179 Upgrades, the onesojourner version

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   This thread is going to be a slow burn. I am going to try to document everything I do to and related to the R॰pod over the coming years. 

I am going to start with the tow vehicle and list a couple of relevant upgrades. 

Here is the setup as it came home. 

This is a 1998 Toyota 4runner limited with about 211k on the clock. Power is provided by the slightly tired 3.4l V6. From the factory this was rated at 183hp and 217lb.ft. of torque. She still runs like a champ. In the last decade and 100k miles we have been left stranded 1 time do to a worn ignition switch. 
This picture is from about a decade ago. 

I replaced the old worn rear suspension on the 4runner with some OME 906 heavy duty springs and bilstien shocks about a year ago in anticipation of a travel trailer. It handles heavy loads much nicer now. Around the same time the radiator and timing belt were replaced. Hopefully we can get another 100k miles or so on the clock. This is basically just a tow/weekend/adventure vehicle at this point. I work from home so the miles aren't going up much anymore. 
Here we are down at Lake Leatherwood in AR

When we first got this truck I can remember finding some large diameter wire in the frame with nothing hooked up to either end. At the time I had no idea what it was and pulled it all out... turns out it was some old trailer wiring. Now that I have self educated on the 7 pin and brake controller setups I now recognize what the purpose was. I spent the holiday weekend getting a P3 brake controller and 7 pin socket installed. 

Future plans
Next up will probably be sway and most likely weight distribution. Right now I have my eyeball on the Equal-i-zer Weight Distribution - EQ37060ET. This looks like one of the easier hitches to hook up. Feel free to chime in with other options that I should look at. I probably will not do this until next spring or summer before we head to CO. 

Also, next spring will see the addition of a tranny cooler. I have not started doing any research on this one. 

My next post I will try to focus on the the trailer. 

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onesojourner Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 23 Nov 2018 Location: The Ozarks Online Status: Offline Posts: 29	Topic: 179 Upgrades, the onesojourner version Posted: 28 Nov 2018 at 12:51pm
	This thread is going to be a slow burn. I am going to try to document everything I do to and related to the R॰pod over the coming years. I am going to start with the tow vehicle and list a couple of relevant upgrades. *Here is the setup as it came home.* This is a 1998 Toyota 4runner limited with about 211k on the clock. Power is provided by the slightly tired 3.4l V6. From the factory this was rated at 183hp and 217lb.ft. of torque. She still runs like a champ. In the last decade and 100k miles we have been left stranded 1 time do to a worn ignition switch. This picture is from about a decade ago. I replaced the old worn rear suspension on the 4runner with some OME 906 heavy duty springs and bilstien shocks about a year ago in anticipation of a travel trailer. It handles heavy loads much nicer now. Around the same time the radiator and timing belt were replaced. Hopefully we can get another 100k miles or so on the clock. This is basically just a tow/weekend/adventure vehicle at this point. I work from home so the miles aren't going up much anymore. Here we are down at Lake Leatherwood in AR When we first got this truck I can remember finding some large diameter wire in the frame with nothing hooked up to either end. At the time I had no idea what it was and pulled it all out... turns out it was some old trailer wiring. Now that I have self educated on the 7 pin and brake controller setups I now recognize what the purpose was. I spent the holiday weekend getting a P3 brake controller and 7 pin socket installed. Future plans Next up will probably be sway and most likely weight distribution. Right now I have my eyeball on the Equal-i-zer Weight Distribution - EQ37060ET. This looks like one of the easier hitches to hook up. Feel free to chime in with other options that I should look at. I probably will not do this until next spring or summer before we head to CO. Also, next spring will see the addition of a tranny cooler. I have not started doing any research on this one. My next post I will try to focus on the the trailer.

Woodmiester Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 03 Aug 2018 Location: Greenwood IN Online Status: Offline Posts: 142	Posted: 28 Nov 2018 at 1:37pm
	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.
	Swampfox

onesojourner Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 23 Nov 2018 Location: The Ozarks Online Status: Offline Posts: 29	Posted: 28 Nov 2018 at 3:28pm
	That is was my thought as well. Heat is what destroys an auto tranny. It get's pretty hot on the trek through KS to get to the mountains.

onesojourner Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 23 Nov 2018 Location: The Ozarks Online Status: Offline Posts: 29	Posted: 29 Nov 2018 at 4:10pm
	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. With snow forecast in 3 days, winterizing was first on the list. I decided to live life dangerously and just blow the lines out with air and dump some antifreeze in the traps. The water heater was drained and all the low point drains were opened up for a bit. I also turned the pump on for a few seconds. I did this with air pressure on the system and without. After the first hard freeze I stepped in and the faucets were not moving. I couple days later I went back out after things warmed back up. The faucet came on on and felt smooth. A little air pressure came out too. I think we are good to go. Next up I will be addressing the sewer connection situation. We found an unused 6ft sewer hose in a cabinet. I hope to never use that. I ordered a 20ft rhinoflex kit for $26 along with a stand kit and a super slider for D & W. On a side note these people have great customer service and prices are better than amazon as of this writting. I think I will install this carrier just past the front jacks. While I was crawling around under the trailer today I took a couple of pictures of the tank support pars. Mine do not appear to be suffering the terrible QA issues that some of the earlier 179s were. They have also used a lock nut on the sewer exit pipe. I don't see this coming loose but I will be keeping an eye on it. What other common issues should I be on look out for?

mcarter Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List podders Helping podders - pHp Joined: 07 Apr 2016 Location: Greenbrier, TN Online Status: Offline Posts: 3419	Posted: 29 Nov 2018 at 4:41pm
	Kudos to you. Almost every imaginable problem has been addressed here over time. Reading and using archives will get you answers you need as it is just truth new problems will occur. Being on top of the issues is much better than trying to resolve all the issues when they happen. The 179 is a popular and good TT, many of the issue have been common to my 178. Lot of experienced owners here.
	Mike Carter 2015 178 " I had the right to remain silent, I just didn't have the ability."

StephenH Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List podders Helping podders - pHp Joined: 29 Nov 2015 Location: Wake Forest, NC Online Status: Offline Posts: 6288	Posted: 29 Nov 2018 at 7:03pm
	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!
	StephenH Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS

onesojourner Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 23 Nov 2018 Location: The Ozarks Online Status: Offline Posts: 29	Posted: 01 Dec 2018 at 8:11pm
	I got the new sewer hose storage tube mounted up today. This turned out to be more complicated than I expected do to having to use the addition bracket. I used self tapping screws and attached the brackets to the frame. I will add some SS pipe strapping on the inside of this and to both dump valves. I would still like to find some kinda of box that can hold the hose support so that all the sewer items out out of the internal storage.

onesojourner Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 23 Nov 2018 Location: The Ozarks Online Status: Offline Posts: 29	Posted: 21 Dec 2018 at 12:26pm
	We are trying to tackle as many of the logistical issues as we can while winter keeps us home. One of those is trash and the other is recyclables. I am a firm believer that MAN MADE global warming is way over blown, trash and environment destruction is something that can be fixed right now by all of us. I believe we were put here to be stewards. With that said I did some measuring and browsing on amazon and I came up with this. The screws and instructions that come with this are trash in my opinion. Other than that I am pretty happy with the system. As you 179ers know, this is not a real cabinet here. That complicated this project a lot. So this is what I have come up with.

David and Danette Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List podders Helping podders - pHp Joined: 24 Nov 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 1214	Posted: 21 Dec 2018 at 3:33pm
	Great job! I am very big in recycling too! I think your pet raccoon is happy with your work too!
	2018 Vista Cruiser 19BFD (2018- 2012 Vibe 6503 (2014-2019) 2009 r-pod 171 (2009-2014) Middle Tn 2014 Ram 1500 Quad cab

onesojourner Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 23 Nov 2018 Location: The Ozarks Online Status: Offline Posts: 29	Posted: 21 Dec 2018 at 3:37pm
	Haha, he sure does have the snarky attitude of a raccoon!