I don't know what I don't know

[mcguirev10]

Howdy folks ... the wife and I decided at age 50+ our tolerance for tents and cots was waning, so we just ordered a Mini Max to pull behind my Wrangler.

I've been interested in expedition trailers (which is still pretty much a tent, but off the ground), but I happened to mention to my wife that some Jeep-weight-range trailers actually have showers and toilets, and on that news A Decision Was Made. Obviously we won't be dragging the Mini Max very far off-road but that's honestly not a big deal.

Saw a link to the RV101 videos, so I guess we'll start there...

[AC0GV]

Originally Posted by mcguirev10

I've been interested in expedition trailers (which is still pretty much a tent, but off the ground), but I happened to mention to my wife that some Jeep-weight-range trailers actually have showers and toilets, and on that news A Decision Was Made. Obviously we won't be dragging the Mini Max very far off-road but that's honestly not a big deal.

This is a molded fiberglass group, so not many (if any) Mini Max owners here, but you will learn a lot about traveling in a small RV if you hang around.

[Donna D.]

I don't even know what a Mini Max is. Pictures?

[mchalewj]

https://golittleguy.com/lg-mini/

Looks like the Little Guy Mini Max is a teardrop design, but it does have a fiberglass skin and roof.

[k0wtz]

Aliners have all the goodies also. I don't know what you trailer is but good luck.

bob

Originally Posted by mcguirev10

Howdy folks ... the wife and I decided at age 50+ our tolerance for tents and cots was waning, so we just ordered a Mini Max to pull behind my Wrangler.

I've been interested in expedition trailers (which is still pretty much a tent, but off the ground), but I happened to mention to my wife that some Jeep-weight-range trailers actually have showers and toilets, and on that news A Decision Was Made. Obviously we won't be dragging the Mini Max very far off-road but that's honestly not a big deal.

Saw a link to the RV101 videos, so I guess we'll start there...

[mcguirev10]

Originally Posted by AC0GV

This is a molded fiberglass group, so not many (if any) Mini Max owners here, but you will learn a lot about traveling in a small RV if you hang around.

Originally Posted by mchalewj

https://golittleguy.com/lg-mini/

Looks like the Little Guy Mini Max is a teardrop design, but it does have a fiberglass skin and roof.

Yeah I realized that after I joined. Close enough for a small-RV n00b, I figure. The only active Mini Max ownership I've found is on Facebook, and while I'm not one of those who derides FB (then inevitably brags about it, as if they've accomplished something), I find FB's format terrible for anything but quick conversations in passing. Forums are searchable, threaded, etc. -- you all know the drill.

[Cathy P.]

Have you tried this forum? https://golittleguy.com/forum/#/discussions

[mcguirev10]

Originally Posted by Cathy P.

Have you tried this forum? https://golittleguy.com/forum/#/discussions

Thanks for that. I joined (or rather I've signed up, haven't been approved yet). Looks comparatively dead, but some good info there nonetheless.

[golfman8]

You don’t say whether your Wrangler is a 4 door model or 2 door. Keep in mind that a close coupled tow vehicle can give you a bumpy ride.
Good luck and enjoy.

[mcguirev10]

Originally Posted by golfman8

You don’t say whether your Wrangler is a 4 door model or 2 door. Keep in mind that a close coupled tow vehicle can give you a bumpy ride.
Good luck and enjoy.

4-door Rubicon Recon with the max tow package and 4.10 gears. I have a lot of towing experience (with regular trucks) ... boats, car trailers, etc.

[golfman8]

Originally Posted by mcguirev10

4-door Rubicon Recon with the max tow package and 4.10 gears. I have a lot of towing experience (with regular trucks) ... boats, car trailers, etc.

With that setup you should have a good, fun rig. Good luck ��

[Mike Magee]

It might be cool if you can rig that back area to have a 50" wide bed (almost a double) and still keep 20" for a short dinette. That way you won't have to make and unmake the bed every day.


Little Guy makes pretty good quality trailers, or at least that's my impression. I hope you like it. If I had one knock on that interior, it would be that it doesn't have enough up-high cupboard space for my taste; after bending over for a new trailer payment, I don't like having to bend over to get almost everything I need out of storage. Speaking of payments, how much do they get for those Mini Max units?

[mcguirev10]

Originally Posted by Mike Magee

It might be cool if you can rig that back area to have a 50" wide bed (almost a double) and still keep 20" for a short dinette. That way you won't have to make and unmake the bed every day.

Little Guy makes pretty good quality trailers, or at least that's my impression. I hope you like it. If I had one knock on that interior, it would be that it doesn't have enough up-high cupboard space for my taste; after bending over for a new trailer payment, I don't like having to bend over to get almost everything I need out of storage. Speaking of payments, how much do they get for those Mini Max units?

Yeah almost everything I read about build quality was positive. The company changed ownership in 2017 or 2018 and apparently there were some hiccups (lots of new 2018s still out there on dealer lots) but as near as I can tell, they got their act together within the year. Pricing can climb well into the 30s but we did some dealing and came in under that for a new-build 2021 with some extras thrown in such as awning, camera, solar.

That's an interesting idea for the bed setup. The bed support is actually a sort of pull-out-drawer thing that slides on rails into the area where the table goes, so that might work (just don't pull it out as far). I've heard Costco has a lot of differently-sized decent-quality cushions so I'll keep that in mind, thanks.

I know what you mean about the cupboard space but at the end of the day we decided we'll probably value the big windows more. A lot of people complain about the weird near-the-floor microwave location too, but we figure we'll use that rarely, so it won't bother us. I've seen a few people who replaced it with a toaster oven, which is something we'd use far more often, although I'm not sure I'm comfortable with anything that hot down there. We mostly expect to cook outdoors.

We're pondering different packing strategies but it's sort of hard to plan when -- well as the thread title says, you don't know what you don't know. We have five acres here at home, we're planning to do the Extreme Driveway Camping test run a few times in serious-mode (no visits to the house if possible) and hopefully we'll gain some insights.

[nefldiver]

Originally Posted by mcguirev10

Yeah I realized that after I joined. Close enough for a small-RV n00b, I figure. The only active Mini Max ownership I've found is on Facebook, and while I'm not one of those who derides FB (then inevitably brags about it, as if they've accomplished something), I find FB's format terrible for anything but quick conversations in passing. Forums are searchable, threaded, etc. -- you all know the drill.

molded fiberglass trailers hold their value much better than fiberglass panels or 10 over stick. If you buy a nice used Casita and take care of it chances are five or six years later when you decide you want a bigger trailer, you can probably sell your trailer for what you paid for it or barely nearly as much. I have bought and sold to casitas and did not lose money on either

[cpaharley2008]

But 13,500 BTU a/c in that little unit will freeze you. I would try to get a smaller unit, 9,000 max.

[nefldiver]

Our Bigfoot 21 RB is so well insulated that at night it gets absolutely freezing in there. But it beats sweating

[nefldiver]

Oh and ours is a 11000 BTU so 13k in a smaller trailer would be Overkill