I'm not even sure this is realistic for a foamie

[NMMarauder]

Someone sent me a link to some canned ham camper plans and asked me what I thought about them. I'm posting it here because, at least in my mind, foamies are about being light and thrifty and that appears to be his major selling points. From the listing it is claimed "My trailer cost me about $1000 and weight is about 850 lbs. "

Do any of you see any possible way that trailer could come in at 850 lbs and $1000 dollars? I guess if you managed to buy a vintage camper for $1 and then used the other $999 to restore it, it could be possible on the cost. But the weight is another matter.

For reference, I finally crunched the numbers on my canned ham foamie and I'm sure I could build another one (using new off-the-shelf parts) for $4900. My weight came in at 1200 lbs. That $4900 is for EVERYTHING too; mattress, toilet, taxes, registration, cushions, the whole 9 yards.

My other question is this: How far would $1000 have gotten you on your build? For me, I would have had to stop after building the frame and painting it. (so I would have axles, frame, hitch, tires (used probably) and rims) I spent more than most people do on a frame though. Just curious about how far $1000 is getting most people.

[Mary C]

My foamie cost $850.00. i'm not sure about the weight yet. I guess I need to weigh it. I raided lots of trash piles and made wiley windows and other than the front plywood box with the big bottle of gas. I have added extrastuff that is not the basic trailer. I will keep adding but thats good owneship.

[tony.latham]

I'm calling his bluff. Here's someone on a forum showing his restored '73 Caveman with the same photos as the eBay seller's.

http://vintagetrailertalk.freeforums.ne ... n-restored

Here's another one of his projects, but the photo of the camper is a T@B.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/TEARDROP-Camper ... Sw6aVUoE5O

In that one he says it weighs 850 pounds (too) but this one cost him $1500 to build.

His plans? He does have a 100% feedback rating, so who knows. But it's a bit disingenuous. (In fact in the literary world, it's called fiction.)

Tony

[GPW]

Well then , the FoamStream cost less than $1K , and weighs less than 1000lb (empty) ... but we got the trailer for free, the foam was EPS found in blocks and hot wired to sheets ... and the Ribs were CNC’d by a friend for free... I could have easily spent another $1000 on all that ...

[ghcoe]

Going by the photo's I would say the trailer and floor would be 850lbs....... Looks like he was using 2"x6" studs for floor planking.....heavy! . No way for a $1000.00. I have $1300-1500 (guestimated) invested in my build.