had gotten a 3/4 ton so that we didn’t have to deal with it, but, after trying a couple of the “tricks” we read about here (thank you everyone!), we’re starting to get the hang of it. Pulling the trailer straight, before hooking up the whale tale, works best for us so far. Rant: We stopped at one buc-ees for gas, to tighten the lug nuts, and to see what all the rave is about. I did not go inside, but Sondra said it was nice; however, that can't be said for the gas lanes. Half of them were filled with empty vehicles (I assume the occupants were inside the store), causing traffic jams, as people were jockeying for the remaining lanes. Photographs coming soon.

Welcome and congratulations!

Looking good Steve and Deb!

That looks like it. Good catch!

Saw an Ollie 2 stuck in construction traffic on I40 West, west of Nashville NC, around 1:30 PM today. Sondra and I were eastbound on our maiden trip home. It had what looked like a cursive “A” on the front. Looked familiar, but I can’t place its owner(s).

Thanks for asking Brian. Glad to hear y’all are safe.

Sondra and I left camp Oliver Friday morning and were “pushed” on our way east by the front of the system. Avoided most of the rain and wind until last night when we camped at Tripple Creek campground in Newport, near the NC border. Heavy rain/wind and lightning last night, but beautiful weather this morning. Still gusty winds, but the Ollie is behaving great!

Woohoo, congratulations Steve and Deb! We’ll see you in Hohenwald in a couple of hours!

Nice use of space while retaining some hanging space.

I ran across this trailer during my egg camper search. Although it has a double hull, I thought of it more as an Escape competitor, given the price. I do like the large frig and oven, but that one person table up front, exterior batteries, and some of the finishes kept it out of consideration.

We will! We’re picking up on the 30th and camping one night before heading out. Looking forward to meeting you! I'll be easy to spot. I'll be the guy backing up in a zig-zag fashion running over power boxes and sewer heads.

Hey LeBill! You can remove the TBD from your signature. Can’t wait to do that.