Why We Sold Our 2020 Rpod 180 Camper (Honest Small RV Review)

40 thoughts on “Why We Sold Our 2020 Rpod 180 Camper (Honest Small RV Review)”

• My husband and I slept lengthwise on the bed. We got a thin piece of plywood, slid it under the mattress and put a pillow on it. I’m getting rid of mine but only because my husband recently passed away and if I was going to go out it wouldn’t be a towable. I’m trying to get it winterized now. The floor in the kitchen area is really mushy so I dk if it’s delamination (which I understand is common with Forest River) or if there was a water leak. We bought ours sight unseen and there’s no inside storage at all. They didn’t give us a good tour of ours. I heard people tell stories about the great service prior to taking possession of their Rpod. Told them everything about it and showed them stuff about maintenance. I’m sorry you are having trouble with pain. I can relate. I’ve been dealing with it for years. It’s draining. Hopefully yous will resolve soon.
  I almost forgot. We got the dome to go on ours! Big mistake. We ended up living full time in ours. First: the dome was much smaller than we expected. When I first started watching Rpod videos the domes were huge. Second: it wasn’t easy to set up. I dk if that was just ours or what but we had a hard time with it. Third: it got destroyed in a storm. The AL weather was very hard on it. It started tearing in different places and looked terrible. We ended up getting rid of it. So my Rpod has probably lost value because it doesn’t have an awning!

• Great informative video, thanks so much.

• Older R Pods are made better!!!
  Owner change???

• I have a 2012 keystone springdale 189 and im impressed with its build quality. I bought it used from the original owner and it has never had any real issues and still works and looks very nice and for 5k, it was a great deal and i still love it. Was recently looking at some new rv's and found a lot of them to be very low quality as far as build quality, but the grand design is one that I do like

• I had a horrible experience with a lightweight camper that just fell apart after 2 years. The roof leaked around a skylight and all the sudden you realize just how flimsy everything is built. For instance the walls might be aluminum but in the middle they are mostly Styrofoam. It doesn't hold screws well and it flexes quite a bit which causes windows, doors and skylights in my case to leak in a very short period of time. Most RV places have service centers that are MONTHS behind getting to all the repairs because of these new models. I spoke to a place today that has 300 campers in the line to repair. If you are 'handy" and like fixing things then you are welcome to get one of these campers. If you are like me and prefer things to be built to use a lot, stay away from camping in general but especially stay away from lightweight small campers. My 2005 toyota sunroof still doesn't leak. My 2018 Forest River camper is leaking like a river.

• Who on earth would buy a camper where the bed was shorter than you? Also the sway is from either packing the trailer wrong or using the the wrong tow hitch! This made me realize why people have so many problems with campers.

• r pod are welded steal –strong we go off road all the time never has a problem

• We have a r pod 180 too MODS added 4-inch lift blocks, rear removable jacks, tow 6 volt batteries, mover tire to the side of unit r pod, make a rear lifted rack . we have found we run low on water after 4 days. I will address that soon .

• We did the same thing and now we are in a fifth wheel.

• glad your feeling better stay healthy

• Thanks for this video…..I'm looking for a trailer and I like the off road Black Series and others like it but they are so expensive that I immediately am turned off. I guess I have what they say Champagne taste on a beer budget.

• now i understand between the wet and dry baths.

• Helpful, thanks. Soft shopping. Friend has a 179 and loves it.

• Towing capacity is nothing. Payload is more important

• You talked about the poor build quality and it's obviously a reflection of the price. I've been looking at some small teardrops (with rear galley) that were going for twice the price of a much larger R-Pod. It stings to pay that much for something so small but I'd rather have a quality build and components. Not to say the R-Pod is junk, just that there are (as you found) better quality campers out there, you just have to be willing to pay for it. Pay once, cry once.

• I almost bought a 171. Thought is was the best design for my needs. But after looking at it a few times and watching some reviews on here, I decided that it was going to be more work than I wanted to deal with, even a new one. I still really like the design and layout a lot.

• Thanks for the honest review

• I think you'll find that shorter trailers are more difficult to back up then longer ones.

• What a great upgrade guys! We will be watching how things go for you. Best of luck in the Imagine rig

• Moved from glamping to RVing.

• This was a well done, informative video. Thanks for uploading it.

• You might want to check out Big Truck Big RV, most of his channel pertains to 5th wheels and very high end ones , But he does cover lots of smaller trailers and he will tell you what you should upgrade so you will have a wonderful time and these are things you will learn after lots of years camping. So why not learn or get a jump on the other guys so you won't repeat the same mistakes others have made, it saves time and money

• Thank you for the honest review

• We wanted an R-pod but when we looked there was very little storage inside. We bought a 19 foot freedom express and absolutely love it!

• Nice job. Construction is my big deal. Ollie, nucamp, lance are some that I like.

• What would you recommend for a first time small camper?

• I love how the 180 is small and light weight but still has a slide out option for more floor space. I'm currently eyeing one of these to purchase when I get a pick up. My only complaint on this model (and most campers really) is I wish the bed would fold up into a couch when not being used as a bed. I love more versatility options like that.

• Honest review, but way too many caveats

• We just purchased our first r-pod after comparing small ones and this was the nicest. We have camped with tents, tent trailers, a 30' travel trailer for 10 years and just got this one. So, not new to camping. Everything you mentioned (and I was glad to hear what you had to say) are things we thought about first and tried to avoid. Of course, we haven't even taken it on the road yet – hoping no trouble and broken equipment!! It's made of Azdel fiberglass (not cheap) and it has a ladder so you CAN walk on the roof. Since my husband is accomplished at trailer pulling (farm boy), we have anti-sway bars and trailer brakes installed in our vehicle. Plus he can stand in the shower (6'2") and we have a walk around bed because we got the model with a murphy bed. We are pulling it with a Toyota Highlander. Sorry you had so much trouble – praying we don't! And thanks for the tip on the Facebook group!!

• Your statement about "glad to learn on a smaller trailer rather than a 30-40 footer" is counterintuitive. The longer the trailer, the easier it is to back. I drive a semi daily & our 17' pop-up is WAY more difficult to back than my semi-trailer…

• Awesome guys that’s for sharing this.

• Shoddy workmanship is common in the industry , plus I understand most of the workers are not very well paid .

• I don’t get it. What’s the point of this video? Is it a sales video; but you are selling it . . . ?

• Woah ……….. wait a minute, 10,000 lbs on a F-150 ~ You are asking for trouble ! You need to rethink this issue.
  I have been camping and pulling trailers for 40+ years. I own a R-Pod 180
  I seen in your film why you had problems with towing the R-pod. First it looked like you didn't have a sway or torsion bars on the trailer/truck.
  If you have these two items it will stop the swaying. If you don't have them for the new trailer: Get Them and have the salemen show you how to put the load on the trailer.
  From experience speaking: Do Not tow any camping trailer with a F-150 or a Chevy 1500 that weighs more then say 6,000 lbs. and 22 (box not counting trailer length) foot long.
  You are only asking for trouble. With your wife health issues stay safe. Happy Camping ~ God Bless

• If it moves, it will break, rattle and fall apart. The trick is to stay ahead of it.

• In terms of towing, if you can back up a short wheel base trailer like the Rpod, you can easily handle a larger one. Small trailers are the most difficult to maneuver while backing. Just wanted to throw that out there for anyone who may be thinking about a small camper due to maneuverability. They do fit in smaller places, obviously, but getting them there is not as easy and the tail swings very quickly compared to a much longer camper during backing.

• Y'all sound like me! I only had my 1st camper for about 5 months before I decided to upgrade to something a little bit bigger.
  Great video!

• The rpods are POS. I full time out of a 2018 179. I have already had to repair a section of the floor where a unsupported seem was. I had to add supports under the 7" overhang to support the slide.

  Now I have to go back and repair that section of floor again. But this time I'll have to put a piece of 3/4" plywood with more bracing. This will add more weight, so I'm planning on welding 2×2 11ga tubing to the frame. Then replacing the 3.5k suspension with a 7k. I'm also going to have to replace the head coupler with something I can throw bolt.

  All in all, the quality of the rpods are sh!t

• You needed at least twice the towing capacity of your vehicle to be able to safely pull the rpod without stability issues. That’s why you were having issues

• We camped with our kids in the early 80s. It took several years for us to land in a camper that did every thing we needed. Every trip we took we learned something new, it was very exciting

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