M416 Trailer Build

[ouroutdoorfamily]

Well we purchased this trailer from a local military store yard some months back... we have finally started on the build. I was able to get the front hitch part off and will start cleaning that up, then the tub will come off, get blasted and a tailgate added. Then the frame will get blasted and painted.

Our only mods will be the tailgate and maybe some sort of soft top for the trailer along with some sort of rack system for carrying bikes or a small basket.

I bought a new sand blaster to go with this project, I did a trial run on my old FJ40 bumper.

 

[greentruck]

Nice little trailer you have there. It'll shine up real nice once the old paint is off and new paint takes it's place.

Hard to tell, but do remember that a lot of military paint applied in the last 40 years or so has been CARC. It's designed to make decontamination from a nasty spraying with nerve gas, etc easy in the field. But it's nasty stuff if you sandblast it, so take extra care with the usual precaution when sandblasting.

I ended up buying a (smaller) sandblaster myself because it was so handy for a variety of projects, but I hired out doing the trailer to a pro sandblaster. I let him know about the potential that the paint was CARC on our M101. He kinda shrugged, but I was pretty glad to let him do it (at a great price, too - $200) to not have to worry about that stuff in my driveway.

YMMV and you may not even have to worry about it. I've heard that a lot of gear that stayed here in the US (versus was planned to go to reinforce NATO, for instance) never did get CARC and your trailer may be old enough it wouldn't have it anyway.

 

[batcon]

Do you know what year that trailer is, any ID plate on the trailer?

 

[ouroutdoorfamily]

Thanks for the heads up about the paint.... other than the normal precautions of mask and eye protection, is there something else I should do, or should I just do the same and hire it out?

 

[ouroutdoorfamily]

Well after a long night of reading and worrying, I think I might forgo any further sand blasting of the trailer and just leave it as is. Seems to be a very serious thing concerning sand blasting of auto paint, not to mention this CARC paint.

I was wondering if sand blasting RAW steel is as dangerous. With have a hood that came with the blaster along with goggles and some N95 masks, is this fine for outdoor sand blasting or should I have more protection?

 

[titanpat57]

If you can find a reputable shop in the area...it may be resonable to have it done there. I don't own one (416)but I think they strip the trailer down, take all the pieces to the blaster, prime and paint, and put them back together.

Get your mods done while your primed than finish paint it. Or paint all the individual pcs. and assemble it.


Pat

 

[ouroutdoorfamily]

well I found a local guy who said he'd come pick up the dismantled trailer, take it and blast it and drop it back off for $350, does that sound like a good price. All were planning on doing is replacing the floor and adding a tailgate on top of that, but if $350 is to high I'll keep looking for a cheaper quote... the only down side is there are not many sandblasting places in this area.

 

[titanpat57]

I think $350 is more than fair for perserving your health for a lifetime....

I mean if he has a good rep and good turn around time.....what will you save going somewhere else..... $50 ?... $100 ?

A professional (and it has to be a tough, nasty job) probably won't dissappoint...maybe ask for a few references, or you know someone that he has done work for.

Seems fair for what's involved, and it sure will be nice to start of with clean, fresh metal parts.

Good luck

 

[greentruck]

Thanks for the heads up about the paint.... other than the normal precautions of mask and eye protection, is there something else I should do, or should I just do the same and hire it out?

For personal protection when I do sandblast, in addition to the usual hood and gloves I use one of the filter masks that has the cartridges for different forms of protection under the hood. Anything that will work for fine dust should work for protection for sandblasting. Maybe not up to OSHA standards for continual on-the-job exposure, but probably OK for the occasional sandblasting.

IMO, that's probably good enough for a one-off sandblasting exposure, whether you're dealing with lead-based paint or CARC. The problem lies in the dust going into the soil around your house. The lead won't go away and who knows whether CARC will break down or not.

As for rust, etc on bare metal, there shouldn't be an issue other than dust.

As I noted, I do find my little home sandblaster very handy, it's just that I don't do enough work on questionable paint for me to really worry about doing this in the backyard.

$350 sounds in the ballpark, perhaps a little high. But it is getting harder and harder to find sandblasting as the old guys die-off (via natural causes or not;p) and the new ones find the costs of compliance with regulations that govern them as a business more costly.

 

[swampman]

350 picked up and delivered again sounds like a good deal.. i paid 300 for my m101 sandblasted and primed, and did not have the convienience of pick up and delivery

what kind of primer are you gonna use,, i would not recomend the red oxide,, the paint paint dont stick so good,,,

 

[ouroutdoorfamily]

I'll be painting the trailer to match my FJ40, same process, I use Helculiner for the frame and inside of tub and the sand Tan for the outside

 

[AustinCruiser]

That 40 looks great! Your trailer should clean up well.

 

[ouroutdoorfamily]

Well finally got the trailer back from blast and prime and started on the fab. The axel springs I ordered are a bit shorter so I'm making some box in members to add to the frame for strength... so far I got one welded up and in, doesn't look to bad for my first week of welding.

 

[Dell]

those springs look purdy short and with fairly thick leaf's...

I'm thinking those are going to ride purdy stiff, even loaded.
Not likely to flex very well either.

If I were going to go to that much trouble to add mounting reinforcements for different leaf springs...
I would 'ave rather chosen a somewhat longer spring, say from a YJ or whatever is the latest jeep thing...

JMO tho'

 

[ouroutdoorfamily]

Those were just the springs they sent with the 3500 lb kit... should I buy a different longer set? Is anyone else running short springs?

 

[Dell]

the M416 is a 1/4 ton trailer...
meaning: it's load capacity is rated for that... not much more.

a 3500# axle is super overkill for the lightweight frame of a m416 and what it's max load capacity actually is.
meaning: the M416's weight, frame strength and it's load capacity, should be of consideration
not the axle's max load capacity rating.

Not sure what yer intentions of use will be...
But the shorter, thicker springs are to assure that the axle meets the specs of it's maximum load capacity.
Those springs (since they came with it) are likely rated for loads up to 3500#'s...
they will be stiff as heck when unladen and equally as well, when loaded to the max of the trailer's 1/4 max load capacity.

You'll likely want a softer more compliant spring that is rated closer to your trailers weight and it's max load capacity

A longer spring would be more compliant...
offering a more controlled, softer ride ( spelled less bouncy),
while still being capable of carrying the load the M416 is capable of...

I have an M100... with oem springs (and axle)...
and they are too stiff and somewhat bouncy, especially unladen.
they are also not very compliant, as they don't flex very well in the off road environment.
they're somewhat acceptable when loaded, but barely.

Because I'm trying to keep my trailer original... I really can't do much about my situation... short of removing a leaf.

But yer situation... is a different story.

just saying... cause yer having to do this extra work to install these springs that came with the axle...

just trying to get U to think about it... before U do all that work and find out it rides like a rock.

.

 

[ouroutdoorfamily]

Thanks for the info, it's something to think about, but using the originals is not an option as some of the pieces broke during taking them off. Also I believe, (at least i thought i was told or read it), that the 1/4 ton trailer is rated for being able to still "float" with a 1/4 ton in it, but that it can obviously haul a lot more than that.

There's another guy "drew" who used the same axel/spring combo for his trailer and it worked out fine, or at least I haven't heard him list any complaints, serach "built from scratch" you'll find the build.

Either way I'm going to have to do the work, whether I use the shorter springs or buy the same spring but longer. We are also planning on hauling dirt, gravel, cement blocks, etc. this isn't "only" going to be a camping/offroad trailer, it will be a work trailer, so being able to handle the extra weight is something we want/need.

The other part of this is that doing the install and welding is my learning project. My neighbor is inspecting everything to make sure I don't do to bad a job on the welding, but I need the practice before I can move on to more projects.

Again, thanks for the info

 

[Dell]

^ I'll just refer U to this thread discussion... here
yeah sure U can load as much as U like... I guess

but the trailer is rated at 750#'s max load for highway purposes.
500#'s off the road and if U might expect that to float.

the design of the trailer's frame is not rated to exceed those loads stated on it's data plates...

Your axle exceeds the load rating of your trailer...

But since U know someone else that thinks it's just fine...

I'll leave U be... sit back, wait and see.

 

[ouroutdoorfamily]

We took the trailer on it's first camping trip this weekend to Lake Somerville. It worked great but we starting a making a list of mods we want to do to the trailer.
A tailgate is for sure as well as propane holders and Jerry can holders in front and behind the wheels.

I also started a trailer rack built out of my former FJ40 roll bar. When finished it will have tubing connecting between the 2 hoops and a basket sitting on top of the cross bars.

The only bad part about the camp out was that my FJ40 is still getting the Metal Tech cage and seat cradle welded in, so we had to take the Jeep Cherokee I thought I'd throw in a couple pics of our fruit trees and garden... so far we only have in half the boxes we are going to do.

Getting the dogs ready to go

Getting the dogs into the truck

Getting gas

Momma

The girls made an island at the campsite

Trailer mods (my old roll bar)

Fruit trees

Garden boxes

 

[Max.Powerzz]

Holy Cow that's a big yard. Any updates on the ride with the 3500 axle? I'm in the same conundrum. Did you end up replacing the floor and adding a tailgate? Great write-up so far.