M101 Lid (1 Viewer)

[swampman]

X2- nice work. The key to saving weight (as demonstrated by swampman) is to use thin sheet for weather and carry the load with frame pieces. My wood-framed lid is probably in the 50 lb range; it's significantly lighter than the tent atop it.

50 lbs wow ! thats good..mines a little heavier than that . i cant take the credit for my lid . my buddy randy was the brains there he fabricates for a living and is very good at it..

sooo .. my lid is three pieces, the top is thin gauge its strength comes from the bends and folds . the end pieces were heavier gauge becuase my lid is hinged on the end rather than the side. it also folds over the sides for weather proof seal.. one frame in the middle.. be fore the tent was installed i could stand on top no problem...

 

[Panzer]

FWIW, I took Eric's diagrams to a local fabricator. He copied erics design in aluminum and mounted it to my trailer $600-ish. (I forget the exact figure) Works perfect, I put yak traks on top, mounted up my mombasa and took off for 2 weeks in CO runing the mine trails without problems. I took off before I even had time to paint it and now I am kind of liking the AL unfinished look.

Here is a couple...Ill try to find some better ones.

 

[eleblanc]

Let see some pictures!

FWIW, I took Eric's diagrams to a local fabricator. He copied erics design in aluminum and mounted it to my trailer $600-ish. (I forget the exact figure) Works perfect, I put yak traks on top, mounted up my mombasa and took off for 2 weeks in CO runing the mine trails without problems. I took off before I even had time to paint it and now I am kind of liking the AL unfinished look.

I'll try to post a pic tonight from the house

 

[yooper]

My steel lid weighs about 200 lbs. but it opens easily with the RTT on it with two 200lb gas struts and is hella strong.

 

[Brentbba]

My steel lid weighs about 200 lbs. but it opens easily with the RTT on it with two 200lb gas struts and is hella strong.

Good to know. Steel is where I'm leaning only because I can't afford the aluminum. PO threw in 2 250lb struts, so I should be ok with steel.

 

[eleblanc]

Good to know. Steel is where I'm leaning only because I can't afford the aluminum. PO threw in 2 250lb struts, so I should be ok with steel.

Difference in cost is not that big, Alu is maybe 3-4 times more expensive per pound. But is about 3 times lighter.

 

[Brentbba]

Difference in cost is not that big, Alu is maybe 3-4 times more expensive per pound. But is about 3 times lighter.

Well, I wish I lived closer to you then. About $200 per quotes in ultra expensive SoCal.

 

[sirenmoses]

Panzer:

Why'd ya move the cooler from back to front, or vise versa? Ease of access/ reduced crud on cooler lid?

Thanks, CJ

 

[NorCalDoug]

Doug - you get much flex with a 1x1 frame? Recommendation from both fabricatiors I've spoke with so far say 1x2 for less flex.

okay...I take that back. I took a closer look at the frame for my aluminum lid and it is, in fact not a 1x1 frame. The actual measurement is 3/4" x 1 1/2". There's very little flex in my lid. Another thing to note is that my lid is flat...not nearly as fancy as some of the others shown here...

 

[Brentbba]

okay...I take that back. I took a closer look at the frame for my aluminum lid and it is, in fact not a 1x1 frame. The actual measurement is 3/4" x 1 1/2". There's very little flex in my lid. Another thing to note is that my lid is flat...not nearly as fancy as some of the others shown here...

Thanks for taking the time to check Doug. Hope all is well with you and your family!

 

[d0ubledown]

i also took a drawing of erics lid, and gave it to my father in law who has a client that bends metal. used 2 hood/hatch struts that are too short and too light, but it holds it up. definitely have to reinforce the wall of the trailer where the struts mount to as there is alot of stress on that point. will check out a specialized strut shop and get it setup properly so i can easily lift it with 4 bikes on top. also some pics of the hinges, 3 HD door hinges bolted to angle iron which is welded to the lip. and some pics of my simple latch with weld on hinges for the tail gate. it was cut in by the PO, not the best job cosmetically, but im not anal like that. as long as it works.

 

[d0ubledown]

s'more. dont mind the cluttered garage





theres 4 bikes on the lid. i was hoping to score some used thule bike racks..that will be this years project.

 

[yooper]

a pic of mine I happen to have online right now. similar to sonny's but not as tall. Two stainless steel hinges mounted with bolts to some heavy C-channel that's welded to the tub and to tapped holes in the lid itself, which is 1/8" steel at that point. The RTT is bolted directly to the lid. I put some rails on the edge of the lid for a Yakima rack but haven't used them yet. I'm going to try double extended Yakima 1A gutter mount towers and loft the cross bars over the RTT.

On the front of the tub you can see the 1/8" reinforcement plate that is bolted on both outside and inside for the lifting strut mounts. I have one strut on the front and one on the back. The plate was easy to install, no welding, and appears to distribute the forces well.

 

[Brentbba]

Thanks for the pics guys!

 

[Panzer]

Panzer:

Why'd ya move the cooler from back to front, or vise versa? Ease of access/ reduced crud on cooler lid?

Thanks, CJ

Halfway thru the trip I shifted the tent aft, moving the cooler to the front. Main reason was that when forward the tent was way too close to the truck when going thru some of the terrain. I actually rubbed the tent on the spare a couple of times so I moved it back to give it some more room. This put the CG of the tent behind the trailer axle so the first one in the tent had to go to the forward side to sleep otherwise the trailer tongue would rise up a quick 4 inches in the pintle hook and give a momentary fright.
Also the swing away on the spare is so close to the trailer that I had to park with the truck turned 15 degrees left of the trailer to swing the tire and get the tailgate down. For 2010 I am going to lengthen the tongue, add a small storage box for future electrics/h2o, move the spare up under the rear using my old underbed tire carrier from the 80 and add rear stabilizer legs.

 

[yooper]

Rear stabilizer legs are the way to go and basically fix the problem of the unsteady trailer for sleeping. I try to park slightly tongue down, put the legs down to the ground, then jack up the tongue a few inches and trailer is rock solid. I installed a tongue jack for this purpose, you can see it in my pic above.

 

[Brentbba]

Yooper - any pics of the rear stabilizer legs? Hand brake doesn't work well at all and when I ever get around to adding the lid and ...some day a RTT the trailer does seem unstable as is w/o all that add'l weight.

 

[yooper]

Here's the day I installed them, when I had the trailer tub off. I bolted them on, they could easily be welded on and I might do that to move them up higher, away from trail hazards.

 

[Brentbba]

Interesting - thx for posting the pics Yooper!