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kymooses
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Joined: 01 Aug 2010
Location: Louisville, Ky
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Posts: 1807
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Topic: r-Dome Revisited Posted: 29 Dec 2013 at 1:18pm |
The dome's keder does not fully fit the c-channel railing on your pod. And for it to be a bit off the ground at the Pod side sounds about right. Depending on where you are and how level your campsite is it will rise or fall at the Pod side.
Sounds about right.
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strorg
Newbie
Joined: 17 Nov 2013
Location: Mobile, AL
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Posts: 19
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Posted: 30 Dec 2013 at 10:41am |
The keder is two feet shorter than the channel, and the bottom of the dome is only about three inches below the bottom of the pod. So the black rain guard barely touches the ground. Doesn't seem right to me at all.
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Tom and Tracy
Mobile, AL
2014 RP-178
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kymooses
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Joined: 01 Aug 2010
Location: Louisville, Ky
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Posted: 30 Dec 2013 at 10:46am |
Ours is the exact same on a 181g which is the same length as your 178.
I know that FR has been trying to work with dometic to have them make one a few inches longer so that the fit the larger Pods better.
So it may not seem right to you at all but it's all there is.
Again it will depend 100% on how level you are at a campground. We've had rain flaps barely touch and sometimes they are a bit closer to being normal.
I'll dig around some today for model numbers, I know I have them somewhere to confirm.
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Pod People
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Joined: 22 Sep 2011
Location: Chapel Hill,NC
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Posted: 30 Dec 2013 at 3:55pm |
We use our R Dome almost every time we camp with the R Pod. I made a small and simple improvement that makes it easier to erect and more stable while in use. Here is a picture of the mod: It is simply a piece of 1/2" electrical conduit cut approx. 12" long and then bent at a 90 degree angle. There are 2 identical pieces of bent conduit-one for each end of the arched center hoop pole for the R Dome. The bottom end of the arched center hoop pole goes into the top of the conduit.There is a hole drilled through the conduit about 1" from the bend. This hole is large enough for a metal tent peg that serves as an anchor to the ground. there is another small hole drilled at the end of the horizontal piece that sits on the ground. I tied a length of 1/4" parachute cord from this piece to another identical bent conduit piece at the other end of the arched pole. By adjusting the length of the parachute cord, you can tighten or loosen the distance between the bottom ends of the arched hoop poles. This also keeps those pole ends anchored into the ground once you insert the 2 pegs into the conduit pieces and pound them into the ground. We find that these little improvements make it easier to put up the Dome and it keeps it tighter and more stable. I hope this is clear and helps. Feel free to follow up with questions if you need more information Vann Evans
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headcold
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Joined: 13 Nov 2013
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Posts: 125
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Posted: 30 Dec 2013 at 5:06pm |
I had to park and live in my old 172 on a piece of undeveloped land that I own in MN (nothing but an RV electric connection). The R-Dome was God-sent, but it rained so hard during that month that I had to improvise a false floor for the dome out of OSB board elevated on cinder blocks. It worked really well, except for those X&%* hooks and suction cups that secure the side flaps of the dome to the pod itself. Any solution for suction cups that loosen and fall away?
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sammycamper
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Joined: 23 Oct 2012
Location: Minnesota
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Posts: 111
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Posted: 30 Dec 2013 at 8:29pm |
I think a floor like that is a great idea for a longer-term setup. I'm wondering, though, if you'd be better off using patio blocks (about 2" deep) instead of those big cinder blocks. The rDome looks a bit too elevated in the front so that rain would drain back toward the rPod instead of off the front of the rDome.
I've been looking for years for a little slab of bare land in Minnesota, western Wisconsin, or NE Iowa to simply setup a camper. I envy you for finding one.
Those suction cups are an enigma. Every time I setup the rDome, a couple suction cups keep popping off. I make a point of wiping the surface of the rPod with a damp cloth or paper towel, then wetting each cup, making sure that each cup is completely flattened before I bend the hook down to set it in place. I never seem to get it completely right the first time for all of them. After re-setting them - maybe a few times - and adjusting their positions to make sure there's not too much initial tension on the fabric, they work. Once they're set, I've had them withstand some pretting nasty downpours and wind. I suppost that for long-term setups, they would need occasional attention.
Sam
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2012 rPod 173
2008 Trailblazer 4WD V6
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sammycamper
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Joined: 23 Oct 2012
Location: Minnesota
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Posted: 30 Dec 2013 at 8:35pm |
Pod People,
Our rDome came with an expandable web strap with a grommet hole in each end to receive the ends of the hoop poles that I think serves the purpose of your invention. It would definitely be much harder to setup without it.
Sam
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2012 rPod 173
2008 Trailblazer 4WD V6
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Pod People
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Joined: 22 Sep 2011
Location: Chapel Hill,NC
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Posts: 1078
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Posted: 30 Dec 2013 at 9:16pm |
Our Pod is a 2009 173-so I guess they have changed the design of the R Dome since ours was made. Your strap sounds like the same principal-connect the two poles together and keep them from spreading. Once I got the parachute cord adjusted to the correct length, I tied it off permanently to stay the right length between the poles. The stakes help a lot in the wind to anchor the poles. I initially used a surf fishing rod holder as a test. It is a piece of 2" PVC pipe attached to a metal stake. You drive it into the sand and put your fishing rod i it. It worked, sort of, but was way too cumbersome. So, the little feet evolved after a couple of different designs. The feet travel in the bag with all of the rest of the R Dome.
Vann Evans
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headcold
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Joined: 13 Nov 2013
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Posted: 30 Dec 2013 at 9:40pm |
Patio stones would have worked well. Problem is that I was only there for a month and ... while it might not be clear from the photo, I'm parked on my construction site, which I have been gradually building up with fill over the past two years. Don't know when I will ever get the cash to build something there.
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kymooses
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Joined: 01 Aug 2010
Location: Louisville, Ky
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Posts: 1807
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Posted: 31 Dec 2013 at 8:46am |
@Headcold
buy better suction cups! are you by any chance still using the ones from factory? those suck to put it lightly.
a trip to your local home center and you can find much nicer ones that will hold up to all but pretty serious storms, and even then they do pretty well if you have them all lined up and tight. ours have to be pulled off with force at the end of several days of camping.
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