Howdy guys, new kid on the block at TNTTT. Man what a cool site this is. Deb and I sold our 03 Starcraft popup camper recently and thought about an UL travel trailer replacement. Holy smokes, have you seen the cost of these rigs? My brother recently bought a Geo 19ft for nearly 30k. Most of what we’ve seen also has a substandard build and just too heavy to tow with our Honda Ridgeline. Our 2500 pound Popup pulled like a dream.
The idea of building my own looked interesting, especially since I’m a carpenter by trade and still own and operate a small construction company (age 71). A few requirements for our build are rear entry, standing height at inside galley and a toilet. We loved having a Thetford cassette toilet in our popup. The overall build size will be 5x11 or 6x11x 6.5 ft. high. I like the idea of using 2”foam walls and roof over 2x3 wood spars. Is this camper too big as a foamie. Think I read here that sandwiching the foam with 1/4” ply int/ext and skinning with canvas would strengthen the build. What do you guys think? How about the idea of going 6ft. wide vs 5ft ? Obviously, with foam, weight won’t be an issue but wondered with a wider build if structural integrity might be a concern or increased wind resistance and stresses on the foam at highway speed? Also wondered if 5x might be a bit narrow for a 6.5 ft high build vs 6ft. wide. Seems like I saw a pic here at Foamies with a plywood roof gusset beam to brace the side walls.
BTW, the Toby Camper is named after Toby, our Morkie who camps with us.