4-cyl towing thoughts? |
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Ben Herman
Senior Member Joined: 26 Apr 2018 Location: Gr Junction, CO Online Status: Offline Posts: 355 |
Topic: 4-cyl towing thoughts? Posted: 18 Jun 2018 at 10:58pm |
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I think that you're asking for more from the Subaru than is feasible. If you want to camp, then it seems to me that you have two options - tent or lightweight pop-up tent trailer (some of them are really nice!). A-Frame won't cut it if you need two beds. R-Pods are too heavy for small suvs. We tow our 179 with a Honda Ridgeline V6 and its not really enough tow capacity.
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TrailerTrish
Newbie Joined: 11 Jun 2018 Location: SF Bay Area Online Status: Offline Posts: 32 |
Posted: 19 Jun 2018 at 9:37am | |
Ben:
My original post is getting lost in all the answers. We HAVE an A-frame (FR Flagstaff T12RB). It weighs 2000# and has two beds (the dinette is deployed full time as a bed). All I’m looking for is something the same weight - R-Pod or similar - for the bathroom. And I don’t want a pop up anymore. I want something that I can easily access if I need to duck in and grab something while we’re on the road. You have no idea what hassle it is with an A-frame to have to pop it up just to go in and get something out of the fridge. We tow the A-Frame just fine with the Outback. It has not been a struggle towing it up and over the Rockies and the Sierras. We have been up through Banff and Glacier, out to the Badlands, through Denver and Salt Lake City, over the Sierras a few times, all over Nevada and up through Great Basin NP (We skipped the 10,000 foot campground this time and stayed midway up, not because of the trailer, but because of my AFib-breathing problems.) We do not have a problem towing it. I wheeze; it doesn’t. The smaller, older R pods fit the bill. 2000#, the same bed + dinette that we have now, and a mini bathroom. Your 179 is 800 pounds heavier, so it’s really apples and oranges. Our 2000# works just fine for our car, and my original question was just about the wind-loading issue of pulling a shorter popup profile vs moving up to a full height, all other things being equal. Trish
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StephenH
podders Helping podders - pHp Joined: 29 Nov 2015 Location: Wake Forest, NC Online Status: Offline Posts: 6326 |
Posted: 19 Jun 2018 at 10:13am | |
See Cannot's post above with the video and spreadsheet. I already remarked on the wind resistance. Your desire for a full-height trailer is good, but in all reality, your Outback is not up to the task. You have two choices: Stay with the A frame and tow with the Outback or purchase something more appropriate to your vehicle. There is the T@B S model which would be a full-height small trailer with a toilet. Looking online at the T@B M@x model shows a dry weight of 1670 lbs and a tongue weight of 155 lbs. There is also the Happier Camper with its modular interior and with a base dry weight of 1100 lbs. Either of these would be more appropriate for your vehicle than any of the current R-Pod models.
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StephenH
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
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furpod
Moderator Group - pHp Joined: 25 Jul 2011 Location: Central KY Online Status: Offline Posts: 6128 |
Posted: 19 Jun 2018 at 11:22am | |
But.. she needs separate sleeping areas.. I was going to suggest a T@B also, I know they tow easy, belong to a T@B group and go to the occasional rally still..
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Ben Herman
Senior Member Joined: 26 Apr 2018 Location: Gr Junction, CO Online Status: Offline Posts: 355 |
Posted: 19 Jun 2018 at 12:48pm | |
You are right, I too missed the current A -Frame. I can't get scientific about it, only anecdotal. We travel often with friends who have an older (and really big!) Coleman pop-up that is 2300 lbs empty. They are towing with a smaller Nissan suv (not sure of model but not dissimilar to your Outback). They have no trouble towing it when we travel together, largely (my friend thinks) because there's very little, if any, wind resistance with the low-profile of the pop-up. I can't imagine his vehicle towing a high-profile trailer, though - there is a tremendous amount of drag with the bulk of the trailer. Before this one, we had an old-style squarish trailer - about the same weight as the 179 (maybe 100# more) and there's some difference with the rpod shape but not much. It's still a bit tall heavy box, albeit a slightly rounded one.
I'm totally with you on the ease of no pop-up. When we go camping with our friends, it takes us 5-10 minutes to fully set up and them 30 minutes +. When we're hungry we stop and go in the Pod. Good luck on your quest! Maybe someone closeby will let you try towing their smaller pod to see how it works. My gut feel still tells me that its a mismatch; with its height and bulk, a trailer is a big thing to haul around and up hills.
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OldNeumanntapr
Senior Member Joined: 23 May 2018 Location: CA Online Status: Offline Posts: 204 |
Posted: 19 Jun 2018 at 1:54pm | |
I can totally understand wanting to move beyond pop ups. My Coleman Sequoia took 30 minutes to set up and tear down and once closed up it was impossible to access anything inside. I got 17 mpg pulling the tent trailer with a four cylinder Tacoma and now pulling the rPod with a 4.0 V6 Tacoma I’m getting around 12. But, it’s the price to pay for towing a little house.
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malkbean2
Groupie Joined: 31 Jan 2017 Online Status: Offline Posts: 80 |
Posted: 20 Jun 2018 at 9:10am | |
I do not mean to sound confrontational but I am curious how you calculate the frontal area. The 179 box width and height is about 6 x 8 ( I think) = 48 or 23% more frontal area than the 39 spec of the tow vehicle. Are my numbers right?
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StephenH
podders Helping podders - pHp Joined: 29 Nov 2015 Location: Wake Forest, NC Online Status: Offline Posts: 6326 |
Posted: 20 Jun 2018 at 10:12am | |
Unfortunately I can't help with frontal areas calculations beyond what you already did. I don't know the formula.
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StephenH
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
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GlueGuy
Senior Member Joined: 15 May 2017 Location: N. California Online Status: Offline Posts: 2653 |
Posted: 20 Jun 2018 at 11:06am | |
And it's really not so much the frontal area, as the vacuum bubble at the rear that causes most of the drag. That's why they added the spoiler; to try to disrupt the vacumm bubble at the rear. Some people have added vortex generators with mixed results.
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bp
2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River 2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost |
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lostagain
Senior Member Joined: 06 Sep 2016 Location: Quaker Hill, CT Online Status: Offline Posts: 2595 |
Posted: 20 Jun 2018 at 11:26am | |
Me, I moved my spare tire to the front and am putting bicycles on the back to disrupt the vacuum bubble. I found a not so good mount for the spare tire to go on the tongue (I had to make too many modifications) and a 2 bike rack which fits the 1 1/4" receiver in the back.
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Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney Sonoma 167RB Our Pod 172 2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost |
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