General non-pod discussion: Toured a Tab 400

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Toured a Tab 400

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Category: Non-pod Discussion Forums
Forum Name: General non-pod discussion
Forum Discription: Non-pod and ex-pod general stuff
URL: http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=12945
Printed Date: 19 Apr 2024 at 11:50pm
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Topic: Toured a Tab 400

Posted By: podwerkz
Subject: Toured a Tab 400
Date Posted: 15 Jun 2019 at 11:58am

Wow this thing was nice!

A friend of mine recently bought a new Tab 400, Boondock Lite Edition. I have to say it is one very nice trailer!

Alde heating, 3900 pound torsion axle, 12v compressor fridge, built in solar power, mood-lighting, huge star-gazer window over the bed, froli sleep system, high quality materials everywhere, no wood at all in the outer shell, pop-out windows, enclosed tanks, very good departure angle, folding sink in the wet-bath, interior reminds me of an expensive yacht. (not that I've spent any time in expensive yachts!) The A/C unit is built-in to the side, not mounted on the roof.

Even the floor felt nice to walk on, firm but soft and tactile, if that makes any sense at all.

Amish built and very pricey, in fact it cost more than twice what I paid for my r-pod 171.

No power tongue jack tho....which seemed odd.

I will be camping with this group in New Mexico soon, so I will see it in action!

http://photos.app.goo.gl/tN3XYqCzXuRFFVZY6 - https://photos.app.goo.gl/tN3XYqCzXuRFFVZY6

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r･pod 171 gone but not forgotten!

Replies:

Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 15 Jun 2019 at 2:06pm

I heard those are very nice, but how was the interior space? The slide on our 179 sold my wife on the rpod, so the TAB floorplan seems like it would be a bit too cramped.

I think you can get a larger absorption fridge in them as an option, and the ac is much quieter but not particularly more efficient than our roof mount electricity hogs.

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

Posted By: podwerkz
Date Posted: 15 Jun 2019 at 2:41pm

I would not call it 'roomy' but with a couple of us standing inside, it was not bad...not cramped at all. Several large windows and a few smaller ones give it an 'open' feel.

About the same amount of interior room as my 171, but with lots more (lighted) storage cubbies everywhere.

We got to talking about the axle, I asked him what brand it was, no way to tell by looking underneath, the axle tube passes thru the enclosed under-belly. I'd be curious about it with all the axle issues mentioned on this forum.

Printed plain as day on the weight sticker, the axle rating was 3900 pounds.

He had a bluetooth brake controller...which I had never seen before. I looked them up and they are pricey and get mixed reviews. I'll stick with hard-wired brakes!

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r･pod 171 gone but not forgotten!

Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 15 Jun 2019 at 3:44pm

You mean like the Curt Echo? The BT is only for interfacing with your phone for setup, the accelerometers and pwm controls themselves built into the controller, so it is “hardwired” just like one that goes under the dash, and you don’t need BT to get your trailer to stop. It just doesn’t have a physical user interface.

So, the drawbacks are that there isn’t an easily accessible manual activation feature if you want that (you have to launch the app first) and boy as you say it’s not cheap. Personally I use manual activation pretty frequently and I’m stingy so I’ll stick with my traditional controller too. If you had several tow vehicles and/or trailers this kind of controller might be interesting.

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

Posted By: podwerkz
Date Posted: 15 Jun 2019 at 3:59pm

Yeah that's it. Curiously, the Tab dealership set this controller up with a connection that uses the trailer's 12v aux line from the trailer battery to apply power to the trailer brakes thru this controller.

Yes, I know that's not the correct way. But wait, it gets better!

The blue wire that would normally control the brakes was clipped off under the pickup bumper. No connection.

Also, there was no functioning aux 12v charge line to the trailer, the P.O.S. scotch-blocks they used were already intermittent. And the trailer brakes were not working at all. In fact the reason we got under there was because the trailer running lights were not working as darkness fell and we wanted to see how it all looked when lit up. The brake lights and turn signals were the only lights that were working. The dealership also had clipped the ground wire to the 7 way plug...I kid you not. The only ground to the trailer was thru the hitch ball.

So we spent several minutes under the pickup bumper and under the hood trying to figure out what was going on. We (several of us) decided the dealership kinda screwed up and sent this man out the door with a botched wiring job, after spending nearly 30 grand.

BTW, We disconnected his pickup and I moved mine in front of the trailer and we hooked up the TAB to my 7 way plug and everything including the brakes worked normally. Of course, my plug and brake controller is 100% correct and functional.

I think the Curt BT controller has advantages for some users, but for a single truck always pulling the same trailer, it is probably not the best option. But ya know, the guy spent $300 on it, and the plug, so is trying to get it working properly.

But, as I said, the Tab 400 is a really nice trailer.

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r･pod 171 gone but not forgotten!

Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 15 Jun 2019 at 9:01pm

Good trailer, bad dealer, go figure👎

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

Posted By: David and Danette
Date Posted: 16 Jun 2019 at 5:18am

It looks very aerodynamic like it would get better MPG than a r-pod 171.

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2018 Vista Cruiser 19BFD (2018-
2012 Vibe 6503 (2014-2019)
2009 r-pod 171 (2009-2014)
Middle Tn
2014 Ram 1500 Quad cab

Posted By: mjlrpod
Date Posted: 16 Jun 2019 at 7:20am

I looked at one of these last fall. It was quite well thought out. It has things that are better than the pod, and things that are worse. My immediate thought was, where the heck do you put anything. Pretty much if you put a camp fold up chair in it, you have to tie a red flag on the end of it. It's also more expensive than a pod, and had no shore power hook ups. I don't mind boondocking, but, I gotta have the shore power option.

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

Posted By: podwerkz
Date Posted: 16 Jun 2019 at 9:22am

I never even thought to ask how his mpg was, pulling with a Toyota Tacoma (I think that's what it is). Probably in the 10-15 mpg range like most of us get pulling small travel trailers, maybe a bit more.

And this one does have a shore power receptacle, with A/C and a microwave. It's an upgraded model. But there is very little outside storage...similar to my 171.

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r･pod 171 gone but not forgotten!

Posted By: crankster78
Date Posted: 16 Jun 2019 at 10:13am

Greetings:

I think at it's price point, Pods are a reasonable value, and both my 171 and now my 179 have been durable. I have noticed the several RV companies now have copies of the 179 floor plan and shape on the market.

Crankster78 2015 R-179

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Crankster 78 R-179 2015

Posted By: GlueGuy
Date Posted: 16 Jun 2019 at 10:19am

So it's about 2X the cost of a 171 with 1/3 the storage? It's cute and all that, but I don't really see the value proposition.

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

Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 16 Jun 2019 at 12:07pm

I think its value proposition is higher quality, at least purportedly.

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

Posted By: GlueGuy
Date Posted: 16 Jun 2019 at 12:14pm

If you want to spend a lot of money, you can always get an Airstream.

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