Considering a Winnebago Micro Minnie 2306BHS for a family of four

[Justus C]

I have been a long time member over at FiberglassRV.com which is another RV Life forum that focuses on trailers with molded fiberglass shells. We briefly owned a neat little Hymer Touring GT trailer which I sold in the early days of COVID after our first kid was born and we just couldn't use it. Hymer NA only built a couple hundred of those before they went under, and while quality was nothing to write home about, the king bed made for great sleeping and it towed like a dream behind our little V6 Highlander.

Now that the kids are prime camping age, we are ready for another trailer. My boys and I enjoy tent camping, but my wife is not enthusiastic.

I had posted over on the Forest River forums with my wish list and another member quickly recommended Winnebagos. I found the 2306BHS which seems to check every box. I want something dual axle, max 25', with bunks for the kids, under $20k used and towable without needing a new truck. With the slide, it seems roomy enough for our family of 4 and packs a lot into a 7' width. The 7' width is a big selling point not only for ease of towing, but also because we have to park it in our narrow side yard where every foot counts.

My truck is a 2014 Titan with the tow package rated for 9,300 lbs towing and 1,488 lbs payload. That is pushing me to keep tongue weight under control, because my wife and kids sure don't travel light! The Micro Minnie is on the lighter end of the options I am weighing, so definitely a plus.

There are two things I'm not crazy about:

1) The tanks are smaller than the other options I'm considering. 43/30/30 Fresh/Gray/Black on the Flagstaff/Rockwood trailers I'm looking at vs 31/25/25 for Winnebago. I know I can work around this with a rolling waste container, I just would prefer not to.

2) From what I can tell, the Micro Minnie has never been built with a full aluminum cage, only aluminum sidewalls and floor frame. Flagstaff/Rockwood are still full aluminum frames. The only design change I can find was in 2020 when Winnebago switched to the NXG chassis and Azdel replaced luan, along with enclosing the underside and upgrading axles. Do the design changes outweigh COVID quality issues? I've read that 2018-2019 were already not great years for Winnebago, and they didn't introduce the 2306BHS until 2018.

 

[Eagle5]

Hi Justus,
I would also check-out the Thrive:

22MBH - Winnebago

www.winnebago.com

Eagle5

 

[Justus C]

That Thrive looks like it will be a bit too long and chunky for us. I want to keep under 25' hitch-to-bumper to maximize use of national park, national forest, and old state park campgrounds. I'm looking to keep base tongue weight in the low-500s to make sure we don't overload the truck between the trailer, the four of us, and our in-cab gear. In the entire Winnebago line, the only thing I've found that checks all the boxes is the Micro Minnie 2306BHS. The more I look at it, the more I like it. Seems like the overengineered frame and axles will hold up, but I'm still hesitant about the wood framing used.

 

[Eagle5]

The Thrive is a new trailer, so I suspect finding a used one might be difficult. Hopefully, some trailer users will chime-in here with their thoughts.

 

[Janet H]

Hi Justus - have you also looked at Escape 23 footers and the Jayco line?

 

[Justus C]

Hi Justus - have you also looked at Escape 23 footers and the Jayco line?

I would be ecstatic about an Escape 21 or 23, but neither have been on the market long enough for used units to depreciate to our little budget range. Same for the new Casita 24'. Occasionally I see 20+ year-old Bigfoot 21s listed in our price range but they've all been too far away.

I hadn't looked at Jayco previously. I skimmed through their product lines from current and previous years and there are a few "close but not quite" options. I will keep them in mind. A few months ago I read something to the effect of: settling on a less-than-perfect trailer is better than not traveling at all. That's kind of how I'm feeling. I've been set on a Bigfoot for years, but now with tariffs driving up even used prices they are feeling more and more out of reach, so better to just get something we can afford than keep dreaming.

 

[FriedmanFr]

Hello, I have 2023 2306BHS and love it. No problems (except for the circuit breakers under the tongue, but that is a whole Winniebago issue.) Put on over 25,000 miles and had no problems. The tanks can be an issue for a small family but we learned to take quick showers, and the unit has a shower outside on the back, with hot and cold running water. I pull it with a 2019 ram 1500 classic and get 16 MPG. not bad for a hemi and trailer. Modifications include 1,000AH battery with inverter in the back of the truck (i can't go without A/C in Florida when roughing it). Otherwise its perfect, like a small apartment on wheels. Contact me if you want to talk more.

 

[ccrizal]

I have a '21 2108FBS. It's going to seem small for four people but it can be doable. I don't boondock so the tank sizes are not an issue for me. However, you really need a tech to look at a used unit for you before you buy. I have had many issues with mine that I have needed to fix. Good Luck.

 

[Justus C]

Hello, I have 2023 2306BHS and love it. No problems (except for the circuit breakers under the tongue, but that is a whole Winniebago issue.) Put on over 25,000 miles and had no problems. The tanks can be an issue for a small family but we learned to take quick showers, and the unit has a shower outside on the back, with hot and cold running water. I pull it with a 2019 ram 1500 classic and get 16 MPG. not bad for a hemi and trailer. Modifications include 1,000AH battery with inverter in the back of the truck (i can't go without A/C in Florida when roughing it). Otherwise its perfect, like a small apartment on wheels. Contact me if you want to talk more.

Well, MPG won't be a highlight for me, that is for certain. If I get 14mpg highway it's a good day. Titans were never known for their fuel economy.

I remember tent camping as a kid in Florida and now I have no idea how the adults put up with it. Then we moved to Indiana where the days were muggy but the nights were cool. Now we live in coastal southern California so local camping almost always cools down at night. Most of our adventures will either be at elevation (cool nights) or in spring/winter to the desert.

Im curious why you put the battery bank in the truck and not the camper? With it's high payload it seems like this would be a good candidate for a battery bank and solar setup for off grid camping.

I have a '21 2108FBS. It's going to seem small for four people but it can be doable. I don't boondock so the tank sizes are not an issue for me. However, you really need a tech to look at a used unit for you before you buy. I have had many issues with mine that I have needed to fix. Good Luck.

Build quality is the one thing giving me pause with these. I don't find a lot of complaints for Rockwood and Flagstaff products in the pre-2020 builds, but I find plenty for the Micro Minnie. I read somewhere that 2018 was the year management moved away from production lines and quality took a hit. Then obviously come 2020 the entire industry tanked. I see some very competitively priced Micro Minnies on Marketplace and I'm wondering if it's just people trying to offload their money pits.

As for the size, it would mainly be for sleeping and using the bathroom. Maybe cooling off if we have hookups on a hot day. But between our screen tent and the awning, there would be plenty of room to hang out outside.

 

[FriedmanFr]

Hello again, To get 6-7 hours of 15k A/C it requires a lot of juice. I have 8 100ah batteries and a 4500w inverter. the inverter weights 75lbs. The 8 batteries @ 70lbs each. The 30-amp pole connects to a connector on the truck wired to the inverter and keeps the batteries charged. The inverter connects to the 30-amp on the trailer. I will get some pictures and put them up here. It has been a godsend for the number of times we were at places that said NO GENERATORS.

 

[Brian10956]

Hello, I have 2023 2306BHS and love it. No problems (except for the circuit breakers under the tongue, but that is a whole Winniebago issue.) Put on over 25,000 miles and had no problems. The tanks can be an issue for a small family but we learned to take quick showers, and the unit has a shower outside on the back, with hot and cold running water. I pull it with a 2019 ram 1500 classic and get 16 MPG. not bad for a hemi and trailer. Modifications include 1,000AH battery with inverter in the back of the truck (i can't go without A/C in Florida when roughing it). Otherwise its perfect, like a small apartment on wheels. Contact me if you want to talk more.

On the tank issue I’m a new owner of a 2108 fbs Flx the previous owner converted the toilet to a composting toilet which since a black tank is no longer needed you can easily use the black tank as an additional grey tank which is how mine is set up. If you bought a new black tank and redid some plumbing you could make it a water tank I guess.