Thrifty Alternatives ..Building Foam Campers

[Ned B]

KC yes that was an in progress screen shot, I modified the fan area. I think I'm going back to the basics, putting just enough wood for the doors to seal and the hinges to screw into. And will be doing without a roof opening altogether...

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1456501319.012526.jpg (19.39 KiB) Viewed 1828 times

[GPW]

Ned, we’ve long preferred the Old timer side vent (those little louvered plates/screens they’d put in the side up near the top ) ... We had enough of roof vents in our Kustom Van days , and in our semi-tropical climate , they always leaked or rotted in the sun, or just broke outright for various reasons ( it was a California look “ thing “ ) ... When we first came here we wondered why someone would put a problematic roof vent in , if they had screened windows ...

ps. The other day the wife came home with a Kitchen sink screen , made to fit in the drain hole .... Chrome ring , SS cup type screen .... was thinking that would be perfect for a vent on a Foamie , just drill a hole , pop it in ... looks good , keeps the bugs out , and cost a dollar or two .. Would look “finished” on the inside of the trailer , outside you could use the Old Timer ( Vintage ) louvered plate to keep the rain out ... Just thinking ...a Thrifty alternative

You know .... I think that Foamie trailer building is so much Fun, I actually miss the building process.. and can’t wait to start a new one ... Feel the need to keep a project going continuously ...

[GPW]

Just for something different , since we can’t build another trailer (yet) , we’ve had to content ourselves with building little Foamie’ airplanes ... Here’s one newly made , designed off a paper plane folded from a recycled grocery list ...
I chalk all this up to practice for another Foamie ‘ trailer build ...


Ps. Recognize that foam ???

[rowerwet]

gallery/album.php?album_id=4205 this folder shows how I make my doors, using the cut out of the door.
I made these style doors on my plywood tear, then modified it slightly to make them in my foamie, they have never leaked.

[GPW]

Row, you have all of this foam business down pat !!! Really Liking All of your creations !!! Thanks for the door pics , that seems to bother a lot of builders , and those manufactured “trailer“ doors are so expensive as to make it not practical for a Foamie ( or anything else ) .
Maybe we should start a thread about doors ...

[rowerwet]

viewtopic.php?f=21&t=57192&p=1034964#p1034964

[TheOtherSean]

I've done it! I lost track of this thread back in 2010 shortly after my post on page 3, but now I've finally caught up.

Nice work building all those foamies!

[Wolffarmer]

I've done it! I lost track of this thread back in 2010 shortly after my post on page 3, but now I've finally caught up.

Nice work building all those foamies!

I did not realize this thing is almost 6 years old.

[GPW]

Guess we can finally say Foamies do work .... after all this time ...

[bonnie]

The other day the wife came home with a Kitchen sink screen , made to fit in the drain hole .... Chrome ring , SS cup type screen .... was thinking that would be perfect for a vent on a Foamie , just drill a hole , pop it in ... looks good , keeps the bugs out , and cost a dollar or two .. Would look “finished” on the inside of the trailer , outside you could use the Old Timer ( Vintage ) louvered plate to keep the rain out ... Just thinking ...a Thrifty alternative

You know .... I think that Foamie trailer building is so much Fun, I actually miss the building process.. and can’t wait to start a new one ... Feel the need to keep a project going continuously ...

Thank you! You just solved a problem for me!!!!

[GPW]

Hi Bonnie , how are you doing ??? Been a while ...

[rowerwet]

The other day the wife came home with a Kitchen sink screen , made to fit in the drain hole .... Chrome ring , SS cup type screen .... was thinking that would be perfect for a vent on a Foamie , just drill a hole , pop it in ... looks good , keeps the bugs out , and cost a dollar or two .. Would look “finished” on the inside of the trailer , outside you could use the Old Timer ( Vintage ) louvered plate to keep the rain out ... Just thinking ...a Thrifty alternative

You know .... I think that Foamie trailer building is so much Fun, I actually miss the building process.. and can’t wait to start a new one ... Feel the need to keep a project going continuously ...

Thank you! You just solved a problem for me!!!!

I use those round plastic soffit vents sold in bags of four at the hardware store. They have louvers cast into the plastic to keep out rain.

[GPW]

Row , That’s the kind of stuff we have available here too ... Curious that not many of the old timers put vents in by cutting holes in the roof ... They were Smart ...

ps. ya’ know , those stainless sink screens would work for floor vents too ...

[rowerwet]

I was in a south carolina walmart the first time I saw them, almost bought them, but remembered I had to fly home and couldn't carry any extra stuff.
I like the look, but am not sure about bugs, it may still require a screen inside the hole.

[ice_maiden]

Well after four days of reading I have finally reached the end of this amazing saga. I now feel like I know each of you. At the beginning I didn't have to be convinced, I just needed to know how and maybe sometimes the why. After 15 years of mobile food concessions, I have camped in everything imaginable (except maybe a foamie). For one night I even camped out under the tailgate of a pick-up on an air mattress, with a tarp thrown over to stop the rain that was coming down. I have also pulled an assortment of trailers and equipment many miles. But at this stage in my life, even though my TV has a tow capacity of 5000 lbs.... I don't wanna pull that much. I think the main thing I don't want to do is hook/un-hook that heavy carp. And I live in a 36 foot fifth wheel so I can testify to the build quality. Older is generally better than new but I still had to make a lot of modifications to it. And I let someone else take the depreciation hit. I will say in it's defense, it's a whole lot less maintenance than a house, but it's only me so I don't need the space. I voluntarily down sized when I figured out I was only living in 250 sf of my 1750 sf home. And it's not moving so that makes for less maintenance.


I traveled many miles but it was always about business, not about the sights. Now I want it to be about the sights, I want to just meander around and see all the things I missed chasing paper.

To reach that end I decided I could build a tiny, light weight trailer. That thinking is what eventually lead me here. To an amazing group of people. I have to applaud what you have accomplished.


I have built plenty when I owned a house, and I have reinvented many things on this 5th wheel. But I have never built a TT or TD. I have a friend that worked for Fleetwood, building trailers for 25 years. He has already said he would help me. He just doesn't know yet what we are building it out of. Fortunately I know he will trust my judgement and listen to me. The only time he didn't listen to me was on a storage building kit and it came out wrong just exactly the way I said it was going to. So he may think I'm crazy at first, but he will trust me when I say we are building out of foam.


Now it's on to the read build threads and decide on a design. Then get something on paper. Maybe make a model. Hopefully I will be ready to build after July 4th. Yes I know that's the hottest time but my friend is undaunted by 105 degree heat but let it get 65 and he's looking for thermals.

BTW... I just love all of the smiley here...... <<< the future me!!