wompser's m416 trailer build (3 Viewers)

[wompser]

did a little more work on the trailer this weekend. again it seems that most of it was cleaning up electrical, which is pretty boring!

however, also worked up most of a rear bumper.


here's a couple shots of setting up the layout.

forgot to take pictures of building the actual bumper part, but I really liked the idea that someone else on these boards had about beveling the bottom up to give it a more finished look.

although I was pretty careful, it turned out just a little bit crooked, I'll have to clean that up.

I also need to decide whic way to mount the cans... horizontal or vertical. after a bunch of internal debate, I think it's going to be horizontal, as the canvas top will fit better that way. I'll need to make a strap to hold them on that way. oh, and paint everything of course. I've also got some diamond tread to go over the gap between the back of the trailer and the bumper.

unfortunately, construction was halted tonight by not having the correct size drill bit, so I need to run to the store (again!) tomorrow. maybe other people have better set up shops than I do, but I can't seem to make it more than 1 day before I have to go to the hardware store... it's most annoying!

I also installed the hellroaring technologies battery isolator this weekend. I have not yet connected it up, but I think it's going to work great once connected.

 

[TJ Willy]

Time to stop reading all the great threads here at MUD and post....



GREAT looking build. I love these documentations of builds.

My .02 worth/questions:

1. I know the tail lights cost you a lot of work, but the polished look throws me for some reason. Not your work, but the way they compliment the build.

2. I agree the cans would good horizontal... unless you needed a little space on your diamond plate ledge to mount something else. I'd give that some thought before making horizontal permanent. HiLift mount? Telescopic light mast?

3. Thanks for the labeling photo of the electrics. I am a little slow when it comes to that stuff. A wiring diagram (rudimentary) would be great if you have time some day.

4. Rescue Green looks good on anything! Did you paint that yourself? What mechanism did you use?

5. What welder did you use? I too want to learn... on a budget.

6. $5 for the box was a GREAT deal.

7. And if you don't mind me asking, what was your budget for the build?

Great job.



Phil

 

[titanpat57]

Looks great so far!! After dealing with all that electric too I can identify with that suffering!! THe only thing I might considering adding (and I'm sure the box is bolted to the frame in 10 places) is a direct ground from the battery to the frame minus the aluminum. Aluminum and metal can do whacky stuff, so I'd probably take it out of the mix when trying to isolate the problem. I can't believe you got all that in there!! (and neatly)

The back bumper is a nice touch(and a lot of work), although I'm just a bit concerned with the addtional weight of filled jerry cans that far past the axle. Weight that far back can do do weird stuff while pulling..I'd maybe setup a test run and see if acts the way you want it to.

I like all the little"custom" touches you're adding, adds a more personal feel to the build. THe match to the TV is first class

 

[wompser]

1. I know the tail lights cost you a lot of work, but the polished look throws me for some reason. Not your work, but the way they compliment the build.

i'm not sure if this is a long term solution... i had to re-polish them last week due to some oxidization, I then coated them with a car wax like someone suggested. unfortunately yesterday they were looking pretty oxidized again. I've got some real aluminum protectorant on the way, hope that solves it.

2. I agree the cans would good horizontal... unless you needed a little space on your diamond plate ledge to mount something else. I'd give that some thought before making horizontal permanent. HiLift mount? Telescopic light mast?

still thinking about that one too. the highlift is already mounted on the tow rig, and a telescopic mast will be on the front, re-mountable on the back. I'm still thinking about which direction to mount thouse, but mostly because I haven't yet decided how i'm going to strap them onto the bumper/body.


3. Thanks for the labeling photo of the electrics. I am a little slow when it comes to that stuff. A wiring diagram (rudimentary) would be great if you have time some day.

sure, maybe I'll get around to this soon. I have one on paper that I could scan, but I think i'll work all the kinks out first.

4. Rescue Green looks good on anything! Did you paint that yourself? What mechanism did you use?

thanks. my sandblaster did the painting of the tub with some rescue green they had mixed up by westco auto body. it's not quite exactly perfect, but pretty darn close!

5. What welder did you use? I too want to learn... on a budget.

I used a "buzz box" welder, stick welder that is definitely the way to go if you're on a budget. they DON'T make pretty welds, (at least, not a my skill level) but as long as you're compent with a grinder and paitient, they see to work fine. I've seen them on craiglist for under $100. be aware that you may need the right plug... I have to unplug the stove in the kitchen and run a wire out to the garage, as my garage only has 110. it's definitely a fun skill to learn!

6. $5 for the box was a GREAT deal.

7. And if you don't mind me asking, what was your budget for the build?

haven't added it all up yet. i've been planning on it, but i may not do it, it's too depressing! there's some places I could have cut corners and saved money, but chose to do it my way. (stainless bolts vs. steel for example). I might add it all up once it's done.

 

[wompser]

also, good comment about grounding the battery directly to the steel frame... that's an easy enough fix, and a good idea.

as for the gas cans being on the back bumper, I actually put them back there to even the weight of the trailer out... farther forward puts too much weight on the tongue (when the trailer is empty). with full cans on the back, it's just barely realistic for me to pick up the tongue and move the trailer around without a second person.

I may wind up putting some kind of "strap" from the tub to the bumper, to help hold the weight. with two full cans I jumped up and down on the bumper and it had a little more flex than i'd hoped, though not too much. ( it was actually the frame cross-member flexing.)

 

[Hugh Heifer]

Great job on the wiring.

 

[77CJ5]

Great job on the wiring.

Great job on the entire trailer build...can't wait to see some completed pics with it offroad!

By far, one of the cleanest trailers I have seen built...

 

[macinsac]

Great write up and great build!!! I would like to know more information on the hot water heater. From what I can tell, it's a Eccotemp L5. When you get it hooked up, how long of a shower head hose can you run? I would like to be able to set up a shower about 20' away. I'm not sure that is possible. I know with that length, there would be lag time from the heater to the end of the hose, before the temp changed. Any comments would be great.

 

[Phulcrum]

i dont like this build very much. it's too perfect. too clean. too well thought out. and in short it makes mine look bad. i'm afraid i must go to my think tank now to think of any reason or thing wrong with it so i can post something negative here.

i wish i had the patience to do such an awesome job on mine. . well done.

 

[CO_Hunter]

Really like your build, the ideas and workmanship. I wish I had the time to customize mine. I do have a question about your lid. Have you finalized what you are going to do? I'm going to be putting a lid on mine and I have been searching for mounting ideas/details.

 

[wompser]

it's been a while since my last update, I was on vacation and haven't had the chance to post. actually, I was on vacation in hawaii, and saw some cool trailer related stuff! first up, this guy:

isn't that cool? though you don't see a lot of civil defense stuff in the mainland, it's alive and well in hawaii... civil defense does a lot of work with volcanos and tidal wave preparedness. we went down to view the lava as it was flowing to the sea, and the civil defense organization had this trailer at the trailhead to light up the way after the sun set. thought you'd enjoy it. we actually saw a fair number of ex-military trailers on the island, there must be lots of good surplus there.

second up is this guy:

does anyone have ANY idea what it is? (besides awesome?!?!)i've never seen anything quite like it, and it appears to be a production vehicle of some sort, not just a homemade kit! (judging from the interior anyway. would look great painted rescue green, and pulling my trailer!

anyway, back to my build, i'm still going back and forth on the top. after a lot of thinking about it, I still have not decided if I want to do a steel top or aluminum top. i'm leaning towards steel because I have the tools to work/repair it, but the biggest downsides are weight and the fact I'd need to paint it... i'm not wild about either of those two aspects.

i've pretty much decided on a shape though. it's not going to be as simple as the picture earlier in the build log, I'm going to copy the shape of the trailer sides themselves. from a rear view, it'll look something like this:
___________
/ \
l l

realizing that tha's about the worst diagram in the history of time, i'll make an actual drawing soon, I just need to do some thinking on it first.

as for the other question: yes, my heater is an ecotemp. i'm not sure a 20 foot hose would work really well, the water is not exactly scorching hot when it comes out of the unit, so I think you'd use up quite a bit of heat on a hose that long... I haven't messed with it much yet so i'm not sure though. maybe if you insulated the hose really well? seems like there must be a better way though.

 

[Shipwreck]

does anyone have ANY idea what it is? (besides awesome?!?!)i've never seen anything quite like it, and it appears to be a production vehicle of some sort, not just a homemade kit! (judging from the interior anyway. would look great painted rescue green, and pulling my trailer!

Tatonka Runt - Kit car built on a S-10 Blazer chassis.
Tatonka Products

 

[wompser]

I knew someone would be able to deliver an answer on a random body kit! have to say that thing looked cool in person!

 

[tgreening]

I knew someone would be able to deliver an answer on a random body kit! have to say that thing looked cool in person!

It's pretty cool looking, except for the hood. For some reason it almost looks like a hacked together afterthought.

 

[wompser]

by standing on the shoulders of giants, I think i've come up with a plan for the lid/top on this trailer.

i'm planning on a hybrid of these two designs:

stolen from: https://forum.ih8mud.com/trailer-tech/247616-dawsons-m-416-build.html and Inkog's M416 Project - Page 4 - Expedition Portal Forum respectively!

i've decided to go with an 100% aluminum design. like the first design, it'll have the lip on the outside edge of the top. lip will be 1" square tube, even though it will rest on round tube, I think it'll offer a good enough seal with a foam gasket.

like the second design though, it'll have an aluminum ladder like frame. I have not asked the desiger of the second top why he used pop rivets instead of welding the fram in there, I suspect that (like me) he lacks the equipment and training to weld aluminum. I need to chat with a local fabricator about how much it will cost to build something like this, otherwise, i might be trying to rent equipment that can weld aluminum. I figure that if I have a shop at least bend the top with their brake and weld up the external seams, I can likely handle the square tube frame welding. I have also thought about making the internal frame out of steel tubing, but am under the impression that steel and aluminum might not mix very well from a corrosion standpoint. (I suppose I have broken this rule in other areas of the trailer though.) any thoughts?

like several designs i've seen, the hinge will be on the front of the trailer vs. the side. makes more sense to me that way. I have not yet decided on a hinge design, but it will be mounted off the box on the front of the trailer instead of on the tub itself (for clearance of the box).

one thing left unresolved is the thickness of the skin material. the maker of the second top says "The aluminum sheet is 5052 .090 grade 60"Wx74 1/4"L"
I'll have to see what my fabricator thinks of those specs.... maybe with a thicker sheet I could get away with less frame support underneath? i'd LOVE for the lid to be diamond plate, but it's pretty expensive, and even worse, I can't seem to find much over 4'X8'. 5'X10' sheets appear to be possible, but even that is not big enough to build an entire top without a seam somewhere.

i'm thinking an aluminum top would not need to be painted. I know it'll get scratched up and oxidize some, but i'm hoping that with the occasional pass from a buffing wheel and polish it will look pretty good most of the time. maybe I'll wind up painting it one day, but i'm thinking it will stay coolest inside the trailer bed if it's a reflective color.

thoughts and comments on this are welcome!

 

[CO_Hunter]

You and I are on exactly the same page the second top for me. I talked to a local welder about the end pieces and he said due to the thinness it would have to be tig welded for better heat management so it won't warp. I have him looking into 1/8" sheet that way he could mig weld and maybe the overall cost will be cheaper, don't know yet. The tig welding is a deal killer for me, too expensive. He looked at those same pics you posted and offered an idea of bending the ends over sliding the end piece in and riveting like the rest of that lid that guy made. He cautioned even on tack welding those square tubes to that thin of a skin due to local warping/bulging from the heat. Said I likely wouldn't like the way it would look. I can mig weld aluminum but with that long of a bead that is visible I doubt my skills even on 1/8". Inside I don't care so much if it's a bit ugly.

Are you going piano hinge or door style?

 

[Phulcrum]

have you tested your water system yet? mine blew the hoses open when i left it on.. its supposed to shut off at 40psi. i have the same pump as you.

again, excellent job on this rig, my only complaint is that it makes me want to start over on mine. (haha) .

 

[wompser]

good comments CO_Hunter. I haven't yet chatted with my local metal shop and didn't realize that TIG would be more expensive (perhaps cost prohibitive.)

with the lip on the outside of the top, it could easily be secured with rivets from the inside of the top out... the rivets would only be visible from the inside. without a welded seam, I think you'd want to use some kind of epoxy filler in the crack as well, to help keep water from dripping into the tub between the top and the lip. anyone know a good adhesive/filler for aluminum?

also, does anyone have thoughts on building a steel support structure for the inside of the top, and riveting it on? (like in the second example, just made from steel?) am i too concerned about the steel/aluminum junctions? the advantage would be that I can weld it up myself and save the costs of having it fabricated/tig welded.

I know there's a couple places to rent welding gear here locally, maybe I could rent a TIG welder (and learn how to use it) if I decide the cost works out. realizing that my results will be far from professional, it'd be pretty fun to learn.

I agree with your fabricators' thought that the front and back could be bent from a single sheet to minimize welding of the thin top skin. (assuming you could find a large enough sheet of AL.

to Phulcrum: I've tested the water system some. besides the slightly annoying problem of air in the water lines, it works great! (the air problem is not really easily solveable, near as I can tell. as I don't have a permenant tank, there's always the opportunity for air to get into the lines as I go from one water tank to the next. it's not really a big deal though) i've also got a switch on the pump so I don't have to have it on all the time if i'm just storing the trailer.

 

[wompser]

it's freakin' cold outside now, so I haven't been working much on the trailer!

thought I'd put up a couple of more current pictures though:

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

Very neat, I like your approach a lot...