Jevy's humble M-416 build thread

Jevy

Adventurer
Hey everyone,

After lots and lots of lurking I decided today was the day to sign up. I've been pretty active in adventure riding motorcycles for the last several years but a recent accident has recently put me back on four wheels. :Wow1: That being said I have purchased an '84 Jeep CJ7 and today I picked up an M-416 trailer. We have a surplus supply place in town that sells alot of the Military Surplus vehicles and they happened to have a 416 there. After looking it over I decided it was a good candidate for a project. The main uses of this trailer will be for weekend camping and hauling kayak's. At this point I am only in the beginning stages for figuring out just how far I'm going to go on this project.......but if it ends up like all my other projects I'm sure it'll be way overboard.

So within an hour of being home I already had the bed removed to survey what I was going to do.

2012-09-18%2018.08.34_zps6ace93cc.jpg


2012-09-18%2018.08.42_zpse59cb717.jpg


2012-09-18%2018.08.25_zps20c1aa7f.jpg



Here is a few items that I'm debating on now:

1. Keep the pintle hook hitch or go to something more conventional?

2. Build a hard top cover or use a military style tarp

3. Debating how to mount the roof top tent and still carry kayaks

4. Debating whether to do axle flip and whether to keep the parking brake

At this point I expect the build to take the better part of the winter to complete. My main immediate focus is getting the frame cleaned up/painted and the bottom of the body prepped/ready to paint. I'll try to keep an ongoing thread about what I'm up to.
 

DonBeasley

Adventurer
Welcome to the Obsession!!!

I too have a CJ and have been working on my M416 for a couple of years now. I have had the same questions and am not sure what the right answers are but here is a link to my build.

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/66531-M416-Build-to-go-behind-my-CJ

1. I kept the pintle mostly because I like the look but there are other options out there for off-road use.

2. I started out with the military tarp but now have a hardtop

3. Still trying to figure out the kayak situation with a RTT. Behind a CJ with rear mounted spare and no trailer tongue extension it is tough. I am thinking a lifted bracket front and back that will hold the kayak but can be removed when not in use.

4. Did a SOA to fit 33's and kept the brake to keep the trailer stable. Since you have a CJ your jeep wheels just bolt right up.

Keep the pictures coming. We always like to "borrow" ideas.
 

Mark Harley

Expedition Leader
Just follow Don's advice and you will do fine. " his trailer is AWESOME"

Keep the pintle.
My preference, Matching paint and wheels.
Keep the parking brake " wish I did "
Spring over for lifted or spring under for stock height tow vehicles.
A mount in front and rear of the tub with quick disconnects for a kayak rack above the RTT.

Nice garage lots of toys to play with!
Keep us posted on the build.
 

Jevy

Adventurer
well this morning I managed to get the frame rails ground down and was surprised by just how little real rust the frame had. 99% of it was just surface rust. I also got the axle free to do the SOA conversion. So far I am really happy with the way it is going.
 

DonBeasley

Adventurer
Yeah I had quite a bit of surface rust on the frame and some pitting but once I blasted it and coated it, the frame looks great. These things are pretty good considering their age.
 

Matt

Adventurer
Nice trailer! Looks like its in great shape.

I was going to keep the pintle at first but ended up building a new front frame section using a receiver tube. That way I could extend the tongue so the rear door of my Jeep could open all the way with the trailer hooked up. Im just using a 2" ball hitch for now, but could easily change to a offroad type hitch.


I dont plan on making a hinged, hard side lid for my trailer. Probably have a custom "box type" tarp made for it. I still want to be able to use my trailer for things like hauling bags of leafs to the compost dump in the fall without having to mess with removing a lid.


If you make the uprights taller than the RTT front and back you can add another set of crossmembers that would support the kayaks above the RTT. Kind of hard to explain, but it makes sense in my head. :)


Going SOA depends on the tire size. I'd keep the trailer as low as you can, for stability and ease of use. Im using Stock Rubicon tires and wheels on my trailer that measure 32" tall. I chose to keep it SUA and use different fenders so I could keep it lower.


I'd keep the hand brake for sure! Works better than wheel chocks, my tires dont move at all with the hand brake on.


Keep us posted on the build!
 

Jevy

Adventurer
I've been out of town for a couple days. Today I did order the monster liner that I intend to cover the body with(both interior and exterior). Plan is to monster liner both my jeep and trailer over the winter


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 

Matt

Adventurer
Just a heads up.....
But having bed liner on the outside is going to attract grime like crazy. The stuff is porrus so its hard to keep clean. Wont hose off, you'll have to scrub it to get it clean.
 

jeepfreak81

Adventurer
Just a heads up.....
But having bed liner on the outside is going to attract grime like crazy. The stuff is porrus so its hard to keep clean. Wont hose off, you'll have to scrub it to get it clean.

I have seen some smooth ones...
 

Jevy

Adventurer
well the monstaliner is ordered so I'm going to try it.

Today I managed to finish grinding/sanding on the frame and was able to get the springs and axle back together(flipped the springs). I have spent the evening googling everything I could think of to come up with a roof top tent set up and use a hard top on the trailer. I'm really drawing a blank for how to install it and make it be useable space. I will be prepping the body in the next couple of days then I've got to decide on a tent/cover set up.
 

Jevy

Adventurer
Here is a couple of pics of where I'm at:
2012-09-23_17-34-57_426_zpsadecd6c1.jpg


2012-09-23_17-35-25_288_zps126dc170.jpg


Next up is to work on the underside of the bed/fenders. With any luck I'll get it sanded/primed this week. I plan on doing a primer and paint on the underside.

2012-09-23_17-35-42_54_zpse4332180.jpg


I've already done a little on the body as far as sanding goes:

2012-09-23_17-35-02_828_zpsad429c5b.jpg


2012-09-19_12-24-28_843_zps0b074486.jpg


I think I've decided to slow down on the build for the trailer. I'm planning on getting the trailer mounted back on the frame with the underside completed then will do the monsterliner on the bed. At that point I think I'm going to stop and try to figure out what I really want to do to the trailer. I really like the Sierra Designs top but I don't want to wait a year to get one. Along the same note I can't decide which RTT to use and how exactly to mount it. So for now it's just going to be an open tub trailer.
 

Jevy

Adventurer
honestly the spring over was not an issue. It was simply nuts/bolts to make it happen. I have a 1/2" impact and it had a pretty hard time getting the u bolts loose. I could not get the front spring hangers loose but the rear ones did come loose. I just unbolted the rear spring hangers, the axle u bolts then slid it out the back. Hook the spring hanger back up then bolt the axle back on. If that was all you were doing I'ld guess it to be an hour to hour and a half job. If I had some decent u bolts/nuts and everything came loose easily then it would only take a few minutes to do. The handbrake can be kept with some mods but I've decided not to retain it. For now I'm going to stay with the military tires because I'm not sure which direction I'm going with tires on my Jeep.
 

Jevy

Adventurer
just a little update.....I did get the bottom of the bed of the trailer primed and painted today. I plan on setting it back on the chassis this afternoon when my kids get home from school. I have also ordered a metal cover from a local sheet metal company, a Mt Hood CVT tent and the gas struts/brackets for the top. So at least the big ticket items are purchased.
 

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