You don’t need a 3/4 ton truck or an Anderson hitch to tow an Oliver elite 2

[jd1923]

1 hour ago, Rivernerd said:

the owners manual for our 2019 Tundra tow vehicle requires a WDH when towing over 5K lbs.

The Owner's Manual for our 2001 Dodge Ram says the same (also 500 LBS tongue weight) and it's supposed to be a 2500!

[Snackchaser]

I don’t hear much about a 2500 gas powered 6.4 HEMI!

We downsized from a RAM 2500 diesel to a RAM 2500 HEMI because of personal gripes with the diesel.  In doing so we sacrificed a few MPGs, great low end torque, and the diesels excellent engine breaking.  But the HEMI still has excess power, fantastic engine breaking, and it has 600-700 pounds more payload capacity than the diesel.  This is due to the difference in the weight of the engines.  

Our overall mpg average is 11.5, and most of that is towing on winding mountain roads.  We get up to 15 on flat highway.  For the few extra mpg’s gained with the diesel, I don’t think we could ever reach fuel savings parity considering the 10k extra price tag for a diesel.

For what’s it’s worth!  Cheers! Geoff

[Ollie-Haus]

This seems like a good thread to reinforce a certain logic when it comes to tow vehicles with regard to the LE2. Like a few others here have stated here, I have extensive prior experience towing trailers, to the tune of close to 50 years. This includes rather large livestock trailers and twin engine boat trailers, enclosed and flat bed cargo trailers all the way down to small motorcycle trailers. They all introduce significant challenges depending on the tow vehicle used. Over the years my overall observation in learning from the seasoned veterans along the way is that just enough truck is never enough and there’s no such thing as too much truck, within reason. 
 

I’ve pulled trailers that were on the margin of overloading trucks at times and know what that feels like. When people mention white knuckles and pucker factor as it applies to trailering, I’ve experienced firsthand understanding I was at risk on a few occasions. Similar to previous comments once you’ve been there, you always make a point to never let that happen again. 
 

When we began formulating our plan to purchase the Oliver, the choice of truck capacity was of little debate. Our previous camper was a 34’ standard with a super slide on one side. I chose a diesel crew cab dually for that rig, and it performed perfectly. For the Oliver I would be towing a couple thousand pounds less and significantly shorter, but I still wanted plenty of truck and decided to downsize to 350 crew cab short bed with a 7.3L gas engine. Still far above the margin of capacity, so a significant safety factor built into the choice. Best part is like others have mentioned, I don’t have the worry about what cargo I want to load into the truck. No white knuckles and no pucker factor. But most of all with the Oliver, we’re way below the need for a WD hitch and that’s important to me. A WD hitch is a way to compensate for when a trailer connects behind the rear axle and weighs in at near or more than the tow vehicle. It’s acceptably effective at restoring controllability to the tow vehicle, but introduces compromises in articulation and can add significant stresses to both vehicles when moving through uneven terrain. I really wanted to avoid the need to manage the rig through situations where I could be risking damage to vehicles or equipment during remote camping/ boon-docking destinations, etc. plus I just didn’t want the added complexity of hitching and unhitching. 
 

These kind of threads always generate “lively debate” and I guess that’s fine so that the inexperienced can read the many views people have and hopefully learn the key factors to consider regarding TV choice and safety considerations. If you choose plenty of truck, most of the discussion is just good general knowledge that you won’t have to worry much about. 
 

Long winded way of saying that I f someone is asking for my advice, always choose plenty of truck with an abundance of safety margin. Nobody ever complains about having too much truck, but many have learned through any number of experiences that just enough is  often never enough. Cheers!😎

[Mike and Carol]

7 hours ago, Snackchaser said:

I don’t hear much about a 2500 gas powered 6.4 HEMI!

When I bought our Ram 2500 diesel my son bought a Ram 2500 6.4 Hemi.  They live in Durango and pull a travel trailer a little longer but about the same  weight as our Oliver, mostly around Colorado and Utah.  He’s very happy with the towing performance of the 6.4 V8.  While I like the diesel I think I could be happy with the big V8.  Mike

[Steph and Dud B]

8 hours ago, Snackchaser said:

I don’t hear much about a 2500 gas powered 6.4 HEMI!

We have the old 6.0 GMC gasser and 4.10 rear axle in our 3500. It handles our LE2 easily.

[jd1923]

3 minutes ago, Steph and Dud B said:

4.10 rear axle in our 3500

Yeah, go figure! Yours is a beast!

[Steph and Dud B]

13 hours ago, jd1923 said:

Yours is a beast!

Note I'm not talking about my mileage though... 😕

[jd1923]

1 minute ago, Steph and Dud B said:

Note I'm not talking about my mileage though... 😕

Yep, the 4.10 rear is not exactly environmentally friendly...

It will plow up a hill though!🤣

[johnwen]

On 7/4/2025 at 12:36 AM, jd1923 said:

Traveling our longest trip ever, 5 weeks now, some 4600 miles Arizona to Minnesota and back. Chris and I have learned a lot. And for me, I've spent hundreds of hours in M&R and Mods on our wonderful Oliver and finally we're enjoying the fruits of my labor. 😂

Shopping and dinning in Telluride a couple of days ago, we stopped at a shop that carries, "Life is Good" products, a sentiment to which we truly believe!

I'm not much for souvenirs or T-shirts that advertise where I've been, though I had to buy this shirt. It states nicely in two lines surrounding the image of a compass, perfect for all of us who wander, and It goes like this:
"We do not see things as they are... We see things as we are."

So I turned 70, far more careful today than I use to be 10 years. Left our AZ home one morning at 4:45 AM to return to Texas, sitting on the pass looking down on Van Horn TX, I thought WTF, let's go! After 1100 miles, by 1-2 AM I was home in Lakeway TX. This recent trip, my longest drive was 5 hours, average 3 hours. I know y'all understand!

@STEVEnBETTY, I have no idea your ages, your life experiences, where you live, you training, where you've traveled in the last 8 years with your Oliver. I'd love to know, and I'm not picking on you alone. I believe and I'm sure you agree, all of this matters.

You wrote, "I’m disappointed in hearing members on this forum, disparage people’s attempts to do something different."

I agree, and very often are suspect to your criticism!

I've been told that if I do not regularly re-apply caulk to my Oliver, that it will damage it and destroy its value. Sorry, I will never add caulk on this hull, uglied by OTT in its original manufacture and again gunk-on-gunk after two return trips to Hohenwald.

But caulk is more important in humid and rainy locations. Point in life, current needs, home and travel locations, part or full-time OLiver use, makes all the differences.

You know how many times I've heard that annual bearing and jack maintenance is mandatory? Sorry to those who believe such, but when I pack bearings or grease the jacks correctly (not an Oliver University video) it will certainly last 3-4 years. I can tell by ear when the jacks need maintenance!

Those who do not work their own maintenance cannot know, must trust Manufacturer's Recommendations and be at the mercy of hired mechanics. Normal to ask questions, but then it's one suggestion after another. This creates more worry which creates more,

I just purchased new D52 axles and Alcan springs, parts only, will do the work myself this summer. I did not need to, as our leaf springs are clean, rust-free, nicely arced, no issues. My primary want was in having 12" brakes for safe mountain towing. and make everything new, restored. I can afford the parts and do the work now, replacing a 10-year-old suspension with hopes of carefree use for another 10. Not for fear of a spring breaking, as for that I have a spare pair under the toolbox and all the tools I'd need to make the roadside repair.

there are 26 pages of leaf springs recommendations listed on one post alone! Most Oliver owners cannot do this work at home, let alone if stuck on the road, so such concern is understandable. We all have different comfort levels. 

Love technology and my Oliver has more mods than most, yet not of the @ScubaRx fame! 🤣 Tesla has made EVs mainstream and EVs are amazing technology. We have a wonderful forum where we all voice opinion. So in my opinion, if I had to tow with an EV just on this recent trip, I would need to stop 2x more often and 10 times longer to recharge vs. refueling and would not have been able to boondock in many of the remote spots we visited or the same trip would have taken 1-2 weeks longer. OMG, boondocking means no electrical hookup and charging! 🤣

I'm going to stop now, but Steve, or is it Betty? I've gotten a kick out of this post! We can all read here and learn something, or at times we think to ourselves as we read and  say to ourselves, "what, no way, that's nuts! I'm not doing that."

[johnwen]

On 7/4/2025 at 12:36 AM, jd1923 said:

Traveling our longest trip ever, 5 weeks now, some 4600 miles Arizona to Minnesota and back. Chris and I have learned a lot. And for me, I've spent hundreds of hours in M&R and Mods on our wonderful Oliver and finally we're enjoying the fruits of my labor. 😂

Shopping and dinning in Telluride a couple of days ago, we stopped at a shop that carries, "Life is Good" products, a sentiment to which we truly believe!

I'm not much for souvenirs or T-shirts that advertise where I've been, though I had to buy this shirt. It states nicely in two lines surrounding the image of a compass, perfect for all of us who wander, and It goes like this:
"We do not see things as they are... We see things as we are."

So I turned 70, far more careful today than I use to be 10 years. Left our AZ home one morning at 4:45 AM to return to Texas, sitting on the pass looking down on Van Horn TX, I thought WTF, let's go! After 1100 miles, by 1-2 AM I was home in Lakeway TX. This recent trip, my longest drive was 5 hours, average 3 hours. I know y'all understand!

@STEVEnBETTY, I have no idea your ages, your life experiences, where you live, you training, where you've traveled in the last 8 years with your Oliver. I'd love to know, and I'm not picking on you alone. I believe and I'm sure you agree, all of this matters.

You wrote, "I’m disappointed in hearing members on this forum, disparage people’s attempts to do something different."

I agree, and very often are suspect to your criticism!

I've been told that if I do not regularly re-apply caulk to my Oliver, that it will damage it and destroy its value. Sorry, I will never add caulk on this hull, uglied by OTT in its original manufacture and again gunk-on-gunk after two return trips to Hohenwald.

But caulk is more important in humid and rainy locations. Point in life, current needs, home and travel locations, part or full-time OLiver use, makes all the differences.

You know how many times I've heard that annual bearing and jack maintenance is mandatory? Sorry to those who believe such, but when I pack bearings or grease the jacks correctly (not an Oliver University video) it will certainly last 3-4 years. I can tell by ear when the jacks need maintenance!

Those who do not work their own maintenance cannot know, must trust Manufacturer's Recommendations and be at the mercy of hired mechanics. Normal to ask questions, but then it's one suggestion after another. This creates more worry which creates more,

I just purchased new D52 axles and Alcan springs, parts only, will do the work myself this summer. I did not need to, as our leaf springs are clean, rust-free, nicely arced, no issues. My primary want was in having 12" brakes for safe mountain towing. and make everything new, restored. I can afford the parts and do the work now, replacing a 10-year-old suspension with hopes of carefree use for another 10. Not for fear of a spring breaking, as for that I have a spare pair under the toolbox and all the tools I'd need to make the roadside repair.

there are 26 pages of leaf springs recommendations listed on one post alone! Most Oliver owners cannot do this work at home, let alone if stuck on the road, so such concern is understandable. We all have different comfort levels. 

Love technology and my Oliver has more mods than most, yet not of the @ScubaRx fame! 🤣 Tesla has made EVs mainstream and EVs are amazing technology. We have a wonderful forum where we all voice opinion. So in my opinion, if I had to tow with an EV just on this recent trip, I would need to stop 2x more often and 10 times longer to recharge vs. refueling and would not have been able to boondock in many of the remote spots we visited or the same trip would have taken 1-2 weeks longer. OMG, boondocking means no electrical hookup and charging! 🤣

I'm going to stop now, but Steve, or is it Betty? I've gotten a kick out of this post! We can all read here and learn something, or at times we think to ourselves as we read and  say to ourselves, "what, no way, that's nuts! I'm not doing that."

Hi JD,

I came across this post of yours and really enjoyed reading it.  Do you remember the shop you found your t shirt?  We leave Sunday for points north and would like to take 1 more trip into Telluride to peruse through the LIG clothing.  Ditto on the caulking comments!  And we need to talk about the jack lubing next time we see ya'll.  I just replaced my front jack and would like to know the right method for lubing next time around.  Steve L. has been helping me through a few issues :)  Congrats on 70....72 for me next week :)

Happy Trails,

John

[jd1923]

1 hour ago, johnwen said:

Do you remember the shop you found your t shirt?

The Life is Good collection is available at Ouray Emporium.

A few doors down the street is Mouse Chocolates. We had to go there both days in town! Get some Scrap Cookies 😂 at a deal and a morsel of chocolate at the going price.