Cargo Carrying Capacity on r-pod 176
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Printed Date: 19 Jun 2025 at 8:46pm
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Topic: Cargo Carrying Capacity on r-pod 176
Posted By: billyingolden
Subject: Cargo Carrying Capacity on r-pod 176
Date Posted: 22 Dec 2021 at 11:01pm
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Hi everyone! I'm a hopefully soon to be owner of a new to me 2019 r-pod 176 Hood River Edition (not 10th Anniversary, just regular), and have learned a ton reading through these forums. I have a quick question about the cargo carrying capacity because the sticker is quite confusing and also very different than the material published online.
The dry weight on the sticker is 2945 lbs, and the listed cargo carrying capacity just below that says 518 lbs. Then immediately below that it says "Calculated with the fresh water tanks full: Cold 250 lbs, Hot 50 lbs."
But then right under "Tire and Loading information" in the sticker below, it says "The combined weight of cargo should never exceed 818 lbs."
Does this mean that the CCC assuming full tanks is really only 518 lbs? That seems wildly low and much lower than what's published, so I wanted to double check whether that seems correct and figure out if I should reconsider purchasing this trailer.
Thank you!
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Replies:
Posted By: RoverPod
Date Posted: 23 Dec 2021 at 6:44am
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That weight capacity seems accurate.
GVWR is around 3780. Subtract your dry weight and you would get around 835.
Your listed total cargo capacity is 818. So that seems to be in the right ballpark.
If you have a full fresh water tank and a full water heater (300 lbs total), then you only have 518 pounds left of cargo capacity.
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2017 F150 XLT SuperCab
2020 rPod 180
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Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 23 Dec 2021 at 8:22am
+1. And expect those numbers to be optimistic.
You should weigh your trailer fully loaded and see what it really is. Mine weighed about 300 lbs more that I expected. You can go through a public scale twice, once with and once without the trailer. If you have a weight distribution hitch leave it untensioned. Subtract to get the total trailer weight and if you get weights on each axle then the tongue weight is the difference between the weight on the tow vehicles 2 axles with and without the trailer. As you load the trailer keep the tongue weight at least 10-11 percent of total trailer weight. You'll find that you don't have a lot of room to play with especially if you boondock and/or have a lighter duty tow vehicle.
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold
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Posted By: billyingolden
Date Posted: 23 Dec 2021 at 11:10am
Thank you! So I guess the question I have is whether I should reconsider purchasing it? It'll be me and my partner and our 2 year old, and we should have quite a bit of room in our tow vehicle to keep bags and stuff, but I wasn't sure if that's just normal and it's fine, or if that quite low CCC should be cause for concern.
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Posted By: Colt
Date Posted: 23 Dec 2021 at 11:43am
Originally posted by billyingolden
Hi everyone! I'm a hopefully soon to be owner of a new to me 2019 r-pod 176 Hood River Edition (not 10th Anniversary, just regular), and have learned a ton reading through these forums. I have a quick question about the cargo carrying capacity because the sticker is quite confusing and also very different than the material published online. The dry weight on the sticker is 2945 lbs, and the listed cargo carrying capacity just below that says 518 lbs. Then immediately below that it says "Calculated with the fresh water tanks full: Cold 250 lbs, Hot 50 lbs." But then right under "Tire and Loading information" in the sticker below, it says "The combined weight of cargo should never exceed 818 lbs." Does this mean that the CCC assuming full tanks is really only 518 lbs? That seems wildly low and much lower than what's published, so I wanted to double check whether that seems correct and figure out if I should reconsider purchasing this trailer. Thank you! |
LOL! Yes to all of the above! Why would you doubt the manufacturer?
The published Unloaded Vehicle Weight of my 180 is very close at 2950 lbs. Ready to travel, mine weighs 3122 lbs. R-Pods are designed to be unusually light so you won't be able to haul your gold stash in it.
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John
'16 R-Pod 180
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Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 23 Dec 2021 at 3:18pm
The manufacturers just try to make trailers appear to be extremely light so they can sell them to people with little SUVs towing them
I long since lost track of the number of folks joining here with 3500 lb rated vehicles who want to tow trailers too big for them. Not safe.
You don't have that problem, you have a robust tow vehicle so it's more a matter of where you wind up carrying your heavy stuff. If you don't mind putting it in the truck and otherwise like the trailer you've picked I'd say go for it. if you want it all loaded in the trailer then get something that can handle that, your TV should be fine.
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold
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Posted By: RoverPod
Date Posted: 23 Dec 2021 at 7:42pm
Originally posted by billyingolden
Thank you! So I guess the question I have is whether I should reconsider purchasing it? It'll be me and my partner and our 2 year old, and we should have quite a bit of room in our tow vehicle to keep bags and stuff, but I wasn't sure if that's just normal and it's fine, or if that quite low CCC should be cause for concern.
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What is the payload capacity of your tow vehicle? You will need to consider that when you start loading up the tow vehicle with passengers and bags and stuff.
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2017 F150 XLT SuperCab
2020 rPod 180
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Posted By: billyingolden
Date Posted: 24 Dec 2021 at 12:27am
We have a Kia Telluride with tow package. The payload capacity is ~1600 lbs, and the three of us weigh less than 300 lbs combined, so I think we're in pretty good shape on that front. Great callout though, thank you!
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Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 24 Dec 2021 at 3:48am
You're not in great shape necessarily. The tow rating you have assumes you have an empty tow vehicle, only a driver on board. You don't get to load 1600 lbs in the TV and at the same time tow a 5000 lb trailer.
Look at the MCGVWR (Max combined gross vehicle weight rating). Should be on your driver's door sticker. That is the most your whole rig can weigh. Assume your trailer weight comes in at or near it's max. That is very likely with an rpod especially if you boondock carrying water, dual batteries, or dual propane cylinders.
Subtract that weight from the MCGVWR. That is the most your Telluride can weigh. Subtract the SUV's curb weight from that. That is the the most all the stuff, people, pets etc in the Telluride can weigh. You'll find it's less than you think. I did.
Then you'll have to decide how close to the MCGVWR you really want to be driving down the freeway in bad weather in traffic. There is a difference between what is strictly legal and what is safe for the various conditions you will experience. Most people want to be well under their max ratings. I want at least a 10-20% safety factor personally.
Not saying you can't do what you're planning. My TV has a similar set of ratings to yours. But there are just two of us and I found we had to be very careful what we carried. Just the bare minimum stuff beyond what was required when boondocking.
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold
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Posted By: lostagain
Date Posted: 24 Dec 2021 at 8:02am
billyingolden, consider using the calculator that offgrid has posted a number of times to calculate your trailer and TV capacity. Maybe he can put the link in again. If you plug in the numbers, you will have a much better idea of where your weights are vis-a-vi your vehicle's capacity. You will need to weigh your trailer and TV at a public scale to get all the numbers you'll need to plug into the calculator, but in the end you'll be well informed and will be able to tow your trailer with the peace of mind that you are within the TV's weight capacity.
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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: GlueGuy
Date Posted: 24 Dec 2021 at 11:20am
It's a very handy calculator: https://www.ajdesigner.com/apptrailertow/weightdistributionhitch.php - WDH Calculator
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bp
2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River
2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost
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Posted By: lostagain
Date Posted: 24 Dec 2021 at 1:07pm
Maybe RV dealers should be required to run this calculation as a part of the sale/delivery process. If the consumer's TV comes up short either s/he has to find higher capacity TV or the deal is canceled. This would have to be a legal requirement, like the DMV stuff, as it is unlikely many dealers would want to do it voluntarily. Just a thought.
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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: 25 Dec 2021 at 5:00am
If it doesn't help sell more trailers the industry will fight it, regardless of whether it improves safety or not. The argument they would probably use in this case is that everypone's loading requirements are different so you can't take a one size fits all approach. There is some truth to that especially if the customer hasn't towed or camped using a trailer before.
But in reality rigs like people tend to gain weight over time. So if you're new at this and want to make a choice that provides for some headroom for load growth and safety factor, just use the gross weight (empty wt + ccc) of the trailer.
For the TV, use the curb weight and add 1000 lbs which would allow you to carry 4 "FAA standard" 170 lb adults (soon expected to be raised to 190 lbs average due to the increase in obesity) and about 300 lbs of gear, which is not really a whole lot.
Typically the above will require at least a 5000 lb rated TV.
The other consideration is tongue weight. Most 5000 lb rated vehicles will have a Max tongue weight of 500 lbs, or 10% of max trailer weight. 10% is the bare minimum to mitigate sway. Add to that that it's not possible to keep your tongue weight to a fixed number as your trailer loading changes (especially water weight) and you can see that often the TV tongue weight rating will be your imiting factor.
A typical 3% variation in tongue weight would put a 3800 lb Rpod in the range of 380-500 llbs on the tongue. Another reason why a 500 tongue/5000 tow lb rated vehicle With careful loading) is generally your minimum choice.
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold
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Posted By: bhiggins
Date Posted: 25 Dec 2021 at 7:14pm
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Hi, I have the same trailer with two 6V batteries and tow with a Jeep Grand Cherokee 3.6L and a weight distribution hitch. The trailer tows great, but we've found that the trailer does sway if the fresh water take is full as it is behind the axel. Other than that, it's been great.
Brian
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Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 26 Dec 2021 at 3:12am
Originally posted by bhiggins
The trailer tows great, but we've found that the trailer does sway if the fresh water take is full as it is behind the axel. Other than that, it's been great.Brian |
Please do not ignore that sway tendency, it can get out of control in a heartbeat.
https://youtu.be/i2fkOVHAC8Q - sway video
You can fix it just like they do in the video. Move some weight forward in the trailer when you have water in the tank and/or remove weight aft and put it in the tow vehicle.
Get actual trailer and tongue weights at a public scale, easy to do. Your objective is to get the tongue weight up to at least 10%, preferably 11%, of total trailer weight.
Once you get that done, then also add sway control to your weight distribution hitch. There are several choices for sway control, including sway control integrated into the hitch, add on friction bars, and electronic brake activation systems. Any of them can do a good job if properly set up but don't depend on them, get your rig balanced right to begin with.
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold
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Posted By: billyingolden
Date Posted: 26 Dec 2021 at 2:49pm
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Thanks everyone, great advice. It seems like our biggest constraint will be hitch weight, so we'll be sure to check that on the scales as we're loading things. Unfortunately Kia doesn't publish the GCWR on the sticker, just GVWR (~5900), payload capacity (~1600), towing capacity (5000), and tongue weight (500). I'm feeling pretty reasonable about it overall, we'll just need to be judicious in how we load the car and trailer, and we'll be using an E2 hitch and sway bars. Thanks again for all the thoughts!
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Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 26 Dec 2021 at 11:41pm
Interesting that Kia has avoided listing a combined vehicle weight. Without that a reasonable person might interpret that there isn't one.
In that case the specs provided would allow a GCWR of 5900-500+5000 = 10400 and a payload of 1600-500=1100 while towing a 5000 lb trailer with a 500 lb tongue weight. I'm NOT suggesting that that is a reasonable thing to do, just a reasonable interpretation of the specs provided. Caveat emptor.
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold
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Posted By: lostagain
Date Posted: 27 Dec 2021 at 5:48am
Reasonable???, not so sure about that. It might be reasonable to contact the manufacturer in writing and ask. Just sayin'.
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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: 27 Dec 2021 at 8:27am
That is worth a try but it looks from a Telluride forum search that folks have tried asking Kia and a response has not been forthcoming. I expect that the customer facing folks at Kia have been instructed not to provide any information beyond what has been printed in the manual and in the door sticker.
I suggest loading all the available specs and actual weights into the handy dandy towing calculator, including tow vehicle axle weight ratings (hopefully those are on the door sticker?).
If everything else comes out within limits then the TV axles will be OK and the limiting factors for GCWR will be the ability of the drivetrain to handle climbs in hot weather and the ability of the brakes to handle long descents. The first one is a matter of monitoring engine and transmission temps, the second brake temps.
You can access engine and tranny temps with an odb2 scan gauge. Others have done so, see link. Looks like the trans temps are running pretty hot towing and an add on trans oil cooler might be in order. Get your trans fluid changed often and slow down on long climbs of course.
For brake temps you can use an IR thermometer. Set up the rpod brake controller for pretty agressive braking, and by all means use engine braking as much as possible on long grades.
Depending on the setup Kia uses for their ABS a WDH can really help here. My Highlander for example redirects braking action to the wheels with the highest loading so without a wdh the rear TV brakes get more of a workout. Rear brakes are much smaller than front brakes (which are engineered to do most of the work in a panic stop where weight is shifted to the front axle) so without a proper wdh setup the rear brakes get much hotter than the fronts on a long grade. By shifting weight from the rear to the front brakes the wdh really helps with that. My rear brake temps ran about 100 degrees cooler with the wdh tensioned than without it.
https://www.kiatelluride.org/threads/transmission-temperature-monitoring-while-towing.2047/ - Telluride tranny temp
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold
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Posted By: lostagain
Date Posted: 27 Dec 2021 at 11:36am
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I think Kia is trying to set up a stealth way to void warranties when you go over the secret CGVW and break your drive train. Pretty sneaky if you ask me.
Thanks to Ford making the capacity of the F-150 super clear, we were able to load our truck and trailer to near the max when we moved back to CT and the truck handled the weight beautifully.
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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: billyingolden
Date Posted: 28 Dec 2021 at 11:29am
Thanks for the info y'all, super helpful. Coming back to the original CCC question, is 400-500 lbs CCC enough to make work for our small family? Towing considerations aside, just want to make sure that that amount of CCC is sufficient to be doable. I don't think we're going to be packing anything particularly heavy, but given that we're first-timers, I just don't have a clue whether that seems reasonable or whether it's just obviously too little carrying capacity.
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Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 28 Dec 2021 at 5:17pm
That is pretty normal for light trailers. Since that number assumes your fresh water and water heater tanks are full you should be ok as long as you don't go crazy. Leave those gold bars at home.
Also, you don't have to fill your FWT if you have access to water at your destination. If you do plan on boondocking most folks opt for dual batteries which adds another roughly 80 lbs to your load. That weight is almost all on the tongue so be sure to measure that. Load your heavier stuff in the tow vehicle, as far forward as possible.
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold
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Posted By: billyingolden
Date Posted: 28 Dec 2021 at 6:04pm
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