We Sold Our 172 Today
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Topic: We Sold Our 172 Today
Posted By: lostagain
Subject: We Sold Our 172 Today
Date Posted: 16 Nov 2019 at 10:34pm
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Well fellow Podders, we sold our 172 today to a nice couple from Lake Tahoe. I told them about the forum and I am pretty sure they'll be joining soon. We are replacing our Pod with another Forest River product, a Sonoma 167rb, which is a little longer than the typical Pod. The layout is very similar to the new 192, but with a walk around queen bed instead of the Murphy bed. They're built out west in So.Cal. They have an I-beam rail frame and a leaf spring suspension with wheels that don't extend outside the trailer body. I'm already planning mods.  Unless we get thrown off the board, we'll continue posting. ------------- Never leave footprints behind. Fred & Maria Kearney Sonoma 167RB Our Pod 172 2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost |
Replies:
Posted By: furpod
Date Posted: 17 Nov 2019 at 7:00am
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It takes a hella transgression to get removed.. in the nearly a decade I have been coming here, I think I have seen it twice to actual members.. spammers get dropped/blocked with regularity. Grats on the new rig, we do have a area just for those who don't, like me, still own a Pod. In a way I am lucky, the new TT has a very strong owners group. But most don't. So we do encourage them to stay, your Pod knowledge is still valuable to the group, and you have history here.. ------------- |
Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 17 Nov 2019 at 9:28am
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I took a look at a video of the interior of the Sonoma, looks nice. One question, the bed really has a big overhang, is it sturdy? ------------- 1994 Chinook Concourse 1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |
Posted By: mjlrpod
Date Posted: 17 Nov 2019 at 10:06am
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I too sold my 172 this year. I really liked it, but got seduced by the extra space and north/south facing queen bed the new 195 offered. So nice to be able to get in and out of bed without climbing up, or over. Having the nice big frig (that is super cold) was a nice upgrade as well. Although I was ok with the wetbath, having a drybath, with room to move, vanity, medicine chest and storage is well appreciated. I do miss my dome, but everything else is a positive move. I looked at this unit your getting and my only small issue I have with it is the 22 gal grey tank, instead of thirty. As I think about it, most times this will probably not be an issue, I just have the bigger is better feeling I guess.
------------- 2017.5 Rp-172 2020 R-pod 195 2015 Frontier sv 4.0L 6cyl I'll be rpodding |
Posted By: GlueGuy
Date Posted: 17 Nov 2019 at 10:06am
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Looks nice Fred. Hope you stick around. ------------- bp 2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River 2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost |
Posted By: lostagain
Date Posted: 17 Nov 2019 at 8:33pm
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The bed overhang is too much with a full size queen mattress, but the short queen [75"] fits just fine and leaves enough room to attach a fold up cutting board counter top like I did in our Pod. I plan to give the crappy full queen mattress away and replace it with a foam short queen. And yes, the bed base is a little flimsy and would be in danger of breaking if two people as fat as me sat on it together. Thankfully, my wife is petite. But I do plan on putting a reinforcement on the bed base just to be safe. And that way, I can eat more potato chips. Since I don't like cleaning the black water tank and we've always tried to use the camp ground bathrooms for serious business, 22 gallons will be adequate but marginal, unless I've been drinking an awful lot of beer or coffee. It was one of the trade offs. The Sonoma is shorter than the 192 by about 2 feet and not so heavy. I don't know the width of the 192's body, so I can't really make a comparison. Basically, it's very similar to the r-Pod in overall scale, except with the wheels tucked nicely underneath and a slightly narrower overall width so its easier to back into narrow spaces, like the gates to my back yard where we will store it. Furpod said it is hard to get thrown out of here so I'll stick around as long as I am welcome. ------------- Never leave footprints behind. Fred & Maria Kearney Sonoma 167RB Our Pod 172 2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost |
Posted By: Happy Tripping
Date Posted: 18 Nov 2019 at 6:19am
| Your contributions have been much appreciated. I hope you continue here. |
Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 18 Nov 2019 at 7:14am
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The Sonoma up till the current model lists 32 gallons "total fresh water tank capacity", which is FR's code that it includes the 6 gal water heater tank, so probably 26 gallons useable. That should be a good match to a 22 gallon gray tank plus a little for "light use" of the black tank, and/or some outside shower use. Interestingly, the current (2020) model specs list 50 gallons fresh water but still 22 gallons each gray and fresh. What's up with that? Doesn't make a lot of sense if correct. ------------- 1994 Chinook Concourse 1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |
Posted By: lostagain
Date Posted: 18 Nov 2019 at 12:39pm
There are discrepancies with the dealer representations about fresh water capacity. Some say 32 gallons plus 6 for hot water tank, while others say 32 gallons without specifying. All say 22 gallon gray and black tanks. Moral of the story, there are compromises in this life that we all have to accept to get generally what will work best for our individual needs. 22 gallons black capacity is plenty for 2 people under most of our personal camping conditions. We'll have to be careful with the gray water. As for fresh water, it's easy to make my wife go fill a 6 gallon jerry can with campground water and fill the fresh water tank when necessary.  On the official Canadian weight sticker, it says that the cold water weighs 98kg and the hot 23, so that should come out to a water tank in the neighborhood of 32 gallons + the 6 for the water heater, or 38 in total. Since we don't drink tank water for aesthetic reasons [the water molecules are uglier
] we're going to be drowning in fresh water for cooking and washing at that amount. I think the 50 gallon capacity for fresh water applies to the 2020 version, which we didn't buy. Also, what I found out is that they moved production of the 7' wide units from Rialto, CA to Hemet, CA due to point of work issues when on scaffolds on either side fo the trailer. They make 8' wide trailers in Rialto and didn't want to install new scaffolding systems to accommodate the further reach off the scaffold. In Hemet they build narrower trailers such as the Geo-Pro, so the 7' Sonoma's production worked out better. But to accommodate the change, they dropped some features like tinted windows because they didn't want to have to maintain a large inventory of parts. In looking at the differences between the trailers built at the two locations, there are a number of other construction differences, not better or worse, just different. And the guy with the caulk gun in the Hemet plant seems to be a little more careful. We're having the dealer re-caulk a number of things before delivery. This is the actual trailer we're getting. [Please note I straightened the galley plug in my walk through.  I couldn't help myself. It was an irresistible impulse.] http://www.rvtoscano.com/2019-forest-river-sonoma-167rb-new-travel-trailer-los-banos-ca-93635-i2466081 - https://www.rvtoscano.com/2019-forest-river-sonoma-167rb-new-travel-trailer-los-banos-ca-93635-i2466081 We did get a much better price, though.------------- Never leave footprints behind. Fred & Maria Kearney Sonoma 167RB Our Pod 172 2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost |
Posted By: Happy Tripping
Date Posted: 18 Nov 2019 at 1:29pm
| How many pounds capacity is the axle?? |
Posted By: lostagain
Date Posted: 18 Nov 2019 at 2:04pm
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I've been given inconsistent information in this regard. FR reps have given me a range of 4200 to 4500 for this particular product line, but I don't believe them. The ground was full of sharp gravel at my walk through, so I didn't get a good look underneath at the axle sticker. When I get the trailer home, I'm going to crawl under it and get the SN and will call the manufacturer to confirm the actual rating. When I was looking at a comparable trailer in Carson City, it had rims that were industrial in character and I thought I saw 6 lug nuts, but it turns out there are 5 on the actual trailer. Since it is a leaf spring configuration with what appears to be about a 3.5 inch round axle I assume it is adequate for the GVW of the trailer, but knowing FR, I' sure they give no extra capacity. Doing the math, with a 400 pound tongue weight and a 4300 GVW, I suspect the axle has about a 3900 lbs. capacity. I'd like to figure out a way to add some shock absorbers to lessen the potential bounce, but I'm not inclined to mess with the suspension unless the axle company sells the parts for such a modification. I don't want to void any warranties. Without a cantilevered axle configuration, combined with leaf springs directly under the I-beam trailer chassis, and the fact that we tend to travel on the light side of the bring the kitchen sink along scale, I am going to focus my attention more on making some comfort and utility mods that won't add materially to the weight. ------------- Never leave footprints behind. Fred & Maria Kearney Sonoma 167RB Our Pod 172 2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost |
Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 19 Nov 2019 at 5:42am
98 kg = 216 lbs = 25.9 gallons. So that is consistent with 26 usable and 32 gallons total of which 6 sits in the water heater. That appears to have changed in 2020 but I'm thinking that that might be a typo since 50 gallons of water weighs in at 417 lbs which would be crazy heavy on a small trailer. ------------- 1994 Chinook Concourse 1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |
Posted By: lostagain
Date Posted: 19 Nov 2019 at 9:33am
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Opps, I added the 6 gal in twice. The curse of multi-tasking at my advanced age. FW tank capacity looks to be 26 gallons. FR is really sloppy in providing specifications in all their trailers that I looked at, including the r-Pod, Sonoma, Geo-Pro, and e-Pr0. They also have a tendency to leave out information. For example, they list the width of the r-Pod as 8', which is it's wheel base, but try to find the with of the cabin. I guess my wife is going to have to take one more trip to the campground faucet to fill the 6 gal. jerry can if we run short of water.  ------------- Never leave footprints behind. Fred & Maria Kearney Sonoma 167RB Our Pod 172 2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost |
Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 19 Nov 2019 at 1:48pm
I think your wife is probably safe from much if any jerry can toting. Since you minimize toilet use and only have 22 gallons of gray water capacity, you will probably be overflowing that about the same time you run out of fresh water. There are RV water saver systems that let you use gray water for toilet flushing, I used to have one in one of my old RV's. Worked pretty well as long as I was scrupulous about not letting crud get in the gray tank. If you had one of those systems you could run 44 gallons through your fresh tank before you overflowed your two waste tanks, maybe more if you use your outside shower. That amounts to another 3 jerry cans full, so your wife could really get some exercise.... ------------- 1994 Chinook Concourse 1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |
Posted By: lostagain
Date Posted: 18 Dec 2019 at 8:00am
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We took delivery of our FR Sonoma 167rb, brought right to the front driveway. Got a little dirty on the trip over the Sierras due to a snow storm the day before. All seems to be in order and I've already started the mods, including a power tongue jack, dual 6v golf cart batteries, a usb plug, a new mattress, a folding counter top like the one I put in our Pod, etc. I did a pre-purchase inspection that took the better part of a day a couple weeks earlier and caught a number of things that needed attention. Since we are quite far from the selling dealer and the local one is not real inclined to honor the FR warranty, the trip to do the inspection was worth it. ------------- Never leave footprints behind. Fred & Maria Kearney Sonoma 167RB Our Pod 172 2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost |