New (Used) 172

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   Hi everyone. We just bought a 2010 172 from a local dealer. Both my wife and myself have been lurkers here and I want to thank everyone for all the valuable information we have found on this site. One of the biggest worries I had about the trailer was whether or not it would make it up our driveway without bottoming out. The dealer we made the purchase from doesn't know R-Pods that well, since he doesn't normally sell them. He had no idea they manufactured a lift kit. I discovered the kit reading the threads here and asked that he install it. That went well and we picked up the trailer a week ago. I wasn't too pleased with the hitch work done as the trailer was much higher at the hitch than the rear. We drove it home that way and achieved 8.5 mpg on the way home. Neverless the trailer was able to make it up the driveway without bottoming out. Then I discovered the dealer had used a raised ball on the hitch that causes it to sit about 3/4 inch higher than a normal ball. I changed that out and the trailer rides almost level, but the hitch frame jack bottoms out on our driveway and chewed up the break away cable (not good). I have to make the decision to put up with one or the other and I think I am going to go back to the higher hitch ball and have the trailer ride with the higher front end. Positioning some 2x10x10s across the bottom of the driveway solves the bottoming out problem, but this is a royal pain. The other possibility would be to replace the jack with one that doesn't protrude down so far. 

Last Monday we embarked on our maiden voyage. It was a short one to Kiptopeke State Park on the Eastern shore of Virginia. It is about 2.5 hours from our home. The ride to and from was uneventful and fairly painless except the fuel cosumption. We have a Toyota Tundra with a 5.7 liter engine as the towing vehicle. It got 11.5 mpg on the way down and 10 mpg returning home against a pretty stiff headwind. Normally the truck would get 17mpg. The journey cost about $110 in fuel. The park is pretty nice with full hookups, but the National Wildlife Refuge nearby was nice too. Don't miss that if you are in the area. 

Our R-Pod came nicley equipt. It has a TV/DVD, AC, furnace, R-Dome, Cover etc. but no microwave. Above the stove top there is a doored cabinet with an AC jack and some CATV jacks. Is that where the microwave would go? To the right of that just above the TV is another space only enclosed by a fish net, but I would have to drill and put another outlet on that side of the cabinet or just drill a hole large enough for the plug to go through. On top of the fridge, there appears to be a nice spot, but I am not sure how I would secure a microwave there. The next question is... is there an offial R-POD microwave and if so, how expensive is that? I seem to remember reading about a convection oven everyone here seems to be talking about breaking down. Is there any harm in just using a small 40 dollar Microwave oven? 

The other thing that got us wondering on this trip was the operation of the water heater. It appears to be both electric and gas operated. The manual is of little help. Is there any way to independantly use the water heater with electric? The gas worked fine when we turned on the switch by the Microwave, but when that was turned off the hot water gradually cooled and we got no hot water. We would just turn it on from the switch about a half hour before doing dishes or running the shower. I'm wondering if the water heater element is burned out.

We got to use the furnace two nights ago as it got really cold. That thing pumps out some heat and warms the air quickly, but it sure is noisy. Every time it switched on it woke me up. I'm going to invest in another smoke/CO alarm. All this combustion in tight quarters makes me nervous. Just using the stove top set of the existing CO alarm unless the door was open. 

Thanks for listening and we appreciate all the great information here. 

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MandB Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Groupie Joined: 02 Apr 2012 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 70	Post Options Post Reply Quote MandB Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: New (Used) 172 Posted: 12 Apr 2012 at 7:46am
	Hi everyone. We just bought a 2010 172 from a local dealer. Both my wife and myself have been lurkers here and I want to thank everyone for all the valuable information we have found on this site. One of the biggest worries I had about the trailer was whether or not it would make it up our driveway without bottoming out. The dealer we made the purchase from doesn't know R-Pods that well, since he doesn't normally sell them. He had no idea they manufactured a lift kit. I discovered the kit reading the threads here and asked that he install it. That went well and we picked up the trailer a week ago. I wasn't too pleased with the hitch work done as the trailer was much higher at the hitch than the rear. We drove it home that way and achieved 8.5 mpg on the way home. Neverless the trailer was able to make it up the driveway without bottoming out. Then I discovered the dealer had used a raised ball on the hitch that causes it to sit about 3/4 inch higher than a normal ball. I changed that out and the trailer rides almost level, but the hitch frame jack bottoms out on our driveway and chewed up the break away cable (not good). I have to make the decision to put up with one or the other and I think I am going to go back to the higher hitch ball and have the trailer ride with the higher front end. Positioning some 2x10x10s across the bottom of the driveway solves the bottoming out problem, but this is a royal pain. The other possibility would be to replace the jack with one that doesn't protrude down so far. Last Monday we embarked on our maiden voyage. It was a short one to Kiptopeke State Park on the Eastern shore of Virginia. It is about 2.5 hours from our home. The ride to and from was uneventful and fairly painless except the fuel cosumption. We have a Toyota Tundra with a 5.7 liter engine as the towing vehicle. It got 11.5 mpg on the way down and 10 mpg returning home against a pretty stiff headwind. Normally the truck would get 17mpg. The journey cost about $110 in fuel. The park is pretty nice with full hookups, but the National Wildlife Refuge nearby was nice too. Don't miss that if you are in the area. Our R-Pod came nicley equipt. It has a TV/DVD, AC, furnace, R-Dome, Cover etc. but no microwave. Above the stove top there is a doored cabinet with an AC jack and some CATV jacks. Is that where the microwave would go? To the right of that just above the TV is another space only enclosed by a fish net, but I would have to drill and put another outlet on that side of the cabinet or just drill a hole large enough for the plug to go through. On top of the fridge, there appears to be a nice spot, but I am not sure how I would secure a microwave there. The next question is... is there an offial R-POD microwave and if so, how expensive is that? I seem to remember reading about a convection oven everyone here seems to be talking about breaking down. Is there any harm in just using a small 40 dollar Microwave oven? The other thing that got us wondering on this trip was the operation of the water heater. It appears to be both electric and gas operated. The manual is of little help. Is there any way to independantly use the water heater with electric? The gas worked fine when we turned on the switch by the Microwave, but when that was turned off the hot water gradually cooled and we got no hot water. We would just turn it on from the switch about a half hour before doing dishes or running the shower. I'm wondering if the water heater element is burned out. We got to use the furnace two nights ago as it got really cold. That thing pumps out some heat and warms the air quickly, but it sure is noisy. Every time it switched on it woke me up. I'm going to invest in another smoke/CO alarm. All this combustion in tight quarters makes me nervous. Just using the stove top set of the existing CO alarm unless the door was open. Thanks for listening and we appreciate all the great information here.

tpierce220 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 16 Jan 2011 Location: Oswego, IL Status: Offline Points: 249	Post Options Post Reply Quote tpierce220 Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 12 Apr 2012 at 9:07am
	Welcome and congratulations on your purchase! Let me see if I can answer some of your questions. Here's the floor plan for the 172: http://forestriverinc.com/nd/default22.asp?location=rv&unittype=&page=floorviewertt&model=RP-172&choice=rpod&nav=rec&name=2893&series=RPODTT I know in my 182G, the microwave goes above the fridge, and I don't know if that's the case here or not. Perhaps someone with a 172 can help you out. You should be able to go ahead and place a microwave in the hole, but I don't know how comfortable I'd be in traveling with it just sitting there. The FR microwave is secured in place, so it's not going to move. You could check with FR to see what the cost would be. My sense is that there were two different convection oven/microwave ovens that FR had used. We used ours quite frequently last year without any problems. You can use the WH in electric mode, but make sure that you have water in the tank before you flip the switch otherwise you will burn the element. Keep in mind that the water will take longer to heat up in just electric. Some people use both modes to get the water hotter with the element taking over to keep it warm. I hope that helps, and I'm sure that others will jump in here. Tim
	Adventures with ¡Podtástic!--Life in a Forest River RPod 182G with Tim and Louis and our two cats, Desi and Lucy. Check our website at http://podtastic.info for information on our journeys.

MandB Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Groupie Joined: 02 Apr 2012 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 70	Post Options Post Reply Quote MandB Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 12 Apr 2012 at 9:19am
	Thanks for your reply. I am still unclear with regard to the operation of the water heater. When you flick the switch do both modes turn on (assuming you have the gas turned on)? I don't see a way to operate solely on electric other than by presumably turning off the gas operation for the whole RV. I think above the refrigerator is probably the place for the microwave. There is an outlet up there. I wouldn't put any old microwave up there without designing something to keep it in place although buying one designed for the job isn't out of the question if we can afford it. Thanks again!

Tom and Carol Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Groupie Joined: 23 Aug 2010 Location: St. Cloud, FL Status: Offline Points: 69	Post Options Post Reply Quote Tom and Carol Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 12 Apr 2012 at 10:35am
	In the outside compartment for the water heater, you should find a small rocker switch on the back wall. It almost looks like they try to hide it. Turning that to the on position should give you electric heated water. That's all we've used in our 177. The inside switch is for gas operation. We leave that in the off position. Hope that helps. Tom
	Tom and Carol R-Pod 177 2006 F-150

leonlewt Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Groupie Joined: 14 Feb 2012 Location: Alberta, Canada Status: Offline Points: 52	Post Options Post Reply Quote leonlewt Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 12 Apr 2012 at 10:50am
	Hi, congrats on your purchase,...I just picked up my 2011 rpod 172 two week ago. Funny thing, last night I was just measuring that high little spot above the fridge for a microwave. I figure I can get a small microwave with front profile being about 10 inches x 19 inches (a 0.7 cu ft should do). I will have to figure how to secure it,..but will take it down to the floor while traveling, for now. As far as the WH goes, I though like you, that it could be switched from electric to gas,...but the guy who gave me the orientation assured me it only runs on gas,... he was new at the dealership. So I'll keep an eye on this post for further info. My pod is 8km away at a storage lot,..so next time I'm out I'll check it out again. But as far as I know, the gas option is very efficient.

leonlewt Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Groupie Joined: 14 Feb 2012 Location: Alberta, Canada Status: Offline Points: 52	Post Options Post Reply Quote leonlewt Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 12 Apr 2012 at 11:17am
	thanks Tom,... so the WH does run on electric. I recall reading about that,..but I couldnt see what the "on" position was.

tpierce220 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 16 Jan 2011 Location: Oswego, IL Status: Offline Points: 249	Post Options Post Reply Quote tpierce220 Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 12 Apr 2012 at 12:29pm
	The water heater can run on electric. Tom is correct, there is a rocker switch that is hidden in the lower left side of the water heater. Just be careful that there's water in the water heater before you flip the switch because you will burn out the element. You will find that the water heater will heat up faster on propane. The element just heats the water, but it's a relatively slow process.
	Adventures with ¡Podtástic!--Life in a Forest River RPod 182G with Tim and Louis and our two cats, Desi and Lucy. Check our website at http://podtastic.info for information on our journeys.

pentachris Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 11 Jul 2010 Location: Alabama Status: Offline Points: 114	Post Options Post Reply Quote pentachris Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 12 Apr 2012 at 5:25pm
	I turn both the electric and gas on to heat up the water when I'm setting up. Once the water gets hot, I turn off the gas and let the electric element maintain the temperature. We don't use it so fast that we need the faster refresh rate that gas offers.

MandB Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Groupie Joined: 02 Apr 2012 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 70	Post Options Post Reply Quote MandB Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 12 Apr 2012 at 7:22pm
	Thanks. You are right on the money. It is on the bottom left corner hiding under some metal tubing. Very convenient. That's great to know because I would rarely need to spend my money on the gas to heat the water. My wife uses the shower, but if the campground has a shower, I'd rather use that one. Not that my wife doesn't need hot water, but if we turn it on when we arrive, there should be plenty of hot water. If two of us were taking showers back to back, we would want the gas for a fast re-heating. Thanks again!