Epoxy/Styrofoam Test Panels

[eaglesdare]

oh my, you want mint! i'll give you mint! i can't get rid of that stuff. i had no idea how it spread and everytime hubby mowes we get more and it is just all over back there. smells good though.

[eaglesdare]

Aluminum box would be a Stout support eh! probably need the nose weight anyway ...

You wait, I am sure someone will say what about a foam box......

ok, its me! my mind went straight to building something like that on the tongue. i so need to plan for my tongue extension.

[Anita Rae]

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Yours is a low, small, light, shaped and well made foam box and should not take a lot of securing to a trailer but its my understanding that its held to the floor with cloth and PVA so if this fails there is nothing else.

You and Eagle have a lot of people following your amazing ideas and you both are making it look so easy to build one that more and more will try.

Even a silly old fart like me is going to build one, something before reading your posts I would not have even thought about doing it.

My point is that some of the plans are getting higher, longer and having weight added off the floor such as around doors, windows and roof spars so they may well no longer be a little light foam box, and as such if they are heavier those building them may well need to think up something extra than T2 and cloth to fix trailer to the foam.

I think Cone is right on with this statement. Many of us have been searching for a way to build taller and wider without adding a lot of weight and this looks like the answer. So are you saying that this might only work on a trailer that tucks neatly behind the tow vehicle? And that constant strong wind shear and vibration could work to loosen the glue bond or might even break the foam? I think that is what you are saying.

I am planning on something like a metal rock shield in the front but that would only come up about 12 or 18 inches. The other thing that I am thinking about is shooting some staples through the glued on fabric into the wood floor.

Another option could be to sandwich the fabric/glue in between the plywood floor and the wood sub floor. Or maybe even do a complete wrap of the Styrofoam and plywood floor before bolting it to the sub floor. I don't know a lot about building, so these ideas might not help at all.

I know that many of the answers won't come until someone actually tries the process.

[eaglesdare]

i used staples.

i think it will take a lot to make the foam break. even if it did, the canvas is still holding it together, so that would also have to break/rip/tear apart. i can see if one gets into an accident. but that would happen in a car or rv also.

foam glued to floor, wrapped in t2 canvas, making sure that canvas over hangs and it is attached under the floor is good. add staples. that is the basic idea here. that canvas acts like a sock.

bigger and taller...? the same basic pricipal will be used on my second build. i will just give it a bit more support, now in what form of support? i think that is going to depend on where it is going. i do believe the 2" foam covered canvas will work just fine for a bulkhead. not sure it will be enough for spars, so i do plan to use wood spars.

even with the taller wider foamie i will still more than likely use cinch straps.

[Conedodger]

The easiest way to think of this is imagine you have you great big foam box and if you can hold it down on the floor without glue, or fixings that would be perfect.

As it is (foam onto a flat floor) if we apply a small force to the box and it would slide off the floor forwards, backwards and sidewards. You can also lift it upwards but not as easy as its own weight and gravity will hold it down.

All you need is something to key the box to the trailer to stop the slide movement.

The main force would come under braking so a forward bulkhead fixed to the trailer or a well fixed storage box would stop the box moving that way.

Raised wheel wells could stop it moving backwards and sidewards or even raised blocks so the foam can be cut round them.

With a small amount of planning and adding very little low slung weight the box now cannot move forwards, backwards and if the fits are tight, it would not move sidewards either.

So the only movement now is upwards which is the least of the forces.

So now imagine we add T2 / Cloth to stop it moving upwards, its no longer having to hold all the shear slide forces for the box moving forwards, backwards and sideways, its just locking it down so it cant lift off the keys.

IMO it just need the supports such as the bulkhead, wheel wells or key blocks fixing to the trailer and the current fixing system would be fine.

The bigger the box the more it needs keying to the floor.

"Just ideas folks"

[Anita Rae]

OK, I see what you are saying about the sliding. But when you get up to a trailer that is a standy, you will also have things on the inside for support. Things like a frame for the bed, cabinets and seating. All attached to the floor and the stryo sides. Wouldn't those things work together to prevent the box from sliding? At the standy point you are not just building a box and putting a mattress on the floor. Is my thinking correct on this?

[Conedodger]

Fixing things solid to the floor inside that stop the box moving would also work but some are thinking of using foam inside as well, I certainly am.

[Anita Rae]

Does that make a difference? Say if you made the a bed frame across the back and secured it to the floor with the fabric and glue ...and maybe few staples or screws???? wouldn't that help prevent the sliding? And by doing this same thing all through the trailer, wouldn't that pull everything together and prevent wind damage or sliding?

Usually the reason for taller and wider is not just about building a bigger box to stand up in. It's about beds, inside kitchens, toiltes, storage, kids, pets and all the other stuff that we can shove into a standy. Things that will require pulling everything together and hopefully stabilizing the trailer as a whole.

[GPW]

See, that's the Beauty of this ... there's no One way to build a Foamie trailer ... Lots of Great ideas , all valid ... Lots to try and yet discover...
I'm sure there will be many wonderful "variations"...
Please be so good as to build your Foamie' trailer in the manner that suits You best ...

[Anita Rae]

One more thing. I can't imagine a standy with just a bare plywood floor so something needs to be added over the area where the inside where the fabric/glue attaches to the floor. Probably something like linoleum and mabye even a little bit of wood trim baseboards. Wouldn't these things help to prevent the glue pulling apart and the walls sliding off?

See, that's the Beauty of this ... there's no One way to build a Foamie trailer ... Lots of Great ideas , all valid ... Lots to try and yet discover...
I'm sure there will be many wonderful "variations"...
Please be so good as to build your Foamie' trailer in the manner that suits You best ...

True GPW. I just had a moment of hysteria this morning at the thought of this thing sliding away as I drove down the road. LOL I have to kind of waller things around in my head for them to make since.

[GPW]

I can only offer Eagles most Excellent Foamie as a working/camping example and proof of concept ... hers didn't slide off yet ... and I doubt it will .... "much ado about nothing " Just stay away from Bears ...

[Conedodger]

Wouldn't these things help to prevent the glue pulling apart and the walls sliding off?

Anything that stops it sliding makes it better, you just have to be convinced that it will not or cannot move.

From my tests PVA / Cloth is a bit like glass, it has almost no flex whatsoever, it holds at full strength right up to when it breaks and if thats all thats holding your box to the floor it will fall off down the road.

[Anita Rae]

I haven't seen any bears aroung here. Just gators and luv bugs...lots and lots of luv bugs. Icky!

[eaglesdare]

ok to be perfectly honest here, i did worry about my tear blowing off the frame. i had nightmares about that. i am glad, SO VERY GLAD that my hatch wasn't perfect and that it blew open on the first test road trip. i have since used the cinch strap. that has given me great sense of security. weather or not it is a true security or a false security. i love the cinch strap.

[Conedodger]

Last go at explaining.....

In Eagles build http://tnttt.com/viewto ... sc&start=0 they built a bulkhead at the rear



and for such a small TD thats all i think is needed.

In the build of pat g http://tnttt.com/viewto ... sc&start=0 this is what they did



Its not very high but its a bulkhead that stops the shear forces

It does not have to be huge or take a lot of pressure just simply stop the initial movement that could break the T2.