Dawson's M-416 Build (1 Viewer)

[titanpat57]

Top came out great and the jack idea friggin ROCKS!!

Everytime I see someone doing a build in the driveway I keep thinking the same thing....some crotchity old pain in the ass neighbor lady driving by going..."NOW what in the hell is that kid building "....lol

At least I had the option of doing it in the backyard so I didn't need to reinforce what I'm sure the whole block already knows... I may already have a bolt loose or two

Nice action shots

 

[dawsonc61]

Here's a small side project i did with some extra metal I had laying around. I essentially copied AT rear stabilizer design:

And here's mine:

It folds up pretty nicely! I need to shorten the top section and the legs and paint it, but it turned out nice and works perfectly! A lot better than the jack-stand I was using before!

D

 

[taquito971]

Looks good. And so simple.

Brian

 

[dawsonc61]

OK, I got a few things done tonight. I had to relocate the high-lift jack to the front of the trailer. It was too much weight for the gas springs to lift.

Here are a few shots of the plumbing of the water system. I used pneumatic components to allow for quick disconnecting.

The outlflow from the shurflo goes to a male pneumatic junction through the wall of the trailer.

The male end is located just under the front of the trailer.

And connected to the camp kitchen.

the sprayer on the counter top.

It puts out pretty good pressure! I was impressed. It's more pressure than my kitchen sink!

 

[OlympiaFJ60]

Nice idea on the disconnects. Are you gong to make a cover with anther disconnect and pipe plug so you don't get road crap in the water outlet? How about using the hydraulic type that are self sealing?

 

[dawsonc61]

Nice idea on the disconnects. Are you gong to make a cover with anther disconnect and pipe plug so you don't get road **** in the water outlet? How about using the hydraulic type that are self sealing?

I've got a cap for it. I robbed it off of one of my nail guns should keep it clean!

 

[chewey46]

WOW, this is impressive!!!! I have been looking for an M416 to turn into a camping trailer, I might..... borrow an idea or two.... I will give them back when I am done!!!!

 

[dawsonc61]

So I'm finally starting on the electrical system. I went by Harbor Freight and picked up this trailer tongue box. It is very sturdy, has a strut, and locks! This is where the battery charger, yellow tops, inverter, and fuse panel will be housed. It will supply power to the water pump, fridge, flood lights, and the inverter.

It was a little wider than the space in between the tub and the front of the tongue. So instead of bolting it down on the uneven surface I just bought some nylon spacers (1/2") and put them in between the box and the trailer frame. now it sits above the lunette housing by about 1/4" if that makes any sense.

Then I got a hole saw and cut out a hole in the box and in to tub and secured two barbs in the holes. Once this was done I attached some plastic electrical conduit. This is where the electrical wires will go from the trailer to the box. My only concern is that the tube might get caught by a tree branch and get ripped off. I'll just have to keep an eye on it. The tubing has a very thick wall and doesn't budge.

Next up is fabricating some brackets to hold the slides for the ARB fridge/freezer (Ohh yeah, I forgot to mention that I won a new 50 qt. ARB fridge/freezer in the LSJC members raffle!?!?!?). The slides will allow the fridge to slide out the rear of the trailer. I want to do this so I can open the tailgate and have access to the fridge without having to lift the trailer lid (problematic when the tent is open!). I'm going to bend up some aluminum and use that as a tray to set the fridge in. Then I'll use turnbuckles and hooks to secure it to the tray. I'm probably not explaining myself very well but I'll post up more pics in the next few days so it'll make more sense.

Thanks for looking,

D

 

[dawsonc61]

Got the fridge in and some electrical work done finally. I welded in some angle iron pieces as brackets for the slides. They aren't quite long enough to get the fridge all the way out but they'll work for now. The price difference between these 24" HomeDepot models ($16) and the 30" ones from McMaster-Carr is like $90. So I'll make due with these till I can find suitable replacements.

Here is the charging outlet, fuse panel, and 10 amp charger.

This is the charging outlet mounted

The 10v charger mounted inside the tongue box

and here is my angle iron bracket. I know my welds are ugly but they are really strong. Not half bad for teaching myself in 5 mins! I'm working on making them prettier!

From there I just welded in the other bracket, attached the slides and screwed in a piece of plywood for the base.

This shows a good angle of how much I can open the fridge lid when the trailer lid is down

But the geniuses at ARB designed the lid hinges to quick release with a firm pull! I love this thing!

I can secure it to the platform with these turnbuckles!

Instead of taking apart the fridge's car charger and hard wiring it to the battery I simply wired one of these 12v adapters to my conduit. So now I can keep the car charger for the fridge intact and use it in any vehicle! just plug one end into the fridge and the other here and I'm done!

Still have to wire everything up and run the batteries is parallel, but about 90% of the work is done! Now I'm ready for and awesome camping season!

D

 

[CO_Hunter]

Very nice build, lots of great ideas and it looks freaking awesome! A few questions:

It looked like you relocated your lid hinges to the edge, I was wondering why?

Did you add any stitch welds, it didn't look like it from the inside pictures?

Any issues with water leaking in the rivets?

What did you use for weather stripping on the lid?

 

[WES1977]

makes me want to try it

 

[dawsonc61]

Very nice build, lots of great ideas and it looks freaking awesome! A few questions:

It looked like you relocated your lid hinges to the edge, I was wondering why?

Did you add any stitch welds, it didn't look like it from the inside pictures?

Any issues with water leaking in the rivets?

What did you use for weather stripping on the lid?

Man I haven't logged on in forever and lo an behold my thread is bumped to the top when I do!


I used some black weather stripping I got at Lowes. I'm not real satisfied wih it but it works alright.

no issues with water leaking in the rivets.

I didnt add any stitch welds on the inside as i dont know or have the capability to weld aluminum. at some point i'm sure I'll have someone burn it.

I moved the hinges because the struts were actually bending the aluminum for the force applied. It still bends th aluminum but not nearly as much.

D