Cleaning up an M416

[joshs1ofakindxj]

Rescued 7/29/11 from the edge of a farmer's field where it had been parked in the shade since about 1990. I've been meaning to pick it up since I first saw it back around 2004. Amazing it still has a floor in the bed. I had to shovel out a half foot of nature's garbage though. Both tires were still holding air, which is ridiculous. It rolled down the road the mile to my house just fine. They don't make em like that anymore.

I gave it a blast of rattle can paint to use it in the Bantam Heritage Festival back in August and I had a blast there. Since then I have completely disassembled the trailer, sandblasted everything, replaced some hardware, and now I'm painting it again and getting ready to stencil it to match my M38A1 (CJ5).

 

[maddawg308]

Nice save! Those -416 trailers are extremely useful, you will find yourself towing it behind every vehicle you own.

 

[Ressoldier]

I really wanted the M416 for the size since I am going to be building an expedition off-road trailer. I could not find anywhere close to reasonable on price so I got an M101 now.

great find and keep up the good work. I wish I had the space to work on my stuff like you do.

 

[joshs1ofakindxj]

Thanks guys. I'm still restoring things at my parent's place. Where I rent, I have barely enough room to park my motorcycle. Close to where I work though. Luckily the parents are VERY understanding!

I forgot to add, I rewired the trailer for 12 volt and I ordered a generic OD green canvas tarp for the trailer cover. Hopefully I can get it all wrapped up for a local parade this weekend.

 

[JFMickey_D]

Very nice, makes me want to dig into my little M100. I think yours was actually in a little better condition than mine...

 

[Amer-team]

Would you mind making this the M 416 rescue thread? Here are a couple that I found last spring out behind the farmers barn. The tubs are tough, but they rolled well and the electrical cable was cut off on both. The fun part is it feels like a National Geographic special everytime you track one of these down. Have not gotten to them yet, but they are safe for now.

 

[joshs1ofakindxj]

Post your M416s!

That one trailer looks like it has plates welded to it all around. Any clue what that is about?

There is some body work to do there but at least they're complete.

 

[Amer-team]

Actually except for the body tubs being beat up, they are pretty much stock. One is a 66 and the other is missing the data plate. There wasn't anything extra welded on. If they hadn't cut the vehicle cable, they would be workable the way they are. One of these days the tubs will come off and I will get to beating on them, but the 1/4 ton trailer is fun to pull behind the jeep.
Here are a couple of other photos of a recovery. The one shows two converto dumps in a farmers field. The second is the finished product of the trailer that is on the left in the first photo.

 

[Nick]

Pretty cool! I like those. I think I saw one or maybe two in an old abandoned USFS facility not 2 miles up the road from my fire station. Maybe Ill go check em out and see if tehy are gonna get rid of em. They have been having contractors come by to bid demolishing the compound, so maybe Ill get lucky.

Nick

 

[joshs1ofakindxj]

Actually except for the body tubs being beat up, they are pretty much stock. One is a 66 and the other is missing the data plate. There wasn't anything extra welded on. If they hadn't cut the vehicle cable, they would be workable the way they are. One of these days the tubs will come off and I will get to beating on them, but the 1/4 ton trailer is fun to pull behind the jeep.
Here are a couple of other photos of a recovery. The one shows two converto dumps in a farmers field. The second is the finished product of the trailer that is on the left in the first photo.

That is a cool little dump trailer. What is the "M #" for those (like M416)?

 

[joshs1ofakindxj]

I ordered a tarp for a cargo cover for my M416 from mytarp.com. 5' x7' OD green canvas. I think it was $30 with shipping. Delivery was prompt and the material feels very heavy and military like. The size is perfect. I cut a 2x4 to run down the middle of the trailer, sitting on the tub lip, to hold up the tarp (got the idea from a military magazine) but I didn't get a chance to tie it down and finish stenciling the trailer. Hopefully soon!

 

[Amer-team]

I think it is Converto Trailer, Dump, 1/2 ton, Airborne. Am away from it right now so can't go look at the tag.

It was designed for use by engineers for various repair projects.

The trailer in the picture is painted for the 295 Combat Engineers. That was my uncle's unit in Europe WW2. He was captured in January 45 and POW till April 45.

 

[cllctrtom]

There is a civilian Bantam 1/4 ton trailer near me in Central PA if someone wants to contact me on it's location. The guy wants $300 for it but I think you can get him down to $200.

 

[joshs1ofakindxj]

There is a civilian Bantam 1/4 ton trailer near me in Central PA if someone wants to contact me on it's location. The guy wants $300 for it but I think you can get him down to $200.

I have a friend looking for one of that time period for his CJ2A restored as an M38. PM sent.

 

[plym49]

My M416.

Is the stock wiring harness fat enough to handle12 volts instead of 24 volts? Twice the voltage, half the current for the same wattage bulb. I am not sure if the military took advantage of a lighter gauge wire for their 24 volt systems.

 

[joshs1ofakindxj]

What's the story on that hard cover?

I found the original trailer wiring to be adequate gauge, but with wiring that old the insulation is rotting and cracking. It's worthwhile to go to Walmart and buy the $7 or so trailer wiring kit I found there that has a 4 prong standard plug with more than enough wire attached to do the ground, brake/turn signals, and running lights/license plate light.

I opened my stock tail lights and the bulbs for running light and brake/turn signal were directly interchanged with standard 12v bulbs. I changed out the top 2 bulbs in the housings.

 

[plym49]

What's the story on that hard cover?

I found the original trailer wiring to be adequate gauge, but with wiring that old the insulation is rotting and cracking. It's worthwhile to go to Walmart and buy the $7 or so trailer wiring kit I found there that has a 4 prong standard plug with more than enough wire attached to do the ground, brake/turn signals, and running lights/license plate light.

I opened my stock tail lights and the bulbs for running light and brake/turn signal were directly interchanged with standard 12v bulbs. I changed out the top 2 bulbs in the housings.

The cover was built by the trailer's PO. It is 1/2" plywood, two pieces lengthwise (because of the width) joined by a 1 by. Underneath is a figure-8 frame of 2x4's that fit inside the lip of the bed. I sits level and I throw a couple of straps across it to keep it on. While the lid is painted to match the trailer, on the road I throw a regular canvas tarp over it to add waterproofing. The lid also serves as a flat loading surface as needed.

The reason I asked about the military wiring is that I am thinking about going in the other direction. I might use repro military harnesses on other of my vehicles, because I am a bog fan of the military connectors. Also, that way I can easily use military lights, etc. I am just not sure if the military harness wire gauge is too small for a 12 v application (with conventional lamps). If LED then there would be no problem. But I mostly use conventional bulbs.

 

[JB]

Existing wiring can be used for 12 or 24 volt bulbs. I have military wiring on my trailers but i also wired a civy connection into the junction box for use with my civy and mil vehicles.

 

[joshs1ofakindxj]

Based on what I saw the wires were plenty beefy for the small amount of power required by trailer lighting.

You can use the trailer's current connector and wire lead back to the tongue and just use military waterproof terminals there to connect to it under the plate hiding all the wiring connections if you replace wires under the trailer.

 

[Lex_Ordo]

Standard military wiring is 14 guage, and the new stuff being employed for the LED lights is 16 guage. The 14 Ga, is good for 12 or 24 volt, and even better for LEDs. The 16 was used for the low amp draw on the LED, and saves money, that's why it is used now.

Great job on the restoration! I was looking for a long time for mine and ended up with a 1992 re-design.

Amer-team, the welded plates being referred to are the unit mods done to the tub where the internal tie-downs were added to the tub pictured on the left of the 1st pic. My 1/4 Ton has those tie-downs incorporated into the Canadian re-design of the 416, which they call the M101 CDN 2.

See below: