Bigfoot (old vs new)

[AH_AK]

Does anyone know how the construction of Bigfoot TC’s has evolved over the years? Used BFs (pre 2009) are substantially lighter than the new models of the same dimensions. Based on the literature on 2000 BFs, it appears that the older versions relied on a combination of a thinner fiberglass shell and a sparse wood sub frame for their structural integrity. Also, the foam appears to be expanded-in-place (injected) on some models.

An article I found from 2019 describes the new construction as a standalone fiberglass shell with insulated panel facades on the interior. Given the weight of fiberglass, the overall increase in weight would make sense. The shell was likely thickened so it could bear the entire load without interior reinforcement. Am I wrong? If so, where is the additional weight coning from?

I can see the advantage of having the shell be standalone in terms of load bearing. Seems like even a bad leak/rot would not affect the structural integrity of the unit.

I am interested in hearing other general opinions about the new vs “old” Bigfoot design, materials, and construction techniques. Did they get better or worse after the reboot? For reference I am deciding on new vs used TCs for a 1t. SRW (4100 lb payload capacity). Weight is important, but I want to understand the tradeoffs, because you rarely get something for nothing.

[Bedlam]

HMS Beagle wrote:
It is a complicated problem. Commercial tow is phenomenally expensive and until fairly recently very few wanted to try it because of the risk (might get stuck in 14 days quarantine). There are now a few delivery captains that have worked out the kinks, so with luck my boat will get delivered next month. Boat has to get launched first, I'm not there to recommission it - it's complicated.

I wonder if you could meet someone out in international waters where they could pass the boat on to you?

[Bert_the_Welder]

noteven wrote:


Bert I got lost in the thread here.

Total Composites is a commercial truck body manufacturer. They will include backing for all kinds of mounts and brackets in the floor and rear wall panels of a camper body.

I think they told me panels can be up to 48 feet long.

:C That's cool. I'd guess that the shell is the hardest and most critical part. But a good DIY'er could handle the rest and save a bunch and get exactly what they want without stuff and fluff they don't.

[noteven]

HMS Beagle wrote:

noteven wrote:

HMS Beagle wrote:
...
I've got a boat stuck in Canada (Sidney) and they won't let me in. Friends of mine tried twice, once driving through Vancouver and another time flew to Victoria, both times got turned back without humor.

HMSBeagle - commercial traffic across the border is not closed. Suggest you contact a tow boat or similar operation to sail your boat to a US harbor for you.

It is a complicated problem. Commercial tow is phenomenally expensive and until fairly recently very few wanted to try it because of the risk (might get stuck in 14 days quarantine). There are now a few delivery captains that have worked out the kinks, so with luck my boat will get delivered next month. Boat has to get launched first, I'm not there to recommission it - it's complicated.

Ok. Ya I was thinking hire it sailed to the US. I hope everything works out.

[HMS_Beagle]

noteven wrote:

HMS Beagle wrote:
...
I've got a boat stuck in Canada (Sidney) and they won't let me in. Friends of mine tried twice, once driving through Vancouver and another time flew to Victoria, both times got turned back without humor.

HMSBeagle - commercial traffic across the border is not closed. Suggest you contact a tow boat or similar operation to sail your boat to a US harbor for you.

It is a complicated problem. Commercial tow is phenomenally expensive and until fairly recently very few wanted to try it because of the risk (might get stuck in 14 days quarantine). There are now a few delivery captains that have worked out the kinks, so with luck my boat will get delivered next month. Boat has to get launched first, I'm not there to recommission it - it's complicated.

[noteven]

Bert the Welder wrote:
Just hit T.C. site. More stuff coming in Mar.
They look pretty neat. But looks like their targeting the tent campers that just want a step up to something more secure and dryer. Which is a smart market to fill. I'd be in that market. Maybe they'll eventually make bigger units.
Just think they'd be smarter with their leg brackets by having tab's that go under the corners to help with load bearing.

Bert I got lost in the thread here.

Total Composites is a commercial truck body manufacturer. They will include backing for all kinds of mounts and brackets in the floor and rear wall panels of a camper body.

I think they told me panels can be up to 48 feet long.

[noteven]

HMS Beagle wrote:
...
I've got a boat stuck in Canada (Sidney) and they won't let me in. Friends of mine tried twice, once driving through Vancouver and another time flew to Victoria, both times got turned back without humor.

HMSBeagle - commercial traffic across the border is not closed. Suggest you contact a tow boat or similar operation to sail your boat to a US harbor for you.

[HMS_Beagle]

Bert the Welder wrote:
Don't worry about coming to Canada. Our poosy gov't doesn't have the walnuts to actually close the boarder like they should.
I'm on Van. Isl and I've seen, Texas, Florida, Utah, Mass., Arizona, Cal., New York, etc, etc, etc..... license plates. And there's no way they are all new residents that just haven't changed their registration and they can't have 'accidentally' come to the Isl. going from Wash State to AK.

I'm in Victoria so I'll have to check out T.C. Though I've not the need for one, always nice to see what's going on locally.

One thing I never figured out is given how quick and cheap it would be, why don't manufacturers prime and paint the wood components. It's not the be all, end all. But would certainly help.

Also, since you guys seem to know about fiberglass, something I wondered about was the holes for the windows, vents, etc. Why are they not built into the mould? Not like they custom move windows around for each order. Rather then hacking in a hole with a flat edge, a small curb could be moulded in. Just a 1/2" would do the trick. Would work for both roof and wall penetrations I'd think. But I'd be please to hear if you think this is not possible.

I've got a boat stuck in Canada (Sidney) and they won't let me in. Friends of mine tried twice, once driving through Vancouver and another time flew to Victoria, both times got turned back without humor.

Now, on fiberglass, why indeed do the penetrations not have molded features? I think the answer for Bigfoot lies in that they use the same mold for several models, which have roof skylights and windows in different places depending on floor plan. On a boat, you would have flat bosses for the flat windows and hatches, the core would be closed out around those holes to eliminate the possibility of leakage. On the roof, the boss would be raised, and since from the beginning of time water has run downhill that alone would cure 90% of roof leaks. These things have been done since the 60's on fiberglass boats.

Even if you do not have specific features in the mold, on a boat when you penetrate a cored surface you rebate the core for about 1/2 - 1x it's thickness, and fill the gap between the skins with a watertight filler (usually thickened epoxy on a boat). This closes the core, and makes a hard rim to attach the window. Bigfoot kinda-sorta does this in some places, they replace the core with wood at the edges of known penetrations, sometimes. This is what I would do with a T-C built shell. If the core is very thick (which the T-C shells are), after rebating the core I'd bond in a fiberglass U channel or rectangular tube all around. Stiffens the hole edges, waterproofs the core, and provides a hard spot to fasten the window.

[Kayteg1]

adamis wrote:
You know, with all of the knowledge from the community in these forums, if we all put our heads together we could build a really awesome fibreglass truck camper. Taking all of these issues discussed and fixing them to make the best truck camper possible without compromises.

Just need a few people from the community with some deep pockets looking for the next challenge and we could storm the market!

I see 2 major problem with this idea:
1 the forum is overwhelmed with trolls, where each technical discussion is flooded with personal, or smart-ass comments
2. TC are too small market for any manufacturer to spend time listening to feedback. They sell whatever they manufacture, so why waste time?
Best sample how manufacturers listen to market is fact that we don't have "camper special" trucks for over 40 years.
Make long WB 3/4 tons truck, who can have 4500 lb TC on it, with 200 HP, 4-cylinder engine delivering 25 mpg empty for less than $50k and I bet lot of forum members will stand in the line.
Still too small market for the manufactures.

[adamis]

You know, with all of the knowledge from the community in these forums, if we all put our heads together we could build a really awesome fibreglass truck camper. Taking all of these issues discussed and fixing them to make the best truck camper possible without compromises.

Just need a few people from the community with some deep pockets looking for the next challenge and we could storm the market!

[Bert_the_Welder]

Just hit T.C. site. More stuff coming in Mar.
They look pretty neat. But looks like their targeting the tent campers that just want a step up to something more secure and dryer. Which is a smart market to fill. I'd be in that market. Maybe they'll eventually make bigger units.
Just think they'd be smarter with their leg brackets by having tab's that go under the corners to help with load bearing.

[Bert_the_Welder]

Don't worry about coming to Canada. Our poosy gov't doesn't have the walnuts to actually close the boarder like they should.
I'm on Van. Isl and I've seen, Texas, Florida, Utah, Mass., Arizona, Cal., New York, etc, etc, etc..... license plates. And there's no way they are all new residents that just haven't changed their registration and they can't have 'accidentally' come to the Isl. going from Wash State to AK.

I'm in Victoria so I'll have to check out T.C. Though I've not the need for one, always nice to see what's going on locally.

One thing I never figured out is given how quick and cheap it would be, why don't manufacturers prime and paint the wood components. It's not the be all, end all. But would certainly help.

Also, since you guys seem to know about fiberglass, something I wondered about was the holes for the windows, vents, etc. Why are they not built into the mould? Not like they custom move windows around for each order. Rather then hacking in a hole with a flat edge, a small curb could be moulded in. Just a 1/2" would do the trick. Would work for both roof and wall penetrations I'd think. But I'd be please to hear if you think this is not possible.

[noteven]

HMS Beagle wrote:
That's not a bad price. A Bahn molded shell is around $35K - 40K. I'm pretty sure I can have my boat builder custom build one for less than that. But probably not less than $20K.

Yes and the Total kit is insulated and fully finished inside. If you don't want the clinical white fiberglass inside you can add some materials - everyone I've seen on line installs some flooring, most leave the walls and ceilings and build out with nice wood furniture.

My Cirrus has a "one step lower than Arctic Tern" "Euro" windows -maybe made by Dometic? I forget. They are great windows except they are acrylic so I clean with Plexus and they will scratch if you run them in the bush. Apparently you can wet sand scratches out of them.

[HMS_Beagle]

That's not a bad price. A Bahn molded shell is around $35K - 40K. I'm pretty sure I can have my boat builder custom build one for less than that. But probably not less than $20K.

[noteven]

HMS Beagle wrote:
1200 lbs for a 9' floor isn't bad - I think a custom built layup might be 900 lbs. Total Composites don't have much info on their website about their kits, out of curiosity what sort of ballpark cost was quoted for that unit, if you don't mind telling?

One of the problems with production RVs is that the cheap sealants they use are just good enough to keep the leaks at bay for the warrantee period, and that is all they care about.

It was around US $13,000 inc Cdn import duty & fees plus container freight of US$3500 to me located inland 900 miles from the port.

My quote was subject to the final amount of steel I would want in the floor panel for attachments and jack points etc.

The bodies are made to order so all dimensions are custom within their parameters.

Mine was a flatbed model. They are doing slide in pickup kits now too.