New Rpoders

+1, cut 4 sides, attached a top, put molding around it, stained to Pod wood (as close as I could)

Hello Todd,
Welcome and congratulations!
We have a 2016 RP-179. Ours came with neither 12V outlets nor USB outlets. They are actually easy to install. Then you can put them where you want them instead of having them where someone else thought was a good location. As for the cost, think more like a couple of bucks instead of a couple hundred. They aren't that expensive. Did they remove the USB outlets or just relocate them?

The RP-179 does NOT come with an inverter. It comes with a converter for converting 120V to 12V. This serves to charge the battery (or batteries if you have dual 6V) and to supply power to the 12V items in the 'Pod. You will need to have a battery installed as the power from the converter isn't clean enough to run some items reliably. The difference is that an inverter goes from 12V to 120V. If you want an inverter, it is something you would need to purchase separately.

For a lug wrench, the lug nuts are a standard 3/4" You should invest in a torque wrench for tightening the lug nuts. You can catch them on sale at Harbor Freight if you have one in your area for a reasonable cost. The alloy rims of the 'Pods can lead to lose lug nuts. If the wheel is removed, they need to be re-torqued after 50 miles, then after 100 miles, and then checked to make sure they stay tight. Other messages in the forum can elaborate further. As for a jack, I tried my vehicle jack once. It bent. I bought a hydraulic trolley jack at Walmart. I also made a block that allows me to jack at the riser while not putting pressure on the axle. That is important as using the axle for jacking can damage it. You can see the block in my mods, a link to which is in my signature.

I used some strap aluminum and made battery locks. That is one of the mods you can see in the mods link in my signature. If you are not hooked to shore power, you may want to put in a battery cut-off switch also. Otherwise, the parasitic power draws will drain your batteries. Some, like the propane/CO detector can't be switched off so a battery cut-off is the only way to halt the parasitic drain.
I bought a small, Bestek 150 Watt inverter for the TV. I have not been able to try it out since our R-Pod is at the factory for repair. It is very small and when I plugged it in to the truck's 12V power, it was very quiet. It is much less expensive than a 12V television. I don't think it is pure sine. However, I think it will work okay.

No need to jury rig. You can find a 12V wire behind the radio. From that, you can wire in a 12V outlet. I wired in multiple outlets. One has two 12V power outlets and one USB charger outlet. Another is a 12V power outlet with a USB charger outlet next to it. I wired in a voltmeter next to the panel for tank and battery levels with a momentary switch so it only reads when I press the switch.

USB outlets should only provide 5V power. It is possible that you have a defective USB outlet or that something happened to it. When you say you are running 2 batteries, I am guessing that they are two 6V batteries wired in series to provide 12V or two 12V batteries wired in parallel. Whichever, 600W of solar power may have contributed if your solar charge controller wasn't limiting the voltage correctly. You can always get access to the back of the USB outlet and check the voltage reading from there.

Question: Can you plug into the AC outlets when on battery power (and drain em fast), or are you completely cut off without installing 12 cold and USB?   I have other power sources including a Stanley Powermax which I've had no problems with this far. One trick I know is you can't run the compressors on these types for more than 10 min or they fry. Had an old Sears model for 20 years. Hose finally cracked and wasn't worth replacing.