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Printed From: R-pod Owners Forum
Category: R-pod Discussion Forums
Forum Name: I need HELP!!!
Forum Discription: Perplexed/need help with a problem - ask here
URL: http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=12369
Printed Date: 11 May 2025 at 12:15am Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 9.64 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: camera
Posted By: harrypodder
Subject: camera
Date Posted: 31 Oct 2018 at 4:03pm
Anyone install a high speed camera such as the Furion FOS48TA-BL on the rear spoiler ?
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Replies:
Posted By: Leo B
Date Posted: 31 Oct 2018 at 5:16pm
Have thought of it a couple times...…..then thought I might not want to be seeing what is going on back there. Haven't yet though.
------------- Leo & Melissa Bachand
2017 Ford F150
2021 Vista Cruiser 19 csk
Previously owned
2015 Rpod 179
2010 Rpod 171
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Posted By: lostagain
Date Posted: 31 Oct 2018 at 5:35pm
My wife is all I need to tell me what to stay out of when I'm driving blind. 
Would be kind of fun to mount on the hood of the TV, though. You could always watch it later to see where you made the wrong turn and got lost.
------------- Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney
Sonoma 167RB
Our Pod 172
2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost
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Posted By: mcarter
Date Posted: 31 Oct 2018 at 5:41pm
Several posts on rear cameras. I can't recall any with your option, maybe so, progressive bunch here.
------------- Mike Carter
2015 178
" I had the right to remain silent, I just didn't have the ability."
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Posted By: crw8sr
Date Posted: 31 Oct 2018 at 5:45pm
I have a Peak wireless camera on the license plate frame on ours. Found it in the clearance bin at Menards. Its a great help when backing and I like to see whats behind us,
------------- Chuck & Lyn
Izzy, Morkie. RIP
Zoe Joy & Gracie, Yorkie
2018 R Pod 190
2019 Traverse
In moments of adversity;when life's a total wreck, I think of those worse off than me and really feel like heck.
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Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 01 Nov 2018 at 6:31am
i've never tried to get into the spoiler lights to see how easy it would be to pick off power there. I do know that there have been some leaks reported occasionally when the sealing for the spoiler fasteners is compromised, so I'd suggest not actually pulling up the spoiler itself.
As an aside, personally I wish that spoiler wasn't there, it's really the only place that our nice single sheet fiberglass roofs are compromised in a way that is conducive to leaking. I have a hard time believing that does much to reduce drag either.
I'd also worry that backing up into a campsite under trees would take out the camera up there, but that depends on the places you camp. Wouldn't it be easier to just mount it low and pick off power from the license plate light?
------------- 1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold
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Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 01 Nov 2018 at 9:28am
When I was at the factory, I was told that before they put the spoiler up there, the spare tire cover would get blown off. I believe the main reason for it being there was so there would be a place to have marker lights. Either way, it needs to be there along with the risk of leakage. At the 10th Anniversary Rally/Kentucky MiniMini, we asked the factory reps about it. They are using a more rigid seal so that the plastic won't be as likely to bend upward and break the seal on the leading edge. The lower edge isn't sealed all the way so that any water that gets in has a place where it can drain rather than filling the spoiler up. As for pulling power from there, the lights are only powered when the lights of the tow vehicle are also on so there would not be a live wire from which to draw during daylight hours unless the lights were manually turned on. The same would apply to using the license plate light. It might be easier to find a place to tap into underneath and run a dedicated wire. That tap would need to be done with a waterproof connection such as one with a heat-shrink covering.
------------- 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
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Posted By: crw8sr
Date Posted: 01 Nov 2018 at 9:36am
I have mine powered from the license plate light. Have to have the lights on but I drive on the highway with my lights on anyway.
------------- Chuck & Lyn
Izzy, Morkie. RIP
Zoe Joy & Gracie, Yorkie
2018 R Pod 190
2019 Traverse
In moments of adversity;when life's a total wreck, I think of those worse off than me and really feel like heck.
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Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 01 Nov 2018 at 9:58am
+1 I to have my lights on when towing anyway so the license plate light would be fine.
The trailer rear id light requirement could have been met with a much much smaller and easier to seal light bar. More room for solar that way too. I'm sure I could find a more robust spare tire cover if that was the only problem. I think that its likely driven FR's marketing folks, they probably just decided a spoiler would look "cool". Like lots of he spoilers you see on cars, they often increase drag. I bet they've never done any actual wind tunnel testing or cfd analysis to optimize the spoiler design 
------------- 1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold
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Posted By: lostagain
Date Posted: 01 Nov 2018 at 10:41am
In one of the posts in the last year, someone posted a link to a wind test of the Pod spoiler. It made for very interesting viewing. It made a bit of a difference in the turbulence vacuum created in back of the Pod, but how significant it is from an aeronautical engineer's point of view is not clear.
I searched for it but nothing came up.
------------- Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney
Sonoma 167RB
Our Pod 172
2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost
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Posted By: lostagain
Date Posted: 01 Nov 2018 at 10:46am
Found it: http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=10996&KW=spoiler+video&PID=103301&title=towing-mpg#103301 - http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=10996&KW=spoiler+video&PID=103301&title=towing-mpg#103301
Check out the link in the text that'll take you to several video simulations. It says "on that channel" in blue.
------------- Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney
Sonoma 167RB
Our Pod 172
2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost
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Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 01 Nov 2018 at 12:02pm
Kewl lostagain,
If the airstream is going to become unstuck from the camper, which it inevitably will with the steep backs of our trailers, then the value of a spoiler is to try to get that airflow away from the trailer as much as possible as soon as possible. Hence the term 'spoiler".
The video simulations seem to show that a spoiler won't do much to move the needle, the negative pressure gradient behind the trailer is just too big to overcome. That was what I suspected when I said I thought the FR spoiler was stuck on there more for looks than functionality.
One thing that might help is something like these vortex generators which go aft on the sides of RV's, but boy are they ugly.
http://www.airtab.com/application-rv.htm
I can also see why you might get a little improvement with a spoiler placed aft on the wo vehicle to try to keep the airstream out of the space between the TV and the trailer. Like this:
http://www.purplelineusa.com/products-aeroplus.php
------------- 1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold
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Posted By: lostagain
Date Posted: 01 Nov 2018 at 1:31pm
The second one looks a little like the wedge shaped roof of my camper shell [topper to those in the east]. My solution is just to <60 and not worry about it.
So does the wind suck or push a sailboat sailing on any point of sail other than dead down wind?
------------- Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney
Sonoma 167RB
Our Pod 172
2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost
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Posted By: Keith-N-Dar
Date Posted: 01 Nov 2018 at 2:43pm
Originally posted by offgrid
+1 I to have my lights on when towing anyway so the license plate light would be fine.
The trailer rear id light requirement could have been met with a much much smaller and easier to seal light bar. More room for solar that way too. I'm sure I could find a more robust spare tire cover if that was the only problem. I think that its likely driven FR's marketing folks, they probably just decided a spoiler would look "cool". Like lots of he spoilers you see on cars, they often increase drag. I bet they've never done any actual wind tunnel testing or cfd analysis to optimize the spoiler design  |
Everyone has different priorities. If FR did everything people here said they should the Pod would cost more than an Airstream, weigh as much as a semi truck, and each trailer would have things added that would produce a many complaints as the current models do. They are what they are.
------------- Keith-N-Dar
Boris & Betty (Boston Terriers)
2011 R-Pod 177
2010 Ford F-150
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Posted By: mcarter
Date Posted: 01 Nov 2018 at 3:47pm
+1 to Keith. There is a reason is it affordable and thus so popular. Some of the newer models have many of the mods some of us have applied. It's never going to be a 30K trailer for 18K, hopefully.
------------- Mike Carter
2015 178
" I had the right to remain silent, I just didn't have the ability."
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Posted By: lostagain
Date Posted: 01 Nov 2018 at 4:10pm
+1 to Kieth & Da. And hopefully it's never going to be a $18K trailer for $30K.
------------- Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney
Sonoma 167RB
Our Pod 172
2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost
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Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 01 Nov 2018 at 4:20pm
Lostagain, the way you phrased your question and knowing you're an experienced sailor I think you already know the answer. A sail is an airfoil unless going downwind. A vertical airplane wing with pressure differential between the fore and aft surfaces driving the boat. So, yep, it sucks.
Keith-N-Dar I agree that the rPod can't have all kinds of things added to it without costing too much. I'm not suggesting adding anything, quite the opposite. The difference here is that the spoiler costs FR money and doesn't appear to add any useful benefit, in fact it increases the risk of leaks. It appears to be purely someone's idea of what's aesthetically pleasing. It would be a win win to just leave it off.
it could be worse though 
------------- 1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold
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Posted By: lostagain
Date Posted: 01 Nov 2018 at 7:58pm
When I had the spoiler added it was for a recall about clearance lights. In retrospect, especially since the dealer didn't do such a hot job wiring the fender lights, I would have preferred to mount a small bar across the back to hold the 3 lights with no roof penetrations, instead being mounted by vertical supports on the wall where there are frame members available to screw into. But, now that I have the spoiler, I have to live with it and have it well sealed for probably as long as I own the trailer. I posted fotos a long time ago.
------------- Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney
Sonoma 167RB
Our Pod 172
2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost
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Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 02 Nov 2018 at 6:57am
I'll be living with it too I guess even though I'd really like it off of there because its going to interfere with my solar installation.
Actually in thinking about it more, it would probably be easier to manage potential leaks if it was removed because then I could directly see and seal the penetrations themselves. To deal with the lights I could just get a DOT approved trailer id light bar from Amazon for 10-15$ and attach it to the back frame of the rear solar module.
Does anyone know what adhesive/sealant FR uses to attach the spoiler and if there is a way to remove it cleanly from the fiberglass? Mine is a 2015.
------------- 1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold
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Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 02 Nov 2018 at 10:21am
Just use mineral spirits. They won't damage the fiberglass and will remove the Dicor sealant. You could finish with some denatured alcohol to make sure the surface is thoroughly clean.
------------- 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
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Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 02 Nov 2018 at 10:24am
Great thanks, I'm leaning that way more and more. if I do go that route I'll test a little spot first to be sure, that's always a good practice.
------------- 1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold
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