Moving past your first trailer

We spent time and money repairing our Gastropod last year, yet decided after a friend showed up with a new/used trailer at our last rendezvous in 2023 one more year enjoying it, then upgrade. Let someone else learn on it.

We had the same issues. Our desire to tour longer distances for longer periods of time pushed our 2016 179 to it's limits. After any trip longer than a couple hundred miles, the repair list would easily consume a legal page. We sold the 179 to a weekend camper and purchased an Escape, fiberglass trailer. The difference in quality, durability and ease of use was next level. Of course the price was as well, but you get what you pay for.

Hi Poohbill,

The Sonoma has a GVW of 4,400 lbs. [1,271 for stuff over the "dry weight"].  I weighed the trailer loaded for our normal camping and we were well within the cargo limit.  When we moved from Dayton, NV to Quaker Hill, CT, we loaded the truck and trailer to the nearly the max GCVW.  We took I-80 across the country.  The truck crossed the Rockies like they were flat.  The ecoboost engine has more than enough power to easily pull the trailer up the steepest climbs.  Several times we crossed Ebbetts Pass (8,800 ft. el.) and the only thing that slowed us down were the hair pin curves.  On the other hand the engine compression breaking is very poor and one must really keep the speed under control to avoid braking excessively.

We replaced our Pod with a slightly larger FR product, a Sonoma 167RB, a 22' single axle trailer with a full bath and a "walk" around short queen bed.  It has been a much more comfortable trailer for the two of us.  The bathroom sink and the useable shower have been a plus, as has the larger refrigerator and the 3 burner stove with an oven.  Also, the I-beam frame and leaf spring mounted axle have been far sturdier than the box beam and torsion axle of our 172.  I've made a number of small modifications that amount to adding some storage space along the sides of the bed, making it easier to get in and out of the nearly 30" high bed and providing a place for things like shoes and dirty clothes.  The bed has the standard lift up base with storage below, but there was about a 20" deep unused space under the foot of the bed which was not included in the under bed storage.  I added a couple shelves and we have plastic containers that fit in there and make a 6 bin storage place for all our clothes and such.  I also replaced the towering plastic toilet that felt like it was going to topple over with a porcelain low profile commode which provides a much more stable head that doesn't stress the attachment flange every time you use it.  Another advantage is that the trailer bottom is enclosed, including a small vent from the heater, and handle colder temperatures than the open bottom of our Pod.  Proof being we spent a night in Wyoming that got down to 11℉ with no issues with frozen pipes or tank contents.