Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Asking for a friend.

Question came up about the longevity of XPS, just getting background information.

Mine is ten years old ... Probably others older ...

GPW wrote:Mine is ten years old ... Probably others older ...

I read through your thread on the Foamstream, that was an amazing build. And it appears you were the originator of this idea, if I'm reading the timeline correctly?

I'm probably only going to build an interior out of foam composite, either PMF or Epoxy. PMF if I can get the surface smooth, Epoxy if I can't. But let me ask you if you've had any issues with your rig in those ten years? And how many miles have you put on it?

It really is a remarkable build, my hat is off to you for your ingenuity and skill.

XPS does lose r-value over its lifetime, but I can't find anything about its physical properties changing as it ages. I think lifespan of a foamie will have more to do with its care and maintenance than any materials choice.

Heck, im not even done with my first build, and I'm already thinking about #2

The Big Pink was started by Mike in 2011.
I finished it in 2014, it has held up very well. It has traveled thousands of miles with no problems.

viewtopic.php?f=55&t=56441&start=483

Tac, Love the Big Pink !!!

The oldest Foamie we know of was by a guy called Glassice ... We don't know if he ever finished it .. Then came the Bub , which was rather crude but workable ... That's as old as we know ...

viewtopic.php?t=11853

GPW wrote:The oldest Foamie we know of was by a guy called Glassice ... We don't know if he ever finished it .. Then came the Bub , which was rather crude but workable ... That's as old as we know ...

viewtopic.php?t=11853

That post is almost humorous.

Tony

GPW wrote:
The oldest Foamie we know of was by a guy called Glassice ... We don't know if he ever finished it .. Then came the Bub , which was rather crude but workable ... That's as old as we know ...

That post is almost humorous.

Tony

Tony, by "that" post I was not sure if you were referring to what GPW posted or the string of Glassice's posts contained in the link that GPW provided.

In any event, I spent a while reading the string of Glassice's posts in the link. What a hoot!

Later, when I have time, I will continue reading Glassice's posts in order to find out the rest of the story.

Unless I missed something I think Glassice just quit ... I believe he was having trouble getting the glass over the foam smooth ... a problem that still exists today ...

Tony, by "that" post I was not sure if you were referring...

I was referring to Glassice's post.

As our old friend Gage put it:

"He has posted 8 times and except for the fact he said nothing about his fenders in this post, he has said the same thing in every post. And his avatar, sure doesn't look like a one piece fiberglass teardrop to me. He probably stole that pic from someone else’s web site just like he did with the first avatar. He sure isn't getting off on a good foot."

And Glassice's response:

...and i belve your about 50 mi from me drive by and see for your shelf and I let you sand some glass.

Tony

It seemed like GI was trying to make a "slick" FG moulded trailer without a mould .... Building the FG on the foam .... which we now know has "difficulties" making it perfect ...
The Bub being more pragmatic , didn't depend on looking good ...which is why it likely got finished... The first "successful" Foamie trailer we ever saw , started a lot of Thinking ...
We've seen several nice boats made with foam and F/glass. But always in a mould . Glassice was just chasing his own tail ..
Funny remembering all the negative comments about Foam trailers , people Insisting there would be broken foam bits all over the road when our foamie trailers got up to highway speed and exploded ... Trucks passing would Blow them off the road ... I actually even got into trouble with the management here for trying to defend the idea of a foam trailer ( a warning to STFU.. ) .... Some people just insisted being Wrong ... All laughable now ... Now Foam trailers lasting longer ( and lighter) than commercial trailers ... which barely last their warranty period anymore ...

The world war II fighter bomber, the de Havilland Mosquito, was the fastest airplane seeing service for several years. It should be considered a "foamie"! Large parts of it were built of balsa wood (the foam equivalent) covered by thin plywood veneer (the fabric part). This was advantageous for Britain in that it used less strategic metals and utilized carpenters and furniture factories who would not have use for their skills otherwise. Later in the war it was produced in Canada as well.

The birch ply was imported from a company based in Marshfield Wisconsin. The balsa was imported from Equador. At one point when the submarine war was threatening imports, they considered replacing balsa with a foam made from calcium salts of sea weed agar. There was no XPS foam from big box stores in those days.

Due to its high strength/weight ratio it could carry large loads at high speeds and altitudes for great distances.

Andrew commented on this topic some time ago:
viewtopic.php?p=634287#p634287

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Havilland_Mosquito

Tom

HUBBA HUBBA WWII aircraft look so good! Lots of early aircraft were fabric covered, including my favorite the J-3 cub.

The Experimental Aircraft Association says "Grade A cotton was the fabric of choice until the 1960’s".
AND
"the fabric and coatings will have a service life of about 15-20 years"

The aircraft folk are a little nutty on saftey (rightfully so) I bet you could double that figure for a camper.

It should be considered a "foamie"!

Well... they were made from wood. No foam of course. And they made most of it using high-quality plywood and spruce. I'd call it a woodie.



Tony