Thrifty Alternatives ... Building Foam TDs

[GPW]

The cut list ... Just planning ahead...

[eaglesdare]

pic posted here from our first trip! simba did extremely well, better than i could have hoped for. and the best part, no rain! well at least not til the morning we left. i was prepared for the rain and had everything packed up. just had to let simba out of the camper to do his business, and get in the car and go. wonderful!

viewtopic.php?f=43&t=50064&p=930129#p930129

[GPW]

Looked like Great FUN !!! Nice pics !!! Sweet dog !!!

[eaglesdare]

thanks so much. it was a great time, and i want to start planning another trip now. i am ready to git going again.

[GPW]

Nice to be able to take off like that !!! Looks pretty easy !! Foamie and all ...

[atahoekid]

Even my wife sees that the Road Foamie will be great for those "unplanned" weekend getaways. The big problem is I'm not making much progress. I had planned on at least getting the doorway arches built and inserted into place but NOOOOO life and work gets in the way. The report I thought I had completed on Thursday, (WOOHOO, taking Friday off since I worked last Sunday!!!!!) got revised on Friday morning by the boss and guess who wanted it back to him as changed by Friday afternoon So there went that day Saturday comes around and guess who got volunteered by his wife to cook dinner for 20 high school seniors headed out for prom night??? There goes that day.... Finally, Sunday.... I'll get some work done, right???? NOPE!!! By the time we get back from church , have a bit of lunch, accomplish a couple other chores, guess what time it is??? Way too late in the day to try to break out the tools and get anything done. I haven't gotten a damn thing done on the trailer for about 3 weeks. I ain't going camping any time soon at this rate!!!! I'm half tempted to go out and buy a commercial teardrop, just so I can go camping soon and whenever I damn well please!!!!

[GPW]

Mel. you might want to get a small pup tent for interim camping before the Foamie is finished ... The discomfort will be Motivating ...

[eaglesdare]

oh mel, i'm sorry their just isn't enough hours in a day. you will get there, but glen is right. maybe you should get a pop up or use the tent for a while longer. at least you will be camping.

[theWolfTamer]

OMG I finished reading this thread! I took copious notes and have come up with a few designs of my own.

This is my first post here and I found this site because I already have a hf 4x8 hd trailer that I use to tow my motorcycles. Here's a pic of the "Red Wagon" and my '10 HHR after I got the hitch installed and set off to AR for a motorcycle gather.


I survived that trip but realized I needed to make my trailer more LD worthy rather than "let me get this bike across town to the mechanic without having to rent a trailer" worthy. A few google searches and some links to here from advrider.com now has me convinced my trailer needs a foamie top. I think it would be neat to have a removeable top for camping and keep the ability to tow my motorcycles when needed.

After reading most of the threads in the foamie section, and finally finishing this one, I have so many ideas. I want to thank you all for your contributions and inspirations. That could be good or bad, I haven't decided. So far I have three ideas and no money.

I do most of my camping from my motorcycle so the first trailer I'm thinking of is something to pull behind my bike. I really like the idea of not having to waste time setting up a tent or even better not having to have so much stuff strapped to the bike. A friend of mine is making a single wheel trailer and I'm hoping to use his design as the platform for a cool MotoCamper.

[eaglesdare]

welcome wolftamer! i am loving that another hhr person is on board now.
the only problem i have had so far is with the hhr going up the mountains. even without towing my car drops down to about 40mph going over the inclines, and up thru the winding roads of mountains. i haven't attempted to pull on those roads yet, and not too sure i will. although one of my favorite spots to camp in in those mountains, so we'll see. if the time it took to get to that campsite wasn't too long i would give it a go, but seriously it takes an hour or more to get there. i am thinking that just might be too long to be pushing the hhr. and that is going up hill, then i would have to worry about that hour plus going down hill for the return. not sure i could ride the brakes that long either.

i sure do wished we had some awards to give the newer members when they finish reading this thread!

[GPW]

Eagle , being an old timer and living at sea level ... we used to have to adjust the carburetor on the old truck when we went up in the mountains (the air is much thinner) ... I don’t know if modern computer controlled injection allows for this ... something to check ...

WT , Welcome !!! ... and Congratulations for finishing the “Big read” ..

How much weight can a cycle tow ? Should be Easy to come up with a streamline featherweight...

[KCStudly]

we used to have to adjust the carburetor on the old truck when we went up in the mountains (the air is much thinner) ... I don’t know if modern computer controlled injection allows for this...

It does. All modern Speed Density fuel injection systems sense MAP (Manifold Air Pressure) and IAT (Intake Air Temperature). With these values, RPM and TPS (Throttle Position Sensor) the computer can calculate air density and engine demand to automatically adjust fueling.

Another variation uses Mass Air Flow, calculating inlet air with a MAF (Mass Air Flow) sensor (or MAS) where the speed of the air coming in is measured by how much current is required to maintain the resistance (temperature) of what is essentially an electric heating coil in the intake track.

[wagondude]

To add to what KC said, many cars will runn on the learned fuel curve. and when they go up in altitude, will start to run poorly. Some have found they can correct for this simply by pulling off the road and shutting off the engine. When you restart, it forces a new read of the sensors and will adjust the fuel trims for the higher altitude. Some cars even reference the procedure in the owner's manual.

Bill

[theWolfTamer]

welcome wolftamer! i am loving that another hhr person is on board now.
the only problem i have had so far is with the hhr going up the mountains. even without towing my car drops down to about 40mph going over the inclines, and up thru the winding roads of mountains. i haven't attempted to pull on those roads yet, and not too sure i will. although one of my favorite spots to camp in in those mountains, so we'll see.

My biggest issue with the HHR* as the TV is the brakes. I always wish I had more when it comes time to stop. I find myself asking a higher power for help every time I need brakes going downhill or when I've forgotten I'm towing and didn't pre-plan my stop.

I don't worry about the gas mileage when towing so I just put my foot in it in prep for going uphill. When the big slow down comes, it ain't that bad. When towing to AR, I had it on cruise a lot and I noticed the cruise does the same thing. Keep the rpms aroung 3.5 to 4k going into the hill and it'll pull just fine. Going down hill and stopping, that's something else entirely. I'm going to get better brakes--both rotors and pads--before Pedro (my HHR) has to pull a camper trailer. The twisty bits weren't that bad as long as you were ready to stop. I found the trailer kind of pushes you down hill a bit so using the low gear helps to keep the speed from getting too fast so you have more time to stop.

*Note: I have the LS version with the 2.2L flex engine. If you can get E85, you'll have more power but worse gas mileage. I also changed my stock air filter for the K&N one and notice about the same feel for power no matter what gas I'm using. I haven't put e85 in it since I got the K&N so I don't know if it'll feel even more powerful with the new filter.

i sure do wished we had some awards to give the newer members when they finish reading this thread!

The reward is discovering all the good info that's buried in the thread.

Eagle , being an old timer and living at sea level ... we used to have to adjust the carburetor on the old truck when we went up in the mountains (the air is much thinner) ... I don’t know if modern computer controlled injection allows for this ... something to check ...

WT , Welcome !!! ... and Congratulations for finishing the “Big read” ..

How much weight can a cycle tow ? Should be Easy to come up with a streamline featherweight...

FI does it automatically. On this car, it's not the going that's the problem it's the stopping with the OEM brakes. I was more than once during that long trip but it always stopped no matter how much pulsing and feeling like it wasn't it did.

Most motorcycles do not list a towing capacity but a weight capacity. I figure as long as I can keep the trailer below 500 lbs loaded, I'll be okay with my minimum of 140 hp (bike's been jetted but not dynoed so I don't know real numbers). Most commercial campers for bikes weigh in the 200-250 lb range with max capacity of 500. For the motocamper, I don't plan to have anything fancy on/in it: my twin air mattress and sleeping bag and room to store my clothes in the trailer. I'm working on the 2d drawings now in LibreCad (I use Linux so no sketchup for me) and am looking for a 3d program that is not Blender (too complicated to learn) to make a render. I might have to load wine to use sketchup but I'm holding out for now.

[bonnie]

[quote= I'm working on the 2d drawings now in LibreCad (I use Linux so no sketchup for me) and am looking for a 3d program that is not Blender oo complicated to learn) to make a render. I might have to load wine to use sketchup but I'm holding out for now.

Linux is my main OS too.