What kind of camper do you have???

Alucab Canopy Cabin. Still working on the build out but it’s first maiden voyage is coming up and couldn’t be more pumped.

 

This is what I pull now. 3450lbs and the tundra doesn’t even know it’s back there. Getting ready to retire soon and looking to upgrade a bit in size. Want something to travel and stay a few months in. Love this camper tho. Great quality and good for weekend or week long trips . Any of you tundra brother and sisters looking for a nice one I am gonna sell.

 

Our 2022 Winnebago Micro Minnie FLX 2108FBS. This is the one with the solar package and LiFoP4 battery. The marketing material says "off grid for up to 5 days" which is probably stretching it a bit, but our experiences with it so far have been fabulous. I got an extra 200w solar panel but of course it arrived *during* our maiden voyage so I didn't get to test it out. We're going to be taking it out a few more times this year, including an upcoming 2 week special event gig up in the desert.

https://www.winnebago.com/Files/Images/Winnebago/brochures/2022/_MM-FLX-Preview-Sheet-22.X-2.pdf (PDF WARNING)

GVWR 5500lbs
Dry Weight 4040lbs.
Dry hitch weight 435lbs
Got a fastway e2 WDH as well.

I now have a 2022 Tundra Limited. Towing capacity should be 11,120 lbs. I'm still learning about hitch weight/etc, but I think we oughta be ok with this. The Tacoma could do it, but it felt like it was struggling up some of our California hills.

We won't be putting much cargo in the truck bed, and it's just my wife and I. No kids or pets. If I'm doing the math correctly I'm estimating that we can put about 500lbs of stuff in the truck itself after I factor in both of us humans in the cab. We're only going to be putting a couple bicycles in the back and some lightweight stuff. Everything else (and there isn't even that much - we try to travel light) can go back in the trailer. (not trying to thread jack but if anyone has good info for me, feel free to PM. I want to do this as safely as I can.)

 

@RovingMedics nice looking setup!

My only comment is to not underestimate the hitch weight. The dry weight is taken without propane, batteries, etc. The dry hitch weight on my GeoPro is listed as something like 460 lbs, but with propane, batteries, and the trailer moderately loaded up, I'm over 700 lbs on the hitch. I have to load it carefully or I will rock 800 lbs on the hitch pretty easily. I suspect yours, being a dual axle, is less, but you may want to weigh it. I use a Sherline scale.

What is the payload capacity (per door jamb sticker) on your new truck?

 

The sticker says 1490lbs.

We have 2 x 20lb propane tanks up front but the Lithionics battery is set back in a cargo area. I'm not quite sure if it counts as tongue weight or just cargo weight at that point.

and thanks! we've been tent camping for years (and still do) but for some of the special events, we really needed something besides a tent. Especially after having back surgery a few years back. We changed the flimsy RV mattress out for a normal memory foam one (Nectar) and I slept great.

 

Nice looking and well balanced for the Tundra. What size E2 WDH hitch did you install? They are a simple but very effective setup. My TT was right at 600# tongue weight once ready for travel. I ended up with the 800 size mainly because I found one used for $125.00. Calling Fastway they said I could have used a 600 but the 800 would do fine as long as my tongue weight didn't get below 500#.
Do yourself and your rig a favor: Once you are loaded for travel adjust your hitch yourself. Most dealers don't get it right partly because customers don't have the truck or trailer fully loaded. Well, that and they don't know or don't take the time to do it right.

 

That's a good question. I think it's the 800 but I'd have to double check. we might have grabbed the 10,000 one because the hitch ball came with it. it's pretty easy to set up and I like it so far.

 

I have the E2 as well, with the 1,000lb bars. I haven't decided exactly how happy I am with it, but it certainly seems to do the job. My trailer only weighs about 4500lbs loaded, but I can easily exceed 800 lbs on the hitch, so I wasn't sure the 800lb bars would be enough (they probably would have).

 

Opinions swing both ways on WDH Sizing. Some compare it to towing a small pop up with a 3/4 ton truck, others say you can bend the trailer frame if sized too big. It seems many dealers only stock the 10,000 # size and push that to all trailers big and small. I'm a believer that spring bars that are too strong could very well bend the trailer A frame if large dips on the highway are encountered or while pulling into a gas station where there is a sharp and abrupt change in grade.
I met a single lady with the 19' version or our 23RSS and her trailer had a GVWR of 4,400#. In my opinion she wasn't over 4,000 the way she had it set up. She went to a Camping World and they were going to sell her an E2 10,000. Seeing how much smaller her A frame was compared to mine I have little doubt that sized WDH would have done her more harm that good. Toyota recommends any trailer over 5K use a WDH. I believe that's a good idea. Her new Silverado 1500 pulled her 19 footer just fine without a WDH. Not saying a 600# WDH wouldn't shown her a benefit but it wasn't necessary. She ended up selling the 19 and bought a 23 like ours.

Funny side story about meeting people camping. Our first trip was a FB group organized Vintage Cruiser rally on Mt. View Arkansas. My wife said there were a few single, divorced or widowed ladys attending and asked if I would help them if needed. Well, the lady discussed above pulled in right across from us and was having a time backing up into the spot. I walked over to help and after a few minutes she said or at least I heard her say, " BTW, I'm married." That kind of made me speechless until my wife came over and I said, "Me too and here comes my wife." That really got me some confused looks from the new arrival. Later that afternoon my wife said she invited Mary over to see our camper. Needless to say that was the favorite rally joke for a few days.
Getting old and losing your hearing sucks.

 

I've also heard that having WDH that's too heavy for your trailer is bad. Mine is a 10,000 lb/1000 lb one because that's what Equal-i-zer recommended for my setup. I toyed with the idea of going with an 8000 lb/800 lb one (from another brand because Equal-i-zer doesn't have that size) but, after looking realistically at what my tongue weight probably is in real life, I think I made the right choice.

 

Both static load and sway control don't matter what weight you use as lons as it isn't too light of a hitch. It's the dynamic loads encountered when encountering a dip.

 

Any of you guys found a good RV forum yet? I'm on RVForums.com, which seems good but it's fairly new and doesn't have a ton of action yet.

I've also tried iRV2 and a Forest River specific one but they're both so antiqued that they're hard to navigate.

 

I use the Forest River forum. It’s hit or miss but there are some pretty good contributors on there.

 

My wife found a FB group for Vintage Cruisers. Lots of good info there. Like you, I'm looking for a good forum instead of FB where you get to see what everyone is having for dinner.

 

We do that on this forum too...

 

Wow, 1490lbs of payload! You win! That is the most I’ve heard on the new Tundra’s. Hope my Platinum Hybrid is close to that number if it ever arrives..
My experience with weight distribution bars and the Tundra tells me to NOT go heavy. I use 800lb bars (Reese Straight Line) with 980lb tongue weight. I’ve tried 1200lb bars and it was way too stiff & transferred all that to the trailer. The bars are meant to be stressed & should ride almost parallel to the ground, if not you are not hooked up correctly. If you really want to dive into towing set ups, just look into Andy Thompson at CanAm RV in Canada.

 

1000 lb bars not an option for that hitch?

 

Strangely no for my model. But the key is to use the lightest bars that allow you to transfer enough weight to the front axle & trailer axle.

 

I am on a micro Minnie fb site that has helped me out a ton.

 

“Airforums” has been great. Obviously some brand specific info, but they cover everything from hitches to solar to batteries etc.

 

what are you using for additional solar and how fast does it charge?Is there a winnebago forum? Our 2108tb flx just came in, I wanna know more about the electrical system (so maybe I can add another battery)

 

It's been charging pretty good as is. I plugged in the additional solar panel (Renogy 200w suitcase one) today and had it all out in the sun while I was working on some stuff. The single biggest draw on the battery is naturally going to be the air conditioner. The Truma unit is efficient but it'll still pull quite a bit. I think that if it's running full time, you'll empty the battery down in 5-6 hours.
I had mine on for a few hours while working on things so the door was open a lot, and while I started at 100%, after just over 3 hours I was down to 55%. Unfortunately I did not really do a good job of timing how long it took to charge but you can play with a calculator here: https://footprinthero.com/solar-panel-charge-time-calculator - it estimates that it would take 12.4 hours of direct sunlight 580 watts of solar to charge up the 12v 320aH LiFePo4 battery.

we're using "winnieowners dot com" forums and there are some FLX owners on there too. been helpful. I *think* that you can add another Lithionics battery but you'd obviously lose a bunch of cargo space up front. They make a 640aH battery as well and I'm sure you can simply replace it. Xantrex and Battle Born also make decent LiFePo4 batteries too from what I hear.
The BIGGEST THING that you might want to check on is if your Xantrex inverter has the correct settings. There were some units that slipped out of the factor with less than optimal settings. Like, set to "Gel" instead of Lithium.

We have an old Honda e2000i generator (the e2200i is the newer version) and that will top off the battery if we need it too.

I LOVE this trailer and can't wait until we can go on our next trip. These damn "jobs" getting in the way of camping time. sheesh.

 

Hey @RovingMedics thank you for the info, we are super excited to go glamping without the need for hookups.

I guess additional battery has to wait til we have it on hand and try it first, what do you do when storing inside when not in use? And will the 7pin charge it as well? I.e. will it get charged as going down the road.

 

My experience with the 7 pin charging our TT battery has been very positive. Two nights right about freezing, running lights, water pump and furnace, our battery got charged right back up during the next days drive. We didn't drive but about 300-350 miles each day.

 

I am not entirely sure if the 7 pin will charge it. it keeps the 12v stuff going but others on the Winnie owners forums noted that it does not charge this particular unit, instead it charges from the solar panels. i have not been able to test this all out myself though. What is true of a lot of trailers might be different with the Micro Minnie FLX, which has been interesting.
The Trump AC unit works great. The Showermiser system is awesome. We had plenty of water left over at the end of our first trip. The tankless hot water heater is great too.. just don't forget to turn on one of the LP tanks. lol.
The only thing we could safely say was trash was the mattress. But RV mattresses are often trash. We replaced it with a normal memory foam one and slept great. Oh, the Trump AC has a decent fan mode too but we grabbed a little battery powered/USB powered fan from a kickstarter campaign called Venty. (they're out of prototype now and shipping normally.)

According to Winnebago and Lithionics, there's not much you need to do - if it's going to be stored longer than 6 months, turn the battery unit off and turn the breaker off. but otherwise it should be fine. The LiFePo4 batteries are a game changer, in my opinion. And if it starts to run low, bust out that Honda generator.

 

It blew my mind when the a/c was running on the super hot day when we were checking out bunch trailers, but it seems little to no tech info is available, the dealer really not sure on lots of little details as well, so guess lots of forum reading to do.

I've heard about the showermiser is awesome, I was more excited to learn it has power jacks! I doubt we'll need a generator, now the temperature around here probably won't got past low 80s, but I would love to add another battery down the road to make it last.

 

I definitely recommend checking out the WinnieOwners.com forums. There are a couple YouTubers like Joe's Travels and SpeedBumpMedia that have posted some info, but other than that you have a LOT of sales droid videos to sift through. The 43275342 RV dealers trying to use YouTube to sell you RVs aren't terribly helpful.

The actual Winnebago video series on the FLX is pretty good, though. Almost forgot about that one!

I agree. Not a ton of info and sometimes stuff almost contradicts the other. great. Xantrex makes the inverter, Lithionics is the battery, GoPower is the solar, it's an MPPT controller. Truma is the AC & tankless hot water. There's a Lippert TireLinc up front if you wanted to get the TPMS module. Our fridge was Dometic but others seem to have gotten a GE. The TV was Insignia but we aren't using that much. Only negative besides the bed: The stereo is Connexx, and it's absolutely garbage. lol. We're going to replace it one of these days. We won't use the DVD player anyway and music will be to a bluetooth speaker we have.

We have Starlink and added an Apple TV HD to the TV and put a HomePod in there too. Made it a second HomeKit home. A couple quirks there but nothing too annoying.

Oh, we also got some level jack blocks from Andersen and used the leveling ramp once too. We have a 2 week trip coming up and then maybe 2 more 3-5 day trips this fall. fortunately our Fall weather in California isn't too bad. usually.

 

@RovingMedics I've since began reading the forums as we are picking up ours in a couple of days, one thing I haven't found answer for is, can you plug into 110v outlets for charging? from my understanding it'll work, may have to change the settings to 15amp?

 

Even a 30 amp plug is a 110/120 volt connection. You need far less than 15 amps to charge, so 15 amps on a regular plug is fine. What you cannot do on a 15 amp plug is charge, run the microwave, and the AC at the same time.

 

I have been staying in SW CO this week and I'm amazed at the number of smaller SUVs I have seen pulling double axle trailers. Many Highlanders. Even saw them pulling over the Million Dollar highway between Durango and Ouray. That road makes my butt pucker just driving the Tundra towing nothing.