SLO's NoBo 16.6

SLO_F-250

Explorer
Hey Expo Team,
We ended up selling our customized hybrid family camper for a NoBo 16.6. To keep in tradition, I felt the need to start a thread as it is my 4th camping rig thread on this forum. I started modifying it a bit the day it came home and my goal here is to document and give my honest opinion.
First, I know this is not a Black Series, Ember, MDC, etc Camper. This is production mainstream camper with average build quality. I went into this knowing that and expecting to work on/modify/ and fix things. We simply don't need a true overland camper nor had the budget. This one fit the bill and was a very nice upgrade. We typically camp as a family 35(+/-) nights a year and as much as I hate to admit, not as much dirt/off road time as I would like.

I ended up getting a good deal from a dealership in Southern California and picked it up at the end of January.
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The next weekend, my daughter and I took it out for a weekend trip together.
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At this point, a list of things I wanted to change started growing. It is much lower to the ground than I would like. For something that is advertised as an "adventure rig" the stance/clearance was disappointing.
Next, the inside is not super efficient and even though this is banged out in a factory with thousands of other brands models, I could not help but think there are simple things that could be done to help.

So I started with the basics... Bye bye microwave. Storage gained... (Note, I just kept it simple and painted plywood for the doors. No finish carpentry grade work, but good enough)
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Next, the only USB chargers in the camper were in the kids bunks! Come on Forest River, need more options. I have plans of more, but quickly added one at the dinette.

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Then, the TV was removed. We don't watch much TV, especially camping!! Jacket, Hat Rack added:
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Then I added a simple spice rack to clear up storage space and a net for misc. items. Note, it drove me nuts that this camper did not come with a flush mount stove. So I ordered one that should be here soon.
I also added some storage nets for the kids at the bunks.
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Then the bathroom. While nice, it has two random spaces without doors. Not sure what FR was thinking here, but I added cabinet doors to actually be able to use these.
The sink in the bathroom is pretty much a joke. It needs a new faucet to actually get your hands in there to wash them.
The showerhead sucked and basically did not work. Doing a little research I ordered a Oxygenics RV Handheld Shower Head. It worked like a charm and we actually have a shower now!!

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That was good enough to get us ready for 4 days in Death Valley as the next trip....
 

SLO_F-250

Explorer
The Death Valley Trip was great. My wife was very happy with the new rig, so win for me! Kids love their bunks and overall it worked great.

Camped in the Spangler Hills on the way out and again, the trailer height issue bugged me again. Was a bit worrisome on the hills/dirt. So I ordered a 3.5" lift.
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Nothing more interesting from this DV trip this year. Next year, hoping to get a bit more off road.

Next, I decided to address the batteries/power and propane. I was more batteries and more propane so I converted it to a dual tank carrier and picked out a truck box that could carry (4) 6volt costco golf cart batteries.
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Then we were able to sneak away to a local Santa Ynez camp for another weekend.
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Then my lift kit for the Lippert Axle came in! 3.5" and simple to install. We'll see how it works. I might fabricate my own, but will run it for a while. It was a piece of cake to install.

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I also installed some mud flaps while I was at it.

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Finally the end product. IT SITS WAY BETTER!

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SLO_F-250

Explorer
Lastly we ended up in San Clement for 4 nights. Not our typical spot, but it was beautiful and hung out with old friends for a long weekend.

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There are still more things I want to play with. Currently I want to build some more shelves to make the storage more efficient, add more USB chargers, Charging bank on the exterior, install the flush mount suburban stove, and mud flaps on the front similar to the MDC Campers. Lastly, I am chewing on the bumper. I liked what I did to my old camper and want to work on something similar/different. Possible two spares with storage. I don't really plan on upgrading or adding to the 190W solar panel. I think that is plenty to keep my batteries topped off.

I'll keep the thoughts coming as I dig deeper on this one...
Cheers!
 

Obsessed2findARuggedHybid

Well-known member
Nice upgrades. You may be on to something here. Some of the 2022 craft off roadish US builders are coming out with stand up rigs retailing for 90k. Say what is your ground clearance with your lift kit installed?
 
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SLO_F-250

Explorer
Nice upgrades. You may be on to something here. Some of the 2022 craft off roadish US builders are coming out with stand up rigs retailing for 90k. Say what is your ground clearance with your lift kit installed?
Thanks Obsessed! I have 19" to the frame rail and then 15.5" to the black tank valves and drain. About 2" lower then my previous trailer.

One other thing to mention that I was not super happy about on the NoBo was the propane lines. They attached them to the bottom of the frame rail. Just seems that location is asking for damage if off road.

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ripperj

Explorer
Nice thread.
IMHO You don’t need to compare it to any other brand. You are already doing more than most here….. the most important thing I believe- You are getting yourself and the family out in the wild. I’m completely envious.
The rig that gets you out is the right one at the time :)


I get a lot of great camping/hiking trips in, but they are either with a buddy, my son, or solo. It’s only a couple times a year I trick my wife into coming :)

Keep it up


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 

SLO_F-250

Explorer
Nice thread.
IMHO You don’t need to compare it to any other brand. You are already doing more than most here….. the most important thing I believe- You are getting yourself and the family out in the wild. I’m completely envious.
The rig that gets you out is the right one at the time :)


I get a lot of great camping/hiking trips in, but they are either with a buddy, my son, or solo. It’s only a couple times a year I trick my wife into coming :)

Keep it up


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Thanks Ripper! Appreciate the kind words.

Got a few things done this weekend. My suburban flush stove conversion finally came in. It was a bit of a pain to get in there because of the more round style mounting hole, but slow and steady wins the race!

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I also had a little bit of time to mount my front rock guards. While not needed I do think they look cool and provide protection. I added a similar setup on my old trailer once I saw the rust paint damage on the frame.

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Hope everyone enjoyed the weekend!
 

mekcanix

Camper
Oh this is awesome!!! I am not alone on here anymore!!
I bought a 16.5 NoBo in 2018 and have been tweaking it / fixing it every year. My lift arrived right as our first snow did this fall. I am waiting for the melt to begin so i can install it. Just finished redoing the bathroom floor of the wet bath. You are 100% right its not a black series but its affordable, and judging by what I am seeing posted as of late about the big name units I think these might be better value as you get to use it and make it your own
happy camping

john
 

SLO_F-250

Explorer
Oh this is awesome!!! I am not alone on here anymore!!
I bought a 16.5 NoBo in 2018 and have been tweaking it / fixing it every year. My lift arrived right as our first snow did this fall. I am waiting for the melt to begin so i can install it. Just finished redoing the bathroom floor of the wet bath. You are 100% right its not a black series but its affordable, and judging by what I am seeing posted as of late about the big name units I think these might be better value as you get to use it and make it your own
happy camping

john

Thanks John! What other mod's have you done? What went wrong with the bathroom? One thing I am not a fan of is how long it takes to drain the black and grey tanks. I end up rolling up one side on blocks to get a little gravity help. Quite annoying.

Was able to sneak away on a little father weekend with my son. Sure a spacy camper with just the two of us!
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mekcanix

Camper
The way our wet bath was built it uses Styrofoam for the the draining slope, but of poor quality so it compressed and the floor felt like it was moving.
I will post a couple of pics. the first pic is of the platforms out of my camper and the base of the wetbath. the second wooden platform pics are from another persons camper but exactly the same as mine. if you zoom in on the first picture you can see the styrofoam. it like the quality of packing foam
 

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mekcanix

Camper
here is a couple of shots of what I replaced those platforms with. I built the base to have the required slope for drainage. I also added some yoda matting I had kicking around as sound deadener/ soften the floor.
 

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mekcanix

Camper
So, I have done numerous repairs and reinforcements to the wooden structure of the unit like the dinette and the bed, and replaced mattress, plus remounted the stove. I have reworked the battery system in a few different directions till i settled on a single 100ah lithium battery and added 295watts of solar with a 30 amp solar controller. I added JT strong arm stabilizers and dual propane tanks. I have reinforced the stair mount as it was pulling out of the floor. I will be installing the lift hopefully next week and this week if the weather improves I will be changing out the storage locks. I have added extra storage to the back of the camper for my black tank supplies and fittings.

I think there might be more stuff. I am actually enjoying most of it as I love to make stuff my own and I am really seeing the improvements being beneficial for our experience.

John
 

SLO_F-250

Explorer
Bummer on the bathroom fail. That looks like a pain. Sounds like you have USED your NoBo which is good to hear. All great modifications!

I enjoy tinkering on tings as well. Any pictures of the rear bumper setup? I'm still chewing on what I want to do.
 

Grassland

Well-known member
So, I have done numerous repairs and reinforcements to the wooden structure of the unit like the dinette and the bed, and replaced mattress, plus remounted the stove. I have reworked the battery system in a few different directions till i settled on a single 100ah lithium battery and added 295watts of solar with a 30 amp solar controller. I added JT strong arm stabilizers and dual propane tanks. I have reinforced the stair mount as it was pulling out of the floor. I will be installing the lift hopefully next week and this week if the weather improves I will be changing out the storage locks. I have added extra storage to the back of the camper for my black tank supplies and fittings.

I think there might be more stuff. I am actually enjoying most of it as I love to make stuff my own and I am really seeing the improvements being beneficial for our experience.

John
Weather is supposed to finally smarten up next week. Too bad this weekend is so soggy.
 

Bob Boyer

Member
Like where your headed and will be stealing ideas for our 1706FB Winnebago, though I've upgraded to 30 lb propane tanks and added some of those adjustable aluminum stairs at the door. Copying, flattery, etc... Bigger battery is next.

What kind of frame do you have under this? I've been chewing on something to carry bikes on the back of our Micro Minnie Winnebago but the C channel frame doesn't inspire confidence, even if a cross brace is welded in to attach a hitch receiver for the bike rack that would run under the bumper. Winnebago says not to hang more than 50 pounds on the bumper and that's taken up with the spare.
 

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