M100 Trailer Mods/Build

[fireflyr]

Yes, 1/4" plate the length of the bolt pattern on the rear frame. Sorry, no pics right now but the rear plate is welded to the receiver stock as is the 'hitch' stock in front. You can see that the two had to be telescoped in to fit between the frame members, then slid out and welded. You could also thru bolt them.

 

[Rubiconcruiser]

Great idea there...nice job on the install

 

[XRover4life]

Alright I am finally getting back to the trailer. I am in crunch time because we have a vacation coming in just under four weeks.

Plans for the next few weeks:

Sandblast
Have someone else (I don't have time to learn right now) weld up my additions/mods and repair the tub
Paint tub, possibly rhino line inside (unsure about this one yet) and figure out whether or not to powder coat the frame
Buy an axle, wheels and tires

Alright that is all for now.

 

[XRover4life]

Its been almost three months since my last post. I have been super busy with projects since the beginning of summer and turned over my welding to a professional.

So here is the update. I took my trailer frame (really just a partial frame) and the three sides I had to a contact I made on CL. The reason I went with him was that he was willing to sandblast, weld and paint in a short period of time. Worked out great.

Here is what I gave him...

2012-04-02_20-14-33_224 by XRover, on Flickr

And the tub remnants...

InsideGarage..03.17.12 by XRover, on Flickr

And here is what he gave me back a few weeks later...

2012-05-23_20-13-24_454 by XRover, on Flickr

I ordered the paint here if anyone is interested; ARHCamoPaint. Great seller to work with and he loved chatting about the trailer build with me. Also the cost to mail a gallon to me was cheaper than most other places local that did not offer a good OD Green substitute.

Ok here are a few of the details that might be of interest to some.

I moved the tongue support all the way forward to the front of the tub. You can see that here.

2012-05-28_15-32-56_536 by XRover, on Flickr

Since we were going to have to rebuild a few parts of the trailer frame it made sense to go ahead and make the updates that I wanted while it was all apart. The longer tongue seemed like a good option. It made sense to leave that area open for future use if I wanted it. Also I like using the original tongue connections because I wanted to be able to remove the tongue if necessary.

The next thing I wanted was a lunette so I had the welder put together a 2" receiver on the front. This also leaves the option for me to go with a max cupler or something like that later on. He decided to wrap it in diamond plate and I think it turned out great. That section is fully removable as well as the rest of the tongue.

2012-05-28_15-32-45_345 by XRover, on Flickr

Although many don't like the bumper I wanted something to hook a bike rack onto so I went ahead and had one made. Here is the view from the back.

I thought about sealing the tub off but after my wife requested a tailgate I went with it. Simple solution that is easily removable.

2012-05-23_20-13-10_126 by XRover, on Flickr

Because I have three kids and know they are going to be playing on and around the trailer I wanted a way to stabilize it. So I had the welder work up a system I designed that fits into the bumper. It works great too. Oh this should also answer the question of "why are there wholes in the bumper?"

2012-05-28_15-38-07_644 by XRover, on Flickr

And the final shot. All loaded up for the first camping trip near the end of May. It pulled down to the central oregon coast great. However I bought a super cheap tarp to cover my goods and it was destroyed by the time my the trailer made it to camp. Bought a little better one and drove it home with no problems.

You can also see in this picture the areas lower on the tub we had to replace because the metal had too much rust to be usable.

2012-05-25_07-08-33_830 by XRover, on Flickr

 

[XRover4life]

Ok the previous post probably should have been done late May or early June. But this post is on time. After the first trip with the trailer the only thing I really thought I should do before my next trip was a lid.

I like the simple design that mirrors the shape of the top of the tub in reverse. Went with the same welder I used for the tub & frame mods.


2012-07-15_08-28-28_333 by XRover, on Flickr

I have handles on the front and back of the lid and a simple whole on either side for a lock.

The hinges are Steel Hinge — Northern Tool.
I chose these because the bolt can be quickly removed and the lid can be separated if necessary.

2012-07-15_08-29-21_292 by XRover, on Flickr

Ok. So here is a final shot of what has happened since early March. If you remember we bought two trailers one for me and one for my brother. Here is the shot the morning after I picked them both up.

2012-03-07_16-04-50_653 by XRover, on Flickr

And here is the shot of both of them done and on vacation. Mine is the OD Green on the left my brother went with desert camo and his is on the right.

2012-07-22_10-16-09_492 by XRover, on Flickr.

I think the next thing I am going to do is get a good rack system for the lid that will hold bikes and maybe kayaks. Alright on to the next project...

 

[Roberto]

Dell

can you give more info on how you fabricated your extended receiver tube to be able to retain the factory cast iron lunette and landing leg in this PIC. I would like to do the same on my CDN M101 if possible but need some close up pics to be able to see how you did it.

thanks
Rob

 

[XRover4life]

Had a request for better pictures of my hinges. I went with them because they can easily be disconnected with the bolt through the center. They can also be greased if necessary.

My one regret on the hinges was not explaining to my welder that he should remove the manufacturer plates. He drilled right through them and bolted the hinge bottom sections to the trailer. The top was welded on.

He was working with a little bit of an issue because the tub was not straight. So that required a little bit of adjustments with the hinges. And they were cut down a bit to fit the contour of the new lid.

Here is the link for the hinges at Northern Tool:
http://reviews.northerntool.com/039...-with-grease-fitting-4-in-reviews/reviews.htm

Here are the pictures showing the hinges a little better. You can see in my pictures that the hinges are upside down because the grease fitting is at the bottom.


2012-09-11_19-44-26_155 by XRover, on Flickr


2012-09-11_19-44-16_661 by XRover, on Flickr


2012-09-11_19-44-09_217 by XRover, on Flickr


2012-09-11_19-43-58_526 by XRover, on Flickr

 

[Dell]

I utilized 7 of those "Buyer's" hinges on muh M100
also utilize their steel bushings (optional, extra coin), replacing the brittle plastic bushings.

and... I use 1/2" QD hitch pins and hitch locks to secure my lid.
I don't grease the hinges tho'...
because that turns out to be too messy for my needs.

I think these Buyer's HD hinges are a great buy.

Say are those lid handles custom bent...
or are they something that can be purchased ?

 

[XRover4life]

They are bent on a press brake (I think I am using the terminology right). I wanted to get them closer to the stock handles but turned out to be the best we could do with my welders equipment.

 

[Dell]

Lowes or Home Depot sell garage door handles
that have a similar similar concave surface to the grip.
I was thinking about using those.
But may end up scratch building something else.

Curious as to why you hinged the lid at the front
rather then at the side ?

inquiring because...
if my lid didn't open as far as it does...
I would think it difficult to load the bed of the trailer
with bulky items.

 

[XRover4life]

Dell: I thought about that one for quite a while. And it basically boiled down to how it is going to be used most of the time. We are a young family with all kids under ten. So when we travel we usually take camping gear and bikes and not much else. My original thought for the lid was to create a basket on top and then put bike racks on top of that.

But what made me decide to put the hinges on the tongue side; lifting the lid with bikes on it (strut assisted of course). I thought sideways might be a little too rough on the bikes and the racks, putting stress on them where it was not intended to be. Whereas if they are leaning forward the pressure is still on the bike tires and rims where it is intended to be. My intention was for the racks to go parallel to the sides of the trailer. Now here is what I am struggling with. I want to design a rack/basket system that will carry all 5 bikes and 2 kayaks.

Trying to decide if designing a basket with removable front/back/sides that could have kayaks slid under top and bottom of basket, or if I need something separate altogether. Have not drawn out any ideas but its in the back of my mind as a winter project.

Also I should mention the size of the items going into the trailer is not really an issue because the tailgate is fully removable and the lid on its stand sits up pretty high. You can see it a few pictures up. I really only take the tailgate down for items like our heavy camping box and the cooler. Everything else gets thrown in over the side. My favorite part of the lid is when we are packing the softer stuff after the trailer is already full. We can throw all of our sleeping bags and softer items on top and the lid just smashes them down into the box. No real size restriction at that point.

If you end up fabbing together some handles to match the OG side handles let me know. I will probably buy four of them from you (if you want to make some extras) and replace the ones I have. Just think it would add something special to the look of the lid.