7x10 collapsing Vardo-ish foamie in the works

[steveonzakon]

I've been playing with all kinds of designs for about a month now ( A-frame, standy, crouchy, etc ) but I think I have come up with what I want. I will basically use the concept of the Squidget pop up, but the entire camper roof will lift. When collapsed, it will be almost 4 ft in height from the floor to the roof exterior. Raised, it will be 7 ft tall from floor to roof exterior, with 6' 8" headroom inside. I plan to do some monkeying with a 5x10 trailer to give me storage under the camper floor, and allow me to go 7 ' wide on the trailer so I can install a queen bed.

Who can point me to a good thread about framing so it doesn't flex or fly off my trailer when I get on the highway?

[atahoekid]

If you look through the BIG THREAD, you should find talk about using bulkheads to support the body. That's what I did in my Road Foamie and it has proven to be light and durable. The bulkheads serve both a structural and practical purpose since our cabinetry is built into the bulkheads Working on our third year of enjoying it. Off the top of my head, we've put about 4500 miles on and no evidence of "blowing away".

By the way, welcome to the madness. Ask away with questions, we're very glad to offer opinions and advice

[steveonzakon]

Thanks for the information, but just like in the grocery store, I don't see whats probably right in front of me. Where is this BIG THREAD?

[GPW]

viewtopic.php?f=55&t=39373 Best get comfortable , it’s a long read ...

[steveonzakon]

Since I am sitting at the hitch installer shop watching my receiver and brake controller being installed, I have plenty of time to read through it. Thanks for the link.

[KCStudly]

That is going to be a long wait for them to get that hitch installed. I hope they are charging by the job and not the hour!

[steveonzakon]

Thank god I found the summary thread with index. Now I only need to go through about 20 pages of stuff.
And, my hitch is on. Now I just need something to tow. Thinking about renting a U-haul trailer just so I can pull something.

[atahoekid]

:lol:

That is going to be a long wait for them to get that hitch installed. I hope they are charging by the job and not the hour!

I was in the tire shop waiting for my truck to have new tires put on it and thought of poking some fun about waiting for a long time. Turns out I waited 3 hours for them to put tires on and this is after I made an appt. On top of that they couldn't do the wheel alignment that I also had an appt for because my truck is too big. They've been in business for how long and nobody knew this in advance???? There are much larger trucks than mine.... How do some people stay in business? I coulda read most of the thread in the time it took them to mount 4 tires. Works out to 45 minutes per tire...REALLY????

[steveonzakon]

I've started putting some "why and how to build a foamie" thoughts down in a document by using information from scattered posts I've found here, and I think I am ready to start making pink sawdust.
Unfortunately everything is going to be on hold until I can find a good 5x10 trailer or salvage camper at a reasonable price. I'm going to be over 7' wide on my outer dimension so don't want to build on a 4' trailer bed.

[atahoekid]

You better hope for a pop up trailer frame to come along. I'm just over 7 foot wide and that's what I used. Everything else just seemed to be inadequate

[steveonzakon]

I was thinking of using a five foot wide trailer and building a 7 foot wide wood frame on top of it (with wheel well cut outs) made of 2x2 sandwiiched by plywood and filled with eps foam. Wrap it in canvas and coat it to give it added strength.

[atahoekid]

If I were you, I would build the frame around the wheel wells just to give the walls some stiff support. To me it just made for a better foundation. I like the 2 x 2's sandwiched in plywood foam. It sounds like it would work. Although I'd keep the plywood really thin. Anything too thick just adds to the weight. Just my 2cents

[steveonzakon]

A terrible thing happened. While looking for a good frame to put my foamie on, I found an old Apache Royal camper in good condition at a good price, so my foamie build is being put on hold.

[wagondude]

We had one of those when I was a kid. Nice campers. I will give you a little advice you may already know. The chains in the lifting system are made of plastic and will fail if there is any binding. Always level the trailer at the axle and use the stabilizers as stabilizers only. Too many people try to use the legs as "levelers" sometimes actually lifting a tire off the ground in extreme cases ( my father would be one example of this). This will cause fatal binding. It took replacing the chains twice before the tech told my father what he was doing wrong.

[mezmo]

I guess this is moot now, but I had it all prepared so I decided
to post anyway - for your future reference.

Here's a Hi-Lo like telescoping Foamie. This approach could be used
for your Vardo as well. Just make the top look like a Vardo top.
BASIC CRANK-UP FOAM HYBRID STANDIE
http://tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=59418

Cheers,
Norm/mezmo