Road Foamie - done for the year

Canvas covered foamies (Thrifty Alternatives...)

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Road Foamie - done for the year

Postby atahoekid » Tue Aug 16, 2011 10:50 pm

I've been threatening to do this for a while, but I finally got started in earnest on my build. I'm glad I waited to get started because during my period of inactivity, I became convinced that building with foam was the way to go. Light weight and lower expense were part of the appeal, but I also like the creative aspect of working with foam. So here are the basics, the body will be 7 feet wide, about 6 1/2 feet tall and about 10 feet long. The inside bulkheads will provide lots of strength. The bulkhead in the rear is a well equipped galley which includes a tap system for my homebrew (thus the name, Road Foamie). It will have running water, a grey water holding tank and will be piped for a propane stove. The rear bulkhead will also provide shelving and storage inside the trailer and serve as the headboard of the bed. The bed will tip up at the head and will be equipped with overhead reading lights fed by a 12V system. The bulkhead at the front of the trailer (the foot of the bed), will also provide storage, a place for my dog's bed and the stereo/CD/ipod player. There will be storage underneath and wheel wells are inboard.
I will be using 2 inch foam on the exterior and will be gluing in hard points for a lot of the stuff mounted to the outside such as lights and the like. I will be covering the foam with foam coat and nylon mesh instead of the traditional canvas and TB2. There will be a roof mounted fantastic fan and a small indoor propane heater but no A/C

The profile is a modified grasshopper, which I will post a sketch of shortly. In the meanwhile, here are progress photos to date:
Image
Back in October of last year, I purchased this frame off of Craigs List for $200. It used to be a frame for a pop up tent trailer. About the only thing I managed to do to with it at that time was park it beside my house and wait for the snow to fly and then wait for it to melt. This year the snow didn't melt until the first week of July

In mid July, after what seemed like the longest snowiest winter ever, we dragged the frame into my neighbors' shop for some modification work.
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Here it is as we literally dragged it up into his shop because that's where his welder is. We moved the axle back, ground off some unneeded fittings, replaced the nose wheel, straightened the mounts for the axles and fixed some poor welds

Here's the hill off of our street that we had to lower it down to get it to his shop door
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That's the tip of the three story roof of my house across the street that you can see in the background of the photo. And yes, we had to lower the frame out of his shop and pull it back up the hill to get it back to my house.

So here it is today, sitting in my garage.
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After 12 hours of wire brushing, it is now ready for primer and paint. That will happen tomorrow. Yup, there's a lot of stuff in that garage. I just finished a complete bathroom remodel of our master bath and I didn't spend too much time cleaning up before getting to work on the trailer. I just wanted to get going on the build!!!

I might be able to work in the garage all winter if I do some clean up and if I get the permission from She who must be obeyed...

:twisted: :twisted:

Anyway, I hope to document the build here, as completely as I can, partly because I know I will need help as I move along and also because I hope it will prove to be instructional to those who want to do the same thing.

Wish me luck, here we go!!! :beer: :worship: :beer: :worship:
Last edited by atahoekid on Sat Oct 19, 2013 12:50 am, edited 29 times in total.
Mel

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"Indecision may or may not be my problem" Jimmy Buffet

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The Road Foamie Build Thread: viewtopic.php?t=45698
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Postby GPW » Wed Aug 17, 2011 5:48 am

Cool Project ... Nice Big trailer !!! :thumbsup: Good Luck !!!
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Postby Rosey » Wed Aug 17, 2011 6:58 am

I look forward to watching your build! :thumbsup:
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Postby eaglesdare » Wed Aug 17, 2011 7:44 am

wahoo! this is going to be great! i'll add this link to the sticky build threads.

"she who must be obeyed....." :lol:
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Postby GPW » Wed Aug 17, 2011 9:49 am

Really like the Tap idea eliminating all those cans ... :lol: Green !!! 8)
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Postby Papi » Wed Aug 17, 2011 10:24 am

That looks like a Starcraft frame to me. Sure is some pretty scenery you get to look at every day! 8)
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Postby atahoekid » Wed Aug 17, 2011 11:58 pm

Papi wrote:That looks like a Starcraft frame to me. Sure is some pretty scenery you get to look at every day! 8)


You've got a sharp eye Papi. It's a Starcraft frame from about 1982 if memory serves me correctly. The nameplate is now covered in masking tape. I'll unmask it tomorrow. I've got it primed but that's all I got accomplished today. That and I had to run down to the lumber yard. It's 45 minutes each way and I also needed to stop at the big orange box store to pick up some painting supplies while I was down there. Tomorrow, paint!!!

I do admit, I live in one of the prettiest places on earth. I just wish the cost of living weren't so high. :o :shock: :o :?
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Postby atahoekid » Thu Aug 18, 2011 12:01 am

GPW wrote:Really like the Tap idea eliminating all those cans ... :lol: Green !!! 8)


Uhhh, yeah that's why I did it. I'm trying to save Mama Earth one can at a time 8) :lol: 8) :lol:

Maybe I should do even more and make it a 5 gallon system instead of a 3 gallon system, I'm trying to conserve water too!!! :R :D
Mel

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Postby GPW » Thu Aug 18, 2011 7:52 am

How about a Keg ...??? :o :thumbsup:
Love those nice wide trailers ... 8)
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Postby atahoekid » Fri Aug 19, 2011 12:42 am

GPW wrote:How about a Keg ...??? :o :thumbsup:
Love those nice wide trailers ... 8)


Since I'm a homebrewer, we put our brew into Cornelius kegs which come in either 3 or 5 gallon kegs. At the end of the camping trip, if there is any left, I can reconnect it to my home tap. Unfortunately I can't place my homebrew into a commercial keg and I don't think I want all that weight. Yeah, I like the wide trailer too. "She who must be obeyed" insisted on a queen size bed or no go on the build. I think this frame is wide enough for a king bed, but I don't think I want a bigger bed in the trailer than I have at home 8) :lol: 8)
Mel

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Postby GPW » Fri Aug 19, 2011 6:38 am

5 gallon keg ... 8) Sure that's enough ??? :o :roll:
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Postby Dusty82 » Fri Aug 19, 2011 7:07 am

Who says there can only be one keg?
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Postby GPW » Fri Aug 19, 2011 8:07 am

Point well taken Dusty !!!! :thinking:
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Postby atahoekid » Fri Aug 19, 2011 9:55 pm

Got the frame primed and repainted. Man that is one messy job, but I am pleased with the way it turned out. Here's what it looks like now

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I also mounted the new wheels and tires

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I went to 14 inch wheels from the original 12 inch wheels it came with. I got them off of Craigs list, bought four and sold two of them off to someone else on this site. I now have 12 inch wheels for sale. Anyone interested?

The floor panels are cut and sealed on the bottom side. They get mounted tomorrow.

I took a week of vacation to get this project going and I ended up giving a day or two up to do other things but I'm pretty pleased with my progress so far
Mel

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"Indecision may or may not be my problem" Jimmy Buffet

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Postby mikeschn » Sat Aug 20, 2011 4:22 am

Ohhhh, I like those wire wheels! :thumbsup:

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