Winnebago 2201DS - First Impressionns!
Yesterday, we picked up our new Winnebago Winnie 2201DS. We had to travel a couple of hours away to Ron Potts RVS near Johnsonville, OH to do our walk-through and transfer gear from our Sunline to the Winnie.
The folks at Ron Potts RVS did a great job of getting the trailer ready and in finishing installation of a 4 pt. Equalizer hitch. It was obvious that they had done a good job of inspecting/checking all the systems and were willing to take as much time as needed to familiarize us with the trailer. Having owned a TT before, we already knew a lot about the various systems and how to use them.
After looking at the Winnie again, it does seem to be a prety well made unit. The slide-out worked very smoothly and the sealing system looks very good. The white exterior with black trim looks sharp, and the black slide topper and Maxxi vent covers look like "custom" upgrades.
It was a rather hot, muggy day and transferring all our gear from a larger trailer to a smaller trailer wasn't much fun. But, we got it done, but this morning's job is to do some more sorting (i.e. get rid of stuff we don't need!) and organizing. DW is a little concerned about having less space for kitchen stuff (which was great in our Sunline) but to be expected when going to a smaller trailer. On the flip side, the wardrobe and storage space located in the rear bath is excellent. And, the storage space under the dinette seats is quite spacious. The plywood tops for the seating storage aren't hinged or finish. At some point, I'll take a closer look at them and see if its possible to hinge them, and I'll probably stain and urethane them also.
On the road home, the trailer pulled very easily behind our 5.7 Tundra and the Equalizer hitch was very quiet...didn't experience any loud squeeks or noises. The weight difference between the 8K+ Sunline and much lighter (probably 2k) Winnie was very apparent as we travelled through the rolling hills on 2 lane roads, and on the I71. According to the onboard mileage indicator, the truck averaged 9.9 mpg, and I've always found the truck's computer to be the same as computing the mileage manually. So, it seems I gained 1 to 1.5 mpg improvement compared to towing the Sunline, but I'll need to do a lot more travelling to make any solid conclusions.
So far, I'm really pleased, and think that the Winnebago towable trailer lines will become quite popular with folks looking for affordable but better quality travel trailers/fifth wheels. And, a carbon copy of our trailer is available in the Winnebago Remington line of trailers.
If anyone has any questions about our Minnie, I'll be glad to answer them. Now, we just need to take a few trips and have some fun...but can't do it until we get past a family wedding on September 7th!
The folks at Ron Potts RVS did a great job of getting the trailer ready and in finishing installation of a 4 pt. Equalizer hitch. It was obvious that they had done a good job of inspecting/checking all the systems and were willing to take as much time as needed to familiarize us with the trailer. Having owned a TT before, we already knew a lot about the various systems and how to use them.
After looking at the Winnie again, it does seem to be a prety well made unit. The slide-out worked very smoothly and the sealing system looks very good. The white exterior with black trim looks sharp, and the black slide topper and Maxxi vent covers look like "custom" upgrades.
It was a rather hot, muggy day and transferring all our gear from a larger trailer to a smaller trailer wasn't much fun. But, we got it done, but this morning's job is to do some more sorting (i.e. get rid of stuff we don't need!) and organizing. DW is a little concerned about having less space for kitchen stuff (which was great in our Sunline) but to be expected when going to a smaller trailer. On the flip side, the wardrobe and storage space located in the rear bath is excellent. And, the storage space under the dinette seats is quite spacious. The plywood tops for the seating storage aren't hinged or finish. At some point, I'll take a closer look at them and see if its possible to hinge them, and I'll probably stain and urethane them also.
On the road home, the trailer pulled very easily behind our 5.7 Tundra and the Equalizer hitch was very quiet...didn't experience any loud squeeks or noises. The weight difference between the 8K+ Sunline and much lighter (probably 2k) Winnie was very apparent as we travelled through the rolling hills on 2 lane roads, and on the I71. According to the onboard mileage indicator, the truck averaged 9.9 mpg, and I've always found the truck's computer to be the same as computing the mileage manually. So, it seems I gained 1 to 1.5 mpg improvement compared to towing the Sunline, but I'll need to do a lot more travelling to make any solid conclusions.
So far, I'm really pleased, and think that the Winnebago towable trailer lines will become quite popular with folks looking for affordable but better quality travel trailers/fifth wheels. And, a carbon copy of our trailer is available in the Winnebago Remington line of trailers.
If anyone has any questions about our Minnie, I'll be glad to answer them. Now, we just need to take a few trips and have some fun...but can't do it until we get past a family wedding on September 7th!
