172 Modifications

We have had our R-Pod since June 2009 and have ventured out at least once a month since. It has been great! We have two daughters - 20 and 17 - and really thought they would not really want to go camping with the oldies. Well, surprise, surprise! The college students loves to meet us at a GA state park. She even asked for a small tent and gear for Christmas. So we were so happy that we decided on the 172 with the two bunks. Here are some modifications I have made to increase storage and usability:


3M stick-up hooks for keys and such at the door.


2 tier pantry baskets under light on top bunk. Great for my daughter's phone, ipod, head phones, chargers, and kindle.


two 2 tier pantry baskets mounted side by side on back splash over stove top. Handy for klenex box, phone chargers, spices, flashlights, etc.

We added a magnetic white board, clock, and paper towel holder to the back splash. I also made a cover for the stove top out of plexiglass covered with contact paper. It works and it's light weight.


This gauge goes between the tank and the line. It will let you know how much gas is left in the tank. It turns from green to red.





We are working on getting our spare tire raised up so we can carry our bikes on the tire with our rack without dragging the bikes. Here is what it looks like now. I will post an updated photo when we get the custom-made thing. We want to get the guy to raise the tire to just below the back window at an angle and add a hitch to put a small utility basket on the back to carry the grill and cooler. That way we don't have to put all that junk inside!

Penny

Great organization mods !!! Thanks for posting, sharing with us.

I went to Menards and bough a bolt on spare tire holder (about $20) and mounted my spare tire on the front frame next to the propane tank, this free'd-up the hitch point on the back for a bike carrier.  It also transfer a little weight back to the hitch to off set the weight of the bikes on the back.

Got a couple things to add. Found these suction cup hooks that are strong and will stick to the outside of the Pod. Used them to hang up wet towels on the back side of the Pod. Out of sight and out of the dirt!

   

These clips we used to close up the gap between the trailer skirt and the Dome. This really mattered on the GA coast with all the sand gnats!!

 

Sorry I couldn't turn those clamp pics first!

Here are the mods we made to the tire and basket.

Original spare tire mount. It is too close to the ground to hang our bikes.

  

So we got an iron guy to rebuild it so that the tire is higher off the ground:

  

You can see that the tire bar is longer and slightly bent to form closer to the shape of the R-pod. This was our first trip with the bikes like this and it worked great.