Thrifty Alternatives ..Building Foam Campers

[eaglesdare]

to me a tear drop is an upgrade from tenting. if a tree branch falls on a tent, the tent is destroyed. if a tree branch falls or puts a hole in the foamie, i would think it would be easy to repair. just shoot in a bit of that expandable/spray foam and cover in canvas. sorry gpw, but not parking under a tree might prove difficult when camping at state parks and national ones.

seriously there isn't any of these vehicles that won't get damaged by something. my cousin backed up into a post with a winnebaggo, had to make repairs on that one.

i have not tested it, because i just don't see a need for it, but i believe i could stand on top of mine. my roof is only the 1" stuff. so i am thinking if supported in the right places, and covered good, you could make a bench out of this stuff. and i do believe the floor could be make with it also.

my one questionable thing would be those spars. i know when i built mine i even posted my thoughts then. as they stood they would not be strong enough, too flimsy, but if covered good, i still wonder if they could be used as spars, would they be strong enough for that. i think i will have to try it and see.

[GPW]

Funny , when I used to sleep in a tent , I never even thought about tree limbs ... For those so worried , maybe a bit of fiberglass just on the roof (the heavy stuff)... Why you could even treat it like canvas and secure it with T2... The epoxy (or the polyester , not used on foam ) resin is the heavy/messy part ...the FG cloth is STRONG ...

Spars ... That's why I thought of using the foam arch , which spreads the loads out effectively where needed .. a spar , covered and glued in so it's perpendicular to the roof , should be plenty strong .... if you don't plan on standing on it ...

[eaglesdare]

i mean seriously, is there a need to stand on these foamies? or even a woody?

and i am with you, when i tent camped, (love being able to say that in the past tense ) i never thought about those tree limbs either.

there were 2 things i thought about while tent camping. one was rain and one was bear (if i was in bear country). the last time i camped in a tent in bear country was what made up my mind for a tear. there was a momma bear and her 2 cubs wondering around all the campers, including tents, and it poured, which it was not suppose to. so needless to say both my tents were soaked as was everything inside. i am so not going to worry about trees now, but i will be loving the pull up to a site and be done with it all. ready to camp. the only thing i might have to do is put the tarp up. but that doesn't take any time at all.

so gpw, what are you doing today? i am planning of cutting out the shape. then i have to wait til friday to do anything else. not sure what my next step will be.

[eaglesdare]

Funny , when I used to sleep in a tent , I never even thought about tree limbs ... For those so worried , maybe a bit of fiberglass just on the roof (the heavy stuff)... Why you could even treat it like canvas and secure it with T2... The epoxy (or the polyester , not used on foam ) resin is the heavy/messy part ...the FG cloth is STRONG ...

Spars ... That's why I thought of using the foam arch , which spreads the loads out effectively where needed .. a spar , covered and glued in so it's perpendicular to the roof , should be plenty strong .... if you don't plan on standing on it ...

can you do the arch for curved roofs? i am not sure i would beable to pull that off. that looks like i might have to be a bit more precise.

[swampjeep]

correct me if I'm wrong, but the use of spars on a woody is to help form the wood, and give it something to attach to, to hold its shape, and add strength.

With the foamy, using HAL's method of creating the desired curv, adding glue in the cuts so it becomes strong and stiff without the need for other support, I would think addign a couple arches would be more then enough. (not needing spars every foot or even closer as I've seen on some builds)

addign the arch shouldn't need to be too precise, if you only had the curv is one direction then the arch will be pretty much flat across the top.

give me a few minutes, I'll add a few to a cad model.

[GPW]

Eagle , I'm planning on laying some cinder blocks outside the Studio door , and when the band gets here for practice tonight , I'll Have them help me place the plywood floor on it , been a drought here , so tomorrow , the plan is to glue it up ... Finally !!!


SJ, I'm limited to PaintBrush drawings , so some real CAD drawings would be much appreciated...

[eaglesdare]

oh cinder blocks! i never gave them a thought. i could use those to set it up on. THANK YOU! hmm i wonder if we have any around here.

[swampjeep]

the arches across the front provide small corner shelves, but are actually support for the side to front

GPW is this what you had in mind?

[eaglesdare]

well darn, we don't have any, just called hubby. are they expensive? any idea on prices for them?

[eaglesdare]

the arches across the front provide small corner shelves, but are actually support for the side to front

GPW is this what you had in mind?

oh i like that, and do i see the makings of shelves with that? run a spar top to bottom on both sides, and use the curved ones, could that be turned into shelves? not sure i can describe what i am imagining. same thought for the top ones also.

[swampjeep]

maybe do something like this for the foam to act both as spars and as shelves?
I eliminated the cut out arch, and added support going down to teh lower shelf, and then down to teh bottom (floor and front curv) to support teh shelves.
I would definately cover these with material and glue before assembly

[GPW]

What cinderblocks ... ??? About a dollar and change per block ... After I finish with mine , plan on making an outdoor Pizza and bread oven ... wood fired ... Can you guess who does ALL the cooking and baking ?...
SJ, Yes , that's great , but just a shelf will act as a strengthener, and you have a place for a coffee maker , and toaster oven ... Arches work best on the roof ... And actually the Romans put arches to good use on structures that are still standing ... Just as an example ...

[eaglesdare]

thanks, will be off to pick up a few cinder blocks then.

and love the drawings with the supports. thank you! so much more to think about and work with on this second build. and all the time to do it right!

[Ratkity]

I love the CAD drawings!

I'm glad you showed the arches. It sorta looks like a place to bump the head or have to continually duck around them. I think I still like the straight line of the spars inside.

I wouldn't use foam covered in canvas as flooring. Underneath there would be horrid rock and road debris dings - and inside, it would get dented or eventually totally compress in walking areas (I'm thinking of the standy) because the canvas does have a wee bit of flex to it.

Putting a raised bed inside with just framing would add lots of support to the side and sure would be easier to get out of bed in the morning. Underneath can be used for storage of bedding or the porta potty when not in use so it doesn't run around the foamie while driving (unless permanently installed elsewhere). I can envision bunk beds for the kids on one side if the foamie standy was 6 ft wide. So many possibilities!!

Hugs,
Ratkity

[swampjeep]

I love the CAD drawings!

I'm glad you showed the arches. It sorta looks like a place to bump the head or have to continually duck around them. I think I still like the straight line of the spars inside.

I wouldn't use foam covered in canvas as flooring. Underneath there would be horrid rock and road debris dings - and inside, it would get dented or eventually totally compress in walking areas (I'm thinking of the standy) because the canvas does have a wee bit of flex to it.

Putting a raised bed inside with just framing would add lots of support to the side and sure would be easier to get out of bed in the morning. Underneath can be used for storage of bedding or the porta potty when not in use so it doesn't run around the foamie while driving (unless permanently installed elsewhere). I can envision bunk beds for the kids on one side if the foamie standy was 6 ft wide. So many possibilities!!

Hugs,
Ratkity

I do agree, not that you mention the compresion, the camper I took apart with teh foam core flloring had 1x1 wood framing in the floor too, this added firmer support and teh foam allowed a tittle cusion and weight saving to the floor, but did not take ALL the weight all the time.

I do think the arches could be placed where they would not cause too much head interference though, especially close to the front or back by shelves or cabnets, if one was trying to eliminate as much wood as possible.