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Topic ClosedPod leaning to driver's side
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offgrid View Drop Down
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Posts: 5290 		Direct Link To This Post Topic: Pod leaning to driver's side
    Posted: 17 Oct 2018 at 7:39pm
Good idea, Bigfoot could put his foot on the step. That would balance things up for sure. 
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Posts: 3419 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Oct 2018 at 6:27pm
+1. I'm going back to chasing Yeti.
Mike Carter
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Posts: 5290 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Oct 2018 at 6:24pm
What items did you find on the pass side to balance the appliances on the driver's side? And yes actual wheel weight measurements would put this question to bed. 

As I understand the axle design, the torsional loading is taken by a steel bar, not the rubber. The rubber just centers it. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong. 
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Posts: 80 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Oct 2018 at 6:18pm
To Offgrid

The water heater was drained.

Today I went out and took an eyeball calculation of the mass on the left and right sides. Yesterday it seemed to be more massive on the drivers side, now I'm not so sure its hundreds of pounds more (especially with slide in and closer to center of gravity).  It would be nice to know the actual  weight difference side to side.

They do seem to gross weight these things close to the axle weight limit, and the stress from a WDH especially under driving conditions does not improve the comfort zone

Although it is mostly an aesthetic problem, I too have some degree of concern for metal stress, bent frame and etc. However I'm thinking it is more likely a deformity or loss of elasticity of the rubber cords inside the axle tube that might be the problem.

Best Regards

 
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Posts: 3419 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Oct 2018 at 6:01pm
You might be able to use a Sherline to measure that weight, if 3/4 or 1 " causes you to lose sleep.
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Posts: 5290 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Oct 2018 at 5:13pm
malkbean2, was your water heater drained when you measured yours?  FWIW that's 50 lbs. Jato's was doubtless winterized knowing where he lives. 

We know that our pods are some hundreds of pounds heavier on the drivers side, Have to be. That is certainly going to cause lean as GlueGuy says. You also have to allow for some manufacturing tolerance either way. Overall, I don't have any reason to doubt that FR's stated 1 inch "lean" tolerance is unreasonable.  You could for example look at it as 0.5 inch nominal lean +- 0.5 inch manufacturing tolerance. That would explain your's, mine, and Jato's measurements as well as FR's max allowable. 

Also, I don't think that there is any reason to expect the lean to get worse just with age. Steel is considered to be elastic up until yield point so the torsion bars, axle housing, frame etc will all spring back to where they were unless you overstress them. 

But if your concern is that you may have overstressed/or may in future overstress the steel in your axle or torsion bars and that is causing/will cause your RPOD to lean more or worse problems like that is a fair concern, I'm concerned about that too.  We know that the RPOD axles are close to their rated limits on the larger pods when loaded. I've weighed mine at about 3380 lbs with my wd hitch tensioned.  And we know that they're heavier on the drivers side, we just don't know by exactly how much.  I've got to believe my driver's side is a bit over 1750. 

So, what to do? For myself I would really like to know the actual weight difference between the two wheels for the different models to see where we really are compared to the 1750 per side axle load limitation. Anyone have access to a 1-2 ton or higher wheel scale? 
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Posts: 2629 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Oct 2018 at 1:10pm
Originally posted by malkbean2

To Jato

For me, this is becoming a mystery that must be solved. The only weight distribution item in your list that would seem to make a difference is the microwave and thats not enuf weight to matter, and if Forest River has designed a pod to naturally lean due to the slide weight one would expect that a 7 year old one would tend to lean even more. I'm not so sure I'm buying into the contention that it is natural for a pod with a slide to lean.
It's not a mystery at all. Purely gravity. The torsion suspension on each side is identical, but independent. Ergo, more weight = more deflection. Even a small amount of weight difference would cause "some" difference in deflection. The only question is how much, and how much of that is reasonable. The amount of deflection is controlled by the rubber rods that are inserted into the square axle. If you were really concerned about it, you could pull out the OEM rubber rods & cut them in half. Then get a set of rods from Lippert or Dexter for the next highest weight rating. Cut those in half, and use the light ones on the light side and the heavier ones on the heavy side.

That sounds like more work than it would be worth (to me).
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Posts: 80 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Oct 2018 at 7:13am
To Jato

For me, this is becoming a mystery that must be solved. The only weight distribution item in your list that would seem to make a difference is the microwave and thats not enuf weight to matter, and if Forest River has designed a pod to naturally lean due to the slide weight one would expect that a 7 year old one would tend to lean even more. I'm not so sure I'm buying into the contention that it is natural for a pod with a slide to lean.
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Posts: 3220 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Oct 2018 at 5:24am
This topic peaked interest in that i also own a 177 so yesterday I took it out of hibernation and took it to a level parking lot and took a bunch of measurements and found zero difference in height between passenger and driver side of the pod.  Maybe because there is nothing extra inside because we don't plan on camping for the next 6 months, maybe because they were built slightly different in 2011, maybe because we don't have A/C, convection/microwave, or entertainment system; I am not sure but tire pressure was checked and everything measured the same, no tilt.  
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Posts: 80 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Oct 2018 at 4:36am
I dont recall seeing this leaning when it was new(its a 2016). I think I would have noticed it. That would suggest to me that something is wearing out or wearing in or bending. A likely candidate would be the torsion spring. Yes it is aesthetic mostly but the problem is if and when you go to sell it. A keen eye would no doubt question its value. 

The issue you mention about the tire is interesting. One would think that because of the awkward weight distribution the recommended tire pressures would be different.
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