M416 Biff's Build

[Sigmataun49]

11/15/2015

We got some more work done yesterday at RESZ Fabrication. Cut some 2" square tube to make storage spots on both sides of the fenders.



After they were all cut, welded together, and welded onto the frame the trailer was really starting to look like something out of Mad Max.



These storage spots are strong!! Mike was standing on the front left as I stood on the rear right one. We quickly realized that I weighed more than Mike and that there is no jack stand in the rear of the trailer... yet. These swivel mount jack stands will be welded to all four storage areas. The jacks themselves can be taken off and stored inside the tongue box or inside the trailer. This is just mocked up for the time being, but they look like they will work just fine stabilizing the trailer while I am on top of it in a tent...



We then set the tub back in place and covered up the 2" square tube with some 1/8" sheet metal. After the sheet metal was welded into place the rear tail light housing was welded on top.



Stay tuned... next weekend will be fun filled... finishing covering the storage spots, welding on the other tail light housing, extending the tongue, adding HF tool box, welding on some more angle iron to support the Thule legs, s'more spot welds and grinding.. metal fab should be complete next weekend. We will then be off to the sand blaster to get all the old paint and rust off, after blasting bed liner will be applied. After that the final stop will be in Amish country to have a snap on cover made out of boat cover material so it is waterproof and will keep all of my gear from getting soggy.

I can not thank Mike @ RESZ Fabrication enough for all of his help, he has seriously busted out all of this metal work in a couple of weekends and it looks great!

 

[Sikocycles]

Well done.

 

[brian90744]

Extending hitch info

Shane. To extend the hitch you must remove the tub. see pictures. from center of tub to frt of lunnete is 51". Good luck=brian

 

[Sigmataun49]

Well done.

Thanks! Can't wait until I can be out camping with it, but I have all winter to wait...

Shane. To extend the hitch you must remove the tub. see pictures. from center of tub to frt of lunnete is 51". Good luck=brian

Thanks Brian! This is the route I am going to go can't wait to make the trailer a little longer and easier to manuver in reverse. Going to add some great space for the tongue box.

Any reasons why I would need to replace the drain and not just cut and patch?

 

[Sigmataun49]

11/21-11/22

It is that time again!! The weekend finally came around and it was time to get some more work done on the trailer!

Started with cutting sheet metal for the remaining storage spots on the sides of the trailer and welding them on.



These are the storages for the front of the trailer.

Next it was time to unbolt the old tongue and get it out of there to make room for longer rails.



With that dropped we unbolted the original lunette, but first had to make a run to Autozone to borrow a 29mm socket to get the large bolt out.

New rails were cut at 60" long, 2"x3" at 1/8" thick. We had to cut out openings at the end and drill holes for the bolts that attach the lunette.



The new rails were moved into place, the ends of the rails slid in between the frame of the trailer and were welded on. Thank you Brian90744 for helping with the measurements and pictures of how you extended the tongue of your trailer. This worked perfectly!



Next we welded on the swivel jack stand mounts to the storage locations on the outside of the tub. There are 4 in total.



Next it was time to cut some more sheet metal for on top of the new tongue.



Trailer was flipped over to cut out the drain in the front left corner of the tub. The drain needed to be cut out and patched because the drain would block the tub from sitting down into the frame now with the longer and wider tongue rails. Picture of the drain cut out and patched.

 

[Sigmataun49]

11/21-11/22

Now it was time to go around and grind down flush all of the holes that were filled in the tub and bolt the tub back onto the frame. It is starting to come together!!



I purchased Thule legs and 58" wide cross bars to mount on top of the trailer to hold a roof top tent. Since my trailer will not have a hard lid we had to get creative on how to mount the legs. I will have a snap on cover made out of boat cover material that will snap on to the angle iron around the outside lip the tub. We had to allow space in between the Thule legs and the angle iron for the cover. There will be 3 Thule legs on each side and 3 cross bars. The mounts were made out of angle iron and welded in place. Holes were drilled into the angle iron so the Thule legs can be taken completely off and the trailer can be used to haul larger items. Will have pictures with the Thule bars mounted later on.



I purchased a tongue tool box from Harbor Freight and had to drill holes in the bottom of it and holes into the sheet metal on top of the tongue to secure it in place.



All of the metal fabrication work is now complete, and I could not have done this without the help of Mike @ RESZ Fab!! Thanks again for all of your help and weekends of work!!

List of things that were done:

- Welded steel angle iron to the top of the tub
- Made new locking tailgate
- Fixed huge cutout in the front of the tub
- Welded old bolt holes closed in the tub
- Added storage to the sides of the frame in front and behind wheels
- Made fill plates for steps/storages
- Added taillight housings to the rear
- Welded mounts for jack stands at each corner
- Made an extended tongue with appropriate mounting holes for original lunette and plate on top of tongue
- Welded custom mounts to the side of the tub to support roof top tent
- Cut out old drain and sealed the hole

LOTS of cutting, grinding, and welding

Roughly 376 little miscellaneous things along the way. Including but not limited to: searching for bolts, searching for tools, buying new tools, cutting bolts, grinding bolts, drilling lots of holes, measuring, measuring, more measuring, grinding paint, swearing, flashburn, spatter burns everywhere, and more swearing...

^^^List compliments of Mike^^^



Up next after Thanksgiving I will be off to the sandblaster to have all of the old paint removed, then covered with truck bedliner, and then a snap on cover will be made.

Stay tuned!!

 

[brian90744]

nice job, it's looking ready for off-road.=brian

 

[Sigmataun49]

nice job, it's looking ready for off-road.=brian

Thanks Brian! Can't wait to get it out of the garage and start using it!

 

[kraw]

:luxhello:

 

[Monkey_Wrench]

Awesome job!!

 

[JCMatthews]

Great job on the trailer. The swivel mounts look like knee knockers, or that the will catch trail obstacles. Other than that, awesome.

 

[Sigmataun49]

Great job on the trailer. The swivel mounts look like knee knockers, or that the will catch trail obstacles. Other than that, awesome.

Thanks JC, already know they are knee knockers haha! When the trailer is stationary for camping jack stands will be covering them. Will not have the trailer on any crazy trails until I can afford an axle swap and new leaf springs. The plan is to get the trailer done by spring... Ohio weather... for camping season. That includes saving for a tent. May be awhile for the new axle and springs.

 

[Sigmataun49]

Awesome job!!

Thanks it's been a fun project so far!

 

[Sikocycles]

Updates?

 

[Sigmataun49]

Updates?

Funny you should ask, my guy sandblasting the trailer just called, everything is going good no holes or anything just had some light surface rust and the powdercoat on the frame was flaking from the surface rust. After he is done blasting it he will cover it in black truck bedliner. Should have it back middle of next week with more pictures to keep the tread updated. Thanks for following!