BEULA - a foam Winter Warrior with aero front

[OP827]

Charlie, some sketch would be good. I personally use 1/8" to 1/4" higher quality birch plywood for reinforcements of foam panels. I personally did not consider 3/4" plywood due to weight, except my trailer floor is 5/8" spruce plywood. Used 1/4" plywood and yellow birch 3/4"x 1-1/2" for furniture panels, which is maybe overkill as I could see how flimsy and thin the low grade spruce frames and thinner panels are in my other trailer made in a factory, but on the other hand taht trailer is not foldable, while my furniture will be part of trailer lower walls structure.

[KCStudly]

Maybe I'm not following your joint description fully, but bent flat metal corner brackets don't really add a lot of strength if just one is slung under a spar and screwed to the wall; they more or less just connect the two pieces together, but still allow a lot of flex.

A better joint would be to run the spars into a pocket in the wall and glue; to gusset with fillers between spars, or diagonals connecting spar to wall; any thing that spreads the connection over a larger joint area. The simple metal brackets alone kind of just make a hinge point, with the bend of the flat metal making the hinge.

Weak: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Unbranded-1-1-2-in-Zinc-Plated-Corner-Brace-4-Pack-15304/202033892
Better: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Unbranded-2-1-2-in-Zinc-Plated-Flat-Corner-Braces-4-Pack-15295/202034147?MERCH=REC-_-PIPHorizontal1_rr-_-202033951-_-202034147-_-N
Better still: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Unbranded-2-in-Zinc-Plated-Heavy-Duty-Corner-Braces-2-Pack-15442/202034088?MERCH=REC-_-PIPHorizontal1_rr-_-202033951-_-202034088-_-N

But I'm not a fan of the look anyway, so would try to find a better joint design. YMMV.

Screwing into the edge of plywood is (still) not advised. Screwing into end grain is not a good practice in general, but with ply the screws tend to wedge the plys apart making a weak joint that is vulnerable to water intrusion. (Sounds like an echo or Deja Vu momment. )

Maybe you could show a sketch or describe your planned joint in more detail?

[OP827]

I second that KC said above. Metal brackets are not apealing to me and screws are stress concentrators and water entry points. I like designing for more rigidity, distributed stress with plywood, wood and glue reinforcements.

[cpowell243]

Thanks to both of you. Will reconsider this and add a diagram. The use of metal brackets was a way to sacrifice cosmetics in favor of allowng headroom along the side of the bed (vs. gussets). May need the gussets though after your comments.
My plan was to screw into the face of the 3/4" laying flat on the inside of the foam (vs. end grain). I'm a long ways from getting to this point, though, as I am only now building my sandwich floor.
Thanks for folliowng my build. As you can see I need all the help I can get.
Ch

[KCStudly]

The best way to avoid many of the common mistakes is to read as much as you can of other people's build threads and the construction techniques threads.

I have learned so much about what works and what to avoid simply by absorbing all of the good advice given by those who have earned the experience and gone before.

Regardless of my blather, you will do fine. The most important thing is to have fun and share your experience along the way. It doesn't hurt to make some on-line friends, either.

[Mary C]

What KC said

Mary C

[cpowell243]

I appreciate the feedback and have spent many hours on the big thread and any builds I could find that are similar to mine before starting my work on BEULA. I could not find a foam Winter Warrior, which is ideal given the low profile of my TV and the weight of foam hatch vs. plywood hatch. The aero front was clearly a risky venture given it is - I think - a unique method. It seems structurally sound, but...

Trailer completed and brought home. [img][/img]

Trailer is 11'5" X 6'2". Axle is 51" from rear (37%).

[S. Heisley]

Trailer completed and brought home.

You're on your way now!

[Wobbly Wheels]

Heya Charlie,

Just checking in now that you've got the build thread up and running.
A quick question I meant to ask on your wall attachment pic: why the wood angle molding rather than aluminum ?
I'm not suggesting it's bad or anything, just curious.

Can't wait to see the nose mocked up onto the new trailer. This train's a-rollin' now !

[cpowell243]

Brian,
I assume your are referring to the wood bracket I built to secure the wall to the floor? Never occurred to me to use aluminum. Have you seen an angled piece 2" wide that would for this? I'm not too far into ti to change my plan and aluminum would be lighter.
Ch

[cpowell243]

KC,
Not sure if you are still tracking my progress, but the 2nd bracket you suggest would be much stronger and think I will go that route. Completely hides the bracket and can be used on both sides of my wood pillar. Would take major impact to bend tow of those - I'll get brackets that use the full 1 1/2" width of the pillar and spar that runs the span. Thanks.
Will add sketch to next post.

[Wobbly Wheels]

2" aluminum angle isn't hard to find - check with a local welder.

Instead of gluing dowels into the foam and down into the wood to hold the wall, you could run a flush head bolt (eg. 1/4-20 X 3" ?) from underneath with a nut on the top side of the aluminum to give you the stud to glue the foam onto. In that case, I'd probably go with thickened epoxy for the glue in those holes because I don't know how well polyurethane would glue to metal.
Alternatively, you could still glue dowel into the foam everywhere you're putting a screw so the threads have something to bite into.

[KCStudly]

I can find quite a few different forms of aluminum at my big box store; L, flats, small square tube sections. It probably isn't the most cost effective source, but it is handy.

Still glue your joints, even with the bracket.

[cpowell243]

Brian,
My reason for building the wood brackets was to get a 4" strip of melamine (or the inside of the 2" aluminum angle) on the inside of my wall, then glue a hard point on the outside of the wall, bolting the wall through the bracket (or angle), in addition to the glue. Seems like a bracket (or angle) screwed and glued directly to the floor and bolted to the wall would provide a secure mechanical attachment in addition to the glue. Will add diagram as soon as I can find the time. Busy week.
Make sense? Overkill?

[Wobbly Wheels]

I'm not getting what the 4" strip on the inside is for so a diagram would be great.
Melamine probably isn't the best thing to use in a trailer though...