Road Foamie - done for the year

[GPW]

QUOTE: “ Perhaps I can show the arc splashing down on the logos of several commercial manufacturers “ ... That’s too close to the Truth !!!!

RV fridges .... I love "the fix" .... You have to buy the Alternate cooling system , have somebody install it ( @ $150/hr labor ), then install the automatic fire extinguisher system , just in case it doesn’t work ... Total $4000+... Enough to buy ICE for a Century ...

[atahoekid]

I can only shrug my shoulders when my neighbor complains and shows me issues on his $80,000 Airstream trailer. So I don't understand why he went out and bought a 41' motorhome. I guess some people are just gluttons for punishment. Sure it's got lots more space, high end A/V equipment, triple slides and the like but you can't even go "camping" with it. You either boondock it or you use an RV park. I intend to go camping. That's what makes me happy. As long as the campground is not "tent only", I fit.... I don't want or need a big RV. I want to get my money's worth... But I think all of us here agree on that...

[GPW]

Agreed!!! Bet he doesn’t have a Beer tap in the beast...

[atahoekid]

No he doesn't but since I like him and I feel sorry for him, I often brew his favorite beer (a wheat beer with citrus hints) and send it with him in gallons jugs. He participates in an event called Burning Man (an annual alternative arts festival here in No Nev) and I did rig him up with a beer tap for that.

[GPW]

We need to start an Event called “ Beer Drinking Man “ ... bet it would be popular !!!

[atahoekid]

UMMM, yup, most likely a sell out crowd every day. I got dibs on the bottle recycling concession. I was going to take dibs on the porta-potti concession, but knowing most of the attendees would be guys and knowing how guys are...

[GPW]

OK, surrounded by a big forest with lots of trees... ... Bottles ? Naaa!!! Tanker Trucks with taps on the side ... !!!

[PcHistorian]

so is "Road Foamie" the name of the trailer, the shape or just the construction materials. And if the latter most, then what will be the name of the shape and that specific trailer? The front reminds me of an airplane wing cross section.

I am seriously considering a TrekDrop (star trek shuttle craft shaped) foamie as my next build. That one seems fairly close in shape as it is. I'll have to study your build in depth for refinements. One thing I do bet, that the outer shell of foam is not only quiet to sleep but cooler and easy to cool in the summer, and warm and easier to keep warm in the winter. Just putting 1/2 in ch of foam 360 x 360 degrees on mine made a world of difference on the heating in the winter. So I can only imagine what these foamies with 1-2 inches thickness experience.

[KCStudly]

I am seriously considering a TrekDrop (star trek shuttle craft shaped) foamie as my next build. That one seems fairly close in shape as it is.

You must not have seen what GPW is cooking up for his next build: "The Zephyr".

[atahoekid]

so is "Road Foamie" the name of the trailer, the shape or just the construction materials. And if the latter most, then what will be the name of the shape and that specific trailer? The front reminds me of an airplane wing cross section.

I am seriously considering a TrekDrop (star trek shuttle craft shaped) foamie as my next build. That one seems fairly close in shape as it is. I'll have to study your build in depth for refinements. One thing I do bet, that the outer shell of foam is not only quiet to sleep but cooler and easy to cool in the summer, and warm and easier to keep warm in the winter. Just putting 1/2 in ch of foam 360 x 360 degrees on mine made a world of difference on the heating in the winter. So I can only imagine what these foamies with 1-2 inches thickness experience.

It's called Road Foamie for two reasons. It is a Foamie and it is a take off on a phrase my old college friends and I used in our younger and less enlightened days. If you were leaving a party, you were given a beer for the road, hence "road Foamie". My road Foamie has a beer tap built into the galley, hence road Foamie .

It is quite good in the elements. We've been camping in cold and rainy weather and on hot sun drenched days. With the fantastic vent on top and a catalytic heater along with 2" of foam in the walls and top, sleeping in comfort is no problem. It's so quiet, we keep waking up later than we hoped because we don't hear anything in the trailer. We've had to start setting alarms!

[GPW]

We’ve never seriously mentioned how Quiet they are ... another Foamie' Bonus !!!

[atahoekid]

They are seriously quiet. Went camping last week down by the So Cal beaches (another 1200 miles and it still hasn't blown off the trailer... ) On Sunday morning we had travel trailers on both sides of us pull out and neither my wife or I heard a thing. If it weren't for the dogs getting antsy about going out for their morning constitutional we might have slept for another hour or so. It is so nice....

[atahoekid]

I got back earlier this week from a week of vacation and now that it's the weekend, it's time to put the Road Foamie away for a few months. Unless we have a real mild winter, I probably won't be camping until Spring. I did manage to get a few refinements done on Road Foamie and has been mentioned on this site many times, you're never really done...

This year's improvements:
1) a subtle accent (yellow on white) stripe above the blue skirt
2) an aluminum rock guard on the front
3) a box for the nose
4) some polyurethane coats in a couple places and some paint in some places
5) aluminum thresholds for the doors
6) beer tap system in place (works great, needs more testing though.... )
7) an improved galley door hold open system - still working on a couple minor issues)
8 an awning for the rear galley
9) chrome 14" wheels replacing the white 12" wheels
10) changed the bedspread and pillows (thank god... the old stuff my wife picked out looked like my grandma's bedsheets)


Here's a recent photo showing some of the improvements:



Next years improvements include:
1) a solar panel for battery charging
2) outdoor speakers (to be used judiciously and never to be a nuisance to other campers, I swear!)
3) additional shelves in the galley
4) aluminum edging for the beverage center door

[GPW]

Mel, what can we say? Your trailer looks Terrific ... and obviously works as planned ... Time to put it in the "Hall of Fame" ...

[atahoekid]

Thanks Glen, yours also belongs in that Hall of Fame. As i've stated in the past, it was you're out of the box thinking and conviction to the concept that took me down the path to the Road Foamie. You were looking for thrifty, i was looking for a better (rotfree) method but we both ended up in similar places. Thanks again for the inspiration