It's Ended, RIP. Update 11/13/12

Canvas covered foamies (Thrifty Alternatives...)

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Re: It's Started Again! Update 11/4/12

Postby pete42 » Wed Nov 07, 2012 7:27 am

where theres a will theres a way............I have heard that said before now I know what it means.
way to go on getting trailer legal. :thumbsup:
Happy camping....
pete
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Re: It's Started Again! Update 11/4/12

Postby atahoekid » Wed Nov 07, 2012 11:31 am

You gotta love bureaucracy... You gotta hate people who won't fix their own mistakes.... I don't expect people to be perfect, but they need to admit their errors and correct them so that some other "innocent" soul is not inconvenienced. :x :x :x It's all about accountability!!! Glad you got it worked out. I will now take my blood pressure medication and sit down... :shock: :shock: :lol: :lol:
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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Re: It's Ended, RIP. Update 11/13/12

Postby Catherine+twins » Tue Nov 13, 2012 7:30 pm

Our weekend camping trip was, well, an adventure. I'll post pictures after dinner, but the good news is that I now get to start building Camp Trailer version 2. Oh, and there was no damage to the car or the kids and me. :oops:

Yup, the trailer was too tall and the winds were too strong. We delayed the trip 24 hours because of the storm, but I trusted a weather report that the winds were dying down, and then couldn't find a local radio station with current weather while we were on the road (which would have told me that I was heading into trouble as the storm was sticking around). :frightened:

More later. The kids want me to make chicken tacos right now.
Build Thread Penguino II: viewtopic.php?f=55&t=54919
Build Thread Penguino I: viewtopic.php?t=44431
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"Oh, let's just stay here and sing camp songs for a while." 1966, My mom in Isle Royale, MN, in a women's bath house with a momma bear and two cubs outside the door, and three tired kids trapped inside
"Dad! Dad! There's a bear outside!" 1967, Lolo Hot Springs, MT, in a tent-top trailer
"Oh, no, there it goes!!" Nov 10, 2012 as Penguino I blew over in high winds
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Re: It's Ended, RIP. Update 11/13/12

Postby absolutsnwbrdr » Tue Nov 13, 2012 7:36 pm

Oh no! :shock: :frightened:

Glad all are ok! As the Monty Python song goes, "Always look on the bright side of life" :thumbsup:
Zach
Coming Soon...
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Re: It's Ended, RIP. Update 11/13/12

Postby bonnie » Tue Nov 13, 2012 7:40 pm

I'm glad all of you are okay. Ouch! :shock:
Remember, the turtle won. :)
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Re: It's Ended, RIP. Update 11/13/12

Postby eaglesdare » Tue Nov 13, 2012 7:41 pm

oh my, i can't wait to hear the details. but i'm with zach, so glad everyone is ok.
Louella
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Re: It's Ended, RIP. Update 11/13/12

Postby wagondude » Tue Nov 13, 2012 8:31 pm

Glad all are safe. Enjoy the tacos.
Bill

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Re: It's Ended, RIP. Update 11/13/12

Postby Catherine+twins » Tue Nov 13, 2012 11:05 pm

We had a dusting of snow at our home last Saturday night, but the promised wind and 6-12 INCHES of snow had missed us. Of course, we are in the mountains of northern NM, and our target destination was Carlsbad, in the flatlands of the southeasten part of the state. The weather in one does not reflect the weather in the other. OTOH, the weathermen on the Albuquerque TV stations were forecasting calming winds, down to darned near dead calm by evening. Radio stations were useless, all playing national sports talk shows or repeats of national talk shows, national news blasts on the hour, but no live local anything from the robo-stations I was picking up.

The wind started picking up when we were about half way between Vaughn and Roswell, a wonderful stretch of absolute emptiness.

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By the time I realized we were in trouble, I thought it made more sense to keep going to Roswell, where there were stores, food, and hotels. Vaughn only has a service station and a diner (we later discovered there was at least one hotel). The wind was coming from our right and slightly behind, and although it was making the trailer sway, I thought we were okay. I wasn't thinking about gusts, though.

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I was probably going 50 when it started going over. The floor was 62" wide on a 48" wide trailer frame, so it acted as an outrigger, dragging on the road but not quite going all the way over. In fact, with the hitch as a pivot point, and the driver's side tire still on the ground, a 51-year-old mom fueled with lots of adrenaline can just push that trailer back up onto its wheels, bang!

It had surprisingly little damage.

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Unfortunately, a later tip, just outside of Roswell, split the seam there on the front driver's side (and scraped off another 2 inches or so of the floor and foam), and twisted the trailer hitch and the plate that bolts the a-frame tongue pieces. I think if I replace those, the tongue will be straight.

The trip was ruined, of course. The trailer was mostly intact, but the kids didn't want to camp in it even if the winds began to calm after sunset, as is common. I understood, but we really weren't prepared to stay in a hotel. It was mid-afternoon when we decided to just go home. With the trailer hitch bent, though, I wasn't going to try to pull the trailer back as it was. Probably fueled by that adrenaline still, I decided to finish the work that the wind and the road had started. I bought a drywall saw and a utility knife at Wally-World (we were in their parking lot, convenient to a lunch at Chili's Grill and some walking around/calming down) and started cutting. Actually, I cut about 15 inches above the floor and we pulled that part down on the ground and sat in it for a few minutes. The windows were in the wrong place, of course, but I think we have approximately the right size for the new, shorter trailer just from doing that. Kind of an expensive and dangerous way to figure out the right size, but there we are. We piled our salvaged parts back in the remaining 15" walls of the trailer box (the windows survived without a scratch) and headed home.

Yeah, I know I over-reacted and over-destroyed. But it kinda felt good, and it was a clear end-point for that camper. And our now short-walled trailer didn't even sway in the wind, even with the twisted hitch.

Of course, looking at it with the curve at the front, dear daughter declared that we should make the next one look like a boat.

The end. version 1. Stay tuned for version 2. :wine:
Build Thread Penguino II: viewtopic.php?f=55&t=54919
Build Thread Penguino I: viewtopic.php?t=44431
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"Oh, let's just stay here and sing camp songs for a while." 1966, My mom in Isle Royale, MN, in a women's bath house with a momma bear and two cubs outside the door, and three tired kids trapped inside
"Dad! Dad! There's a bear outside!" 1967, Lolo Hot Springs, MT, in a tent-top trailer
"Oh, no, there it goes!!" Nov 10, 2012 as Penguino I blew over in high winds
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Re: It's Ended, RIP. Update 11/13/12

Postby Wobbly Wheels » Wed Nov 14, 2012 12:00 am

NNNOOOOOOoooooooo!!!!!!

Glad there was no major harm to you guys or your TV.
I have done something similar on my build by cantilevering the shell out over the sides and back of the frame and I thought long and hard about exactly that scenario before committing to it. Maybe it's perverse, but your misfortune shows that my concerns weren't unfounded.

And just think, now you get to start on v2.0....though it sounds like you already have !
At least the kids weren't turned off by the adventure, that speaks volumes about how well you handled the situation :thumbsup:
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Re: It's Ended, RIP. Update 11/13/12

Postby Shadow Catcher » Wed Nov 14, 2012 6:07 am

That is quite an oops :frightened: The question I would have is was the axle far enough back (how heavy is the tongue) or was it just wind? This does however reinforce my point that you are building an air plane not a tank, it survived well but on the other hand more weight might have helped.
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Re: It's Ended, RIP. Update 11/13/12

Postby eaglesdare » Wed Nov 14, 2012 6:28 am

wow, what a sight! so very glad all turned out fine and no one was hurt. i have to really think about the shape of my next build.
Louella
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Re: It's Ended, RIP. Update 11/13/12

Postby GPW » Wed Nov 14, 2012 6:48 am

QUOTE: “ And our now short-walled trailer didn't even sway in the wind, even with the twisted hitch. “
Maybe we should make our trailers no taller than they are wide ... ? We’ve seen large RV trailers blow over , but this is a Foamie First :o ... So Glad you’re OK !!!
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Re: It's Ended, RIP. Update 11/13/12

Postby GPW » Wed Nov 14, 2012 8:41 am

Just a couple thoughts on this .... JMHO
The Taller the trailer , the more Leverage is generated to tilt it over in a cross wind .... The Wider the trailer , the less..so Low and Wide is the Best ... The Lower the weight on the trailer , the more stable it becomes , so all gear should be stored on or close to the floor , ideally ... The 500lb. of beer thing seemed like a joke , but actually was a serious consideration of Ballast ... SC has a point about being too light ... and in the wrong places ... Like with any vehicle , there is a nominal weight distribution , which places most of the weight Low on the chassis for more stability ...
Aerodynamic shape has a good deal to do with it too.. the sharp edges of the roof/side create Drag , which acts on the side of the trailer like a sail, increasing the side forces of the air pressure ... If those edges were more rounded , the air would build up less pressure on the side as it would easily slip over the rounded part ... A trailer side is basically a Flat plate to the wind (cross wind) which produces the highest pressures .... :o The more rounded the sides /top , the taller you can safely make the trailer ... As an example , the FS offers half the flat plate side area to the wind than a conventionally built trailer , but is still of a “square” proportion ... 79” W X 75.5" H Slighter Wider than tall ..
With our tendencies to build out even with the wheelbase , or beyond ...we increase the risk of a tilt. Again Wider is better ... makes me think of my old Hot Rod days with low WIDE tires and rims .... we’re not carrying any significant weight on them and they would make the trailer more stable ... and kind' look Cool too .... 8) Crumbs for thought ... :thinking:

And then , some days it might be just too Windy to go trailering ... :roll:
There’s no place like Foam !
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Re: It's Ended, RIP. Update 11/13/12

Postby Greg M » Wed Nov 14, 2012 11:26 am

Wow! I'm glad everyone is OK, and sure hope this doesn't turn the kids off the idea of teardroping.

-Greg
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Re: It's Ended, RIP. Update 11/13/12

Postby starleen2 » Wed Nov 14, 2012 3:05 pm

Lightweight, foam, air foil shape, and wind - it was trying to take off in flight. Sorry about your loss. At least the resiliency of the foam was tested and others can benefit from it. Somehow I thing adding ballast seems to negate any weight difference - probably lower profile and wider wheel base would have been a better :thinking:

looking forward to 2.0 being constructed :thumbsup:
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