Finally joined the 1/4 ton club. (1 Viewer)

[hairy_apple]

I've been hunting for one for a while, with not a lot of luck. I felt like everytime I found one, it was either $1500-$2000 and I couldn't stomach that for something I'm going to likely replace the frame and axle on anyway. Or they were beat to hell and back and I'm still paying a lot of money for a body that isn't that awesome.

Yesterday I saw a CL ad for this guy, and called right away. It was in Redding, so a good 3.5 hour drive for me, but for $700 and a solid looking trailer it was worth the trip. Even with gas and food today, I feel like I did good. Drove home nice, I honestly couldn't even feel it behind the 4Runner and kept forgetting it was even there.

Got it home, and hooked it up to the cruiser. Nice thing is the guys I bought it from, had it behind a CJ5, so the trailer was already lifted a little. It's really close to sitting level behind the 40. I think tomorrow I'll just buy a hitch that drops down a little more then the almost flat one I have on it now, and it should be perfect.

Plans... I don't know yet. I'm going to go through the bizzillions of pictures I've stolen of cool trailers and pick out features and ideas I like, and try to come up with a solid plan for it before I just start cutting and welding. I want to have a clear vision for what I want before I do anything. I will be lengthening the tongue, it's a pain to back up, and I can barely open my swing out on the cruiser. I will be adding a rear bumper with a swing out, for the spare tire, as well as fender skirts, and a lid. I want to change it to 6 lug, so it shares the tires and wheels with the FJ40.

Right now, I just want to use it for a while and figure out what I want to do. I am a happy camper. Might even take it next weekend on our Nevada ghost town trip. It would be nice to be able to bring more stuff and firewood.

 

[batcon]

Nice find for a good price, especially in California.

 

[titanpat57]

Yep..ultimate score!

 

[hairy_apple]

It makes up a bit for getting burned so hard on that FJ80 a few months ago! I am really excited about this. I've got to find a spare tire for it this week, I think we're going to start using it right away, taking it out Nevada this weekend for some ghost town exploring.

 

[Living in the Past]

If you plan on using it stock for a while and not changing the axle right away so the wheels match your tow vehicle you can install a 60 series spare tire carrier. Use the two holes from the front spring perch and then use washers on the other bolts to shim it to match the depth of the carrier. Two more holes forward of that for the carrier and your done. With a stock tire clears the folding leg up front barely and a standard Land Cruiser jack handle can be used to lower the winch. Use my M416 all the time and have different bolt patterns on tow vehicles wheels plus don't want to loose the parking brake so I have no plans to change the axle. Have few military trailers but the M416 is by far my favorite. Took years to find one that the owner didn't think was gold plated but worth the wait.

 

[hairy_apple]

I really don't want to lose the parking brake. I might do some wheel spacers or something that will convert it to 6 lug. I am not a fan of spacers, but I feel like on a trailer they will be a lot safer then on a driven wheel.

 

[Thornton]

That's a nice looking m-416. Looks solid

 

[hairy_apple]

It is.. there are a couple of TINY little pin holes in the floor I'll have to address. But honestly, I want to cut the floor out eventually and put a 10g floor into it so it's extra beefy and I can chuck firewood and stuff back there without worrying about it.

Painted it tan today. It looks sooooo much nicer. Also, got it all packed up for it's first trip. Going to Nevada for a few days to explore ghost towns and mines and cool stuff. Sadly, not bringing the cruiser for this one. My wife is bringing a coworker and I don't have back seats in the 40.. and he's a big guy who is likely way too tall even if it had some kind of back seats. Swapped cars with my parents for the weekend... going to drive a nice boring 2002 4runner for this trip. But it's easy and it's got lots of room. Next time I'll bring the cruiser for sure.

I'm a bit worried.. I have no spare. I tried hard to find one today, or even a CJ wheel that would work, but nothing. So.. screw it. I have a compressor and a bunch of tire patches and fix a flat. Also, large amounts of gorilla tape. We'll limp it out one way or another if I get a flat.

 

[hairy_apple]

Well... hammered the hell out of the little guy this weekend. It did awesome through mud and rocks and sand and never once did I regret dragging it around behind us. As a matter of fact, the weather sucked so bad Friday if we had not had it to bring the gazebo and extra gear, we likely would have had to cancel the rest of the trip and head home. I honestly didn't know it ever rained that much in Nevada... as much time as I've spent there over the years, I've never seen it rain like it did this weekend. Poured all day Friday and all night Friday night. Saturday was amazing though, perfect day for exploring.

 

[Living in the Past]

If you were closer you could swing by and pick up a M416 rim. Same as the M151 and usually pretty easy to find.

Instead of installing a heavier floor I just line the floor with 2"X6"s when hauling anything that might dent the floor in a trailer or Land Cruiser for that matter.

 

[Godwin]

Drove home nice, I honestly couldn't even feel it behind the 4Runner and kept forgetting it was even there.

While moving forward this is almost always how it will be. When backing if you do forget it is there you will be rudely reminded when it jackknives and takes out a rear lens or dents the truck body. Or both.

 

[batcon]

Instead of installing a heavier floor I just line the floor with 2"X6"s when hauling anything that might dent the floor in a trailer or Land Cruiser for that matter.

Even a piece of 3/4" plywood would work.

 

[Living in the Past]

Even a piece of 3/4" plywood would work.

True, I have a bunch of 2x6 for pallet shelving I bought from a store going out of business. I needed a certain number of boards. The guy pricing just had them load the whole pallet which was more then I bought. It also holds up better to things like transmissions, transfer case, engines and axles that pull a lot of pressure is a small location. My M101A1 is a beater and I don't use anything. For firewood I stack it and never had a issue denting the floor. My M416 is solid with no rust, floor doesn't even have any waves. For $410 it was a steal.

 

[hairy_apple]

Made a super sweet step for the front today. It was one of the big things I realized it needed last weekend. It was a pain not having a step to get into it. Tomorrow I'm going to start on the back and make some kind of a rear bumper integrated into it. Don't yet have plan for the rear, but I'm going to brain storm a little tomorrow and I'm sure I'll come up with something sweet. I'm pretty sure that step is beefier then the frame now. Might have to address that problem soon too...

 

[Ocho77]

Nice find! I've been searching for an M416 for almost a year and haven't found a good one reasonably priced. Excited to follow your build out.

 

[hairy_apple]

Finally got a chance to build the rear steps/bumper. Super happy with how it's coming together. I didn't have time to get much else done other then cut the top plates and bend the hoop... my job for tomorrow got delayed so I'm hoping tomorrow to spend all day building the rear bumper/steps.

1.5" sq tube, .120 wall. 10gauge top. I MIGHT dimple die the holes.. I'm not sure yet. It will have 1/4 plates to mount to the frame, same as the front steps. Here is the bottom of the front steps, gives you an idea what I'm doing with the bumper.. only bigger.

 

[hairy_apple]

Almost there... should have it all finished Sunday.

 

[1Fine40]

Some very nice work there! You obviously have some nice tools with which to work and know how to use them!

Cheers!

 

[hairy_apple]

Thank you. It's taken me a long time to get my skills and tools to the point I can do this, and I'm still learning better ways of doing stuff every day.. but I love it. It's like getting to play for a living.

 

[hairy_apple]

Well... my day or two project is taking forever because I've had a nasty cold all week and really haven't felt much like touching it. But I at least got it all mounted today, and most of the welding done. I still have to weld the entire outside edge and clean up a few spots that need welding/blending. Once I weld that entire outside edge, I'll have to sand it all smooth and pretty to match the front. Going to suck sanding all of that.. but it will be worth it when it's done. I'm super happy with how it came out. It will be nice to have a step to help get into it, and to have protecting from stuff hitting the body, and of course.. it looks cool. I think I'm going to put some skateboard grip tape across the whole thing after painting it too, I can just imagine how slick the metal will be with a little mud and water.