Joining the 'Pod family!

We have been looking to get back into camping now that we are empty-nesters. We first owned a popup, and bought our first hard sided camper, a 21' Aerolite when our two sons were quite young. We quickly outgrew it, and bought a beast of a bunkhouse camper and a 3/4 ton Dodge to tow it. When our sons discovered cars and girls we downsized to a 26' Flagstaff which was easier to tow and more suitable for 2, but had enough room for 4. We expected to hang onto this one for quite a while, but since our boys were at an age where they didn't want to camping with the parents, but weren't ready to be home unsupervised it wasn't used much. Instead of watching the camper and truck depreciate I sold both.

4 years later we were looking for a camper we could tow with our Xterra which would be suitable for the two of us and Rocky the rescue mutt. We were going to buy an A frame popup, but discovered the R-Pod at a camper show. It seemed like the perfect fit for us, but was concerned about the ability of the Xterra to tow it. Research on this and other forums suggested my short wheelbase and V6 power would lead to an unpleasant experience.

Today we stopped into our local R-Pod dealer, and took one for a tow. Since the Xterra has such soft suspension I had added Firestone airbags. When we first pulled out, the strong gusty winds we had today did cause some sway, but I pumped the airbags from my usual 10 psi to 30 and the sway disappeared. We took the pod for a drive down a curvy road, then onto the interstate. The Xterra handed the pod amazingly well, and had more than enough power. Getting up to speed was no problem, and it cruised effortlessly. It actually towed better than my old 3/4 ton pickup and lightweight Flagstaff. I think the 6 1/2 foot width helped a lot, as the pod was tucked in nicely behind the Xterra, and I was pleased to find tow mirrors to be unnecessary.

I did talk to the dealer about weight distribution and sway control, he said there was no need for weight distribution as my airbags worked so well, and friction sway control was all I needed which I got him to throw into the deal for free.

We put money down on a 179 with awning and stone interior which they have on order. It is scheduled to be built in a couple weeks, and we will be members of the R-Pod community in early May. We are looking forward to many years of podding!

Originally posted by Kos We are in the same boat. I ordered last Saturday a 178. I hope it comes in soon. My tv is also a xterra. I would never call the suspension soft, quite the opposite actually. But we do have the pro4x version. You took away some doubts about the pulling ability of the xterra. Your test drive was quite assuring for me. But I will install sway bar and wdh. I got one for a pretty sweat price on kijiji. It is a little bit oversized with the 1000# tongue weight. Let's see who is getting his tt faster. Probably you I guess because the distance is shorter.

Hi Kos - Congrats on the 178! We loved the big dinette and had a long debate between it and the 179.

I also have the Pro 4X, which I think helps since the gearing is lower for offroad use. Unless you do the Firestone airbags the weight distribution hitch will be necessary. I am a bit concerned about the 1,000# bars though, since you will only have less than 400# on the tongue it could be a rough ride. I have noticed a lot of owners here are using the E2 hitch which has bars down to 450#, more suitable for our little camper and I would have gone with one of those if my airbags hadn't done the job.

I look forward to hearing how your Xterra tows. Let me know if you are going to do any high altitude towing, we want to see the Rockies and don't know how well it will do in the thin air.