Bolt on 2" receiver - Event Date: 18 Feb 2017

I want put a cargo rack on the back of my 2017 177 that I bought last summer to carry a 3500 watt generator, 2-5 gallon gas cans, spare propane tank and the spare tire. I tried a 1 1/4 to 2 inch receiver adapter, but it sags low and bounces. I decided to look I into replacing the 1 1/4 inch receiver with a 2 inch.

A link to any pictures of your 2 inch receiver setup would be helpful.

If you add that much weight at the rear you risk bending the frame back at the axle attachment point. That is the weakest point on an rpod frame, because when you go over a bump or hit a pothole the weight on the rear and the torque from the torsion axle are additive and place a lot of bending force at that location. So there is a very good reason for FR to void the warranty if you do that.

Here's the second reason that adding all that weight at the rear is unadvisable. You need to keep at least 10-11% of the total trailer weight on the tongue at all times. Otherwise you can get sway. It's going to be difficult to keep the weight on the tongue high enough.

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Still too much I think. With a Highlander you are limited by both tongue weight and rear axle weight as well as trailer weight and fore aft balance, and bending stress on the trailer frame. Also CGVWR. All those factors come together to make your weight carrying options pretty limited.

In general, loading everything as far forward as possible in the combined rig is the way to go.   I towed with a Highlander and ended up with a Honda 2K converted to propane and an extra cylinder both of which I loaded as far forward as possible just behind the seats in the Highlander. I highly recommend converting your generator to propane, especially when towing with an SUV. Also you can run everything with a 2 or 2.2k Genny if you install an Easy Start on the a/c. Saves a lot of weight.

I also had dual batteries and carried water (you have to account for water you will be carrying which might be in any of the three tanks at some point). Only the spare on the back. I was right at 500 lbs on the tongue with full fresh water and at 11% tongue weight with full gray water. My rig weight was about 10% under the Highlanders CGVWR which is about as high as anyone should go IMO. I used a wdh of course.

I suggest you load up everything and everybody and weigh your rig at a scale and use a towing calculator to see what you have (if you search my posts I have described how to do that and provided a link to a good calculator).

Once you have a set of baseline actual weight numbers you can see what happens if you move load around without re-weighing. Think of the trailer as a teeter totter, weight in front of the axle increases tongue weight, load aft of the axle decreases it.

So, say you add 100 lbs weight on the rear of the trailer. The effect of that on tongue weight is:

old tongue weight - 100 x (distance in inches from axle to weight/distance from axle to ball).

So you can try a variety of combinations and run them through the calculator before making your mods.

Once again thank you. Your information is convincing me to sell the generator and forget about doing any hot weather lotdocking at truck stops and to find a campground for the night. The reason I got the generator was so I could power the A/C when lotdocking or doing some boondocking.

Did anyone install an inverter in their R-Pod? I didn't realize or discover that my 2017, 177 didn't have a 12v outlet like my previous trailer until I was on the way home from the Illinois dealer to Michigan. I bought an inverter but haven't gotten it installed as every RV service (dealer or just service) I've talked to has a 6 to 8 week wait before they can get it in to work on and you have to leave it with them for the wait.

20+ years ago with my 1st trailer, I drilled a hole through the front wall of the trailer near the floor to put the wires through and connect to the battery. I stopped doing things myself on my vehicles years ago getting them professionally done.