M416 Based Off-road Trailer build with Lock-N-Roll Trailer Hitch

Bonofied Suiter

Bonofied Suiter
Sorry, it’s been a while since I've updated this build. It seems like our Jeep has required my attention far more lately. I found that the landing leg wheel I originally went with was not up to the task. I cut it off and replaced it with a heavy duty hard plastic HF plastic caster. I cut down an aluminum alignment shim to go between the landing leg casting and the square tubing to help to level telescopic landing leg.



I'm at a point where the chassis is just about complete and I've turned my attention back to the tub. As many of you will find when you remove all the paint more holes show up than you expected. I found that the body was rusted out in two corners. As you can see in the photos I cut out the weak sections and cut and fit in replacement 16 gauge panels. I purchased a bending brake from HF that I used to bend needed 90 degree lips on the replacement tub pieces.




I used my 110V Lincoln MIG welder with .30 solid core wire and a CO2/Argon mix. Flux core wire burns too hot and would burn right through the thin 16 gauge sheet metal.




Considering that the M416 tub is 50+ years old I've resigned myself to not work out all of the little dings especially the ones in the floor. To get the floor flat again I flipped it over, jumped on top and stomped it down and then attempted to shrink the metal using a propane torch and a cold wet rag. I soldered over the patch seams to seal them then painted the bottom black just to keep it from rusting if it rained. It will be undercoated when finished. After the inside of the tub is texture lined I'm going to install six small clip in aircraft type anchors into the floor to help secure cargo. The body sides will get a light coat of Bondo to smooth it out a bit prior to paint to match the Jeep.



I came up with a nice used RV water pump that had sucked up some small rocks. Once I took it apart and cleaned it out and put it back together. I found it worked great and thought it would make a nice addition to my project. I’ve installed it into the tool box with a power switch, LED indicator and two external ½” hose connections. I still need to complete the wiring and plumbing in the box. One external 1/2" pipe connection is for a 5' suction hose with a screen filter on the end which drops into our water jug /source. The other connection is for a portable sprayer / shower head. Inside the box is a small PVC ball valve that will allow us to reduce the 3.5 GPM water flow so our limited available water can last longer.







Solar Panel to maintain battery charge when not in use.

Sorry again for the delay in updates. Hopefully I can get it finished in the next month or so.
 
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ZombCJ

New member
Looks great man! I'm in Vegas too, I know what you mean about the heat. I'm working on a trailer and want to set up my battery box similar to what you're doing. Can you repost the pics with the solar panel. Photo bucket says they're deleted or moved. Thanks!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Bonofied Suiter

Bonofied Suiter
I think I fixed the broken links. Moab Fab / Stout Fabrication is hard at work building my custom fenders for the trailer. They are designed to match the Metal Cloak Overline Fenders on my 2003 Jeep TJ the Whoo-Hoobicon. Here is a photo of the fenders before they are skinned. Thanks to Matson at Metal Cloak for selling me the ball ends that they use on their fenders so they will match. I think they are going to look awesome. They will bolt into the frame and at the tub with button head bolts and fender washers. We won't be mounting them the same way as my Jeep fenders. By the way I love my MetalCloak fenders and corners. I'll send more photos after I get them powdercoated at Snail Motorsports here in Las Vegas.

 

DonBeasley

Adventurer
Great to see that you are making progress on this thing. Sometimes these "short" projects take forever. Especially if you have a Jeep that is busy emptying your pocket!!!!

More pictures. I need new ideas that I can borrow.
 

Bonofied Suiter

Bonofied Suiter
Here are some photos of my new fenders which are almost finished. The photos are with the fenders sitting on a block of wood on top of the tire so they are not exactly in place. These fenders were custom made for me by Stout Fabrication in Las Vegas, NV. They only need the lower mounting studs to be installed where they bolt into the frame and then a little grinding and sanding before they go to Snail Motorsports powder coating to match to the black texture on the Jeep.








 

Bonofied Suiter

Bonofied Suiter




Now that the fenders are built I've just got to clean them up a bit and take them to the powdercoat shop. Snail Motorsports is one of the top powdercoat shops in Las Vegas and they did a great job on my Jeep fenders. At it's widest point the fenders are a bit over 10" wide. As with the Jeep I didn't want them to completely cover the tires. In a tight spot I'd rather rub the tires then the trailer. In the photo the fender is sitting on a block so we could see how they would look when mounted. the fenders have two 1/2" studs that will mount into the frame. The top mounts will use two stainless steel button head bolts coming in from the inside of the tub.

I have the new Bird Dog wheels from Interco Tire on the Jeep. I was one of the first to have them and the internal bead retention system works great. I wanted the tires and wheels on the trailer to match. That way I don't have to carry an extra spare. I installed RAD tire deflators on these wheels like the Jeep has. This will make them totally interchangable between the two vehicles. The tires are new too. I won a $500 gift certificate from Discount Tire at the Kingman AZ Ghost Town Jamboree. That was only about $40 short of what it cost for two new BFG KM2 tires. The size is 35X12.50R15
 

Bonofied Suiter

Bonofied Suiter
Thanks for your interest in my build guys. I hope to get the fenders back from the Powdercoat shop this week. On a personal note I'm thrilled and honored to announce that Action 4X4 magazine selected my Jeep for a great 5-page feature and the cover of the November 2014 issue of their magazine. Two regrets though, first is that I didn't have the trailer done in time for it to be included in the story and second that I didn't take French in high school. Regardless, I've got one less thing on my bucket list.

 

Bonofied Suiter

Bonofied Suiter
Here are some photos of the completed fenders for the trailer. They have been powdercoated with a light texture black called Raven Texture II PBT6-C0001. The color and texture is really nice and doesn't wash out to a grey like a lot of the others.






 

croix

Observer
Great lookin trailer. Do the birddog rims fit the trailer axle without spacers?

I've got spacers with stock jeep rims on my trailer (and jeep) right now, but I've been seriously considering the birddog rims. If they fit the trailer axle without spacers I may need to pull the trigger. If spacers are still needed I would have to narrow my trailer axle - yuck.

Thanks,
-croix
 

Bonofied Suiter

Bonofied Suiter
I replaced the stock military trailer axle with one that I bought from a guy on Craigslist that never finished his project. I don't have spacers on the trailer but I do have them on the Jeep as I wanted it to have a wider stance. I needed to have the same bolt pattern on the trailer as the Jeep so I can use the same spare for both. As far as I know the width of the original axle was the same as the new one. The first wheels that I had on this project trailer came off my Jeep and with the same size tires (35X12.50R15 BFG KM2) and they only left about 1/2" between the tire and the frame. The new Bird Dog wheels on our Jeep have less offset so now there is about 1-1/4" of clearance.

 

MagicMtnDan

2020 JT Rubicon Launch Edition & 2021 F350 6.7L
Very impressive design and execution. I'm looking forward to seeing the completed trailer. You gonna put a RTT on it? Kitchen chuck box in it?
 

Bonofied Suiter

Bonofied Suiter
Can you tell me where I can find those taillights? Are they in the original housing or entirely new?

The tail lamp housings are the original and made from aluminum. I removed the lens and guts and drilled a small hole in the side to run the wires through. Where the original wires came in I added a small Grote marker lamp in the original hole. The housing was ground out to accept a more modern sealed LED stop/turn/tail lamp. All of the current lighting is now LED.
 

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