Hello All!
Just bought a 2018 16TBS, picking it up Thursday.
Dealer is 1100 miles from here- but got a great deal on exactly what we wanted.
Nearest dealers to us are 150-200 miles away and didn't have what we wanted....so...ROADTRIP!
Now just need to get our 2014 Rpod 179 sold.... ;)
Welcome! Good to have you on the forum. That will be quite a road trip for the pickup! Where is home?
Near Columbia SC and we will be traveling to Atlantic IA to get the CampLite. Google maps say 905 miles and 17+ hours..
Found one without all the overpriced stuff like $480 for a $125 TV etc. It was just about exactly what I was considering ordering.
Sounds great! After you get it, post some photos. We all like new camper pics ;D
Welcome to the forum! Can't wait to see pictures!
Google maps shortest route puts you within 6 miles of my house. Wave as you pass Bloomington/Normal, Illinois!
Another RPOD graduate. Welcome. There are several of us here. I still maintain an active participation in the RPOD forum in addition to this one. Both are really neat trailers with really great owners.
Welcome. We really enjoy our TBS. We spent sometime in St. Matthews years ago.
Congrats on the new trailer and welcome to the forum! We have a 2015 21BHS and are located down in Southwestern AZ. Let us know if you ever get down this way!
Well we did not get our new trailer- 900 miles from home in MO and 200 miles from the dealer, on the day before pick up date-
we were broadsided by a pickup truck>
Totalled our van, injured my wife and killed our beloved shepherd mix dog, who happened to be the best dog in the entire world. :'(
Called the dealer told them we still wanted the trailer- just not sure when we can get it....they were very accommodating.
I do have a 96 F350 I could take back up to pick up the Camplite- just not sure I want to take a 22 yr old, quarter million mile truck that far from home.
It just sucks so bad to waste 5 days and most of all lose our dog to a moron that claimed he did not see a 22ft long 10ft tall white van in daylight with no obstructions to view.
That is sad :( sorry for your lost. Hope your wife is ok
OMG! Hope you are all OK; so very sorry to hear about your loss. Our critters are our family so again so very sorry for you loss.
We had not so bad an incident over a year ago when we purchased our 21RBS but it was rushing home to a very sick cat who spent 3 days in intensive care. Our story has a happy ending so far she pulled through and is OK now. Hope you recover from this and get your trailer.
Thanks for the well wishes- the wife's physical injuries will heal in time, the unnecessary loss of our dog in a violent gruesome manner will never heal. Couldn't possibly even estimate the gallons of tears shed the last few days.
We will get the trailer- just determining how- it doesn't appear it will be easy to quickly find a comparable van to what we had.
I'm sold on the Transit, had it just over 2 years and already had 45,000 miles on it- been all over the country in it, including a 9850 mile trip to 11 National Parks out west with my 10 yr old grandson.
Ordering a Transit is fraught with peril- not unusual for it to take 6 months plus to get an ordered one. They often are built then sit for months waiting to be shipped- just ridiculous. Not all that unusual for an ordered one to arrive equipped incorrectly, after all that waiting either.
Once Ford has a little experience in the automotive field, maybe they'll figure out a way to do it faster.
Or maybe they'll even come up with a decent web presence for potential customers to search all dealers nationwide for existing stock, they don't have that right now.
But I understand with them being new to the automotive world and all... :o
Choices are- take my 22yr old F350 with 250,000 miles or take our 100,000 mile FJCruiser.
The concern with the FJC is we use a WD hitch on it to tow our Rpod- have done it without but didn't really like the handling.
The CL16TBS is a little heavier, both overall and hitch weight.
No field expedient way to install brackets to the CL in the field AFAIK- don't really want to drill holes or crush the aluminum tubing since that will not likely ever be used as the tow vehicle once home.
Weather is also becoming an issue- have now missed a window of moderate temps with the forecast the next few weeks. showing below zero temps, and some snow.
Losing a treasured dog is so hard. I'm really sorry for the loss.
Have you considered a RV shipping service? I know that when we bought ours, we looked at one in NC and to get it to our house in Michigan the dealer offered to transport it for a few hundred dollars. We ended up not doing that, so I have no direct experience with shipping, but it may be worth considering in your case especially.
As a side note, I do think it's a hoot (in a bad way) that car manufacturers have not figured out (after more than a hundred years) that shoppers want to find out what inventory exists nationwide. I know it's a dealer competition thing, but it sure doesn't help overall sales that buyers can't find what they want.
Quote from: ADR on December 18, 2017, 03:57:02 AM
Choices are- take my 22yr old F350 with 250,000 miles or take our 100,000 mile FJCruiser.
The concern with the FJC is we use a WD hitch on it to tow our Rpod- have done it without but didn't really like the handling.
The CL16TBS is a little heavier, both overall and hitch weight.
No field expedient way to install brackets to the CL in the field AFAIK- don't really want to drill holes or crush the aluminum tubing since that will not likely ever be used as the tow vehicle once home.
Your Rpod's WDH must have bolt through connections to the trailer frame. If it were clamp on, it should be fairly easy to attach it to the new CL. You might want to look to see if your WDH manufacturer has clamp on attachments that will work with your hitch.
I suppose you are reluctant to tow with the FJC with no WDH as you were uncomfortable towing the lighter Rpod without one. But maybe the heavier tongue weight of the single axle (right?) 16TBS will make it work for you without the WDH.
The FJC is a pretty rugged TV.
David
The brackets for the WD hitch on my Rpod are clamp type- just wasn't sure how much clamping force the aluminum box tube could stand from that large clamp screw.
The connection for the sway bar I actually welded to the Rpod frame. I used the sway bar for quite awhile and really felt I did not need it so I quit but did carry it with me just in case. I hope I won't need it on the CL either. If I do I'll fab up a clamp system as I'm not going to drill the frame especially in the tongue area.
re having the CL shipped- my fear is a unit is shipped and on arrival requires a warranty repair that I would have caught while still at the dealer and had corrected then.
The nearest CL dealers are 4 hours away- and I don't know if they will work on units they did not sell. I've heard of many instances of that in the RV world.
In any event heading out early Wednesday morning to pick up the CL on Thursday sometime.
Oh my, I'm so sorry for your loss. That is devastating.
Went back to Iowa in a marathon 19 hr 1100 mile drive to get the trailer. Picked up the new trailer the next morning exactly one week after the initial failed attempt, and headed back to SC- drove 11 hours the day of the pickup and 14 the next day.
Took me a lot longer to get home as I normally don't drive over 65 when towing. 2 reasons> safer and fuel mileage drops like a rock above 65!
Took the FJCruiser- averaged about 18mpg going up at 5 over everywhere except towns and got 9-10 or so coming back at 65 or less.
That is about what we got towing the Rpod.
Gotta put in a plug for Nishna Valley Cycle Center in Atlantic IA where I bought the trailer- great price, super nice folks, a pleasure to work with.
When hooking I discovered the safety chains were too short and told them I'd hit the farm store down the road to buy longer chains.
While doing the paperwork one of the owners took off, went to the store, got the chain and was putting it on when I walked back outside- no charge even!
I've bought many RVs over the last 44 years and never had such a great experience.
Hooray on the successful looooong trip and kudos to that dealer who literally went the extra mile. It will be fun to hear about your setup and camping.
Quote from: Paul on December 11, 2017, 09:51:00 PM
Welcome to the forum! Can't wait to see pictures!
Here it is ready to leave dealer>
2nd pic is what we were driving to pick it up last week....
Realized I never updated this with a pic of the new Transit and the 16TBS>
What kind of mileage to you get while towing your 16TBS? That looks like a very aerodynamic rig.
David
Quote from: DavidM on March 13, 2018, 09:26:16 AM
What kind of mileage to you get while towing your 16TBS? That looks like a very aerodynamic rig.
David
Don't know!
Wife is still going to physical therapy twice week for her injuries from the wreck- I'm hopefully done with my PT, I go to the orthopaedist today for a checkup.
So we haven't been anywhere yet! Normally we would have made several 3-5 day trips by this time. We really like off season camping.
I'm expecting around 10mpg with the 3.5 Ecoboost gas engine*. I was getting around 15 with the Rpod and the diesel Transit.
I expect towing the CL to use a little more fuel than the Rpod- it is slightly wider and heavier.
* The big challenge will be keeping my foot out of it- the Ecoboost is quite impressive for power- but it does suck fuel big time if you use it!