Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

by **eaglesdare** » Mon Jun 13, 2011 7:00 pm

i know that if you try to pry the canvas off it will peel off. but you have to remember that you will be overlapping also. so you will have the sides going over the roof and then the roof canvas on top of the sides (or vice/versa), that will be the overlapping and that will be canvas glued to canvas.

i checked on mine and i don't have any delamination (for lack of a better word) on mine. and yours is much smoother than mine was, i had potholes and dings and dents all over my walls. i think you will be ok.

i forget, are you going to also coat with the diluted tb2?

by **GPW** » Tue Jun 14, 2011 6:43 am

I had to remove small patches of the canvas to inset some wood blocks for my door hasp attachment (I should have done that before I covered it ... just wasn't thinking :oops:

) But the canvas was stuck pretty well to the foam ... and would not have peeled off by itself ... took a bit of tugging ... The glue separated from the foam , and was firmly attached to the canvas... Perforating the surface would have only made it more difficult to lift , with the little "nails " holding better deep in the foam surface ...
\
I do have some experience with 1/4" Fan Fold foam which does have the perforations done at the factory ... It does stick very well ...
And then , there is the "sock " effect Eagle mentioned ... That overlapped canvas isn't really going anywhere... The sledge hammer stress test proved that ... Damage was localized only to the area of impact ... All the rest of the canvas was "sound as a pound" ...

by **eaglesdare** » Tue Jun 14, 2011 7:47 am

gpw's favorite topic: the manufactured rv's. we have one out back hubby is going to restore. anyway, if i wanted to i could go out there and pry the siding off of it.
my point being that "if" we want to accomplish something we can. but we have to do it. "it" won't do itself.

if we take a hammer to the side of a foamie, i am sure there will be damage, same as if we take a hammer to our cars. i bet my car won't like a hammer.

if we peel the canvas/fabric off our foamies, it will come off, but it won't do it on its own. take a crow bar and pry the aluminum off an rv, it can be done.

i don't think this is something we need to worry about. and please i hope that came out sounding nice. i do not have the gift of bs as some do. i wasn't trying to be flip or rude. so this was typed with a smile and just for conversation.

that tool you are talking about will probably add more security, so it can't hurt. i don't think i will be using it on my second one. but you never know, i just might. i suppose if there are ways for us to "overbuild" in our foamies, then why not. :lol:

just thinking thrifty here, you could buy a box of toothpicks. or just use a pushpin. that has a lip on it, so it won't go all the way thru.

by **GPW** » Tue Jun 14, 2011 8:15 am

My "favorite topic" of running down the RV industry , prompted me to build in a Logical and long lasting manner... They build for PROFIT only , using the cheapest (bean counter suggested) materials , making them as Fast as they can ... They call it "price point" They do much interior trim to make them as eye attractive to the buyers, but all done over a poorly built structure... Like putting crown moulding on a "house of Straw" ... :roll:

If we're accused of a bit of overbuilding , then we're doing something RIGHT!!!

I also run at a couple RV forums , where these guys report the worst stupid problems , and numerous EXPENSIVE repairs , always the result of the manufacturers cost cutting for more PROFIT ... I frequently ask myself , are they just DUMB , or have too many disposable Fun tickets ???

Now I really expect my Foamie to last the rest of my life , which is an undetermined, but finite time ...

I'd rather spend my time "on the road' rather than doing repairs... With my commercial unit , that seems all I do lately ... GRRRRRRRR!!!!!

Now I must TOTALLY agree with Big Mike about using the BEST materials for the job , not necessarily the most expensive , but carefully chosen as to not require maintenance in the long haul ... :thumbsup:

by **eaglesdare** » Tue Jun 14, 2011 8:22 am

now you see how nicely worded he was! if only i had the gift.

our rv out back is amazing., hubby had no idea how they were made. i bought it so we could tear it apart completely, and then build up ourselves. our home made td/ttt's are made so much better than the rv. anyway i won't go there except to say, that old rv is still sittin there and hasn't had a lot of work done to it.

oh i liked the bike you built. do you think foam .... oh nevermind. we do have a bunch of bikes out here, old ones. i wished i knew how to piece together a nice new one out of those old ones.

by **GPW** » Tue Jun 14, 2011 8:41 am

Thank You Eagle !!! But I do consider my writing (ramblings ) rather Quirky , my punctuation just Dreadful , and the waaaay over use of Smileys as just a visual "crutch" and excuse for not finding better syntax... :oops:

But I'm working on it !

Just looking around , the older trailer units (pre bean counters) did seem to be better constructed than the new ones ... It's like they were Actually trying to make a Good product

... Now that Capitalism has matured into a "Plutonomy" , profit alone rules the game ... :twisted:

Everything either made to fail and replaced with new, or soon obsoleted , as with electronics..

Today , anybody making a QUALITY product made to last is , what I consider , a "Patriot" " WE THE PEOPLE"...

"mange le riche"

Eagle , have Hubby access the repairs need , and do them in the "Foamie" manner (Do it to LAST ) ... Many good materials available now to do a proper trailer build/repair ... Got pics ??

by **GPW** » Tue Jun 14, 2011 8:48 am

If you really want to view BS in action , watch Politicians.. They're the MASTERS of BS and "spin" ... :twisted:

Bike re-cycling ... www.AtomicZombie.com My Bike GURU !!!

by **GPW** » Wed Jun 15, 2011 6:16 am

Now that we have some actual experiences posted with Foamie trailers , It's time to shed all the negative speculations , and focus on what actually works ...

1. Foamie trailers will fall, slide off the trailer ... Hasn't happened!!!
2. Foamies aren't Bear proof ... Likely TRUE !!!
3. A hammer will damage a Foamie ... Positively !!! And Most anything else !!!
4. A Foamie will blow off the bridge in high winds ... Maybe !!! All depends on how strong the wind is ... Hurricanes , tornadoes , blow most Everything off the road ... ( Lots of You Tube videos to back this up )
5. Foamies can carry 500 lbs. of Beer ... Depends on the trailer capacity , and how far it is to the next convenience store...
6. Foamies are the least expensive way to build a Camping trailer, by most anyone with a few hand tools ... Looks to be True !!!
7. Fiberglass is stronger than canvas over Foam ... TRUE!!! It's the nature of the material ... so is Kevlar, Spectra, carbon fiber and steel highway mesh ...
8. Canvas will peel off the Foam if attached with T2... Yes, but Not by itself ... you have to Pull on it ...
9. Foam will not last ... for how long ??? We have many OLD foam Ice chests , well used, that still work ...
10. Foamies are UGLY ... depends... on your artistic abilities, and how much of a RV "snob" you are ... I wouldn't expect anyone with a $500,000 RV motor coach to have much respect for a Foamie ... But then , we don't have much respect for them ...

Did I miss anything ??? Any refutations ???

by **eaglesdare** » Wed Jun 15, 2011 7:56 am

i don't think they are ugly, just mine! :lol:

i hate that bump, throws my shape off. but all the things i don't like about mine, i will correct in the second one.
and as ugly as mine is, i LOVE it.

small cars can pull them.
they are waterproof. except for the hatch and doors, and if built better than mine, that can be waterproofed also. i know normal builds have problems with the doors and hatches and some have problems with the seams all over, including rv's, lots of damage can be found from water seeping in.

i think just about any shape can be achieved also.

reinterate the fact that ANYONE can build these. no special tools required. a kitchen steak knife works. however a jigsaw works better.

by **GPW** » Wed Jun 15, 2011 8:13 am

Eagle , I personally think your Foamie is very CUTE !!! :thumbsup:

We all tend to focus on the negative aspects of our builds and ignore how Free Ken COOL they are !!! Still Love the Schmousy ' windows !!!

True Dat about being easy for anybody to build .... My last TD (wood) required I hire a helper ... This one I did all by myself with a minimum of tools ... :thumbsup:

I showed my friend (the Italian trained sculptor) the Foamie ... immediately he started drawing lines on the drawing as to the "sculptural" possibilities... I keep envisioning a More rounded Roswell shape or something even more Modern ... seems most anything is possible with Foam ... all left up to the imagination of the builder

by **GPW** » Wed Jun 15, 2011 8:36 am

Just a possibility

by **eaglesdare** » Wed Jun 15, 2011 9:15 am

now thats just creepy.

by **Conedodger** » Wed Jun 15, 2011 9:15 am

GPW

2. Foamies aren't Bear proof ... Likely TRUE !!!

5. Foamies can carry 500 lbs. of Beer ... Depends on the trailer capacity , and how far it is to the next convenience store...

Clearly we all have great concern that 500 lbs of Beer is not enough and 500 lbs of Bear is far to much