My take-apart standup build #2

Design & Construction of anything that's not a teardrop e.g. Grasshoppers or Sunspots

My take-apart standup build #2

Postby Jim.M » Sun Dec 06, 2015 5:05 pm

Well I built a second camper because the first one was too much work to set up at camp, and breakdown was equally time-consuming and unpleasant.

My new one is 6'4X11', carried by a HF 1740 capacity trailer. When set up internal height is 6'4".

So far I've taken it to Valley of Fire State Park (NV), Canyonlands National Park (Horseshoe Canyon), Moab, Escalante/Grand Staircase National Monument, Grand Canyon South Rim, Great Basin National Park, and Death Valley National Park. And Burning Man.

Similar to the previous camper, it unbolts and 'flat' packs; I store it against a wall of my 2-car garage, which holds the camper, 2 cars, the trailer (folded), a Shopsmith, and a Honda Shadow.

I tow with either my Audi A4, or Jeep Grand Cherokee. The Jeep's suspension is old and tired, so towing with the Audi is far more comforable and it gets better fuel economy, too.

Anyhow, the roof section ended up being a bit too heavy for me to single-handedly raise, so I put together some lever arms and pulleys to help out. Motive force is supplied by an ATV winch.

Construction was accomplished with the cheapest, most awful wood Lowe's or Home Depot could supply me. 2x2 furring strips. 5mm underlayment. a few trimmed-down 2x3's for 'strength'. Ha!

Walls are insulated with 1.5" of polyiso insulation, the ceiling has 2". I spent a few extra dollars on paint; I sealed with Pettit Old Salem, and for exterior paint used Pettit Easypoxy.

The floor was and still is a disaster... I had tested 1" blue foam insulation sandwiched between 2 sheets of the 5mm underlayment, and whether I used Gorilla Glue or TiteBond III, the result was a very stiff bit of 2'x4' test composite. Unfortunately, the laws of physics, combined with an inability to understand the concept of scale, resulted in a very mushy and decidedly noodly floor. Trying to vacuum bag a 6'x11' floor was not working. nor did I have enough weight to pile on floor to ensure a good bond. Even if I had the weight, there is no place in my garage that is flat, except maybe a couple of 2'x3' spots. At any rate, I'm currently scoping out materials for a new floor. With the overhang of a 6x11 footprint on a 4x8 support, I need it to be quite a bit stiffer than it is now... especially when I've got it fully loaded.

set up for a camping trip, it weighs in at 1760 lbs or so. Weight for the empty camper is 1090 lbs. Things that are added for camping: batteries, inverter, lights, solar panel, carpet, mattress/bedding/pillows, tables, chairs, 2 spare tires, sink, kitchen stuff, 2 stoves, green propane bottles, little buddy heater, fan, 'zero-gravity' recliner camp chairs, ez-up shade.
Last edited by Jim.M on Mon Dec 07, 2015 12:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: My take-apart standup build #2

Postby Jim.M » Sun Dec 06, 2015 5:14 pm

Here I am with the roof half-raised. I lock the accordion walls with some 2x2 aluminum C-channel.
Image
Last edited by Jim.M on Sat Jun 03, 2017 1:20 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: My take-apart standup build #2

Postby Jim.M » Sun Dec 06, 2015 5:20 pm

Here is the other side being lifted. If you look inside the camper, you can see a 2x2x8... I have to wedge it in there to provide some stability to keep the roof going 'up' rather than sideways when lifting the other side. Again I'll put 2x2 aluminum c-channel in each of the accordion sections to keep them from opening. After that I just lift the front/rear walls (hinged at the base) and the trailer is ready for 'redecorating' (aka setting everything up that had to be laid horizontal while traveling).

Image
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Re: My take-apart standup build #2

Postby Jim.M » Sun Dec 06, 2015 5:25 pm

A picture of camp at Saline Valley Hot Springs... at the end of 50+ miles of unpaved road, 4000' passes, and miles and miles of washboard and sharp gravel.


Image
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Re: My take-apart standup build #2

Postby Jim.M » Sun Dec 06, 2015 5:29 pm

On the way out of Saline Valley... camper has pretty good ground clearance. I have to tape all the seams when traveling on dusty roads because I've yet discovered a way to weatherstrip that will withstand the rough treatment the camper gets when being disassembled/assembled and stored.

Image
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Re: My take-apart standup build #2

Postby Tomterrific » Mon Dec 07, 2015 11:04 am

I'm not seeing the pictures. Is it my tablet? This camper sounds very interesting so I'd like to see the details.

Tom in Col.
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Re: My take-apart standup build #2

Postby Jim.M » Mon Dec 07, 2015 11:53 am

Tomterrific wrote:I'm not seeing the pictures. Is it my tablet? This camper sounds very interesting so I'd like to see the details.

Tom in Col.


Don't know why the photos aren't showing up?

here are links to the full-size photos:

http://fracas.us/trailer2/IMG_20150727_133254.jpg
http://fracas.us/trailer2/IMG_20150727_133741.jpg
http://fracas.us/trailer2/IMG_20151122_114308.jpg
http://fracas.us/trailer2/IMG_20151121_104643.jpg
Last edited by Jim.M on Tue Dec 08, 2015 12:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: My take-apart standup build #2

Postby floridadon » Mon Dec 07, 2015 2:52 pm

The link is not working
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Re: My take-apart standup build #2

Postby Jim.M » Mon Dec 07, 2015 3:32 pm

floridadon wrote:The link is not working


pictures aren't displaying in the app for some reason.

they display OK in a web browser, though.
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Re: My take-apart standup build #2

Postby Tomterrific » Tue Dec 08, 2015 9:44 am

I like your lift mechanism. :-) You could have the lift bars redrilled to go over center and catch with an angle metal at the joint. I thought about my hatch supports being that way.
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Re: My take-apart standup build #2

Postby Jim.M » Tue Dec 08, 2015 12:52 pm

floridadon wrote:The link is not working


for some reason the images won't load from my hosting server when viewed in tapatalk.

I've moved them to another server... they're visible now.
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Re: My take-apart standup build #2

Postby JDHIV » Sat Jun 03, 2017 12:49 pm

Hi Jim, I'm looking to kind of go in the direction you did...but can't find any pics of it....I know this is about 1.5yrs old, but how did it come out? any pics? I want to make a take apart cabin/room that I can stand up in but I will NOT put it on a trailer, the first iteration of anything like this I build will be one I bring with me and set up on the ground (I'll make a floor but want the rest of it freestanding. I like "foamie" because I can make it light an bring with me and so can other friends that "only" have cars and not a medium SUV like my TV is (a 2011 Nissan Pathfinder) with a decent tow capacity. I want to break it down small enough to pack in the TTT or on top of it.

Any info/advice would be most appreciated!

Thanks!

_John
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Re: My take-apart standup build #2

Postby Jim.M » Sat Jun 03, 2017 1:38 pm

inline photos should be visible now.

I'll fix the links to the full-size photos in a bit.
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