BEULA - a foam Winter Warrior with aero front

[OP827]

Sorry - make that a 6' span. Ch

It is a good measure to use spars, they do add weight though and it depends on what loads are you anticipating on the roof. If it is just a wind and rain, no heavy snow loads and you will be laminating both sides and there seems to be some roof curvature, I'd question the spars need. Tent trailer roofs do not have spars, for example, I found that out when I was demolishing my build donor tent trailer. The tent trailer roofs do not have spars for 6 feet flat span inside the boxed roof, just a thin painted aluminum foil outside, 1" expanded polyester foam and cheap thin luan for the roof sandwich, but it somewhat sagged with time though. If there is a curvature, it makes the roof more rigid. I myself plan on no spars for my build, it has curved roof at least in one plane, I think of doing just a combination of glued XPS 1-1/2" foam and fiberglass both sides. I am considering though to add hardwood strips or additional laminated foam strips on the inside for reinforcement or if it is one plane curve then I can just glue in 1/8" or 1/4" plywood or wood strips every foot or so, similar to what I did in my build with wall panels. In any case you do what is right for you to find a happy balance between the acceptable weight and strength/rigidity of the structure. Cheers,

[cpowell243]

OP,
Thanks - I may compromise and put in 2 spars between my hinge and rear support.
Another question - I saw that Wolffarmer and - I think - a few others sealed the bottom of floor with the mix and then full strength polyurethane vs. black goo. Was there any developing consensus on the forum about this? I've already sealed mine this way and, since I just got my trailer base back yesterday, need to decide whether to add the roofing cement (a job I'd rather avoid but will obviously do if needed).

[Wobbly Wheels]

FWIW, I used black goo because it's more of a self-healing treatment than other sealers. I figured that anything that formed a hard shell would get beat up by road debris and would eventually flake/peel and let water past, whereas black goo stays soft.

But that's probably overthinking - I've been known to do that

I also started with a very thin coat (thinned with paint thinner/mineral spirits) to soak deep into the wood like 'the mix'

[GPW]

We too vote for the black nasty stuff ... 2 coats and you’re good for decades ... That thinned coat first is genius W2 , and probably really helps when the THICK stuff goes on ...

Ps. You’ll notice the FS has no wheel wells , so the floor , coated with the BNS, also functions as wheel well liner ... We’ll see how that holds up over time ...

[cpowell243]

Thanks guys - black goo it is. Guess my day is planned. Seems to be something of an initiation rite. Any comments on design? If it looks like I'm headed for disaster, I'm not sensitive - just speak your mind. Would rather find out now while I can make changes.
Charlie

[cpowell243]

Goo is on. When dry will place on trailer base and started the foam part of the building project.

[Fred Trout]

Thanks guys - black goo it is. Guess my day is planned. Seems to be something of an initiation rite. Any comments on design? If it looks like I'm headed for disaster, I'm not sensitive - just speak your mind. Would rather find out now while I can make changes.
Charlie

The only thing I can see is that your trailer is going to be heavy & all that metal (especially raw edges) needs to be protected from rust/corrosion. If your tow vehicle can handle that weight then all is golden.

[cpowell243]

Fred,
Been trying to monitor weight as this is a major concern. Trailer weighs in at just under 300 lbs. Nose section is 35 lbs. Sandwich floor is 85 lbs. My bed pedestal/dinette is 65 lbs. Mattress will likely add another 30 lbs. (haven't settled on a mattress yet).
Rear wall and door will add - I'm guessing - another 60 lbs of plywood. Battery and A/C add another 100 lbs. (both behind wheel wells to reduce tongue weight). Rest is foam walls, foam doors with aluminum windows, and ceiling, which shouldn't add more than 80 lbs. (???). Will be using no cabinetry as the Winter Warrior design precludes anything hanging from the walls. Kitchen will be 2X4 plastic table with a cut-out for sink. I have a 4 gallon water tank that will sit on a raised platform above the sink. Utensils/cooking gear will be in a three drawer plastic unit from Ikea - another 10 lbs. Add a few chairs and screen tent and we are at approx. 750-800 lbs. TV rated to pull 1,000. ????
Ch

[cpowell243]

Fred,
Forgot to add - been watching your Breadbox build closely and have been plowing through Glen's Foamstream- both threads helpful, to say the least. My wife thinks our existing TD (plywood Cub design) is fine and that this foam thing is a fool's errand.
Ch

[GPW]

She may be right .... or not ...

Remember plywood is 57 # / cu. ft. , Foam is 2 # ... So the idea to save weight is use more foam and LESS plywood ... best ask the wife about that ...

[cpowell243]

I'm betting she'll like everything about Beula once she is done - assuming she holds together as planned.

[Fred Trout]

Please don't rely on any mad idea I come up with I barely know which end of a saw to use and have no plan, and envy every other builder skills here. Everything I have put together so far is out of square, crude, damaged, and looks like hell up close But if it keeps out the rain and cold and gets us there, it's good enough !!

I think the best thing you can do is take a middling rectangle piece of foam scrap, wrap TBII & canvas all around it, let it cure for a couple of days and then hand it to the wife with some band-aids asking her to destroy it with her bare hands & feet. That should convince her.

[cpowell243]

Fred,
I've been following your thread and you're anything but a hacker. No worries on the domestic end here - Beula will happen.
Just placed floor on the trailer base today. Thinking I should cover the interior of the walls before they go up. Gary (Rayvillian) has used bedsheet/paint and I'm wondering if it would work to glue bedsheet to the foam with white glue (thus clear), thus having the bedsheet work sort of like a wallpaper surface. Many foamies have used luaun glued to the inside of the foam wall, but I'm not fan of the wood look and it adds more weight. Is that done for additional strengthening and if so, how important? Will bedsheet/glue also add strength?
Th

[Fred Trout]

It will certainly add lots of lateral deflection strength back in when you have reduced the strength with all those wall penetrations for windows and doors. It's easy for foam to flex & break in those thin pieces remaining where the door is (most people tape the door back in to prevent that) and the canvas/sheet prevents that sort of flex from ever happening. I would just use harbor freight canvas because it's cheap (16 bux per 9x12 did 2 sides plus for me) & going to be stronger than sheets. From reading here, many folks who use sheets have more problems with bubbles and lots of imperfections showing through.

The second reason to canvas/cloth the interior was to prevent knock damage. My raw foam sheets end up with tons of dings, tears, broken edges. In my mind, the thicker the cloth, the better it protects. Keep in mind that TBII makes a stiffer wall covering, so I will at least put on a coat after I use latex paint to glue the canvas.

I should take some close ups of all the ugly work & errors in the teardrop and I have barely started it Think I will - a best of the bloopers post.

[cpowell243]

Can someone out there tell me an easy way to advance to a specific page in a thread? I've been reading the Foamstream and Breadbox threads and each time I log-in I have to manually go through all of the pages I've read thus far to get to where I left off. Had same problem reading the Thrifty thread. Nothing in the FAQs. Something simple I don't understand, I hope?