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AgedWhine View Drop Down
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Joined: 28 Mar 2019
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Posts: 22 		Direct Link To This Post Topic: We're expecting! a 195 on the way
    Posted: 31 Mar 2019 at 9:17am
Congrats!!!🎈 

We to have placed our order.  195 baby is in the oven.  Hopefully will get delivery near the end of April. 
I do have a question.  We are planning on having the slide topper installed before we pick the 195 up. 
Any pros or cons with the slide toppers on the rpod???  I sure would welcome any information about your experience. 

Thanks 
...On the road again! Just can’t wait to get on the road again....
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offgrid View Drop Down
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Posts: 5290 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Mar 2019 at 2:11pm
Hi Julie, welcome. 
1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold
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EchoGale View Drop Down
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Posts: 461 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Mar 2019 at 8:25am
Hi there!

I'm new here too and I've found this forum fun and helpful.  Its nice to meet you.

Julie
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offgrid View Drop Down
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Posts: 5290 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Mar 2019 at 5:42am
Sounds good. Just expect that you might wind up with a nice F150 rather than the also nice Honda Ridgeline in order to have a towing capacity you're comfortable with for the 195. They get about the same non-towing fuel economy so its not really a loss of efficiency as a daily driver. 

Have fun!
1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold
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k-countrycamper View Drop Down
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Posts: 8 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Mar 2019 at 9:36pm
Originally posted by offgrid

I'm betting the 195 tank layout is very much like the 179's. The black tank has to be under the head. There are "solid" reasons for that LOL. For similar drainage reasons the gray tank has to be near the shower and kitchen sink.  That leaves a forward position for the fresh tank as the only real option I think.


Wherever the tanks are unless you have water and a dump station at or near your destination you can't practically speaking "tune" your tongue weight by shifting water around between tanks.  It will be where it will be, and it will change the tongue weight while you're camping,  sometimes by a lot. In the case of my 179, converting 30 gallons of fresh water into 30 gallons of mostly gray water reduces my tongue weight by about 130 lbs. 

This change can be good or bad depending on where you were to start with. You can have too much weight on the tongue under one loading condition and little in another. Too little can result in trailer sway. The general rule of thumb (which appears to hold up based on rPodders' experiences on this forum) is to always keep the tongue weight above 10-11% to avoid sway. 

You don't have to weigh your trailer more than once to figure out the effects of moving weight around though. Its a pretty easy calculation once you have the known tongue weight under a known condition. The math is:

For loads in front of the trailer axle:

tongue weight change  = (load added or removed)/(distance to tongue from axle)X(distance to load from axle). Heavier for added weight, lighter for removed weight. Measure the distance from the center of the axle to the center of the load. 

The same formula applies for loads behind the axle, but reversed (lighter for added loads, heavier for loads removed). 

And yes, weight and balance on a travel trailer with a lighter tow vehicle is more of a concern than in a big 'ol 5er towed by a 1 ton dually LOL. But it absolutely can be done safely and comfortably, and once you've got your weights under the load-outs you're planning, and are comfortable with the results and the way your rig handles, you won't need to ever worry about it again unless you change something significant.
 



Thanks Offgrid! great info again. I put the deposit down today. The dealer didn't know the exact tongue weight but just said it would be 10% of dry weight, (which is 3400lb with the Hood river package), so obviously that will go up and down with load. we will keep the dodge for know until we get used to the unit.   We are not stressed about it, my husband is a mechanic, we likely will get a weight distribution hitch, and will for sure get sway bars, and we are decent for equalizing loads and weight.  And we will be installing air bags on rear truck coils....we have those now with the 5th wheel and wow what a difference.

I will post pics and give as much info as i can when I get it.

Cheers
if you don't like my dog on the couch, you can show yourself out.

soon to be 2020 rpod 195
2007 dodge 2500 cummings diesel

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offgrid View Drop Down
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Posts: 5290 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Mar 2019 at 7:19am
I'm betting the 195 tank layout is very much like the 179's. The black tank has to be under the head. There are "solid" reasons for that LOL. For similar drainage reasons the gray tank has to be near the shower and kitchen sink.  That leaves a forward position for the fresh tank as the only real option I think.


Wherever the tanks are unless you have water and a dump station at or near your destination you can't practically speaking "tune" your tongue weight by shifting water around between tanks.  It will be where it will be, and it will change the tongue weight while you're camping,  sometimes by a lot. In the case of my 179, converting 30 gallons of fresh water into 30 gallons of mostly gray water reduces my tongue weight by about 130 lbs. 

This change can be good or bad depending on where you were to start with. You can have too much weight on the tongue under one loading condition and little in another. Too little can result in trailer sway. The general rule of thumb (which appears to hold up based on rPodders' experiences on this forum) is to always keep the tongue weight above 10-11% to avoid sway. 

You don't have to weigh your trailer more than once to figure out the effects of moving weight around though. Its a pretty easy calculation once you have the known tongue weight under a known condition. The math is:

For loads in front of the trailer axle:

tongue weight change  = (load added or removed)/(distance to tongue from axle)X(distance to load from axle). Heavier for added weight, lighter for removed weight. Measure the distance from the center of the axle to the center of the load. 

The same formula applies for loads behind the axle, but reversed (lighter for added loads, heavier for loads removed). 

And yes, weight and balance on a travel trailer with a lighter tow vehicle is more of a concern than in a big 'ol 5er towed by a 1 ton dually LOL. But it absolutely can be done safely and comfortably, and once you've got your weights under the load-outs you're planning, and are comfortable with the results and the way your rig handles, you won't need to ever worry about it again unless you change something significant.
 
1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold
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k-countrycamper View Drop Down
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Posts: 8 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Mar 2019 at 10:37pm
Originally posted by mjlrpod

One thing nobody has mentioned is, the pass through storage, and (i'm guessing) under the bed storage will be a direct effect on tongue weight. To me water isn't much of a concern since i can choose to fill, or not fill. I would think the water tank is in the rear, near the sink, and the bathroom. Wouldn't make much sense to have it elsewhere. I figure the lay out will be the same as my 172. The black and grey just before the axle, the fresh just after the axle. It might help the tongue to run with water in the fresh tank.  I can't wait to see the 195 in person so I can decide if I'm buying, so I hope you'll let us know how it is. 

I will let you know where the tanks are after we get it mid may hopefully. Thanks for the input, great counter-weight idea!
if you don't like my dog on the couch, you can show yourself out.

soon to be 2020 rpod 195
2007 dodge 2500 cummings diesel

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k-countrycamper View Drop Down
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Posts: 8 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Mar 2019 at 10:35pm
Yes, we are not sure where the tanks are yet either but we sure will find out when we get it. We do like to travel with our own water from home if possible, so we will have to see how that effects the pull. I will let you know how it goes and what we find. Thanks!

Its a whole different world with a tow-behind.
if you don't like my dog on the couch, you can show yourself out.

soon to be 2020 rpod 195
2007 dodge 2500 cummings diesel

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k-countrycamper View Drop Down
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Posts: 8 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Mar 2019 at 10:30pm
Thank-you so much Offgrid! that is excellent information. We don't have a lot of experience with a tow behind as we always had a fifth wheel and these are great points and great advice! We will keep the dodge for now, but excellent to know how to do our own weights and calculations.
if you don't like my dog on the couch, you can show yourself out.

soon to be 2020 rpod 195
2007 dodge 2500 cummings diesel

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offgrid View Drop Down
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Posts: 5290 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Mar 2019 at 7:16pm
Yes, it seems very similar to the 179 to me as well. Hard to imagine that any of the weights will be lower,  but let's wait and see...
1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold
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