structural insulated panels for the whole shell

[Grid Runner Adventures]

Hey all. im planning a design based on the lines of a www.thesquidget.com

but instead of framing it out and stuffing foamboard inbetween the studs. im going to epoxy frp to foamboard then route out channels in the foamboard and epoxy in wood strips for my anchor points where cabinets and bedrails and such will tie into and then epoxy on a skin of luan.

also i will have a wood frame around the perimeter of the panels for something to screw into.

the roof will be built with the panes as well. the way i will do the roof is setup a scaffold on my shop floor and lay the luan over it clamp it down. then score and lay the foamboard over it to match the curves epoxy it down.
fill in the voids the scoring left and then epoxy the frp onto the foamboard and let that cure.

this should make a very strong laminate that wont flex once they are fastened together into the final shape.

i cannot wait to see the final weight vs what thesquidget.com''s ended up being.

im building this on a 4x8 harborfreight trailer. i have the folding style.

the camper will be a complete unit and able to slide off the trailer so i dont loose function of my trailer when im not out camping.

the floor will be framed with 2x2 to allow for 2in foamboard insulation on the floor.

with any luck this should be a super insulated little camper that can be taken on and off the trailer.

what i havnt decided yet though is thickness of foamboard to use.
and a method to fasten the panels together ie roof to walls and walls to floor.

[absolutsnwbrdr]

sounds like a good plan! can't wait to see this develop!

[starleen2]

Sounds like a plan coming together. Many have thought about a removable camper from the trailer - I've done one, but the removal and placing back on the trailer is the challenge

[Grid Runner Adventures]

i was thinking of camper jacks. like used on the slideout campers for pickups.

what kind of joint can i do for joining the roof to the sidwalls? should it be mitered and capped with aluminum angle iron or a tuff plastic angle trim?

[angib]

what i havnt decided yet though is ..... a method to fasten the panels together ie roof to walls and walls to floor.

Yep, and that's the bit that you need to work out as it's the difficult bit - well, it's easy to make the joint (glass tape in epoxy would be good), the difficult bit is how to finish it so it looks OK.

Andrew

[Grid Runner Adventures]

the outside skin is going to be the frp. so i need some sort of trim covering the edge anyways. im thinking annealed aluminum to make the radius for the roof will give me the trim as well as the structural fastener.

so im thinking that i'll need to 45 the edges so the aluminum trim can rivet into each of wall/roof sections

[starleen2]

i was thinking of camper jacks. like used on the slideout campers for pickups.

what kind of joint can i do for joining the roof to the sidwalls? should it be mitered and capped with aluminum angle iron or a tuff plastic angle trim?

or like this:



http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?t=31995

[Grid Runner Adventures]

so what thickness of foamboard do you guys think i should use to make my structural insulated panels with. for the sides vs roof

[asianflava]

Looks like a lot of running around if you're doing it by yourself. Probably a piece of cake if you have 3 people helping you though.

[Grid Runner Adventures]

any lurkers here know what thickness of foam board i should use for my panels.

[Wolfgang92025]

any lurkers here know what thickness of foam board i should use for my panels.

Years back I build a camper shell for my full size pick-up.
I used 1" insulation. Held up for more than 10 years before I sold the truck and shell. Look in my album on page 3 and their are 3 pictures to give you a flavor.


Wolfgang

[RAYVILLIAN]

I used 1" foam with 5/4 cedar for the frame on our Winter Warrior and now consider if over kill. I'd think that 3/4 would be fine. Actually 1/2" would probably work but 1/2" wood for the frame on the edges is hard to come by.

For your trim at the roof you might check out some RV dealers you can get commercial trim that is soft aluminum and flexable with a vinyl trim to cover the screws.

Gary

[Grid Runner Adventures]

ty for the idea on the trim. so just use a million screws to make sure its fastened down well eh k so 1 inch foam board with polyurethane glue to frp for the outer skin and 1/4 inch ply polyurethane glued to the foam will make up my laminated panels. that should come out nice and strong.

[Grid Runner Adventures]

now for the roof. at first i was planning to keep it just frp and foamboard and 1/4 inch ply as well. my camper is going to be about 6ft wide so i can lay down sidways inside for more floor room.

do you guys think i need to put some plywood ribs in there for stifness in the roof.

[RAYVILLIAN]

Grid
I personally think that there is a lot of over kill in the framing put in roof's. Unless you plan on sitting on it all it has to hold up is rain or snow which with rain doesn't stay on there long enough to have much weight. you'd be surprised how strong 1/4" ply is when bent in a curve. you would need some what to join the separate sheets of plywood and maybe a few ribs to add some support but since your routing slots in the walls for supports why not do the same in the roof foam for 1/4" plywood ribs.

I once took 2 1/4" plywood strips and clamped them around a barrel with glue and found that as long as the ends were kept stationary it would hold up a cement block. It collapse when the ends were allowed to move.

Gary