New potential R-Pod owner

donkro · 05-18-2022, 04:15 PM

I'm looking at the R-Pod rp192 as an option and wondering how folks on this forum feel about it, and rpods in general. Anything to be aware of?

**RedLdr1** · 05-19-2022, 12:00 PM

We have a 2022 RP-192 and have found it to be a near perfect couples trailer. The floor plan is one of the most spacious you'll find in a smaller trailer without a slide out.

R-Pods in general are well built and are a durable trailer. We've owned three R-Pods and all of them had less issues than the FR motor homes we've also owned. I have no qualms recommending an R-Pod to anyone.

If you buy a new R-Pod it should come with Goodyear Endurance tires from FR. A 2020, or early 2021, Eastern division built R-Pod will probably have Castle Rocks tires which are the "China Bombs" you read about failing. Do a search on "China Bombs" and you'll get a few hundred hits here. If you buy a Hood River Edition, from the Western division, it should have Westlake "offroad" tires which are a decent tire.

Hope this helped...

Grnsl2 · 05-19-2022, 12:55 PM

We own one as well and although very limited camping time so far have been happy with the layout and space it gives you. I would say our number one drawback is countertop space so you will have to improvise there a little bit.

stephensatt · 05-19-2022, 01:32 PM

If you are looking for a small couples trailer and want something that will hold up for off roading, skip Forest River and get a Casita all fiberglass , however, its gonna be a bit smaller at 17ft, probably a little narrower also, but I think the price will be similar. We had ours for 12 years and its a night and day difference as it doesn't fall apart, at all. I mean, nothing went wrong for 12 years straight except for the refrigerator didn't get as cool after 5 years, but Dometic has fixed that issue on the half height fridges w freezer. Also it doesn't depreciate as much because its all fiberglass, 100% , including the furniture and cabinets. Ours even got side swiped by a Cadillac and it the Cadillac bounced off of it, not making this up, didn't even crack the fiberglass. I could not believe it. Its probably the best built small trailer on the market, never leaks, has zero structural issues.

Now, if you are going to buy a mass produced trailer like the R-Pod and I own a No Bouderies, prepare to do a ton of prep work to keep it from shaking itself apart.

You will need to line the cabinets with glue, also more screws, and also possible frame re-enforcement.

Our No Boundaries, cabinet fell of the wall on the way home, door was flying open on way home, this is from the dealer, heater falls out, microwave falls out. You will need to jerk and pull on all the appliances at the showroom, pull on the cabinets, and see if you can get the dealer to fix all the loose stuff first before you leave. I drove straight to Home Depot from the dealer and bought clamps to hold everything together for the 3 hour drive home.

Look up R-Pod frame problems, on Youtube and there are some videos where people are welding in extra outriggers and the outrigger problems do exist on those units.

So year 1 on the Forest River, cabinets falling off, heater falling onto the floor, so lots of glues and screws, and thats fixed that.

later year 1, leaks around the windows and also the awnings. You will need to re-caulk on year 1, and it does say to do that every single year. My suggestion, buy better caulk and caulk and undercoat day 1 from the dealter when you get it home. Don't wait.

Year 2. Walls start sagging, wallpaper coming off, outriggers broken or bent from the wall weight and we had a welder take care of that.

So there is a video about mass produced vs custom, on Youtube and the person goes on to say "You can buy a $25k class trailer and make it a $50k trailer for a couple of $1000". Yes, I agree with that statement and thats my attitude today because of the costs and I am a big big do it yourselfer.

So with a $20-30k gap in cost, other than the Casita which is low priced, you can do allot of upgrades on the cheap trailers and get them up to a $50k class trailer however, you cannot make it all fiberglass or aluminum. This explains the popularity of the cheap trailers. Most people have the attitude I plan of doing lots of upgrades. Depends on your skill level and age.

So if you want to do the upgrades and the work mass produced R-Pod fits nicely. I recommend as much composite materials as you can get in a cheap trailer, as least amount of wood as possible. Not gonna hold up off road without frame strengthening.

If you want to offroad or go into extreme conditions all the time , like allot of Salt-water beach camping, or long Desert roads, or the Mountains, that was us, and thats why we went with all fiberglass Casita Spirit.

I see these guys buy the smaller R-Pods and No Boundaries to do extreme offroad booning way out of grid and they complain obsessively about the trailer falling apart. I would not consider any Forest River trailer good enough to hold up for hours on dirt roads. The frame is too thin, and does not have enough structural support, however, the smaller and simpler the trailer like the R-Pod without slides, the easier it is to upgrade and fix those issues.

stephensatt · 05-19-2022, 01:43 PM

Oh one other thing. Our Casita Spirit, which I believe only weighs about 3000 lbs, and is a single torsion axle like the R-Pod you are talking about. The 15 inch Class C Good year tires were not strong enough. In the first 2 years of owning the trailer we blew out both tires, and the spare, all blowouts occurred at highway speeds in the middle of Summer in the hot desert on the passenger side where the 25 gallon water tank is. We upgraded the tires to the MD2020 Class D, same tires Uhaul uses on their trailers and never had another blowout for 10 years or the life of the tire. Also the tire, night and day difference on the drive, the stiffer sidewalls kept the "wagging" that single axle trailer do , kept it down to minimum. Well worth the upgrade.

Reverse_snowbird · 05-19-2022, 02:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stephensatt

If you are looking for a small couples trailer and want something that will hold up for off roading, skip Forest River and get a Casita all fiberglass , however, its gonna be a bit smaller at 17ft, probably a little narrower also, but I think the price will be similar.

Sorry you had problems with your FR trailer.
We looked at Casita's, but they wouldn't work for us when we bought our tt. They are about 5' shorter, their interior height is 6'1" (about 5" shorter than the rpod,) and they have those 'wet baths' which our friend couldn't fit into. Their interior storage space is less because of their shape. They are durable, but we didn't think it justified the cost. Plus the wait time to get on was extremely long back then.
Glad you enjoy your Casita, but they aren't for everyone.

glfillion · 05-20-2022, 12:06 PM

If you can get your hands on a 182, that's the best R'Pod! It has a slide plus an outside kitchen/entertainment center which can be used in the rain! Plus it can either put you up in the breakdown dinnette or use the separate bunks if one of you snores! We had ours for 5 years with a few mods, the best being a wall mounted fireplace on the front wall. It added loads of ambiance as well as heat when needed on chilly nights with a remote from the bunk! The second add was a front storage rack to hold my twin fuel inverter gen set so we could boondock at our hearts content!

glfillion · 05-20-2022, 12:08 PM

Also on the 182 we purchased the extended canopy which basically doubled the living area and gave you outside room even in bad weather!

RedRoverComeOver · 05-21-2022, 12:23 PM

Looked at the Casitas but only having a wet bathroom option is deal breaker for me.

**bikendan** · 05-21-2022, 02:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RedRoverComeOver

Looked at the Casitas but only having a wet bathroom option is deal breaker for me.

Those fiberglass egg trailers, like Casita and Escape, are only attractive to a few. It's a niche market.

Sent from my SM-G781U using Forest River Forums mobile app

Dirt Sifter · 05-28-2022, 06:12 PM

We like our 195 (but I liked the 179 a little better.) One thing to be aware of if you are thinking of serious off roading, the tank drain pipes hang low so rough unpaved roads can cause them to impact the hard surface. As long as we take it slow and easy and avoid dry creek bed type crossings we've been ok. The TT has worked great in improved campgrounds and on good roads. The only problem we've had was towing with the Tacoma into a very strong headwind. For safety's sake we pulled over and parked for the rest of day. Similar conditions with the Tundra were no problem; for the most part the Tacoma has been just fine on most of our trips. Enjoy your 192!

michael3426 · 06-13-2022, 09:59 AM

I am picking up my 202 this week. Does anyone know if the roof is walkable? If so, weight limit? I have tried to look for information online but I haven't been able to find any specific information about it. I will be getting up there to do a seamless seal on the roof so I will need to be able to access everywhere up there.

Thatdarncat · 07-02-2022, 12:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by donkro

I'm looking at the R-Pod rp192 as an option and wondering how folks on this forum feel about it, and rpods in general. Anything to be aware of?

I had a 176-T back in 2015, it was junk....wouldnt ever touch another r pod again, just pay a few more bucks and get a Casita

**bikendan** · 07-02-2022, 01:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thatdarncat

I had a 176-T back in 2015, it was junk....wouldnt ever touch another r pod again, just pay a few more bucks and get a Casita

A Casita is not just a "few" bucks more, than a comparable Rpod.

Thatdarncat · 07-02-2022, 02:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bikendan

A Casita is not just a "few" bucks more, than a comparable Rpod.

Yea well aware of that but well worth the extra pain.
Oh I like your sig line, I have too a 2013 Max tow package f-150 3.5 ecoboost, 7 lugs 3.73 rear end, bed is rated for 2100 lbs or so...does a good job towing, not as good as that diesel ram I had, but good enough

**bikendan** · 07-02-2022, 02:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thatdarncat

Yea well aware of that but well worth the extra pain.
Oh I like your sig line, I have too a 2013 Max tow package f-150 3.5 ecoboost, 7 lugs 3.73 rear end, bed is rated for 2100 lbs or so...does a good job towing, not as good as that diesel ram I had, but good enough

You must have the Heavy Duty Payload package, which I don't. I only have 1828lbs of payload capacity.
Yep, it's a towing beast for a 6cyl 1/2 ton. I tow all over the West and it has never struggled.

Ricksnextphase · 09-06-2022, 07:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by donkro

I'm looking at the R-Pod rp192 as an option and wondering how folks on this forum feel about it, and rpods in general. Anything to be aware of?

We recently bought a RPOD 192 and while I love the look and the modern conveniences we realized that we would need a little more room with a slide out. The murphy bed definitely needs a foam mattress addition. Lastly our RPOD was bought in May of this year and we've used it 4 times and it has been back at the dealers 3 times. We also had to cancel 2 trips due to issues. In fact we got it back last friday, are leaving today and the refrigerator handle broke for the 2nd time. I beleive we just got a lemon and strongly suggest you look over your RPOD 192 very closely before purchase. I like the RPOD and we are looking at the RPOD 196 or 202..... very closely of course. Good Luck

Thatdarncat · 09-07-2022, 06:51 AM

Complete junk, over the years we have had 4 campers, and it by far was the worst, and this was long before the pre-covid days of shoddy workmanship.

Ken-m · 09-07-2022, 07:55 AM

Stephen was 100% correct in his short story , Rpods are a super light weight camper . Built with little attention to quality. Will it seem nice in years 1 and 2 ,probably . The trailer just won't hold up for the long run of going down the road. Almost every long-term owner would agree to that . But if you willing to spend a few thousand dollars and a few hundred hours, you can probably make it a heck of a lot better.

Dirt Sifter · 09-07-2022, 08:56 AM

I bought an early 195 and have enjoyed it. It is one without a front window or vacuum system, just a good camp trailer for two. It's not gone off pavement much, but has held up just fine when treated like a piece of equipment, not a toy. At this point, I am satisfied with the smaller, versatile travel trailer. It is relatively 'new' but it follows our owning a 2017 Rpod 179 which served us well enough to encourage another one.

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