Down sized!

Emptypockets · 05-10-2010, 08:52 PM

Downsizing has been completed. We sold our previous unit a one ton Dodge diesel dually crew cab & 31 Foot 5th wheel with two slides in 2008 thinking we wanted to get out of the camper & stay in motels & with family when we traveled. We soon realized we missed having our own bed & bath room so started looking on E-bay & Craig s List for a used trailer. After 6 months of not finding what we wanted we turned to looking for new. Ended up buying from RV-Direct a 2010 (that turned out to be a 2011) FR Rockwood Mini Lite 1809S. We picked it up in Elkhart, IN May 3 - since then we have visited family in Marion, IN & now we are setting in the driveway of a cousin in Avon, IN. From here we go to Naperville, IL to visit a daughter & her family. There we can park in their driveway thru the week & on weekends go to the Blackwell Forest Preserve in DuPage County. After several years of pulling the larger unit around we are loving the convenience of the small unit.

grhodes50 · 05-10-2010, 08:59 PM

Congrats on the new TT. Sounds like a great trip. Glad your enjoying the new TT. Just goes to show that bigger isn't always better.

08flagvlite · 05-11-2010, 09:13 AM

I can relate to that. I do miss the pop up I had and the ease of towing it-not to mention the gas mileage improvement, and I think about all the manual stuff it had like cranking it up and down several times, for one trip, and then rain, with a pop up, the leaks and putting it down in rain.....V lite- power awning, power tongue jack, power slides, no sweating rain- no problem....I'll be okay!!

granite · 05-19-2010, 11:46 PM

We just signed papers for small lightweight xlite 19ex fiver so we can better enjoy hauling anywhere with our 3/4 T gmc. Hope ours works out as well as yours has. Have fun.

Emptypockets · 05-20-2010, 08:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by granite

We just signed papers for small lightweight xlite 19ex fiver so we can better enjoy hauling anywhere with our 3/4 T gmc. Hope ours works out as well as yours has. Have fun.

Congratulations & we will watching for some pictures of your rig.

Steeljag · 05-20-2010, 09:29 PM

Good for you...glad your back in the camping community! Unless the weather is bad...i'm outside while camping from about 0800 till about 2200 hours.

So size is not that important to me......a nice awning or good shade is !!

capucine · 09-18-2010, 04:42 PM

We also bought a new 2011 1809s and I am glad that I waited for the 2011 model. Under the bed that does not raise from the inside you have a huge luggage compartment through 2 outside doors that can store a ton of camping stuff. Also on the new model you have a baggage door on the pull out and also an awning over the pull out. All this with nicer outside graffics. We will pick up our new baby next week. I am pulling this trailer with our 2009 uplander van.Will give an update on how it pull. What do you use to pull this trailer?

Emptypockets · 09-18-2010, 07:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by capucine

We also bought a new 2011 1809s and I am glad that I waited for the 2011 model. Under the bed that does not raise from the inside you have a huge luggage compartment through 2 outside doors that can store a ton of camping stuff. Also on the new model you have a baggage door on the pull out and also an awning over the pull out. All this with nicer outside graffics. We will pick up our new baby next week. I am pulling this trailer with our 2009 uplander van.Will give an update on how it pull. What do you use to pull this trailer?

Your bed setup is different than ours it doesn't have the outside entrance under the bed. Looking for pictures when you can.

skidoonut · 09-18-2010, 07:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by capucine

We also bought a new 2011 1809s and I am glad that I waited for the 2011 model. Under the bed that does not raise from the inside you have a huge luggage compartment through 2 outside doors that can store a ton of camping stuff. Also on the new model you have a baggage door on the pull out and also an awning over the pull out. All this with nicer outside graffics. We will pick up our new baby next week. I am pulling this trailer with our 2009 uplander van.Will give an update on how it pull. What do you use to pull this trailer?

at almost 3000 lbs dry for that unit, you will be have transmission trouble with your uplander very soon. i am a gm transmission tech and i have seen many of those transmissions fail and almost all of them have trailer hitches and have been towing over 2500 lbs.

capucine · 09-19-2010, 06:39 AM

we are not planning to pull our trailer on hilly country. We camp close to our home on level terrain. I know how hard it is when pulling trailers in hilly country. I blew up my transmission on my jeep cherooke while pulling our gypsy 22 foot trailer. The jeep was rated for 5000 pounds. On my uplander I have the heavy duty transmission oil cooler. We camp only 3 to 4 times a year. Like this we should be okay. I have seen some chev venture and also some old chev lumina vans pulling even heavier than our trailer.

capucine · 09-19-2010, 07:03 AM

here are a few pictures of the new front luggage doors and you can see also the baggage door on the pull out. look inside the compartment how big it is

Emptypockets · 09-19-2010, 11:30 AM

capucine, thanks for the pictures they sure did change the layout from when mine was built in April. I see they also moved the hot water heater. Does your bed go all of the way across the trailer? Have you looked at the mods I did to the inside of ours? We do have the outside opening in the slide out. Was your Rockwood 1809S Mini Lite made in Indiana?

capucine · 09-19-2010, 06:51 PM

I dont know where it was made because the trailer is still at the dealer. I will pick the trailer in a week. The manufacture date is august 10 2010. And our bed is not going all across over. It is like yours except the small night table is the with of the trailer but no door since the baggage compartment takes this portion. I will take a picture of it when I take possession. By the way how did you like it. For us we are upgrading from a flagstaff 8 foot box tent trailer. We were tired to have no room and having the potti in the way. With this trailer ( I have been dreaming of this one since last year) We went to see almost all the brand of trailers in Canada and to tell you the truth I could not find a trailer so perfect. We got ours with all the goodies like the big double doors fridg. the oven. the 14 inches wheel instead and more and more. I just have to enjoy it now one time before the camping closing season.

Emptypockets · 09-21-2010, 02:00 PM

Since making some design changes we love ours - very easy to pull & set up.
Have you had a chance to look at some of the mods we did to ours?

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