The 3/3/3 Rule

Stay safe and enjoy the journey

An RV rule of thumb we try to follow is the 3/3/3 Rule, which we would summarize as this:

• Drive no more than 300 miles in one day (we’re always worn out when we do)

• Stop at least every 3 hours (our bladders keep us from breaking this one)

• Arrive no later than 3 pm (lots of time to relax and enjoy whatever is at the destination)

If you’re going to frequently break one or more of the above “3s,” you should consider substituting this one for the one that you break the most:

• Stay a minimum of 3 nights (gives you some down time for recovery)

The biggest thing we noticed about towing a travel trailer is that it tends to wear you out. Unlike driving a car where a trip of 500+ miles in one day is relatively easy and common, we’ve had it once we hit 250-300 miles when towing our trailer.

Why? We think it’s the combination of less maneuverability, less visibility, less acceleration, lower speeds (which means you're being passed constantly), more merging traffic (because at lower speeds you tend to be in the right lanes), etc. This all adds up to mental strain and this the reason to follow this rule.

Big Red managed to tow Ollie over 22,000 miles across 32 states. That said, we were well aware of each and every one of those miles, thus the move up to a Super Duty F-350.

A major reason we decided to upgrade from our 2013 Ford F-150 Platinum with the V6 EcoBoost gasoline engine to a new 2023 Ford F-350 Super Duty with the 6.7 liter turbo diesel is to mitigate or eliminate many of the above issues, especially acceleration and the ability to climb and descent hills more safely and easily. Be sure to follow the Super Duty newsletter for posts about how this truck performs with our Oliver Travel Trailers Legacy Elite II.

Be sure to follow Super Duty for posts about how this new truck performs.