Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I just discovered what you guys are doing with foam and it is beyond awesome UNBELIEVABLE Now this has probably already been done or discussed. I was wondering if there is anything out there about building a Slide in Camper out of foam. I'm sure that it will have to have wood or steel support for the over cab bed and wood for the bottom part that slides in and out of the bed. Other than that, I wonder if it would work to have the walls, and roof made out of foam. I have a 1/2 ton truck with an 8 foot bed and have looked into a slide in camper but it is either the price or the weight. I'm limited on options with just having a 1/2 ton. I was just wondering if it would be possible and if there would be any real weight savings. I know that most of the weight and price for a slide in comes from the interior furnishings but I just want the shell opened up with out having all of the furnishings.

with ply floors and a wood truss to tie the cab overhang back to the sides, you should be able to make a much lighter slide-in with foam walls and roof.

There are several examples that I have seen, either referenced on this board or thru Google searches, where they used either a hybrid method (usually foam wood and epoxy/glass weave, or high tech composite panels... but I see no reason why a properly designed slide in could not be made mostly with foam and canvas. Some runners for abrasion protection when sliding in and out (do they really ever slide... isn't it more like driving under and setting the thing down on the back of the truck?).

I wouldn't be so quick to assume that a wooden superstructure is needed, either. Glue sandwich of thin ply inside (5 mm or even 1/8 inch) 1-1/2 or 2 inch thk foam, and FRP or Filon outer skin might do it for the sides. 1x2 or 3 on edge every foot or so bridging the walls over the cab to support the mattress (skinned and filled with foam similarly) should be enough for a distributed (butt on mattress) load.

I have a friend that built a drop in (straddles the inner wheel wells, so does not slide out) using thin ply, and 1 inch square alum tube frame bolt together using 1x1x1/8 alum angle stock cut to 1 inch lengths as connecting brackets. He has been from Northeast to outer banks SC and as far as Alaska. Line that with 1 inch foam and GPW's painted chipped cardboard and Bob is your uncle. Simple, relatively inexpensive, fast build, and pretty light weight, too.

I have seen a Slide In Camper made of composite panels. The ones that I saw were a bit pricy for my taste, something like $120 a panel and I would need around 15 of them, I have no experience with Filon. The more I think about this the more I'm interested in the idea. I'm going to have to look around a bit more.

You can create your own composite panels and it will be a whole lot less than $120 per panel. I built with the concept of the composite panel in mind. 5 mm underlayment for the interior, 2 inches of foam and a fiberglass skin. Just make sure that you get the glue up right and you should do fine. The Road Foamie has a couple thousand miles in harsh weather behind her and it is holding up fine. No damage, no leaks, no worries.

filon will be heavy, compared to a glued on fabric skin over foam, it also could have issues with the filon expanding and shrinking with temp that could cause wrinkles or keep it from staying attache to the foam.

for your consideration the following----- the floor would have to be a hard floor as opposed to a soft one because the weight when putting it on and off the trailer or truck bed. canvas over foam on the sides would be fine but where they meet with the truck bed sides they will get banged up I would put the canvas over a thin sheet of wood having the foam inside. you can cover foam and wood using TBII and the canvas will harden . Ok back to work

Mary C.

Yes, it can be done and you can do it!

Not sure if you have looked at my build or not, but I have been using angled roof flashing and metal beading (used on drywall corners) for hardening up my edges. Adds a lot of protection and is light.

Funny I just found this thread as I have been thinking along the same lines: building a foam based truck camper. I have a short bed Chevy 1500 1/2 ton so weight is also an issue. I have been reading a lot of threads looking to find a good support for the cab over section, maybe using a metal (aluminum or light gauge steel) "C" channel on top of the base side walls. That would be wrapped over with a fiberglass/epoxy layer and then the top wall mounted above that with a fiberglass layer to tie the two sections together. Then cover the whole outer shell with canvas/TB II and paint. Also giving some thought to a wooden "I" beam type structure with foam inside and out of the webbing all tied together with fiberglass. I feel comfortable working with 'glass/epoxy as I have build a wooden boat covered with it. having trouble finding a local source for good foam, I might end up having to go down to Houston. Don't like going down there anymore.
You all have a Merry Christmas and a safe New Years.
Tom

With panel side wall construction, and well wrapped lower corners all you really need to worry about is supporting the over cab bed from sagging in the middle from side to side. Keep a modest radius in the crook of the side wall to prevent creating a stress riser at that location.

1x3 on edge every foot to 18 inches, back filled with a layer of 2 inch and a layer of 1/2 inch should be more than adequate. Just think of them as roof spars running under the bed. A layer of 5 mm ply glued down to the foam with a few staples into the spars is all you need to keep from punching thru with your knee, especially once a mattress goes down.

I would tie these spars in very similar to the way that I did my wing table and fender blocking. Router a rabbet into the lower edge of the foam (3/4 deep by 2-1/2 wide) into the inside lower edge of the side wall foam where it extends out over the cab (only half way into the thickness of the foam). Extend this rabbet back past the notch radius to where it becomes a dado in the meat of the side wall a couple of feet (giving the ledger a good toe hold in past the radius notch), then glue 1x3 "nailers" (or ledger board, or blocking... whatever you choose to call it) into the foam. From there you can pocket screw the spars into the ledgers using a Kregg jig. The outside corner could be reinforced with the flashing, or just rounded over and doubled up on the canvas (or glass weave).

The part of the ledger that extends into the main part of the wall could be used to tie in the forward bulkhead, and other cabinets or shelving, further unitizing the structure.

Just a thought ... having installed interiors in Vans in the old days ... on the half ton models , once we added the interior and all the amenities, we were pushing the GVW of the vehicle ... I believe they rate trucks at a BARE weight , and everything else is extra , Just sayin’ , it’s easy to get overweight...
How about a Foam “camper top “ that slid in , clamped and used the truck bed as the “box” (interior) ...making all that floor , metal , and lumber business unnecessary ...

I had a huge slide in with a full queen size bed over the cab many years ago. I needed a little support under the bed and used an inner tube aired up in place under the bed and it took care ot the problem. No paint damage in thousands of miles.
Elmo

Been giving some more thoughts to this and am starting to think about a non cab over shell, 8 foot length over all which would require the tailgate to remain down full time, a width of 80 inches outside which would give me a full sized bed running east-west at the front of the camper. The rear wall would be a lifting hatch like a tear drop but the kitchen would be split to the two sides to allow access to the inside. I see two slide outs, one would hold the stove and prep area and the other would hold a microwave and coffee maker. These would be mounted on drawer slides and would serve as wing walls when extended out the rear of the camper. The ice box (cooler) would ride inside the camper till time for removal. I am thinking of starting the height of the camper at 4 feet at the front with a curve rising to 6' 6 at the rear. That would give me standing head room at the rear of the shell and sitting headroom at the front. The design is still in my head and I need to work out a lot of stuff and get it down on paper. I see using 2 inch foam on the walls and roof with 1 inch foam glued to the plywood box structure that will slide into the pickup bed. Need to take a bunch of measurements and then finalize the design.
Tom

Go for it!

Look at the foamie world for lots of light weight building ideas.