rPod vs. ?

Try Casita, Heartland MPG, ProLite and Scamp.

Camplite, Riverside RV's retro travel trailers, and Escape are possibilities also.

Agree on the Casita and Scamp. Not familiar with the others mentioned. If you're willing and able to make a larger investment, one of the forum members just took delivery of an Oliver, made in TN, and the thread has lots of pictures. Appears to be of very high quality and lots of amenities.

WVaHillbilly wrote:
We love the rPod. I especially like the aerodynamic profile, light weight and low hitch weight.
My wife however would like something with a larger bath area and a more comfortable sitting area since we are planning on taking some long trips.
Can anyone recommend alternatives to the rPod that offer more of the things she is looking for with the features that I like? We will tow with a Tacoma TRD Sport ext cab.
Thanks for any help/recommendations anyone can provide.

In that weight range, you aren't going to find anything more roomier. Most are claustrophic with their low ceilings, small beds, and narrow bodies. For that weight range, I feel you have the best of the best.

If you want to go up to a standard trailer, then I'd recommend a Jayco Jay Flight 19RD but you should have around a 750 lbs tongue weight rating on your hitch and decent payload over 1200 lbs after all accessories and factory options, so there's enough payload left for you, family, gear, and tongue weight.

Don't know about Toyota but if it's as bad as Nissan's Frontier and Pathfinder (Frontier older style SUV), then you're stuck with the R-Pod type trailers or Pop Ups do to low receiver hitch rating and low payload. Chevy's midsize Colorado and Ford's older midsize Sport Trac have high tow and tongue ratings and good payload next to the others.

Good luck

There are several different rPods with alternative arrangements of the living area, but AFAIK all have the same wet bath module.

I suspect that your wife might find any of the molded fiberglass trailers even more cramped, and most small enough for your Tacoma will also have a wet bath (usually across the front, but in some cases an alternative to a closet) if they have the bath option at all.

I've been looking at these egg trailers, in addition to the rPod, and by comparison the rPod (slideout models particularly) is quite roomy for the weight. As it should be, at 18 to 20 feet, relatively large for a TT in the 3000 - 4000 pound weight class.

Camplite makes aluminum-framed (not laminated panel like rPod) TTs from 14 to 29 feet in length. They are relatively light for their size.

Model 21RBS has a rear bath that is relatively large for a TT of this size, a sofa slideout opens up floorspace (dinette an optional alternative) but it is still a one-room cabin. 24 feet long, 5000 pounds GVWR.

In the 16-foot box, bathroom is smaller but still a separate shower (no sink). 16DBS gets you queen bed and sofa in a slideout, but a much smaller kitchen. 19 1/2 feet in length, 5000 pounds GVWR. 16DB without the slide is about 200 pounds lighter empty but more cramped. 14-foot box retains the same small but dry bath, gives up some living space.

When Camplite gets down to the 13-foot box (16 1/2 foot length, single axle, 3000 GVWR) the bath comes a tiny box, shower over toilet, actually smaller than the bath module in the rPod.

Take a look at the Escape line up. I have their 17, which isn't any bigger than your rPod, but they make a 19', 21' & 21' 5th Wheel. While the 5th wheel might be pushing your truck, the 19 & 21 are doable. Love my 17B...

My friend has a 179 rpod that he pulls with a Toyota FJ cruiser. It has a slide out and weights 2700 pounds. I think that they even make bigger ones.

Check out the Coachmen Clipper 17 FQ.. Nice unit with about 300 pound tonque weight and around 3000 pound dry weight. Queen walk around bed and a nice bath with big vanity. Toilet is not in the shower like some others.

I recommend actually getting in some of the "bigger" TT's bathrooms. We are in the process of buying a pop up with a wet bath. My wife was amazed at the shoulder, knee, and elbow room the cassette toilet in the wet bath gave her...

Sounds crazy coming from our 31 ft TT but it's true in our case. Our TT's toilet was jammed between a bathroom cabinet and the hallway wall...our knees would touch the door and needless to say... There was not a whole lot of room to TCB.

A split bath in a TT has a lot of room. I gave that example just to say, what you have may not be as bad as you think... Just go try on some of the closet toilets in TT's and see :).

Thanks!

Jeremiah

You might want to look at the Safari Alto. It's got a unique hard side pop-up mechanism and is very roomy. All reports are they are a quality builder.

Unfortunately the same can't be said for the rPod made by Forest River. They build to a price and it shows.