YAF (Yet Another Foamie) project?

[TeriL]

by GPW » 03 May 2014, 03:15
T, You’re right , you must engineer for You ... me, I’m a Gorilla , 60 # , no worries ... Sorry to interfere with your thought process... I ASSumed you were a big burly Texan . ... My bad !!!

Hi Glen,

No problem.

Not everyone is a Gorilla. Many of the folks on this forum are retired like me. As we get older, our strength declines. Besides, as a female, my strength was never very great.

I try to think like I were designing for production even if I'm only making one item. It's in my blood and trained response as an engineer in a production oriented company. A manufacturer would not assume everyone could lift 40+ lbs if they wanted to sell any units. Another part of my engineering training is designing for tolerance variations. Easy to design to 0.0000001" in CAD but making it is entirely something else.

-- Teri

[GPW]

Sorry T’ , I didn’t realize you were Retired ...

[TeriL]

It's been a while since I posted anything about my foamie design. I've been busy building a new PC, learning Windows 8.1 quirks and debugging it.

I added some windows as living in a cave is not my preferred shelter unless it was during a tornado. A foamie is definitely not the place to be in a tornado! I plan on making my own windows as I don't think it could be that difficult (famous last words!).



I've resolved the door issue. I decided to use a sliding door and toss out the idea of a slide out galley. I couldn't come up with a suitable (to me) design that wouldn't interfere with the sliding door. Since I have designed in a camping "porch", it occurred to me to just have a rolling galley cart that can be stowed during travel. It would be stowed inside against the left fixed lower back wall with ratcheting cargo straps during travel.



The porch folds upward in the middle for travel as this would make it simpler to set up at camp with only supports for the far end. However, it might be awkward in the folding process. The middle is supported by a cable brace as you can see in the images. Chain instead of cable might be better as it doesn't "kink" like cable can . A turnbuckle adjusts the length to keep the sections in the same plane (ie. level).



For rear supports, some sections of pipe with the clutch portion of pipe clamp sets could be infinitely adjustable height adjusters for over all leveling. "C jacks" aren't that expensive but would be overkill I think. Any better (inexpensive) ideas out there?

For the front roof hinge, sealing against water while traveling and camping is a concern. I'm not convinced "hurricane hinges" would keep out water under both conditions due to the roof slope. Whatever hinge(s) are used, a full width rubber seal strip under the hinge seems prudent. A groove in the roof and body sections to allow a small fold of the rubber strip would be necessary as the hinge point would otherwise stretch the rubber strip. I show this in my design.



I know, slow design process.

-- Teri

[bonnie]

I like the changes. Gonna be a fun build to watch.

[TeriL]

I like the changes. Gonna be a fun build to watch.

Thanks Bonnie.

Being a retired engineer, I'm a bit OCD about designing before building. Even so, I know from experience there WILL BE "Engineering Changes" during the build.

-- Teri

[atahoekid]

I like the changes. Gonna be a fun build to watch.

Thanks Bonnie.

Being a retired engineer, I'm a bit OCD about designing before building. Even so, I know from experience there WILL BE "Engineering Changes" during the build.

-- Teri

Oh Silly Me!!! During my build I called them errors....

[TeriL]

I like the changes. Gonna be a fun build to watch.

Thanks Bonnie.

Being a retired engineer, I'm a bit OCD about designing before building. Even so, I know from experience there WILL BE "Engineering Changes" during the build.

-- Teri

Oh Silly Me!!! During my build I called them errors....

Sometimes they're called "Engineering enhancements"

I expect to make many enhancements

[GPW]

Teri, sorry, don’t mean to throw a wrench into the Engineering soup... Just thinking ( ) .. if you built that on one of those lower flat bed carry type trailers ... Those come with a fold up ramp on the back that might also suffice as a fold down Patio/Kitchen area, sturdy enough for any use. Lower profile would make it easier to handle/store/enter... Wheels outboard of the cabin would add stability ... just some ideas ... FWIW
Love the drawings ...

[TeriL]

Teri, sorry, don’t mean to throw a wrench into the Engineering soup... Just thinking ( ) .. if you built that on one of those lower flat bed carry type trailers ... Those come with a fold up ramp on the back that might also suffice as a fold down Patio/Kitchen area, sturdy enough for any use. Lower profile would make it easier to handle/store/enter... Wheels outboard of the cabin would add stability ... just some ideas ... FWIW
Love the drawings ...

Just from where did you think I stole the idea?

If it's worth anything, it's worth stealing!

The cargo trailers with the rear ramp use a cable/torsion spring arrangement to help lift the ramp. That's an option I'm considering, but it forces deck entry to the rear only. I've been places where that would be a problem.

A wider track trailer would indeed be more stable but I like to semi off road and many times the "road" is pretty narrow in places. Besides, a Foamie is so light that the CG height is dominated by the the trailer's own mass.

As I noted in my very first post, I thought the Horrible Fright trailer design puts the deck too high. The design as drawn is based on the Horrible Fright trailer. I'll probably make a custom trailer and lower it as much as possible with the off roading in mind.

If you look at my album V0.2, the interior cut away section shows the wheel wells poking up into the interior floor. My design is for the body to extend to the outer edge of the fenders. Also, the custom trailer will be designed with regular 13-14" passenger car tire for better availability in mind. If by bad luck a tire gets damaged, regular car tires are more likely to be found in Boondock USA.

I've always wondered why most cargo trailers waste the potential interior volume by placing the wheels outboard of the cargo box. Yes, I realize it make the cargo box a bit more complex and expensive, but more weather tight volume would be a selling point, at least to me if I were considering one.

Thanks for the compliment on my drawings. Actually it's Sketchup that makes such nice drawings. I'm just drawing lines in the program. I wished I had your skills in making drawings by pencil on paper.

-- Teri

[Olddog1]

Actually it's Sketchup that makes such nice drawings. I'm just drawing lines in the program. I wished I had your skills in making drawings by pencil on paper.

-- Teri

Teri, I like your design but I'm going to have to call BS on this statement. Hopefully I can get a handle on sketchup before I wear the eraser out.
L.

[TeriL]

Actually it's Sketchup that makes such nice drawings. I'm just drawing lines in the program. I wished I had your skills in making drawings by pencil on paper.

-- Teri

Teri, I like your design but I'm going to have to call BS on this statement. Hopefully I can get a handle on sketchup before I wear the eraser out.
L.

Hi Lamar,

Well, I guess that's a backward compliment.

My sketching abilities with a pencil are no where near Glen's (GPW). Early on, he had some "sketches" that looked like something Leonardo Da Vinci would have drawn. Glen's an artist literally. I do know how to manipulate Sketchup reasonably well. Much of that skill was developed the hard way, by banging my head against the wall until I broke through. You should see the holes in my walls

Start by just drawing a basic shape, a rectangle for instance. Extrude (Pull in Sketchup parlance) it normal to the rectangle (that's the only way you can). Now, press the Spacebar, double click on a face to select it and Move it any direction. You should have a strange looking quadrilateral instead of a normal rectangular box. Press and Hold the mouse middle button to Orbit about the object you just drew.

Experiment with the commands on basic shapes before trying to draw your dream trailer. There are many YouTube tutorials out there. You have to learn to crawl before you can walk much less run. Patience!

-- Teri

[capnTelescope]

Start by just drawing a basic shape, ... Press and Hold the mouse middle button to Orbit ...

That sent my head into orbit! No wonder I can't get my head around 3D. I think I'll stick to making things that are just 2-1/2 D.

[TeriL]

Start by just drawing a basic shape, ... Press and Hold the mouse middle button to Orbit ...

That sent my head into orbit! No wonder I can't get my head around 3D. I think I'll stick to making things that are just 2-1/2 D.

Earth to Brad (capnTelescope). Re-entry procedure is encouraged.

You are familiar with 2D CAD to generate the CNC codes for your router. The other 1/2D is only another baby step.

-- Teri

[capnTelescope]

Re-entry procedure is encouraged.

Brain fried on re-entry.

My problem seems to be that I can't remember how to do it from tutorial to actual application. Part of the problem might be the low-budget CAD program I'm using.

[atahoekid]

GPW and I would both encourage paper and pencil. Maybe it's because I worked with paper and pencil for a few years that makes CAD drawing seem so labor intensive and illogical. GPW is an artist, which explains his ability to draw. Me, I'm just old school and quite happy about it.