jeeperwilly
The wisdomless wander
I've been the on hunt for a trailer the past 6 or so months. This stems from the my last trip out to Moab and Co. Three grown men for 10 days all packed in TJ is just a little two tight....ok way to tight.
I've been able to do long trips by myself by using a backpackers mantra mixed with a jeepers needs. Kind of like the Blitzkrieg of camping....light, fast, and small. This last trip brought to light that I need a little more storage if my wife was ever to come along one of these years or if I'm to enlighten any more friends or family.
So my bright idea was to find a trailer. By chance I ran across a trailer at a local auction site and picked it up. With out any further ado, in all of its camo glory, my 1967 Stevens M416....
The plan is to restore/modify the trailer to my needs. I'd like to make all the modifications removable or reversible so if by chance some day I can find a CJ2A I can bring it back to near stock condition to match the jeep. With that said, anything that gets replaced or removed I'll be hanging onto.
The plan is to get 33's under it, a cover made, possibly extend tounge and add a trail coupler(you know the fancy ones), strip/blast the body and frame, repaint body to a dark kahki with the orininal miltary markings repainted on, bed will be bedlined, frame will get coated with Rust Seal then top coated either black or same kahki. Possibly I'll swap out the axle to get a 5x4.5 rim on it but for now I'll keep the original axle untill I start pulling it apart later this fall.
Current goal is get it reliable and streetable, so begins.......
Work Day 1:
Yesterday I pulled the wheels and popped the axle caps. Added some grease which helped immensely. Also pulled the one remaining original tail light and replaced it with a set of submersible LEDs. I think down the line I'll move the LEDs higher up on the body using the side marker holes for mounting and making a new bracket. But for now they will just be mounted to the old brackets.
For now its all ready to go down the road. Thinking about heading to the junkyard Friday and looking for some cheap steelies for the tires that a friend snagged me(FREEBEE, woohoo!). I plan on making its maiden voyage in a couple weeks to a local wheeling park.
I'm hopeing to make this a budget build, but we'll see how long that lasts thou. I'm torn on a bunch of things like a SOA swap or just getting a new axle with the bolt pattern I want. Also the top is whats going to kill the funds. Still have to figure out the materials that'll be used but I have a great design thanks to a buddy at work. Hopefully more to come in the following weeks.
I've been able to do long trips by myself by using a backpackers mantra mixed with a jeepers needs. Kind of like the Blitzkrieg of camping....light, fast, and small. This last trip brought to light that I need a little more storage if my wife was ever to come along one of these years or if I'm to enlighten any more friends or family.
So my bright idea was to find a trailer. By chance I ran across a trailer at a local auction site and picked it up. With out any further ado, in all of its camo glory, my 1967 Stevens M416....
The plan is to restore/modify the trailer to my needs. I'd like to make all the modifications removable or reversible so if by chance some day I can find a CJ2A I can bring it back to near stock condition to match the jeep. With that said, anything that gets replaced or removed I'll be hanging onto.
The plan is to get 33's under it, a cover made, possibly extend tounge and add a trail coupler(you know the fancy ones), strip/blast the body and frame, repaint body to a dark kahki with the orininal miltary markings repainted on, bed will be bedlined, frame will get coated with Rust Seal then top coated either black or same kahki. Possibly I'll swap out the axle to get a 5x4.5 rim on it but for now I'll keep the original axle untill I start pulling it apart later this fall.
Current goal is get it reliable and streetable, so begins.......
Work Day 1:
Yesterday I pulled the wheels and popped the axle caps. Added some grease which helped immensely. Also pulled the one remaining original tail light and replaced it with a set of submersible LEDs. I think down the line I'll move the LEDs higher up on the body using the side marker holes for mounting and making a new bracket. But for now they will just be mounted to the old brackets.
For now its all ready to go down the road. Thinking about heading to the junkyard Friday and looking for some cheap steelies for the tires that a friend snagged me(FREEBEE, woohoo!). I plan on making its maiden voyage in a couple weeks to a local wheeling park.
I'm hopeing to make this a budget build, but we'll see how long that lasts thou. I'm torn on a bunch of things like a SOA swap or just getting a new axle with the bolt pattern I want. Also the top is whats going to kill the funds. Still have to figure out the materials that'll be used but I have a great design thanks to a buddy at work. Hopefully more to come in the following weeks.
