Hello from Maine
Printed From: R-pod Owners Forum
Category: R-pod Discussion Forums
Forum Name: Introduce Yourself
Forum Discription: New Members - tell us about yourself and your r-pod
URL: http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=15193
Printed Date: 10 Jun 2025 at 9:33pm
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 9.64 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Hello from Maine
Posted By: OldMainer
Subject: Hello from Maine
Date Posted: 25 Mar 2022 at 11:26am
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Hi all! We are soon to be the proud owners of a 2009 R-Pod 172. My wife and I are in the process of buying a used 2021 Sienna Hybrid minivan and I was looking for a travel trailer lighter than the vans 3500 lb towing capacity. I found the 172 for $8499 at a RV dealer about an hour away. It appears to be in great shape. The had removed all of the graphics and were going to apply new ones. We saved $500 by having the not replace them. We live a quarter mile from a shop that does vehicle graphics including all of the area fire and emergency vehicles, so we may opt for some custom graphics to match the van. As soon as I get both vehicles, I'll post a picture. The hybrid Sienna is rated at 36 mpg for both city and highway, but I'm sure that will drop significantly while towing. If it stays in the mid 20s I'll be happy. We have had 5 different RV (all motorhomes) since about 1999 and gas mileage in all was under 10 mpg. If there are any forum members out there with a Sienna hybrid tow vehicle, I'd be very interested in hearing your experience with it. We both retired 7 years ago and we do a lot of camping around New England with one or two multi-week cross country trips a year. I've already discovered that this forum will be a great resource of information. ------------- OldMainer 2009 R-Pod 172 |
Replies:
Posted By: lostagain
Date Posted: 25 Mar 2022 at 12:30pm
Welcome Old. You will find your 172 has much less resistance with the graphics removed. We peeled off the worn out graphics on our 172, put a coat of Meguiars and noticed an immediate improvement on our mileage.  We thought about naming the 172 White Cloud, but decided adding more graphics might increase the wind resistance. ------------- Never leave footprints behind. Fred & Maria Kearney Sonoma 167RB Our Pod 172 2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost |
Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 25 Mar 2022 at 12:55pm
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I think the graphics on the front might be the most critical ones. I'm not so sure about the ones on the sides. ------------- 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: jato
Date Posted: 25 Mar 2022 at 1:33pm
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Welcome to the forum Old Mainer. A thought: get your 172 weighed before you go on a trip (go to your local county road commission weigh scale - they do it for free) to see how much weight you have. They can weigh the 172 by itself as well your Sienna minivan together. It may be a real eye opener. Our 177 dry weighs in at 2415 but fully loaded for a 3 week trip, including 36 gallons of water we weighed in at 2940 lbs. I don't believe the 172 is a whole lot lighter than the 177 plus our 177 does not have A/C, microwave/convection oven or entertainment system, saving us 150 + pounds. ------------- 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: lostagain
Date Posted: 25 Mar 2022 at 2:04pm
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Jato has a good point. The max weight of the 172 ["dry weight" + cargo] is 3179 pounds. If you add the tongue weight it is another 179 pounds. You're going to be pushing the maximum capacity of your Sienna and may find that it's uncomfortably heavy. You may want to check with your Toyota dealer to see what the maximum combined vehicle weight capacity is. By the time you add in your passengers, gear, water, LP, batteries, and trailer, you may find you're overweight. You may do adequately in New England, but once you go west and hit the high mountains, you may find that your engine and transmission are just not up to the task, not to mention your brakes. We towed our 172 with a Dodge Dakota with 4.7 V8 and a 5000 lb towing capacity. I it struggled up high mountain passes such as Carson Pass and the tranny got pretty warm until I put a cooler on it. ------------- Never leave footprints behind. Fred & Maria Kearney Sonoma 167RB Our Pod 172 2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost |
Posted By: OldMainer
Date Posted: 25 Mar 2022 at 2:15pm
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Thank-you all! Just the kind of feedback I needed. I will definitely check into the weight issue. ------------- OldMainer 2009 R-Pod 172 |
Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 26 Mar 2022 at 4:07am
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Definitely weigh as other folks have suggested. You have several weights you need to stay within besides trailer weight. If you use the advanced search I have posts on how to weigh accurately at a public scale and links to a calculator that will tell you if you're within all your limits. That is the min requirement to be legal in the highway. Dont tow if any of the limits are over, either redistribute or remove weight or get a heavier TV. Most people like to keep their weights 10-20 percent below all the max loads as safety factors. Also check that your tongue weight is at least 10-11 percent of total trailer weight or you can get trailer sway, which can be deadly.
While it won't increase your limits at all, adding a weight distribution hitch will definitely improve rig handling in a situation like yours where you'll be near your limits. First check your manual to see if your tow vehicle manufacturer allows wdh use. If it does then get one and tension it per instructions, which will move weight from your TV rear axle to the front and trailer axles. The objective is to get the front axle back to what it was before adding the trailer, NOT to "level" the TV. If you overtension the wdh you can move too much weight to the trailer axle and overload it. Most wdhs also include sway control or it can be added separately, so get that too. ------------- 1994 Chinook Concourse 1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |
Posted By: gpokluda
Date Posted: 26 Mar 2022 at 3:53pm
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Welcome OldMainer. There are lots of knowledgable folks here on the forum with great advice. As a matter of fact, the forum saved me about $150 just this weekend. I was going to replace my two, 5 year old batteries but decided to run them through some testing described here on the forum and wouldn't you know it, my batteries are fine! No need to replace them yet. I second the need WDH. Make sure you load your tow vehicle and rpod as it would be for a typical trip so that you can dial in the adjustments. We use a FastLane 6000# hitch that has worked flawlessly for 5 years and many thousands of miles. Be safe and enjoy! gpokluda 2017 Rpod 179 2016 Nissan Frontier SV
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Posted By: Colonel Podder
Date Posted: 26 Mar 2022 at 4:56pm
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Welcome OldMainer! Congrats on your purchase. My feelings on the graphics are that they are a part of what makes the trailer an R-Pod, and therefore an important part. I would spend the $500 on new graphics. Plus the factory graphics would go back in the same place and look the best without any possible fading showing. Just a thought. ------------- 2021 R-pod 196 |
Posted By: EchoGale
Date Posted: 29 Mar 2022 at 2:02pm
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Nice to meet you OldMainer. I'm a Mainer myself with a 2016 172. I've had it for 3 years and really enjoy it. This forum has been a lifesaver. I'm in California now but will be back in Maine by the beginning of June. Would love to meet up and compare notes. ------------- Julie |
Posted By: Markuendo
Date Posted: 30 Mar 2022 at 8:51am
Are you kidding, stickers actually make a difference you can tell?  I've been staring at stickers all over my rig for the last couple weeks, considering pulling some of the advertisements or identification ones off. Not for the reason above but just to make it a bit cleaner. Any advice to remove? Also, Welcome Old, new R-Pod owner here as well! ------------- '22 First RP 192 '19 RAM 1500 to pull it with |
Posted By: GlueGuy
Date Posted: 30 Mar 2022 at 4:15pm
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I peeled off the frog using my fingernail to raise a corner, then pulled the rest off. It left a little residue that I cleaned up with a little alcohol on a rag.
I think it improved my gas mileage by almost 2 MPG!  ------------- bp 2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River 2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost |
Posted By: lostagain
Date Posted: 30 Mar 2022 at 6:47pm
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Markuendo, I put an emoji with a wink, as I was kidding. We did peel off all the graphics because they were old and looked awful. Given the value of a 2009 trailer when we did it, it would not have made financial sense to spend any money on new graphics and the labor to apply them. When I got all the old loops off, and had a pure white fluffy cloud of a trailer, it seemed to me that it would still keep us out of the rain and mosquitos just fine sans stickers. I looked into getting a graphics sticker to put on the back with the name White Cloud, but it was too expensive and added nothing to the value of the trailer. As for wind resistance, I don't imagine that the surface turbulence is materially different with or without stickers, but I'll leave that to aeronautical engineers to do the final analysis. Laminar flow and drag are not things that I studied, except in trying to may my old Newport 30 MKII try to go faster. ------------- Never leave footprints behind. Fred & Maria Kearney Sonoma 167RB Our Pod 172 2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost |
Posted By: Markuendo
Date Posted: 30 Mar 2022 at 8:04pm
ok ok, was like, nooo way! Still want to know how to remove all the dumb identification stickers though. They clutter up so much.Has anyone done this without pulling off the pod stickers underneath? ------------- '22 First RP 192 '19 RAM 1500 to pull it with |
Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 31 Mar 2022 at 5:45am
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Not specifically about stickers but in aviation there's a debate about how much less drag/more speed you get if you wash and wax your plane, which all the racers do. So some guys did a before and after study on a Mooney M20 (a pretty fast low drag plane), and it picked up about 2.5 mph. My math-free guess is that would translate to something close to 0.0 mph in a boxy slow speed high drag travel trailer. IOW, negligible change if you have stickers or not or if you wash and wax it or not. Anyone surprised?
------------- 1994 Chinook Concourse 1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |
Posted By: jato
Date Posted: 31 Mar 2022 at 10:38am
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Not surprised OG but I have to admit that after putting on a layer of MeGuiar's ceramic wax on my 11 year old 177, it still looks "mighty purdy" - appears like it is in showroom condition. ------------- 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: offgrid
Date Posted: 31 Mar 2022 at 11:10am
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My A&P mechanic tells me I shouldn't wash and wax my airplane because the paint is so thin on them to keep the weight down that I could end up rubbing it all off. But I ignore him 'cause I like it to look real purdy too. No serious buffing though. ------------- 1994 Chinook Concourse 1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |
Posted By: Markuendo
Date Posted: 31 Mar 2022 at 11:14am
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I probably got ripped off for the price but had them apply the protectant at the dealer before we took possession of it. Think it's called Xzilon, supposed to protect against oxidation, Fading, etc etc.... ------------- '22 First RP 192 '19 RAM 1500 to pull it with |
Posted By: Linda&Gino
Date Posted: 31 Mar 2022 at 2:44pm
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I read an article many, many years ago how UPS washed their jets frequently, not so much to reduce drag, but to reduce weight. When you considered the weight of a light coat of grime over the entire surface area of a 747, it added up. gpokluda 2017 r179 2016 Nissan Frontier SV ------------- gpokluda 2017 Rpod R179 SOLD! 2022 Escape 5.0 TA 2022 Ford F150 4X4 EB3.5 Triumph T120 Bonneville |