Introduce yourself |
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BMJ
Newbie Joined: 25 May 2020 Location: Virginia Online Status: Offline Posts: 24 |
Topic: Introduce yourself Posted: 15 Jun 2020 at 9:55am |
Installed a break controller on our 2013 Frontier, it has the factory tow package so it was plug and go. A couple screws for bracket was all it took. Works great, we pull a 195 in the Mountains of Virginia/North Carolina/ Kentucky... plenty of power. Enjoy!
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JulieAnna
Newbie Joined: 13 Jun 2020 Location: Georgia Online Status: Offline Posts: 3 |
Posted: 17 Jun 2020 at 10:22am |
Hello everyone,
My husband and I just purchased a new to us, 2017 180. This is our first experience with an “RV”. We’ve done a good bit of off-road camper with a tent trailer he built. We have loved traveling to more isolated places and rougher terrain and plan to still take trips with it. There are many reasons I wanted the rpod. First, since my husband travels a lot for work, it’s just my teenage daughter, myself and our large dog. I needed something that was fairly easy for a beginner and lighter due to my towing vehicle Toyota 4-Runner TRD Off-road’s towing capacity of 5000. Secondly, we wanted to bring the pup (and possibly our cat at some point, though I’m the only one who thinks it’s a good idea ) and be able to leave him/them in the camper if needed for a short time. We are used to traveling light and without many amenities with the tent trailer so we don’t need too much but the air condition and heat are important if we plan on leaving the animals for any amount of time. Plus the teenage is really happy about a “real” bathroom. Thirdly, I want to see America, visit small towns, see landmarks, national parks, and meet up with the husband wherever he is working. I especially wanted to before my daughter goes to college or starts getting busy with her own life. (Though I still plan on traveling by myself if my hubby is out of town.) Currently my in-laws (avid RV travelers in a much larger 5th wheel) and I are camping in a lake campground close to where we live in north Georgia for a few days so I can get first hand experience from them. Hubby is out of town so it’s just us girls and the dog and so far so good. Tomorrow we leave and I will get to experience dumping the tanks. We are still making the camper our own and have much to do and buy but overall after one night I’m feeling pretty good about our ability to do this on our own. P.S. I’m currently researching WDH if anyone has any suggestions or things to avoid. Thanks if you made it to end of my ridiculously long intro and I hope to see y’all out on our adventures.
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First RV
2016 R-Pod 180 2018 4-Runner TRD Off-road |
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StephenH
podders Helping podders - pHp Joined: 29 Nov 2015 Location: Wake Forest, NC Online Status: Offline Posts: 6289 |
Posted: 17 Jun 2020 at 10:49am |
Welcome and Congratulations! I hope you have many fun adventures and make many great memories with your RP180. We have a 2016 RP179 and are currently towing with a 2010 Nissan Frontier. Since you say your 4-Runner has a 5,000 lb capacity, I am guessing it comes with a factory tow package. You will need a brake controller as well. We have the Hopkins In-SIGHT Flex-Mount controller and have been very happy with it. WDH/sway control: If you are getting WDH, make sure it has sway control built in. That way, you don't need to mess with a separate sway bar and its complications. A good one would be an Andersen No-Sway hitch. It is probably the lightest of the WDH hitches with sway control. All the others use a heavy hitch head and bars. If weight is important to you, check out the Andersen hitch. We currently use a Hensley Cub hitch. It and the ProPride hitch which is similar are the Cadillac of hitches--quite expensive unless you can find a used one.. It is easier in that the main part of the hitch stays attached to the trailer and the part that attaches to the vehicle is very much lighter although hitching up can be challenging, more so than the demo on the web site where things are perfectly lined up. We used to use an Equal-i-zer 4-point sway control hitch. The head is heavy, but it was pretty effective. Similar to it is the E2 hitch which is a 2 point sway control hitch. The E2 is less expensive, but many have used it and found it to be adequate. There are other brands also. Just make sure that you buy one that is suited to the weight (overall and tongue) weight of the RPod. For example, the Equal-i-zer 6000/600 (6000 lb capacity, 600 lb tongue weight capacity) which is the one the dealer installed when we bought our RPod. That is my $.02 worth. I'm sure others will also give their input. I wish you well.
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StephenH
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
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JulieAnna
Newbie Joined: 13 Jun 2020 Location: Georgia Online Status: Offline Posts: 3 |
Posted: 17 Jun 2020 at 12:19pm |
Thanks so much for the advice! I will definitely be looking at ones with sway control.
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First RV
2016 R-Pod 180 2018 4-Runner TRD Off-road |
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EchoGale
Senior Member Joined: 10 Mar 2019 Location: FL Online Status: Offline Posts: 463 |
Posted: 17 Jun 2020 at 12:40pm |
Hi JulieAnna,
Welcome! I also travel in my rpod by myself a lot (just drove from FL to ME using Boondockers Welcome overnight spots.) I want to 2nd the suggestion of the Anderson WDH. Its a little overwhelming at first but but it is light-ish and I can handle each of the pieces by myself. My rule for everything has been if I can't do it by myself its not part of the camper. I was in North Georgia last Fall; maybe we'll cross paths at some point. |
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Julie
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JulieAnna
Newbie Joined: 13 Jun 2020 Location: Georgia Online Status: Offline Posts: 3 |
Posted: 17 Jun 2020 at 12:43pm |
Thanks for the recommendation as well! With a name like Julie, you must know what you are talking about 😉!
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First RV
2016 R-Pod 180 2018 4-Runner TRD Off-road |
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offgrid
Senior Member Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290 |
Posted: 17 Jun 2020 at 12:55pm |
Welcome. I agree with StephenH's recommendation to get a wdh. You are pretty close to your max capacity towing with a 180 and a 4Runner.
Unlike StephenH, I prefer separate sway control from the wdh. That allows me to adjust the level of sway resistance independently from the amount of weight distribution. There is a school of thought that a lot of sway resistance is undesirable on wet or loose road surfaces because it could cause the tow vehicle rear tires to break loose, so in those conditions and on very winding roads I lower the friction in the sway control arms. The all in one systems don't allow for that. Just my preference.
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |
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awags
Newbie Joined: 19 Jun 2020 Location: Ogden, UT Online Status: Offline Posts: 5 |
Posted: 19 Jun 2020 at 12:39pm |
Hi All, we are new to this forum, We bought a used 2016 R-Pod model 171 and really love it. We did have the axle (and wheels) replaced because the "off road" axle it came with was not off road and bent which also resulted in the A/C falling from the ceiling. Once we got that all fixed and reinforced we are back in business. we live in Ogden UT.
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StephenH
podders Helping podders - pHp Joined: 29 Nov 2015 Location: Wake Forest, NC Online Status: Offline Posts: 6289 |
Posted: 19 Jun 2020 at 4:11pm |
Welcome! Now that you have it fixed, I hope you have many fun adventures and make many great memories doing so with your RPod. Was it the AC that fell or only the inside shroud for the AC? If the whole unit came through the roof, that would really be bad.
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StephenH
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
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awags
Newbie Joined: 19 Jun 2020 Location: Ogden, UT Online Status: Offline Posts: 5 |
Posted: 22 Jun 2020 at 9:19am |
Thanks for the welcome, it was the shroud, metal brackets and all the long screws holding in the ac, the screws were all broken like twigs and the AC on top was not secured any longer. We are really happy with the news axle, it seems much more stable.
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