Time for Camping? - R-pod Owners Forum

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mjlrpod

Senior Member

Joined: 27 Sep 2016
Location: Massachusetts
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1221

Topic: Time for Camping?
Posted: 19 Jun 2020 at 12:22pm

Arcadia Maine has joined the list of closed campgrounds. Got my cancellation yesterday, for august 20th stay. I thought sure end of august reservations would be safe, but not so.

2017.5 Rp-172
2020 R-pod 195
2015 Frontier sv 4.0L 6cyl
I'll be rpodding

podwerkz

Senior Member

Joined: 11 Mar 2019
Location: Texas
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 966

Posted: 19 Jun 2020 at 10:43am

Hey, my ears were burning!

I'm no expert! In fact, I have to ask, does an eco-boost (turbo gas) engine even HAVE a throttle plate? I assume they use common rail fuel injection or maybe direct injection, I dont know.

But if so, they will have very low compression braking UNLESS the engineers have added some kind of variable valve timing that can close the intake valves during part of the intake stroke...or maybe close the exhaust valves, and shut off fuel, during part of the exhaust stroke...or a simple exhaust brake like most light truck diesel engine provide as an option.

At any rate, they may have some way of providing engine braking...I would hope so with a vehicle intended for towing...

Again, naturally aspirated engines have some 'natural' engine retarding ability, but turbos don't unless there is some extra hardware added. Yes, the transmission is part of the process, but automatic downshifting on a downgrade relies, again, on the engine having some compression braking available.

At any rate, engine braking is part of the entire experience when towing, especially in the mountains. It helps what we call 'towing authority'...where the towing vehicle (the 'power unit' in commercial language) and the driver have complete confidence and control over the trailer (or trailers).

Its a good thing to have, and reduces the incidence of white knuckles, pinched seat upholstery,...or worse!

r･pod 171 gone but not forgotten!

lostagain

Senior Member

Joined: 06 Sep 2016
Location: Quaker Hill, CT
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2595

Posted: 19 Jun 2020 at 8:33am

The nice thing about the full hookup Forest Service camp ground is that we were able to stay fully self contained, and didn't need to use the public facilities for anything but the water hose, drain, and electric connections and were not right next to our neighbor, unlike the typical rv park. So, "social distancing" was easy. Lots of friendly waves, but no close conversations. There was even an R-Pod parked near us. I talked with the owner for a second and told him about the forum.

There was a little difference between the 4.7 V-8 and the 2.7 ecoboost in engine braking, but it really wasn't an issue. We had a few long and curvy descents and just put the engine in a low gear and let it rev fast. The V-8 gave a little more braking resistance but was very noisy. With the ecoboost, when the rpm was high it was much quieter and an occasional tap on the brake was all that was needed. We had a 6% grade with a couple sharp curves going into Susanville and had no problem keeping the speed under control without using the brake (2nd and 1st). The key is to never let the speed go up enough to require hard braking if you can.

Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney
Sonoma 167RB
Our Pod 172
2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost

offgrid

Senior Member

Joined: 23 Jul 2018
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Posts: 5290

Posted: 19 Jun 2020 at 5:08am

LA, glad you finally were able to get out. Here in VA campgrounds opened yesterday so we're hoping try a little FS campground I've had my eye on since we moved to SW VA last winter. Its less than an hour away so should be an easy one.

Re the engine braking, that was an interesting point podwerks raised. Was it really noticeably harder to slow down with the 2.7 than with your older rig? Your rig is heavier as well so that would impact it.

Engine braking is just the engine pumping air creating a vacuum against a closed throttle valve, so I think it should be proportional to the product of displacement x rpm x compression ratio. I have 3.5 liters for about 8500 lb rig weight, so about 2500 lbs per liter. I rarely need to use my friction brakes, only on slow windy roads where I'm not getting much braking action from air drag. I'm guessing you'll be maybe 3500 lbs/liter. Our compression ratios are pretty much the same. So, as you say, bumping your rpm up maybe by around 40% by selecting a lower gear would compensate. You might get some additional help due to exhaust back pressure from the turbo, not sure.

None of this applies to diesels, which don't have throttle valves for the engines to create a vacuum against. Hence the need for compression release (aka Jake) braking in diesel trucks, which is a whole different (and noisy) thing.

I might have this all wrong. podwerks, please step in here and give us an expert's observations.

1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold

lostagain

Senior Member

Joined: 06 Sep 2016
Location: Quaker Hill, CT
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2595

Posted: 18 Jun 2020 at 8:20pm

We just got back from 4 days at Merrill Campground at Eagle Lake, CA (about 1/2 hour north of Susanville). The campground was superb. The Forest Service designers did a first class job in the reconstruction of this campground a few years back. The campsites are spacious and well separated from the adjoining ones. About 1/3rd of the sites are full hookup, another 1/3rd have electricity and water, and the final third are standard Forest Service issue. The campground is clean and very well maintained. There's lots of hiking and boating activities available as well as some good bike trails. The campground is flat and the trail around the lake that we tried was perfect for an easy bike ride or walk.

As for getting there, our F-150 did fine. It's nicely balanced with the weight of the trailer and has plenty of power. The only issue with the 2.7 ecoboost, as was discussed earlier, is that there is not a heck of a lot of engine breaking available, so we just put it in a low gear down the long curvy down grades and went slowly so we didn't have to use the brakes much. Gas mileage, according to the onboard computer was 14.9 mpg for the round trip.

It was sure nice to get out of the house.

Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney
Sonoma 167RB
Our Pod 172
2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost

lostagain

Senior Member

Joined: 06 Sep 2016
Location: Quaker Hill, CT
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2595

Posted: 06 Jun 2020 at 4:58pm

Your frustration, mjlrpod, palpable and is very understandable. Most of us share it. Speaking for myself, we've had two trips cancelled by reservation.com to date and both only a day or two before we were supposed to leave.

But that being said, from what we've seen in pictures taken at outdoor resorts, there are a lot of people who are not using common sense considering how the SARS-CoV-2 virus spreads. I can't believe the number of people who don't bother with masks at the grocery store, much less trying to keep 6' of distance with their snot dripping kids coughing away in tow. Mother Nature will deal with them in her own time and way.

Responsible camping, it sees to me, can be done, especially where there are large camp sites with lots of room between them, but those who don't use common sense create conditions where public health officials must respond with more extreme actions.

The cancellations have to be frustrating too, but at least you know that everyone hast to start over on June 22nd, rather than finding that your camping plans have been cancelled as you were packing to leave and had already purchased supplies for your trip, as happened to us with recreation.gov. The state and federal camping reservation systems are truly overwhelmed and have no experience with managing this kind of situation, so they inevitably are making decisions that can't please us all.

Mass. has the 4th highest death rate in the country so far, with nearly 7,300 fatalities, 24 today as of this post. I doubt their health officials are singling out campers to be tough with them, as opposed to other groups and activities. They are probably doing the best they can with skeleton crews, working remotely. Maybe you should cut the public health officials a little slack.

Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney
Sonoma 167RB
Our Pod 172
2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost

EchoGale

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Joined: 10 Mar 2019
Location: FL
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Posts: 469

Posted: 06 Jun 2020 at 4:49pm

I just had a great experience traveling from Florida to Maine using Boondockers Welcome. There are spots within ten miles of Salisbury (I didn't stay at any of them).

Julie

Olddawgsrule View Drop Down

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Joined: 20 Sep 2017
Location: New Hampshire
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Posts: 1014

Posted: 06 Jun 2020 at 3:58pm

Originally posted by mjlrpod

Massachusetts state parks cancelled all 2020 reservations. They are not allowing any picnic, or pavillion areas this whole summer from what they said. All camping reservations are cancelled will need to be rebooked starting june 22. They will be limiting the available sites. IF you manage to get one of the fewer sites, you will not be allowed visitors. This is ridiculous, with the crap going on across the country, they gotta get tuff with campers just trying to enjoy the outdoors.

Hear ya! I was hoping to grab an overnight at Salisbury to catch both tides surf-casting. Still now, I'm looking for parking lots to open... As far as I know, all points Plum to Ipswich are closed for parking. The mid-size are entering the river (Ipswich and Merrimack) and I'm itching to get out there!

Byways no Highways
2017 Tacoma
Truck Camper Build
2004 F150 My Overlander

mjlrpod

Senior Member

Joined: 27 Sep 2016
Location: Massachusetts
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1221

Posted: 06 Jun 2020 at 2:22pm

Massachusetts state parks cancelled all 2020 reservations. They are not allowing any picnic, or pavillion areas this whole summer from what they said. All camping reservations are cancelled will need to be rebooked starting june 22. They will be limiting the available sites. IF you manage to get one of the fewer sites, you will not be allowed visitors. This is ridiculous, with the crap going on across the country, they gotta get tuff with campers just trying to enjoy the outdoors.

2017.5 Rp-172
2020 R-pod 195
2015 Frontier sv 4.0L 6cyl
I'll be rpodding

riotkayak284 View Drop Down

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Joined: 29 Apr 2016
Location: Nashville, TN
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 162

Posted: 05 Jun 2020 at 2:11pm

We camped at a couple of TN state parks last weekend and felt totally fine... They seem to have made very good adjustments to the bathrooms and were spotless. Signs all over the place about distancing, overall we were very happy to get out and get some fresh air. And people in the campground were very respectful of one another.