27RBDS Owners Questions

[Winniehurn]

We have taken delivery of a 2019 Minnie Plus 27RBDS and have taken some time really checking out the trailer. Some questions / concerns perhaps others have dealt with or found not to be a problem:

1. Our Minnie is equipped with Cold Weather Package which includes heated tanks and enclosed / insulated underside of living area. The outer material used to enclose bottom of trailer appears to be a corrigated plastic material similar to cardboard in construction. Do others have experience with the durability of this material? I've been thinking adding a thin aluminum covering the bottom over this plastic material, but don't want to overkill if others haven't had issues with it. Seems vulnerable to "critter" and water intrusion too easily & perhaps wind catching edges and ripping away.

2. Rear bumper doesn't appear to be very durable. Saw a newer Winnie with rear bumper twisted off in dealership shop while picking our unit up. I'm taking spare off bumper, probably mounting beneath trailer. However want to carry bikes mounted on back bumper. I'm thinking of reinforcing bumper with 1/4" diamond plate across top of bumper and support brackets leading to frame. Will likely bolt or weld plate to existing bumper & supports. Is this overkill or have others experienced issues with loaded bumpers? Other alternate reinforcements you have had success with?

3. Tires are beneath slides on both sides of trailer. There are no fenders or any other substantial protection of insulated section above tires - concerned about "stuff" flying off tires in transit and ruining insulation. It's tight, but thought about securing metal appropriately located next to insulated area to at least give some protection. Anyone have same concerns / solutions with their unit?

Thanks, Larry

[RodneynDawnT]

Wife and I just bought Winnebago Instinct 28rbds, which is basically the same camper you bought, albeit heavier at 7000 lbs dry. It’s the same floor plan except the 28 has the big shower and a front cap that encapsulates the battery and propane tanks.

The corrugated plastic is the same material on the belly of my 03 or 04 outback, which I sold a few weeks ago. The instinct appeared to be made the same way as the outback. It held up fine for 14-15 years. There’s insulation between it and the floor and there should be a furnace vent that blows in the gap. If you camp when it’s cold, your water line will freeze. I remedied this by getting this heating strip like thing at a hardware store - it plugged into a 110 outlet. I wrapped it around the hose and put some split foam pipe insulation around the hose. It worked fine when the temps were in the teens at night.

My instinct’s owners manual warns to place no more weight on the rear bumper than that of the spare. I may make a small holder to transport a small grill, which would be negligible. Otherwise I would tap into the frame if I wanted to mount a carrier or similar.

As to the fenders, I’ll look at that on mine when I pick it up from storage to load for a 3 day weekend next week. There’s a little fender on the sides of the instinct. I assume that’s for aesthetics. Presumably there more of that corrugated plastic above the tires.

For comparison to your 27rbds here’s a couple of pics of the 28rbds.

[sd75mac]

Originally Posted by RodneynDawnT

For comparison to your 27rbds here’s a couple of pics of the 28rbds.

My '14 27RBDS is exactly like your's except for the front cap. I did move the spare to under the bedroom.

[Winniehurn]

We really appreciate your feedback on the corrigated belly covering; feel much better about it's application. Your 28 is absolutely lovely! I like the larger rectangular shower better than our smaller quarter circle shape. Also like the idea of heat tape on hose to avoid freeze up. My manual also states 75 lb max on bumper, so I'm gonna beef it up before putting bike rack to use on it. We already took spare off bumper, will eventually belly mount it I think.

I'll be very interested to know what you find / decide on fender (or lack thereof. I've got a few ideas on how to upgrade mine eventually. The covering over insulation above tires on ours is actually only a very thin waterproof cloth-like material. No way it will stop gravel, etc. flinging off the tires.

Take care! Larry & Lana

[RodneynDawnT]

Thank you. With regards to the bumper, since I posted, I’ve started reading about these: https://mount-n-lock.com/mnl-cargo-p...bumper-failure So far what I’ve read has been positive.

[Winniehurn]

Rodney, I looked at those braces you are looking at also. I think they would help considerably and probably would be a good, cost effective solution.

I ordered locally a piece of 1/8" checker plate steel (7 1/2" W x 91 1/8" L in my case) which I'm going to bolt to the bumper and support strut tops. I'm hoping to get it to look decent. Will let you know how it turns out. I may also put the bracing you are looking at on bottom side. I've got a couple of expensive bikes to carry, so "overkill" is probably justified!

The Minnie bumper failure I saw actually twisted top rearward tearing away just outside of welds to support struts (looked to be in heat-affected zone of bumper back side). Don't know if spare tire caused it or if owner had a bike rack, etc. which would have been further outboard of bumper. I can see how even relatively light outboard loading would put lots of "twist" on bumper due to leverage and bouncing along down the road!

Take Care, Larry

[Fasttimes]

2 things I really wish my 27RBDS had is a rear installed ladder and bumper that can mount and hold a receiver bike rack.

Has anyone had success with strengthening their bumper and mounting a bike rack on the back of their TT? I see the kit mentioned above, but does that strengthen all points needed to hold 2 or 3 bikes? Obviously you would need to account for the weight now on the rear, but I"m sure that can be easily counter-weighted at the front with careful loading or additional battery.

I had a pop-up previously that I had a welder weld a couple of support pieces of metal on the small built in receiver they had on the rear frame of the trailer and it seemed to work out great on that light thing, I can't see why not on this heavier TT>

[Winniehurn]

Hi Fastimes, we completed the "beefing up" of our 27RBDS rear bumper doing the two upgrades noted in thread above:

1. Support struts from Amazon (link below) for about $70; I am not overly impressed with these for my application, but should add some strength: https://www.amazon.com/s?url=search-...=3GO0IKZZ04GIC

2. Securely fastened 1/8" thick checker plate steel to top of bumper and bumper supports protruding from frame out to bumper. I think this upgrade really will easily take care of the bicycle loading we both have. I added the struts for added peace of mind against damage / loss of expensive bikes.

I noticed that you don't yet have a rear ladder on your rig. Mine was factory equipped with one rated at 300 lb loading. I'm considering running a strap between upper rung of ladder and bike rack for further bracing and peace of mind. I realize the 300 lb rating is for vertical loading and I would be placing angular loading on the ladder (lower loading rating expected). Will be doing some calculations to see if this would be worth while. When you get ladder on your Winnie, this may be another option.

Since completing upgrades, I have not yet needed to haul bikes / rack but feel confident all will be well. I can send you pics of what we have done if that would be of interest. Message me if you want pics. I haven't had any luck posting pics on this forum thus far.