Enthusiast I
- 434
- First Name
- Jason
- Last Name
- Alberring
- Member #
-
11593
- Ham/GMRS Callsign
- AC9YQ
- Service Branch
- US Army
No Boundaries - New trailer by Forest River
- Thread starter jdxplor
- Start date
From our experience with forest river, there are much better trailers out there. Once you sign on the line, their customer service is lets just say, lacking.
Enthusiast III
I will agree with Grubworm the interior fit and finish leaves something to be desired but I have been tweaking it some and as we run into issues I have been repairing or modifying it to better suit my needs. I am still happy with the NoBo, and it fits my needs just wish the quality was better, but if it was better I probably wouldnt have bought as the price would have gone up and out of my budget
Enthusiast I
- 434
- First Name
- Jason
- Last Name
- Alberring
- Member #
-
11593
- Ham/GMRS Callsign
- AC9YQ
- Service Branch
- US Army
If it's just the interior that's lacking I can deal with that I suppose. Structurally deficiencies or weakness is a deal breaker though. But I dont expect it to be a true off road trailer.
"Lacking" is one way to put it nicely, or total shit is another way of saying it! My only saving grace was that I bought the camper from a big outfit in Ohio who moves a lot of Forest River at wholesale prices. The same camper was $4000 more to buy it locally from a smaller dealership. Forest River blew me off until I complained to the dealership and luckily the dealership was big enough to have some horse power and convinced Forest River to fix it. It was Jeff Couch RV Nation in Ohio. Excellent dealership. Was 15 hrs to drive there and $200 in gas to save $4K.
RVs fall in a weird category where they are expensive and poorly built and there is not much to protect the consumer. I read a lot where there are thousands of complaints against RV manufacturers and even some going to court and the customer pretty much never wins. Most problems are on big units with slide-outs that fail and leak and a lot of plumbing issues. Luckily the little off-road campers dont have slide outs or a lot of plumbing or electrical. Even Airstream is getting a lot of bad reviews now and they were the top of line years back. Greed and not caring has plagued the RV industry just like it has everything else.
We have a small Amish built teardrop now that has been excellent but it is not off road worthy. We have put 10,000
+ miles on it with only regular maintenance. Like grub worm said, no slides and only 1 little plumbing run.
+ miles on it with only regular maintenance. Like grub worm said, no slides and only 1 little plumbing run.
Enthusiast I
- 434
- First Name
- Jason
- Last Name
- Alberring
- Member #
-
11593
- Ham/GMRS Callsign
- AC9YQ
- Service Branch
- US Army
I always like hearing details. Thankfully, Couch's RV nation is only 2 hours from me and they are the dealer I was planning on visiting.
Amish built teardrop? Sounds interesting.
Amish built teardrop? Sounds interesting.
Enthusiast III
So I have continued modding up our NoBo 16.5. 2 of my favorite mods to this point are A: I removed the sink from the wet bath man did that make using the bathroom a less cramped experience. B: I installed a set of JT strong arm stabilizers now it feels like a solid little cabin when set up no movement from the flimsy landing gear as they call them. These Stabilizers are designed to go on a standard configured travel trailer where the jacks scissor action runs at a 90 degree to the frame where as the NoBo they run parallel to the frame so I had to interpret the instruction and figure out a few things on my own.
We are at about our 10th trip with the NoBo and still really enjoy it
We are at about our 10th trip with the NoBo and still really enjoy it
glad to hear. i do like the no-bo layouts and the 16.5 looked really appealing to me. hope it lasts y'all a very long time!
still tweeking our 10.6 and hopefully heading up to arkansas in a couple of weeks to do some kayaking
Member III
This is an interesting thread. It sounds like everyone is talking about my 2019 Coachmen Clipper Express 9.0td … also Forest River based. I like the design and the quality is "ok" (uncapitalized) but there are so many things that could have been done better. With mine, I think the "boss" built the right side and his helper built the left side (lol). You get what you pay for and that's OK, I knew that going in. Like you grubworm, I considered building another trailer from scratch. I figured I would use this one for a year or so first and then decide if I wanted to make a more off-roadable duplicate. So far I'm happy to beef up what I have. The frame is basically good and reinforcing it will make it more off road ready, not hard core, but good enough for this old fart. I've strengthened the frame in a few places and will continue to do so. It's pretty straight forward stuff. Many of these trailers are a good platform for customizing things to the way you want them based on your use.
grubworm - We looked at the NOBO 10.6 and liked it too. I like where you're heading with yours!
grubworm - We looked at the NOBO 10.6 and liked it too. I like where you're heading with yours!
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Would you not mind show me via pictures of how you installed LP Hot Water Heater Shower. I would love to have one for my new 10.6 NoBo that I got today. Thanks for all comments as I am learning a lot lately.
I didn't install it. Its a Camplux portable hot water heater I got on Amazon for $110. Basically, I just hang it wherever I want and I have a 12' hose that hooks to it from my propane tank and I have a 12vdc pump that has a quick connect on the side of the camper and I run a water hose from the qd to the heater. The heater has 2 "D" batteries that cause a spark to fire the heater when it senses water flowing thru it. I like that I can move it around. I got a coiled water hose so it can stretch and then coil for storage and I bought a shower tent off Amazon to go with it. We can set up the camper and have the shower on either side or the front/back depending on the situation. It gets real hot real fast...best item Ive bought yet.
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Best part of this equipment is one less thing to winterize. Too many stories of dealing with hot water tank in RVs. This is perfect solution. That is why I love my new trailer. No grey or black water to deal with. This hot water equipment is awesome. We will buy it today. Thanks.
I like mine a lot. I also did a 200w solar install on the roof and added a trailer tongue tool box with the MPPT controller, a 2000w inverter and room for 2 batteries. I run pretty much 12vdc for everything and this set up works great. Hurricane Barry hit 2 days ago and we were out of power for a while. The camper is in my driveway always ready to go so we took our phones and charged them in the camper since it has constant solar and a full battery. I also bought a battery charger that plugs into 12v socket in the camper so I can charge AA and AAA batteries whenever I need. I REALLY like having the solar and a lot of 12v power. I buy LED strips and hook them up to a cigarette lighter plug and I have a lot of light when I need it and LEDs use so little power than my battery can run them for days with no charge if needs be.
Thanks for sharing the solar mod. I am about to pull the trigger on a nobo 19.5. what structural/electrical/plumbing or other areas should I expect to beef up? I have never owned an rv before and I am in the same boat as everyone else where i cant find a good quality lightweight RV and was going to build one but then I got lazy lol.
The fact is, there are going to be defects and you will keep finding them even later on the more you use it get familiar with it. The big thing is to check the roof and make sure the roofing membrane doesn't have bubbles in it and that roof penetrations are sealed well...same for doors and windows. Water intrusion is my biggest concern because that will result in delamination and rot.
I tore into my 10.6 a good bit and did a few mods, but for the most part there wan't a lot I could do without having to tear it all apart. They use some really small and weak framing members for walls, doors, shelves, etc and it is all stapled together. You beef up one item, but then its attached to a weak area and so on. I'd say buy it and as you notice problems, just address the immediate problem and leave it at that. Most problems I have can be solved with a good tube of adhesive, like Liquid Nails and some decent screws to use when the staples pull loose, which they inevitably will.
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Adding liquid nails and silicone to the travel kit! Im stuck in analysis paralysis right now. Knowing there isnt a well made product on the market it is hard for me to justif buying a new one. I feel as if I would be better off buying a slightly used one only a few years old that someone has already worked the kinks out of. This owuld save a substantial amount of money, and if its 2013 or better it should have the azdel siding. The money saved could go to repairs or more toys. Then if it does fall apart in a few years just write it off, rinse and repeat.
What do you all think of this strategy?
Yeah, def a good game plan. Find a good used camper and learn from it and you will still have fun and enjoy it, I'm not too happy with what I got, but it does suit my needs and at the end of the day I had fun and it did serve its purpose.
DeBo3359
Rank II
Off-Road Ranger I
Member III
What the eyes can see … the hands can build!
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