Thrifty Alternatives ..Building Foam Campers

[GPW]

… and a Happy and Prosperous New Year to All !!!

[rjgimp]

[draws up a chair]

Holy guacamole! You folks have been having QUITE the discussion here... I sure wish I had discovered this site ten years ago rather than ten weeks ago, although much like it takes sunlight 8 minutes to arrive here on Earth after it is produced I still get to enjoy the benefit of the conversations you had back in 2010!

I inherited a destroyed late 60s Steury popup a few years ago and have long considered building a traditional wood frame hardside camper using the frame. Having limited skills I was struggling with how to make a suitable watertight skin and stumbled upon a blog describing the magic of using Poor Man's Fiberglass to cover a plywood camper body along with a link to this site. I started going through a few build journals. First a couple smaller TDs, then Bob Henry's caboose, the Astroliner, Road Foamie, Louella's Mickey Mouse trailer and GPW's camouflage bugout rig (on the pink frame)... Hey, waitjustadoggoneminute here... Foam with a canvas skin? Are you kidding me??? Absolutely cracking BRILLIANT!!! So now after a couple months of sipping from a fire hose (and finally finding the tab to register) I am totally hooked! I have also started reading this thread (on page 360 of 475) and am about 30 pages into KC's Poet Creek Express build. Fantastic information all around and as a bonus I feel like I have gotten to know a couple dozen great new friends in the process. I hope to get something built this spring/summer (most of this snow should be melted away by mid-July) and maybe...just maybe run into some of you somewhere down the road.

[eaglesdare]

Yes you do get to know some of the folks thru out that thread. Hope you continue to read it and enjoy it.

[GPW]

RJ, WELCOME to the Foamie Family !!! We Know you’ll have FUN !!! Best thing is just keep reading … the More you know ,the Better the Foamie trailer you can make that best fits your individual needs … Plus we always tried to make the reading easy , we talked a lot , but we included Pictures !!! …

Check out our Photo galleries too by hitting the camera button under our icons on the left …

[KCStudly]

... as a bonus I feel like I have gotten to know a couple dozen great new friends in the process.

It's a pleasure to meet you, too. Welcome to the fun!

[rjgimp]

Thanks guys! I am pleased to have found this group, but my bride now has even more proof that I am nuts.

So, in the cartoon bubble in the back of my head I have been thinking about a fairly large standy to sleep 4 with full water and electric. The popup frame I have has a base of 7' x 14' (not including the tongue) with surge brakes. My biggest concern with a traditional build had been whether the frame could handle that much weight but with foam I think I could easily stay under 3000 even with big water tanks.

We rented a 29' KZ in August 2017 to chase the solar eclipse in Nebraska. (It was GLORIOUS by the way!) We've got a Hummer H2 which pulled the 7000# just fine but fuel mileage was around 7 for the trip. Now that the concept of beautiful, light FOAM has entered the equation, I am even contemplating increasing the floor dimensions to something like 7'6" or even 8' wide by as much as 16' long. I spent 25 years in trucking so I totally get the concept that being wider than you are tall is a good thing. Is it Wobbly Wheels who is building a big standy that widens out at an angle from the floor...schmaybe? I think I like that idea.

[GPW]

“ but my bride now has even more proof that I am nuts. “ Just join the Club , you are not alone ….

Build your Dream !!! If you need help , there’s Plenty of it here …

[KennethW]

Have you looked at composting toilets? Like the C-Head. No black tank and you would use less water.

[eaglesdare]

You should have seen the looks I got when I first mentioned building a tear drop out of foam to people!!!!!!!!!!!!

[rjgimp]

Have you looked at composting toilets? Like the C-Head. No black tank and you would use less water.

I am a HUGE fan of composting toilets. The biggest hurdle would be getting my bride past the "ick" factor although I personally think they are far less "icky" than traditional toilets with a black tank. I found a blog site by a guy somewhere down south who uses them exclusively in his home and shop -with employees! One avenue that I have been considering over the years in the interest of extending the possible length of time one could be out boondocking is replacing the toilet in a factory built camper with a composting model and then converting the black tank to a second gray. Another (I think somewhat less effective) method would be diverting gray water upstream of the toilet so that you are flushing the toilet into the black tank with it. I think one "benefit" of doing such a thing would be that even though you still have a black tank to empty the black water would be far more, uhhmmm... juicy, and therefore less likely to clog. Schmaybe...

[KennethW]

My guess is she is not emptying the black tank with the stinky slinky. It makes cleaning a composting toilet look very easy and clean. You will have to find someone with a composting toilet and have your sweet heart try it. Then have her stand by a dump station to see how a Black tank gets empty.

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

[linuxmanxxx]

If you don't mind using it less the cassette toilets look much more appealing than black tanks.

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

[rjgimp]

Chugging away... I have less than 40 pages now to get through in this thread. WOOHOO!!! I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and it ain't a train!

[GPW]

Rob , just think , 40 more pages and you’ll know as much as we do ... And then , there’s plenty of room for more ideas …. We’ve always thought of a Foamie as a “Thinking man’s Trailer” because there’s no set way of making one , everyone has to THINK about what they need and can do…

It’s Funny after all these years there is no Generic Foamie evolved…. only because they All have worked so far ….
And also curious how there are still people who believe a Foamie will implode on the highway at speed … Really ??? After all these years …

[nobull]

Hello everyone! My first post. I have read the big thread! I was searching for ways to build a Vardo and ended up on this site. Started looking at different builds, Astroliner since it was a standee, then I came across the Streamfoam, it took a while to read that one and in the process became a believer but still had to read the big thread. In reading the long story and the progressive evolution of foamies I encountered slugs, ants, flying Frozen turkeys, hazardous bears, puppies, cats, and frogs. Not to mention some great people willing to hear any idea and hash it out.

I come from a construction/maintenance background, so I have built small projects to large. I am still convinced that I can build a Vardo ledge camper even out of foam with some architectural arches in 2 different directions inside for aesthetics and support. I am looking at 12-14 feet long and 7-8 foot wide standee about 6’3” high inside. I still have not worked out the plan yet.

I know some will say this is going to catch air…right now I am pulling a 30’TT that weighs about 6900 lbs. That catches air! I am thinking with adding fridge and outdoor kitchen (Slide out drawer from under the bed), shower and bath, and able to sleep 4, it still should be under 3000 lbs.
Glen had said in one post, “want your camper taller, just cut it half and add the foam” My plan is to cut the top 6 inches and do my roof on some saw horses where I can reach and then just add it back to the camper. I also don’t like working from a ladder.

By the way Glen how about putting ½ round on the bottom edge for a drip rail, canvas should wrap around nicely. Speaking of canvas, I have access to nursing home flat sheets that are a lot heavier than regular sheets(they get cold). These are almost as heavy as some drop clothes and they would be free…Thrifty!