Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Great forum!

I'm dreaming up a homebuilt and really intrigued by the foamie build. But. ... Can it handle a 12' long x 6' wide and 6 1/2'structure? Do i need to have some supports across the roof or sides? Not exactly a tt, but that's what it will take to meet my need. Will likely do an canvas/tb2 exterior.

Also, can it handle the heat of a typical camper gas refrigerator and furnace? Any special considerations? I would have them stacked in the same area and would vent to the outside like regular campers?

Thanks!

I am planning on starting a 16'-18' foot fully self contained trailer, hopefully next year. Those appliances are designed to run close to wood paneling and really do not put out much heat in the areas except the front and exhaust. If you wanted to, you could use fire code sheetrock in the appliance area(s) and you would be better built than a modern RV in that area(s).

Watch your width, height numbers. You should be wider than you are tall to prevent tipping issues, unless you have plenty of ballast way down low. Some people use beer for ballast...... .

I think if you plan your design well you would not need any wall support, but after 5' wide I would start to consider some sort of roof support. Especially if you expect a large snow load or plan on roof A/C.

TS, the FoamStream is 13.5’ L X 79” W X 76” T (inside) and has added structural elements inside under the foam .

If using canvas and TB2, I would consider spars for 6' wide roof, which can be embedded in the roof foam sandwich to safe inside height. As for walls reinforcement, it really depends what furniture you are planning inside as the furniture can support the walls and work together as a trailer structure. Curves in roof may also improve its structural properties.

I personally built 6.5' wide roof panel w/o any spars, but it is epoxy fiberglass sandwich with 11" apart side-by side epoxy glued XPS foam panels, 1-1/2" thick. The build is in progress and a risky experiment, also I do not anticipate storing my trailer under a heavy snow, it fits inside a standard garage.

Using the Lightest component in the Equation ... You could always double up the foam in suspect areas for more strength ... Two 2” pieces glued together would make a 4” thick panel which would still be Light but Much Stronger ... ( Twice as thick is 8 times as strong ) Once covered on both sides , likely you could dance on it ...

You can see my FoamStream shell is 3.5” thick beaded foam and has turned out to not only be very strong , but very well insulated ... The minimum framework just keeps everything aligned till the paint dries ... ( and is a good place to hang stuff inside ) The extruded foam is much stronger than the beaded foam ... so no worries about going large.

ghcoe wrote:I am planning on starting a 16'-18' foot fully self contained trailer, hopefully next year. Those appliances are designed to run close to wood paneling and really do not put out much heat in the areas except the front and exhaust. If you wanted to, you could use fire code sheetrock in the appliance area(s) and you would be better built than a modern RV in that area(s).

Watch your width, height numbers. You should be wider than you are tall to prevent tipping issues, unless you have plenty of ballast way down low. Some people use beer for ballast...... .

I think if you plan your design well you would not need any wall support, but after 5' wide I would start to consider some sort of roof support. Especially if you expect a large snow load or plan on roof A/C.

Thats great news! I'll make sure to carry plenty of ballast . Working on my design, I'm likely to have some vertical walls right in the middle of the camper to support bunk beds. I'll be using some sort of solid material for that and will extend them to the roof to add the support there. It will live outside, in Ohio, so we get all kids of weather...