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freebeard-inspired hitch-mounted cargo outhouse
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My mind wanders its own random paths, but my wife needed emergency surgery yesterday, so I have been with her as much as possible, and I have never been able to focus on important things if another important thing needs to be done first.
Grad school finals, finding a new house, cleaning and clearing out Mom's house so I can sell it, etc. We just got a contract on a house near my wife's work yesterday and I passed my first year, but I can't focus on anything important besides my wife getting better. She will be fine, but while she is in the hospital, I can't focus on moving, Mom's house, etc. Since I have almost exclusively needed to pack Mom's horde by myself and I was always unreasonably optimistic about what I could pack and load in a weekend, I have spent enough on rentals to buy an old truck, van, box truck, etc., and when I mentioned this to my wife, she asked if we could convert it into a camper afterward. YouTube keeps recommending people building campers, camping trailers, etc, and I love watching people build things. I just skimmed the 240 posts here (Class a motorhomes aerodynamics) and happened to find more salient information from this gentleman who doesn't capitalize his name: https://ecomodder.com/forum/attachme...1&d=1718409428 than this one. https://ecomodder.com/forum/attachme...1&d=1718409436 I want to deep-dive into the different types of trailers and the pros and cons of each when I have the chance (and a mouse), but let me just share some things that stood out: Quote:
https://ecomodder.com/forum/attachme...1&d=1718410355 I have seen people make "Teardrop" trailers, but we established 10-15 years ago that most people don't have any idea what is aerodynamic (hence freebeard's quote), but let's say that I take two 2" foam boards, cut them to that shape, screw dozens of 2x2s between them, and fold layers of thin foamboard, glued together, around them until I have a 2" thick aerodynamic foam shape--as long as I only think in two dimensions. Would focusing on the sides with a flat top and bottom be more effective? This would undoubtedly be better and easier to fabricate than anything else: https://ecomodder.com/forum/member-f...17-trdrp1a.jpg YouTube randomly suggested the second video and I keep meaning to see if we dissected it, but while it looked much better than the first one, he received much worse results: Quote:
"This is better than that"--it depends! There is a post on Imgur asking why pop-up trailers exist and Internet strangers were not kind, but this one of indeterminate weight is going for $25,000: Ranger 12 Sofa Bed For Sale Do you have any idea what kind of tent you can buy for $25,000?! I don't! Alaska Structure Air Force Shelter (Version 2) complete with framed floor system, hard door, original harding box, and liner for $10,860. That is 20' W x 32.5' L x 10' H at peak and can be erected in less than 30 minutes with the help of 4 adults, so definitely more difficult than a pop-up camper, but this has more square footage than a pickup and pop-up trailer would need! I like different ideas, but most of the time, I think that a good tent and camping gear, which would fit in my trunk, are better than a camping trailer. I really like bathrooms, though, and if it happens to be cold, I would vastly prefer somewhere insulated to go to the bathroom, change, shower, etc. I had been wondering about pop-outception, but since I keep thinking that a tent makes more sense than trailers for many situations, I just want an insulated bathroom, I wondered about nested fiberglass and foam boxes that you separate, latch together the other way, and install a solar shower on top. Or you could just have a 7' foam and fiberglass cargo trailer with a camping toilet. You remove the toilet, tent, sleeping bags, and everything else that goes in the tent, set up the tent, but the pads, bags, and everything else in the tent, flip the trailer, put the toilet back in, and remove it to change clothes, shower, etc. Hmm... https://ecomodder.com/forum/attachme...1&d=1718411685 He specified corrugated metal, but how about fiberglass and foamboard? Okay, but for smaller trailers, isn't it more efficient to have a cargo box than a trailer? Unless you mount this to a truck of van, it would be wider than the vehicle, and I don't think that an aerodynamic base would make a very good base at all. Can you make sense of my even-more-distracted ramblings?! I will try to edit this later, I just wanted to put this together, but I was supposed to leave to help Mom and my brother an hour ago. How did it take an hour to put together this mess?! My browser is being slow... |
I know foamies are popular, but don't forget about stitch-and-glue [CNC-cut] plywood.
www.instructables.com/Stitch-and-Glue-Boat-Construction/ Plywood still needs a fiberglass coating. Polymetal is prefinished. Stitch-and-glue Polymetal may be feasible. Thanks for considering those trailer designs. They could be combined. The tilter was originally an ice fishing hut design. It could be a single seater/shower; the proportion would be taller instead of wider. Quote:
https://ecomodder.com/forum/member-f...4-1st-copy.jpg Triangular wings fold out to make an hexagon platform. It would be twice the vehicle width or 15ft. https://ecomodder.com/forum/member-f...d-image-1.jpeg A teardrop with a Model T touring style top and front kitchen. |
When my wife and I go camping, and we see an RV, she remarks "that's what we forgot, our house".
People that want to camp in nature should bring a tent. People that want a house should stay home or rent a hotel. |
Do you see how the top bows collapse together and fold, and a third of the platform swings up and over with the hatch? The sides could be bug screens.
House? Tent? I want a UFO. |
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I think that if I had technology sufficiently advanced to be indistinguishable from magic, I would have plans and schemes other than camping, but honestly, giving myself a 4-day work week every week so I could camp regularly would be pretty sweet.
If the teardrop trailer were 8' tall, the total length being 21'1". That doesn't sound terrible, but how on Earth would you fabricate it? Maybe if you are an eccentric millionaire. I focus on foam because 2" of it is r13. Again, when comparing trailers, everything depends, so how do you compare them? What you can get for $25,000 seems bizarre, but I can't think of a better comparison. I don't know how long that A-frame pop-up is, but the entire roof and sides are rigid. I kept reading that they were stronger than tents, which didn't make sense, and you could get a vastly larger Army surplus tent, which I am sure would be stronger, but maybe the A-frame popup would be tougher. I don't have any idea. Well, for a box trailer, I found this 8.5×28 enclosed trailer for $24,430. The back drops down like a cargo plane and the Knight Foundation semi, so one with 4 walls should be a little cheaper. I guess that it isn't fair to compare a bare trailer to a finished popup, but I don't have any idea how to calculate that. The popup I shared before is here in Mesa, but searching for $25,000 popup, this was the next site that I found: https://www.mwrvcenter.com/inventory...V-Trec-V4-7819 That is the most expensive one. It claims the retail price is $35,163, but you won't pay that, no Sir, not you! You won't even pay $24,975! Oh boy! You can have it for the low low price of [enters temp e-mail address and fake contact information] $23,975! This looks like it is supposed to pop up, but you just have the back end pop up so you can enter it normally and stand in the very back? It has its own porch with railing? https://ecomodder.com/forum/attachme...1&d=1718441268 I can't imagine buying the A-frame, but it actually makes sense to me. I don't want to constantly explain that it doesn't do anything, it is for kids, while the adults camp on the porch. By the way, it had one of those popups pop up when I was trying to look at a popup claiming that you could get $500 off any vehicle, but I couldn't figure out how to type or paste into any of the fields. Autofill worked, not that I wanted to give any real information! :) Comments from that Imgur post: "It's better than a tent and cheaper than rent." "It's not intended to be lived in." "1. get to sleep on a mattress 2. Many have a small kitchen, i.e., sink and maybe a 3 burner stove. 2. Places to sit." 1. 2. 2. Hmmm... Are those mattresses any better than this? https://ecomodder.com/forum/attachme...1&d=1718441962 There should be adequate room for a couple rolled-up mattresses, a tent, sleeping bags, a 3-burner stove, inside your brand-new genuine patented freebeard toilet coffin!™ I am sure that you can make room for one of these: https://ecomodder.com/forum/attachme...1&d=1718442791 4-Person Green Plastic Portable Compact Folding Suitcase Picnic Table Set with Umbrella Hole and Simple Setup I am positive the padded benches in the $25,000 popup are more comfortable than the $59 picnic bench, but $25,000 vs $59! Would you rather be in an Army surplus tent or a popup in a thunderstorm? "It’s a cabin tent that you can tow with a sedan. Lighten up, Francis." Not helpful. The special Internet price for the cheapest one on that site $6,475, it is 18' long, and weighs 1,601 pounds, while my Camry is only rated for 1,600. "So you can tow them with something that doesn't cost $85k." They compare it to a 5th wheel?! "It's solid so it's far more capable of withstanding thunderstorms & winds, you can haul your usual carload of stuff PLUS anything else you want to have with you like your kids bikes, etc., & they're effn huge inside compared to a tent. I dunno about A/C but okay I guess, you pay extra for the fuel you use. We had a real simple one when I was a kid, no power just a 3'x3'x6' icebox, & just having it up off the ground when a big storm rolls in & drenches everything in 4" of rainfall is pretty huge." The A frame is more solid than an Army surplus tent, but the last one is only solid when folded. The material just looks like a tent, which wouldn't hold up. You can buy an Army surplus tent for about the cost of that popup, so they are comparing a tent that costs a fraction as much as the popup, which is ridiculous. "For 8 years my dad towed one to 48 states, two worlds fairs and 4 provinces. They allowed a working class family to see the world." He couldn't have done that with a wagon and a tent? "Off the ground is warmer & safer & more comfortable. Can haul way more since it's a trailer, like loads of food and maybe firewood and stuff. Stronger than a tent." If you have a pickup, you can build a platform and put it down wherever to be off the ground. "[P]op-ups aren’t intended for off-grid camping, they’re intended for campgrounds where power/water are readily available." "Popups remove the worst aspects of tent camping while not making you feel like you’re in a traveling hotel the way big trailers and RV’s do. [...A] pop is the happy medium for me for comfortable family camping at established parks and campgrounds without spending $200k on a second home with wheels." How much camping would you need to do to pay for the cost of a trailer and gas? |
Might I suggest a Burro, Casita, or Scamp? All about 11 to 17 ft long, burros being about 1100lbs and Casitas being 2000 ish. My casita improves my trucks mileage by a couple of mpg on the long hitch. IIRC, you're tallish, so all of these require to scrunch up a bit in the sleeping configuration unless you mod it for the tall person.
You can score a burro or scamp for a couple hundred, sometimes The pointy roof popups don't have much headroom except in the center, they really need a gable over the bed, have seen them with a gable over the toilet, which I think is mandatory Neighbor across the street aquired a hard sided popup since he likes camping(?) In bear country and the rangers won't allow tents. |
Plus which you wouldn't have to drop my name handle everywhere you go.
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The freebeard Memorial Outhouse! :D
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Why wouldn't I want a complicated tent I can't tow with a sedan when it is over 110°?! :D [I would have been tempted before we finally got a rental contract, but I am positive that I would have found something with hard sides and AC, or at least somewhere I could install one] Quote:
I could gut it and convert it into a camper! :D Quote:
Maybe! Those are in Show Low! :D https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...75612257184298 In theory, I could gut it, and convert it into a trailer I could tow with a sedan, but that seems like a waste. Hopefully, it enjoys a better fate. It only has 162,000 miles! This one is interesting: Quote:
Was I supposed to look for rentals on Facebook?! I'm guessing not since I searched for the address and found this listing for $2,210 with a watermark on the picture of the front of the house: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3.../8263735_zpid/ Quote:
There are some odds and ends I want to replace on Mom's car and I need to replace a door on Mom's because I backed into it with a Uhaul. I guess that I needed to park on the street and help my brother chase my wife's cat. It's the wrong blue, though! :D https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...11933626533219 Quote:
I have enough of a sense in mechanical know how to gut this and convert it into a camper! :D I thought "Okay! Focus!" and saw that I had several more tabs open! :D Quote:
A Traverse sounds it was specifically designed to not move under its own power, but I am going to argue that pulling it with a sedan is right out, even though it doesn't have 3 rows, and if I am going to gut a Traverse and convert it into a camper, I want one with 3 rows like my sister owned! :D 2001 Saturn l-series L200 Sedan 4D $1,600 Working Ac. Works great. New tires. Only 2 owners. 1972 Plymouth scamp $1 Listed 11 weeks ago11 weeks ago in Buckeye, AZ Quote:
If I ever owned another Subaru, I would want to gut it and convert it into a camper! :D 1993 SCAMP travel trailer $10,000 Listed 12 weeks ago in Safford, AZ Safford is 4 hours away, though a canyon, and the seller likely sold, but was too lazy to remove the ad: https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...80827759016713 Quote:
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I read about "Fast" cars from that time that only had 100-150 HP. Quote:
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How much is the title loan?! :D Searching for "Burro" didn't show anything relevant, just random trailers when I added "Trailer." Quote:
2008 Nissan rogue $1,200 without description Quote:
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Nine weeks ago, I was driving to Peoria 3 times a week, but I didn't have time for projects! Quote:
Let me guess, if I tow it to a transmission shop, they will say it needs a transmission rebuild. If I tow it to an engine shop, they will say it needs an engine rebuild. Meanwhile, the other Camry allegedly has a functioning engine and transmission for $2,400. 2005 Toyota camry LE Sedan 4D $2,700 Listed 3 weeks ago3 weeks ago in Tempe, AZ Quote:
Hopefully, I could actually tow that with my sedan, and if I had something like this, I could have put a few extra boxes in it, and slept in Mom's driveway--but I would rather buy a cargo box and sleep at the hotel. Quote:
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The very last one sounds like the best--more than some, but it was posted yesterday, not weeks ago in distant lands.
Surprise may be an hour away, but that is still much closer than Safford or San Diego. https://ecomodder.com/forum/attachme...1&d=1718478185 Would I notice an improvement if I moved the AC to the front? How about this treatment with a locking cargo box and the spare tire, brake lights, and license plate relocated? https://ecomodder.com/forum/attachme...1&d=1718478405 |
The freebeard weight-loss institute! :D
I swear that I was getting off of the computer to go and be productive! Really! :D
I was closing tabs when I saw "Don’t Fall For Aerodynamic Junk Science When Shopping For Trailers (Especially For Your EV)" by Jennifer Sensiba. I thought it was a pretty good read, as much as I could understand it in the hospital with my wife, not having slept well the night before, but this is Google's summary: Quote:
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