Introduce yourself

But that's not my worst by a long shot.

84 Jeep Cherokee, purchased new (yep, very dumb of me). While AMC owned Jeep they engaged in the very worst parts bin engineering. GM 2.8L V6 engine BAD. Had to grind a groove in the heads to get the head gaskets to seal. That was the official Jeep fix believe it or not. Clutch slave cylinder WORSE. It was made by Lucas of all possible bad choices. Natural rubber seals, requires special brake fluid. And Jeep filled it with regular DOT3 fluid  Cylinder failed and leaked brake fluid all over my new dress shoes, with only about 5K on the ODO. Going on 40 years later and Jeep still has a poor reliability record. That was and will remain the last Jeep product I'll ever own. You just don't ever forget stuff like that. 

Glad to hear the backup thingy is more than a gimmick. 

Welcome and congratulations on your "new to you" RPod. When we were new, this forum was very helpful also. I hope you have many fun adventures and make many great memories with your RPod.

We got a Coleman Grill-Stove. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Coleman-Camp-Propane-Grill-Stove/44503985

Overall, I have been happy with it. It is a little hard to keep clean, but it is great for fitting in the tight storage and does a credible job of grilling. The burner is handy also. I recently got a Coleman camp oven that fits over the burner and so beside the convection-microwave, I can bake outside the RPod also. I also bought the griddle that goes with this stove and it is very handy for bacon and eggs, pancakes, etc.

I can find the griddle that fits this stove on the Coleman site, but can't find for sale anywhere. It has apparently been discontinued.

I had purchased a CharBroil  Grill2Go X200 Infrared grill thinking I would take that instead of the Coleman Grill-Stove. However it is a lot bigger and would not fit the storage area, so it stays home.

Hello and welcome! I know you are excited to pick up your RPod. I hope you have many fun adventures and make many great memories with your RPod.

Originally posted by Bobbo Hi there,  New to the forum. My wife Pam and I take possession of a 2021 193 this coming Thursday from Bankston Motor Homes in Huntsville, AL. First timers all the way. We've done a ton of research and had a lot of boxes to check and this one seems to check them all. We like the murphy bed, bunk beds and the couches. Construction seems solid enough, although I read too much about construction issues on other Forest River products. We have our pre-acceptance checklist in hand and plan a thorough walk around to test everything out. Any suggestions/recommendations on specifically what to look out for would be appreciated.    We are towing with a Nissan Frontier 4WD short bed. With 6,100 lbs of towing capacity, we should be comfortably below any weight limits even if we load it up. We are buying the weight distribution/sway bar hitch and are having the dealer install the brake box when we pick her up. First trip out is to a local campsite later this month.  I'm still learning my way around this forum eager to absorb its content and owner's stories. Hopefully, we'll be regaling you with our own wonderful memories soon enough.  Best regards,  Bob

On your walk-through, use either a video camera or your phone to shoot video of the walk-through. There is a lot of information covered in a very short period.

Things to make sure they explain to you:

1. If there is a battery cut-off switch, its location and operation. If not, how to properly disconnect and reconnect the battery.

2. Make sure all plumbing fittings have been checked and tightened. On our first trip, we found that the kitchen sink drain had not been tightened and it leaked into the drawers beneath, damaging a couple of cookbooks we had put there.

3. Operation of the water pump, to include winterizing/dewinterizing valves for the water heater and proper positioning of them.

4. Operation of all appliances. Make sure all of them are tested to include AC, furnace, fan, and especially refrigerator on AC, DC, and LP. If it has set at the dealer for any time, have them pull the panel off and check for wasp nests or spider webs.

5. If you are having them install a WD hitch, make sure they show you how to adjust it. The initial setting there will not be correct for the weight after it is loaded.

6. Verify operation of all lights and switches.

7. Look over all the cabinets and construction to see if there are any loose trim pieces. Make sure all doors and drawers operate properly without binding.

8. Check the finish outside to make sure there are no scrapes/scratches/dents, etc.

9. Check how the black and gray water drains are attached. There is a problem with the weak attachment of the black water drain pipe. I've had it fail twice. After the first time, the factory added a second support of the same type. Both of them failed. I made my own support so there won't be a third time.

10. If you feel comfortable about crawling underneath, make sure the support members for the fresh water, gray water, and black water tanks are pulled up tight against the frame rails. If the bottom is covered in these newer models, skip this as they would not be visible.

We also tow our 2016 RP179 with a Frontier. Ours is the 2010 LE Crew Cab 4x4 model with the same tow rating. Depending on what the dealer is charging, you could save money by installing the brake controller yourself. The Frontier is pre-wired (if it has the tow package and the round bargman connector already) for a brake controller and it is simply plugging in a wiring harness and attaching the control box. I got the Hopkins InSIGHT Flex-mount controller and have been happy with it as I put the display where I can see it without looking down and the manual control where I can easily reach it. The control box mounts on the side of the foot well. I had a much harder time mounting it in our previous vehicle which was not pre-wired for  a brake controller (Ford Escape).

There are other things to check, but these are the ones that come to mind. I'm sure others will add to the list things I have forgotten.