Thrifty Alternatives ..Building Foam Campers

[GPW]

SJ, That bridge thing was "the test" .... Passed !!!
Gosh, thinking the wood on the inside would look really Nice , and allow all those cool cabinets/ shelves, etc. that everybody likes to add... Lightweight cabinets shouldn't add much weight to the TD ... As is , plain/empty) it seems pretty Ultra LIGHT and a few more pounds wouldn't hurt a thing , still producing a lightweight and easier to tow TD.. and thrifty too... Might as well be pretty on the inside ...many decorative possibilities ... And there should be no reason for the well covered/reinforced foam shell to leak ... so the wood inside may not be a problem at all ...long term ...

just another weird thought ... In the off season , you could remove the shell (it's Light right) , and store that in the garage on some blocks or boards on the floor ... or stand it up in a corner ... 2 or 3 people should easily be able to move it around ... and it would be easy then to modify or paint it inside ... Wing nuts on the floor to trailer join...??? Leave the trailer outside.. That way you could easily get a 6' tall trailer in the garage ... wouldn't work mounted on the trailer ... a Standy in the garage , imagine that ??? That would be easy ...

[eaglesdare]

ok let me clarify the "bridge" thing. i went over "a" bridge. NOT the nose bleed bridge. i will admit i am still nervous about that one. we will be going over it in may, around the 20th. now that bridge just makes me nervous period. i hate going over it with just a car. towing a foamie over it is going to make me a crazy old woman!

but i will fight the fear and i am going to do the driving over that bridge. its the only way i know to get over that fear.

i will let you know how that turned out. i remember the first time i hit that bridge. it just kept going up and up and up. i know panic was about to set in when i finally hit the summit and started coming back down to earth. it took a while to get my knuckles unclenched and back to normal color.

i am not one that has a problem with bridges either. its just this one particular bridge that freaks me out. i have heard from others that it makes them nervous also.

and with the camper empty, yes i can see the bouncy issue. we had the on our first road trip to the corner mart. but for a camping trip or actually anywhere we take the camper it will be loaded. so i have no reason for towing it empty, well except to the weigh station. keep fingers crossed for this saturday. i am working on him. oh and it won't be completely empty. i have that mattress in there now, i am not taking it out. not even sure i could if i wanted to. once it expanded well it would be a pita to get it out. so it stays. we just got to figure out how much that ways. and they are heavy. i looked on the box and did not see a weight listed.

but panneling or anything else on the inside would be good. i am still debating on my insides. i do have canvas that runs front to back on it. nothing really on the inside sides though.

one more thing about its stability. while we were camping, we had a bad storm, rained all day and most of the night. some really bad winds came thru also. my camper made out better than a lot of others. granted i had a tarp over mine, but there was NO swaying from the wind at all. my 10 yr old granson slept in the bunk area and kept kicking the sides also, i eventually worried about those sides and made him sleep down on the bed. but in the morning i double checked those sides and they are still solid. no damage at all from the kicking.

i think a foamie could be built better than mine, i rushed on it. but for what i have i believe in it. it works and that is what i wanted.

and in that hatch area some water did come thru. but we are talking about buckets of pooled water dumped on top of the tear and running down into the one corner of my hatch. only a few drops got in. and the canvas soaked it up. to prevent that in the future i am adding weather stripping and making sure my hatch area is tarped better. the amount of water that got in is not even mentionable to the normal person. but its worhty to mention on these build sites.

the foamie is a good camper, cheap and easy to build. you could really make a masterpiece out of this stuff.

[eaglesdare]

this has nothing to do with foamies, but speaking of wings, my babies have hatched! must have happened during the night. they were eggs yesterday. and baby birds today. bad day though, we are suppose to have some bad storms come in. hope they survive.

[Cliffmeister2000]

Hey, Eagle, do you have any photos of your foamie?

[eaglesdare]

sure
http://tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?t=43647

or you can start around page 22 or 24 on this thread. they are all posted here. i know its a ways back.

[swampjeep]

SJ, That bridge thing was "the test" .... Passed !!!
Gosh, thinking the wood on the inside would look really Nice , and allow all those cool cabinets/ shelves, etc. that everybody likes to add... Lightweight cabinets shouldn't add much weight to the TD ... As is , plain/empty) it seems pretty Ultra LIGHT and a few more pounds wouldn't hurt a thing , still producing a lightweight and easier to tow TD.. and thrifty too... Might as well be pretty on the inside ...many decorative possibilities ... And there should be no reason for the well covered/reinforced foam shell to leak ... so the wood inside may not be a problem at all ...long term ...

just another weird thought ... In the off season , you could remove the shell (it's Light right) , and store that in the garage on some blocks or boards on the floor ... or stand it up in a corner ... 2 or 3 people should easily be able to move it around ... and it would be easy then to modify or paint it inside ... Wing nuts on the floor to trailer join...??? Leave the trailer outside.. That way you could easily get a 6' tall trailer in the garage ... wouldn't work mounted on the trailer ... a Standy in the garage , imagine that ??? That would be easy ...

I've actually been thinking of something similer, I have a nice 5x8 utility trailer, it has 10" sides, and I dont' want to lose the use of this as a util, and I dont' really want to add yet another trailer, so I was thinking to make the foamy on a base that I can move in and out of the util as needed

[GPW]

Eagle , got any pictures of the birdies .... ??? I remember a bridge in Maryland that was a real ear popper ... Very High ... kinda' scary ... on the way to Annapolis..


SJ, sounds like a plan ... You might want to put the door in the back ... Just an idea ...

[eaglesdare]

Eagle , got any pictures of the birdies .... ??? I remember a bridge in Maryland that was a real ear popper ... Very High ... kinda' scary ... on the way to Annapolis..


SJ, sounds like a plan ... You might want to put the door in the back ... Just an idea ...

that might be the one! that is where we would cross to get to annapolis.

yes i do have a pic. you wanna see? give me a few.

[GPW]

Er, that does sound just like the same bridge ... If it is , I can't blame you one bit ... SCARY!!! So high , I thought we'd have to call NASA...

[eaglesdare]

these are the eggs


this was this morning. new borns


hopefully i can get a better pic of them. they are so darn cute right now.

so you know what i mean about that bridge. its not a normal one, it goes so high, you can wave at the 747 pilots as they pass!

[GPW]

They're so CUTE !!!! I hope they make it too ... they should ... birds have been living outside for millions of years now ... guess they might be used to it by now ...


That's just gotta' be the same bridge ... Never saw one that tall before , or since .... TG !!! I was going to Annapolis to do some painting , the land was basically flat , and then there was that bridge ...

[GPW]

Eagle , the wife just got home ... I told her about "the bridge" ... she totally agreed... it was kinda' Scary !!! Bet that would be fun in the wind (with a lightweight TD ), which always seems to blow in off the Atlantic...
More ballast when you cross that one ... perhaps that brick patio floor... or just MORE camping gear ...
It would be really good to know the real weight... so we'll know the weight with a mattress... that's Cool ...gotta' have one anyway ,right ? ...

[eaglesdare]

so now you know why i am worried about crossing it with a lightweight teardrop made of foam! its going to blow off the bridge and take my car with it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i am going to have it loaded i tell you, LOADED!

[swampjeep]

have cars ever blown off that bridge?
I will be crossing the Macinaw Bridge, and there was actually a car blown off that bridge before...

[GPW]

I guess that hasn't happened to anybody else huh , or is the bridge "notorious" ? ....Extra weight couldn't hurt ... from the guesstimates , you're running pretty light , empty (with a mattress)...