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podwerkz 
Senior Member 
Joined: 11 Mar 2019 Location: Texas Online Status: Offline Posts: 966 |
 Topic: tow vehicle questionPosted: 17 Jun 2019 at 3:21pm |
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I found a metris forum thread that provides some good information and paints a generally good experience towing about 3000 pounds with a Metris.
I am the type of person who prefers plenty of engine power for towing, and I dont like over-stressing the components of an expensive vehicle....BUT....if the Metris is what a person has, and they want a small travel trailer, it certainly sounds do-able. I think r-pods are a bit heavy for the Metris, but then again, they are affordable. There are apparently some issues regarding the hitch configuration and getting a non-factory brake controller to work, so this might be an ideal situation for a Curt Echo electric brake controller. Anyway, here is the link: |
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r･pod 171 gone but not forgotten!
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offgrid
Senior Member
Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290 |
Posted: 17 Jun 2019 at 7:02pm |
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There are several folks on that Metris forum towing around 4000 lbs with theirs, including through mountains. They seem to be comfortable with them. Expect the fuel economy to drop into the 14 mpg range like everyone else does towing.
I have the opposite bias from podwerks, I tend to prefer vehicles with smaller engines and I've never had an engine quit on me from being overstressed. My old VW's did suck exhaust valves pretty regularly but that was typical for those air cooled engines in hot climates. There are those who wouldn't pull a popup with anything smaller than an F250 with a 6.2 liter 385 hp V8, and those who think nothing of heading across country in a 80's Toyota class B with a 2.4 liter 105 HP 4 cyl. Either can be perfectly safe, or not. Safety comes from staying well under the weight specs for the tow vehicle (trailer, tongue, axle, and GCVW), from driving conservatively, and from not towing in really bad weather. |
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |
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lostagain
Senior Member
Joined: 06 Sep 2016 Location: Quaker Hill, CT Online Status: Offline Posts: 2586 |
Posted: 17 Jun 2019 at 8:31pm |
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Let me guess. The number 3 exhaust valve?
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Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney Sonoma 167RB Our Pod 172 2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost |
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offgrid
Senior Member
Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290 |
Posted: 17 Jun 2019 at 9:13pm |
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Mostly. Sometimes number 1, because the 3/4 head got replaced more often. That never stranded me, bus engine still ran, probably making all of about 35 hp. I carried a spare head and could do an engine pull and head swap in under an hour, for $25, back in the day. Driving a Westy in Phoenix in the summer was hard duty for those little engines.
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |
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Marty P
Newbie 
Joined: 25 May 2019 Location: Ohio Online Status: Offline Posts: 4 |
Posted: 23 Jun 2019 at 8:58am |
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Lots of good information, but like everything, full of conflicting opinions. I wish I could hook up an r pod and give it a test, but that seems impossible. I don't want a smaller trailer, and I don't want another vehicle, so I won't buy an r pod. I am not comfortable spending a chuck of change and not know what to expect. I spent the last week building my van into a camper.....well, a crude one, that is, but I am going with that and all the limitations that it comes with. I have never owned a tt and then I am going to buy one and see if I did the right thing? Hmmm. What kind of a business is this anyway?
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marty
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GlueGuy
Senior Member
Joined: 15 May 2017 Location: N. California Online Status: Offline Posts: 2627 |
Posted: 23 Jun 2019 at 9:06am |
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My SO still loves camping in a van. If that's what turns your crank, well then that's great! The R-pod (for us) is just a more cush way of doing it. Good luck to you Marty. Let us know how camping in the van works for you.
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bp
2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River 2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost |
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Colt
Senior Member
Joined: 16 Nov 2019 Online Status: Offline Posts: 383 |
Posted: 04 Dec 2019 at 11:39pm |
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Stay under the vehicle's ratings and drive carefully and you'll be fine. The number of cylinders is irrelevant. A small turbocharged engine will be more highly stressed than a larger engine of equal power, but then, its also built for it.
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John
'16 R-Pod 180 |
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Happy Tripping
Senior Member
Joined: 27 May 2014 Online Status: Offline Posts: 473 |
Posted: 05 Dec 2019 at 6:30am |
Nuts. It sounds like you want 100% certainty when 98% won't do. What possible good would pulling any trailer for a little while around town do for you?? 1. The metris with a turbo engine is plenty powerful enuf for an r-pod (5000 pounds towing capacity!). 2. On level ground the metris will be very satisfactory. You may not go very fast up steep hills, but speed kills and even on level ground trailers shouldn't be pulled over about 65 mph anyway. Your van conversion should work very well where there are showers etc, like at a typical state park, and if that is what you want - wonderful for you.
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furpod
Moderator Group - pHp 
Joined: 25 Jul 2011 Location: Central KY Online Status: Offline Posts: 6128 |
Posted: 05 Dec 2019 at 10:54am |
No one has owned a TT before.. until they own one. That's how everything in life works. We all go/went into it guessing. If your van has a 5k tow rating, then it should be fine, does your owners manual give you any frontal area restrictions? If not, then you are within the manufacturers rating, just the same as you would be with any other 5K rated vehicle. No one here can tell you anything more than that.
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ArenaBlanca
Senior Member
Joined: 07 Sep 2016 Location: Alamogordo, NM Online Status: Offline Posts: 158 |
Posted: 06 Dec 2019 at 9:44am |
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I think that most of us started out towing with what we have or had. After reading the posts here, I think there are several options for you.
The first is to rent the TT you are thinking of buying and to tow it with what you have, but you had indicated that local dealers weren't willing to rent. The second option is to rent a u-haul, load it to an equal weight as the 190, and tow it with your existing vehicle. That would give you some idea as to how adequate you feel your current vehicle is for towing. One option that I don't believe has been mentioned is to buy the TT you want and to rent a tow vehicle for the times you want to go camping. This seems like an expensive option but may be less expensive than new truck payments. Of course, if you are retired and spend 3-6 months on the road like some of us, this may not be cheaper. And, of course, there is the option of converting your existing vehicle. You may be able to convert it back. I was once told that torque determines what you can move and horsepower determines how fast you can move it. I feel that the 5000 lb tow rating is adequate for a 190 but you may or may not be happy with the performance. I got my tow vehicle back when I had a 13500 lb fifth wheel camper. It is a diesel and has a super charger on it. I tow at 62 mph even though it is possible to go faster because of fuel economy. I discount the concept of 4 cylinder vs 6 or eight cylinder for the simple reason that Offenhauser 4 cylinder engines were used in Indy car racers quite successfully.
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Enjoy Life!!
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tow vehicle question