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WARNING ON BLACK WATER PIPE BRACING

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JIMTAM View Drop Down
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    Posted: 23 Oct 2017 at 12:12pm
Be sure you add more bracing or support to the end of the black water pipe. We love our 2011 r-Pod 177, but had a serious problem after the bracing holding the end of the black water pipe snapped and dropped as we were driving.  The bouncing - on a dirt road ended up damaging the black water tank until it was not repairable. So $1,100 later after having to replace all the black water system we are wiser.  We had done a walk around on our trailer with before leaving our camp site - but the road was a bit on the rough side and by the time we noticed we had driven up to 20 miles or so with it bouncing.  We can't know exactly how long when it dropped. 

While I am at it - this bouncing caused me to do do further minor strengthening - under the bed I added corner bracing and I have also strengthened every other spot over the years that moved.  The r-Pod really isn't built to take much shaking.  I don't know that any trailer is - so that is just the way it is.  Strengthen every where you can!
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Lark View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Lark Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Oct 2017 at 10:02am
Hello
You didn't mention if you had the factory 4 inch lift kit installed.  I've done that with both of the Pods that I've owned with no problems with anything scraping.  

Lark  2015 R-150
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JIMTAM View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote JIMTAM Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Oct 2017 at 1:06pm
Are you telling me when you bought your r-Pod you installed a different or additional bracket?  I see you must be telling me that you knew to install a different bracket since I am giving a warning for what happened to us using the r-Pod as purchased (the installed bracket looked strong to me - it snapped).  We now have an exceptionally strong bracket system installed that is not provided by r-Pod.   I thought this might be helpful to some people.
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Lark View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Lark Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Oct 2017 at 2:55pm
No I'm telling you that when I bought the pod, I had the dealer install the 4 inch factory lift kit.  The 4 inch spacers go between the axle and the cabin lifting it 4 inches higher so that the chances of anything scraping are much reduced.  I have done this with the 171 and the 179 which I now own.  I recently drycamped for a week in a rough hay field.  No problems with anything striking  the ground when I was driving it around.   You will find that many if not most owners have installed the kit.  The dealers that I have dealt with charge about $180  parts & labor.  

Lark F 150  2015 R-179
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote JIMTAM Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Oct 2017 at 9:29am
I think your message is useful - but that isn't what happened to us so I hope others can catch what I shared.  It never hit anything.  It was shaking from the rough road.  We back our r-Pod down a steep driveway to put it away and are very aware of what might hit and not hit.   The metal bracing actually snapped and dropped the black water pipe to the ground and it bounced after it snapped.  Since we have had the r-Pod for 6 years with no trouble like that and no one ever said that the bracing - which looked very strong to us when we inspected the r-Pod for any safety issues on trips - might snap.  

 - I thought others might like to know.  When the black water pipe bounced on the road a few times - it created pressure where it attaches to the black water tank and thereby damaged the black water tank in a manner that could not be repaired.  The black water tank did not hit the ground. 

The shaking also loosened the bed frame - which was easy to strengthen with corner brackets.  A friend had their entire kitchen area shake loose on theirs!  We have only had some boards that we strengthened with screws into the kitchen opening where some people have the oven (we don't - we use that area for a pantry).

Thanks for sharing your front end fix - but I honestly don't know how our pipe could have been any higher so maybe the dealer did this fix without us knowing.

I only take the time to share as I thought this was a very expensive problem and many might want to know.



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JIMTAM View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote JIMTAM Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Oct 2017 at 10:43am
Second note - are you talking about the 4 inch axel riser?  Or something else?

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote mesamie Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 Jun 2018 at 10:01am
Just pulled ours out of winter storage, and that same pipe was laying on the ground. No apparent damage to it, and can only assume it happened as parking it ?! The only difference was it was not the brace itself, it was the nut was missing from the little tiny bolt they have on there. Took the brace off and replaced it with a longer screw and 2 nuts !
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote mcarter Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 Jun 2018 at 3:47pm
I would use a stop nut with the nylon center, I also added a second 3" brace.
Mike Carter
2015 178
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