New owner & Member

[Flimsy]

My wife and I purchased a 2020 FR 20CB, which seems to be a nice entry level RV and hopefully we’ll suited for our purposes. We are retired and are located in Sebastain, FL on the Treasure Coast. We named our little motorhome “Flimsy” because that seems to describe the quality of our RV construction very well. We thought the name “Cardboard” was a bit too long, but describes the interior well also. I’m in the midst of many upgrades which I hope to post over the coming weeks. Many of the ideas I have in mind I have garnished from this very forum. I also have many ideas of my own that I will share. I am fortunate to have a very nice home machine shop and can fabricate just about anything that comes to mind.
We had our very first campout nearby a couple of weeks ago and it was a fun Shakedown for us and my wife’s first time ever sleeping and camping from a motorhome. We had a great time and a positive learning experience, I’m happy to report.
I’ll be looking forward to chatting and sharing ideas with other members.

[A32Deuce]

Welcome to RVing and the Forum from South Jersey.

[Reverse_snowbird]

Welcome from Texas!

Good luck with your 'upgrades' and let us know how it's going.
Keep in mind that the 'cardboard' is used to keep the weight down in the rig. You have to keep your Gross Vehicle Weight in mind when you are upgrading.

[Flimsy]

Yes, understood about the GVW and the reasons for the materials used for the interior. It just sort of cracks me up from a quality of workmanship and flimsiness standpoint. It’s all good, tongue-in-cheek twisted humor on my part.

[CurtPutnam]

Welcome from SoCal!

[bikendan]

Hi and welcome to FRF!
Since FR has almost 100 brands, what Brand is your Motorhome?

[SlowrideHD]

Welcome to the forum! Being a retired aerospace-defense engineer, I know from decades of manufacturing experience that you already have a leg up on a lot of new RV owners. It has been my observation that machinists have an inherent knack of diagnosing, fabricating and repairing or modifying things that will invariably come up to deal with in any RV. Since you have a shop, I will make that assumption that you are handy....it helps!

Good Luck and good reading here.

[geeman53]

Welcome from SW Ohio ,enjoy your 2020 FR CB MH !

[Fun finders]

Welcome from Winnipeg Manitoba

[Flimsy]

Originally Posted by bikendan

Hi and welcome to FRF!
Since FR has almost 100 brands, what Brand is your Motorhome?

Hi and thank you. As to our RV brand, it’s a Coachman Forest River 20CB. I think that may answer your question, but like you said there are so many our there.

[Flimsy]

Originally Posted by SlowrideHD

Welcome to the forum! Being a retired aerospace-defense engineer, I know from decades of manufacturing experience that you already have a leg up on a lot of new RV owners. It has been my observation that machinists have an inherent knack of diagnosing, fabricating and repairing or modifying things that will invariably come up to deal with in any RV. Since you have a shop, I will make that assumption that you are handy....it helps!

Good Luck and good reading here.

Thank you kindly. It’s a double edged sword having tools and an engineering background, some things you can really appreciate and others simply drive you crazy! I’ve already designed and built an extendable means to hang and dry our clothes that stays permanently attached to the ladder. I’ll be posting pictures of it and how it works in the coming days. It’s machined from a 6’ length of 1/2 x 1 1/4 solid 6061 rectangular bar that collapses to a 20” x 1.5 area. We found that on our Shakedown camp that we didn’t have a way to dry our swimsuits and towels after kayaking and paddle boarding.
All the best!

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by Flimsy

Hi and thank you. As to our RV brand, it’s a Coachman Forest River 20CB. I think that may answer your question, but like you said there are so many our there.

Actually, it's a Freelander 20CB.
Coachmen is actually an independent subsidiary of FR.
Forest River is the corporate name and doesn't actually make a RV, its separate divisions do.
Kinda of like GM.

[Flimsy]

Originally Posted by bikendan

Actually, it's a Freelander 20CB.
Coachmen is actually an independent subsidiary of FR.
Forest River is the corporate name and doesn't actually make a RV, its separate divisions do.
Kinda of like GM.

Okay, good to know thank, you for the information.
All the best!

[Otegoans]

Welcome to the forum from upstate NY. I empathize with your frustrations regarding the coachwork. I am a retired master carpenter and have my own cabinet shop at home. Similar to your set up only dedicated to woodworking. I've learned to overlook the minimalist construction to reduce weight and have focused on adding needed items to make life easier. Enjoy the new rig. Making the mods. keeps the DW happy and keeps me sharp. God Bless, Ken

[Flimsy]

Otegoans,
Thank you. I could not agree with you more about the home shop, keeping one sharp and out of the wife’s hair! LOL!
We’re certainly banking on the country opening back up when the time is right and getting out on the road to start some RV adventures. We purchased our motorhome before the country was fully aware of the pandemic and were caught off guard like everyone else. The one good thing is being able to take the time to work on the various projects for the RV that I have been able to identify so far.
All the best!

[spicercars]

Welcome from northern MN.

[Dakota EV]

Welcome from Monroe, NC. We are always looking at our 5th wheel to see what we can improve. The problem is that there are more things to improve than I have time for. But I keep trying.

[Starflyte18]

Hello from Tyler Texas.
I’ve modified the dinette sleeper to accommodate a 6 foot adult and avoided using the unstable tabletop.
Since the RV came without a spare tire.... I purchased a rim from Road Ready Wheels.com. @70 compared to over $350 from dealer. Make sure of the dimensions of Center hole and lugnut spacing.