Dawson's M-416 Build (1 Viewer)

[dawsonc61]

Hello All!

I have a build thread on a couple other forums but thought I might make one more. This site has a lot more traffic so hopefully I can gt a little more feedback here from like minded people!

So I'll get on with it. I made it home with this little beauty the other day:

The guy I bought it from had a new tub fabricated to the same specs as the original, just made out of 1/8" steel this time around. The sides and bottom are made of a single sheet of steel with the front and rear welded on. The front and rear sheets need to be cut, as you can see in the pics. The tub isn't bolted to the frame yet either.

I'm live in the DFW Metroplex so if any of you guys live here and want to take a look at it or offer your help it would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance for comments/suggestions. I really need help from those of you who have welders/cutting equipment.

Thanks,

Dawson

 

[dawsonc61]

Well my new buddy Keith and I did a little work on the trailer a few nights ago. We mounted the tub to the frame with some 3/16" tabs and 1/2" grade 8 bolts.

Then we mounted the old trailer lights and and wired it up so I could drive home safely! This is temporary. I think we will build a bumper and put lights directly in the bumper.

When I got home, I took a cutting wheel and removed the excess metal from the front and rear of the tub.

Before:

After:

Anyway, just keeping everyone updated. A BIG thanks to Keith Maddox for his help and expertise.

 

[dawsonc61]

Well I've been messin' around with Google "SketchUp" and here's what I've come up with:

I'll be designing the interior of the tub next, including a water tank, deep cycle batteries, sliding runner with kitchen components and propane setup.

 

[dawsonc61]

My M416 got new shoes!

These came in the mail yesterday from adaptitusa.com they are the 5 on 5.5 to 5 on 4.5 hub pattern adapters.

Before:

After:

To contrast:

and some more for good measure!

These tires are Goodyear MT/R 285/75/16 on Jeep Moab wheels.

I think they give a whole new look to the trailer. Just down right mean looking! I cant wait to get the fenders and tailgate fabricated.

 

[sseaman]

looking good, keep the pics coming

 

[titanpat57]

Nice clean slate to start with...you're in the right spot here, a whole wealth of great ideas and knowledge.

There's alot of M416 builds, one nicer than the next, I'd say take your time and pick out the options that appeal the most to you, and plan accordingly. My personal favorite is one of the latest ones, the tent is mounted on Thule racks that go up and down.

Great find and good luck!

 

[REZARF]

Nice job, you are off to a great start!

Drew

 

[OlympiaFJ60]

Those spacers set the wheels just right. Good idea on the running boards. They are all kinds of usefull for seting up the tent and lashing stuff to. i wish I would have made mine the full lenght like you have sketch.

 

[Overlord66]

Could you send me a cpoy of your sketch up file I would like to use it to base my build off of.

 

[dawsonc61]

Could you send me a cpoy of your sketch up file I would like to use it to base my build off of.

No problem, what's your e-mail address?

 

[tgreening]

No problem, what's your e-mail address?

I'd take a copy of that as well if you are of a mind to send it. You guys that are just "messin around with sketchup" and produce stuff like that just infuriate me.

Whenever I mess around with sketchup the end result looks like something done on an etch-a-sketch by a crack addicted epileptic.

Anyway, sending to spook0022000 over at yahoo dot com would get it done. Thanks a bunch.

 

[Overlord66]

I sent you a PM.

 

[dawsonc61]

I'd take a copy of that as well if you are of a mind to send it. You guys that are just "messin around with sketchup" and produce stuff like that just infuriate me.

Whenever I mess around with sketchup the end result looks like something done on an etch-a-sketch by a crack addicted epileptic.

Anyway, sending to spook0022000 over at yahoo dot com would get it done. Thanks a bunch.

E-mail sent. I love your description and thanks for the compliment. I'm happy to share. It isn't as precise as I'd like but hopefully you'll get some use out of it.

D

 

[tgreening]

E-mail sent. I love your description and thanks for the compliment. I'm happy to share. It isn't as precise as I'd like but hopefully you'll get some use out of it.

D

Got it, and thanks. I'm not sure how much I can do with it at the moment. I'm running a Mac these days and for some reason sketchup doesn't seem to work properly. Things are fine until I go to save the work but no matter what I call the file when trying to save it it tells me it's an invalid file name and won't let me save it.

 

[dawsonc61]

Got it, and thanks. I'm not sure how much I can do with it at the moment. I'm running a Mac these days and for some reason sketchup doesn't seem to work properly. Things are fine until I go to save the work but no matter what I call the file when trying to save it it tells me it's an invalid file name and won't let me save it.

Hmmm I don't know. Any Mac geeks here that can help out?

 

[GulfShoresFJ60]

Hmmm I don't know. Any Mac geeks here that can help out?

I just tried to save when I opened Sketch-up and it worked fine for me. I saved the default Untitled screen to the desktop and didn't receive an error. Grant it, it didn't have anything drawn in it. But I'm no help at the moment. I really haven't had time to mess with Sketch-up.

PM me if I can try to be of more assistance.

 

[dawsonc61]

The UPS just delivered my Jeep CJ tailgate:

I need to figure out a good way to get this thing mounted. Luckily for me, several other people have done such a thing on their M416's so i have lots of examples to follow.

I'm also battling whether or not to fabricate a lid to the trailer or to have a open top and a rack above that. Kind of like boctor has going on here:

I'll figure it out sooner or later. Looks like i need to revise the sketch-up file!

 

[smileyfish]

nice find, a blank slate to work with, cool.

so many great ideas flowing all over this forum about these rtt on trailers. i don't see many in the north east. i guess all our trails are to short, but for the trips to the parks in pa, it would come in handy.

 

[dawsonc61]

Well big thanks are in order for BenE for helping me out tremendously this weekend. He managed to fit my little project into his schedule and I really appreciate it. Beer, welding, and shootin' the bull. What else can you ask for?

I went down to the metal yard on Saturday morning to pick up some 1x1 square tubing. Ben does the hard work by welding the 1x1 to the lip of the tub. I just cleaned it up with my flap wheel. Anyway, it looks so much better and doesn't look so "unfinished" even though I've got so much more to do.

Before:

After:

I'm hoping to get a welder for Christmas so things are really going to take off on this build in January.

 

[REZARF]

Keep it up, this is looking great!