We Finally Did It

[Commanche]

We made the trip down to Hohenwald, last Thursday, got a tour of the plant, got the "hard sell" from Robert and Alicia and placed our order. They could not have been nicer, they put up with all our questions and looking at things multiple times, a whole lot better then dealing with most car dealerships.

Thanks Larry and Steve for the chats we had going into this process. Steve, we got the solar package, and Robert said you would be the expert, so we may be looking to you for advice. Now comes the hard part, waiting for it to be built, and oh yes, paying for it.

Now we have another issue to deal with. Getting another tow vehicle. We have a 97 F150, but really don't want to use it for extended trips, so our plan is to trade in the CRV for a mid sized SUV for a TV. I built a spreadsheet with all the vehicles in that class (V6 3.5L 5000 lbs towing). Now the job of narrowing the list down and looking. Any ideas on how a TV in this size handles the Elite II? We want to be able to get in the "back country" and not just run the big roads.

 

Stan and Carol

[blodn2]

Congratulations! When's the due date?

[Commanche]

Due date is Oct 2nd. Maybe a good time to do a shake down on the Natchez Trace Parkway. We did check out those cool water falls by the campground.

[Flyrod]

The second best thing about getting the Oliver....well maybe not second, maybe third.....oh shoot, there are a lot of good things about getting the Oliver. But discovering the Natchez Trace Parkways was a real joy for us. Can't wait for a trip back to Hohenwald to visit and then drive the length of the Parkway.

October 2nd can't come soon enough for you. You will be so glad you made the decision to get one. Have fun and Happy Trails to you.

[routlaw]

Stan, Carol

 

No doubt you were the folks in town doing the plant tour when I called the Oliver plant the other day. Congrats on bellying up to the bar for the Oliver. We are still working on our decision, but in the meantime I will throw in my two cents worth on your TV situation.

 

Understand I am of the persuasion that you can never have too much TV so with that in mind personally I would not encourage you to go as light as you suggest. Understand the dry weight of the Oliver is 4700 lbs and while you may never fully load it up to the 7000lbs weight limit, hitting that additional 300 lbs will be very easy in a trailer like this. We have a 2013 F150 Eco Boost and if we do decide to go with Oliver this will be our tug. Remember you have to be able to stop the thing too, and what if you are in some less than desirable driving conditions, i.e. snow, ice, heavy rains you sure don't want the tail wagging the dog. Or what if you have to make an emergency stop such as someone pulling right out in front of you. Well there are all sorts of scenarios that can wreak havoc with too light of a TV for the trailer you are towing.

 

So all that said I really wouldn't want anything much, if any lighter duty than my F150, which BTW does NOT drive like a truck in the traditional sense. I would encourage you to think bigger and think you will be happier in the long run if you do.

 

Last year while camping in the UT deserts we ran across a couple towing a 25 foot Airstream (full timers no less) with a Tacoma. Very nice people but man were they pushing the envelop big time IMHO. I would never have done this. That trailer loaded had to be at least close to twice the weight of the truck.

 

So in summary its my hard held believe scrimping on the TV while going deluxe on the trailer doesn't make sense.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Rob

 

We made the trip down to Hohenwald, last Thursday, got a tour of the plant, got the "hard sell" from Robert and Alicia

and placed our order. They could not have been nicer, they put up with all our questions and looking at things multiple times, a whole lot better then dealing with most car dealerships.

Thanks Larry and Steve for the chats we had going into this process. Steve, we got the solar package, and Robert said you would be the expert, so we may be looking to you for advice. Now comes the hard part, waiting for it to be built, and oh yes, paying for it.

Now we have another issue to deal with. Getting another tow vehicle. We have a 97 F150, but really don't want to use it for extended trips, so our plan is to trade in the CRV for a mid sized SUV for a TV. I built a spreadsheet with all the vehicles in that class (V6 3.5L 5000 lbs towing). Now the job of narrowing the list down and looking. Any ideas on how a TV in this size handles the Elite II? We want to be able to get in the "back country" and not just run the big roads.

 

Stan and Carol

[SeaDawg]

Congrats on your decision! Hope you love your Oliver as much as we love our 17!

 

I'll chime in on the tow with a truck or suv question. We have towed our 17 with a Volvo XC90 SUV, a 2004 stepside Silverado half-ton short bed two seater, and a 2008 Dodge Ram 1500 with the hemi. All of them worked, though I wouldn't really want to take the Volvo into the mountains. Loved the Silverado, but the Ram gives us 5 seats, a big cargo area, more power, and most importantly for us, 4x4 capability. We can carry the ATV and gear in the back if we want to, and the dog and passengers have a comfortable place inside. It's my husband's daily driver, as well as our primary tow vehicle.

We (obviously) really like trucks vs SUVs for towing and camping. We bought a lockable UnderCover topper for the truck bed that keeps our gear out of sight and dry, and it's easily removable with a couple pins when we want to haul the ATV or something else that's tall in the truck bed.

If we were looking to replace the Dodge Ram, I think we'd start our looking with the new Dodge 6 cylinder EcoDiesel. 9200 lb towing capacity, torque to spare, decent mileage.http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2014-ram-1500-ecodiesel-v-6-first-drive-review A step in the right direction. Everywhere in the world but North America, you see awesome small diesel trucks, not gasoline, as daily drivers and work trucks. (Ok, I will step down from the soap box now.)

 

Bet you can't wait till October!

Sherry