Problems with Foamies ...

[Don L.]

Foamies are a work in progress, design wise or so it seems.

Up to a certain size a foamie is strong enough and works without any extra structure to keep it from twisting and racking itself apart. After you get so big though a foamie needs some kind of bracing, or framing to stiffen it.

[GPW]

MIL in the RV business … They know what kind of BS products they represent ( Engineered to FAIL ) … Some nerve commenting on Foamies … when RV’s have enough trouble just staying together at all …

Fly apart on the highway … Yeah Right … how many times have we heard that , by people who want to argue that they’re right , although they really know nothing …

[KCStudly]

After you get so big though a foamie needs some kind of bracing, or framing to stiffen it.

You base this statement on what?

Like it is a bad thing? Any structure has to be designed to handle whatever loads may be placed on it given the materials chosen for construction. There are plenty of opportunities to include bracing in any size camper, be they bulkheads, cabinets, decorative arches, etc.

Even wooden framed campers need bracing or adequately sized materials, especially when they are larger.

I'm sorry, but that just sounds like a baseless negative statement. Maybe I took it wrong? (shruggy shoulder guy)

[camperRN]

MIL in the RV business … They know what kind of BS products they represent ( Engineered to FAIL ) … Some nerve commenting on Foamies … when RV’s have enough trouble just staying together at all …

Fly apart on the highway … Yeah Right … how many times have we heard that , by people who want to argue that they’re right , although they really know nothing …

I just consider it motivation to finish my project

[GPW]

cRN, Apologies for trash talking about your mother in law , I’m sure she’s a very nice person , and I just get a little excited when I think of my own RV experiences …

[camperRN]

GPW, don't sweat it.

[Don L.]

I didn't intend to be negative KC.
I based my statement on my experience of having built things all my life. I have built houses, cabinets, furniture, musical instruments, trailers, all from scratch and have also repaired them for a living, except for the trailers.
Bracing isn't a bad thing at all. The idea I had in mind was that the smaller a structure is ( foamie) the less weight and stresses it exerts on itself as it goes down the road swaying, bouncing, starting and stopping. As the structure increases in size it needs some stiffening like braces or cabinets or bulkheads designed to do that.
Or just a stiffer building material like all aluminum or steel. But that gets heavy and expensive, I'm sure you know.

[greygoos]

MIL in the RV business … They know what kind of BS products they represent ( Engineered to FAIL ) … Some nerve commenting on Foamies … when RV’s have enough trouble just staying together at all …

Fly apart on the highway … Yeah Right … how many times have we heard that , by people who want to argue that they’re right , although they really know nothing …

Here ya go Glenn https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dQkQFJvuVw

[Don L.]

I should add that I wasn't so sure of how strong my camper would be, it's a little tall and wide for a foamie. On my first test run I had my wife follow me to see if she noticed anything swaying or twisting or doing anything strange.

Something else about foamies is that there is no set way to build one. Everyone seems to come up with materials and building technique that they are comfortable with at their skill level. There are definitely things to take into consideration , design wise, to make sure that it holds up well.

[GPW]

Goos, that video pretty much says it all … And sadly , it’s ALL TRUE !!! We’ve been there …. and it wasn’t Nice !!! I’ve told that sad story too many times already …   I think I’d have had more FUN losing $20K in Vegas than on a POS trailer that I got to use once ( where we found out how uncomfortable and impractical it really was ) … grrrrrr !!!

Thing everybody forgets about Foam , if you think it's not strong enough , use several thicknesses in that area … the old saying “ twice as Thick is EIGHT times as strong …especially when there’s a skin on both sides… Foam is still the lightest ( cheapest ) material , and lightweight means low mass , less acceleration , and less bouncing around the road like a heavier trailer with more rebound. Good design replaces a lot of heavy bracing … I’ve always thought the Foamie trailer is the “Thinking man’s ( or womens ) trailer “ … Where thinking and planning replaces spending a LOT of money on some Inferior product that will quickly fail…

Just sayin’ … My Foamie has been Four years now living Outside in the weather , and it's still in fine shape( no rot , no damage ) …. And so far that trailer and everything in it (including the new generator) , has cost me less than $2400 clams … ( not bad ) ~10% of what the jayco POS trailer costs ...

In reality , the only real problem with Foamies is getting people to believe it will work , ( trailer will blow apart the first time I get it on the highway) although anyone reading the Foamie section here for a while will see they’ve travelled hundreds of thousands of miles now with basically no problems at all … and even poor Catherine our only real problem example , whose trailer got blown over by a strong NM cross wind , the trailer only suffered minor damage really, The metal trailer mostly ( bent coupler and front , the cabin had a tiny scratch) …compared to what happens when a conventional trailer blows over … ( we've seen those videos ... ) Scary !!!

Lately we’ve been watching YouTube videos of people building Foam Boats … so many different ways . Interesting !!! Our own tnttt family member Rowerwet responsible for a Great deal of it … Way to go Row !!!! Talk about Not leaking …

[GPW]

And apologies for my problem …. being an artist and visual person , I tend to use waaaay too many Smilies when posting …. but we're working on it !!!

[jimbo69ny]

So looks like no major issues reported, other than some wood rot from the OG foamie.

Either there have never been any issues or the people who really screwed up their build dont want to share. haha (please do share)

[friz]

Foam is an incredibly versatile material. I have used it to build model airplanes, add rigidity to fiberglass structures on full scale airplanes. I have had friends that built entire airplanes out of it + fiberglass. I remember one early ultralight that used foam for the majority of the wing structures except for the spar caps, those were wood.

The "foam sandwich" has the reputation of being one of the strongest and lightest structures available to the home builder.

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[linuxmanxxx]

The construction industry is finally starting to look at alternative methods for building ie foamcrete and SIP panels being the 2 most common. The traditional home structure has used the same framing centers types and weights for over 70 yrs and yet materials, weights, and strengths have moved forward a lot in the last 10 yrs. We've proven strong doesn't have to be heavy just done differently.

I first looked at sandwich construction and learned how the sheer strength of a total glue up is far superior to solid wood construction at much less weight. Large glued surfaces on both sides of something give unreal strengths compared to the same material without the glue-up. Torsion box, fiberglass sandwich, PMF, and SIP panels have the same thing in common, glued surfaces that give the overall object massive tensile strength with a lot of weight saved over traditional wood framing. Find the youtube video of the gluing paper with elmers glue over foam and how much more weight it supports before failing vs no glue and paper. People are amazed that its paper but like I stated, it's the glue surface strength not the paper that adds to the structure.

Imagine a future of home building evolving from these types of designs and innovations and much cheaper than traditional methods that are way too long in the tooth for how today"s materials and out of the box thinking are evolving.
Steve

[GPW]

… and wood has gotten expensive …