We Bought Our First RV! Tour of Small Rpod 180 Trailer and First Trip as Camping Newbies
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- Опубліковано 5 лют 2025
- #rpod #camping #rv
Hi! We're Darren and Stephanie, the Landlocked Lovebirds! We're an ordinary married couple from the landlocked state of Indiana, with a passion for traveling the world! In our 5 years of marriage, we've managed to visit over 20 countries together! Our channel will teach you how we afford to take once-in-a-lifetime travel adventures each and every year by using the art of travel hacking and by staying in some unconventional accommodations.
The coronavirus and Stephanie's health battles cancelled many of our travel plans, so we began searching for a new way to explore. The Midwest and the entire United States are packed with the great outdoors, and we thought a small RV would let us travel on our schedule and in a safe manner. We bought a brand new 2020 Forest River Rpod 180 trailer without seeing it in person and towed it home to Indiana from Kentucky. We took it out on its first adventure just a few days later...at a campsite 15 minutes away from our house. We can't wait for more adventures with our little pod!
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Hey all! If there’s anything specific you’d like to know or see related to camping or our camper, let us know! We hope to show you a few state and national parks here in the US soon!
I HAVE A 2018 AND COULD NOT BE HAPPIER. MODS, DUEL BATTS, FACTORY LOOK ALIKE CABS OVER BED I MADE,2ND FIRE EXT BY FRIGE,POST TABLE STAND, LGR PROPANE TANK, PORCELIN TOILET, insul cargo bays , 2nd lic plate for FMCA plate, magnet panel by bath door and closet.
What didn't you like about pulling the 180 with your Edge? Did it not have enough power? Or did the r-pod have. too much sway? I have a 2020 escape which I want to use to pull a r- pod. Tim
Tim, it was mostly a power thing. Plus, fully loaded, the rpod exceeded capacities set forth in the Ford towing guide. We were over on frontal area, and we were over on towing capacity and probably tongue weight. We had concerns about insurance coverage, had we been in an accident and over specified maximums. Plus, we’d like to hit the mountains at some point, and really doubted the edge’s capability to get us there. On flat ground at moderate speeds, I think it would have been ok.
@@LandlockedLovebirds Were is this place?????
This is Scales Lake Park in Booneville, Indiana.
Loved the Cinnamon Roll Badge Bit.
My wife is Very Impressed with your videos. Thanks so much!
Aww. Thanks for such a kind comment, and thanks for watching.
Good choice. We love our 180! Only complaints we have are the AC noise, and we wish there was a fan and/or window in bath. We did upgrade our tow vehicle also. From a F150 v6, to a 5.7 Tundra.
Welcome to rPod life! Great little trailers! Happy to share first-timer experience if you need it.
Don't be afraid, you can do it.
Thanks for such an inspiring video. We just purchased a used 2017 Forest River R-Pod 171. It's a bit smaller (we owned a Westfalia for years, so this is a big upgrade in space and comfort). We did a lot of research and found the R-Pod to be incredibly well designed. They think of everything! One thing worth mentioning with respect to towing. We were looking at a Subaru Outback (rated to pull 3000 lbs) to pull our 2,400 lbs (dry) R-Pod. Most forums said this would be fine but watch the weight when adding gear. However, an Outback specialist let us know that any vehicle built with a 'unibody' rather than 'frame' is not as capable of pulling a load that is close to it's limit. It's pretty dangerous under the wrong circumstances (steep hills / bad conditions). We ended up buying a Toyota Tacoma with 6600 lbs of towing capacity to play safe. Probably worth doing some research to see if your Ford is safe to pull your larger R-Pod safely. I hope you have many many amazing camping trips! Up here in Canada, BC - we have quite the playground to explore in. Happy camping.
Thanks for the advice! We really struggled with whether or not our vehicle was capable and ran ourselves in circles trying to decide. We ran into similar information regarding unibody vehicles and whether or not they can tow utilizing a weight distribution hitch. We actually traded up for a Ford F-150 with capacity up to 11,000 lbs. Now we have plenty of insurance. 😂
Thanks for the kind comment. Be sure to check out our latest video to see our first long trip with the trailer. 9 hours drive up to Michigan. Enjoy your R-Pod!
Your videos are great and very informative. There's nothing ordinary about you.in every video of yours the first thing I notice is your kindness and down to earth nature.as an Albanian in the US especially enjoyed the ones about Albania. May God give you a long and happy life together.
Hi! My wife and I are both retired teachers and have enjoyed various forms of camping for all of our 52 years of marriage. We have owned a variety of camping units starting with a 16' Shasta, then a 20' Salem then a 27' Pilgrim, then a 33' Georgie Boy R.V. and now we have gone full circle back to a 15' Sportsmen Classic RB130. Besides the 2020 pandemic I had major back surgery that really and literally knocked me off my feet. During my recovery I really questioned whether I would be able to manage the maintenance and requirements of owning our little trailer. Last week we finally got the trailer out and camped at a small nearby campground. I was greatly relieved to discover that with some modifications in our preparation and set up routines we were able to do everything needed to have a pleasant camping experience, even in 100 degree weather. I have also discovered what I can and cannot and should not do with a back that won't bend. If I do bend, lift, or twist, (the infamous B.L.T.'s of back surgery) I pay for it with a week or two of recovery time. So, I have decided to spend the necessary money to have a local R.V. company do the winterizing, de-winterizing, axle maintenance, etc. We have made some necessary interior mods, as well. We leave one bed set up full time for her to sleep on and I use the couch as a bed since I can only sleep on my side. The trailer wall actually keeps me from twisting in my sleep. By sleeping separately it allows us to have the freedom to have the necessary mid night bathroom visits without having to crawl over each other. Because of the configuration of our bathroom we took the door down and replaced with a shower type of curtain to give me the leg length (I'm 6'5" tall) I need when sitting down on the plastic throne and still have some privacy. I use an inverted waste can to sit on in the shower since standing for very long is hard on my back. We installed a grab bar to assist both of us when entering and exiting the tub/shower. Of course, there are the ubiquitous Command Strip accessories scattered throughout the trailer to hold various items like eyeglasses, remote controls, tablets, etc. My point to this rather length post is to let you and others know that no matter what age or infirmities life throws at you there are always things you can do to continue to enjoy life to the fullest. You just have to be willing to make accommodations that will help you adjust your lifestyle. I hope you continue to enjoy your new camper and please don't let yourself be tempted into buying something bigger. Trust me. Size doesn't always matter. :-)
Hey there neighbors! Welcome to the RV world - be patient and you’ll discover a great new world! We live and work full time in Owensboro and frequent Southern Indiana parks. Lincoln is a favorite as are the three on 64! Started with a used pop up three years ago and bought a brand new Jayco WhiteHawk 24MBH six months later. Hope to meet you in campground sometime!
Hello! That’s funny. We traded up after 6 months also to a Grand Design Imagine XLS 22MLE. We’re hooked!
We haven’t hit Lincoln yet. Had it booked for Memorial Day but the new camper was too big for the site we had reserved. We will definitely hit it in the near future.
You mentioned the 3 on 64. Would that be Lincoln, O’Bannon, what else? There’s Lynnville over there too.
@@LandlockedLovebirds Ooops! Not 64 but highway 37! Tipp
@@LandlockedLovebirds sorry. Accidentally hit send too quickly. Tippsaw, Saddle Lake and Celina.
Y'all are going to love it 💘. We bought ours early spring and have had the best Summer!
Had to retire early. We live in Hobart IN. Ready to RV!
Thanks for sharing.
My wife has been dealing with some health setbacks as well and I'm happy you've been able to keep your journey going. Good luck to you!
Hope your wife can keep fighting those setback and that you both have plenty of good days in the future. We know how hard it is to keep moving.
Congratulations! I think you will love it! Make the most of every minute. Time goes fast.
Nice! I left Munster IN years ago and am now thinking of retiring into an RV. Really appreciated.
Welcome to rving I came across your video because of the R-pod thats probably the floor plan I would have picked , I have only been to Canada once so Iam not a world traveler or care to be . Plenty to see right here I towed my 18ft Shasta Oasis across country and back before resettling in North Carolina and always liked seeing this little R-pods wondering if I would like one . Hope to see many more adventures with yours and your dogs , enjoy and be safe.
great video!, We just bought an R-Pod 180 and are very happy with it, but would like to improve things. One of the 1st things we did was remove the outside slide-out stove and got some extra space plus we bought a portable gas grill made by Solaire to replace it since we like to grill. We have a few other ideas for inside like making a shelf for brewing coffee, putting a shelf over the bed, adding towel racks, task lighting, spice rack, device shelf, and velcro the dinette seats down.
Nice! We have a camp chef smoker at home that has a portable grill, pizza oven, and griddle. We’re thinking of picking up a portable gas burner to free up the storage space from the outdoor kitchen as well.
We’re also thinking about removing the dinette and replacing with a jackknife sofa to have a better spot to lounge on rainy days.
We had a few issues from our first long trip, so it’s back at the dealer getting fixed up. Hopefully it was mostly just initial shakedown stuff and we’ll be back up and running soon.
Welcome to the R Pod family. We enjoy our 2016/179, from Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Fun video there Darren and Steph! Safe travels on the camping life.
Thanks! Best of luck in your new ventures as well!
Nice! We have the R-Pod 192 and love it.
Keep posting, guys! Your Italy series really helped us when we went last year. :)
Great to hear! Thank you! We hope to get back to a more normal posting schedule with our new wheels. 😁❤️😊
Loved the video of the first camp out. Let’s get a Patoka Lake camp and boat trip on the calendar soon!
Hey. We have a rpod 178 love it. We are just getting started. Fun it is. The Richmonds.
We are shocked at how much we like it already! Hope you have many fun adventures.
If anyone is concerned about their R Pod 180 and sway while traveling, then get a hitch assembly with built-in anti-sway bars. I use a 2020 Crew cab Colorado, a fairly light pickup compared to a 1500 series Chevrolet to pull the R Pod 180 and the first thing I did at my dealer when I picked up the R POD was have him add the sway bar hitch. Going down the road, there is is NO sway and I'm frequently thinking I should look again and see if it's really there. Anti-Sway bars make all the difference in towing! NOTE: 20 years ago at 65 MPH on 85 South just into North Carolina, I nearly lost an1987 Ford 150 pickup with a Wells Cargo trailer to sway -- crossed both lanes and almost started into the median at 50 MPH before regaining control. That's why I believe in the value of sway bars for proper vehicle control.
Hey Guys! Found your channel doing a search for living in a small travel trailer. We will be hitting the road full-time soon in our 19' Sandpiper and love connecting with fellow explorers/Rvers. We love being a part of the UA-cam RV/adventure community. Your Rpod is so cute and cozy! Definitely subscribed and so looking forward to going along on your adventures! ;-)
Good luck on the full-time RV life! We’ve loved every day we’ve been out camping in our little pod. We just got back from a week in Michigan, and campsite life has been great! It’s addictive. We want to go back up north, so we will be checking out your videos.
@@LandlockedLovebirds Great, thank you! We will be spending a week in the U.P. chasing waterfalls in a couple of weeks. Hope to see you on the road! ;-)
Congrats on the R-POD trailer. I like your videos, keep up the good work.
Thanks so much for the kind comment!
These are great for music festivals! Camper passes sell out fast though. Try reserving for the Beale Street Music Festival in Memphis once it comes back around.
Turkey Run SP, Brown County SP, Spring Mill SP, McCormick's Creek SP... are all good southern Indiana Camp Grounds.
Thank you! We are planning out all of our 2021 camping adventures now and researching cool places close to home.
cool video thanks for sharing! nice camper
Congrats and welcome to rv world!!! Keep posting, new viewer here…
I'm awaiting delivery of my 2021 R-Pod! Please post more videos so that I can learn with you!
Congrats! What model are you getting?
@@LandlockedLovebirds 180 !!!
Just gonna be a weekend warrior with my goldendoodle north and south of Georgia
Very nice! We’ve been out 3 times since we bought. Hoping to get out a few more times before the weather turns. Enjoy!
Hey guys! Just stumbled across your channel and watched this Rpod video (mainly because we too have an Rpod). Then, I heard you guys talk about the Facebook group that you're in for Rpod people, and we are also in the same group!! 😲😁 We just subscribed to your channel so that we can watch more of your adventures. We have just recently started our channel and we actually took ours all the way to the Grand Canyon.this summer (we are from Ohio). Hope to stay in touch! Awesome video, btw. 😁
Hello! Thanks for the sub and the kind comment. We’ll be sure to return the favor. Let’s definitely stay in touch! Hope to see you on the road sometime!
@@LandlockedLovebirds that would be so great!! I love your Rpod, btw 😁
Awesome video, we live in terre haute and are camper shopping. Any dealership suggestions?
The frog is for Forest River Owners Group. He's cool, isn't he. Ours is catching bees with his tongue!
Ever get the AC quieter? That’s the only downfall I have with this RV trailer. I tried searching the Rpod forums but they just flamed the original poster for not being able to “deal” with the noise. Lol. I really want one though.
It did, but it actually rattled itself to pieces and quit working first. A few screws that mount the fan to the unit had rattled out and were rolling around in the case. Once the dealer found them and tightened them, the unit was much quieter. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still loud, but much more bearable. I’ve seen a few people do some internal ductwork hacks to quiet it as well. We run a ran in the camper at night to mask the compressor kicking on and off and leave the a/c fan in high or low mode as opposed to auto, so the fan isn’t also kicking on and off all night.
Great video
Thank you!!
This is awesome! i am starting my search for a pod that i can pull behind my edge and looks like something like this would work! we have the SEL so same engine as yours. GO HOOSIERS!
O get the RPod. You won't regret it.
One thing>> we had a camper with the bed and one side facing wall. We had to roll over one another to get up to use restroom. We went with with the single beds and night stand between. Something to think about.
At 6’3” I do have to sleep at a bit of an angle haha.
Rick, spoiler, we did trade for a truck. We were pushing limits of the edge towing capacity.
I felt ok with it for shorter trips without much climbing, but I doubted it for longer trips or mountain climbs.
That said, I’m very much a novice at towing, so it could just be undue fear from my inexperience.
Good luck with your purchase! We have loved it so far.
Hi there. Are you able to two it without a weight distribution hitch? We are going to buy one snd tow with our Jeep Cherokee.
Thanks, Phil
Our Ford Edge had a towing capacity of 3500 lbs and did not require a weight distribution hitch. I would be sure to consult the towing guide for Jeep to see what is recommended for the trailer weight that you’re considering. Each manufacturer usually issues a towing guide for every model year.
Do you need specific upgrade on the rpod axal or base or in your car to make it a more stable or safe towing
Sorry. I don’t know the answer to that. Many people use weight distribution hitches with built in sway control or standalone sway bars to limit sway with towing.
Toilet cassette is big plus👍
Did you figure out the A/C buzzing? Sounds like it might have been annoying
A couple of bolts that mounted the motor housing rattled out. The dealer discovered them and reinstalled them. It’s quieter now. Hopefully they hold this time.
I have a 177, R-POD
Did you consider any other Campers, for example, m the TAB 320 or TAB400? Just curious what the deciding factors were for choosing this trailer.
We considered a few other options like Scamp, Casita, Escape, etc. One issue is my (Darren’s) height. Many smaller campers would require me to duck. The R-Pod had enough head room in much of the unit. Even so, with the bed running side to side in the RPod 180, my head and feet hit the walls when we sleep. It’s manageable but not the most comfortable sleeping setup for us. Steph likes it just fine though. We also looked at comparable options like Winnie Minnie, Freedom Express, Geo Pro, etc. RPod was pretty easy to find in our area and were decently affordable.
We should have a new video coming soon. You’ll learn that our R-Pod experience was short lived. :). We’ve already upgraded to a higher quality, slightly larger trailer to better suit our needs and allow us to bring our dogs with us more comfortably. The Rpod taught us what we liked and didn’t like in a travel trailer, so against our better financial judgment, we made the trade. 🤷♂️ 🤷♀️
Nice first Rpod adventure. How does it tow? Any sway issues?
Hi! We’ve experienced a good amount of bounce. Don’t think we’ve gotten it weighted just right yet. I’m hoping to run it over to the local CAT scales to see where we’re off.
The only time we’ve gotten much sway is when semis pass and such at higher speeds. On smooth roads, I forget it’s back there.
I always thought the frog originated with the Forest River Owner’s Group. But I could be wrong.
That’s different than what we were told, but I can see that spells FROG, so that could be true. Thanks for the info!
A truck Tacoma of road nice 👌
Nice this looks great and luxurious 😍 love it 🙌🏽 hope we can show luv 2 r pages
If you haven't already sorted it, you really need some tow mirrors.
Thanks! The body of the rpod is only 6 feet wide, so I could see around it quite easily with the factory mirrors.
We actually traded to a wider camper though, and tow mirrors are on the shopping list. 😂
@@LandlockedLovebirds After research I realized how correct you are. Quite surprised myself, thinking myself seasoned. Totally in love with the r-pod now. Thank you for sharing. Totally have to have it now.
We enjoyed our pod. We have a video coming soon explaining our decision to trade it. I definitely noticed the difference towing the new one home. I’ll be installing a rear view camera and some mirror extensions soon!
👍🏾
Does it have Ac
It does! A very loud one. :)
Wondering how your towing of the R Pod 180 is with your Ford Edge? I have an FWD MKX with 3500 tow capacity and wondeing if it is sufficient? Have you done alright with it?
John Weber
Round Rock, TX
High John! We only towed with our Edge a couple of times before trading for an F150.
We just felt we were pushing limits too closely for comfort, so we made an upgrade to something more capable.
Thanks! If you stayed away from mountains would have felt okay with your Edge?
Yes. I think we’d have been ok. My one fear would have been stopping power if needed. We did have an aftermarket trailer brake controller installed to help with that.
Thanks for your input. Very helpful. Be safe in your travels!
@@jweber14 same to you! Take care!
You will find out soon that east west beds are no good, having to climb over someone is a bad idea
Not ideal, but we’ve managed so far. We’ve definitely quickly learned what to look for in our next travel trailer.
That is the camper I should have bought instead of the one I got
What did you buy? We like learning about other brands and models. There are so many to choose from!
(GO AIR FRYERS)
Junk sold my 2020 flooded inside moldings fell off bench seating fell apart like I said JUNK