Hi everyone! We're from Texas, and new to travel trailers & R-Pods. We purchased our R-Pod 176 5 weeks ago, and have taken it on three full-weekend trips:

- San Luis Pass Beach, Texas (boondocking with Honda EN2500 generator)

- Brazoria County Beach, Texas (boondocking with Predator 3500 generator)

- Baton Rouge KOA, Louisiana (full hookups)

My wife is a city gal, so camping wasn’t her bag. I eased her into the outdoors by building our trucks (4Runner & FJ Cruiser) to handle long days at the beach, and long drives up & down it… We’d been doing beach runs for about 4 years so on July 3rd, I took her & the kids to Matagorda beach for some tent camping. We spent the night getting blown around in the tent, and considered getting a sturdier rooftop tent, but after some serious consideration ($5-7k) I told my wife we should consider a travel trailer. 

We did some research, and found that R-Pods were well-equipped, well-priced, and have many loyal owners & a large fanbase. We looked at a 2020 10th Anniversary 176, and left a deposit the same day, as we were impressed by the features and space for the price.

I have a few decades of experience working on my own vehicles with all of my builds done in my driveway with hand & electric tools. My projects have covered everything from engine swaps, to offload armor, custom cargo solutions, and extensive recovery modifications.

 A lot of this translates to the R-Pod, so I find most of the maintenance, and modifications fairly easy.  Here's what I've done so far: 

- Created documentation including pre/post trip inspection.

- Took photos of all appliances/wiring behind panels, and created spreadsheets to identify everything.

- Cut access panels under dinette "seats" for the rear storage area, so I can access all tools from the comfort of my air conditioned Pod. 

- Purchased a Predator 3500 inverter generator, runs the entire pod without issue. 

- Mounted D-rings on bottom bunk slat to secure our wagon, ice chest, & grill for transport.

- Dual Interstate Marine Deep Cycle Group 24 12V batteries in boxes.

- Easy start capacitor for the Dometic AC unit.

- Mounted SimpleHuman paper towel holder (removed microwave to use stainless nut & bolt

- Fixed a totally BENT stud that was so cross threaded it ate up 5/8” of threads on both lug & stud.

- Hand-packed grease on the fairly dry hubs.

- Converted Coleman Roadtrip grille to use low-pressure propane from the Pod.

- Installed Mac Mini in the entertainment stack with Logitech backlit keyboard/touchpad.

- Replaced 100 screws with #10x1” stainless steel screws, 100 #10x1.25” screws are en route to replace all the longer screws. Made sure to dip each screw in silicone adhesive.

- Added brad nails to underbunk trim & dinette trim

- Added above-dinette shelf

- Added battery-powered tap lights to storage & cabinet areas

- Deleted dinette, in prep to convert the area to an RV Queen. 

Mods planned for this weekend:

- Fill dinette area with 28”x34”x1/2” plywood filler. 

- Install 6” memory foam queen RV mattress in dinette area

- Add spring clips to the storage door to mount manual jack, awning, & slide handles

- Mount 3-D LED Maglite to wall using OEM clips

- Add 12V LED strip lights underneath Pod for camp lighting

Within 3 months:

- 5lb fire extinguisher in the coach, 5-10lb unit on the tongue

- Stromberg Carlson generator mount for Predator 3500

- dual 20lb LP tank mount with hard cover & regulator

- Convert dinette underbed area into a dog kennel with a rustic barn door

- delete wet bath sink

Future (<1Y):

- widen shower track & use a full-length shower curtain

- Propane conversion for Predator 3500

- faux wood flooring

- wallpaper

- paint cabinets 

We, or I, am enjoying the 176 a whole bunch. Our kids love having a trailer, even when it’s docked in our back yard, and they’re just playing while I’m modifying. I find myself making excuses to tow it out of the yard, and hit the road. 

We will be traveling, and our camping will be 50/50 boondocking/full hookups. I also use it as my home office twice a week so I can get some peace while I work, it's nice being able to have a huge yard, and full hookups so I never have to leave my Pod unattended. 

I'm eager to learn more, and to modify this thing to last us a long time. Let us know what work you've done, and what mods were absolutely worth it to you. 

Brazoria County Beach:

2010 4Runner Limited AWD/4WD with a few small mods:

Access panels cut & tap lights installed:

Stainless screws: 

Dealership says it came from Forest River this way, they also said they greased the bearings. One of those things was a lie: 

San Luis Pass - boondocking our first weekend of ownership:

Adding a SimpleHuman paper towel dispenser, matches the one in the 4Runner:

Dealer-installed dual battery system, need to clean up the wiring:

Docked in our backyard with full hookups: