New owner 179
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Topic: New owner 179
Posted By: dr2428
Subject: New owner 179
Date Posted: 13 Aug 2016 at 7:18pm
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Hello, Just purchased a new 2017 179, with work and other things won't be able to pick it up for 2 weeks. I'm looking for feedback on towing experience. I will be towing with a 2016 Hyundai Santa Fe with the 3.3 V6 and is rated for 5000lbs. I will have brakes, weight distribution, and sway control. I've found several posts from folks pulling with minivans, and similar SUVs. Please let me know how yours does, especially if you have a Santa Fe. Long time tent campers, this is our first camper, we are really looking forward to using it before winter sets in. I'll be reading this forum for tips and tricks and will post anything interesting I come across. Thanks Danm |
Replies:
Posted By: DanoJKU
Date Posted: 13 Aug 2016 at 9:07pm
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Welcome!! You are going to love the 179!
------------- Dano and Shell 2020 Imagine 2150RB \ 2019 F150 5.0 |
Posted By: Leo B
Date Posted: 13 Aug 2016 at 9:20pm
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Welcome to the group!! Congrats on your 179!!
------------- Leo & Melissa Bachand 2017 Ford F150 2021 Vista Cruiser 19 csk Previously owned 2015 Rpod 179 2010 Rpod 171 |
Posted By: dr2428
Date Posted: 14 Aug 2016 at 8:39am
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DanoJK, Thanks for the welcome, we took a long time to decide but found the 179 just delivered to the dealer and grabbed it, seems like they go very fast. I've scrolled through your posts and find your upgrades impressive, and the Jeep. What tow capacity does the Jeep have? Looks like a longer wheelbase than a regular Jeep, I'll bet that makes a difference. Let me know how it does, my Santa Fe has great power but it isn't a truck, this is my biggest concern. I'm looking forward to hearing people's towing stories. Thanks for the welcome. |
Posted By: dr2428
Date Posted: 14 Aug 2016 at 8:45am
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Leo B, Thanks for the welcome, I hope to learn something here and will try to contribute as well. I see at the bottom of your post it lists a 2013 Dodge Grand Caravan, do you pull with that? If so, how well does it pull? My biggest concern is pulling with my 2016 Hyundai Santa Fe, if minivans can pull the RPod I should be ok. I'm going to find out soon anyway. I'll be sure to add pictures when I get it, and tell how well it tows or not. Thanks |
Posted By: john in idaho
Date Posted: 14 Aug 2016 at 9:19am
| Factory tow package includes more than a hitch. And longer wheelbase is better. WDH will probably be necessary. I am going to get an Anderson soon - even with my Dodge PU, I get some sway in a cross wind with trucks in the mtns. We have one of those friction things that is better than nothing. I just got new shocks ( at 129 k miles) on the truck and that helped a lot. Put the heavy stuff - like generator etc in the truck. |
Posted By: DanoJKU
Date Posted: 14 Aug 2016 at 10:56am
Sure, I'll pass along some things I've noticed about towing, lengthy post but it should give you an idea as to what you may experience. We picked the 179 because we just knew we'd want the couch and wow did we ever use it this past trip while getting hammered with 6 hours of straight thunderstorms. We would never have been comfortable trying to relax on a small or larger dinette. With my Jeep, the 4 door Unlimited, I do have a longer wheel base then the 2 door Jeeps. I am rated for 3500Lbs towing, the 2 Door is rated for only 1500Lbs if I recall. I also have the lower HP motor than then the new 2012+ Jeeps now have, but I still do just fine. I have a 90Hp estimated HP boost with a SuperChips tuner running their Tow tune and I fill up on 93 Octane for the trips which is helpful. I actually run the Tow Tune all of the time and I use 89 octane when not towing. Driving When I tow on the highway, I'm shifting between 3rd, 4th and 5th a lot and my RPM's are much higher than usual. But that's normal for a tow vehicle under load, especially with a 6 speed manual transmission. The Jeep normally runs around 2000-3000RPM so my motor sounds much louder at 4500PRM, but again that's normal for the load. On your Santa Fe, you may hear the automatic transmission shifting a lot more often and the motor will sound much louder at those higher RPM's. It's just something you get used to. Overdrive should be off when you tow or shifted out of D to force off the overdrive highway gear. On the highways in PA, which generally are flat with rolling hills for the most part, I have no issues keeping it between 55mph and 65mph. On the flats, I have no issues maintaining 65mph in 4th or 5th gear but the higher grade hills drop me back down to the 55-65mph range, which is fine in the slow lane. On the steeper hill climbs, I may drop down to 45-50mph and hold that in 3rd gear for the duration of the climb. Those are usually the same hills\mountains that the tractor trailers drop down to 45-50mph so I'm usually behind one of them, in their draft which helps. Again, it's not a problem, it's just to be expected when towing. Some back roads on the way to our campgrounds have some really steep hills and for those, I've had to climb in 1st gear to hold 25mph with my flashers on. I'm not the only person to have to climb at 25mph up those hills as I've gone back with just the Jeep and followed some other campers\trailers up those same hills. Many of the others I followed had the same trouble as I did. So it's not really a problem, it's just that it's a tough hill and a slow climb is to be expected. Pulling out from a stop is slower for me through 1st and 2nd gear and if it's uphill, I may only get to 3rd gear and 45mph until I reach the top or level ground. If I pull out from a stop on flat road, I end up accelerating as fast as any car in front of me. Many times I could accelerate faster. I've towed a lot more weight with a Tundra 5.7L up mountain passes and of course it does much better but I'm a Jeep guy and "It's a Jeep Thing" and I find towing to be very acceptable. One thing I'd check on is if your Santa Fe has an Automatic Transmission cooler installed or if it is an option. It may or may not need the cooler, I can't comment on that but I know most vehicles with a tow package will have the Automatic Transmission cooler installed. It's not applicable for me since I have a manual. The motor plays a big role but the Automatic transmission should have a cooler installed if it's an available option. Weight Distribution and Anti Sway I love the Anderson hitch and I bought it for 4 main reasons, which will most likely help you too. I have the 3324 with the 2inch ball and universal brackets. They make another 2 inch ball version with universal brackets but it has more drop hitch capability meaning it has more hole slots to lower the 2 inch ball to the desired height. My trailer is jacked up over 5.5 inches and the Jeep is higher, so the choice of shank might be different for you, it just depends on the level coupler height of the trailer and the ball height needed to match up. For the Anderson, it says install the ball in to the slots that allow the ball to sit about 1 to 1.5 inches higher then the level coupler height of the trailer. It's not complicated, I'm making it sound complicated. The dealer will know and follow the recommended installation guide if you go through them for the product and installation, or call Anderson as they are very helpful and courteous. 1) It's only 60lbs of extra weight for the entire setup. That's a fantastic design accomplishment. 2) It's quiet (supposed to be really quiet but I hear some squeaks from the poly bushings, not a big deal) and very easy to use despite any of the earlier forum complaints before they mastered the technology. 3) Anti sway is built right in. It's really nice to not have to worry about your trailer swaying and oscillating (panic) after being passed by a tractor trailer. 4) I can reverse with it hooked up. I can even go off road to an extent with the WD chains engaged, and I can easily disengage the chains if I need to. This basically means that the hitch can handle non flat driveway, road, camp site, etc. transitions much better than other WD hitches. While not shown in this picture, the ball on the hitch of my Jeep is about 1.5 inches higher than the top of the coupler "dome". The top of the coupler is about 24 inches on my RPod, your's will probably be about 18.5" or close to that.  The Anderson requires that no grease be used on the coupler or ball, in fact, I had to remove the factory grease with a rag and Brake Clean spray. Grease decreases the anti sway capability built in the hitch ball which is connected to a cone and surround by brake pad material to keep the ball from turning during a sway "event or push" Your dealer won't understand the grease comment if they are not familiar with the Anderson technology. I installed my own hitch right on the service bay floor prior to taking delivery. I bought my 3324 on Amazon and brought my own tools because my dealer only wanted to sell me some heavy, clunky junky old school Reese hitch and they weren't Jeep people so they could not understand my hitch requirement and questions. I was sold on the Equalizer until I researched the Anderson, the Anderson is just revolutionary technology. Braking I have the Prodigy P3 and have since found that 11.3 and Boost 1 settings work well for me. You need to know the RPod will do some of the braking for you and should you need to initiate an emergency stop, you need to count on the Rpod's brakes responding correctly. It's a constant adjustment though and I think I may up my setting to 11.5 just so I can feel a little more braking power. You simply drive up to 25mph, let off the gas and quickly apply the Prodigy P3 lever-brake to full (not your vehicle brake pedal) and look to see if the trailer wheels lock up. If they lock up, drop the voltage setting down. If they don't lock up, raise the voltage setting. The manual states to start at 6.0 and no Boost setting and work your way up. Everyone is different but that should give you an idea. You will get a feel for the RPod tugging back on you with the 25mph setup testing. I always try to drive with a extra padding of safe distance but I have never had an issue stopping. Even when coming down a blind hill and finding the traffic light ahead suddenly changing and the person in front of me slamming to a stop, and knowing full well momentum is not my friend in this case, I hit the brakes harder than usual and had no issues stopping normally. I think the P3 is one of the best options out there. You do need the 7 way plug on your Santa Fe, a 4 way to 7 way adapter won't give you brake control feature. I hope this helps. Please feel free to ask me any questions and I'll do my best to help out. I didn't intend for this to be such an information overload post.  ------------- Dano and Shell 2020 Imagine 2150RB \ 2019 F150 5.0 |
Posted By: DanoJKU
Date Posted: 14 Aug 2016 at 11:36am
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One other thing I forgot to mention which may help. My dealer tested my Rpod and sent me on my way with it and I really didn't understand the impact that the 3 tanks had on the weight of the trailer. I really didn't take the time to set my P3 brake controller the way I wanted either and I should have found a good spot and taken the time to get the optimal settings. I'm pretty sure I had at least 30+ gallons of water onboard in the tanks from their testing. Since the panel shows E and then 1/3 increments, that can leave a lot of water in the tanks while still showing an Empty reading. My Grey was at 1/3 when I accepted delivery. That was a lot of extra weight in those tanks bringing it home and taking it out on the first trip. That had an effect on the P3 controller settings and also had an effect on the weight distribution, minor, but still had a noticeable effect on those settings. So upon taking delivery, you might want to ask them about dumping the Grey and Black and you can use the drain on the Fresh water tank to get most of the water out prior to getting underway. I wish I had done that. So now I make sure that I tow with all 3 tanks on full Empty. For the black tank, and this is just how it is, if you only put liquids down the toilet you can dump the black tank at any time without worrying about needing it to be at 2/3rds or Full to do a proper purge. If there were solids in the tank, I'd probably flood the black tank with water using the flush fill port and do a full dump prior to getting out on the road to make sure it was E. This is just me and my specific application. If I had a Tundra, I'd leave the black and fresh tank at E or 1/3 and probably just dump the Grey and drive home. But with my Jeep, with every 100lbs less weight being forever in my favor, we just try to keep it to liquids only and dump both tanks quick and easy, and not hold up the line at the dump station. We run the sink cold water prior to leaving until we get air bursts to get the Fresh about as empty as we can. ------------- Dano and Shell 2020 Imagine 2150RB \ 2019 F150 5.0 |
Posted By: techntrek
Date Posted: 14 Aug 2016 at 5:59pm
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Welcome. Since your vehicle has a 5000 pound rating you should be fine. I recommend getting one of many OBDII monitors that are on the market. Some let you use your phone with an app, some are dedicated (I use an Aeroforce Interceptor). There are many parameters in the computer you will want to know while towing but aren't shown on the dash, like oil temperature and transmission slip. ------------- Doug ~ '10 171 (2009-2015) ~ 2008 Salem ~ http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=1723 - Pod instruction manual 
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Posted By: Leo B
Date Posted: 14 Aug 2016 at 6:27pm
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Dr2428, Yes we tow our 179 with our Dodge Grand Caravan, it works well we have the v6 pentastar engine put out 283 hp. We have plenty of power, usually get 13-16 mpg depending on hills and wind. ------------- Leo & Melissa Bachand 2017 Ford F150 2021 Vista Cruiser 19 csk Previously owned 2015 Rpod 179 2010 Rpod 171 |
Posted By: Leo B
Date Posted: 14 Aug 2016 at 6:28pm
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------------- Leo & Melissa Bachand 2017 Ford F150 2021 Vista Cruiser 19 csk Previously owned 2015 Rpod 179 2010 Rpod 171 |
Posted By: dr2428
Date Posted: 14 Aug 2016 at 11:51pm
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DanoJK, Thanks for the thorough description, long but worth the read. I think I'll be set up pretty good and will definitely remember to have the dealer check the tanks for leftover test water. They are supposed to do a walk through with us, I'll add a lot from your posting to my question list. Thanks again for taking the time to post a response. Dan |
Posted By: dr2428
Date Posted: 14 Aug 2016 at 11:54pm
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John in Idaho, Thanks for your reply, I do plan to use weight distribution and will be careful how we load. Thanks |
Posted By: dr2428
Date Posted: 14 Aug 2016 at 11:58pm
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Leo B, Nice to hear you tow well with a minvan, I should do well with my Santa Fe. I appreciate your reply. Thanks Dan |
Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 15 Aug 2016 at 9:28am
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The Santa Fe should do nicely. I am towing with a 2016 Ford Escape SE with 2L Ecoboost engine. It is rated for 3500 lbs. It handles the R179 quite nicely with the Equal-i-zer 4-way stabilization hitch I have. Our first trip, I was trying to hit 65-70 mph. With the strong headwinds we encountered out west, our mileage was between 8 and 14 mpg with the average being in the 11 mpg area. We purchased an AeroPlus wind deflector and limit our speed to 60 mph. We now get between 14 and 16 mpg. Part of the improvement is from limiting speed, but the AeroPlus contributes significantly also. I normally have the fresh water tank full but try to have the black and gray water tanks empty if possible. The dealer adjusted the hitch for empty tanks. I found that I needed to readjust it for the additional weight of the water plus the generator and rack I installed. That consisted in adding a washer to tilt the head a little more. If I need to adjust more, I would have to do so with the sway bar brackets since I have the maximum amount of washers installed now. I added the Equal-i-zer sway bracket jackets. That quiets the hitch significantly. Instead of the metal on metal popping and groaning, the bars sit on the jackets. While it reduces the sway control slightly, it is not enough to affect the performance. I also grease the swivel points of the sway bars per the instructions. I paid too much for the hitch to wear it out prematurely. If we need to replace the Equal-i-zer, I will strongly consider the Andersen hitch. I would like to have gone with it, but the dealer did not recommend it, saying people had a hard time adjusting the equalization. I expect it is just a learning curve that would not have been too hard to overcome. I hope you will enjoy your R-Pod as much as we are enjoying ours. I have done a number of modifications, most of which are documented in my mods link in my signature line. I need to add the latest mods, which I will do when we get home from this trip and I don't need to use my phone's hotspot. ------------- 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: dr2428
Date Posted: 25 Aug 2016 at 11:34am
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Hello All, I have been away for work and have not been able to post back. I appreciate all the feedback, I am confident the Santa Fe will do well. We pick the camper up this Saturday Aug 27, we'll take it to a park close by for a 1 night stay. I'll post back anything interesting as soon as I get back. Thanks |
Posted By: Shelpod
Date Posted: 25 Aug 2016 at 12:24pm
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Welcome and congrats on your 179. We tow with a Ford Explorer which also is not a true truck but does very well with the camper. We also have the Anderson WDH and it is very easy to set up and works very well. My wife is even learning how to set it up properly and she doesn't normally like that kind of stuff. The P3 is an excellent brake controller, also what we use. I think you should be very happy with your rig. When towing we try to stay below 60 MPH and get about 14 mpg even in the mountains of Arizona. Happy camping. ------------- Pod: 2013 178 TV: 2014 Explorer Limited with tow package |
Posted By: dr2428
Date Posted: 04 Sep 2016 at 6:44pm
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All, Late posting back due to work, we picked up our 179 last Saturday and went straight to a campground about 25 miles away. Short trip but it towed very well, we were able to hold 60-65 on moderate hills. I really feel the wind drag by 60mph but could hit 70 if I was crazy, if I was truly nuts I could hit 80. I credit the Santa Fe's 290 horses and high torque but also the ride height of the 179. At first look I did not like the wheels sticking out from the sides but realized that it dropped the trailer enough to account for an impressively towable, under 3000lb camper with such a low hitch weight. We had absolutely no issues, ac handled 80+ with high humidity, and we tried out nearly every feature. It's a little smaller than I would have liked but it is worth it, I don't think any other trailer this size would tow nearly as well. Enough said, we are both very happy with it. We have already decided we can handle We will be out again next weekend for 2 nights, close by again. I'll be cruising the forum for mods, particurly a simple to set up awning, and a better bracket for the tv. Thanks to everyone who replied to my question, I went into this feeling good about the purchase, and everything worked out very well. Thanks |