2020 Rockwood Mini Lite 2104S Travel Trailer Tour
If you haven’t had a chance yet, take a look at our 2020 Rockwood Mini Lite 2014S Travel Trailer Tour video located at the top of this post. I’m mainly creating this blog post to give you a bit more details what I (Shane) liked and disliked about this travel trailer to hopefully help you in your search.
LAYOUT/DESIGN
THE GOOD
One of the first things I always look at when figuring out what layout would work best for me is whether or not the refrigerator can be accessed while the slide is in. Although this slide does come in front of the fridge, there is actually a little wiggle room where you can still access your food if you have to stop and boondock somewhere.
The TV is placed in a great location where you can angle it really anywhere you are in the trailer…ok maybe not the bathroom.
They really do a good job trying to get the best out of all the space in this smaller travel trailer. Whether it is storage, extra room for folks to sleep, or just having the murphy bed option in order to open up the floor plan a bit when the trailer isn’t in ‘sleep mode’.
THE BAD
The murphy bed is kind of a love hate relationship because when you have the murphy bed it gives you extra room inside, but you lose all that passthrough storage you would get with a normal bed. After living in the RV for 6 months, I’d have to say I preferred having the extra storage room, but it depends what you need to get out of the trailer.
Later I will talk about how the storage in the bathroom has been improved with the extra cabinet space, but in these tiny trailer it is always give and take. The disadvantage with the extra storage is that it makes the bathroom feel a bit more cramped. Gain storage, lose a bit of comfort and overall elbow room.
For US, working on the road is very important. We try to find a RV that has multiple uses for each area. This layout might be a bit more awkward if you were trying to work on the road, but I realize that isn’t what everyone is looking for in a RV. We wouldn’t be able to work in this RV at the same time due to lack of space. We would have to tear out the dinette and the closet in order to put a dual work station in place of it.
LAYOUT SUMMARY
After living in this for 6 months I can tell you, it is a bit cramped with 2 people and a greyhound dog. However, there are also a bunch of good ideas Forest River has applied in the Rockwood Mini Lite 2104S.
Overall I give this a 3/5 just because it almost feels as though they tried to pack too much into this little trailer. Some ideas adding storage and sacrificing comfort, the others trying to add comfort and sacrificing storage. Again, it really is all a matter of perspective and what you are trying to achieve with your trailer.
APPLIANCES
I ended up giving the Mini Lite a 4/5 stars for appliances because for a little rig, this really does have everything you would need. Could they have gone with some slightly more expensive appliances, yes, but then they would also have to bump up the price of the rig. I think in this particular case, you really do get what you pay for and it will keep you nice and comfortable while traveling.
COMFORT
Speaking of comfort, this trailer honestly doesn’t have too many places to feel comforted in haha. There is basically the bed and the dinette, but while I lived in this RV I preferred to be outside sitting in our camping chairs.
The dinette hasn’t really improved over the years as far as comfort goes, but they do try to make these seats last a while making them a bit more firm than I enjoy. Especially when needing to work 8 hour days while sitting on them. Just not built for that, which most campers aren’t.
The queen bed in the bedroom sucks just like most RV beds to be quite honest. I recommend replacing whatever bed you get with some sort of memory foam mattress. It adds weight, but if you plan on spending a lot of time in the RV, totally worth the relief in back pain. I highly doubt you will find a RV in this price range with a super comfy bed to be fair.
The shower is a bit tight, but I do like the sliding door rather than having a curtain that wraps around. In a shower this small, the hotter water tends to suck the curtains towards you while showering…making it feel like even less space. Also not a whole lot of head room once you step up into the shower itself if you are a bit taller. Luckily the skylight does help a tad in this area.
Overall, I’d give this unit a 3/5 in comfort level because the little areas it does have comfort in it is pretty nice. However, from experience this doesn’t really keep people comfortable over time with longer stays.
BUILD QUALITY
In this 2020 Rockwood Mini Lite 2104S Travel Trailer they have made a TON of improvements since the 2014 model we owned previous to our 5th wheel.
They have added a better slide system that seems to be a bit more sturdy, even though it may add a bit of weight to the overall trailer. Speaking of weight, they added basically a couple thousand pounds of weight capacity as well which really gives you more leeway on storage….but reduces what you can tow this with as well.
The cabinets are cheaper just like most trailers in this price range, but they get the job done.
They use the same back cabinet layout for all the different furniture configurations in this RV. The weirdest part I saw in this was having two cabinets leading to pretty much a cardboard wall. This seems a bit lazy on Forest River’s part. Either have storage available, or take those cabinets away.
Although at this price range you do only get single-pane windows, I liked the fact that they were fairly tinted and the design allowed for some better ventilation even if rain was coming down. (Fantastic fans need a window open to serve a purpose, so these were key in the overall design).
The toilet was a standard plastic foot flush toilet. If you weigh a bit more like myself, it does kind of seem a bit unsettling wondering if the thing may hold up while you do your duty.
A couple other things to mention is the 15 ft long awning, that is awesome for this size of trailer. Also the new solid stairs they add give you comfort that they will hold up for a long time. Not to mention, they added a little bumper to the door in case the wind does somehow catch it and swing it open. Haven’t seen the bumper on any other rigs thus far, so it will be interesting how that holds up going down the road.
There are definitely some improvements that can be made as far as build quality, but Forest River gives you pretty good materials in this price range to work with. I am probably somewhere between 3/5 and 3.5/5 for this particular rig, but was too lazy to create half a DnSAdventures logo in order to make that fit.
STORAGE
Storage is kind of an interesting topic for this rig. They seemed to add quite a bit more interior storage than we had in our 2014 Rockwood Mini Lite, but the outside storage is almost useless.
For the inside storage you have literally 3 narrow, but tall closets to storage quite a few things. With the added weight capacity, you can almost fill this thing to the brim without worrying too much. (Please still weigh your rig to make sure).
The oven is an awesome option to have, but some folks like to only have a stove top so they can have that extra interior storage underneath the stove.
The weird unless cabinets under the fridge really is a flaw in my opinion. I think it is due to the water heater being placed back there, but they really show have updated their cabinet structure before sending this model out.
However, with the murphy bed option you lose a HUGE passthrough you would otherwise get with this smaller trailer. Only having a little storage under the bed and some dinky slide storage, you might have to get creative storing your outside camping gear. I guess that is where your truck bed will have to come in handy. Just have to watch out for hitch weight if you put too much in the rear of your truck.
For this price range and size, I would give this a 3/5 rating. The interior storage is actually pretty good, but most people take a camper of this size out on weekends. You will be fine as long as your truck bed can handle most of your outdoor equipment, but if you planned on storing it in the trailer itself, good luck.
BANG FOR YOUR BUCK
Now all the other categories that I mentioned above were pretty opinionated, and this would probably be the most opinionated category. This will really depend what you want out of the travel trailer you are purchasing and how much you plan on using it.
For me personally I actually lived in this model of trailer for 6 months and have a pretty strong opinion on how I like things organized etc.
I rated this a 3/5 because we got a lot of the similar features, but for a 1/3 of the price. I always recommend buying these types of trailers used because you will find a comparable layout somewhere out there for cheaper. Sure you get some nice upgrades from some of the earlier year models, but I don’t think that adds up to the price they are asking.
We bought our 2014 used in 2017 for $9,000 (which was a heck of a deal) and ended up selling it in 2018 for about $8,500. That was only a 2-3 year old trailer so don’t tell me you have to buy the latest and greatest unless you plan on immediately losing money. You REALLY have to love the trailer to buy new in my opinion. Which is why we bought our current 5th wheel new.
If this 2020 Rockwood Mini Lite 2104S fits all your needs and you can’t find something else with a similar layout or build quality, then this might just be your rig. RVs come in all shapes and sizes so it all comes down to what exactly you need/want.
NOTE FROM WRITER
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Also be sure to check out Deanna’s food blog, The Harvest Skillet, when you get the chance! A lot of awesome and healthy recipes to use there!
Adventure On!
