Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

That travelino is fascinating alot of stuff for only 1650 lbs but the whole trailer is made of light weight fiber reinforced plastic parts. They have a cool virtual tour on their web site. the bathroom has a interestng swing in and out door to save space. I like the wrap around table set up.

Gary

alchemist77 wrote:Why a side door? Like GPWs escape vehicle it seems like the best option is the door on the back. Opening to galley, bathroom, upright storage, half bed,bench on each side.

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Speaking from the experience with the Ladybug WW, which had no side doors, I wished I had installed them. it was a PITA to always have to raise the hatch to get inside or crawl through the air conditioner hatch. Side doors make a quick and easy access to cargo and interior - Plus if you need a quick nap time while travelling, you really don't need to raise the hatch!

Just think how much lighter I can make it using the foamie build materials.

I wonder what the travelino is using for a chassis?

Mike...

RAYVILLIAN wrote:That travelino is fascinating alot of stuff for only 1650 lbs but the whole trailer is made of light weight fiber reinforced plastic parts. They have a cool virtual tour on their web site. the bathroom has a interestng swing in and out door to save space. I like the wrap around table set up.

Gary

mikeschn wrote:Just think how much lighter I can make it using the foamie build materials.

I believe they are a "sort of" foamie. There is a video on their website that says the Travelino uses wall roof panels (and I believe cabinet constructions) made of expanded polystyrene with bonded skins. Around the wall, floor and roof perimeter, what looks like trim only, is actually fiberglass composite moldings that also serve as part of the structure.

The did go into great length about the challenge of bonding the skins to the expanded polystyrene. It was simplified English subtitles over German conversation so I didn't catch how they bonded the skins.

Someone on this forum had constructed similar composite moldings as a prototype for construction. Let me look around for awhile and see what I can come up with.

mikeschn wrote:I wonder what the travelino is using for a chassis?

They are using a lightweight, high strength steel frame, similar to the BAL Norco Industries frame (http://www.norcoind.com/bal/products/oem/ultraframe/index.shtml) but in an A-frame configuration similar to Andrew's ultralight chassis with a full torsion axle.

So Gary was bitten by the bug! Me too!

So I came home and with the travelino on my mind I tried tweaking the xl design. It didn't go well...

But I know you wanna see, so here it is... those purple things are placemats...



Mike...

Mike , are you thinking about CNC’ing the foam to make the ”furniture” ? That would easily give you the precision you’d need for drawers/doors , etc. , and perhaps a skin of “chipboard" which is easy to glue to foam , makes the foam quite stiff, and takes paint nicely ... and if you think about it , it is very similar to plywood, but doesn’t splinter ... That way you could build as much interior as you wanted , at not much of a weight penalty ... and fastening ( glue) that to the walls, floor, and ceiling, strengthens the whole unit ... And if you glue the chipboard to the foam first ( maybe even paint it ) you could have basically “finished” parts right off the CNC machine . Just glue/fasten them together ...

Absolutely! I was going to cnc the foam to make the furniture, and I was even planning on using a canvas skin where necessary. I hadn't thought about the chipboard. How thick is that and how heavy is that?

My goal is to be under 1500# fully loaded with my gear, so I'm guessing maybe 1000# empty. I don't know if I can achieve that, a lot is going to depend on the weight of the trailer and or the weight of the floor. I can't do a foam floor, it's not strong enough. But could I do a foam reinforced floor? Questions questions!!!

Mike...

mikeschn wrote:My goal is to be under 1500# fully loaded with my gear, so I'm guessing maybe 1000# empty. I don't know if I can achieve that, a lot is going to depend on the weight of the trailer and or the weight of the floor. I can't do a foam floor, it's not strong enough. But could I do a foam reinforced floor? Questions questions!!!

Mike...

Mike,

This build has been mentioned before - it's sort of the ultimate foamie (but with epoxy and fiberglass): http://www.goldbrand.info/motorcykelhusvagn2.html. It is a 320 pound, 4.75' w x 12' l x 7' h lifting roof trailer.

To your floor question, the above build used a minimalist frame. The floor is 15mm plywood reinforced with epoxy & fiberglass foam "stiffeners". Here's a picture of the floor and frame - upside down - showing the foam stiffeners:



The link is to their second prototype. The first was all plywood. The second prototype replaced most of the plywood with foam. Much like Casitas and other fiberglass eggs, the "furniture" is an integral part of the structure.

Take care,
Tom

Chipboard comes in many thicknesses , from posterboard thin to .120” , and it’s not that heavy for it’s strength and good qualities ... We used the thin stuff on our inner walls between the ribs .. and the heavy stuff for the finish panels on the front round base wall of the trailer ... screwed on with finish washers ... ( primed and painted first , of course) ... Almost 3 years now , no change ...

Here’s where I got mine ... http://www.utrechtart.com/Search/Defaul ... d&Search=+

It’s pretty much made of the same stuff as wood is .... cellulose ... likely From wood anyway ... easier to waterproof ... bends nice ... Likely no heavier than an equvalent canvas... and Stiffer ... whereas canvas is the tight “sock" , comparatively chipboard is the "hard skin” You might want to try a small cabinet built like that ... and the idea of feeding the machine hard skinned blanks makes it lke cutting sips, and Much easier than gluing and trimming chipboard skins after the parts are cut ... CNC should have no trouble cleanly cutting chipboard over foam eh ? ...


In the past we saw chipboard in 4’X8’ sheets ...and although we keep searching , we've yet to find a source these day... But we’ve seen some come on rolls ... although we’d need a fork lift to move it ...

Thanks Tom,

I remember that build, but have not thought about it recently. I reviewed it again hoping maybe they did a version 3 with a foam floor, but no such luck.

Mike...

aggie79 wrote:

mikeschn wrote:My goal is to be under 1500# fully loaded with my gear, so I'm guessing maybe 1000# empty. I don't know if I can achieve that, a lot is going to depend on the weight of the trailer and or the weight of the floor. I can't do a foam floor, it's not strong enough. But could I do a foam reinforced floor? Questions questions!!!

Mike...

Mike,

This build has been mentioned before - it's sort of the ultimate foamie (but with epoxy and fiberglass): http://www.goldbrand.info/motorcykelhusvagn2.html. It is a 320 pound, 4.75' w x 12' l x 7' h lifting roof trailer.

To your floor question, the above build used a minimalist frame. The floor is 15mm plywood reinforced with epoxy & fiberglass foam "stiffeners". Here's a picture of the floor and frame - upside down - showing the foam stiffeners:



The link is to their second prototype. The first was all plywood. The second prototype replaced most of the plywood with foam. Much like Casitas and other fiberglass eggs, the "furniture" is an integral part of the structure.

Take care,
Tom

Hey Glen,

I hadn't though about using chipboard glued up to the foam prior to cutting with the cnc machine. Of course that would mean the end grain, if you will, will still be foam. I've have to give it some serious consideration though... Thanks for the ideas!

Mike...

GPW wrote:Chipboard comes in many thicknesses , from posterboard thin to .120” , and it’s not that heavy for it’s strength and good qualities ... We used the thin stuff on our inner walls between the ribs .. and the heavy stuff for the finish panels on the front round base wall of the trailer ... screwed on with finish washers ... ( primed and painted first , of course) ... Almost 3 years now , no change ...

Here’s where I got mine ... http://www.utrechtart.com/Search/Defaul ... d&Search=+

It’s pretty much made of the same stuff as wood is .... cellulose ... likely From wood anyway ... easier to waterproof ... bends nice ... Likely no heavier than an equvalent canvas... and Stiffer ... whereas canvas is the tight “sock" , comparatively chipboard is the "hard skin” You might want to try a small cabinet built like that ... and the idea of feeding the machine hard skinned blanks makes it lke cutting sips, and Much easier than gluing and trimming chipboard skins after the parts are cut ... CNC should have no trouble cleanly cutting chipboard over foam eh ? ...


In the past we saw chipboard in 4’X8’ sheets ...and although we keep searching , we've yet to find a source these day... But we’ve seen some come on rolls ... although we’d need a fork lift to move it ...

So just for fun I did a model and weight analysis of a typical method of construction, but in the size I need, which I think is 5x16. Geesh, that looks long...

But okay, here's how it looks...





Would you like to guess how much that simple frame weighs?

Done guessing? okay, here's the answer...

pine subfloor(gray) 44 pounds
1/2" plywood(brown) 162 pounds
steel chassis (red) 289 pounds
total 495 pounds

Mike...

Foam shell shouldn’t add near that weight ... so still under 1K #

OK couple of question/suggestions. Why all the cross beams. I would think that you could cut every other one out. especially with the wood floor joists your planning.
Second point why the wood floor joists. I would think that you could take all the metal cross beams out but the one where the axle mounts and replace them with lighter angle, the stuff they use for garage door mounts it even has holes drilled in it for lightening. use 5/8 ply instead of 1/2 and the only place you need bracing out side of the frame is the door way and maybe the potti area. the rest has cabinets which I would think that the side walls of those would add stiffening to the out side the frame floor Or you could even use foam and glass braces on the underside of the floor that would put tension down against the outside frame rail.

Gary

I will throw this one out for food for thought. I have not figured out all the details yet, but it may help you with your thinking. In my thinking of building a larger trailer (later) that I could just harden the foot traffic areas with hardboard or OSB over a 2" foam floor. Being that it is limited to foot traffic area it would drastically reduce weight of the floor area. Storage areas on the floor could be just carpeted for protection which would weigh very little and should give plenty of foam protection.

I was also thinking that a frame like the Pico light could be incorporated into the build. having the A frame extend back to the wheels instead of a large square box. Or a wish bone style frame used in a lot of European trailer builds which here resembles a boat trailer minus the cross members.

For side to side support (and floor if built right) a couple well placed bulkheads could be used. In your design I envision one on each side of the dresser.

These ideas are a bit hard to explain in text, but I hope it could get your mind wrapping around other options. You have to think out of the box with this type of construction (foam) because foam is so different than traditional wood/steel builds. Trailers have been build a certain way for years. Build concepts revolve around known construction practices and it is hard to steer a different course. That is why I find foam so much fun!