Newbie here - Is R-Pod a good choice?

[cwmoser]

Never owned a Travel Trailer but wifey and I are looking to purchase
one. Just the two of us and our dog.
Don't know much but do like the R-Pod 180 - has a dry bathroom.
Pulling with a V8 SUV - max Tow capacity of 6,000 lbs.
Already installed the hitch and wired in a Prodigy Brake Controller.

What do you think about the R-Pod?
Can you recommend something similar?

[QCMan]

Yup! Only eight years late. The most posts on here are about ancient threads. Not many new ones.

[Dawnmarie72]

First time getting a small travel trailer need small and light to tow behind a Chevy equinox but have to have self contained wet bath to live at ynp for work! Looking at the 07 funfinder x139  but someone said the rpod would tow better due to aerodynamic shape ?? Found a 2018 rp 178 but it's longer 20ft ?? Any suggestions 

[Grit_dog]

From 2016?

[Steve_B_]

The R-pods seem to be popular. I saw quite a few in Maine the last time I camped up there 2 years ago. If $ is not a problem, look at the Lance line. I went through them at the RV show in Tampa last winter and was very impressed. Very pricey, though. Nice layouts and storage. Only feature I didn't like was the round sink.

[rbpru]

Be careful about the various "rules of thumb" you hear and read about. Your tow vehicle has a max cargo it can carry and a max load it can pull. Usually you run out of cargo capacity before towing capacity.

My F-150 has a sticker on the door jamb that says 1411 lb. max cargo. So that is me, the DW, the dog, truck cap and about 750 lbs. of tongue weight.

The CAT scales are your friend,they give you the real numbers.

[pira114]

Found this post on the Rpod forums. Dated 2015:


My Rpod came with a "free" lifetime warranty. I put that in quotes because it's anything but free.
In order to stay in effect, I have to take the RV in once a year for an inspection/service, for which they will charge me $100. (This is separate from winterizing and de-winterizing)
If I miss a year, the warranty is over. So if I keep the RV for 10 years, I will have paid $1,000 for a "free" warranty. Good deal, huh? 🙂
However, RV repairs are very expensive these days, one or two major repairs, and I might come out ahead, who knows.

[gmw_photos]

Looking at the Forest River website, the way I read that is the lifetime warranty applies only to the lift mechanism of pop-up trailers. Unless I'm missing something else there ?

[pira114]

I got interested in the RPods also. In looking about, I noticed they have a lifetime warranty.

Any comments on this? Is it a good warranty? Should it be considered as part of the decision?

[gmw_photos]

It's good that you're getting it narrowed down to half dozen or so. Now, your mission is to take Mrs cw, and go look at and sit in these diff trailers.

One thing I did when shopping was to go in, sit down for about five minutes and just "look around", and try to imagine being in there for several days, like during a long rainy or cold period. Pretty quickly you'll get to where you will be able to go into a given trailer and say, ugh, I don't like this at all......or, hey, I could do this.

Other folks look at them as just a box to sleep in, and plan on spending all their time outdoors.

EDIT: cw, looking at some of the floorplans you are posting, it appears you may be wanting a north-south oriented bed. If that's the case, you may want to scratch the funfinders like mine from your list, as mine is a east-west bed. For me, since it's just me and a small dog, I prefer E-W bed because it creates more "daytime living space", if you see what I mean.

[LBL_1206]

Jayco's new model Hummingbird may be of interest to you.

[cwmoser]

How about the Skyline Nomad Joey 193?
I read where it weighs 3300 lbs dry - about 500 lbs more than the R-Pod 180.


My short list right now is:

R-Pod 180 - 2800lbs 19’ ~ $14,800 by Forest River
Skyline Nomad Joey 193 – 3300lbs 22’ - 2011 -$9,995
Fun Finder 189 FBS or 189 FDS - 3012lbs 19’ by Cruiser
2017 Z 1 Lite ZT18RB - 3426lbs 22’ no slide $12,646 new (MSRP = $19,200) by Crossroads

I assume all of these would be an easy tow with my Lexus LX470 SUV.
(BTW the LX470 is basically a fancy Toyota Land Cruiser)

[cwmoser]

Heiny57 wrote:
What is the " Dry Bathroom" you have mentioned?

I too have been learning about Travel Trailers and learned
that a "dry bathroom" is one where you take a shower and
the toilet is not in the shower with you. Basically a "wet bathroom"
is a very small room ... shower stall size with the toilet in
there too.

[Heiny57]

What is the " Dry Bathroom" you have mentioned?

[gmw_photos]

Yes the 189FDS floorplan has been discontinued. I believe 2015 was the last year for it, so a person might find a new/leftover.

The 189FBS is a different floorplan of the same length trailer.

When it comes to quality issues, I'll leave it to you to decipher all you can read on the various forums, If you look for it, you'll find someone who is complaining of problems for every brand made, from the least expensive to the highest end.

"some assembly required"

PS, a 189FDS weighs about 4000 to 4200 ready to roll. Read factory brochure listed weights as just a "starting point".