Foamie Race Trailer~Build Finished 1st Trip

[RRJR]

After several failed attempts at Sketchup, I decided to just build a scale model of what I'm planning.

It will be a lifting roof standie with a rear door entry.
The lifting roof when open will fold out into an awning.
The rear door will be a double door set-up with two 21" doors making an opening wide enough to easily load my son's race bike.
It will have fold outs on both sides that turn the couches into beds.
Air conditioner will be on a sliding tray in the front.
Dimensions will be 13'L x 6'W x 5'H with a height of 7' when open.
It will be 2" foam walls. Canvas and paint outer covering. I scored 100' of 2" J channel metal flashing for $50, so all edges that butt together or mount to the floor will be edged in metal.
I'm not sure of what I'm going to use for a trailer. It has to be no more than 15' long and 7' wide so it fits in my garage.
No bathroom. I have a outdoor shower set-up for cooling off after the races.
No kitchen. We'll just keep using the propane stove. Space inside for ice chests.
Most of our trips will just be over nighters. We will arrive at the tracks the day before the races for a little extra practice then leave soon after the race is finished. That way we make it home in time for work and school on Monday.
The main reason for the trailer is to have somewhere to cool off between races and to be able to just back it into the garage when we get home late on Sunday night. Right now I have to unload every thing out of the back of the truck when we get home.

Any opinions or suggestions welcome.

[GPW]

RR, looks Good !!! That’ll do it !!! 

[ghcoe]

Looks good...

[Pmullen503]

It looks like the sides fold out to make room for a pair of single beds, kinda like the pull out ends of a pop up. I like that.

[Mary C]

well, I can say you have the right idea. and I am impressed.

Mary C.

[lthomas987]

That looks great! I am excited to watch your full scale build progress!

[RRJR]

The build begins......

I've been watching the freebie section on Craigslist for weeks and finally I scored some foam. I got over 400 sq ft of mostly
24" x 96" x 2". The guy also gave me 2 full sheets of 3/8" plywood and 3 sheets that are cut into 48" x 48" pieces and two windows.




This is a shot of how I'm planning on using the "J channel" flashing on the edges of the foam.






Gluing up the first panel



One of the lifting roof side panels with the metal flashing installed.


Due to my lack of build space I'm going to be building(or trying) this trailer in reverse. Kind of like I'm ripping a trailer apart.
Starting with the lifting roof and working my way backwards to the floor. Then when I get to that point I'll reverse the order and hopefully all the pieces will fit together.

[GPW]

RR , Great find on the foam and other goodies ...

[RRJR]

I've been doing a little work on my project.
So far I've got about $50 spent on supplies and 12 hours work.

Since all my foam and plywood were recycled from the freebie section of craigslist, I've spent a lot of time gluing the smaller
2 x 4 x 8 pieces of foam together to make the wall sections. I now have all the walls done and ready to cut out the profiles.

After completing the walls I moved on to the floor. It consists of 2" foam sandwiched between layers of 3/8ths plywood. U used Titebond 2 and screws to bond the floor together. Since the plywood was also from the freebie section of craigslist, I had several splices in the floor. Just to make myself feel better I covered all the splices with canvas that was glued down with TBll and the given 2 coats of paint over the top. I'm not sure if that is going to give it any extra strength but ut can't hurt.

Here's some pics.

[GPW]

Oh Yeah !!! Good Idea !!! ... You certainly approach this with the correct Thrifty attitude. I applaud that !!

[RRJR]

Thanks GPW!

So far the only thing I've had to buy is a box of screws, 2 gallons of TBll and a 12 x 9 canvas from HF Tools.
Everything else were freebies from craigslist. I'm keeping my eyes open for a shop vac and some kind of power saw.

Ripping 4 ft sections of plywood to size with a hand saw was a work out. I earned my self some man sized blisters on my thumbs from the handle of the saw. It wasn't until I went inside for a break that I was smart enough to realize I should be wearing gloves. This was only made possible because the wife upon seeing my blisters said "Why aren't you wearing the gloves I got you for Christmas?"

[RRJR]

Got some work done on my project.
So far I spent about $75.00 for glue, oops paint, a box of screws, 1 hf tarp and 36 yards of burlap. All of the other materials were free from craigslist. I've got all of the wall sections glued together, the side sections that flip up when the roof is lifted, the floor and most of the top done.
Hours worked to date~ Just over 42 hours not counting the time spent driving around and picking up the free materials.

This is the roof for the lifting section. I glued up the 24" pieces of foam using pencils as dowels since I had a bunch laying around.
I then cut to the correct size and glued the metal roof flashing to the edges. If you look to the right in the photo you'll see my floor section. It is a foam core sandwiched between layers of 3/8tns plywood. Since all my materials are from the free section of craigslist I had to piece everything together. To make it stronger I reinforced the seams with a strip of canvas over the joint and then covered the entire floor on both sides with 10oz burlap glued down with glidden paint from the "oops" dept.



For extra reinforcement I cut strips of 10oz burlap and glued them down running at an angle across the joints where I glued the foam together. I will then cover the entire piece with the burlap and paint like I did the floor.

[RRJR]

I've been working about 4 hours a day on my build and it's starting to come together. I've got about 100 hours of working time and just over $200 in supplies. Mostly screws, rivits, glue, paint from the oops dept and 72 yards of 10oz burlap. All the foam, plywood and metal flashing were from the freebie section of craigslist.

I started by installing the metal flashing to the edges of the floor for where the walls will be attached.









Then I put up the 3 front wall sections along with the right side wall. Followed by the roof section that doesn't lift.





I then took a piece of 1" pvc pipe and cut it in half and molded it into a channel that will sit under the front hinge to channel any water that might leak past the hinge to the outside of the trailer.



Then I installed a shelf across the front.



After looking at the shelf for a while, I decided that I didn't like how it looked with one support in the middle and switched it to having 2 supports. The pic also shows a mock-up of the bench seat.



I then glued the metal flashing to the top of the left side wall. cut in the wood blocks for attachment point and covered the inside of the wall with burlap glued on with oops paint.







Left wall up. I had to get creative with clamping the wall down.





Then I put up one of the small rear walls that the doors will attach to. You can see where I cut the wall too short and had to add a piece of foam.



This pic shows how far along I am with the build.

[Fred Trout]

Always amazed how the things you build from humble beginnings come out looking so great.

[RRJR]

It's been awhile since I've updated my build progress but I've been working steadily and I can see the finish line.

I've got all the walls up, the lifting panels installed, the rear doors completed with locking door latch and windows. All of the wiring is done and the lights installed. The wheel wells were cut out and the cabin has been bolted to the trailer. The inside walls have been covered with burlap and the weave filled in with fast setting drywall compound that I mixed up with pva primer instead of water. Then it was sanded smooth and given a final coat of Rustoleum block and concrete paint. The Pergo wood floor is done. I just have to install the bench seats along the side walls and the inside will be done.

On the outside I've got about 75% of the burlap glued on to the foam. I still need to install the tongue box and the trim that goes along the bottom of the trailer. I've also have all the materials needed to extend and beef up the coupler of the HF trailer.

I haven't been very good about taking pics. I always forget while I'm working, then I'll remember when I'm cleaning up but I'm to lazy to go inside and get the camera. I always tell myself that I'll take some pics before I start working the next time, but of course I forget to.

This pic shows one of the side lifting panels




Rear doors installed with hole cut for one of the windows


Door latch installed still need to trim out


Inside of door cut out for window. I used a hot wire cutter that I made from a soldier gun.


Inside of door waiting for glue to dry


Window installed waiting for trim


My wife gave me grief for using $3.00 pyrex pie plates for windows, but I think they look pretty good.


View from outside with inside lights on


Inside view