Snowball

[Buzzy]

Overland,

 

Permit me to add a few additional comments which may relate specifically to your unique build.

 

I have enjoy following your creative ideas to bring additional functionality to an off-road capable Ollie.  Your ideas could be very helpful to OTT in their process of continuously evolving their product.

 

As I was reading the postings which captured your ideas, I kept reflecting on my experiences to add minor “enhancements” to my build process.  At the time, I quickly realized the challenge was not can the factory fabricate the request, but can the request translate into an invoice and factory work order via the sales staff.  If so, can the sales staff evolve the product so future buyers have the new options available at an agreed upon price.  Although the linkages can seem trivial to a buyer like yourself, do not underestimate the challenge this can create for a small company like OTT and their ability to integrate the change into their sales, manufacturing and QA cycles.

 

Hope this is helpful.

 

Buzzy

[Mike and Carol]

I hope this gets worked out with both Oliver and Ford.  I'm drooling a little over the thought of a 2018 Raptor....

 

We ordered our trailer in September and set a pick up date in May.  I might just tell them when you will be there to pick it up and let them figure out the invoicing and build schedule so they can give you a final price.  Mike

[Overland]

Thanks for the input.

With Oliver, I probably gave the impression that we're completely fed up, but that's not yet the case.  I'm keeping in mind that I asked them for a number of novel upgrades, so patience is definitely in order, it's just that my patience is slowly fading with each passing week.

The truck is more interesting.  There's a part of me that says just get the regular F150 and another part that's saying go all in and get one of the new 250's instead.  There's arguments for each, but for now the Raptor is still in front.

One thing I've noticed, and Buzzy you might want to add your impressions on this, is that I think the rear suspension on the F150 has a flaw.  I noticed something was weird when I test drove the standard F150, but I couldn't put my finger on it.  The rear just felt skittish to me.  On the Raptor, though, the problem is magnified enough by the softer springs and stiffer tires that it's obvious.  Ford changed the shock arrangement on the new version so that they're staggered, one faces front and the other to the rear.  This is making the rear axle twist a bit on bumps - it's plainly obvious on the Raptor as it's a definite kick to the right on every bump.  I've driven two now, and both were the same.  I don't know why Ford did this, but it needs to be fixed.  I found a company that has a fix, for $800 in parts, but if I do go with the Raptor I think it's a must.

[Buzzy]

Overland,

 

I have honestly not observed the driving characteristic you reference above.  Over the years, I have owned a whole variety of luxury vehicles and my F150 is my all-time favorite.  I tell my buddies the only way anyone is going to get my F150 away from me is if they pry it out of my cold dead hands!!  (Interesting image?!)  So, I may not be the best person to ask regarding a critical evaluation.  ????  Sorry!

 

Buzzy

[topgun2]

Overland,

 

I've only actually had possession of my 2017 F150 (FX4 Max Tow) for a little over 2 weeks and have only put 500 miles on it.  While there is no requirement from Ford regarding "break in", I like to take it fairly easy on any new vehicle for the first 1,000 miles or so - this is both for the vehicle and for me as I get used to exactly what the "feel" is before I start to get feisty with it.  Therefore, I also may not be the right person to give a full analysis of this issue you have noticed.  However, like Buzzy, in the limited experience that I have with this Ford, I can say that it has had excellent road manners with not even a hint at anything like you describe.  In addition, I frequently monitor the F150 owners Forum and there has not been one discussion of this type of issue.  So - no real help here.

 

Bill

[Overland]

Good to hear that it isn't a pervasive problem.  When I drove the regular F150, I initially interpreted it as just a byproduct of me coming from driving a BMW and not being used to the way trucks in general handle; and so in the end, that could have been the case.  Though I will say that the 250 feels perfectly fine to me - harsher of course, but balanced and predictable.  There's just something, I don't know - "weird" - to me about the way the F150 feels, and the Raptor especially.

Anyway, it's not something that's going to steer me away from a Ford of some sort, and at the end of the day it might not even be an issue for me - since I had already planned to replace the rear springs with a larger set of progressive springs from Icon, and that in itself may eliminate the problem without having to remount the shocks.

Thanks for the responses.

[SeaDawg]

I know I m going back aways, but I'm the wife who says slow down, dang it. Mostly because of ruts and bumps, and passenger seat motion sickness

 

One of your earlier posts reminded me of one of our camping adventures in Australia in an older Toyota hi ace campervan. Not 4x4. Down a deeply rutted road, off the grid no cell service, out on a five or six  Mile spit. I guess you had to be there, but we went to the end, and halfway back, to find the perfect spot... And the road was really ugly.

 

Ruts a foot deep and more, and several feet wide, covering much of the dirt  road at times, it was beautiful. Isolated. Empty. And quiet.

 

I wasn't happy on the way out, hanging on in the passenger seat of the  old Toyota, but the evening was incredibly beautiful. We had miles of sea vistas to ourselves.

 

Life is good. Especially if you at least occasionally push the boundaries of normal experience.

 

Can't remember the name of the spot, and it's not on most maps, but I will remember it til I can't remember anything else. Coordinate s are likely in my log book, though.

 

Sherry

[bugeyedriver]

Overland,

 

You might check out the Roadmaster Active Suspension Assist, a product I recently installed on my Tacoma to help with a tendency for the rear end to feel mushy while towing. It is easy to install and adjust, and gently but firmly limits the spring flex by adding tension from the axle to the rear of the spring.  It also limits flexing of the rear tire sidewalls when going over bumps.  This has the benefits of reducing tire wear and increasing gas mileage due to a decrease in tire friction on the road.

 

This summer will be my first long trip with the Active Suspension Assist and I'm anticipating a greatly improved towing experience.

 

Pete

[Overland]

Sherry, that sounds like our kind of trip. One day we're going to have to find time for a long sabbatical and see about shipping our Ollie to Australia for a few months.

Pete, I'll have to look into that. The raptor has an 8000lb tow limit on its own, but some people are complaining that the new version sags too much with any weight in the back. There are several options available for increasing the payload, from airbags of course, to pneumatic bump stops, different springs, etc. Right now it looks like my best choice is the springs, since I'll have an extra 300-500lbs or so in the back full time.  But plenty of time now to figure that out, lol.

BTW, I don't know if the post above lit a fire or not, but I got pricing back from Oliver yesterday.  Looks like we're a go.  I'm traveling now but I'll post next week on what the final options are going to be. Not everything on my wish list, but Oliver is definitely accommodating quite a few of our eccentricities.  I'm going to ask them to shoot for an early October delivery and that should give us a few more months to iron out all the details.  And hopefully the new new truck should be ready by then.

[Hikegsm]

Overland,

Not sure about the F150 but we just bought a 2017 F250 Superduty and I love the way it drives. It really beats our 2007 V-8 Tundra 4x4. This is our first Ford and so far we couldn't be more pleased. I would recommend giving them a try. We haven't used it towing yet but our little Ollie should be done in less than a month now...

 

Yvonne

[Overland]

Yeah, the Super Duty is really something.  What's holding me back is the size.  I'm just not used to a truck of any sort, and knowing that I'll have to drive it every day around town gives me pause.

[Try2Relax]

Overland, Not sure about the F150 but we just bought a 2017 F250 Superduty and I love the way it drives. It really beats our 2007 V-8 Tundra 4×4. This is our first Ford and so far we couldn’t be more pleased. I would recommend giving them a try. We haven’t used it towing yet but our little Ollie should be done in less than a month now… Yvonne

 

Yvonne- make sure you use your parking brake, there's a recall, if you weren't aware.

[KarenLukens]

Yeah, the Super Duty is really something. What’s holding me back is the size. I’m just not used to a truck of any sort, and knowing that I’ll have to drive it every day around town gives me pause.

If you're going to get a truck, basically the sizes are the same, just the engine and suspension are bigger. Plus where a smaller vehicle makes the difference is that a lot of places block out anything over 22' for parking because they figure the trailer size from being pulled with a truck. So if you pull with your smaller car, they will let you in. But if I had to choose a truck, a 250 would be my choice.

 

http://fortune.com/2017/04/02/ford-recalls-f250-pickups/

[SeaDawg]

Ouch.

 

I love 150/1500.

 

My daily driver is a 2005 Silverado. I hope to keep it another ten years or more. I grew up on/ learned to drive in that class.

 

Let's see what the new safety regs bring. The new Oliver isn't that much bigger than our 17...

 

The only reason we replaced my Silverado was 4 x4 capability. The little Silverado is still our all time favorite, but it can't do hills and loose rock like the 4x4 Dodge ram.

[SeaDawg]

If we could add 4x4 to my truck,  the Silverado, it would be our tug.

 

So nimble, and so much fun to drive

 

Seriously,  I dislike driving Paul's bigger 4x4 ram. I can't see the front dropoffs, and I just don't drive it enough to get used to it. Really hate it on our skinny roads into Asheville . But, that's life. I work with it.

 

Sherry

[bugeyedriver]

If we could add 4×4 to my truck, the Silverado, it would be our tug. So nimble, and so much fun to drive Seriously, I bate driving Paul’s bigger 4×4 ram. I can’t see the front dropoffs, and I just don’t drive it enough to get used to it. Really hate it on our skinny roads into Asheville . But, that’s life. I work with it. Sherry

 

Sherry, you might consider simply changing out your Silverado's rear end differential to a

. Watch the video and you can see it is better than 4x4 drive in some instances.  The locking differential can be a bit "clunky" for regular driving, so I recently had an Eaton limited-slip

differential put in my Taco.  It helps a lot on hills where there is loose gravel present.

 

 

[Hikegsm]

Hikegsm wrote:

Overland, Not sure about the F150 but we just bought a 2017 F250 Superduty and I love the way it drives. It really beats our 2007 V-8 Tundra 4×4. This is our first Ford and so far we couldn’t be more pleased. I would recommend giving them a try. We haven’t used it towing yet but our little Ollie should be done in less than a month now… Yvonne

Yvonne- make sure you use your parking brake, there’s a recall, if you weren’t aware.

 

 

 

[Hikegsm]

 

Yvonne- make sure you use your parking brake, there’s a recall, if you weren’t aware.

 

 

Try To Relax,

Thanks ! I did see that. Ours is not in the recall...at least not yet anyway! My Honda Ridgeline's airbags weren't in the recall either..until they were ????. That said I always set the parking brake , we live in the mountains and our driveway is a little steep. Better safe than Sorry!

 

Yvonne

[Overland]

I thought I'd give you guys an update on Snowball's progress.

Things are much better than the last time I updated - both the trailer and our truck are officially and finally in production.  Jason says that he thinks the fiberglass is underway and he's going to give me a better idea of schedule next week so that I can plan a trip to see our Ollie in progress.  I'd like to time it so that I can get a good set of photos just before they put the hulls together.  That way I'll have a better reference for where the wiring and plumbing lines went if I ever do any future modifications (I will).  I also have a few items that I need to deliver to Oliver.  I've been given a VIN for the truck from Ford and they've scheduled it for the week of August 14.  I should take delivery sometime mid-September which should be perfect timing to go pick up our Ollie.  I do hope that I have at least a week or two to get used to the truck itself before hitching up, plus I plan to get some airbags installed on the rear axle and a few other extras done to the truck but nothing that I couldn't live without for the first trip.

So after a long delay, things seem to be moving right along.  I've given Amazon way too much money over the past two weeks buying supplies and stuff, but so far it's all in budget even despite a few high dollar items getting moved into our out of pocket budget at the last moment, namely the Isotherm refrigerator and the mattresses, which we decided to get from Southern Mattress instead of going with cushions or getting Olivers mattress upgrade.  But I'd planned for a few hiccups like that so no worries so far.

I also decided to go with Dragonfly LiFePo batteries instead of the cheaper ones from Elite Power.  They seem like a safer choice, but more importantly, each of their batteries has a built-in battery management system, which means that they'll work out of the box with both the Progressive Dynamics charger and the Zamp solar charge controller.  I still plan to swap out both for Victron equipment, but with the Dragonfly batteries, I won't be rushed to refit the whole electrical system just to get our batteries up and running.

 

[Buzzy]

Overland,

 

Tell us more about the truck?

 

Buzzy

[Overland]

Well it's still a Ford Raptor, but it will be an '18 model instead of a '17.  Once we missed our May deadline and knew that we wouldn't be getting the Oliver until October, it made more sense to wait.  Not much has changed year over year, but I think it gets a nicer stereo system - always important - and an improved lane keeping/collision mitigation system.  Mainly it will be one model year ahead in value.  And silver.

The dealership tried to talk us into an F250, but I took one home for a day and it was pretty clear that it's not a truck that's meant to be driven on tiny city streets every day.  Not with me behind the wheel at least.  It did fit into our driveway though, which was a surprise.

[Try2Relax]

I just saw a couple year old Raptor towing a 20'ish stick built, whoa those things sag, at least that one did, looked like it had a full load of concrete in the back, they are SOFT. Be careful until you can get the airbags under it.

[Overland]

Definitely soft. In the long run I want to put different springs on it but the ones I want aren't expected to be available until late October.

[Overland]

Logo time!

Here are the final candidates.  Oliver is letting me use their '4-seasons' logo as the frame for a snowflake design of some sort.  I thought that was a nice tie-in.  We've pretty much zeroed in on the top middle logo for the front and either the bottom left or right on the back.  I'd love to hear some feedback on the design and other ideas.

I'm trying to decide how big to do the front logo.  If Oliver does it, the limit is 20", but I honestly have no reference as to how large or small that would look.  Any guidance from those of you who have done your own, especially round ones, would be appreciated.  I think the Lone Star Oliver's logo is about the perfect size.

The spare tire logo, too, is a bit of a puzzle.  Pete has his full size smiley, which looks fantastic, though I don't know how he worked around the center bolt.  I'd planned to cover the whole thing, and had Oliver put the license plate to the side for that purpose, but now I'm having second thoughts on having that large of a logo on the back.

I might have a small 4" version made to go by the door.  At the moment, we've got nothing on the sides.  I'd like to come up with something related to the logo, but so far nothing inspires me.

Anyway, thoughts?

 

[Overland]

Sorry, that's kind of small - here are some larger versions...