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RV review: 2025 Rockwood Mini Lite 2506FK

Tony Barthel

Today’s RV review is of the 2025 Rockwood Mini Lite 2506FK. This is a front kitchen model with a bathroom that splits the trailer in the middle. The prototype I saw only had one entry door but the company told me that will change in production with two entry doors being standard.

Something else Rockwood has done is pretty significant. This is based on customer feedback and is a complete re-think on the plumbing in these rigs.

Recently a company celebration highlighted 50 years of doing business with an employee being awarded for being there the entire time. Rockwood and Flagstaff have a number of generational employees (your parent worked there, or an aunt or uncle) and many of the team have been with the company for a very long time.

From the road up

One of the things that first attracted me to this brand is the suspension which is a torsion axle design. Since my first Rockwood they have upgraded the tires to Goodyear Endurance and also added tire pressure monitors as standard equipment.

There are also little “beads” inside the tires to help them maintain their balance over time - this is not something many RV companies do.

The underbelly on these is enclosed but not heated however there are 12 volt tank heaters on all four of the holding tanks.

Speaking of holding tanks this does have one for the shower and one for the kitchen and they are not plumbed together. I have a friend with an older variant of this floor plan and he plumbed his together easily enough.

I will say I like the way they’ve reconfigured their gate valves on the gray but you have to reach under the slide to pull the black tank gate valve. It looks like it might be easy enough.

Rockwood is unique in how they build trailers using a man-made substrate on the wall (Azdel is the common brand for this but there are other brands) lamination on all the slide walls, and back wall. The roof, too, is laminated with aluminum cross members which makes it light and strong and the roofs are fully walkable. There’s also an overlayment that carries a lifetime guarantee; however, do know that the seals on all RVs are a routine inspection/maintenance item.

Another thing I’ve always liked are the frameless windows in these which require less maintenance.

One key is all you’ll need with this trailer as all the entry doors and baggage doors are keyed alike. The company also recently upgraded all the compartment doors to slam latches.

What’s inside the Rockwood Mini Lite 2506FK

What really struck me about this floor plan is how spacious the main living space felt. The model I saw featured a u-shaped dinette with a free-floating table. I was surprised that the cushions on the ends of the dinette felt very comfortable but the ones along the wall were…well, I was sitting in them like a politician. The job was being done half…way.

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Counter space is what you come to a front kitchen RV for and this one delivers with a counter that extends across the front of the trailer and a bit down the camp side of the trailer. That’s also where you’ll find the propane three-burner cook top along with 21” propane oven.

Overhead is a microwave but also cabinets where the hard wood doors are counterweighted to stay open. There’s a pantry on the road side of this space as well and a big drawer under the stove and two more under the dinette. Storage is going to be a big plus on this model.

The refrigerator for 2025 features a door that opens from either side like a 1950s Philco fridge and the freezer is a drawer on the bottom.

There’s also a fireplace here and a 12 volt TV which must have gone to school because it’s now a smart TV.

Something I noticed was that the headroom in the shower was quite good. Even without my head having to go “in the bubble” I still had lots of space even with a hat and shoes on. This square shower is also more spacious than the corner shower in my rig and is one of the benefits of a mid-bath model.

I like this mid-bath configuration with a shower on the camp side and sink on the road side. There’s also a decent storage closet in here with a door. Speaking of doors, there is a hinged door to the main living space and a split sliding door to the bedroom so you could take a shower and have a grand presentation to whomever’s in the bedroom.

This would likely be followed by an immediate request to get out of the camper even though you’re in your birthday suit. Hmm.

Of course this is a typical Rockwood product in that there’s a high-performance vent fan in the shower and they put a cover over it so you could even leave it open if it’s raining.

Speaking of the bedroom in the prototype I saw there was only one entry door but the plan is to have two - one into the bedroom and one into the main living space.

The bedroom in this trailer features a short queen (60 x 74) which can bother some campers. This is what’s in our own camper and it hasn’t bothered me.

I also noticed a new thermostat in this trailer. In a Rockwood-Flagstaff Facebook Group I belong to a lot of people were replacing their analog thermostats with digital models. I wonder if this one would be sufficient for those people or if they would still upgrade?

There’s a substantial pass-through compartment but not at the front. That space is taken-up by the kitchen. Instead the pass-through is at the back of the camper, effectively under the bed.

Let’s talk RV quality

I see a lot of people who bemoan Forest River in online forums and such. To be very clear, both Forest River and Thor encourage their various divisions to compete with one another both internally and from outside the company.

That’s how you get brands like Airstream at Thor and Rockwood/Flagstaff at Forest River, for example. But that’s also how you get brands like KZ RV at Thor. There are absolutely brands that work to continually improve and make their products better and some that build to price.

I hope these articles help you understand which is which.

But I will share that I started a little Facebook Group a few years ago after I bought my first Rockwood Mini Lite that has grown into some 12,000+ members. I had a question I couldn’t find the answer to so I turned to social media and a lot of fellow campers found us.

Since then Rockwood now looks to the Facebook Group to help keep up with user experiences and makes changes based on what they read and see.

A prime example of this is the new plumbing in these trailers. What was happening is Rockwood-Flagstaff were doing what most RV companies in the industry were doing and that’s using PEX clamps on flexible lines in some places such as where the water pump connects to the plumbing. It’s basically how things are done.

Many owners of all RVs have issues with this so they make repairs at the campground - it’s not difficult to do but it also doesn’t trigger a warranty request. You fix it and keep on camping on.

All RV companies use warranty claims to track how they’re doing - so if something like plumbing leaks isn’t addressed under warranty the RV companies think everything is hunky dory. Since we were all repairing these leaks at the campground ourselves, there wasn’t strong evidence of an issue.

For 2025 in response to the complaints and comments Rockwood totally changed how they make these connections to something that is much, much more roadworthy and I applaud that having had several leaks myself.

This is one of the many things the company does that might not be apparent such as laminating the ceilings or using man-made substrates in their wall lamination and on and on. This is why I encourage you to start at the road and work your way up when considering any RV - what’s underneath and behind walls is going to make a big difference and a company that also makes changes to make things better deserves our business.

Boondocking and travel access

While the version you see in these pictures doesn’t have them, the final production models of this floor plan will have two doors. You can use the bedroom door to get to the bedroom and bathroom with the slide in and the entire kitchen is accessible through the front door.

Rockwood includes a 200 watt solar panel and 1800 watt inverter on these. There is also the option of their Power Package which includes a 460 amp-hour Mastervolt battery, a Combimaster inverter/controller and 1,000 watts of solar. This is what I have and, yes, I can run the air conditioner for 4-6 hours if I like.

These also incorporate a Shower Miser function which redirects water into the water system while you’re waiting for it to get hot at the shower which saves water. I like this.

What I would change

The one thing I saw that was a head scratcher was the access to the winterization valves at the back of the water heater. This was through a tiny hole in the wall of the bed base. I couldn’t reach the valves so I’d be there with a saw making the correction myself but I have let Rockwood know and they’re really good at addressing these kinds of things.

As a couples’ camper I really like this unit. In fact…there is a chance one might end-up in our own travel plans. We shall see.

Our experience with build quality and after-the-sale service from Rockwood has been outstanding. This is a good compromise of size with some great feature and clear signs that the company listens to customers. Maybe there’s a reason I’ve had three of their trailers and might just have a fourth sooner rather than later.

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Our friends Tony & Tina from TNT RVing did a video

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