416 gets a lid and more (1 Viewer)

[JTU]

Earlier this year I went on a trip to New Mexico for 5 days and at that time I was camping in an Oz-tent ground tent. Good level ground in the NM mountains is hard to come by sometimes. Half our group had trailers and everyone had Roof tents. After about the third night I was starting to get jealous of the easy setup and takedown of the roof tents, especially how easy a roof tent is when on a trailer.

A few weeks ago my buddy mentioned he wanted to part with his 416 trailer already outfitted with a rack and a RTT. So I loaded up the 40 series and made the 200 mile trek to pick up the trailer.

Overall, the trailer is in good condition. The bearings and brakes are new and maintained. The body is straight with its main flaw being a bunch of bolt holes. I don’t really have much of a use for an open top camping trailer so plans were made to put a lid on it.

My buddy drew up a cad file for the sheet metal panels to be water jetted at his work.

The one piece 18ga top was stitch cut on the water table so all that need to be done was fold the side panels down onto the crossmembers.

1”x2” Crossmembers welded in. I will
Be building a roof rack for it so I don’t need any flex in the lid.

Now it’s back to my shop for the rest of the work.

 

[JTU]

Back at my shop it was mated to an angle iron frame so that it overlaps the round tub rail of the 416. Fits perfectly with 3/16” clearance on each side.

I welded up the seams and ground it smooth. Since the metal is so thin and I ground it smooth, I will have to weld the inside seam.

Found some gate hinges that will work perfectly. Just need to cut them off some and weld them on. I will need to brace the tub where I weld the hinges on. I wanted removable pin hinges so that I do retain the ability to have an open cargo trailer.

 

[ferg]

In case you care, that's/was a USMC trailer.

 

[77TLCFJ40]

Really nice work @JTU!

@ferg, How can you tell it is USMC?

 

[ferg]

The 'lifting' handles on the corners.

 

[JTU]

Work has kept me busy from person projects the past couple weeks but I was able to sneak a few hours in today.

I welded in vertical braces inside the tub to prevent to run from flexing when opening the lid:

Then welded the hinges in place:

McMaster Carr has some good 250lb gas struts that work perfect for the lid.

 

[JTU]

Next were the latches. When the tub is cut for a tail gate, a lot of the tub integrity is lost so I needed to brace the tub quite well to not flex with the cam latches.

I cut a piece of 1/4” plate to fit the corner of the tub and then welded cam latches to it. No flex anywhere.

 

[Morse_FJ40]

I need to make a lid for my m101 cdn.. cant decide aluminum or steel?

 

[JTU]

I need to make a lid for my m101 cdn.. cant decide aluminum or steel?

Raw material cost and the in-ability to weld aluminum were the deciding factors for me using steel. If cost is not a concern and you can weld aluminum or want to pay someone to weld it for you I’d go aluminum in a heartbeat.

That being said, With the gas struts on I cannot tell the lid weighs as much as it does.

 

[ntsqd]

Build it like an aluminum airframe and rivet it together!

 

[Morse_FJ40]

I am more worried about weight.. my 2f is far from stock.. and has plenty of torque.. plus the 5spd helps too.

Raw material cost and the in-ability to weld aluminum were the deciding factors for me using steel. If cost is not a concern and you can weld aluminum or want to pay someone to weld it for you I’d go aluminum in a heartbeat.

That being said, With the gas struts on I cannot tell the lid weighs as much as it does.