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Old 01-04-2011, 08:27 AM   #1
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Name: Nicholas
Trailer: LiL Snoozy
South Carolina
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Talking Good Morning Forum

Good Morning FiberGlassrv.com! I'm Nicholas, the owner of Smoakin Concepts Composites and creator of the LiL Snoozy. A few of you have emailed us about our new fiberglass Travel Trailer, and I would like to say thank you for your interest. We are currently in the final stages of testing, and needless to say, VERY excited! As it states on our website, www.lilsnoozy.com we are planning to have the unveiling in the beginning to middle of February. For the time being I will be happy to answer any question I can. Happy New Year to all!!

Nicholas Smoak
Smoakin Concepts Composites
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Old 01-04-2011, 08:34 AM   #2
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Welcome to FiberglassRV Nicholas. the conversations about the Lil Snoozy have generated a great deal of interest. I know you're going to get questions about weight, tongue weight too. We have members with tugs with limited towing capacities and are always looking for a fully molded lightweight fiberglass trailer that fit those needs.

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Old 01-04-2011, 08:48 AM   #3
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Name: Nicholas
Trailer: LiL Snoozy
South Carolina
Posts: 60
Quote:
Originally Posted by Donna D. View Post
Welcome to FiberglassRV Nicholas. the conversations about the Lil Snoozy have generated a great deal of interest. I know you're going to get questions about weight, tongue weight too. We have members with tugs with limited towing capacities and are always looking for a fully molded lightweight fiberglass trailer that fit those needs.

Donna D,
Thank you for the warm welcome!! I am very pleased with the response we have gained so far. The weights of the LiL Snoozy will vary slightly depending on options, but our prototypes are in the 1800 LBS range. We are trying to reduce some weight in non critical areas, such as a tank less water heater, and lighter weight batteries. Our tongue weight is also in flux for the same reasons, but our proto types are in the 200lbs to 275 LBS range. The LiL Snoozy has been tested in the "Mountains" of South Carolina behind a V6 CTS Cadillac. While, naturaly, we knew the camper was back there, we still had plenty of passing power even in the higher than speed limit range. I look forward to any and all question!!

Nicholas Smoak
Smoakin Concepts Composites
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Old 01-04-2011, 12:00 PM   #4
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Nicholas, we see an outline shape on the opening page of your website. Is that a rough outline of the new trailer's shape? If so, may we assume that the taller part is the front and that it tapers down in back?

The site mentions that it could be configured as a toy hauler, I believe. Does that mean there are no internal bulkheads built into the mold, so that the trailer can be ordered as a mere shell? If so, I'm wondering whether it might be useful as a cargo carrier (to hold up to 2000 lbs payload). I'm always on the lookout for a cargo hauler that will give me better gas mileage than the 6x12 box I lug around for work. (Plus I'm in the market for a new travel trailer besides, having just sold mine.)
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Old 01-04-2011, 12:58 PM   #5
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Mike, I was just looking at Lil Snoozy's philosophy page. It does say that you can order just the shell.

Quote:

° Comes in cargo style with no furnishing--plenty
of room to carry all your "toys"
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Old 01-04-2011, 03:25 PM   #6
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Name: Nicholas
Trailer: LiL Snoozy
South Carolina
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael Galazin View Post
Nicholas, we see an outline shape on the opening page of your website. Is that a rough outline of the new trailer's shape? If so, may we assume that the taller part is the front and that it tapers down in back?

The site mentions that it could be configured as a toy hauler, I believe. Does that mean there are no internal bulkheads built into the mold, so that the trailer can be ordered as a mere shell? If so, I'm wondering whether it might be useful as a cargo carrier (to hold up to 2000 lbs payload). I'm always on the lookout for a cargo hauler that will give me better gas mileage than the 6x12 box I lug around for work. (Plus I'm in the market for a new travel trailer besides, having just sold mine.)

Michael,
The outline you see on the home page is an aggressive rendering of the shape, the LiL Snoozy follows the same lines, just not as sharp. We started the design by calling it a "reverse tear drop" but it has morphed into more of a wedge, one person went as far as to call it a bullet. The front of the camper is actually the pointed end, with the door on the flat end.


Our design is completely self supporting, meaning there are no need for bulkheads or stringers. We attach the top and bottom half (think boat hull and deck) mechanical and chemically, then bolt it to the metal trailer frame.
At that point you have a LiL Hualy and it is completely and a road worthy cargo trailer. From there options are customers choice. We will have an options list complete with ACTUAL pricing (no hidden gotchas)
If its on the list, we have tested and retested it, to make absolutely sure it meets our standards. We will have certain packages to make ordering easier.
The hauler is a great option, and a market that we will eventually become involved in.
As always any ideas or suggestions are welcome and will be reviewed.
Thanks again!

Nicholas Smoak
Smoakin Concepts
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Old 01-04-2011, 03:47 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LiL Snoozy View Post
Michael,
The outline you see on the home page is an aggressive rendering of the shape, the LiL Snoozy follows the same lines, just not as sharp. We started the design by calling it a "reverse tear drop" but it has morphed into more of a wedge, one person went as far as to call it a bullet. The front of the camper is actually the pointed end, with the door on the flat end.


Our design is completely self supporting, meaning there are no need for bulkheads or stringers. We attach the top and bottom half (think boat hull and deck) mechanical and chemically, then bolt it to the metal trailer frame.
At that point you have a LiL Hualy and it is completely and a road worthy cargo trailer. From there options are customers choice. We will have an options list complete with ACTUAL pricing (no hidden gotchas)
If its on the list, we have tested and retested it, to make absolutely sure it meets our standards. We will have certain packages to make ordering easier.
The hauler is a great option, and a market that we will eventually become involved in.
As always any ideas or suggestions are welcome and will be reviewed.
Thanks again!

Nicholas Smoak
Smoakin Concepts
Thanks for the great info. That is potentially good news for me. Gee, I might need two of these! One empty and one with all the trimmings.


When you have some tester feedback on fuel economy while towing this trailer, I'd be very interested in hearing what they're getting (and what the tow vehicle was). I tow my cargo trailer 20K miles per year, the travel trailer gets another 4K-6K miles... and gas is not getting cheaper.
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Old 01-04-2011, 04:01 PM   #8
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Trailer: LiL Snoozy
South Carolina
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael Galazin View Post
Thanks for the great info. That is potentially good news for me. Gee, I might need two of these! One empty and one with all the trimmings.


When you have some tester feedback on fuel economy while towing this trailer, I'd be very interested in hearing what they're getting (and what the tow vehicle was). I tow my cargo trailer 20K miles per year, the travel trailer gets another 4K-6K miles... and gas is not getting cheaper.

Mike,
What is your tow vehicle? A V6 Cadillac CTS averaged about 16-18 mpg with the camper in tow, the same car on the same day averaged about 25 mpg with out it. My truck averages 14-16 depending on my mood, and with the camper in tow I see around 12-13.
One happy coincidence with the shape that we had not expected was the complete absence of buffeting. I went down the interstate looking for the worst possible turbulence I could find. I have found that car carriers are the worst to be behind or beside, my ride was smooth as silk!

Nicholas Smoak
Smoakin Concepts
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Old 01-04-2011, 07:08 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LiL Snoozy View Post
Mike,
What is your tow vehicle? A V6 Cadillac CTS averaged about 16-18 mpg with the camper in tow, the same car on the same day averaged about 25 mpg with out it. My truck averages 14-16 depending on my mood, and with the camper in tow I see around 12-13.
One happy coincidence with the shape that we had not expected was the complete absence of buffeting. I went down the interstate looking for the worst possible turbulence I could find. I have found that car carriers are the worst to be behind or beside, my ride was smooth as silk!

Nicholas Smoak
Smoakin Concepts
Aha, good news indeed! I'd probably be pretty close to your Caddy's gas mileage, my Toyota Highlander V6 gets 24 on long trips and was getting 14 towing my former Burro 17'. But only 10.5 mpg towing the boxy cargo trailer. 16 or 17 mpg would be a treat and, at 20K miles/year, a real moneysaver.
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Old 01-04-2011, 11:32 PM   #10
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Could you possibly give us at least some foggy notion... a rough estimate... of the price range you anticipate setting for the Lil Snoozy? Please?
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Old 01-05-2011, 01:15 PM   #11
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Name: Nicholas
Trailer: LiL Snoozy
South Carolina
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael Galazin View Post
Could you possibly give us at least some foggy notion... a rough estimate... of the price range you anticipate setting for the Lil Snoozy? Please?
Mike,
We are projecting a comfortably equipped LiL Snoozy to be in the low teens, depending on options.

Nicholas Smoak
Smoakin Concepts
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Old 01-05-2011, 02:03 PM   #12
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I am very surprised at that price. I was guessing around $18,000 based on the sense of quality I get about your build.

What a relief!
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Old 01-05-2011, 04:01 PM   #13
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Name: Nicholas
Trailer: LiL Snoozy
South Carolina
Posts: 60
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sharon G View Post
I am very surprised at that price. I was guessing around $18,000 based on the sense of quality I get about your build.

What a relief!

That is something we like to here!
A little bit of history about us: My father ("the Old Man") has been in the fiberglass industry for a few decades, owning a boat manufacturing company in the 1980's (Eagle Boats) and fiberglass pool company (Alaglass Pools). If you have ever heard of these companies you know of the absolute quality they provided. The Old Man knows a little bit about how to run an efficient business.

I am a former Air Traffic Controller for the Federal Aviation Administration. Due to the nature of my former career I had to learn (trial by fire in some cases) to plan three to four steps in advance and be liquid in my decision making. In ATC you do not stop with "plan B" sometime you would get to plan G, H, or I before you found something that worked.

Naturally these skills come in handy running a manufacturing operation.

How we differ from the majority of other manufacturers:
First and for most, even as a new company, Smoakin Concepts Composites is in $0 dept (zip, zilch, nodda!) This in its self saves our company tremendously, a savings we feel should be passed to our customer (without ya'll, we would not be here)


Due to our collective knowledge we have found ways to streamline production, increase quality, and save valuable time and resources (win, win, win all around). Our new facility has been designed by us to do only one thing, build fiberglass campers, and it will do this with efficiency previously unheard of. The closed molding process I have previously described, is yet another way we improve on existing technology. The predominance of molded fiberglass campers are built with a hand laid technique. Still very strong, this process takes a great deal of time, and multiple skilled workers . Depending on the amount of glass in the part it could take a few skilled workers an entire day or more to have a finished shell. Closed molding or Light RTM can be done in a fraction of that time, with a fraction of the people. The way our process is designed, two guys can build the parts in just a few hours, while using much less resin.


Waist of materials and man hours are another money spender. Henry Ford was a pioneer in the automotive industry for his use of an assembly line. We are using many of his techniques, coupled with modern innovations. Our fiberglass and coring materials comes to our plant pre-cut by the manufacturer. This alone saves, on average, 10-15% in material waist alone. Not to mention the dozen or so man hours it would take to cut and fit the layers of glass and coring.


I apologize for the length of this, I tend to get carried away. If anyone is interested in learning more about the Light RTM process I will be happy to explain it further or show some links that are excellent resources.


Over the last few years we have had some very long days and very trying times designing the LiL Snoozy . Your response and enthusiasm is making all of that well worth it! Thank you so very much!

Nicholas Smoak
Smoakin concepts Composites
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Old 01-05-2011, 04:28 PM   #14
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Nicholas, you have my attention for sure! Now I am dying to see some eye candy. Any chance you might let us see a "sneak peek" photo of your prototype?

You mentioned trying to save weight with lighter batteries. I don't know too much about batteries, but doesn't that translate into smaller batteries that hold less charge? I think you might find that some people will want to go the other direction. Not everyone, but you might want to offer the option of a large battery or batteries (if there's room on the tongue). There are those who get serious about their dry camping and even install solar systems. Personally I can be happy with a small batt.

I don't know what your thoughts are on heaters, but I think the common RV furnaces are useless... too noisy and too big a battery drain. If you can source out a fanless gas heater with venting to the outside, I think that would be fabulous. No one else is offering anything like this from the factory and you would have a leg up with all us folks who can't stand the roar of the fan-driven furnaces. Offhand I only know of one kind, the Platinum Cat http://www.ventedcatheater.com/6.html but maybe there are others still being made. Such heaters used to be more common a few decades ago; not sure why they fell out of favor... unless it was because RVs got too big to be heated by them.
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Old 01-05-2011, 05:57 PM   #15
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Nicholas, I also like plenty of battery for dry camping. On my Aliner I have two 6 volt batteries along with solar components. Being able to camp off-grid is a primary consideration for me. That's weight that I consider essential enough not to worry about.

I'd like to say that I have been emailing Nicholas and am definitely planning to order a Lil Snoozy as soon as I get the Aliner paid off -- hopefully by the end of this year, or definitely by the first part of next year.

This is perfect for DH and I. It is the first quality fiberglass RV that I have no reservations about that is in my price range--without having to order a shell and build my own interior. It's also in the next state over from me, so it's close and easy for me to get to.

And leather swivel rocking chairs in a small fiberglass trailer -- just WOW!
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Old 01-05-2011, 06:37 PM   #16
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Are there any schematics or floor plans that can be posted until we can see the real eye candy photos?
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Old 01-05-2011, 09:01 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sharon G View Post
Nicholas, I also like plenty of battery for dry camping. On my Aliner I have two 6 volt batteries along with solar components. Being able to camp off-grid is a primary consideration for me. That's weight that I consider essential enough not to worry about.

I'd like to say that I have been emailing Nicholas and am definitely planning to order a Lil Snoozy as soon as I get the Aliner paid off -- hopefully by the end of this year, or definitely by the first part of next year.

This is perfect for DH and I. It is the first quality fiberglass RV that I have no reservations about that is in my price range--without having to order a shell and build my own interior. It's also in the next state over from me, so it's close and easy for me to get to.

And leather swivel rocking chairs in a small fiberglass trailer -- just WOW!
Sharon, I can see you really have been talking with Nicholas. Leather, huh? What other juicy tidbits can you share?
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Old 01-05-2011, 09:30 PM   #18
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Most of those things are already posted here by someone who test drove a prototype and already ordered one. He included a list of the options he had selected and reported his experience towing the prototype in the steep South Carolina hills.

I had written to Nicholas originally about buying a shell and finishing the interior myself because I didn't think I could afford a finished model. Then when he posted that the finished ones were available in the low teens, I was ecstatic.

The leather chairs can apparently replace a fold-down sofa for extra sleeping. And the chairs and graphics are included in the price, and are not expensive add-ons.

I know from the other buyer's post that a big-screen TV and fireplace are also available. That might answer your question about heating. It sounds like it would be kind of like Gina's blue flame heater, only better maybe? This is no dinky also-ran operation. They are first class all the way--at an unbelievably low price!

I would be afraid I was saying too much if all that information hadn't already been posted here. It's on a Lil Snoozy thread, I think.

Even though I haven't seen actual photos of the unit, I am so impressed with what I have read about the company and their philosophy, the cabin size of 14'7" (not counting the hitch), and by Nicholas himself that I know that THIS is the camper that I have been wanting since I first started lurking on Fiberglass boards.

The specs are on their website: Specifications. The specs may be evolving, though.

Nicholas, see what a firestorm you started when you posted here? You are going to have to give us some more info soon!
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Old 01-06-2011, 06:33 AM   #19
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I'm not sure what the issue here is in regards to "TOO MUCH" information having already being posted, but I can not find any of that information. The website is very vague and "Under construction" and no one mentions any names as to who has additional information, it is almost like a secret club going on. We need disclosure here. particularly if you want to start the bandwagon rolling. Where are the options, prices, reviews, links to these specifics would be helpful, thanks. I have yet to see any thing about leather chairs!
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Old 01-06-2011, 06:53 AM   #20
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Jim, Alan Smo was the first to post about the Lil Snoozy in this topic: http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...per-44576.html

If you go to Alan's profile, you'll see more info about the Lil Snoozy, including some of the answers you seek: alan smo's Trailer :: "LiL Snoozy"

Hope this helps
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