New RP-171 Owners - R-pod Owners Forum

Hi Everyone,

Just thought I would formally introduce myself. I've already posted a few times, pre-purchase. Thank you all for helping my wife and I get comfortable with what has become our very first travel trailer.

We just purchased our brand new 2021 RP-171 from an excellent dealer in Sealy, TX (Cliff Jones RV.) We're located in Austin, TX so it was a bit of drive for us to make the purchase, but Cliff Jones made it painless and took great care of us. Special shout out to the fantastic Princess Craft RV here in Austin though. I would have loved to purchase from them. They've been an excellent resource, even when they didn't have stock of the model we needed. They specialize in small campers and sell a ton of R-PODs. So much so that their accessories are tailored to them in many ways. And their service department are experts. They even produce a fantastic podcast focused on small RVs like our R-PODs that I highly recommend called RV Small Talk.

Our tow vehicle is a 2017 Kia Sedona with a 3500 lbs. tow capacity. We're using a Recurve R3 WDH with friction anti-sway. Specifically the 400 lbs. tongue weight model. I can highly recommend this model as easy to use, and well aligned with the capacities of the trailer and tow vehicle. Our dealer here in Austin (Princess Craft) likes these so much that they stock the uncommon 400 lbs. tongue weight version with a 2" ball. This, as we discovered, is almost impossible to find anywhere else, but they had 12 in stock.

I've used both a tongue weight scale and the BetterWeigh by Curt to check tongue weight loaded and unloaded, as well as total trailer and combined vehicle weight loaded and unloaded and we've found that we're well under our capacity (at least 20% under) with even a fairly heavy load of cargo for our family of 4 + 1 dog. Despite that, we continue to pack carefully and check weights often. I can also confirm that the BetterWeigh tool is not snake oil. When used carefully and properly, it has provided measurements within ±50 lbs. of the tongue weight scale.

Three days after purchase, we took it on a trip to Inks Lake near Austin (a rare opportunity due to a site cancellation,) and we all absolutely loved the experience. The trailer towed extremely well at highway speeds fully loaded, and we had a great weekend swimming and fishing in the August Texas heat. While the RP-171 was definitely tight for our family of 4 (two children under 7,) it was still enjoyable. And I don't even want to think about trying to tent camp as we've done in the past this time of year.

So thanks again to everyone for their advice and posts. I've used this site far more then I've posted to it. The information is invaluable. Looking forward to being part of the community.

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StephenH Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List podders Helping podders - pHp Joined: 29 Nov 2015 Location: Wake Forest, NC Online Status: Offline Posts: 6289	Topic: New RP-171 Owners Posted: 11 Aug 2020 at 4:22pm
	Welcome and congratulations! I hope you have many fun adventures and make many great memories with your family camping in your RPod.
	StephenH Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS

Edward_Larkin Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 23 Jul 2020 Location: Austin, TX Online Status: Offline Posts: 14	Posted: 11 Aug 2020 at 2:02pm
	Hi Everyone, Just thought I would formally introduce myself. I've already posted a few times, pre-purchase. Thank you all for helping my wife and I get comfortable with what has become our very first travel trailer. We just purchased our brand new 2021 RP-171 from an excellent dealer in Sealy, TX (Cliff Jones RV.) We're located in Austin, TX so it was a bit of drive for us to make the purchase, but Cliff Jones made it painless and took great care of us. Special shout out to the fantastic Princess Craft RV here in Austin though. I would have loved to purchase from them. They've been an excellent resource, even when they didn't have stock of the model we needed. They specialize in small campers and sell a ton of R-PODs. So much so that their accessories are tailored to them in many ways. And their service department are experts. They even produce a fantastic podcast focused on small RVs like our R-PODs that I highly recommend called RV Small Talk. Our tow vehicle is a 2017 Kia Sedona with a 3500 lbs. tow capacity. We're using a Recurve R3 WDH with friction anti-sway. Specifically the 400 lbs. tongue weight model. I can highly recommend this model as easy to use, and well aligned with the capacities of the trailer and tow vehicle. Our dealer here in Austin (Princess Craft) likes these so much that they stock the uncommon 400 lbs. tongue weight version with a 2" ball. This, as we discovered, is almost impossible to find anywhere else, but they had 12 in stock. I've used both a tongue weight scale and the BetterWeigh by Curt to check tongue weight loaded and unloaded, as well as total trailer and combined vehicle weight loaded and unloaded and we've found that we're well under our capacity (at least 20% under) with even a fairly heavy load of cargo for our family of 4 + 1 dog. Despite that, we continue to pack carefully and check weights often. I can also confirm that the BetterWeigh tool is not snake oil. When used carefully and properly, it has provided measurements within ±50 lbs. of the tongue weight scale. Three days after purchase, we took it on a trip to Inks Lake near Austin (a rare opportunity due to a site cancellation,) and we all absolutely loved the experience. The trailer towed extremely well at highway speeds fully loaded, and we had a great weekend swimming and fishing in the August Texas heat. While the RP-171 was definitely tight for our family of 4 (two children under 7,) it was still enjoyable. And I don't even want to think about trying to tent camp as we've done in the past this time of year. So thanks again to everyone for their advice and posts. I've used this site far more then I've posted to it. The information is invaluable. Looking forward to being part of the community.