Thrifty Alternatives ..Building Foam Campers

[GPW]

Happy Birthday !!! Glad it went well !!!

Funny , my family never seems to get it right , always giving me clothes instead of what I really want ... a Red Ferrari... with a prescription windshield ...

[eaglesdare]

Happy Birthday !!! Glad it went well !!!

Funny , my family never seems to get it right , always giving me clothes instead of what I really want ... a Red Ferrari... with a prescription windshield ...

[GPW]

Life here is disrupted ... last night , the Domina says “we have to sell that Big trailer “ !!! .. And once the command has been given... well, you know !!!
Trying to get away from the Big one , freeing much space and maintenance time for this old guy...
But then the rush is on !!! Just the little toy Foamie and the tiny CT, isn’t hitting on it for EVAC (season starts next month ) ... Now , the requirement is a Bigger/smaller trailer ... Bigger than the Foamie , smaller than the large box... Gotta’ be a Foamie naturally , but not a Standy , more like a big Sleeper/Loungey’ thing... short-ish’ , WIDE, longer than 8’, but not much ... Got a 54” wide trailer already ... too small for the FoamStream (naturally ) After seeing KC’s work , I feel confident I could widen it to 6’ or better ... Have to find my “thinking cap” ... around here somewhere , mixed in with all the others...
New ideas, new thinking required ... Big and simple , somewhat aerodynamic ... ... and No plywood ...

[KCStudly]

Bring it on!!! We all can surely help foster ideas and solutions to what ever ails you. Not sure of the connection from my work to you solution, but whatever... all is good, and thanks for the mention.

Why not the foam stream? Surely you can (or plan on being able) to tow it, so why would it not make a decent bug out (BO) vehicle? Remind me why the small camo foamie (purpose build for BO) is no longer your BO vehicle of choice; too small for the Mrs.?

[Wobbly Wheels]

Your 'design brief' sounds a bit like how I came up with Project Glacier, except yours calls for chopped...like a '32 coupe.

Maybe (sorry: schmaybe ?) a longer War Wagon with bigger windows ?
Cheat a li'l extra width out of a smaller frame. You can cheat some more off the back and call it an 'expedition' design....

Remind me why the small camo foamie (purpose build for BO) is no longer your BO vehicle of choice

Dunno KC...he hasn't posted any pix of that camo rig in a while yet he *says* its durability is great because it's been stored outside all this time.
You think maybe the ole feller's lost it in the rhubarb out back ?
Whaddya figure Glen, maybe that camo pattern was a little TOO good ?

[mezmo]

Why start over? The Foamstream sounds ideal for this
new requirement.

Cheers,
Norm/mezmo

[GPW]

First , imagine me , the wife , dog and cat in the little camo Foamie for 6 weeks .... EVAC here is usually 2-3 days , but “the Big one “ had us gone for MUCH longer ... The big commercial TT was bought in the mental frenzy (PTSD) to find some normalcy after the trauma of the Long EVAC... Big Mistake !!!! Your humble narrator too old to be climbing ladders all the time just to see if the roof is still intact (inspection) ... that and chase after all the little things that happen as the trailer just sits there... RVs are Not made to last ... Too poor(retired) to play the RV game of , lets throw money down this big hole ...
Second , the boat trailer I already have have is too small for the Foamstream ... that after I had cut it down to fit the little Foamie ... ... and the FS is a bit Large and would put me on a ladder again ... and will not fit in the garage ... which is not a consideration , but is Nice when you have to work on it , especially in the summers here ... the garage/Studio has AC ...

For our particular kind of EVAC , staying at a friends house , a small sleeper /Loungey would be perfect as we still could use the household services of our friends (shower and toilet) But would not have to stay In their house ... so avoiding the contempt of familiarity ....

So the idea is to have a smaller sized trailer , big enough for the 2 of us , + the pets , and a little extra room to get dressed , and just “hang out” ... Something close to the height of the Pickup truck to avoid the extreme DRAG of the big one (tows like an open parachute) and fit in the garage if need be ... Short and wide seems to be the ticket ... I think ... Schmaybe’ ???
And yes , the little Foamie is still doing just Fine !!! No problems !!! If it were just me it would be OK, but as an EVAC trailer , it’s just too small ... After all it was just a proof of concept project , an experiment to determine if Foamies would work , which turned out really Great in that aspect ... It just needs to be BIGGER ...
In our youth (some time ago) we did a lot of Van camping , so am used to that sized space ... Just a Box ... 4’ tall on the inside is actually plenty for the wife and I , if there is enough floor space ... The magic number seems to be anything greater than 50 sq. ft. ... My first TD, the wooden one , which also ended up with a camo paintjob , was 6’X 12’ X 5’ H and just a perfect sized space inside (see Album)... I stupidly let the wife talk me into selling it .. (again for a pittance) to get the too big TT... grrrrrrrrrrr!!! What a Mistake !!!!
Now to get back to “the Plan” ... but of course a nice Cargo trailer conversion would do me just fine , but where’s the Fun in that eh ???

[KCStudly]

So then sell the biggie, find those hunters and sell the little camo foamie to them.

Sounds like what you need to build is the cabin car like...well can't find it right now, but I thought it was Steve's (Woodbutcher's) latest project (not sure that's right).

[GPW]

KC, I’ve drooled excessively over the Cabin Car design many times in the past ... That would be possible in Foam , easy in fact ... but where would I put the “aero wings “ ... Thinking of something more “boxy’ ... more rounded box ... sorta’ ...
Since it’s a “Lounge-y’ “ I started a drawing of the interior , then will add the appropriate structure to best utilize this space/layout ... Comfort first !!!

[crumbruiser]

GPW, check out my build. It's 77" wide and 96" long. I made the inside 66", so I can stand up, [I'm 63"], it will not fit into the garage without taking the wheels off. I stretched the frame out to 10' then got scared that it was going to be too heavy, and I didn't want to move the axle, again. I started to put the foam on and will soon be posting pics of that. My original plan was to build it 54" tall but I figured with having to stretch my sides 6", I may as well just build something I could stand up in.
Frank

[GPW]

OK, here’s a quick sketch of the Van style bed , which also functions as a recliner and storage ... Very Simple ... Very Comfortable (well tested ) ... The bed size determines the parameters..
Lots of pillows are indicated...


Crum , That’s Nice eh !!! Big , but not too big ... You thinking about skinning the ply ... ???

[GPW]

If I built something I could stand up in ( I’m 75” ) it would Never fit in the garage ... Couldn’t easily reach the roof ... back to a ladder again ...grrrr!!!

[crumbruiser]

I wanted wood inside so I bought 5.2mm, pretty thin, then I'm "skinning" with 1.5" foam, then the canvas/latex primer then industrial oil based paint. It's sort of big, big enough for the Mrs and I to sleep sideways, which is the plan. I'm going to build something like the van bed in your pic. Thanks for the pic by the way!
Frank

[GPW]

Whoa !!! That should be Perfect !!!

[pete42]

I leave for one day and your off on another build I'm old slow down I can't keep up............

pete