my 1/4T trailer

[BMThiker]

Just purchased this trailer sight-unseen for a really good deal, considering what they typically go for on CL and EBay. My buddy who lives near the seller (Jasper, TN) went to pick it up and said it looked really good. No serious rust and tires are holding air. Seller said its a 1967 with serial #2475, so I guess it still has the ID plate on it.

I don't know much about the different model numbers, but I'm guessing this is a M416.

Looking forward to reading up on more restorations here and using this trailer for off-road travels and camping.

 

[Evil Dr. Porkchop]

Nice trailer, looks like its in good shape. I vote it's a m416 as well.

 

[Blueegg]

Nice score and a great looking M416.

 

[BMThiker]

Picked it up this past weekend. My buddy modified the wiring harness for a standard 4 pin plug and all the important lights work. It still has the military light housings, but one appears to be slightly newer than the other. It still has blackout lights and reverse lights but they are not currently wired up. The PO also had a military spare wheel, with a barely-there tire on it. I towed it home 140 miles without incident. It rolls smooth and straight and I barely knew it was behind me. Tires held air just fine and only have a few surface cracks. The parking brake works and the kickstand is solid.

Sorry for the crappy cellphone pics.



My only real immediate plans are:

1. remove the surface rust & re-paint
2. straighten the bent section of the rolled edge on the left side
3. build a lid for it

 

[xiongy]

That looks awesome, I've been on the lookout for an m416 for a few years now. Good score!

 

[RodUSMC1962]

The m-416 is a good trailer, good purchase on your part!

 

[BMThiker]

Thought I would share this link with all the trailer folks here. It's a decent source for reproduction military tires and wheels. Not cheap, but not disrespectful either.
Truck Tires - Antique Truck Tires - m. e. MILLER tire



I'm probably going to buy at least one tire from them. I have 3 wheels, but of the two tires on the ground, only one tire looks new - the older tire has a lot of surface cracks and will be demoted to spare.

 

[mark02tj]

I came across Lucas Classic Tires in Springfield, OH the other day. They had 6x16 "Military Tires" for either $92 or $98 (my old brain doesn't remember what they told me!). That's at least $50 savings on the pair. Might be worth giving them a call.

 

[BMThiker]

My tires are 7x16. Not sure if that is standard or not. I've talked to a couple others who said they have 6x16's.

 

[MWMULES]

7x16 is correct for a M416

 

[BMThiker]

Finally got it all cleaned up and repainted. Pushed out a dent or two, but still have one corner that is going to need new sheet metal to fix it. For now I'm happy to have it cleaned up and functioning as I like. The pictures cover a period of a couple months. The sandblaster guy took his time and had my tub for nearly a month...you know the old adage: you can have it fast, cheap or correct (pick any two). I chose cheap and correct. Sorry, you'll have to click through the photos. Don't like that I can't embed URL images here.


Started by removing the tub to inspect the sheet metal and frame closer. Not sure if this was factory or not, but the tub had a rubbery undercoating that is starting to peel off. The good news is that the sheet metal in the bottom of the tub looks solid, just some surface rest inside the tub. That rubber coating really kept the underside in great shape. The challenging part was that this coating formed a nice seal between the frame and the sheet metal so it was fun getting the two apart.

I wanted to mount the spare under the frame, so it hit me that weekend that I could recycle the spare carrier from my wife's Jeep Grand Wagoneer, since her 33" BFG's were too big to use the stock spare carrier now. It looked like it was going to work, here's the first mock up. It was too far forward and interfered with the kickstand so it had to be moved towards the axle a few inches.

The "hub" section of the spare carrier is not really doing much, but when I tighten the strap up, the tire gets sandwiched fairly securely up against the diagnonal frame members.

Here's how it looks from above in its final mounting spot. It doesn't interfere with the parking brake cables either.

Tightening the bolt on the right draws the strap up.

Here's the other side of the strap that has a double hinge. I simply welded some tube on the underside to accept the linch pinch that is secured with a cotter pin and under tension of a compression spring (cuts down on slop and keeps it from constantly rattling).

Cleaned up the articulation in the lunette, but think I am going to extend the shaft about 12" to make towing the trailer easier. Extending the tongue length will give me more room between the bumper and the trailer and should make it easier to back up.

Started by cleaning up the frame for a fresh coat of paint. This is about halfway done.

 

[BMThiker]

While the tub was still at the sand blaster - I did tell him no rush.
got the frame painted

while paint was drying, I went to work on the lunette to make it a bit longer. cut it in half, started cleaning up the surface.

forgot what the exact dimensions of the tube were, but this is 1/4" wall DOM. Snug fit after polishing the forged parts with a flap disc wheel.

The tube is 14" long which extended the overall length about 8".

Fat overlapping helical welds

More welding at the rotating cuff end.

Next I drilled a 1/4" hole about 1/2" deep at each end and 180* from each other (4 holes total).

Then burned in a mushroom shape. The idea is to pin the tube to the forged part by burning a really hot weld from the bottom of the hole and work your way to the surface getting wider and wider as you draw it up.

Prepped for finishing.

 

[BMThiker]

oops, double post.

 

[BMThiker]

Got the tub back from the sandblaster, and it looked pretty good. I'm just going to live with the "beauty mark" that it has. The only defect that I wanted to address was the larger dent on the driver side of the tub. This was remedied with a portable hyraulic piston. I pushed against the front passenger side corner for leverage and it did the trick without pushing the whole tub out of square. Also chiseled out the years of paint in and around the drain plugs, since the sand blaster did not work well in those tight areas.

the beauty mark

the dent to be re-aligned

cleaned up the reflector bezels

using the portable piston to push the dent out.

happy with the results

 

[BMThiker]

Sprayed the whole tub with an etching primer after scrubbing it with degreaser/solvent and "red" scotch-brite pads as suggested by a bodyshop friend.

Then rattle canned the whole thing using Rustoleum CAMO series Forest Green.

used Rustoleum Wheel Well liner to coat the bottom of tub.

test fitted but not bolted back together. Still have to clean up the wheels/tailights and paint to match. Also plan to reinstall all the ID plates and reflectors.

 

[BMThiker]

Final wrap up...
I picked up the tarp from local Marietta, GA tarp manufacturer Tarps - Canvas Tarps, Vinyl Tarps, Heavy Duty Tarps, Blue Tarps - Tarps Wholesale is this one:
5'x7' Black Vinyl Coated Polyester Tarp 22 OZ #VCPT22BLK0507 $25.98
I added two more brass grommets to each corner, about 8" from the end, to help tidy up the binding of the corners.

One of the main reasons for extending the tongue was so that I could still open the rear door without banging into the tub.

 

[BMThiker]

That's it for now. Don't have any further plans for right now, except to use it to haul my camping gear.

 

[Danger Ranger]

Ok, the trailer is well done.

But... I have seen at least one Wagoneer, one done-up FJ, and a Cherokee in resto, plus something with a brushguard and winch....what the heck do you have there?

 

[BMThiker]

Ok, the trailer is well done.

But... I have seen at least one Wagoneer, one done-up FJ, and a Cherokee in resto, plus something with a brushguard and winch....what the heck do you have there?

Ha-ha! The FJ is mine. My wife's Grand Wagoneer is undergoing a rolling resto. That's all we have.

I think the "Cherokee" you see is really a FJ55 Land Cruiser that is in resto mode (primer gray with one white door). I did all my trailer work at a friend's Toyota shop in Avondale Estates GA (ACCtoyota.com). There are various other LC's and Toy trucks in the parking lot.

 

[Danger Ranger]

Ahh, that makes sense. GOtta love a Waggy, and whether I want to admit it or not, an FJ can be neat if done correctly...like the "Raptor" build.