Bed Liner as a Camper Box Construction method (spray it on Foam Insulation board)

[Coachgeo]

http://video.foxnews.com/v/4874598460001
There is no mention of it being anything more than their normal LineX product or not. If it is there normal stuff..... then other products should work to? Durabak?

Have wondered about spraying insulation foam say 3 or 4" thick stuff with it to see if it could be somewhat structural for say a light enclosed trailer orr?? Would be neat if it worked. Make the whole box out of of the foam. Pin it all together. Wood in some places where hinges will be attached (similar to fiberglass construction) then take it to LineX and have them spray the shiat out of it. Maybe install the windows in advance so the frame gets sealed right to the walls. Take door and hatches with you so it gets same treatment

hmmmm.

For heavier construction do typical steel or aluminum frame then the insulation board. If you do not want the frame visiable then add outer skin thata could be thin styrofoam again or 1/4" wood? then have the shiat sprayed out of it.

 

[ripperj]

I can't really see how that would be very strong. Neither the foam nor the Linex is dent resistant, and foam isn't strong enough for structural support.
Sent from my Passport

 

[The Artisan]

My build will have .125 mill military poly spec spray. My next build will be frp and foam on one side then I am going to use the spray on the exterior only, directly to the foam. The material is sheer psi strength of 2800psi. The exterior is in between a lineX and say a molded bedliner.
watch this video, you cant use the DIY product with the same results.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVtgmm0cnoI&t=332s
Kevin

 

[anickode]

I would think that a spray on bed liner product would dissolve foam. The VOC content in most paints and coatings will just reduce it to a shriveled lump of nothing.

 

[The Artisan]

I would think that a spray on bed liner product would dissolve foam. The VOC content in most paints and coatings will just reduce it to a shriveled lump of nothing.

Not the product I am using.... Plus they use poly all the time on foam movie props etc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZujjfxH7nE
Kevin

 

[rayra]

There's no structural strength in any of that crap, as the body of a camper. The foam will just fracture at any stress points and any wood inserts for window and door hinge attachment will just detach from the foam under (repeated) stress.
The rest of your musings just re-invent the wheel re the camper / RV / trailer world. All of that is already being done, for 50-60yrs. Go look up the original Airstream trailers.


You didn't state what your end goal was, but I presume it is weight. A 'stressed skin' aluminum design - as typically used in lightweight trailers and aircraft design is a 70-80yr mature and proven low-weight design.
Foam + bedliner, well there's no 'cost savings' in that combo on a project that larger, especially with regard to strength. You'd do better and cheaper with plywood, as the burgeoning Teardrop trailer crowd is doing.

 

[The Artisan]

There's no structural strength in any of that crap, as the body of a camper.

Look at my build and then add that coating

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnqvkjj2ZO8
Kevin

 

[doug720]

LineX is being used as "Blast Resistant" coatings on many government buildings and structures.

https://www.google.com/search?q=line+x+blast+test&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

LineX also claims their coatings can "Make anything Unbreakable!"

https://www.google.com/search?q=dur...pOrQAhXmhVQKHXmbC0oQ1QIIZSgF&biw=1760&bih=866

 

[doug720]

LineX is being used as "Blast Resistant" coatings on many government buildings and structures.

https://www.google.com/search?q=line+x+blast+test&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

LineX also claims their coatings can "Make anything Unbreakable!"

https://www.google.com/search?q=dur...pOrQAhXmhVQKHXmbC0oQ1QIIZSgF&biw=1760&bih=866


No connection, just an interesting product, and I bet it would make a strong box!

 

[The Artisan]

Doug,
My POD will be plenty strong the way it is but the poly adds extra protection, creates one solid structure and makes it completely waterproof. It will add 300lbs to it but still a tad over 1300 lbs for a well insulated pod 12.4 x 7.4 x 7 is still light, in the grand scheme of things. I could go 1/16" at 150lbs and still be good..
Kevn

 

[Coachgeo]

Part of my thoughts on using this idea as a build tool is "ease of construction". Make practically the whole thing out of insulation panel easily cut and shapped by hand. Pin it all togther and then spray the shiat out of it. No welding experience or special tools needed. Not perfect by anymeans.... but makes you go hmmmm?

 

[The Artisan]

Part of my thoughts on using this idea as a build tool is "ease of construction". Make practically the whole thing out of insulation panel easily cut and shapped by hand. Pin it all togther and then spray the shiat out of it. No welding experience or special tools needed. Not perfect by anymeans.... but makes you go hmmmm?

Depends how large you go. I would still want a structural panel on the inside and a road case perimeter structure in place. Figure $9 per sq for linex in a .62mill..
Kevin

 

[ripperj]

Part of my thoughts on using this idea as a build tool is "ease of construction". Make practically the whole thing out of insulation panel easily cut and shapped by hand. Pin it all togther and then spray the shiat out of it. No welding experience or special tools needed. Not perfect by anymeans.... but makes you go hmmmm?

You are not going to end up with a usable product if you just pin or tape foam panels together and then spray it with an expensive coating. The video showing a LineX covered egg surviving a big drop really has no relevance to a camper. The LineX does not really add much if anything to the tensile strength as it does not have any fibers like Kevlar,carbon or fiberglass.

 

[The Artisan]

You are not going to end up with a usable product if you just pin or tape foam panels together and then spray it with an expensive coating. The video showing a LineX covered egg surviving a big drop really has no relevance to a camper. The LineX does not really add much if anything to the tensile strength as it does not have any fibers like Kevlar,carbon or fiberglass.

You definitely need the sip panels for structure, but how can you say a product with up to 6k psi tensile strength has no strength?
Kevin

 

[DzlToy]

Tensile strength measures pulling forces. In a camper shell, there is nothing trying to 'tear' the Line-X off your foam panels. Similarly, there are no forces trying to pull one panel away from another as you would if opening a drawer. Tensile strength is provided for the application at hand, i.e. a truck bed protectant, where sliding boxes, firewood, chains, lawn mowers, dogs, etc. will 'assault' the surface. This is simply not the environment that the side of a camper will be exposed to. You CANNOT build a box out of foam, spray it with Line-X and expect it to have the same structural properties as a properly constructed and engineered product from someone like Earthroamer or Unicat.

Make a kid's playhouse out of it if you wish, but please do not build a camper box with it. There are enough $hitty campers out there already, rotting and rattling themselves to pieces. You need a solid sealed structure that cannot hold moisture, leak air, rot, warp, etc.

I have seen the concrete wall sprayed with Line-X and shot, hit, blasted, etc. That tells you absolutely nothing about how your camper box will perform unless you are making it from cinder blocks and shooting it. There are single part and two part bed liner products and each has it's own advantages and disadvantages, so do you research on that first.

Bedliner is HEAVY as a coating, though it does seal joints well and offer abrasion resistance. Line-X can be top-coated, but it is not inherently UV stable, so now you have another product to spray over the top of your bedliner.

A cheap ($250 - $300) test:

Purchase 2" thick sheets of XPS foam and build a box using hot glue or some other non-structural method for temporarily joining the panels together. The box should be at least two or three feet square on each side. Building a Rubik's cube from foam and spraying it won't tell you much. Find someone to spray your 36" x 36" x 36" cube and proceed to beat the hell out of it; drop it off your truck bed, hit it with a baseball bat, leave it out in the 100 degree heat and freezing cold, put a blow torch to it, etc.

If you are serious about building a camper box, this is a small price to pay to validate the idea. Take video of it all and update this thread as you go. I am sure that it will make for some good reading.

Cheers