I wrecked our escaPod

Originally posted by Dave & Donna Hi Stephen! Glad you got your Pod back. Looks Great! I showed the Mrs. your shelf above the bed & she Love'd it! I think I saw one at Lowe's. The box said it was 72" & I'm thinking it's 74" or so from wall to wall. I was wondering how you made yours work....maybe I can give it a try!! Thanks, D.

So am I. Thank you. Look on page 1 of my mods, and you will see how it works. See the link in my signature.

Now that I (hopefully) have gotten the right information on how to post a Google photo, here is the 'Pod as picked up in Goshen.



Next post will be with modifications and awning extended. I can't seem to get a second photo into this post.

Edit: That photo will have to wait. I can't seem to get it to show at the moment. Maybe it needs to be on Google Photos for more than a few minutes before the link will work.

StephenH, concerning your sewer hose and new holder. I went to our local rv repair shop and bought a 20ft sewer hose and a new end that hooks onto the black and grey tubes under the trailer. After making sure the new end would fit unto the tubes under the trailer, I just used a ring clamp to attaché the 2 new pieces together. The new sewer hose FITS into the stock sewer hose holder from FR with a couple of inches to spare.. Going on year # 3 with this and all is well so far.

I did not measure, but it extends quite a ways. It would be sufficient to cover a picnic table when fully extended and the picnic table would not need to be right next to the 'Pod.

I never had the R-Dome. I can't make a direct comparison. However, I did not care for the pictures of it that I saw. The one I made used the keder rail, but was just an awning. Mine did not extend nearly as far as I did not have the width material to make one large enough. I was really happy to get the Thule awning. In my opinion, it is a great alternative. However, that is why both are offered. People can make their choice between them.

Positive points:
1. Easy for one person to operate.
2. No ladder needed to operate.
3. Provides great cover over the side of the 'Pod.

Negatives:
1. Does not allow the ability to add walls (currently) so it can't be used as an additional room.
2. Does not extend much past the door so it would not provide much protection against wind-driven rain.
3. Does not extend forward enough to provide rain protection for the bedroom area window. On this, I don't know if the R-Dome would either.

Neutral:
1. This is a manual awning. An electric awning might be nice, but this one does operate easily and is simpler since there is no motor or electrical connections to malfunction.

Overall personal opinion:  I have wanted such an awning since I got our RP-179. I would not recommend having an accident so it can go to the factory to be repaired in order to get one. If we did not have the accident, I would have kep using the one I made until we eventually would have needed to replace the R-Pod with something newer. The Thule awning is definitely a positive move for me.

Thank you. I thought about the PahaQue visor. Our homemade awning worked, but was not as easy to deal with and to figure out how to carry the poles. Now, except for the crank handle, it is all self-contained. Now to figure out what to do with the homemade awning material and poles.