Wish List?
Printed From: R-pod Owners Forum
Category: R-pod Discussion Forums
Forum Name: Wish List
Forum Discription: Tell Forest River what you would like to see in the r-pod
URL: http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=10901
Printed Date: 20 Apr 2024 at 2:38am
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 9.64 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Wish List?
Posted By: henryv
Subject: Wish List?
Date Posted: 09 Nov 2017 at 6:02am
I wish that FR would actually read these, and act on them. I wish they would get a quality control department that doesn't accept sub-quality workmanship, and doesn't make the owner take it on himself to re-do much of the cosmetic work. Is that asking too much? 
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Replies:
Posted By: Subzilla
Date Posted: 09 Nov 2017 at 8:50am
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+1 ------------- Mark Concord, NC 2017 RP 179 "Podzilla" 2011 Silverado 1500 4X4 |
Posted By: Keith-N-Dar
Date Posted: 09 Nov 2017 at 9:38am
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Are you willing to pay the extra cost for the increased specifications you want?
------------- Keith-N-Dar Boris & Betty (Boston Terriers) 2011 R-Pod 177 2010 Ford F-150 |
Posted By: henryv
Date Posted: 09 Nov 2017 at 12:12pm
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I don't want increased specs. Just decent workmanship, that doesn't look like it was done by ten chimpanzines. Sloppy caulking and things that don't fit or work, are unacceptable. I am still working on basic caulking, inside and out, cleaning up sloppy work. I like the basic design of the R-pod, but the workmanship looks like they just grabbed somebody off the street to do it. Very disappointing. ------------- |
Posted By: Keith-N-Dar
Date Posted: 09 Nov 2017 at 5:06pm
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your experience and mine are quite different. I assume that most pods are more like mine than like yours. ------------- Keith-N-Dar Boris & Betty (Boston Terriers) 2011 R-Pod 177 2010 Ford F-150 |
Posted By: henryv
Date Posted: 09 Nov 2017 at 7:16pm
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You know what they say about assumptions. ------------- |
Posted By: wooleeman
Date Posted: 09 Nov 2017 at 7:51pm
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As a fairly new Podder I was warned about the sometimes inferior materials but I thought that there would have been more pride in workmanship. Love the Pod but the workmanship stinks. If the quality control department started sending the stuff back and the employees were given reviews on their work, things would be better. ------------- 2022 RP-202 2016 RP-179 (Sold 9/2020) 2014 Silverado Crew Cab. 6-1/2' Bed Golden Retriever (DOB 6/16/2020) English Bulldog (RIP 6/15/2020) |
Posted By: jato
Date Posted: 09 Nov 2017 at 7:56pm
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I am with you Keith-N-Dar. No problems with ours, maybe due to the fact ours was built January 2011 when they didn't crank out as many as they do now. Nevertheless, we covered this at the ERU last summer in Traverse City, MI and the consensus was that most pods were done quite well when it came to workmanship and cleanliness. OR maybe the selling dealer did all the cleanup for me before I took ownership, that is another possibility.
------------- God's pod '11 model 177 '17 Ford F-150 4WD 3.5 Ecoboost Jim and Diane by beautiful Torch Lake "...and you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free." |
Posted By: mjlrpod
Date Posted: 10 Nov 2017 at 6:25am
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I am so far happy with my pod. Ive had it 1 year, ive taken it out atleast 10 times, with 10 straight days in a row my longest camp. I did have a couple issues at first. My brakes would go from good to almost locking up and causing a skid without warning. My black tank flush line came with several holes in it that someone carelessly hit with a hole saw, that cause my pod to flood a bit the first time i tried to flush it. Luckily i stopped filling it as soon as it appeared the water wasnt coming back out, I got lucky and only ran the water for about a minute. THAT could have been bad. I also had an issue with the hot water tank not igniting on propane, and needed to fix that. With all that said, i would say the quality is so so. But i also have empathy for anyone who has trouble wit theirs. If MY pod sucks, i really dont care if most of them are good, everything should be made good on all of them. As i said, i'm pretty happy with MY pod, and my dealer by the way. ------------- 2017.5 Rp-172 2020 R-pod 195 2015 Frontier sv 4.0L 6cyl I'll be rpodding |
Posted By: henryv
Date Posted: 10 Nov 2017 at 12:39pm
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Well put mjlrpod. Who knows if most of them are good. Maybe most of them are bad. I don't think a survey has been taken. Or stats established. But from my own personal experience, and hearing others, too much of the workmanship is shoddy, either because the workers don't know what they're doing, are in too big a hurry, or simply don't care. Maybe they're not getting paid enough to have pride in their work. Maybe it's all of the above. And guess where that comes from. The top. Doesn't say much for R-pod. ------------- |
Posted By: mcarter
Date Posted: 10 Nov 2017 at 4:50pm
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My opinion, and not an assumption, Pods are popular because they fit a demand and a niche. Reasonably priced and towable by a wide variety of vehicles. So altogether in your tow vehicle and trailer you don't have a huge investment. Are there limitations? Yes Is it the "gold standard", No. I know when I bought mine I had no dealer and no warranty, and I can't complain for the investment. In reality it's the price of a compact car in the US. I have had issues I had to fix, with the help of this forum and my own perseverance, so far so good. I've spent weeks in it, in all kinds of weather, it keeps tickin'. With maintenance. And I'm not broke fixing it or maintaining it. Can you get a lemon, sure, happens in every assembly line. Altogether for price and what a Pod does, it's good. ------------- Mike Carter 2015 178 " I had the right to remain silent, I just didn't have the ability." |
Posted By: Leo B
Date Posted: 10 Nov 2017 at 5:21pm
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We are on our second pod and have been very happy with both! There have been a couple of minor issues all fixed under warranty or by our dealer ( who wanted to keep us happy!) Our longest stay has been 5 weeks and we loved it. We bought from a dealer that was 35 miles away. Definitely paid more then we would have at couch's BUT the dealer was kept accountable and they fixed any problems we found under warranty and quickly. Would still buy another one if they come out with a floor plan that I would like. ------------- Leo & Melissa Bachand 2017 Ford F150 2021 Vista Cruiser 19 csk Previously owned 2015 Rpod 179 2010 Rpod 171 |
Posted By: Keith-N-Dar
Date Posted: 10 Nov 2017 at 5:48pm
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Several of you have done a much better job with the message did not convey effectively. Thank you. We went to our first camper show a number of years ago, and saw the high end RVs and were scared away by the price. Dar saw R Pods on the Today Show, we looked at them and have been podding ever since. If all of the things that I see folks complaining about on this forum were done the price point would be so high that we would still be camping in the back of a van.
------------- Keith-N-Dar Boris & Betty (Boston Terriers) 2011 R-Pod 177 2010 Ford F-150 |
Posted By: GlueGuy
Date Posted: 10 Nov 2017 at 6:12pm
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My thoughts exactly Keith. A few years ago I saw an R-pod down near Half Moon Bay, and I noted the name & looked it up. A year or so later we bought one. Next step up "could" be an Airstream with an MSRP close to $60,000. Gulp. ------------- bp 2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River 2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost |
Posted By: adventurelust
Date Posted: 17 Nov 2017 at 9:41am
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I agree with quality control issues. I think the manufacturer expects the dealers to do the minor repairs before they sell them to the consumer, but that doesn't always happen. Mine came with several issues that I was willing to resolve within one weekend, but it shouldn't be that way. The purchasing dealer is required to do the repairs if you take it back to them, but if you take it to another dealer they are not obligated to do the repairs. Since my dealer was some 90 miles from my home ( only one I could find a 182G in stock ) it made more sense to do the repairs myself. JMHO ------------- "Eighty percent of success is showing up" Woody Allen |
Posted By: tjdmobile
Date Posted: 17 Apr 2018 at 4:49pm
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Our wish list is a combination of practical improvements, and gripes. 1. Yes, please move the furnace. I would rather have it under the kitchen cabinets on our 179 than where it is under the bed. 2. Exhaust fan of ANY sort in the kitchen. We were not excited on that first cold day to have to open the front door and pull air through the fan in the wet bath to keep from having to deal with Carbon Monoxide when using the range. 3. Mounting points for "optional" cabinets. They could sell us the optional cabinets over the bed / kitchen counters, and we would buy them. 4. Deeper drawers. Like others, I was handy and was able to build new boxes for the kitchen drawers which were deeper in both directions. That could have been stock 5. Here's my gripe: Better workmanship / better dealer prep. So many things didn't line up properly, close properly, etc. Places not expected to be seen by the owner (such as behind the stereo) totally loaded with construction garbage. In spite of all these things I still feel we made a solid buy. I used to think I wish we had chosen a model with a dry bath, but when we considered the lack of storage space, we made the right choice with the 179. ------------- 2018 R-Pod 179 2014 Ford F150 XLT Super Crew |
Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 17 Apr 2018 at 7:47pm
#1 I think it would fit quite nicely under the sink, even if we had to give up one or two of the drawers in order to do so. I would gladly take the furnace space as storage to replace the drawer(s). I don't think people would use the furnace going down the highway. The only downside would be the spare tire location would mean the hot exhaust would be hitting the tire so the mount for that would need to be changed/relocated. If the spare were underneath (using something like the BAL Hide-A-Spare), it would resolve that issue. Install a longer sewage hose 'bumper' carrier, and another issue would be solved--too short a carrier to hold a practical length of hose. #2 I would like to see some sort of exhaust fan there as well. Unfortunately, the location of the stove on the angle makes that tricky. If the cabinet were "L" shaped so the stove could sit parallel to the wall, it would be easier to have a vent hood over the stove. The rectangular shape would be easier to use for storage as well. #3 Interesting idea although over the kitchen is not something that could be viable because of the roof's curve. If the back were squared-off, then it would work since here would be the needed space. The front has the same issue. The shelf I installed works quite well with the bins I strap to it. #4 I did the kitchen drawers first. I made them longer, but did not make them deeper. I should have. When I did the ones for the wardrobe, I made them both longer and deeper, taking advantage of the wasted space behind the original drawers. #5 Yes, lots of trash in hidden places. When they are assembled, the workers don't clean as they go and then trash gets covered over. It would be nice if the dealer would vacuum that trash out as part of dealer prep, but it is "out of sight, out of mind." Like you, the bigger kitchen was the deciding factor for us. We decided we could live with the wet bath. The None of the small trailers with the queen bed turned so it has access on both sides that I have seen have as nice a kitchen space and storage as the RP179. We will stick with it until we find something that has a layout that we can live with. In the meantime, I have made a number of modifications to ours (see link in signature) to make it even better and more suited to our use. Because it was economical, I can afford to do these modifications.  ------------- StephenH Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7712 - ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
Posted By: Ghosthawk
Date Posted: 18 Apr 2018 at 7:01am
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#1 Shelf over the bed should be a factory option. In our 189 there should be an option for similar shelf at the other end over the sofa. #2 replace 3/4 " hitch mount for spare tire on rear with standard 2" hitch mount. Thus making it possible to put a cargo carrier, a motorcycle/scooter carrier, or almost anything you can imagine back there. #3 Small fold out shelf for drinks, remotes on the sides of the Sofa on the wall above the arms. You can get comfortable watching TV but you have no place to put your drink down? |
Posted By: St.Relwof
Date Posted: 17 Jun 2020 at 2:32pm
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There is an RPod Wish List that owners contribute to on Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/XPR9ZZNG8HEH/ref=cm_go_nav_hz - https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/XPR9ZZNG8HEH/ref=cm_go_nav_hz It's been great for finding or listing items that other Poders have found helpful. There are also several items on Pintrest you might find useful.
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Posted By: Andyrpod190
Date Posted: 28 Jun 2020 at 9:35am
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Is there a formalized method for bringing up issues many RPOD owners are having with their campers? Is there a customer support email or hotline that Forest River has? Might be worth following up on it to see if they could at least be open to hearing some of our concerns. ------------- AC |
Posted By: NewEnglandah
Date Posted: 17 Dec 2020 at 12:39pm
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I would love to see a 195/196 type layout with a Murphy bed that is fronted with a jackknife sofa and folds out to a full-size queen, as with the 192/193. While I know it would take some natural light away when the bed is folded up over the window, I'd be willing to trade that off for the additional seating and floor space. Of course, I could be an outlier on this idea. It also could be that layout limitations wouldn't allow such an option.
------------- Tom Wannabe R-pod 195 Owner 2020 Nissan Pathfinder Platinum AWD |
Posted By: DH
Date Posted: 05 Sep 2022 at 7:57pm
| I would like to be able to select finish and fixtures. The trailer could have a base price and add you could upgrade or leave off options. We have had to replace so many items because they were poor quality. I would love to have the trailer without the fridge and microwave and opt for more counter space. I would also eliminate the two person banquette and the bathroom vanity. I would rather have one larger kitchen sink than two smaller ones. We don’t use rv parks so we run off of solar or lithium ion. A boondocks version would be great. |
Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 05 Sep 2022 at 11:39pm
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I would like the option to order without the front window. Given the problems I have read about here, I would just as soon do without that window and the additional potential for leaks and breaking. ------------- StephenH Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7712 - ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |