Editor’s note: This is the fourteenth entry leading up to 2019’s Elkhart Open House. To read the last preview, click here. For the full Open House preview, be sure to check out the September 2019 issue of RV PRO.
R-Pod is getting a number of updates for the new model year, including a panoramic windshield on most R-Pod floorplans. (Note: Pictured is a current year model.)
R-Pod/No Boundaries
Product Sales Manager Cody Schade says a couple big things have happened at R-Pod, including the creation of a slightly wider R-Pod unit that has a walk-around queen bed.
“It’s something our customers had been asking for, for a long time. We gained a lot of momentum this year,” says Schade. “The benefit to an R-Pod with a walk-around queen bed is that we’re still one of the lightest weight units on the market, due in part to aluminum construction, as well as Azdel substrate. That means there’s no wood in the sidewall. That, coupled with the fact that the R-Pod is slightly narrower, means all of our units are either 6-1/2 or 7-feet wide.”
The new R-Pod192 in development features a Murphy bed. Headed into its 11th year as a brand, the R-Pod brand has a large owner’s forum Schade says his team uses as a resource to develop new features and camper-friendly standard items.
Notable items being added to the R-Pod product as a result of customer feedback are space-saving pocket doors instead of swinging doors and the inclusion of a central vacuum system.
The No Boundaries lineup has three distinct segments: the 10 series, less than 2,000 pounds; the 16 series, under 3,500 pounds; and the 19 series, under 5,000 pounds.
New this year will be a full-protected fiberglass front cap with integrated windshield standard on all 16 and 19 series, as well as the central vacuum on the 16 and 19 series.
No-Boundaries product will feature upgraded interiors with new upscale wood-grain cabinets and appointments, as well as seamless edge countertops in a metropolitan gray finish. New units will feature a Bombay interior palette with new furniture, valance and bedroom packages.
Cedar Creek
Cedar Creek also will receive a new décor package and the Insignia 24-inch free-standing gas range in the Silverbacks, Hathaways and Cottages.
New standards for all segments in Cedar Creek include a second air conditioner, a 20-cubic-foot electric refrigerator, a 50-amp power cord reel, a 2-inch bike rack receiver, no rear bumper, washer/ dryer prep on the Silverback, power theater seating, Insignia TVs, LCI One Control Wireless Command Center and a new front closet design with removable cabinets allowing for side-by-side washer and dryer installation.
The Silverback Edition will debut the 29RW floorplan, which features a large rear window with hidden drop-down 50-inch television. The floorplan is roughly 34 feet, so it can fit at provincial and state parks, while retaining a full-length pantry, king bed and all the amenities customers are used to.
The 29RW will feature a new Graphite décor package, a heated front storage compartment with Diamond Tread floor covering, a freestanding table with four chairs, a central vacuum system with automatic dustpan and front storage access port. The bathroom has a new trough style sink and medicine cabinet.
The Silverback 37FLB features a front living room bath-and-a-half with a raised rear bathroom, creating plenty of exterior storage. The 37FLB rear hide-a-way garage has five locked access panels. A new standard feature will also include solar prep.
The new Cottage 40CFK2 has opposing slides in the front, a massive island, free-standing dinette, a hide-a-bed sofa and power theater seats all in a 102-inch widebody.
The LCI One Control Command Center will allow the customer to operate the HVAC and other components from basically anywhere via an App and cellular connection.
Sandpiper & Sierra
The Sandpiper and Sierra lines will see lots of aesthetic changes this year from graphics to wood-grain colors.
Features that were once options will now be standard, including a king bed standard, a second 15,000-BTU air conditioner, a six-point hydraulic level-up, and a high-efficiency radiant foil floor and roof.
New features include the stainless-steel four-burner range, new furniture styling, solid-surface countertops, LP quick disconnect, Ranchester Maple wood grain, rustic wood grain flooring, new exterior graphics and designer interiors. They also will have new memory foam mattresses and 50-inch flat-screen TVs, among other features.
A new feature is the Underbelly Armor – a rigid, solid product that runs between the I-beams to help with road debris and keeping critters out.
A brand-new product line launching in the Sierra line at Expo is the Sierra C-Class, a full-profile fifth wheel that is lighter and easier to maneuver to cater to the three-quarter-ton truck market.
The Luxury Sierra C-class will feature an automatic electric leveling system; a gel-coated fiberglass exterior; a MORryde entry step with strut; a 10.7-cubic-foot, 12-volt stainless-steel refrigerator; a two-tone fiberglass painted front cap; Underbelly Armor; 16-inch tires with 6,000-pound axles; and slam-lock baggage doors.
Travel Lite’s new Evoke X Series is modeled off of last year’s successful Evoke debut, but is smaller and easier to tow. It has the same sleek interior design, however.
Travel Lite
Any number of RV manufacturers can rightly claim to be trendsetters within the industry.
But a year ago at Open House, Travel Lite broke the mold of RV manufacturing and its own history of being a small trailer/ camper manufacturer when it introduced the chic full-sized Evoke travel trailer series.
As an encore, the RV manufacturer has taken the Evoke and given rise to the new smaller Evoke X Series.
Evoke X will be smaller, but still feature marine-grade flooring, European-style curved cabinetry, a deep gel-coat exterior and widebody stance with 18-inch wheel rims and exterior LED lighting. The Evoke X line will feature a toy hauler, something that was not included in the original Evoke line.
It will stay true to the Travel Lite tradition of being lightweight, offering people who want to stick with a smaller tow vehicle such as a Toyota Tacoma or Ford F-150 an option to buying a bigger truck.
A toy hauler floorplan also will be introduced into the full-sized Evoke.
In addition, Travel Lite will be introducing a line of full-sized travel trailers and truck campers under the PEAK 9 label. Johns says the trailers will be super sleek and the campers will feature some of the company’s best-selling floorplans with new exteriors and interior fabrics as well as gel-coat and molded front caps.
Travel Lite also is renovating the Superlight series. All the interiors are being redone with a similar interior look moving away from the stainless steel and mirror look. It will have gel-coated sidewalls.