179 Upgrades, the onesojourner version

Trust me on this one: That lock nut on the sewer exit pipe can and will come loose if you hit enough bumpy roads. That is why I did my mod and others have done mods to add an additional support or just replaced the factory support with a better one. I say this because the first time, one locknut came loose. The second time, the factory had added a second support like the first and both of them came loose and they both had locknuts. My design allows the pipe to move  when bumps are hit without stressing the mounting bolts and nuts. There won't be a third time!

Alright, Now for the trailer. This 2017 179 spent the summer at a dealership not far from us. I looked at it online but it was way out of the budget. A few months later we were passing through and we decided to stop by. It was all locked up but at least we got to see the outside in person. I week before Thanksgiving we are in the neighborhood again. Our RV search was getting a little more serious, but we were still just browsing. After looking at the Airstreams we walk back over to the rpod. It is still locked but a salesmen came out. I wondered if they were interested in getting rid of it before winter. He said yes and I told him I did not want to wheel and deal just give me a price. He came back with $12000. This is still way more than we planned to spend. Keep in mind we have not been inside yet. He opens it up and we step in. It was brand new. It was roomy with the exception of the bathroom. We were both impressed. We went to another dealer less than an hour away. He had a used satellite with a rear bath. It felt very similar to the rpod. It was also used but it was 4k higher. We went home and I did some more digging. The price we were given on the rpod was looking more and more like a deal. There were others in the area that were older and in worse shape and they were still several thousand more than the first one we looked at. Anyways, on black Friday we walked out with our new travel trailer.

I am towing with a Ford Explorer Sport Trac V6 4.0.  Thinking of getting a transmission cooler installed also.  Never had a problem, but it surely can't hurt.