Hello Folks from the Low Country of South Carolina

[MrBig1]

Hi There,

 

My name is Ray. The user name I chose is a name a long time friend gave me so I keep it with fond memories. My wife Betty Jo and I live in Berkely Co, South Carolina near Lake Moultrie. We recently took a tour of the Oliver Factory and put the down payment on a LE II. I am a retired steel mill worker. Retired at 61 yrs old due to a disc hernia in December of 2016. We were told that we will be able to pick up our Oliver in April and are really looking forward to heading west. The plan is to do a hole lot of camping in National Parks, different State Parks and on BLM land. We love the western US and want to spend time exploring its beauty in detail.

[Mike and Carol]

Ray and Betty Jo, welcome!  Now the waiting begins......

 

We’ve enjoyed National Parks and sites in the West too. Your Oliver will be a great way to travel and camp. Mike

[topgun2]

Mr. & Mrs. Big1 -

 

Welcome!  Every summer I go West for 6 to 10 weeks and I know that you will have a bunch of fun doing so with that new Oliver.  Even the trip out and back is filled with so many things to see and do.  Have fun planning over the winter and don't be afraid to ask questions here since many of the people here either live there or have a fair amount of experience in that area.

 

Bill

[ScubaRx]

I had been seeing your posts over on FGRV and invited you to join us here. Good to have you aboard.  You will be able to get any Oliver questions you might have answered here.  So feel free to ask anything you like.

 

Like yourself, Tali and I enjoy the National Parks.  Hope to see you guys at the May Rally.

[MrBig1]

Many thanks guys for the warm welcome and a special thanks for Steve for the invite. It would be great to join the gathering of Oliver owners. I really hope our schedule allows us to join in. We were really impressed with the construction and quality of these RV's. Now I just have to purchase a TV. This is a retirement dream for me. Betty Jo and I took a 5 week trip out west in 2008 on our 2006 Honda Gold Wing. We went sea to sea and a lot of great places everywhere. That was a hurried trip. Now it's time to slow down, relax and enjoy the little things. The Oliver LE2 looks like the perfect platform when coupled with a 4WD, 3/4 Ton truck to enjoy ourselves.

[KarenLukens]

Hi Ray & Betty Jo :)

 

Honestly, a 3/4 ton truck is overkill but works if that's what you have. The reason that I'm saying this is because with a blown disk, you will want a smoother ride most likely then a truck can give you. There's lots of choices out there of comfortable cars with plenty of room, in fact a lot more room then a truck can give you comfortably. Having had a back injury before, I learned that a 3/4ton truck was probably one of the worst things for me to ride in with my back during recovery, which took 15 years... So, if you're still in the recovery process, my first choice would be a Mercedes GL 4wd because it will undoubtedly will be the most comfortable ride that most people will ever be in, plus it has plenty of leg room for bigger guys. We just picked up a new Chevy Silverado 1/2 ton basically for the ride, I really wanted the Duramax but when it came down to it, the High Country with the max tow package won out. The reason that I didn't buy another Mercedes was that I did want a new truck :) but still, if you're in recovery, start out with a smooth ride for your back.

 

Reed

[wdw0528]

Hi Ray & Betty Jo,

My wife Kathy and I are on a similar path as you in that we just placed our order and will pick up in April also.

We made a stop by Hohenwald on a trip out west a few months ago and although the trip was great, it was clear to us that traveling in an Oliver would be a much better experience. We spent 7 weeks on the road then and have much more to see out there and while we wait for Ollie we are making plans.

We also have a 3/4 ton truck (F-250 diesel, not 4WD) that is probably an overkill but since we already have it we will at least start our Oliver journey there. I agree with Reed that if you have back problems you may appreciate a smoother ride.

Hope to see you at the rally in May!

[ScubaRx]

During our 10 year ownership of two different Oliver's, we've used several different tow vehicles.  We bought a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited with a 3500 lb tow capacity to pull our 2008 Oliver single axle. Wow, was that evermore a mistake. If you actually weighed those original trailers, it turned out they weighed a lot more than had been stated.  At nearly 4000 pounds, ready to travel, we needed something bigger.  We traded the Jeep on a Chevrolet Tahoe LTZ V8 that did just fine.  We got about 12-13mpg.  When we upgraded to the 2014 Oliver Elite II, we discovered that the Tahoe was not nearly as capable as it had been with the Elite I.  Again we traded up. This time to a GMC Sierra 1500. This is the same size truck that Reed uses except with the 6.2L engine.  It did have the NHT Max Trailering Package.  It had more power and torque than the Tahoe but it was pushing it to get 12mpg.  During a 10000 mile, 3 month long trip this spring and early summer, we started having overheating problems in some of the 11000 to 12000 foot passes out west.  In the interest of pure transparency, our trailer weighs almost 7200lbs fully loaded.  We decided it was time to move up again.  When we came through Memphis on the way home, I traded the 1500 GMC Sierra for a 2017 Silverado High Country 2500 HD Diesel. We've only used it to pull the Outlaw Oliver twice.  Once up to KY to view the eclipse and then up into eastern TN to a small rally. No hills larger than the ones found in and around the Smokey Mountains.  We are getting about 14mpg.

 

We had the largest gasoline engine available in a 1500 GM truck.  It had the biggest tow package available. It produced 420 hp @ 5600 rpm and had 460 lb-ft of torque @ 4100 rpm. It struggled in the extreme parts of the areas we like to go.  I could possibly have convinced myself that some struggling was OK since the distance traveled in these areas comprised a very small percentage of any given trip had it not been for the overheating issues.

 

The engine in our new truck is the L5P 6.6L V-8 Turbo-Diesel.  It produces 445 hp @ 2800 rpm and a whopping 910 lb-ft of torque @ 1600 rpm.

 

As far as tow vehicles go, is the 2500 overkill?  I suppose it depends on your point of view.

[Maverick]

Hello Ray & Betty Jo:

 

Welcome aboard, we know you will enjoy your Oliver Travel Trailer.  There are many outstanding places in this country to explore with your trailer.

 

 

[MrBig1]

I like overkill. I want to get in some places way off the grid. BLM land and such. I want the 4wd I was gonna get the big gas engine with the 4.10 gears and eat the mpg instead of increasing service costs associated with the diesels. That's still up for grabs, nothing has been bought except the Oliver, so far. I plan to go up in elevation and be loaded down with at least a 50gal water tank in the bed. I only want to buy one truck.

[Try2Relax]

I too wanted to buy one truck, just like I wanted to buy one trailer, got the trailer right, missed on the truck.

 

Started out with a GMC Sierra 1500 5.3L Max tow, after one year and one bad experience up in Canada, considered it a one year rental with the little money I lost on it.

 

As ScubaRx points out with their progression, for long term worry free (thinking steep grades out west) this time I went over kill, with no regrets.

 

Be it a 250 or 350, at maxed out elevations I prefer the power of the turbo diesel vs the largest naturally aspirated gas engine, I choose the 350 as the 250 payload was only 500-600lbs more than the 1/2 ton, and with the 8ft bed if I wanted to bring my KTM and all the goodies 3600lbs of payload should be sufficient. Ride quality is similar between the two. Getting the 8 foot bed allows for a 48 gallon tank, on the diesel towing that gets me over 600 miles on a tank.

 

Good luck with you choices and welcome to the family.

[MrBig1]

Thanks again for your input and time. This exchange has taken me off the fence  about what type of TV to purchase. Now it just comes down to price. Best price between Ford, Chevy or GMC. Truck will be 4WD, 3/4 Ton, Long Bed, Diesel. I hadn't taken into account the loss of horse power at higher elevations with a naturally aspirated engine. Getting closer to a purchase.

[Hikegsm]

 

 

We tow with a 2017 F-250 with 4 wheel drive and have no complaints with the ride. It is much smoother than our Old Tundra. We too believe in over-kill when it comes to towing in the Rockies...

 

Welcome to the Oliver Family,

 

Yvonne

[Kayrae51]

Welcome Ray, Betty Jo & Furbabies

Its always fun to read introductions - your plans are very similar to ours. Congrats on ordering your Ollie II.

We picked our Ollie II up the end of July ‘17 and love it. Hope we will be able to meet you at the 2018 Rally.

[Jack & Trish]

Hi Ray & Betty Jo,

 

Welcome....we are picking up our Ollie December 5th.  We will be pulling with a Mercedes GL450, our only vehicle, until and if it fails to perform, then we’ll see. This forum is amazing, you can find anything you want to know and if you can’t, just ask, I assure you someone will know. Hope to see you at the rally or...on the road.

[Mainiac]

We tow with a Ram 2500 4x4, as that is what we use as a plow vehicle. With the 6.4 gas we can spin the tires for quite a distance. It is great that we can tow without needing extended mirrors and you hardly know it is back there. From the towing that we have done this year, on the eastern half of the country, we couldn't be more pleased. And the added bonus is that it has way more creature comforts than our Mercedes sedan does.

[MrBig1]

Thanks for all the warm welcomes. I agree this is a great forum the only problem I have had is using the search function. Just doesn't seem to work well (could be operator error). As you can see in my signature I have purchased a TV. The choice on what type was primarily guided by the information shared by members of this forum. You make better decisions when you know more. Thanks to all. Much appreciated.