jjbescher

Thanks everyone for the warm welcomes. It helps when NC is freezing at this point.

I am still at the point of getting the 173T warm enough.  We have slept in it twice.  On Saturday, only reflectix in the very small back window and my wife woke up at 2:30 in the morning freezing.  She said the air mattress was like sleeping on a block of ice.  So on Sunday, I spent cutting out the reflectix to put in the bigger windows on the side and putting it on both sides of the fold down piece.  The inside piece was easy, but the outside piece I had to cut out holes for all the little hinges and stuff.

I decided to try to sleep in the tent end on Sunday night and it seemed fine to me.   No block of ice.  I think the reflectix helped out a lot.  We are still getting a heated mattress pad to put over the air mattress and that should help.

I really will not be able to get work on it till Thursday, by the time I get home from work and coaching it is dark and cold.

I really have enjoyed all reading about all the mods and was planning on doing some of them myself.  It turns out I think Forest River has actually listened to their customer.  I do not need to make the mod to get under the couch easier because they made it so that piece can come off very easy.

I did buy pieces for railing over the microwave.  When measuring it is over 2' X 2' and was able to buy a 4' piece and just cut in half.  I have not installed it yet, pieces cut and stained, but need to still be put in.

I am thinking having the rpod will save me probably about 2 hours of packing and unpacking for a weekend trip.  I realize that there is going to be set-up and take down time, but I normally make about 3 or 4 trips to the car when packing and unpacking, then just going to where I need to go there is normally a couple of trips.  I figured I can sleep in or relax about an extra hour every day.

It is also going to act as storage for some of the stuff I use to have to leave at my parents house and all around my house.

I am so excited about this weekend to use it.

jon

I completely forgot to mention another part of using Reflectix (radiant barrier) in the tent-end.  You can cut pieces of the radiant barrier to fit into the windows.  We used this all the time, even when it wasn't too hot or cold, because it kept it dark in the morning.  We like to sleep in.  But this also helped as much as the cover over the roof to keep the heat and cold out.

Excellent.  Happy days to you and welcome to podland! 

Definitely want to see the pics, and I also want to welcome you.

I want to let you know there is a solution for the tent-end when its very hot or cold.  I'll preface this by saying that I don't think you'll need it.  The A/C and heater in the 'pod are oversized for the job and could easily keep a trailer twice the size of the 'pod cool or warm.  In my popup we only had a problem when we were in direct sunlight above 90F, or below 40F.

If you do have a problem, you can go with a commercial solution or a homemade solution.  In either case the solution is a "radiant barrier", basically aluminum foil.  You can try Popup Gizmos for an easy and well-respected solution used in the popup world.  You can also buy a roll of radiant barrier (either foil or bubble-wrap type) and cut a sheet to size.  Drape it over the top and clamp it down with spring clamps.  One problem with the foil type is constant movement from wind can make holes in the barrier and also rub some foil dust into the tenting.

We only used this during early-season trips when it dipped into the 30's, or during our annual trip to the beach.  Most other times we were camped in the shade or it was cool enough even in the sun.

I'm going to repost this on another forum here since this applies to all tent-end models.

Congrats!!  I'll be looking for the pics & review.  Do a review of the dealership also.  That helps people that are still looking to buy.  Almost forgot:  WELCOME to our site!

Terry