Foamie hybrid with ribs and wheelchair accessibility...

[Redneck Packrat]

Edited July 15: This has turned out to be kinda photo-intensive. So if you like that sort of thread, have at it....if not, fair warning!

I've had the idea rolling around in my head for about 2 years now, since my wife and I made a 1200 mile run (~2400 mile round trip) from south Texas to NE Illinois for her brother's wedding. Took us 3 days to get there and 4 days to get back, because of her limited time up in a seated position. (She's been riding a wheelchair for 33 years since a car wreck at age 19.) Upshot is, she needs to get completely OFF her behind parts within six hours of getting up on them. So...on the trip we were restricted to finding a motel every 6-7 hours and calling it a day. I was thinking then about some way for us to take the bed along with us. Problem is, a off-the-shelf travel trailer/camper won't work for us due to the narrow doors. I'd thought about a toy-hauler but somebody dug up and made off with my money tree.

For a long time it was just a dream mired in inertia, until I made a video about coffee roasting in a cast iron chicken fryer. Vain individual that I am, I watched it again a couple weeks ago One of the "suggested links" on youtube was to another roasting video, which had this forum linked. I grazed through several of the CT builds, since I really don't want a TD style (not chair-friendly) and I wound up registering to be able to comment.

Now, I've been 'accumulating' stuff (notice the handle I use internet-wide) and started taking inventory of what I've got.

Came across this trailer chassis for the hauling-off of it last fall:

Rusty, but already stripped and got a bill of sale for it, AND its old license plate, so it's now stickered and street legal in the daytime! Add lights and it'll be legal after dark....and if the lights work, I'm even legaller!

Years ago I got a derelict Class C the same way, for the hauling off of it. Got a bunch of parts scavenged off of it and stacked in the barn...

Plus an Onan 1800 rpm generator, 7kw if I recall correctly, and a whole box of light fixtures and stuff that I can stick those retrofit 1156 LED's in. Already used the cookstove in my outdoor kitchen, which has been a blessing in that it's kept us from having to fire up the a/c in the house much at all.

I've also got a couple of willing helpers, which should make this even more interesting:

First thing to do is brush and Ospho the frame and check out the springs/shackles, and repack or possibly replace bearings. One of them was grabby when I drug it out of where I found it, which is part of why it was being trailered.

Soon as I get the crap cleared off the slab in my shop, I'm on it. This might be a very slow build, or I might get tunnel vision and forget to eat until it's finished. Hard to say right now. I do see squirrels with frustrating regularity though.

 

[Redneck Packrat]

First day out, attacked by squirrels

Spent the part of the day I wanted to Ospho the frame and fix its slow leak on this:

playing with these....

Need the bucket ....well, WANT the bucket on the front of that tractor to stand the frame up and hold it while I brush and Ospho it.

Oh well, there's other days. And other squirrels, I'm sure.

 

[greygoos]

Good luck with your build. Keep posting.

 

[S. Heisley]

You're right! This will be interesting!

Best Wishes and ...We'll be watching!

 

[Redneck Packrat]

Not much time today, Dr appointment for wife... mid afternoon, which seems to blow the whole day up. I did get the Ospho and prowled around in the Lowe's.

They were out of gallon jugs of TB2. PLENTY of 3 though. Is it worth the ten dollar per gal difference? Are there cons to using the 3? Reading their fronts, seems the 3 looks better but is that just hype to get that ten more dollars?

Didn't much matter anyway about losing the afternoon as it set in to raining on the way into the city and the frame doesn't have a spot inside yet.

We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Sent from my LG-K330 using Tapatalk

(Finally got home to the computer and edited the autocorrect )

 

[Redneck Packrat]

No options to edit. This phone is likely to make me look like an idiot. Oh well, I can do that well enough *without* the phone's help [emoji38]

Sent from my LG-K330 using Tapatalk

 

[alchemist77-TNT]

I like it. Your helpers look ready to pitch in at anytime. Is ospho that good? Do you have to power wash it or will a steel brushing work?

Sent from my Alcatel_5054O using Tapatalk

 

[Redneck Packrat]

I like it. Your helpers look ready to pitch in at anytime. Is ospho that good? Do you have to power wash it or will a steel brushing work?

Sent from my Alcatel_5054O using Tapatalk

Yes, Ospho *is* that good. We're about 5 miles as the birds fly from salt water on better than 3/4 of the compass, and usually have a 15-20 mph wind blowing onshore on a daily basis. Lots of salt in the air. Dad had used it on farm equipment he'd build since before my memories start, and most of his creations are still sound and going strong.

Unless it's blistery and sloughing off scabs, if I'm not worried about a silky smooth finish (like this frame, which I don't expect to be mirror-smooth) I do NOTHING to it before coating it with Ospho with an engine washing brush. I use and like this HF offering: https://www.harborfreight.com/air-tools/specialty-air-tools/engine-cleaning-gun-68290.html

Nothing on this frame is scaly or scabby, so what I'll do is blow enough of it on to thoroughly wet the iron, almost to the point of dripping off. (But not quite, that'd be wasteful Then let it dry completely. Overnight or longer. Until it's pretty-much black and hard. For something like the frame, I'll just paint straight onto that. The rust becomes part of the primer coat. It's totally neutralized and so long as no new rust forms, just paint over it with some sort of enamel type paint. If you brush or sand on it, the bare metal will start to rust again....which is why if there's no scabby rust I don't monkey with it much.

I've got several different things around the barnyard that were done this way 20-30 or more years ago and other than faded paint, they're still rust-free if they didn't get banged enough to gouge the paint.

For something I want smooth and pretty, I'll coat it and let it go to work, then sand/brush/whatever and work on it until I have it ready for paint, then hit it again with a light misting of Ospho and let it dry overnight, then sand and immediately paint. I'll get some pics as I go through the process.

 

[swoody126]

First day out, attacked by squirrels

...

Need the bucket ....well, WANT the bucket on the front of that tractor to stand the frame up and hold it while I brush and Ospho it.

Oh well, there's other days. And other squirrels, I'm sure.

a front loader is an old man's savior

my bucket, even with the chain hooks welded on it, gets way less use than the FORKS w/ the removable trailer ball

makes working solo possible/enjoyable

sw

 

[Redneck Packrat]

Yes...yes it does make things not just easier, but possible. My only dependable help is my better half, and she physically cannot do many of the things that would require two people. She's pretty much restricted to being my 2nd set of eyeballs and grabbing something out of the toolbox if I'm under something or contorted into something. So the tractor is a necessity if I want to get things done. The other two "helpers" are only good for a bark or a wet nose at the top of the buttcrack when I'm underneath something. At least they've outgrown carrying off tools to gnaw on 'em!

Duckbill hammer handle rotted, and so was trying to bust the beads with the little shop hammer and it didn't work so well on the outside bead. After the doctor visit, on the way to the freeway I looked to my left and saw a Northern Tool and swooped in there to see if they might have a handle. Nope, but they had this bead breaker: http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200350008_200350008, one of which is now chillin' in its box on the floor of the truck cab. Depending on how today goes (supposed to be hot/humid/wet) I'm gonna go see how it works.

But yeah, SW, that lifty thingy on the front end of a tractor is really handy How did you mount your ball in your fork? I've seen some who just torch a hole in the tip of one fork and bolt the ball there.... and I've seen others where it's just friction clamped on with a couple of pieces of 1/2 x 3 or so flat bar with the ball welded on top. I kinda like that way but haven't done anything yet, I just pick things up with either the forks or chains from the bucket.

 

[swoody126]

hey Bill

my FIRE SCISSORS cut a delightfully ragged hole in the tip of the left fork where i can see the ball when picking up a trailer to be moved

i just keep the ball in the fender tool box so i can grab it when kneaded

if i'm doing a lot of moving i'll grab the nut w/ a pair of water pump pliers and snug it up so i don't loose the knut AGAIN

sw

 

[Redneck Packrat]

I've been nosing around on the site, and the foamie concept is intriguing. Has anyone built one with rear entry and enough height to allow someone 5'10'' to stand up? My back demands of me that when I pick up the wife to transfer her, that I get stood straight up before trying to move. Thinking kinda a vertical front wall with a 2' radius bend to flat roof at 6 ft high, vertical back wall with at least a 5'H x 2'6"W door in it. Originally I was thinking two doors, using one for entry and the other for occasionally needing to open the whole back up, but could get away with only one door. Ramp, I was going to build off of the bumper and make it a separate piece (not used as back wall) anyway.

I can't find any threads on a build of a foam standy that's a good 70" inside height. Too much height? Lots of gussets to reinforce? Suggestions? Now is a good time to be told I'm barking at the wrong squirrel

SW, that'll probably be the route I take. (Fire scissors.... I like that.... gonna steal it!) As soon as I can get there on four aired-up tires, that is. I've never had to precision-shove something with ol' Scoop, and once I start actually hanging stuff on this frame, precision in shoving will be important.

 

[swoody126]

Bill,

have you ever watched the guys at the airport PULL an airplane?

NOPE...

they PUSH 'em into tight spots while watching the tire position while never loosing sight...

i have & use the hitch receivers on the front of my F-350 & Jeep also

sw

 

[Redneck Packrat]

Yesterday was a wet, dog-poop-behind-the-sofa kind of day. Spent it reading on the foamie thread. The big one. (For those of you who have read it, I'm to the point where Eagle just started her 2nd build.) So I have confirmed that someone has already at least started a standing height foamie. Gonna continue reading today. I still haven't come across a flat-back standing foamie. I consider the flat back as a necessity for getting the chair in and out, and the ability to stand upright as a necessity for me to actually remain ambulatory after doing a transfer with my wife, especially two of 'em over the span of a few hours, which is what it amounts to for a rest stop for her.

Weight isn't what's interesting me on a foamie. It's the economy of it that perked up my ears. I am still not convinced a flat-back foamie is do-able. Can't put into words *why not* beyond just nagging doubt.

One other consideration is, it's got to be arguably a cargo trailer that we happen to sleep in and not a camper that can haul stuff. Texas is funny.... campers MUST have brakes. It's already a utility trailer, and registered that way. Under 4k no brakes needed. I HATE trailer brakes! They do not play well with salt air.

I learned to drive on a stock, unmodified 48 F8, single axle, with a box on it that would hold 26,000 pounds of milo. I'd drive to the hard road and wait for the other guy to get back with the other truck and trade off, he'd take it down the highway and I'd go back to the combine with the empty one. When I got to about 12 years old, I went all the way to the elevator with it. Not the '52.... Dad wasn't comfortable with me in that one, it was a tractor-trailer rig with a late-30's flatbed float with 3 ft sides on it. The '48 was so unbalanced that it'd pop a wheelie loaded. Pushed the front tires sideways trying to make a tight turn. Oh, and stock brakes. That middle pedal was there to make you feel good about it, didn't serve any purpose when loaded. Of course, it was dang near impossible to get it up over about 15 mph loaded but still it took lots and lots of planning to get it stopped.

I say all this to explain why the lack of brakes doesn't bother me. I still drive like the brakes won't do anything if I mash that middle pedal

Refining/reiterating my must-haves: Standing room, floor space for power chair to maneuver, rear door at least 30" with straight shot at it from inside, ability to argue that it is primarily a cargo trailer, and most-importantly that it will stay together.

Back to reading. See what kind of trouble I'm gonna get into.

SW, yes, pushing to maneuver a trailer (even a 747 is a trailer when the power is from an articulated source ) is vastly preferable to do going frontwards than backwards!

 

[swoody126]

did you ever git that tyre to holdin' air?

sw

 

[greygoos]

I think GPW has a an entrance in the rear. Its the FoamStream.

 

[Redneck Packrat]

SW, no I did not. Beat the boogers out of it and nothing. Today used a bead breaking screw on it and got the tube out. I found that it is the tire that had the cut in the tube and was patched with a wing and a prayer about six months ago, but it has a new pinhole in it almost opposite the first patch. Getting a new patch on it as soon as I find the glue. Dang squirrel must've gotten my attention last time I patched a tire BUT.... I have figured out how to make the stuff re-appear: I will go to the gettin' place Monday and get another can of it. As soon as I get there with the new can and crack the seal on it, the old can will scurry out of hiding and jump onto its shelf!

Greygoos, I just found that thread this afternoon. Looks intriguing. But there's squirrels everywhere! I'll go finish reading it when I get through with this post.

That bottom trailer is 12 ft long, and is a good 76 wide. Thinking about using it instead of the top one, just for the two additional feet. It does have the 5.40x12 tires on it, but they're 5-on-4.5 hubs and I have a wide assortment of 13's, 14's or 15's I can stick on it....IF they'll ride without getting too close to the deck.

Foamie interests me for several reasons. One, it's inexpensive, is what my mental ballpark calculator is coming up with. Two, it's well-insulated. Three, it's a challenge and I like challenges. Weight is not an issue. I do not have go-karts, I have real (old) trucks to drag whatever on down the road. Cat II receiver hitch, with wife's chair lift and chair is about 600 lbs. Only time I got funky-wiggly-butt in the 1/2 ton was when I also had sixteen boxes of ceramic tile in the bed coming home from Lowe's. Point being, I know I can get the thing balanced well-enough that I don't experience that FWB with whatever I build. That 12 ft trailer might give me what I am wanting... I can go to 7 wide, overhanging the side rails. Thinking of "conventional" construction in the bottom foot, and plywood on the little 6" over hangs, and build the rest of the walls with foam. That'd give me roughly 5 ft of vertical walls, then maybe use GPW's concept on his FoamStream of the curved top foot or so to the roof.

All that said, one way or another I'm gonna need that top trailer to carry stuff around on if I hijack the 12 footer....so, the Ospho got sprayed on it where it sat, out in the barnyard. Being that it is the weekend, I had the boss with me, and had no trailer hitch to move stuff around (Scoop's got a thorn in his shoe, remember? And that pesky chair lift stuck into the receiver of the truck...) so I rolled out every air hose I could find and got there with the blow gun.

As an aside: If you have any way to make the choice of extension cord on the compressor or add hoses....ADD HOSES! Those compressors will really struggle with the voltage drop on a long extension cord, and over about 50 feet, might not even start. If you're making noise with an air gun or something, you won't even hear it humming and smoking!

Anyway, trailer as it started the day:

This is what I used on it:

After spraying a quart or so on it, in the 93F and 80% humidity we had going on, it was already beginning to turn black:

More Monday.... or Tuesday....or....

 

[swoody126]

Bill, it is comforting to know i'm knot the only one who attacks projects this way

gotz my tub of popcorn and a big ole glass of sweet tea

ONWARD THRU THE FOG

sw

 

[Redneck Packrat]

Nothing picture-worthy has happened since the last post. Been finishing out a few trim pieces and baseboard in the remodeled master bathroom inside the house. I was informed that it looked unfinished. Did not DARE reply that that was because it *was* unfinished

Tomorrow's going to see a couple hours on the frame, and possibly some work on the floor. I want to measure one thing and see if I can't possibly get 12 ft out of it without having to move the axle. I probably can, since it's already 54" to tail out of the 116 of the original trailer bed. Stretching the tongue a foot or so is not a problem, and it doesn't look strange as it sits. TLAR engineering works, if you know what TLRW looks like. (That Looks Really Wrong)

Can't wait to get back to it

 

[Redneck Packrat]

Just changed the name of the thread to more accurately reflect what I'm going and what my goal is. Might be easier to find by someone else looking to do similar, and give them a little help in deciding what (or more likely, what *not*) to do