Micro Minnie 5th Wheel pulled by GMC Canyon

[Nitewindes]

We just picked up our new GMC Canyon 2019 and our 2020 Winnebago RL Micro Minnie 5th wheel. We are hoping the information we share and the discussions we start will help others considering a mid sized truck with a 5th wheel trailer.

To begin with our Truck: 2019 GMC Canyon Diesel 4x4 Short Bed. Curt manual Sliding hitch (although we can turn 90 degrees without engaging the slide). We were told the slide was overkill but we wanted to be sure.
our Trailer: Winnebago Micro Minnie 5th Wheel 2405RL Trailer.

We chose this truck because it can fit in our garage and is easier to maneuver in busy bumper to bumper traffic on a daily basis. With the diesel, we are also getting 30MPG while not towing. So far, 17 mpg towing. 1st trip home it may change.

First impressions: The pin box is moved forward on the trailer to allow the enhanced turning clearance needed on a short bed truck.

2. We noticed that this configuration compared to the 2405RG has less storage especially outside, but my husband didn't realize just how little storage it has. The under trailer storage pass through will hold our chairs, and a few odds and ends. No place for the sewer hose, so it may go up front with the propane. :-( This plan is also missing the large storage cabinet and multiple cabinets of the 2405RG, which has an additional outside access compartment. (more later on the comparison)

3. We LOVE the configuration of the theater seats pointing directly at the TV. Very livable setup from an entertainment perspective.

4. We just brought it home and noticed SIGNIFICANT chucking on the drive. We realize it could be that the trailer is not loaded for the pin or we may have had the trailer brake set too high. We are also looking at other pin options if the first two options don't solve the problem.

5. We will post our experiences with this trailer and truck configuration in hopes it helps others trying to decide if this combo could work for them.

[Nitewindes]

https://img1.wsimg.com/isteam/ip/d6f...PG/:/rs=w:1280

Here is the picture of our rig. We are calling her Minnie. So far, no matter how we have contorted our turning trying to learn to park the trailer, we haven't been in danger of glowing out the back glass or grazing the bed rails. So far, so good.

We filled up the water tank and added our "stuff" and the chucking is MUCH better. We are going to try moving a few things above the pin to see if that takes the rest of it out.

We did not anticipate that the storage compartments from our old motorhome and this new 5th wheel would be so different. So, back to Amazon to buy a whole new set of organizers.

2 frustrating items:
the cabinet door to get under the dinette is 12 x 11 when the area under there is 23 x 15 x 43. So, guess we will have to access most of it from above. Also, the area above the theater seats only has 2 doors even though there are 5 compartments. So, we will be using a step stool for the foreseeable future to reach that area. Also, the area under the bed is only 9 .5 high so still trying to determine the best use of that space.

Warranty items: One screen missing from bedroom window. The mattress was slashed like from a box cutter underneath. We will turn those items in to our dealer.

More updates as we get them. Still waiting for more Amazon organizers. Amazon stock MUST be going up. :-)
Our first trip is this weekend! We can't wait.

[KMG]

I have the same model trailer and we use the under bed storage for our folded clothes and bath towels. I agree about the under seating booth storage. The doors are way too small. I'm thinking of installing a long pull out drawer under the bench seats. I went with an Andersen Ultimate hitch so can't help with the clunking issue. FYI, If it's been raining have an old towel handy and lay it in the door opening to catch the water that runs off the steps when folded up. I installed a standard screw in door stopper above the refrigerator to prevent the bathroom door handle from damaging the front of the refrigerator. When we tried to install our license plate it blocked the rear hatch door. I called Winnebago and told them. Did they move the holder outward to solve the problem? Be careful with the screen door. The holder on the solid door is held with two screws with little bite. Ours came loose first trip.

[Nitewindes]

Thanks a million for the ideas, especially the screen door and rain note, because we are going this weekend and it will be raining.
I tried a pull out nice chrome drawer under the dinette but am undecided about whether or not I like it. It only pulls out far enough to keep our dishes in it. Can't wait for our first actual trip in it this weekend. More news to follow!

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon....vL._SX679_.jpg

[bkg]

I can't provide any info. in regards to the Micro Minnie 5th wheel but I can with regards to the Canyon. I have the exact same except mine is 2016 and has the long bed, but the rest is the same from the 4X4 to the Duramax diesel.

Congrats on your new gear and hopefully you will get miles and years of use from both.

My Canyon Duramax performance is at 23 - 24 mpg in the city 8 mile commute each way.
Open interstate travel with just driver passenger load I average 32 - 34 mpg at 65 - 70 mph.

I did a 700 mile road trip with 4 occupants, truck bed loaded with about 300 pounds of gear and towing a single axle cargo trailer with about 6000 pounds of gear. Through the hills of Mississippi and Alabama I averaged about 14 mpg.
I did the same trip the year before in a GMC Sierra with the 5.3 liter and got 9 - 10 mpg.

Currently have 28,000 miles on my Canyon and have made 3 DEF refills to date.

I had considered going to 5th wheel when I had Sierra and Cougar TT but we do a lot of vacationing with our RV and the motorhome option was better for us. Traded Sierra truck for the Canyon and went to a Class C with the Ford V10 (mileage killed me with the 3500 chassis). Mother nature took the Class V10 from us and now I'm with the Winnebago View with the MBS diesel and so far love it.

Anyway, more info than you want but thought to throw other Canyon owner experience in there.

Enjoy!!

[Nitewindes]

Well, we completed our first trip to Lake Bastrop - South Shore, TX and had a wonderful time even though it rained most of the time.

Now that I have received our MDesign organizers from Amazon, I find that I have plenty of room for all of our stuff with room to spare (scary, I am sure I will fill it up much to my husbands dismay). I LOVE their clear sides because it makes sure I pull out the right container the first time.

The rubberized shelf liner makes sure everything stayed perfectly in place even though we found ourselves on a rocky bumpy stretch of road.

Lots of rain, no leaks.

The sound system also has only one zone for all interior speakers. This means that if you are watching a DVD or listening to the radio, even the bedroom speaker is live. Wish there was an option for 2 zones inside to be able to turn off the bedroom if you wanted to.

Made the dinette into a bed to determine usability and was very pleased with its size. Used double bed sheets on it and they fit respectably well.

I do wish the factory installed DVD player played Blu-Ray. So we are adding our Blu Ray player to what I call the small media cabinet next to the radio/sound system.

The thing we REALLY ENJOYED about the trailer is the incredible view and air ventilation from all of the windows. We were in a pretty spot with lots of vegetation and it felt like being outside in nature even though we were inside protected from the rain. Lots of room for our 2 Golden Retrievers too!

We did manage to fill up our gray tank, but we went full steam on water usage just to see what kind of storage vs usage it had. This was with full showers and lots of dish washing.

We have decided we need a gate valve on the sewer line, because at the dump station, when pulling of the dump cap for the first time, gray water (we hope) poured out.

NOTE ON THE CANYON & TRAILER TOGETHER: Everything pulled fine even up and down short hills. The only problem we had is that our hitch doesn't extend up any higher than it does. Our electrical box on the pin is installed below the pin box (which is dumb) and so, it was knocked loose by the bed on one particularly deep gully and steep climb. We have now relocated it inside the pin box and don't expect we will have this problem again..

We got 16.5 MPG towing the trailer which we were thrilled with. Now that the trailer is loaded, we also find the chucking much less noticeable. Husband is getting just over 30 mpg commuting back and forth to work and we are loving that. However, I do miss not having as much interior room as the motorhome during our trips. Be we will adjust I am sure.

More after our next trip!

[KMG]

My Jenson entertainment unit has 3 zones, Outside, Living, Bedroom. The volume can be controlled separately and all functions can be controlled with a smart phone too. Nice report! I too relocated the junction box to inside the pin box.

[Medobson1]

I don’t get it. Chevy May quote a load capacity of 7700 but pulling a 5th wheel with a little truck is iffy to me. A 5th wheel has a higher CG and is more prone to side wind effects. I see your storage is very limited for the size plus the kitchen has no counter space at all. The advantage of the 5th wheel design is capacity and I just don’t see it in this design. For example the 24BHSS has a huge pass through storage area. Yours is tiny in comparison. At 7’ wide you sacrifice a foot of width to the 2500FL Design. I don’t see the reason to raise the CG and tow with a smaller vehicle. Sounds like a bad idea to me. Plus the trailer has more amenities than this 5th wheel to keep the weight down.

[Nitewindes]

Everyone has choices to make. For my husband, driving around a full size truck all the time was not an option. He also wasn't willing to drive a bumper pull trailer due to wind concerns. So, that left us with two options. Get another 26' Class C motorhome with one slide-out which did not have enough room for us and the dogs. Or, try something a bit bigger and go with the 5th wheel.

Although, you are correct other 5th wheels are larger, this one is quite a bit larger inside than our previous class C Sprinter model. So, it is all about choices. This one certainly isn't for everyone, but it works for us.

[Medobson1]

I always see it through my engineering eyes. So I tend to be conservative.

[lucy]

Enjoying your thread. We have the Voyage Lite 25RKS. It is a 2018 5th wheel. It was discontinued. We have a problem with the cabinet over the love seat falling off the wall. Also when in a heavy rain water comes in around the slide. We have not used the under seat storage on the dinette as I am afraid stuff will get wet. We tow with a F350 Crew cab long box. It has a gooseneck ball for our other trailer and so we put a Reese Goose box on our 5th wheel. This set up works well for us. Our mileage on the last trip was horrible due to weather. We got 3.9 mpg across Nebraska in March. Felt like we were literally going backwards sometimes due to the wind. Hope you keep posting your updates. There are not enough 5th wheel posters on this site.

[Medobson1]

Originally Posted by lucy

Enjoying your thread. We have the Voyage Lite 25RKS. It is a 2018 5th wheel. It was discontinued. We have a problem with the cabinet over the love seat falling off the wall. Also when in a heavy rain water comes in around the slide. We have not used the under seat storage on the dinette as I am afraid stuff will get wet. We tow with a F350 Crew cab long box. It has a gooseneck ball for our other trailer and so we put a Reese Goose box on our 5th wheel. This set up works well for us. Our mileage on the last trip was horrible due to weather. We got 3.9 mpg across Nebraska in March. Felt like we were literally going backwards sometimes due to the wind. Hope you keep posting your updates. There are not enough 5th wheel posters on this site.

I had nothing but trouble with my slide leaking as well. After 4 trips to the dealer I was very frustrated and unhappy with the water leaks on both ends. So I gave in and had a slide topper installed. The topper extends about 6 inches beyond each end and it has been dry as a bone in the Hot Arizona sun ever since. That’s one way to fix it. But I do know the problem is with the corners of the slide and how they meet the rubber gasket in the corner. If the person who builds the corner joint doesn’t get the surface perfectly smooth in the upper corners, they leak making a mess on the carpet and under the dinette. The slide topper really does fix this issue plus it keeps the snow and sun off the slide roof keeping the dinette area cooler in direct sun. I’m glad I spent the money on it.

[Nitewindes]

Originally Posted by Medobson1

I had nothing but trouble with my slide leaking as well. After 4 trips to the dealer I was very frustrated and unhappy with the water leaks on both ends. So I gave in and had a slide topper installed. The topper extends about 6 inches beyond each end and it has been dry as a bone in the Hot Arizona sun ever since. That’s one way to fix it. But I do know the problem is with the corners of the slide and how they meet the rubber gasket in the corner. If the person who builds the corner joint doesn’t get the surface perfectly smooth in the upper corners, they leak making a mess on the carpet and under the dinette. The slide topper really does fix this issue plus it keeps the snow and sun off the slide roof keeping the dinette area cooler in direct sun. I’m glad I spent the money on it.

We had toppers on the slides of our Motorhome. I will keep an eye on the leaking and if we find it does, we will get the toppers too. Thanks again!

[KMG]

We love our Micro Minnie 2405RL 5th wheel and would never want a larger 5th wheel (If we did we would have purchased one). The 7' width is awesome for fitting into smaller sites especially at older parks. Our kitchen has a fold up counter extension, sink covers plus the dinette is directly behind you. Plenty of surface space. Wonderfull large windows give amazing views while inside the trailer. All this plus a full size shower and a queen bed too! We don't need anything more or wider. Tremendous trailer with torsion bar suspension for a smooth pull.

[lucy]

Originally Posted by Medobson1

I had nothing but trouble with my slide leaking as well. After 4 trips to the dealer I was very frustrated and unhappy with the water leaks on both ends. So I gave in and had a slide topper installed. The topper extends about 6 inches beyond each end and it has been dry as a bone in the Hot Arizona sun ever since. That’s one way to fix it. But I do know the problem is with the corners of the slide and how they meet the rubber gasket in the corner. If the person who builds the corner joint doesn’t get the surface perfectly smooth in the upper corners, they leak making a mess on the carpet and under the dinette. The slide topper really does fix this issue plus it keeps the snow and sun off the slide roof keeping the dinette area cooler in direct sun. I’m glad I spent the money on it.

Thanks for sharing. We had talked about getting a slide topper. Will definitely try that next. I bought gasket treatment and cleaned and treated the gaskets but that did not help. Simple rain does not seem to bother it but when towing in a driving rain it really "floods".

[Lakejumper]

For sewer hose storage, I have used plastic fence posts which I believe we're 5" square, mounted under the RV across the width, when I had trailers. I could put the Rhino end fitting in as well. I had three. One was for sewer hose with different lengths and I used the others for the water hose and power cords. It freed up the storage compartment space. They're very handy, easy to make. Do a search and you'll find lots of info.

[Nitewindes]

Originally Posted by Lakejumper

For sewer hose storage, I have used plastic fence posts which I believe we're 5" square, mounted under the RV across the width, when I had trailers. I could put the Rhino end fitting in as well. I had three. One was for sewer hose with different lengths and I used the others for the water hose and power cords. It freed up the storage compartment space. They're very handy, easy to make. Do a search and you'll find lots of info.

I was trying to get my husband to let me do the fence post. Now that you have mentioned it, maybe he will let me do it on our rig. THANKS for the post!

[Ret.LEO]

Great posts.........really enjoying

[KMG]

I store our sewer hose inside the rear bumper.

[Nitewindes]

Well, our third camping trip is in the books. https://texasstateparks.reserveameri.../0/180x120.jpg

Boy was this a test of our communication skills. I am finding more and more that when backing especially at really tight (8ft pad with STEEP dropoff on both sides, a huge tree trunk close to the pad on one side and a boulder on the other) spots, my method of explaining what I need the trailer to do becomes challenging. I think they need a husband and wife class of how to communicate RV parking turns...:-)

However, I am proud to say we made it in there (eventually) and nothing damaged or lost in the effort. I did find out that as recommended to us, the anderson curving wheel chocks are a wonderful thing UNLESS your trailer tires are too close together to get one of them behind the front tire. I am searching for the amazon/camco brand to see if they are a bit shorter.

I am very pleased to say that our little rig's A/C unit proved itself with flying colors. The temp wasn't bad at about 85-90 degrees, but the humidity was off the chart. And we managed to be totally comfortable inside. For such occasions though, I am planning to add a portable satelite before we go out again in the fall. Love to hear everyone's experience with them.

I found some great totally lightweight folding bins that help with storage under the dinette. You do have to reach them from above, but they keep the stuff i store near the door from sliding back out of reach when moving. See them on my blog:
http://weekend4daydreams.com

Our towel bar pulled out of the wall when my husband was gingerly trying to put the towel back up on it. So we are debating how to mount one that will stay. (epoxy?)

When mounting things on the walls of this unit, I have found that nothing is too strong when it comes to getting things to stay. Most of the command items do not stay on our walls without extra sticky strips (as many as I can fit). The clear ones are just not strong enough. I have to use the ones rated 5-16 lbs for anything I want to stay on the wall. Maybe it is because the walls are new. The non removable 3M products seem to work more reliably.

We are putting the final touches on what goes where for best access and which organizer works best here or there, but we are getting close to being able to make faster get-a-ways on Friday evenings.

The only new item we noticed with Minnie, the trailer, is that the weatherstripping on the passenger side front of the trailer is hanging loose. We are headed back to the dealer next weekend to get our warranty list corrected. This includes: Lack of window screen next to the bed; dinette bottom pad stitching coming loose; one ac vent inside lose from shroud; towel bar fell off the wall; We are going to ask if we could transform the bottom "drawer" in the kitchen which isn't a drawer but a pull down front into an actual drawer for ease of use.;

We had 3 MaxAir fans installed and let me just say those things I LOVE! you can force air through that trailer in a few minutes, vent moisture from showers and draw in cool air or vent cooking smells and smoke. Love them!

I must say that our hooking and unhooking has been a real learning experience, but we are really cutting that time and effort down now. Practice does make perfect!