Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

From what we’ve all learned so far , here’s a place to design and develop the idea of a Standard Foamie’ trailer ... With the correct proportions , so Anyone can build one , and not have problems later ...
Please , any suggestions/ comments /ideas would be greatly appreciated ... lets all work on this together , see what we can come up with ... KISS principle heavily applied !!!

to me a "standard" foamie would be a teardrop shape in a 4x8 or 5x8 size.

That’s a great place to start , although personally , I find the 4’ wide a little “restricting” , but then I’m Large (6’3” ) ... just sayin’ ... by the time you use 2” foam on a 4’X8’ floor , you end up with 44" wide inside ... 5’X8' would give you 56” wide inside ... Better !!! The wider 5’ trailer wheel stance would be better too from an aerodynamics standpoint , viz. crosswinds .. JMHO

Wide and low is good, an aerodynamic nose is pretty much a requisite. Although there are plenty of folks who are ok with a 4x8 trailer, I went wider just cuz the extra space is a plus from a comfort point of view. (The width of the frame dictated the width too). Pretty much everything else is up to the builder. Different things become necessary depending on the size of the build.

I would appreciate the standard size then a section on growing it to a wider, longer higher size. Emphasis on how to attach at the base, how to attach wood to foam, metal? to foam? glues to use, what does work. How to attach to the trailer. How to wire for electricity. How to hang up (attach) lights? How to stabilize for the hatch usage? How to build the hatch and how to put it on. What to use for the hinge? Doors need all kinds for the single woman can it be made to look safe, unbreakable? I am thinking Foamie folks I have lots of questions????? I keep reading but this type of thread will be great!!!

Take me by the hand build Please.
Mary

Mary, you Need to read the BIG thread ...

Mary C wrote:I would appreciate the standard size then a section on growing it to a wider, longer higher size. Emphasis on how to attach at the base, how to attach wood to foam, metal? to foam? glues to use, what does work. How to attach to the trailer. How to wire for electricity. How to hang up (attach) lights? How to stabilize for the hatch usage? How to build the hatch and how to put it on. What to use for the hinge? Doors need all kinds for the single woman can it be made to look safe, unbreakable? I am thinking Foamie folks I have lots of questions????? I keep reading but this type of thread will be great!!!

Take me by the hand build Please.
Mary

i can't answer all those question, but i know we use gorilla glue to attach foam to wood and foam to foam. the wood floor was bolted down to the frame. i did not wire electric. i just run an extension cord from the land power and into the camper or to the hatch. i had a group come build my hatch, so i did not do mine and could not tell you how. but there are several threads in the main forums about hatch building.

A bunch of those questions have been addressed in the stickies, also. I would suggest for a standard foamie to be the simplest forms. If you are going 4-5x8, the weekender/grasshopper shapes give the most usable space for the size. If you have to heve a traditional tear shape (the cub/modernistic is my favorite), it would need to stretch to al least 10 ft long.

I ran wiring by cutting grooves into the foam and using the groove as a channel to run my wire in. Just as an aside, don't make 90 degree corners when grooving the channels, make the turns at 45 degrees. To hang lights and other things, we used "hard points". That's just a fancy way of saying we took a square of scrap plywood and cut a "hole" so that you can glue that square flush with the surface of the foam and you now have something for mounting screws to bite into. For my foam to foam gluing. I used thickened epoxy, for wood to foam gluing I used Titebond II, For the little bit of canvas to foam that I did, I used Glidden Gripper (It's a thicker than ordinary primer). I used fiberglass and epoxy for my skin since I wanted a smooth finish. IMO, canvas is easier to use. Just keep asking as you run into questions and we'll give you answers. Be prepared for lots of different opinions, many methods have been tried, most with some success. We've also experimented with a few things that we nixed.

Reading the large thread is a good idea but it is going to be painful and I did it when it was only about 200 pages long but there is a TON of info in it, if you can find the time to spend on it. Otherwise you can ask away on that thread too.

Well we can’t spoon feed the new folks all the information contained in the other threads , but we can present them with a SIMPLE shape , and let them go from there ...
About the sizes , I think it should follow the user’s trailer size ... Since foam can easily be added to or subtracted from the 4’X8’ sheet (unlike plywood ) Material size is of a lesser consideration , so everything doesn’t have to be the old 4’X8’ standard ... keeping with close to “square” proportions in cross section would be good , favoring wider , rather than taller .. wheels outside of the cabin width .. maximum “roll” stability that way ... as example , a 60” wide trailer frame , would also have a cabin height ~ 60 “ ... Simple !!!

for a Standard , all those Teardrops are “adorably Cute” , but more difficult to construct ... So I’d think a simple rectangular Box with a simple but aerodynamic nose would be easy for anybody ... and a great introduction into Foamies '... You and I know , these things are like Potato chips (crisps) ... You can’t have just the one ... The “second’ one can be something more Curvy , once some basic foamworking (hey , a new word ) skills are learned ...

So here’s yet another drawing , to get things going ... about as simple as it gets , all sized on the X (your number here . preferably the width of the trailer frame ) measure, everything square or quarter square ... save the nose, that is aerodynamic , yet easy to build ...

we might not beable to "spoon feed" but we could possibly put it in nicer terms. i was a newbie once, and i would have hated to read that. i know we should just pull up our big girl panties, but you are right that any newbie must read and read, and read some more. i think i read for 2 yrs before my build, and i was more confused with every reading. however, everytime my husband suggested something or asked about something i had answers to give him for why this, that or the other could or could not work.. so i was actually learning even though i was confused.

so bottom line is that i do believe everyone coming here, should read, and read then read some more.

OK, My not so good choice of words... But it’s True huh ? There’s So Much information to be digested as this is a rather “new” concept to most of us... and we’ve already said enough anyway huh ?
I’d love to help everybody and walk them each through a Foamie build ... It’s just not Practical ... The Information is available to those that want it , which Does require a good deal of reading , or just a leap of Blind faith ...
The idea is once we establish a standard shape , we can dissect every little nook and cranny and explain in detail the building and function ... something even Grandma could build ... (sorry Grandma’ )

hey i resemble that remark!

Me too , I’m Old enough to be somebody’s G-Pa ... or even Great G-Pa ( in some countries )

I agree with Louella, read, read ,read and that will make you think you're confused... All you need to do is set out at that point and figure out what makes sense to you (the builder) and your needs. Just start sketching or if you're the type, just start building. GPW has his methods and needs, Louella has hers, I have mine, KC has his, WW has his, Bonnie has hers, etc., etc., etc. Thus far all the methods of joinery and skinning that have been put into actual foamies have worked, just one small disaster from a design pov (too tall, too light, shoulda been wider) but everyone has learned from that one. You just gotta figure out what you want and the best way for you to get there. Building with Foam is pretty forgiving and much easier than the traditional method. Now that I've got one under the belt, build number two (which I really don't NEED to do, but would be really fun) is taking shape in my mind. My unfiltered ideas include a 5th wheel foamie or a standie foamie complete with shower and toilet. Again just unfiltered thoughts... a design exercise for my idle mind