eatSleepWoof gets a 2022 Micro Minnie 2108FBS

[eatSleepWoof]

Originally Posted by Fred 2106DS

According to the brochure for our 2016 Micro Minnie, the floor is constructed of 5/8" 5-ply tongue & groove plywood. Based on the mods I've done over the years, I can confirm this is correct for our Micro Minnie.

That's helpful, thanks! My 2022 brochure only mentions "tongue and groove flooring," without specifying the thickness. Hopefully it's no less than the 5/8" you have - that's already on the thin side.

BTW, I'm immensely jealous of your 38 gallon gas tank. I've got the exact same, thirsty 5.7L 3UR-FE, but half the gas tank capacity (80L).

[eatSleepWoof]

Made a few minor usability improvements this morning.

1/8" cable, a few round-eye electrical connectors and shrink wrap resulted in this 8" long (eye to eye) limiting strap.



Which I installed like so:





This prevents that flip-down drawer from opening too far and having the contents of that tray fly out.

I also grabbed a 36" wide, 7ft roll of 3mm-thick rubber from Home Depot, and cut it to size to fit in the pass-through storage. This protects the floor and provides tons of grip, so bins that I'll store there will not fly around (as they would have on the slippery, original floor).

While I was running the 12v disconnect wiring through the rubber I confirmed that the floor is indeed 5/8" plywood. Not great, not terrible.





I'm hopeful those wrinkles will work themselves out with time.

It also occurs to me that it's quite strange that this compartment is isolated from the rest of the interior, and thus not heated. I suppose one reason could be to not let heat out should someone open these exterior panels, but then again, how much of an issue would that be, really?

The walls of the trailer are insulated, so is the floor, ceiling, and the front wall, so it seems to me that this compartment should be getting heated like the rest of the trailer. That would also circulate heat under the bed (ie. the top of this compartment), improving sleeping warmth/comfort.

I might add a few vents/grills here, and maybe even a few 12v fans to suck air in on one side, and push it back out on the other. That air movement would also likely help with air circulation on the inside of the trailer, too.

[Eagle5]

Excellent craftsmanship there! The strain-relief cord looks factory, and I like how you laid the rubber mat under the conduit grommet.
Eagle5

[eatSleepWoof]

Here's a sneak peek of the new structure that will replace the existing storage unit at the foot of the mattress:



This unit is about 3" wider and 6-7" deeper, to better support the residential size, 60x80" mattress we will eventually put in. At the face of it (left side of photo) will be four, 20" deep drawers, and the rest of the space will hold batteries and electronics.

I'm starting out with only two 100ah batteries, but have pre-made space for four just in case.

The two circular holes are for 120mm, 12v fans to circulate air through this unit; this will both ensure the batteries get the warmth they need, and at the same time, push out any hot air from the DC/DC charger (which will live there) or anything else I add in the future.

I've yet to decide whether I will stain this oak plywood or paint it. The right stain would look great, but will be more maintenance for touch ups and what not. Will see...

[Eagle5]

Hi eatSleepWoof
Oh you are a cabinet maker, aren't you? Great notching-out of the four outside corners! Most trailers are not treated so well with oak furnishings.
I vote that you stain it. I believe that would look great.
Thanks, Eagle5
With regard to your moniker, I thought you might enjoy this:

Real Huskies

[eatSleepWoof]

Thanks, Eagle5!

I'm actually a software engineer, but I love to tinker and modify, and have a half-decent hobbyist woodworking shop downstairs. I sometimes lay in bed at 3am, unable to sleep because my brain is thinking through various modifications to whatever project I have at the moment. It can be horrible .

That video rings true! My "scary" german shepherd is like that last husky!

[Eagle5]

Nothing wrong with dreaming dreams and completing projects; it is a good thing indeed.
This upgraded under-bed storage will fit in through the trailer door; right?
German Shepards are great dogs.
My dog Grace is a thin-coat M'Loot, so she is fairly good with temperatures up to 70ºF. My prior dog Gabriel was a thick-coat, so about 65ºF was his limit, which is pretty cold for the rest of us.
Thanks, Eagle5

[eatSleepWoof]

That's a handsome pupper!

The unit will fit through the door (on its side) with about 10cm of room to spare - plenty.

[Bcborn]

Originally Posted by eatSleepWoof

Hi folks,

The dealer made a mistake and used photos of another trailer in this trailer's ad, so after a 7+ hour drive to the dealer's location and an overnight stay, imagine my surprise when I saw a fold-out couch instead of the dinette, and a 12v GE fridge instead of the 120v/propane Dometic that was in the photos.

I have the same layout in my 2106FBS. There are some good posts here of others that have switched it out for a home made dinette. I'm thinking of doing the same, bought the wood material last year but didn't get around to it, too many other mods had to get done. For me, the issue has been finding dinette seat cushions, the 2106 slide is not as deep as the standard 2108.

Cheaper to buy a new trailer than buying custom cushions lol.

[Bcborn]

Originally Posted by eatSleepWoof

Here's a sneak peek of the new structure that will replace the existing storage unit at the foot of the mattress:



I've yet to decide whether I will stain this oak plywood or paint it. The right stain would look great, but will be more maintenance for touch ups and what not. Will see...

Check my album out, I had a local shop make up the stain for a perfect match of my maple cabinet front framing, bought the drawer fronts from Winnebago, shipped straight to my door (cheap).

You wouldn't know it didn't come as such from Winnebago in 2017.

[eatSleepWoof]

Originally Posted by Bcborn

Check my album out, I had a local shop make up the stain for a perfect match of my maple cabinet front framing, bought the drawer fronts from Winnebago, shipped straight to my door (cheap).

You wouldn't know it didn't come as such from Winnebago in 2017.

Thanks for the tip! Just did a quick glance at your albums and there's a wealth of useful information there. I'll be copying some of those mods for sure!

That high-pressure propane line mod will be one I'll absolutely have to do. Like you, we prefer to cook outside, and my favourite (Partner Steel) stove requires high pressure propane to run.

And you're in BC, too. I'm a few hours away in Vernon.

[Bcborn]

Yup, Abbotsford.

Been in your neck of the woods camping a few times. Fintry, Shuswap, Mable Lake, Bear Creek, Monck and Rock Creek.

[eatSleepWoof]

Originally Posted by Bcborn

Yup, Abbotsford.

Been in your neck of the woods camping a few times. Fintry, Shuswap, Mable Lake, Bear Creek, Monck and Rock Creek.

Mable is a favourite of ours - we will be there sometime in April for sure.

We haven't been (camping) to those other parks - do any of them stand out as something we should try? We prefer as much privacy as possible, so we typically go into the bush, but we're open to trying a few parks if they have reasonably quiet/private sites.

[angus]

Going to look at new 2022 Winnie 2108FBS on the weekend.
What's your overall impression of the build quality of the trailer so far?
Will give me a good idea of what t look for when I go and do thorough inspection before I decide to take the plung.
Thank you.

[Marine359]

Originally Posted by angus

Going to look at new 2022 Winnie 2108FBS on the weekend.
What's your overall impression of the build quality of the trailer so far?
Will give me a good idea of what t look for when I go and do thorough inspection before I decide to take the plung.
Thank you.

If you want input from many owners of Micro Minnie’s, it would be better for you to start a new thread rather than diverting OP’s thread, which a majority of owners may not be looking at. I’m sure you’ll get lots of input.

[eatSleepWoof]

Originally Posted by angus

Going to look at new 2022 Winnie 2108FBS on the weekend.
What's your overall impression of the build quality of the trailer so far?
Will give me a good idea of what t look for when I go and do thorough inspection before I decide to take the plung.
Thank you.

Quality is a topic that's difficult to come to a conclusion on, especially objectively.

I would give the following (vague) ratings across the board:

- Forest River brands, Jayco, Thor, etc: 2-3 out of 10
- Winnebago: 3-4 out of 10
- Arctic Fox/Nash, Lance, Outdoors RV, Airstream: 4-5 out of 10
- BigFoot, Oliver: 5-6 out of 10

I'm fully convinced that there's absolutely no mainstream RV manufactured in North America that deserves more than a 6/10 on quality. None. By and large, all RVs are crap. The question is: what level of crap are you willing to put up with?

Which leads us back to Winnebago... The Micro Minnie line has a few very nice, somewhat unique things going for it which are a large part of the reason why I was attracted to them:

- 7ft exterior width
- great ground clearance
- decent quality, torsion axles
- north-south bed
- options for a sub 25ft overall length

These details are important to me because we typically camp far away from other people, so the clearance and smaller size let us get further than we'd be able to go with a larger trailer. That said, I fully expect to find loose screws rolling around on the floor after every trip on a forest service road.

The trailer I got is a great option for a decently handy person that can DIY various upgrades/fixes/changes. It is not perfect quality (not even close) and things will absolutely go wrong. It will require small, ongoing fixes here and there.

I drove 7 hours each way over the rocky mountains at the end of January to pick this up because I got it for a very, very attractive price. I basically paid about 58-59% of what local dealerships are asking for their brand new 2024 models (same layout and options). And my purchase included an Andersen WD hitch (about $1000). What this is, is great value.

This trailer specifically has pretty cheap materials, cheap lights, a 12v fridge which will drain the standard battery in about 4-5 hours, sloppy caulking/sealing, missing/damaged clips that hold the shower stall to the walls, etc. Lots of little things that need fixing, and which I'll address. And that's just what's visible.

I would have preferred a similarly sized Nash, but the best price I could find was about $20k CAD higher than what I paid for the Winnie. Even in the Nash, quality will be mediocre and things will still need fixing. With that said, $20k can go a long way in gas money, upgrades, etc.

If you want an actual high-quality trailer, then you're after something like the Kimberley Kruiser T3 (made in Australia). They do have a US dealer and import process, but you're looking at a $200,000 USD purchase.

Figure out what's important to you, what you're willing to settle for, what kind of issues you're willing to fix down the line, and make a logic-driven (non-emotional) purchase decision. Expect every dealership to be completely useless and you won't be disappointed. These trailers will be great for the right people and at the right price.

[Marine359]

Hi eatSleepWoof,
Since you elected to answer the question of quality in your thread, I note that you often use FS roads, as we did.

There are a couple of serious things that will fail on Micro Minnie’s if used extensively off-pavement. This is my opinion of failures likely to happen. Only a matter of time. Those who stay on pavement shouldn’t have any problems. Both are a result of truly bad design by Winnebago, but they won’t admit it when you call because they’re not thinking about the few owners who will go off pavement,

1. The cross brace holding up the fresh water tank is secured to the frame only by two small tapping bolts on each side. Inertial load created by off pavement use will cause the small bolts to work themselves out, and the tank will fall out. Mine did after use off pavement. Permanent Fix is to U-bolt over the frame to a steel unistrut under the tank that spans the distance side to side. Temporary fix is thick baling wire.

2. The cabinet enclosure for the fridge is designed for an absorption fridge NOT for the 12v compressor fridge which has smaller depth dimension. The 12v install has a big gap (about 2”) between the rear of the fridge and the two vertical studs that would normally brace an absorption fridge. So, the 12v fridge literally hangs by its top mounting bracket secured by only two small tapping screws. Inertial loads and shocks cause the screws to loose grip and fall out. These two tiny fasteners have to handle all the shock loads because there is no bracing at the back of the fridge. After some FS road use, my fridge fell, backwards into the cabinet enclosure. I tried to temporarily brace it, but then it fell forward, and could have caused a lot of damage. Managed to get home, remove fridge and install foam wrapped 1x1 cross braces across the two vertical studs. This allowed the fridge to have secure rear structure while still allowing airflow between the studs. When reinstalling, I used four tapping bolts across the top mounting bracket instead of two.

[angus]

Thanks for the detailed response.
The one I'm looking at is the exact year and model as yours would you give me an idea of what you actually paid for it?
I want to be completely prepared to negotiate and get the right price for the trailer.(RV dealers are worst than used car salesman).
I'm in western Canada so the pricing should be comparable to what you paid.
You can send me a private message if you prefer.
Thank you!

[eatSleepWoof]

Originally Posted by Marine359

Hi eatSleepWoof,
Since you elected to answer the question of quality in your thread, I note that you often use FS roads, as we did.

There are a couple of serious things that will fail on Micro Minnie’s if used extensively off-pavement. This is my opinion of failures likely to happen. Only a matter of time. Those who stay on pavement shouldn’t have any problems. Both are a result of truly bad design by Winnebago, but they won’t admit it when you call because they’re not thinking about the few owners who will go off pavement,

1. The cross brace holding up the fresh water tank is secured to the frame only by two small tapping bolts on each side. Inertial load created by off pavement use will cause the small bolts to work themselves out, and the tank will fall out. Mine did after use off pavement. Permanent Fix is to U-bolt over the frame to a steel unistrut under the tank that spans the distance side to side. Temporary fix is thick baling wire.

2. The cabinet enclosure for the fridge is designed for an absorption fridge NOT for the 12v compressor fridge which has smaller depth dimension. The 12v install has a big gap (about 2”) between the rear of the fridge and the two vertical studs that would normally brace an absorption fridge. So, the 12v fridge literally hangs by its top mounting bracket secured by only two small tapping screws. Inertial loads and shocks cause the screws to loose grip and fall out. These two tiny fasteners have to handle all the shock loads because there is no bracing at the back of the fridge. After some FS road use, my fridge fell, backwards into the cabinet enclosure. I tried to temporarily brace it, but then it fell forward, and could have caused a lot of damage. Managed to get home, remove fridge and install foam wrapped 1x1 cross braces across the two vertical studs. This allowed the fridge to have secure rear structure while still allowing airflow between the studs. When reinstalling, I used four tapping bolts across the top mounting bracket instead of two.

That's very, very good to know. Thank you!

I was afraid of the water tank not being properly secured - my neighbour experienced similar issues with his 2010 Arctic Fox. If you shared photos or further info of your fix, could you link me to them please? Great idea with the unistrut and u-bolts by the way. Easy and cheap, just a matter of getting access.

With regards to the fridge mounting, all I can do is facepalm . I'll add that to the list of things I need to do this summer, before any extensive FSR use.

[eatSleepWoof]

Originally Posted by angus

Thanks for the detailed response.
The one I'm looking at is the exact year and model as yours would you give me an idea of what you actually paid for it?
I want to be completely prepared to negotiate and get the right price for the trailer.(RV dealers are worst than used car salesman).
I'm in western Canada so the pricing should be comparable to what you paid.
You can send me a private message if you prefer.
Thank you!

I'll send you a PM in a minute.