r-Dome Revisited

Thanks everyone for the replies. Great info on the Rdome, backing up tips especially!

Really surprised about problems with Dome touching ground. We have used ours all summer with varying sites and never had a problem with ground contact between the black base and the ground. We have a 2014 177 with risers. The black base of our Dome is about 10 inches wide and allows for lots of contact.Maybe they are made in different sizes. Maybe lowering the front arc will give more play on the ground. Good luck with this.

Originally posted by techntrek Try taking your pod to the local school parking lot after-hours for practice.    1. This works for some - grab the bottom of the steering wheel with one hand and move your hand left if you want the trailer to go left, right if you want the trailer to go right.  The steering wheel will turn the right and your TV will go right when you move your hand to the left - but the trailer will go left.  But you don't have to think about any of that which is why the trick works.    2. Make very small turns on the steering wheel, the trailer will amplify everything you do.    3. Sometimes you just need to pull forward a few feet to strighten things out and then start back again, instead of trying to make bigger and bigger corrections while you are still going backwards.   4. Never take your eyes off of your mirrors.  The second you do, you will jackknife.  Again, the trailer amplifys everything you do so it will go from a slight angle to a 90 degree angle with just a few feet of motion if you don't pay attention.   5. Always have your spotter stay near the camper's left or right rear corner, whichever side is the one you can see with your side mirror.  Never behind where you could run over them but far enough behind that they can see everything back there.  Backing campers are magnets for kids, dogs and picnic tables.  Yes, picnic tables will magically move while you are backing your camper!  My biggest rule for spotters - if they disappear from your side mirror you don't let your foot off of the break until they reappear in one of your side mirrors, no matter how much they keep yelling "c'mon back".

Techntrek beat me to it, but I was going to suggest virtually everything he covered, beginning with the hand at the bottom of the wheel method. So, I'll second everything, and add some emphasis on going slowly. Back up at a snails pace and correct conservatively and constantly, as steps 2-4 suggest. I rarely use a spotter. That would be my wife, and that could get virtually every outing off to a bad start. For short distance trips, I sometimes go ahead and she comes later that day or the next. That's another reason that taking it slow is important: if you do bump something, you don't necessarily need to do any damage. I also roll down my windows to listen for any sort of unintended bump or scraping sound. I stop and get out for a look/sizing as needed. As sick as it may seem, I actually enjoy towing a trailer like the rPod, including backing it into sites. I much prefer single axle trailers to double axle. You can get jacknifed a little quicker; but they're more maneuverable, and I hate contorting the tire treads like you have to in tight turns with a double axle trailer.

Also, if your TV has back up sensors, know HOW to disable them BEFORE your first 500 foot backup event down a snakey, tree lined driveway in the dark with 31 foot of trailer behind you, after a 700 mile one shot pull.

trust me.

Originally posted by strorg I suspect that the dealer gave us the wrong rdome with our 2013 178. The bead on the dome is about two feet shorter than the channel on the pod. The side of the dome is about a foot off the ground at the pod end. Even with the axle risers, this seems wrong. A couple of questions: does anybody know what rdome model number fits the 2014 178? Where on the dome will I find the model number? Thanks!

Found the model number: 747FGN13.102