Rpod moved in high winds...
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Topic: Rpod moved in high winds...
Posted By: TacoTuesday
Subject: Rpod moved in high winds...
Date Posted: 03 Jan 2020 at 9:39am
| We recently had extreme Santa Ana winds here in So. Calif. (60+ mph) and my 179 got blown around. I had forward and rear wheel chocks in, all 4 stabilizer jacks down, and the hitch jack down on a stack of plastic leveling blocks. When I got up in the morning, the wheel chocks had moved, the plastic leveling blocks under the hitch jack were GONE so the hitch jack was suspended in the air, and the whole Rpod was resting on the front right stabilizer. The back two were up in the air useless, and the front left one was mangled from the Rpod moving around. I ran and got my truck hooked up to it to support it, and ordered a replacement scissor jack. The other 3 jacks were just fine. So, what did I do wrong? I thought I had it set up just fine, but we do get strong winds occasionally this time of year, and I don’t want to worry about it happening again... I just got my 179 in October, so I don’t have a lot of experience with it. Thanks for any advice 😊 |
Replies:
Posted By: mjlrpod
Date Posted: 03 Jan 2020 at 10:35am
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I camped this past october at the beach and we had 45-50+ gusts, and 30+ sustained winds for 2 days. I have a 195, which is several hundred pounds heavier, but is bigger and catches more wind. We arrived at the site late at night. We soon went to bed and Quite frankly, we got a little nervous. We had many a moment that we thought the camper might move. It didn't and the weather improved. I guess maybe the safe bet for you, being lighter, and in stronger winds, leave the tow vehicle hooked up to the camper if you aren't needing to go anywhere. ------------- 2017.5 Rp-172 2020 R-pod 195 2015 Frontier sv 4.0L 6cyl I'll be rpodding |
Posted By: tcj
Date Posted: 03 Jan 2020 at 11:29am
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Park on the leeward side of a building if possible. If not, park the trailer headed into the wind. ------------- 2018 R-pod 180 Hood River Edition |
Posted By: tcj
Date Posted: 03 Jan 2020 at 11:43am
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On the Wind River Ranger District in Southwest Washington State in 1974 the Red Mountain lookout recorded steady 90 mph East winds one weekend. A contract snag faller in the Yacolt burn had a camp trailer parked on a ridge top. He went home for that weekend. When he came back to work Monday morning he found the wind had blown the trailer off the ridge down into the drainage below. ------------- 2018 R-pod 180 Hood River Edition |
Posted By: mcarter
Date Posted: 03 Jan 2020 at 12:04pm
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I also have experienced wind issues. Came within a mile of a tornado several years back in AL, and here in TN, we get some extreme thunderstorms. I don't think you did anything wrong, but there may be a couple things you could have done too. One I agree, that when heavy winds are forecasted (heavy, not breezy) I hook up the TV. Secondly if hooking up TV is not an option, I pull the ebrake pin. If battery is connected that locks the brakes. The stabilizers will not keep trailer from moving in high winds. If it moves the front jack can fall off blocks. Happy that is all that was damaged. I lost a 16', dual axle, flatbed off my hill here in TN a few summers back, it blew off and went down the hill. ------------- Mike Carter 2015 178 " I had the right to remain silent, I just didn't have the ability." |
Posted By: TacoTuesday
Date Posted: 03 Jan 2020 at 12:06pm
| Oh wow! I guess I was lucky to have as little damage as I did then... I guess I did things right, but Mother Nature had other ideas... I may have to move the spot where I park my little Rpod. The wind hit it flat on the right side... I used to have a much larger and heavier rig parked there. I will have to think about moving it to face into the wind during Santa Ana winds. |
Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 03 Jan 2020 at 1:12pm
I left my 179 on Hatteras island (where I lived till last month) once when we evacuated for a hurricane. Winds exceeded 100 mph in that (relatively mild) category 2 storm. The trailer moved about 10 feet winding up against a curb and the chocks were gone when we got back. After that I've taken the trailer with me during evacuations.  We get 60 mph winds frequently and I've never seen any movement then (60 mph wind pressures are only 36% of 100 mph ones, the pressure goes with the square of the wind speed) so I'm a little surprised that the trailer would move under only 60 mph. In places like ridge tops and escarpments you do get speed up and the wind pressure can be 2 or 3 x what it is on open flat ground. Facing into the wind only works if its always from the same direction, things like hurricanes, tornadoes, and t-storms are not like that, but it would help for the Santa Anas. Keeping more weight in the trailer would help too. ------------- 1994 Chinook Concourse 1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |
Posted By: GlueGuy
Date Posted: 03 Jan 2020 at 4:54pm
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We routinely get 40-60 MPH winds during winter storms. We've occasionally gotten 90 MPH winds, and once (that we know of) over 110 MPH. We have our R-pod parked at the north end of the house, and it is partially blocked from the predominantly southerly winds we get during winter storms here. It's never moved, and I attribute that to the fact that the house is providing some protection. ------------- bp 2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River 2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost |
Posted By: Motor7
Date Posted: 08 Jan 2020 at 10:37am
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Buy some mobile home anchors(Lowes sells them): https://www.lowes.com/pd/30-in-Mobile-Home-Anchor/3438356 - https://www.lowes.com/pd/30-in-Mobile-Home-Anchor/3438356 They screw into the ground, put one on each corner then use ratchet straps to attach to the frame of the 'pod. If you even change the location of the pod you can un-screw and re-use. ------------- 2016 R-Pod 176T |
Posted By: jato
Date Posted: 08 Jan 2020 at 10:58am
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We have a large wedding tent (60' x 120') at the golf course that has been destroyed a couple times by winds clocked at 60 - 70 mph winds. Our only way to keep the 4' stakes from popping out of the ground was to pour 2' x 2' concrete pads under ground and then attack our 4" nylon ratchet straps to the hooks on top of the concrete pads. Quite extreme but not much else we could do under the circumstances. On top of a hill not far off Lake Michigan and next to Torch Lake. Since having this set up only minor damage incurred under similar circumstances. Hope we never get winds like you all are talking about, we are quite fortunate here. ------------- God's pod '11 model 177 '17 Ford F-150 4WD 3.5 Ecoboost Jim and Diane by beautiful Torch Lake "...and you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free." |
Posted By: TacoTuesday
Date Posted: 08 Jan 2020 at 11:45am
| Great ideas! I going to look for those mobile home anchors at the local hardware store...Thanks |
Posted By: mjlrpod
Date Posted: 12 Jan 2020 at 8:59am
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I was thinking about this and a question came to mind. 1st, I had assumed you were on a nice level paved surface. I also assumed that you place chock blocks on BOTH sides of the tires. I use 4 chock blocks when I set up, 1 behind, and 1 infront of both tires. IF you don't chock both sides, I would think that would be a big help. As far as being unlevel, I do the best I can, but being unlevel would make the situation worse. Just a few thoughts I felt might help. ------------- 2017.5 Rp-172 2020 R-pod 195 2015 Frontier sv 4.0L 6cyl I'll be rpodding |
Posted By: TacoTuesday
Date Posted: 12 Jan 2020 at 2:48pm
| Yes, I am on a paved concrete pad, but there is dirt surrounding it. I was thinking I could put the anchors out in the dirt area. And yes, I also had the wheels chocked front and back, but the chocks were blown away! |
Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 12 Jan 2020 at 2:55pm
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You might want to check out the BAL Single Axle Tire Chock. Since it locks onto the tire, it can't blow away. I have one and it works great. The tire can't easily roll when this is locked into place although with enough force, even it can be moved some. One for each side would be a lot stronger than using the cheap plastic chocks that don't grip worth beans. https://www.amazon.com/BAL-28020-Single-Axle-Chock/dp/B001UGPEJA - https://www.amazon.com/BAL-28020-Single-Axle-Chock/dp/B001UGPEJA ------------- StephenH Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7712 - ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
Posted By: TacoTuesday
Date Posted: 12 Jan 2020 at 5:07pm
| Now that seems like the perfect solution! Thank you 😊 |