Photo Review of the Quality my 2015 179

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   Last year I had a mouse chew in through a thin spot at my low point drain.
When I refoamed it I cleaned it out a bit and put steel wool in the cavity first.
So far so good.  
Worked on a mouse hole in our old house too.

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SNO4ME Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 28 Sep 2013 Location: NW Wis Online Status: Offline Posts: 122	Topic: Photo Review of the Quality my 2015 179 Posted: 12 Aug 2015 at 8:23am
	Last year I had a mouse chew in through a thin spot at my low point drain. When I refoamed it I cleaned it out a bit and put steel wool in the cavity first. So far so good. Worked on a mouse hole in our old house too.
	Bruce & Donna in the Sno Pod (and Brewer too) 2011 RP 177

podenvy Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 06 Jul 2015 Online Status: Offline Posts: 33	Posted: 11 Aug 2015 at 11:52pm
	That hole in the bottom of the kitchen cabinet to let in the plumbing lines... I have the same thing! I didn't notice it until a month after we purchased our 2015 179. One morning, I saw a glow around the cabinet door and wondered where that sunlight came from. The hole is big enough to allow mice, bugs, whatever to enter the pod. I don't know if spray insulation is big enough to cover it, and I'm looking for some round plastic covers to allow the water & drain lines through but cover the rest.
	2013 FJ Cruiser + 2015 rpod 179 HRE

CFWARREN Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 12 Apr 2015 Location: Spokane, Wa Online Status: Offline Posts: 148	Posted: 11 Aug 2015 at 10:33pm
	And don't be surprised if they refuse to do the walk through until they have cash in hand. Depending on the laws in your state, if you've already signed a contract, that's it, done deal. Where I live, in Washington State, we have a 3-day termination rule, on any contract, you can get out of it within 3 days, for any reason. I bought my Pod in Idaho, and guess what...?? No such rule in Idaho...! It's in the paperwork, all deals are final and no "change of mind" or however they put it in the paperwork.
	2016 179 - Hood River Edition 2008 Nissan Xterra

CFWARREN Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 12 Apr 2015 Location: Spokane, Wa Online Status: Offline Posts: 148	Posted: 11 Aug 2015 at 10:28pm
	Commander, you can look over every square inch of the Rpod you are buying, and you may well find many of the same issues, and I can just about bet that the person doing the walk through will tell you that those things fall within FR's acceptable levels, or they might call it "tolerance level", or some other BS thing they might come up for it at that dealership.
	2016 179 - Hood River Edition 2008 Nissan Xterra

Commander203 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Groupie Joined: 19 Feb 2015 Location: Central Texas Online Status: Offline Posts: 87	Posted: 11 Aug 2015 at 8:53pm
	Jay, Thanks for the critique of your 179. You have provided a lot of insight on what to look for when making an R-pod purchase. We will be picking up our 179 the week of 7 September. You can bet there will be a very thorough inspection based on what you found with yours. We only made a down payment on our purchase and will have a cashier's check in hand for the balance. We will insist on our walk through prior to handing over payment. If we find as many discrepancies as you found, that check will remain in our hands. Again, thanks a lot for the review.
	Mike & Erin 2013 Tundra 4.6L V8 (Tow PK) 2006 Honda Goldwing GL 1800 2005 Honda VTX 1800N

Jay in Maryland Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 28 Feb 2015 Location: MD Online Status: Offline Posts: 30	Posted: 11 Aug 2015 at 8:01pm
	Carl, Thanks for the kind words, it took a couple hours to load an organize those photos, glad someone appreciated the effort. I had to laugh about your wifes attitude over the fridge. My wife wanted to smash me and that fridge the first time it starting beeping in the middle of the night and I could not fix it right away.... CFWarren, My 179 was made in Ohio. One of the two 179s I saw this summer was a hood river edition 179, and I thought its quality was comparable to my unit. Keep in mind I documented every imperfection I found while making some mods over a couple weeks. I suspect a week or two crawling around in most units could produce similar photos, -but I do not know that is true.
	Jay r-pod179 05 Tacoma PreRunner

CFWARREN Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 12 Apr 2015 Location: Spokane, Wa Online Status: Offline Posts: 148	Posted: 11 Aug 2015 at 7:39pm
	You're right about the owner's manual, we all got the same, it's just a generic manual, nothing specific to the Rpod. One thing you can't blame Forest River for is the non-lining up of the velcro stips on the Rdome. FR doesn't make it, it's made in China by Dometic. But I'm curious, do you know which of the two plants your Rpod was made at...?? I have a little theory going here....
	2016 179 - Hood River Edition 2008 Nissan Xterra

johnmaci Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 17 Jun 2014 Location: MD Online Status: Offline Posts: 202	Posted: 11 Aug 2015 at 6:53pm
	They must have taken the video down from YouTube, cause I can't find it, but I recall a bit over a year or two ago, a video showing a bunch of guys throwing together RPods. They were like machines, and I remember hearing they could build something like 14 a day. Does anyone else remember this?

starboardcarve Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 26 May 2015 Location: TX/MatagordaBay Online Status: Offline Posts: 18	Posted: 11 Aug 2015 at 6:34pm
	Jay: I agree with you 100% on the items your listed and pictured, the frig will be taken apart tomorrow and caulked along with the fan switch, per your notes. I'm an old construction engineer and also fix things myself as the dealer techs don't know much more about a particular model than we do. We just got back from a 26 day trip from south Texas to the Apostle Islands on lake superior and all worked well on the R-179 with only a few minor repairs needed. Also the outside shower box installed over the electrical service plug really bothers me as a design engineer, I had to put a plastic baggie & rubber band on it, just because. I only got fed up with the frig alarm and after following everyone's advice/repairs on this site I finally resorted to taking the control panel apart, removing the circuit board and drilling a hole in the alarm's diaphragm, peace at last, peace at last, I don't care about any consequences from my actions, good Lord we have peace at last. My wife said if that frig beeps one more time I'm going back to ice chests like the old pop up camper days. Thanks for all your efforts in making a great post for others to see and learn from. Carl
	"You can't change the Wind but you can adjust your Sails." Carl & Marty 2015 R Pod 179 2003 Chev. Suburban

Jay in Maryland Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 28 Feb 2015 Location: MD Online Status: Offline Posts: 30	Posted: 11 Aug 2015 at 4:14pm
	If you look at my photos, you can see they reflect on how the r-pod was put together at the factory. I'm not sure what a dealer could do about any of these construction issues unless they had a better built r-pod on their lot. In my travels this summer I came across two other 2015 179's. While I could not crawl over every inch of them as I had mine, I looked them over carefully and saw a level of quality comparable to my unit. For me, things not working right like a leaking tail light, unsealed fridge, and broken switches are more easily and quickly repaired by doing it myself, than by hauling the camper to the dealership to have the warranty enforced. A dealership can not improve on the r-pod's overall build quality even if it wanted to. FR could do a better job of quality control, and I suspect they did a few years back. I hope my photos here inspire them to get back on track.
	Jay r-pod179 05 Tacoma PreRunner