New RP-171 Owners - R-pod Owners Forum

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StephenH

podders Helping podders - pHp

Joined: 29 Nov 2015
Location: Wake Forest, NC
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Topic: New RP-171 Owners
Posted: 19 Aug 2020 at 7:16am

Originally posted by garyg4210

Does the hayes also act as the brake controller or would I still need a separate unit?

No, the Hayes Sway-Master does not replace the brake controller. It has a GPS and a gyroscopic sensor. The GPS is so that it won't activate a very low speeds such as if you are maneuvering into a campsite or parking lot. Above 35 mph, it will allow the unit to activate the trailer brakes without automatically if the gyro detects a sway condition. That brings the trailer back into line. It would have been handy to have when I had my accident as I was too busy to remember to manually activate the trailer brakes when we started to slide on the ice. It was after that accident that I purchased the Sway-Master so I would not have the same outcome if I encountered a similar situation again.

StephenH
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,...

ouR escaPOD mods
Former RPod 179
Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS

offgrid

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Joined: 23 Jul 2018
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Posted: 19 Aug 2020 at 5:14am

First of all, your issues are not going to be unibody construction or horsepower. If you stay within your tow vehicle manufacturer's ratings unibody is fine. 300 HP is more than fine, and you can just drive slower in the mountains and enjoy the view.

Your problem will be weight and weight distribution. You will be either at, near, or over your TV weight ratings with that rig depending on how you load. Understand that TV manufacturer's tow ratings generally assume that there is nothing in the TV itself other than the driver. So, even if you load the trailer lightly you can still be over your max combined gross vehicle weight rating (MCGVWR), TV rear axle load limit, and/or max tongue weight. The MCGVWR along with your TV axle ratings should be listed on the sticker on the driver's side door jamb.

As for weight distribution, the problem is that when you hang the trailer on the hitch it rotates the front of the TV up, reducing the load on the front axle and increasing the load on the rear axle by more than the tongue weight. That is bad for steering, handling,braking, traction, etc. The solution (within limits) to that is to use a weight distribution hitch, which basically adds tensioned spring bars between the trailer and the tow vehicle to rotate the front of the TV back down. Unfortunately, some TV manufacturers disallow the use of WDH's. Look in the towing section of your manual to find out. If they are allowed, I highly recommend you get one for your rig. Many come with antisway capability, get that too.

When you get your trailer, load it the way you plan to travel (batteries, water, supplies, etc etc).. Do the same with the TV (people, gear, gasoline, etc, etc). If you got a wdh put it in the receiver and hitch up but do not tension the bars. Go the a public scale. Sometimes you can use the scale at your county transfer station for free, otherwise you will pay a nominal charge. You will need to go through the scales twice. First with the tralier, rolling each of the three axles onto the scales one at time (or using multiple scales if that is how things are set up). Get the total weight of the rig and subtract to get the load on each axle.

Go home or to a parking lot and disconnect the trailer. Leave the wdh in the receiver. Drive through the scale again to get the weight of the TV and each of its axles.The tongue weight is the combined weight of the TV's axles with the trailer less the weight of the TV without the trailer. The trailer weight is the total weight of the rig less the weight of the TV without the trailer.

You now have all the weights you need to compare to the MCGVWR, trailer GVWR. and each of the 3 axles. You can compare all those manually, or if you like, here is a really nice online calculator that can do it for you. Up to you how close you are willing to get to your rating limits, personally I like to be at least 10-20% under all of them. Just know that if you go over them you are essentially a test pilot and will be exploring the limits of your rig's performance envelope on your own, not to mention the potential liability risk.

One other thing to check. Be sure that your trailer's tongue weight is always at least 10% of total trailer weight to minimize sway sway risk. Don't depend on your antisway system to save you, get the trailer balance correct. Not that this percentage can change a lot if you are carrying water in any of your water tanks, which you might want to do if you are planning any boon docking.

https://www.ajdesigner.com/apptrailertow/weightdistributionhitch.php

1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold

garyg4210

Newbie

Joined: 17 Aug 2020
Location: Maryland
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Posts: 3

Posted: 18 Aug 2020 at 10:34pm

Does the hayes also act as the brake controller or would I still need a separate unit?

StephenH

podders Helping podders - pHp

Joined: 29 Nov 2015
Location: Wake Forest, NC
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Posts: 6288

Posted: 18 Aug 2020 at 4:37pm

Just don't try to be the first one up the mountain and you should be okay. With AWD, you should be okay. I don't know if SumoSprings makes something suitable for the BMW, but a set of those would help with the rear-end squat of the BMW without requiring a WDH. In any case, you would be wise to consider some form of sway control. I have the Hays Sway-Master electronic Sway Control. There are other options such as the ones from Lippert and Tuson.

In addition to the hitch, you would also do well to add a transmission cooler if the BMW does not already have one.

StephenH
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,...

ouR escaPOD mods
Former RPod 179
Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS

podwerkz

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Joined: 11 Mar 2019
Location: Texas
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Posts: 966

Posted: 18 Aug 2020 at 1:44pm

Originally posted by garyg4210

....and then to drive it from our home in Virginia cross country. We are planning to use our 2014 BMW X3 (3.5 engine which has 300hp/300 torque) to pull it.

Neither you nor the car will enjoy this.

When you hit the tall mountain ranges out here in the west, be sure to have your roadside assistance on speed dial.

r･pod 171 gone but not forgotten!

mjlrpod

Senior Member

Joined: 27 Sep 2016
Location: Massachusetts
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Posts: 1214

Posted: 18 Aug 2020 at 11:23am

I don't think you'll pull the pod easily, but many use a 3500 tow capacity to pull a 171, so it's not impossible. I'd say with 300 h.p and 300 #'s torque, you should be ok. Hopefully your payload can handle the tongue, and added cargo weight. Just be sure when hitched it's not squatting in the rear. You clearly want your steering wheels making solid contact with the ground.

2017.5 Rp-172
2020 R-pod 195
2015 Frontier sv 4.0L 6cyl
I'll be rpodding

garyg4210

Newbie

Joined: 17 Aug 2020
Location: Maryland
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Posted: 18 Aug 2020 at 11:04am

Trailer weight rating is 3500. It is unibody with all wheel drive. It pulls the boat (18 ft boat with 23ft trailer, 2500 lbs) easily.

GlueGuy

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Joined: 15 May 2017
Location: N. California
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Posts: 2629

Posted: 18 Aug 2020 at 10:36am

What is the trailer weight rating on that vehicle? Is it unibody? Front wheel drive, rear wheel drive, all wheel drive?

bp
2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River
2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost

garyg4210

Newbie

Joined: 17 Aug 2020
Location: Maryland
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Posts: 3

Posted: 18 Aug 2020 at 10:18am

Hi there! It looks like we got in just under the wire and our new 2021 171 is due to be delivered in the next couple of weeks. Once we get it, the plan is to take a short test camp to try it out and see what else we need and then to drive it from our home in Virginia cross country. We are planning to use our 2014 BMW X3 (3.5 engine which has 300hp/300 torque) to pull it. The BMW has a hitch on it which we use to pull our boat and motorcycle trailer. The hitch was installed by U-haul several years ago with a 4 pin connector which I recently changed to a 7 pin to accommodate the Rpod. I also purchased a Curt bluetooth brake controller so that I wouldn't have to run a wire for the brakes to a wired controller.

Has anyone used a similar configuration or have experience with the bluetooth controller? I can't find anything definitive, but the information on the BMW OEM hitch and wiring says not to use a WDH, so I'm assuming that I shouldn't as well. There's nothing about anti sway. Any suggestions? I'm thinking that I can try it without it and see how it works and can always add it on later.

I've been going through this forum and have picked up lots of good information. So, thank you all and I look forward to joining the "club".

StephenH

podders Helping podders - pHp

Joined: 29 Nov 2015
Location: Wake Forest, NC
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 6288

Posted: 15 Aug 2020 at 8:15pm

Originally posted by Edward_Larkin

Interesting. I thought Torque was an OBDII dongle plus app. But it's just the app and you can pair it with a range of OBDII readers, right?

Then that's very similar to my Go Point solution. I use it with Dash Command on my iPhone. I think it's basically the exact same thing. I do really like it. Tons of useful info.

Correct. Torque is just the app. A good quality OBDII reader that communicates via Bluetooth is required.

My driveway is sloped in two directions. If I have my RPod leveled, then it and the Frontier are not lined up side-to-side as well as front-to-back. I keep my RPod leveled because it makes things easier when I go to get the refrigerator cooling in preparation for travel. Iwill likely take it to a level parking lot somewhere, disconnect and then use the Better Weigh to set things up and then switch back to the OBDII dongle. Right now, I have that on a cable so it does not become a target for my feet or knees. I may get a splitter instead.

StephenH
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,...

ouR escaPOD mods
Former RPod 179
Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS