Marn's Basic M-416 Build

[Dr. Marneaus]

Well, I might as well document it.

Last time I was down in Vegas I picked up a 1960whatever M-416 that was in original (aside from paint and lights being added) condition. It was titled as a home built 2015 from NY. Tires were new (well a few years old), wheels were new, bearings were new, came with extra bearings, LED tail lights, included a pintle hitch, blah de blah de blah. I probably over paid but it was exactly what I wanted.

After fighting a little with the DMV about it not being currently titled or registered, I drug it home, 450 miles.
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trailer1 by Marn, on Flickr

I tested it out behind the wag.
trailer2 by Marn, on Flickr
trailer3 by Marn, on Flickr

So, I began to tear it down to refinish it a bit. It had been somewhat sloppily painted black (tons of runs) over a red paint job, over some primer, over the factory green, over the factory red primer. I grabbed my respirator, and began the terrible process of grinding allllllllllll the paint off.
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Untitled by Marn, on Flickr

I lost motivation after getting like 2/3rds of the way there and it sat for several weeks. I finally geared back up and got it going again. Painted the tub and the fenders and the frame and the suspension.
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Soooooooo. from there, I weant ahead and bed lined the interior with Raptor. Was super easy using a buddy's bigger compressor.
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Untitled by Marn, on Flickr
Untitled by Marn, on Flickr

I let that cure for a few weeks.

Somewhere in there I went and bought a CVT tent. Wife and I took the camper camping, and got super annoyed with the situation. We had to go to 8 campgrounds before finding a spot, then had to deal with screeching kids, off leash dogs, oompa oompa music coming out of some lowered trucks that came in with the beds packed to the roof line with bikes and play houses and toys and luggage, and everybody walking directly through our site to use the outhouse. As soon as we got home, i hit up craigslist and brought home the RTT. IT was lightly used over the course of the previous year. Saved about $1300 off retail. CVT Mt. Shasta Summit Series.

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So, that lit a fire under my butt. After I bed lined it, I looked at alot of builds and made the decision to go with a fixed height rack. I'm tall, and the ability to move around in the Annex was super important. Queue all the "oh my god its too tall you're gonna tip over and kill a bus full of nuns and lawyers children" comments.

 

[Dr. Marneaus]

Sketched out a plan to put the floor of the tent 6/2" off the ground. OR something like that. ITs right around 6'. Had my buddy pick up some 1 1/2" square tubing and some angle iron and we went to work. This is my first time ever fabricating anything. I did probably 80% of the welding and cutting, a bunch of the plasma cutting, etc. Welds aint pretty but he tells me they should work fine.
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K, so, drug it home with the tent mounted. Yeah, with no weight in the trailer its a little top heavy but still rode fine.

Went ahead and tested everything out. surprisingly stable even without any additional supports for the trailer.
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K, so, obviously other crap was needed. Grabbed some RV stabilizing jacks. Done.
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Painted the rack and stuck on some bubble levels. Picked up some leveling blocks.
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Put it all back together to give it another test. .....thweet!
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Untitled by Marn, on Flickr
Untitled by Marn, on Flickr

So now I have an empty tub with a tall ass rack and some expensive canvas strapped to the top.

I went to a bunch of stores and landed on this massive portable tool bin from home depot. Plano had some much more ideally sized bins that would have fit perfectly below the lip of the trailer, but they were almost equally pric ed and super friggin flimsy. I can sit on this big bastard and it doesnt flex. Plus it included a lock, has 2 more locking points, and unless somebody was prettyy determined, they wont be getting into it. Its thick enough that it would be a bear to stab though it and cut a hole with your knife or something. Fits nicely, albeit a little high. Straps down very nicely. It'll be nice and secure when i throw a cable and padlock around it.
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So, not really anything left to do now but use the damn thing, huh?

 

[Dr. Marneaus]

Oh and I built a solar water heater than can be pressurized.
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Told wife "pick a campground so we can use it in a controlled environment." She did, and we did.

Loaded the bastard up with a fairly simple list of items. Basically all we need to bring along in the trailer is:
1. Big ass bin full of trailery things, the annex/tent bits, lantern, camp stove, propane bottles, camp tools.
2. Small ass bin full of all camp kitchen necessities.
3. Small folding table (still building a trailer mounted table)
4. Water jugs/water heater.
5. Coolers (1 for beer 1 for food).
6. Firewood.
7. Camp Chairs.

Threw our duffle bags and bedding into the jeep.

BAM! LOADED!!!!!! Off we go! Towed the thing about a hunnert miles into California.

I threw a stretchy stretchy net over the top just top keep anything from bouncing out. Not looking for a mega heavy duty net. Intentional went with a springy little one. Fits perfect over all my junk!
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Untitled by Marn, on Flickr
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Spun it around and opened that bad boy up!!!
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Anyway, towed great and worked well. The annex is a pain in the butt but i'll get better at that.

There are certainly more things to come in this build, in the near future.
1. Spare tire mount in front of the tub.
2. battery mount/box in front of the tub.
3. Lighting under the tent, and on the corners of the rack.
4. Some other stuff? I dunno, we'll see.


So, thats where we stand on this!

 

[Dr. Marneaus]

Aite, after the first successful trip there were still some remaining items that needed to be fabricated.

Spare tire carrier was a must, as I wanted it out of the tub, and preferably adding weight to the tongue. We created a pretty basic mounting system by welling a cross piece to the front of the frame, from there we located the tire so it would rest on the frame of the trailer, then mounted an arm and a mounting plate. Its all integral to the frame rack system and not permanently attached to the trailer itself. I may consider adding an arm that goes down and bolts to the trailer frame to stiffen it, but we'll see if thats necessary.


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Untitled by Marn, on Flickr

As I was pondering the design of the tire rack, a solution for a battery mount came to me. I was worried about just bolting a plastic battery box to the trailer, that it wouldnt be very sturdy. So, why not make a frame for it? We welded up a frame and put it on risers to clear the lunette, this way it could be run either in the high or low hole. I left it in the high. its scooted forward enough that it clears the spare tire.



I picked a battery box that was larger tna my 24 series RV battery. This gives me enough room on the inside for some wiring and other useful items. I'll be wiring in a 6 circuit fuse panel to run a few items that will be permanent to the trailer. Definitely going to be setting up some area lights, as well as power to the tent for the interior light and USB ports. I have also ordered a 12v accessory panel that I will be mounting to the box. It'll have a switch, a volt meter, a dual USB port, and a typical 12v outlet. What i will have created here is essentially a home built power pack or power station.

Lastly, I did not bolt the plastic battery box to the frame, but rather will use a strap or two to secure it. This means I can simply pull the battery box off of the trailer as a whole unit, so if i want to charge it or bring the box inside or use it somewhere away from the trailer, it can be conveniently lifted from the frame and carried wherever. The "permanent" item wiring (trailer lights, tent power) will be connected with plugs so they can easily be unplugged when removing the battery box.

Anyway, progress! Next week i should be able to get the majority of the electronics completed.

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Untitled by Marn, on Flickr

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[Dr. Marneaus]

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Untitled by Marn, on Flickr


somebody on facebook asked for a build and parts list, so here's the rundown:


Okay, so there are a lot more sturdy or roomy ways to do this project, but I'm poor and cheap and had limited space on the front of my trailer, and I specifically wanted the thing to be removable.
Parts list:
-(1) 24-31 series battery box. I run a 24 series battery, and knew a 31 series box would give me a bit of extra room for my controls n such. This is the one I bought: https://www.walmart.com/ip/NOCO-Sna...r-Automotive-Marine-and-RV-Batteries/16781380
-(1) of these power panel things. This one on amazon has like 48 different configurations and colors. Based on dimensions i chose the square one with 4 ports. I determined I would use the switch to power up the panel, not power an accessory. You can find larger and smaller options all on this one product page: https://www.amazon.com/Cllena-Charg...37286065&sr=8-18&keywords=12v+usb+power+panel
-(1) 6 way fuse block with ground. Since this is a portable box, its not grounded to the trailer, so I wanted it all self contained. This little box comes with all the labels you'd want, and it fit nicely. The fit is tight, you could do a 10 way panel, but you'd havew to mount it sideways or something. I plan to just tape mine in place where you see it. https://www.amazon.com/6-Way-Fuse-B...4&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=6+fuse+block+ground
-(a bunch of) wire and crimp connectors. I used 12 AWG wire from the battery to the panel fuse panel, for both positive and negative connections. On the accessory panel, i just used small stuff, 16 gauge I think.
-(a bunch of) fuses in various amperage's for your accessory needs.

Building it:
1. Measure your crap. I had to cut the tabs under the handle where i mounted the panel. As you can see, i scratched the hell out of it with my saw.
2. Drill some holes. lay the panel out and mark the holes you need. I think I used a 1 1/4" hole saw but dont quote me. Do your due diligence and measure.
3. Mount up! Mount the panel. I used the screws it came with.
4. Wire that bad **********. If you have a basic knowledge of wiiring this should take you all of half an hour. I decided to make it so the switch powered up the panel and the accessory ports.
- Run a wire from positive terminal to positive terminal on fuse block. run negative battery terminal to negative terminal on fuse block.
- Run from a wire from both a ground location and a fused location on the fuse block, to the switch on the panel. This will leave you with 1 open terminal on the switch.
- Make a lil daisy chain of connectors, you'll need 3 more spade connectors. . Run this from the remaining terminal on the battery, to the positive terminal on each accessory port and the volt meter.
- Do the same thing for the negative. Unlike the positive, you'll want to start this daisy chain on the wire that comes from the negative on the fuse block, because there is only 1 negative terminal on the switch.
5. Pretty much done. Tuck it all in there and call it a day.
6. I'm going to put some screws through the box into the little plastic divider that keeps the battery off to one side, because I don't trust that it wont pop out.
7. I picked up a quality lashing strap to use to hold this thing to the trailer frame i made. The ones that come with the battery box are janky. This one has a 500lbs working load, and its just a simple cam buckle, so its easy to remove when you want to.
8. As mentioned, i'm going to wire in some weather proof connectors, as such, to plug in the lights from the trailer. these will always be hot when they are plugged in to the battery box, which is fine, it will mean i don't have to actually turn the box on in order to power them, as they should have no draw when turned off.

So, if you want to run something heavy duty like an air compressor, just pop the top and connect straight to the terminals. If you needed to jump start your truck, do the same thing. When its time to charge it, do the same thing. I may eventually run a solar trickle charger, but for my trips, this will last more than long enough. This battery has something like 56 amp hours, or a 135 minute reserve capacity, so, for running a few LED's and charging phones, I think it'll be fine. I've used this battery in my pop up camper and never had an issue running the lights and the water pump over several day trips.

NOTE: this thing is in no way dust proof, and is not water proof. It's absolutely fine as far as being weather proof, but my suggestion is to use good quality heat shrink fittings, and just keep it clean. It's gonsta get FULL of dust if you're wheelin'. Thats fine and doesnt bother me, but beware.


Anyway.

 

[MrCyrus16]

Looks great! Makes me miss my old one...

Jim

 

[Dr. Marneaus]

Its probably polyproplyene. Makes for crappy ropes & straps and comparativly inexpensive. But unlike nylon its pretty much immune to acids.

Interesting. I guess maybe they make them acid resistant, but not sure why something outside the battery box would matter. I'm not sure what its made out of, but the previous few i have had on campers and whatnot just disintegrate in the sun.

That being said, i was mostly referring to the durability of the unit, the buckle in specific is cheap plastic and there's no way to really "tighten it down"

 

[Dr. Marneaus]

And, we have light! I just used some cheap water proof LED's from ebay. Wired directly to the battery fuse block, with a switch in line. I used automotive weather proof plug connectors at the battery box, so it can be unplugged at any given time without removing the lid of the box.

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[Dr. Marneaus]

little better pic of the lighting setup. Will be reproducing this with 4 more lights INSIDE the awning.

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[Dr. Marneaus]

Posted in my jeep thread, but here are a few pics from this weekend:

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[krick3tt]

A fine job, serviceable and you did it yourself. You will probably always be making adjustments to your design but you have a great trailer there.

 

[Dr. Marneaus]

Another thought:

The under rack lights served their purpose quite well, as did the interior lights on the tent. The two times I have used this I have kept my little table right at the trailer, over the tongue. It's quite convenient to have everything located close. We found ourselves leaving the lights on so that we could see at the cooking station (table) without a lantern. Unfortunately, the lights did not provide much light in that area, as they were installed to light up UNDER the trailer.

I'm considering picking up some LED work lights to mount to the rack on 2 or 4 corners. Just some small 18 or 25ish watt units. I can see this being useful around the campsite, as well as when cooking or working near the trailer.

 

[Dr. Marneaus]

So last week, half drunk at 7pm on Thursday, my wife and I decided to go camping after work on Friday. I loaded the trailer in about 10 minutes, then packed a cooler and duffle bag in the morning, loaded the dog, and drove to work planning to leave after i put in my 8 hours.



Went to Ft. Churchill State Park, pretty cool. Remnants of an old civil war era army fort, right down on the Carson River. All the cottonwoods are changing color. It was warm enough, but cool enough. Pretty basic trip, just camped at a campground then went and did about 25 miles of dirt the next day, exploring out around Lahontan.



I'm getting more efficient with the tent and annex, and getting quite efficient and packing up and leaving. Trying to get a number of trips under my belt before I make any more changes or updates to the setup.


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Cheers, folks.

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[mudraider]

Beautiful pics dude!

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[Dr. Marneaus]

Beautiful pics dude!

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

Thanks