Thoughts on No Boundaries

[Furaites]

The wife has been looking at sites and campers, but is getting impatient and does not want to wait for a home build to come together. So she saw these trailers by Forest River, that she thought might work in the midterm.

I am not no expert by any means, but I thought I would ask some opinions here.

No Boundaries Travel Trailers and Destination Trailers - Forest River RV

Details, images, videos, and more about the No Boundaries Travel Trailers, Toy Haulers and Destination Trailers line up.

forestriverinc.com

 

[Hilldweller]

It's a Forest River --- I'd say light duty, standard rv construction. Highway and manicured forest service road duty.
8-10 years and not much resale value unless you pamper it.

 

[jeepers29]

I would recommend you google forest river reviews. I think you will find a lot of unhappy customers.

 

[john61ct]

If you are far from poor, discount the value of money

and greatly inflate the value of

A. getting out there quickly, take too long getting ready, might miss out on too many nice memories.

B. saving gazillion hours of futzing around

C. striking while the iron is hot, few spouses show that much interest

Happy wife happy life!

 

[PCO6]

The wife has been looking at sites and campers, but is getting impatient and does not want to wait for a home build to come together. So she saw these trailers by Forest River, that she thought might work in the midterm.

I am not no expert by any means, but I thought I would ask some opinions here.

No Boundaries Travel Trailers and Destination Trailers - Forest River RV

Details, images, videos, and more about the No Boundaries Travel Trailers, Toy Haulers and Destination Trailers line up.

forestriverinc.com

Your situation sounds a bit like mine. I was well into a trailer build when my wife decided she wanted to take up camping, which kind of shocked me. She had no interest in the type of trailer I was building and I fully understood why. We tent camped for a year and she wasn't crazy about that. I bought a fibreglass project trailer (a Cadet ... kind of like a Boler, Trillium, Scamp. etc.). She got impatient and before I knew it we had a Coachmen Clipper 9.0 TD which is also a Forest River product.

I liked the some of the NoBo products but she wanted something we could stand up in. The way we use it is to get us and our stuff to a campground, mainly Provincial Parks. We bike, kayak, etc. there for a few days and head out and explore in my Jeep for a few days. The trailer is our base camp.

They're light duty but there's also a lot you can do to beef them up. I've strengthened the frame on ours and made a number of modifications (kayak rack, etc.). It's actually been fun to work on and it's handled a few rougher roads than I thought it would. The design of the frame isn't that bad. I'm actually more concerned about the body. Overall, the concept is good. My initial thought was that if we liked it I'd build a stronger version of it and sell the original. The good news is that I revisited my trailer build (in my signature) and have modified it to "MY" liking ... and I will be the only one camping in it.

Our main reason for buying it was so that we could haul kayaks.

 

[custmfxwg]

For what it's worth. . . My wife and I started looking at RVs so the dogs can have some AC when it's super hot out. The RTT isn't large enough for them and we can't leave them alone. We looked at No Boundaries and came super close to biting the bullet and were on the way to a dealer. Then, I came across a review, and another, and another, where they were literally falling apart within weeks of purchase. Sinks coming separated, cabinet doors falling off, roof peeling back, etc. I could not, for the life of me, find a good review. And I really wanted one of these RVs. The last straw was the reports on customer service and how horrible they were. I can understand a few bad reviews and people have a tendency to only write when things don't go well, but I couldn't even find one, not one, good review. I owned a Jayco 29 footer for 11 years and used it all the time. Never had an issue. I steered clear of No Boundaries - and am still looking, while I enjoy my Will-Ro Freedom trailer and Tepui.

 

[opp]

no boundaries They fit there name .Not in a good way but there like most out there google forest river reviews At the shop they will not work on them . something to do with lipstick on a pile of pig c##

 

[dreadlocks]

I almost bought a Forest River, backed off when I started researching em and looking at em closely.. then I found an IntechRV Flyer and its like night/day difference in quality..

 

[PCO6]

To the OP, if you're still around, your best bet is to go the Forest River Forums ( https://www.forestriverforums.com/forums/ ) and see what NoBo owners have to say. It's not all positive but there are also those who like them for what they do with them. Some FR owners criticize them because they're too small, don't have a shower, you have to cook outside, the sink stinks, etc. I don't know why they bother to comment when this model clearly isn't what they're interested in.

I think it's safe to say that all store bought trailers are made to satisfy a sector of the market and also to make a profit. If they're off the mark on price they won't sell. In this case, I wouldn't pound one around on trails but if all you want to do is go camping with it's probably fine. It would help to be a bit handy too because things will go wrong and there's always something to improve.

 

[Winterpeg]

We don't see many (if any) actual campers touted as being off-road so I was quite excited to see one of these when they arrived here.

I checked it out and was thoroughly disappointed with their build quality and their complete lack of offroad thought process. So many things that will be broken or sheared off due to being placed in bad spots.... like the propane connection mounted under the frame/tongue.

 

[XCvagn]

We have a Forest River R-Pod HRE 172 and we love it. If you’re looking at new, don’t do it! Forest River is beyond poor build quality. It’s willful under-engineering coupled with poor warranty support. If you’re able to get one used for more than 30-40% off what the negotiated new price then look closely to know what needs fixing and understand if the original owner is running from an issue or failure they don’t want to address or aren’t getting support from FR.

For full disclosure look up the R-Pod thread here to get a taste of FR.

We have the capacity to love ours for a number of reasons. We are the second owners (great price), the previous owner went through a lot of trouble getting things fixed and fighting FR to get warranty to cover it in the first year, unique customizations the original owner had done to it that also matched our needs like custom mount for a Thule rack over the tongue, replaced roof mounted AC with Solar, removed TV and antenna, custom drawers under the bunks for additional storage, and port hole windows for bunks to name a few.

In the 3 yrs we’ve had it I’ve also done a few upgrades including adding LED back up flood lights, new external lighting (trailer lights don’t hold up well in Winter conditions), upgraded to new GC batteries, and the biggest ”upgrade” is addressing the common FR wall separation from floor issue. most R-Pods and NoBos that “are driven” (yes I was shocked when the service manager at our local R-Pod dealer asked if we drove ours much, from his comments I gathered they weren’t designed to be taken on road trips). Our walls’ leading edges are now firmly secured to the floor and if there’s any wall separation it would have to have been caused by a serious catastrophic event.

External wiring on FR products is poor and NOT watertight. It’s critical because it includes wiring for the electric brakes. I’ve had to cut back wiring to the brakes to solder and waterproof the connections that had been originally crimped together with non-water resistant crimps. The copper wiring had been corroding over time and eventually the brakes only partially worked. I first noticed it when only one side was braking and the trailer pulled to one side. NoBos won’t be any better even with the “sealed underside”. Take a look at how the underside of NoBos are enclosed. It’s corrugated plastic sheets (looks like cardboard) that look like a skilled kindergartener cut them to size and tacked them to the frame. Water and debris still get in easily and will create more of a hazard since they’ll trap things in between the floor bottom and the sheeting. The holding tanks aren’t insulated so it isn’t any more weatherized than an open bottom R-Pod.

Another corner I’ve recently discovered that FR cut is the under spec’d axles they use. Even though GVWR is 3350lbs, FR fitted it with a Lippert 3000lbs torsion axle. It has visible negative camber on one side and after 14k miles the tires are showing some serious cupping and uneven wear. I now understand the root cause at the axle ends. Plus the axle mounts to the frame 20” in on either side from the hubs. The upside is I’m looking at like upgrading it to a Timbren only it’s not going to be easy due to frame design. Once I put on a new axle ours will be solid.

Be aware and go in eyes wide open expecting such shortcomings and inspect whether you choose new or used. They can make a great starting point as long as you go in expecting to have to make them roadworthy. That’s why I would not recommend you get a new one and honestly not of any mass produced American made trailer. Buy used and what you’ve saved you can invest in hardening it or customizing it for your needs.

 

[Grassland]

Local dealer selling R-Pods for $25999 and wouldn't budge on price even with cash.
I figure they are worth about 12-13k with the way they are built and the fact the warranty is essentially useless.

XCvagn described and explained it perfectly.

 

[jadmt]

Local dealer selling R-Pods for $25999 and wouldn't budge on price even with cash.
I figure they are worth about 12-13k with the way they are built and the fact the warranty is essentially useless.

XCvagn described and explained it perfectly.

dealers hate cash they want you to finance the entire amount for the rest of your life so they get the interest kick back. R-Pod dealer here is the same, and won't let you look at anything without the salesman right there.

 

[Mekcanix]

We have a 16.5 NoBo. I fell for the Rugged package lol. It is not. But to get one this size that is rugged would probably be triple the price and we have been using it constantly and have bushwhacked with it a few times.
The quality is horrendous. I have repaired and modded to suit our needs we seldom use hook ups so I have upgraded the battery system and we use solar. Yes its over priced. yes its needed work. Yes we start camping before the season starts and continue until we are dealing with frost. And as a guy in his early 50's I appreciate have a bathroom, all be it a very snug bathroom (3 in 1) and a awesome bed.

 

[Grassland]

We have a 16.5 NoBo. I fell for the Rugged package lol. It is not. But to get one this size that is rugged would probably be triple the price and we have been using it constantly and have bushwhacked with it a few times.
The quality is horrendous. I have repaired and modded to suit our needs we seldom use hook ups so I have upgraded the battery system and we use solar. Yes its over priced. yes its needed work. Yes we start camping before the season starts and continue until we are dealing with frost. And as a guy in his early 50's I appreciate have a bathroom, all be it a very snug bathroom (3 in 1) and a awesome bed.

I think they got the size right.
Lots of people looking for that larger than tear drop, smaller than a travel trailer sweet spot
Something you can stand up in, but a bit narrower, bit shorter than the mainstream stick built. Something as a home base for when you are out cycling kayaking hiking etc but want some comforts when you return.
Small enough to get into the better camp spots, but not a hassle to tow