Questions for rpod owners

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   We have had our 2011 177 Pod for two years.

Pump noise: 
Someone on this board isolated their water pump with a foam pad, we haven't tried that yet but it was said to help a lot. 
The other thing about it bothering neighbors.  It's not nearly as loud outside as one thinks. You can barely hear it outside if it's real quiet. 

Outside noise: 
One has to consider the windows are not thermopanes but I thought ours fared quite well a few weeks at a Forest Service campground when the big motor home left their generator running for two days straight, partied till 1 in the morning................ 

Stabilizers:  
We have an 07 Colorado Pickup with a 5 cyl 3.7 Ltr 240 hp engine. I thought the Pod pulls fairly well with out stabilizers. We have towed from NW Wis across MN, NE, Black Hills SD, up through WY to Devils Tower and home. About 1900+ miles and it went fairly well other than dropping into low a couple times coming in and out of Devils Tower. To get to Devils Tower we went farther west into Wy to avoid bigger grades in the middle of the Black Hills.
I would check the weight difference between the 177 and the 179 if you don't have a V8 in the Chevy. Then again if you are towing mostly flat-lands you maybe would do just fine.   

Dust: 
Not much help there, haven't put too many miles on gravel with the Pod.

Dual Batteries:
We have dual 24 group batteries and have no problem with a week end camp out. 
We are looking at looking at a generator for camping in the fall as we have not tried running the furnace  on the batteries for any length time. 
As for Solar, keep reading, more people on here are doing it. 

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SNO4ME Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 28 Sep 2013 Location: NW Wis Online Status: Offline Posts: 122	Topic: Questions for rpod owners Posted: 12 Aug 2015 at 1:50pm
	We have had our 2011 177 Pod for two years. Pump noise: Someone on this board isolated their water pump with a foam pad, we haven't tried that yet but it was said to help a lot. The other thing about it bothering neighbors. It's not nearly as loud outside as one thinks. You can barely hear it outside if it's real quiet. Outside noise: One has to consider the windows are not thermopanes but I thought ours fared quite well a few weeks at a Forest Service campground when the big motor home left their generator running for two days straight, partied till 1 in the morning................ Stabilizers: We have an 07 Colorado Pickup with a 5 cyl 3.7 Ltr 240 hp engine. I thought the Pod pulls fairly well with out stabilizers. We have towed from NW Wis across MN, NE, Black Hills SD, up through WY to Devils Tower and home. About 1900+ miles and it went fairly well other than dropping into low a couple times coming in and out of Devils Tower. To get to Devils Tower we went farther west into Wy to avoid bigger grades in the middle of the Black Hills. I would check the weight difference between the 177 and the 179 if you don't have a V8 in the Chevy. Then again if you are towing mostly flat-lands you maybe would do just fine. Dust: Not much help there, haven't put too many miles on gravel with the Pod. Dual Batteries: We have dual 24 group batteries and have no problem with a week end camp out. We are looking at looking at a generator for camping in the fall as we have not tried running the furnace on the batteries for any length time. As for Solar, keep reading, more people on here are doing it.
	Bruce & Donna in the Sno Pod (and Brewer too) 2011 RP 177

TriPod Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 12 Aug 2015 Location: MB, Canada Online Status: Offline Posts: 8	Posted: 12 Aug 2015 at 12:46pm
	Hi, we do not own an rpod yet, but are strongly considering one. We are to the point where we'd like to hear from people who actually own and use them. A bit of backstory for you: My hubby and I both grew up in families that loved camping. His had motorhomes, mine had a slide in truck camper. Two weeks with four people in a campsite with no electrical plug in was not a problem. Fast forward to current day: We'd been able to borrow a travel van for some trips but wanted our own rv. We did countless hours of research and found what we though would be the "perfect" trailer for us. We ended up using it a total of 3 times and selling it. Why? It had some idiosyncrasies which turned out to be huge issues for us, which no one told us about before we bought the trailer. The water pump was SO loud it sounded like an airplane landing and then it'd do a series of fast ticks after..... those middle of the night trips to the loo would wake everyone when the toilet flushed. Possibly even the people in the next site. Not good. And you could hear everything outside the trailer. It was like being in a tent, but with hard walls. I'm a light sleeper, who didn't sleep much at all in the trailer. One should not need to use earplugs every night! There were other issues (like the dealership going bankrupt right after we took possession of the trailer, so we had no support from them), but it's taken us 4 months to even consider buying another one. But we love camping, so... We love the look of the rpods. We've seen a LOT of them on the roads this summer, so figure if that many people have them, there must be something to them. We are considering either a 177 or 179, and are going to a dealership to see a 177 for the first time tomorrow (no 179 available to view). We can at least check out the build quality, etc. What we'd really like to know from those of you who already have them, is: How noisy is the water pump? How are they for soundproofing? Do you hear every little noise outside, even with the windows closed? Do you use a stabilizer/sway control hitch? (our tow vehicle is a 2009 Chevy Trailblazer) On gravel roads, do you get a lot of dust coming in? If we do the 2 battery/solar panel system, are we going to be able to camp for a week (or two?) without needing an electrical hookup? Any other rpod quirks that would be helpful to know? Thanks so much in advance, and my apologies for the length of this post.