P-pod for dry camping?

Hi Mark and welcome. Ditto what most of the replies have said. We do a mix of boondocking and hookups and for that, the Rpod works great. As others have said, rough roads are tough on the Pod so you will want to go slow and inspect the trailer on your return. Your TV may be a little light for the task at hand. If you want to stick with your TV you may want to look at a trailer with a bit lower profile and higher ground clearance like some of the trail ready tear drops that are out there, but at the end of the day, you go with what you got.

gpokluda, had you read the most recent posts you would have seen Mark didn't buy an Rpod (complete with pictures) and that he finished his trip without serious issues. He got things done well. Kinda the reason the admin's say to read all the posts before we write one.

MarkW, I'm glad you had a wonderful trip and had no serious issues with your trailer or TV.  As long as  you keep the weight down below the maximum capacity both in towing weight and combined gross vehicle weight, especially with the awareness of being close to the limit as you drive, you'll probably be fine.  The challenge will be to resist the temptation to carry the few extra things that could push you over the limit and to be prepared to see signs of wear and tear on your drive train.  

The challenge will be to resist the temptation to carry the few extra things that could push you over the limit and to be prepared to see signs of wear and tear on your drive train.  

The ability of a heavier vehicle to allow an increase in tongue weight without exceeding max tongue weight is not to be underestimated. That headroom tends to be the limiting factor with light tow vehicles, because the TV manufacturers generally set max tongue weights at 10% of max trailer weight. and 10% is very close to or below the minimum needed to avoid sway in trailers like rpods. Also, that percentage changes as trailer loading changes, making it even more difficult to stay within specs.   In my 179 it changed by about 3% between full fresh water and full gray water tank conditions, and was the limiting factor in my loading capacity.

Of course having higher safety factors in towing and load ratings increases the capacity of a rig to handle extreme conditions. To say otherwise is just plain absurd: Or troll behavior, take your pick.

Not towing: safe
Towing within limits less safe
Towing over limits: unsafe.

Hmm. The 3 state quantum theory of towing.

Except that trailers aren't subatomic particles and outside the quantum realm physical phenomena do not reside in discrete states. Controllability and towing safety will follow a monotonically decreasing function as the weight increases. That is not a guess, there is no question.

And a larger vehicle will of course handle a swaying trailer better than a lighter one. How many times have we seen a untility trailer behind an F250 swaying all over while the truck tracks along as if planted? Higher mass, greater contact patch friction, siffer suspension, and longer wheelbase will all resist sway.

All mechanical and structural engineering involves the application of safety factors. Those are established either by standard practice, engineering judgement or they are regulatory. In towing they regulatory augmebnted by individual judgement guided by standard practice. Very few experienced operators choose to tow right at the OEM ratings.

But if you want to that's ok with me, as I said. Just don't imply that your use case (and empty box with no use of the onboard plumbin) is a normal one. It is highly unusual, placing anyone who might attempt to replicate it while loading more normally at risk.

Your statements indicate that you don't understand how trailer brakes work and what they can and can't do. First, there are no rotors They are 1950s technology drum brakes, modulated by a poorly regulated electromagnetic system. They are notoriously weak, grabby, unreliable   and imbalanced. Pull your wheels and inspect them as you should be doing and see for yourself. So absolutely, you are largely depending on your TV bydraulic disk brakes wih their
nice ABS and load balanced control systems for both emergency stops and control on grades. And if course a larger TV has more reserve braking capacity. Bring along an IR thermometer and see which brakes are getting too hot (or worse, not getting hot at all) under various conditions. It's an eye opener.of sure   

Not sure what you mean by a rig simply not being able to handle a trip. I have no doubt that any modern rig could negotiate just about anything within reason, taken cautionsly and slowly enough. I used to drive a loaded 1960 40hp VW bus over any number of mountain passes and bad roads I managed all of 10 mph up and down in low gear, it took forever and wasn't very practical but I could do it and not cook eithér the engine or brakes in the process By comparison stuff today is wildly overpowered and overbraked. That was never my concern here, highway safety is.

Sure have head of Peltzman. Did you not read my last post? I described tbe complacency effect there. It is certainly easy to just add more stuff and be overloaded with a larger TV. This is why I said that the rig should be taken to a scale and actually weighed. They apply your safety factor to that.

BTW, did you ever actually weigh your rig or are you still just guessing what your loads are?

No one has suggested buying a big new TV. I for one never buy new vehicles, there are plenty of great used vehicles and it's been my experience that vehicle size does not corellate with price much if at all. Lots of lighter vehicles cost more that heavier ones depending on what options or brand cachet they might have. Or if you are truly enamored of a particular TV you can get a trailer that is a good match for that vehicle.

I do agree with your driving safety recommendations and would adctd to always drive as if you your brakes will not be available, meaning use engine braking and decelerate early.

As an instrument rated pilot though I don't get that reference, Is it intended to imply that I shouldn't fly in IMC despite having the rating currency, and equipment to do so?