Thinking of Downsizing from 230RL to Imagine XLS 17MKE and Looking for Imput

[Tigger1]

I don’t want to offend any 17MKE owners as it’s a nice trailer. I would like to mention our experience with our previous Rockwood Mini Lite 2104s trailer which had a Murphy Bed.

At first we thought it was a good space saving idea, up during the day to create a sofa, down at night for a bed. However, over time the utility of that idea wore off on us and we began to dislike having to put it down each night especially when we were tired. We also couldn’t leave it down since the space was tight to exit the doorway.

As for our 22mle; we like the openness, lots of windows, light surface colors, workable kitchen, TWO seating areas, full-time bed, etc. while only 26’ 1” long. We camp in several State Parks during the season and have not found the length to be an issue.

Best of luck with your decision.

[Ynot4me2]

If you can find a dealer or maybe an RV show that has both, it would be worth while to seat in both for a little while. Even though these are the smaller of the Imagine line, it's still a lot of $.

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[alias100]

We are pulling a 2021 22RBE with a 2021 Ram 2500 with a gas Hemi engine, getting about 10 MPG (I make a point of not checking my MPG because there is not much we can do about it anyway). Our truck has about 8K miles, so I am hoping the MPG will go up when it is fully broken in. We try to keep it at 65 MPH on the highway so here in the Southwest with 80 MPH limits in places we are getting passed a lot.
We use an Anderson hitch, and love it. Nothing major to lift, and quick to hitch/unhitch. Even when getting passed we are not pushed around too much, possibly because we are at about 50% of our trucks towing and payload limits.
The 22RBE is similar to the MLE, except that it has a separate bedroom with a sliding door. This was important for us as I tend to get up earlier than my wife so the dogs and I (2 mini schnauzers) can hang out in the main area and let her sleep in. It would be nice to have both the theater seating and a dinette, but getting them and a separate bedroom would have pushed us into a much longer trailer. The 22RBE has so much counter space that preparing meals without a dinette has never been a problem.
We have taken it to 8 different campgrounds and have no problem with the size.
Anyway, hope this helps, and good luck with your decision.

[brucedunning]

If you can find a dealer or maybe an RV show that has both, it would be worth while to seat in both for a little while. Even though these are the smaller of the Imagine line, it's still a lot of $.

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We have sat in both on a couple of different occasions. I like the space in the MLE but really don't want to tow the extra 2' and pay and extra $4k which is what they are asking here in Canada.

[goducks14]

Not sure you'll gain much in OAL towing length dropping down to a 17MKE. The MKE is 22' long. Your truck is about 20.5' long. Add 1 foot for the WDH sticking out and the Truck is now 21.5' long. Add 22' for the MKE and thats 43.5' OAL.
Your 230 is 27' + 20.5 for truck = 47.5. You gain about 4' IIRC for the front over hang on the 5th wheel since it's in the truck bed.
That would put you real close to the same MKE OAL of 43.5, maybe 44.5' OAL.
You can still stick the 230 in the same spot you could stick an MKE in. The 22RBE would put you way past the 230 OAL when towing.

[brucedunning]

Not sure you'll gain much in OAL towing length dropping down to a 17MKE. The MKE is 22' long. Your truck is about 20.5' long. Add 1 foot for the WDH sticking out and the Truck is now 21.5' long. Add 22' for the MKE and thats 43.5' OAL.
Your 230 is 27' + 20.5 for truck = 47.5. You gain about 4' IIRC for the front over hang on the 5th wheel since it's in the truck bed.
That would put you real close to the same MKE OAL of 43.5, maybe 44.5' OAL.
You can still stick the 230 in the same spot you could stick an MKE in. The 22RBE would put you way past the 230 OAL when towing.

Yes, we realize that we would not gain much in overall length but I'm thinking the overall weight would be reduced by a significant amount and the overall drag when towing should also be reduced.

[goducks14]

I bet you get the same or worse with the MKE. JMHO but that 230 is tucked in nice behind your cab. Being a short bed it's even closer than a long bed. The front cap on the 230 is IMO a little more aerodynamic than the MKE. The MKE will be sitting much further back and more susceptible to wind coming over the cab.
Be interesting to see your results.
Throw a shell on the truck and all bets are off.

[brucedunning]

I bet you get the same or worse with the MKE. JMHO but that 230 is tucked in nice behind your cab. Being a short bed it's even closer than a long bed. The front cap on the 230 is IMO a little more aerodynamic than the MKE. The MKE will be sitting much further back and more susceptible to wind coming over the cab.
Be interesting to see your results.
Throw a shell on the truck and all bets are off.

Interesting. If I don't get any better mileage with the MKE it isn't worth it to me to make the change as we love our 230 RL and have made lots of great mods. Will have to think more about this or perhaps others have additional perspectives.

[Tigger1]

Interesting. If I don't get any better mileage with the MKE it isn't worth it to me to make the change as we love our 230 RL and have made lots of great mods. Will have to think more about this or perhaps others have additional perspectives.

I’m getting between 9.5-10.5 mpg pulling our 22mle with a Tundra 5.7. I’ve gone to the CAT scales twice and both times our truck was several hundred pounds heavier than the trailer, kind of similar to what you would have going with 17mke. More than anything I believe it’s the frontal surface that diminishes mpg.

[brucedunning]

I’m getting between 9.5-10.5 mpg pulling our 22mle with a Tundra 5.7. I’ve gone to the CAT scales twice and both times our truck was several hundred pounds heavier than the trailer, kind of similar to what you would have going with 17mke. More than anything I believe it’s the frontal surface that diminishes mpg.

This is helpful to know. I'm beginning to thinking that it may not be worth it to downsize from the 230RL if I don't get better fuel economy.