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RPodFan775
Newbie
Joined: 28 Apr 2021
Location: Reno, NV
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 13
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Topic: 179 to 195: Love our R-Pods! Posted: 28 Apr 2021 at 5:58pm |
Hello! We are proud owners of a new-to-us 2020 R-Pod 195 10th
Anniversary edition and Hood River Edition. We liked it for the walk-around
bed, the bigger bath, the rooftop solar, and the electric awning. We traded our
2014 179 for it. We loved the 179, but we thought we’d trade before we wore it
out too much.
Still getting used to the extra width and length. We ordered
some mirror extensions, which should help. One thing we discovered is that the
bigger unit leaves only about 480 pounds for cargo (plus 300 for the water). We
weighed all our stuff, and it comes to 330lbs, so we only have about 150 for
clothes, food, firewood, toys, etc, which isn’t a whole lot.
Here are our mods so far:
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10” Zinius mattress – used it in our 179 and had
to keep it! It weighs about 77lbs, though, but worth it! (If we had it to do
over, we would probably get an 8” mattress instead.)
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Took out the dinette ottomans – just 3 screws
each. Prefer the floor space to the weird extra seating. Don’t need their
storage, due to the cargo restrictions. Glad we could remove both, as our 179
had mechanics in the one ottoman.
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Replaced the foam in the dinette “couch” with
denser foam. Makes sitting for extended periods much more comfy.
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Took out the back cushions on the dinette and
replaced with pillows. We didn’t like the curved corners. Three or even four
people can sit on the couch now.
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Command hooks in bath for towels and washcloths
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Command hooks in kitchen for towels, hot pads,
sink cover, cutting boards, etc.
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Over-door hooks on pantry door for towels
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Took out the TV, since we never used it before
in the 179. We barely watch TV at home.
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Life Is Good spare tire cover, instead of the
one the dealer put on there.
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Bubble levels on the hitch A-frame
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Command hooks near the door to hang keys and dog
leash
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Velcro on the panel that hides the water bypass
valves
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Small bin near the front door, affixed to wall
near coat hooks, to put sunglasses etc
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Puck-style light over wardrobe on side opposite
light switch, so we can each have control of lights.
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Used our small bins from the 179 for the
over-dinette storage and in the pantry for pots, pans, glasses, etc.
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Throw rugs near bedside, rug runner in front of
dinette.
We’ve only gone out just once so far, so I’m sure there will
be other little things to customize as well. Looking forward many more trips
ahead!
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jato
Senior Member
Joined: 23 Feb 2012
Location: Kewadin, MI
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 3229
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Posted: 28 Apr 2021 at 6:23pm |
Congratulations to a 'seasoned' pod owner x2! Wow, that is a lot of mods made so far, should be just the ticket as you know your wants and needs. Have you weighed your loaded 195, curious as to that and what your tongue weight comes out at.
Also, trying to figure out this 10th anniversary edition thing from FR. Seeing that the first R-Pods came out in 2009, the 10th year of production would have been model year 2018. Must be the new math. Anyway it must seem H U G E compared to the 179. I know when we walk into a 179 it seems huge when compared to our 177.
So what are the travel plans with your new toy? Extended long trips or shorter ones around home base? Have a great summer camping.
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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."
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RPodFan775
Newbie
Joined: 28 Apr 2021
Location: Reno, NV
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 13
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Posted: 03 May 2021 at 10:33am |
Thanks for the welcome, Jato!
We haven't weighed our unit. I would like to, but I'm not sure where to go for that.
One of the labels on the unit says it was manufactured in April 2019, so the 10th Anniversary thing makes sense I guess, if you go by that.
It is a nice size, with tons of storage and elbow room. I can't imagine going any bigger though, because we like to boondock often and have flexibility to where we'd want to go, and a smaller unit is better for that.
Travel plans are a mixture of longer (~2 weeks) trips and shorter close-to-home ones. Now that COVID restrictions are easing, we'll spend more time out and about this year (compared to 2020). Looking forward to it!
Have a good camping season!
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poston
podders Helping podders - pHp
Joined: 28 Mar 2018
Location: Nevada
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 195
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Posted: 03 May 2021 at 12:22pm |
Originally posted by RPodFan775
We haven't weighed our unit. I would like to, but I'm not sure where to go for that |
I got ours weighed at a CAT scale. Pretty easy and pretty cheap (although it's gone up recently): $12.50 for the first weigh, then $3 for reweighs (after you disconnect the trailer or whatever).. You can easily do everything on your smartphone.
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--
Jim
Virginia City, Nevada
2016 R-pod 180
2015 Nissan Xterra Pro-4X
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RPodFan775
Newbie
Joined: 28 Apr 2021
Location: Reno, NV
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 13
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Posted: 03 May 2021 at 12:40pm |
Thanks for the info! That's great! We'll check it out.
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Pod_Geek
Senior Member
Joined: 04 Dec 2019
Location: Colorado
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 260
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Posted: 03 May 2021 at 1:18pm |
Keep an eye on that bathroom pocket door. The attachments are not very robust, and ours pulled out of the top of the door after only a few trips (one that included about ten miles of washboard gravel, which may have been the one that got us).
Had the attachments replaced, and going forward we're going to stuff towels or some such material under the door to support it when we're on the road.
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2020.5 R-Pod 195 Hood River
2018 RAM 2500 6.4L
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RPodFan775
Newbie
Joined: 28 Apr 2021
Location: Reno, NV
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 13
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Posted: 03 May 2021 at 1:24pm |
Hi Pod_Geek - thanks for the tip! For some reason, our model has the regular hinged bathroom door, so no worries for us there! I think we have instead a pocket behind the shower near the front door, which houses a spare table, which is a nice feature.
There doesn't seem to be many 195s out there, or at least I didn't see much on them when searching the internet. So it's good to hear from another owner of one! Thanks again!
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Pod_Geek
Senior Member
Joined: 04 Dec 2019
Location: Colorado
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 260
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Posted: 03 May 2021 at 1:36pm |
Originally posted by RPodFan775
Hi Pod_Geek - thanks for the tip! For some reason, our model has the regular hinged bathroom door, so no worries for us there! I think we have instead a pocket behind the shower near the front door, which houses a spare table, which is a nice feature.
There doesn't seem to be many 195s out there, or at least I didn't see much on them when searching the internet. So it's good to hear from another owner of one! Thanks again!
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Ah yes...they changed a few things between 2019 and 2020. We don't have the slot that holds/hides the table.
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2020.5 R-Pod 195 Hood River
2018 RAM 2500 6.4L
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TheBum
Senior Member
Joined: 26 Feb 2016
Location: Texas
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1407
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Posted: 10 Jun 2021 at 5:44pm |
I'm making a similar move, but to a 196 because I think a sofa will be more my style than a dinette.
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Alan
2022 R-Pod 196 "RaptoRPod"
2022 Ram 1500 Lone Star 4x4
Three cats
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RPodFan775
Newbie
Joined: 28 Apr 2021
Location: Reno, NV
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 13
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Posted: 11 Jun 2021 at 11:31am |
I think the 196 would be better, and more comfortable actually. Go for it, and enjoy!
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