1978 M416A1 Rebuild

[iptman]

Hello everyone,

I'm in the process of rebuilding an M416A1 I bought from a military surplus dealer in the Netherlands who had dozens of these M416s in a warehouse. As it happens my brother was stationed there and was able to buy one for me and had it shipped back to the States with his household goods. It was in remarkably good shape but I decided to have the frame, axle and tub powder coated. Here are a few pictures of my progress...

 

[iptman]

I have a few questions for the group. What should I use for gaskets between the tub and frame? It had waxed cotton pads but I assume I wouldn't want to reuse those. I bought a new MC for the surge brakes and I'm planning on redoing all the brake hard lines with NiCopp and new flare nuts. The sticker on the side of the surge brake said use only silicone fluid (DOT 5) but I wondered if I can just use DOT 3 since I don't have anything else that uses DOT 5. And last question, for now, these OE tires are starting to show cracks in the side wall so I'd like to replace them with something more highway friendly. Since it has rivetted wheels and tubes I was thinking to get different steel wheels as well but I can't seem to find the 5x5.5 bolt pattern. Any advice for replacements wheels? Or can I use these wheels with a tubeless radial?

 

[Coug]

if tub and body are both steel, then putting something between them is a little less important.
I usually use PVC tape from the irrigation section of the hardware store between parts for noise reduction (and especially for dissimilar metals)

If you are redoing the entire brake system, and thoroughly flush it, then you can use whatever brake fluid you want. Military likes DOT5 for not mixing with water, but no reason you can't use 3 if the system is flushed.

The wheels/tires I don't know much about.

 

[Mullaney]

Hello everyone,

I'm in the process of rebuilding an M416A1 I bought from a military surplus dealer in the Netherlands who had dozens of these M416s in a warehouse. As it happens my brother was stationed there and was able to buy one for me and had it shipped back to the States with his household goods. It was in remarkably good shape but I decided to have the frame, axle and tub powder coated. Here are a few pictures of my progress...

View attachment 872834View attachment 872835View attachment 872836View attachment 872837

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Welcome to the Outfit!

That is a SHARP looking trailer for sure.
Powder coating was a heck of an idea.
It really makes it look like new!

 

[SCM35A2]

Nice trailer!

 

[msgjd]

never seen one with surge brakes,, guess that dates me

 

[msgjd]

Tires? ... I have a half-dozen for the M416 and M151, brand new, never mounted .. Sorry there's a catch. Apparently a military Maint Shop put a pickaxe through one sidewall of each of them, and the DRMO people made sure it didn't show in the auction pics. But they did list them as Code H .. Uggg

 

[XPLRNX2]

I think you mentioned that the hub lug bolt pattern on your trailer was 5 x 5 and a half?? That's a very common bolt pattern with the half ton Ford Vans and trucks. There should be easy availability of rims, just remember to check rim width and offset.

Also most of them will be 15 inch but I have had aftermarket Rim places that will make you 16in rims with the 5 hole 5 x 5 1/2 pattern.

 

[GopherHill]

I think you mentioned that the hub lug bolt pattern on your trailer was 5 x 5 and a half?? That's a very common bolt pattern with the half ton Ford Vans and trucks. There should be easy availability of rims, just remember to check rim width and offset.

Also most of them will be 15 inch but I have had aftermarket Rim places that will make you 16in rims with the 5 hole 5 x 5 1/2 pattern.

Older model jeep rims will do. You can buy new 16" rims but you'll have to use tubes.

 

[iptman]

Older model jeep rims will do. You can buy new 16" rims but you'll have to use tubes.

Do I have to use tubes on the stock wheels?

 

[Evil Dr. Porkchop]

I’ve run tubeless tires on a few different m416s with stock wheels with no issues.

 

[iptman]

I got a replacement frame to axle soft brake line, T fitting and copper crush washers all from kaiserwillys.com. I ran all new NiCopp hard lines based off the OEM lines. They were in remarkably good condition but I figured with everything I've put in at this point why not just replace them. I combined the first 2 hard lines in to 1, no reason to have 2 additional joints that could leak. I used DOT3 since that's what all my vehicles use. I'll let it gravity bleed over night while the wheel paint dries then tomorrow use the Motive bleeder and test. I need to get this thing out of the garage so I can harvest and extract the honey from my beehives this weekend.

 

[iptman]

Any reason to clean up this old master cylinder cap and use it over the one that came with the new MC? I'd need to soak it in some Vaporust.

 

[SgtMajHarper]

Looks great......I have a 1983 CJ8 Scrambler that I use to pull my M416 trailer with, you can get either Ford, sometimes old IHC Scout or Jeep wheels. I have the same size wheels , same tires and all on the trailer that I run on the Jeep. They are also tubeless. Some guys put on "fancy" (expensive) wheels on their trailers, but I use mine for hauling stuff so I just went with stock steel wheels that match the Jeep. You can use your spare on either or swap back and forth if needed.

 

[SgtMajHarper]

Any reason to clean up this old master cylinder cap and use it over the one that came with the new MC? I'd need to soak it in some Vaporust.

View attachment 873004

How does that cap come off? I have a bent (bad bent) on an M101 trailer I need to get off and see if I can find a replacement.

 

[iptman]

How does that cap come off? I have a bent (bad bent) on an M101 trailer I need to get off and see if I can find a replacement.

It's just threaded with a copper washer.

 

[SgtMajHarper]

It's just threaded with a copper washer.

View attachment 873023

Mine is stuck bad, probably the whamo that bent it over didn't help either.......I may have to invest in a pipe wrench.

 

[Coug]

The old cap should have a rubber diaphragm in it, so as fluid level changes due to break wear, the internal pressure stays the same without being vented to atmosphere.
The new cap on it should have a hole in one side of it and a sintered metal filter to keep dust out, but that does allow for moisture to enter over time from temp changes, atmospheric pressure changes, and driving the stupid thing underwater as privates are likely to do when not supervised (or instructed to)

Unlikely you will have any issues using the new cap that came on it compared to the old diaphragm style, but the possibility exists
(then again, the old cap is, well, old, so the odds of it leaking internally are probably decent as well)

 

[iptman]

Sitting on her own 2 feet.

 

[Mullaney]

Sitting on her own 2 feet.

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Looking Good!
Just like off the assembly line...