Reviews and General Information: R-Pod vs Vista Cruiser

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R-Pod vs Vista Cruiser

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Topic: R-Pod vs Vista Cruiser

Posted By: utmck
Subject: R-Pod vs Vista Cruiser
Date Posted: 19 Aug 2017 at 5:43pm

Just went to the local RV store to look at R-Pod's and learn more about them and also saw the Vista Cruiser 19 ERD by Gulfstream and was wondering if there is a difference in quality between the 2 rv's. I really appreciate any info anyone can shed on this.

Thanks.

Replies:

Posted By: GlueGuy
Date Posted: 19 Aug 2017 at 7:52pm

Never heard of it before. Poked around on the net a bit, and they look like similar materials to an R-pod. They will be a little wider and heavier than a roughly equivalent R-pod. The 19ERD looks "similar" to an R-179. About 600-800 lbs heavier, but does not include a slide-out. May not need it, as the body is wider to begin with (which is why it's heavier). I like the walk-around bed. Don't like the arrangement of the stove. Like the dry bath.

Similar pricing. I might look at one to consider.

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bp
2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River
2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost

Posted By: CharlieM
Date Posted: 19 Aug 2017 at 9:25pm

Back in 2012-2013 when we were looking for our first trailer we looked at the 19 ERD. It is a very attractive floor plan in that it has the full rear dinette, a dry bath, and the walk around bed. HOWEVER, they were having an extreme problem with bent axles because they were using a single 3500# axle. It looks like they may have gone to a 4000# axle but I don't know if it solved the problem. You might search around for reports, maybe on a Gulf Stream or RV.net forum. They really had a lot of unhappy customers.

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Charlie
Northern Colorado
OLD: 2013 RP-172, 2010 Honda Pilot 3.5L 4WD
PRESENT: 2014 Camplite 21RBS, 2013 Supercharged Tacoma 4L V6 4WD

Posted By: GlueGuy
Date Posted: 19 Aug 2017 at 11:30pm

Originally posted by CharlieM

It looks like they may have gone to a 4000# axle but I don't know if it solved the problem. You might search around for reports, maybe on a Gulf Stream or RV.net forum. They really had a lot of unhappy customers.

That's interesting. The 19ERD is ~~ 2847# empty, with a 1533# carrying capacity. If my math still works, that puts the gross weight at about 4380#. Seems like manufacturers like to push the boundaries on axle capacity?

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bp
2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River
2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost

Posted By: furpod
Date Posted: 20 Aug 2017 at 10:58am

Originally posted by GlueGuy

Nope.. remember, tongue weight isn't carried by the axle, and 10%-15% of 4380 is just about enough to keep the axle under it's load limit, design criteria.

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Posted By: CharlieM
Date Posted: 20 Aug 2017 at 2:12pm

Yup. From their spec sheet: 2847+1533-380=4000. That's how they figure it, and that's a recipe for a bent axle.

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Charlie
Northern Colorado
OLD: 2013 RP-172, 2010 Honda Pilot 3.5L 4WD
PRESENT: 2014 Camplite 21RBS, 2013 Supercharged Tacoma 4L V6 4WD

Posted By: furpod
Date Posted: 20 Aug 2017 at 2:47pm

Originally posted by CharlieM

Yup. From their spec sheet: 2847+1533-380=4000. That's how they figure it, and that's a recipe for a bent axle.

Whole industry does it that way. The belief that FR somehow is doing something new and unusual with Pods is wrong, even though people seem to think it so. All they did/do, was find an attractive package to do the same thing with.

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