Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Ok I been busy reading everything that I can for the past couple of weeks and I was thinking WOW INFORMATION OVERLOAD it would be awesome if we had a generic benroy made out of foam because everything is so much different even the frame because of the wall thickness on a foamie.
I see that GPW Sorta did that with his square build but I quickly figured out as soon as you add curves it is a whole new ball game
I propose we put together a generic build that is fairly simple, skinned on both sides, uses commonly found materials, a standard Habor Freight or similar trailer how nany leaf springs to take out ect. A standard 1 1/2 or 2 inch foam, spars ,anchor points, glues, canvas, everything written in a straight forward - how to manual- basically like the generic benroy except for foamies

Just a thought

Good idea, but you might consider eliminating the Galley , which is Much easier to build and from a Foamling’ point of view, galleys are problematic... All the rest is pretty simple !!!
#1 ... First you get the trailer !!! Assemble it and get it licensed.

Gizzmo I am putting together a sorta galley, I am working on the shelves for the galley now. I did make a wood frame as it is next to impossible to use metal hinges on foam. I could have used material for hinges but that would not have been what I wanted. I know that the amount of information is really filled with crazy but it is filled with diversity from all the different personalities and desires and experience levels, from Eagles platform for her grandchild to sleep on, to KC's hybrid, GPW's foam stream the whole thing is, we build with a sharing of information. it is helpful sometimes to know what part of the country you are from so we can make suggestions for things. I know you are overwhelmed but.....................things will get better.
Here are some questions to help you start your way you don''t have to decide on here but they are for you to answer for your self.

1. what is your main problem with $ for a frame? Do you want brakes? how much can you afford what are the tradeoffs for you? Have you priced out what is available in your area? How big do you want your TD? What are your skills to repair and configure an old trailer? Do you weld? Do you posses knowledge to rebuild an old trailer needing help? These are all sorts of questions to consider and my thought is you can purchase an old camper trailer and re build, refurbish, or.....purchase a Harbor Freight and build it yourself.

We cannot answer these types of questions on how they apply to you but these are the general questions that everyone building their own TD has to answer nor can we answer design questions how big or your basic design needs but we can tell you about foam and how we built ours and then you can decide how to build yours.

This foamie build has only been around for a few years and we are still learning and sharing our experiences. The thing is it is a new and somewhat novel idea and there are naysayers out there who believe it cant be done. It is new we welcome any help in designing and ideas you may have. everyone has ideas, I used two 1/2 inch foam to use as my roof so I could bend it HA! I tried hot bending with hair driers, kerf and just using weights. You can look at all the ways we have tried it no decision with definite ways have been decided so...........we just used what we had and did it. I made some mistakes but oh well. I think what we all figured out is, when you cover it with canvas it hides some of those boo boos and none of us are expecting perfection. This is why this whole subject is new for us all. the whole idea was thrifty, and I say Light to build "no heavy plywood to lift." and it turns out light weight to pull with Tow vehicle.

Just Read the thrifty alternatives thread and take things one at a time We are here to help!!

Mary C.

Before you go taking out springs consider the principle of the Foamie’ Ballast System (500# ) .... Foamies are incredibly Light for their size, and sometimes you want to add a little weight ...just to improve the towing under certain conditions...

GPW wrote:Good idea, but you might consider eliminating the Galley , which is Much easier to build and from a Foamling’ point of view, galleys are problematic... All the rest is pretty simple !!!

I think my galley design is pretty straight forward and simple. I think it could be even simpler if I did not have such a tight radius on the hatch. If I built another I would probably simplify even more by eliminating the radius or a angled flat piece.

GPW wrote:Before you go taking out springs consider the principle of the Foamie’ Ballast System (500# ) .... Foamies are incredibly Light for their size, and sometimes you want to add a little weight ...just to improve the towing under certain conditions...

I flipped over the bottom spring. Easy and you don't have to mod anything....

Yea before I posted I thought about all the different ways of doing things but it is the same with wood I was just hoping for a basic simple design that was laminated on both sides as that is what most are doing. If we want to do something different we could always search that out, same as the wooden benroy it is just one design and you can modify it anyway one wants to but at least it is a starting point, just as it would probably be easier to use thinner foam on the roof than it would be to kerf or heat a thicker one after you have the basic principal you can decide if you want to heat or kerf to get the bend. I just thought it would be nice to have an actual starting point as there is always variables.

Just a thought

Jim, I guess the whole idea is confusing but take into account most here have already built a wood TD. I haven't and I know what you are saying believe me I wanted a design and specs and I didn't understand that one of the reasons there wasn't one done is that one of the main things is the freedom to build what you want. the specs for benroy is done just transfer the word plywood to foam , glue on the luan to canvas. aluminum to paint. It is the Idea that there is not any one special way to put the roof on. If you read the thrifty thread and the other later build threads we are still working on things like that and we haven't really perfected any specific way. If you want to use wood spars then go for it.

One of the reasons we want pictures if you note I have just pictorially shown how to remove divots. This is to help people , we have mentioned using the iron but no where have we actually shown what heat can do so I did it. Incidentally I did not change anything on my Harbor Freight trailer. I followed the directions and put it together. so a lot of people say change this and that but surprise, surprise, you don't have too.

The main thing is width and height. when deciding what size you want check with the group another reason we like the pictures and information is because we get to see your ideas come together and we get to suggest and mention things to be considered and we see new ideas .................

Mary C.

It probably took Benroy some time to come up with the plan he did. It was/is a evolution that in time will come to a end product and there will be a accepted way of construction. The Foamie is not there yet. This is one of the reasons I like building a foamie. It is like pioneering into a place and making a home, and maybe in a hundred years your home will still be there, or maybe it has already faded into obscurity. We already have some set acceptable ways to construct the foamie and others that are not. In time there will be a benroy of the foamie kind. And you could be the one to make it be......

Like I said Just an idea.

I am already starting to form a plan in my head
I want it 4 ft wide inside ( so with 2 inch foam I need to add an extra 4 and3/8 plus space for the tires to clear unless I have my floor cut out slightly to accommodate for the tires)
I want it eight feet long ( floor space) ID ( but I want both the front and back rounded so I might need to join some foam together)
I want it 40 inches tall from the top of the mattress to the inside of the roof
Two doors
Galley
Under six hundred lbs
Leaf springs with light shocks
No electric hook ups
No LP hook up
Fabric both inside and out

That's what I am thinking thus far

I might build my own trailer so I can get the right axle spacing depends on what I can find
At this point I am for sure planing on using some wood spars In the roof and for the galley ( I will try to minimize for weight, but not so much as to reduce integrity)
Any way that's what I m thinking so far but who knows all that might change as I learn more
Hey I just had a thought I could put temporary spars in, put my roof on, skin the out side, after everything is dried take out the spars and then put the inside skin on, then replace the spars
Anyway I just wanted to thank everyone so far and I'll keep studying

With a 4’ wide Foamie' , it’s unlikely you’ll even need the spars ... The only wood in my #1` Foamie’ (the 4’ wide one) is some simple door and window framing... and the plywood floor ... that’s it .... Three years now , it’s been beat on by tall Blondes , Rained on , hailed on , Hot summer sun, bird poop ...etc. But it’s still in great shape living outside , DRY as toast inside ... My wooden TD couldn’t do that , my commercial Rv couldn't either... foam ... No problems ...

Best think of "hard tent" , rather than luxury mobile home ...