Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Hey all,

I've been looking at, and thinking about building a foam teardrop for a while now, and I want to go as ultra-light as I can, for the size I want.

My T.V. is a 1981 Pontiac station wagon with a rebuilt Olds 307 engine. It already takes its time climbing mountains, and I've never wanted to get uphill that fast. That being said I also don't want to make it too much harder to drive around the country pulling a camper.

Because of that, I'm looking at buying an all-aluminum trailer. I also don't want to have to worry about waterproofing, rotting, and water damage, so I've been looking at getting one with an aluminum floor, that I would insulate from both sides.

My question is, how would I attach the walls to the trailer? I can always use aluminum studs and screw the studs to the floor, but how would I attach the foam to the studs?

Thoughts? Ideas? Complaints? Issues?
Thanks!!

A true foamie, if small does not need any vertical studs unless carrying heavy loads up top.

But foam can go between the studs, tons of miracle adhesives now.

Then if better insulation needed, can "skin" from either or both sides, again the right glue(s).

Then the real skin for strength and waterproofing.

You could test PL Premium glue and decide for yourself. I have good results with it so far.

3M makes a contact adhesive called Fastach 30 that is specifically formulated for attaching foam to aluminum, even under high temperature situations. It has held my 1" rigid foam insulation to the interior of my dark brown aluminum trailer (skin temp can reach 140F) for 8 years with no problems. Not cheap, but water based so no solvent smell and doesn't dissolve the foam, as solvent-based adhesives will.

<Chas>

In addition to proper adhesive, the most important to successfully bond Aluminium is its surface preparation.
Some information to start: http://www.epotek.com/site/files/Techtips/pdfs/Tech_Tip_24_-_Bonding_to_AL.pdf
In aircraft builds they etch aluminium with specific chemical solution prior to bonding to other materials.
Having said the above, the foam strength would most likely be the weakest link, not the glue and the aluminium surface prep.

GuitarPhotog wrote:3M makes a contact adhesive called Fastach 30 that is specifically formulated for attaching foam to aluminum, even under high temperature situations. It has held my 1" rigid foam insulation to the interior of my dark brown aluminum trailer (skin temp can reach 140F) for 8 years with no problems. Not cheap, but water based so no solvent smell and doesn't dissolve the foam, as solvent-based adhesives will.

<Chas>

Do you mean Fastbond? I can't find anything called Fastach 30. Fastbond is a contact adhesive but it is not recommend for aluminum. That said it is what I used to attach the aluminum skin to my teardrop.

Todd

Maybe GuitarPhotog meant this "fast tack": http://www.3m.com/1000NF ?