My new (to me) M416 1/4 Ton Trailer

[AustinCruiser]

DONE!

Here's a before and after shot.

Well here she is. My 1964 M416 is a former Travis County Fire Department trailer. I think that it spent most of its life parked behind a fire station and that it saw very little use.

The trailer is missing its lunette casting, lunette ring and landing leg. The tires are both unserviceable due to dry rot. There is very little rust and overall I'd say that the trailer is in very good condition.

I'll update this post as I begin working on the trailer.

 

[kilo]

Great find! What are your plans for it?

 

[greentruck]

Just needs a little love...and maybe a paint job

 

[AustinCruiser]

The plan is to build it up as a utility trailer and light expedition trailer. The idea is to get junk out of my truck and into the trailer during our long road trips and trips to the beach.

Once I've cleaned the old paint off, I'll line-x the bed and paint the entire trailer. I plan to fabricate an aluminum lid to keep things dry with gas struts to keep it open.

Here's what the trailer needs:

A new lunette ring and lunette casting
New chains and hooks
New LED lights from Harbor Freight
New tires (235 85r16)
Spare rim and tire
Re-pack bearings
New drain plugs
Cosmetic clean up of minor rust and dings
New paint and line-x for the bed

I plan on doing this for the least amount of $$ possible.

As for the aluminum cover, I plan to build it in school this Spring (I'm taking a bunch of welding classes).

I'll keep this posted as I progress.

 

[austintaco]

Nice Find!

Hey Ed,

Its Patrick with the gold 4runner. Nice score on the trailer. I couldn't find one of those cheap enough, so now I am working with a '75 longbed Toyota to make into a trailer.

Where are you going to take welding classes at? I was thinking of just buying a HF welder and practicing until I felt comfortable.

 

[AustinCruiser]

Good to hear from you Patrick. I got really lucky with the trailer.
I am taking welding classes at ACC starting in Jan. I'll be doing arc, tig and oxy fuel. Gotta love the GI Bill.

 

[sirenmoses]

score.

yr prolly spot on about it (lack of) use.


look forward to yr build, you lucky dog.

 

[AustinCruiser]

Well here's the first thing that I need to get done. The tires were totally hammered, so I trashed them. Once I got them off, I noticed that one of the rims had quite a bit of rust inside. I'll be breaking out the wire wheel and sandpaper later on today. Once I get the rust off, I'll rattle can them with flat black rustoleum.

I'll mount new or newish 235/85r16 tires on the rims. I am on a budget, so the final tire choice will go to the cheapest option. I am leaning towards a pair of craigslist BFGs right now.

Here are some before pics of the rims ...

 

[AustinCruiser]

The wheels are done. They've been wire wheeled, sanded and painted with three coats of flat black rustoleum. The lunette casting also arrived and and i cleaned it up as well.

Once I find some good, cheap tires I'll be able to bring the trailer home for the build.

 

[Teotwaki]

I like this stuff!

 

[austintaco]

rims turned out great! what size tires are you looking for?

 

[AustinCruiser]

Hey Patrick. I am looking for 235/85r16 or anything that will fit the 16" rims. I am trying to do this on the cheap, so size isn't too important right now (as long as the tires fit the narrow 16" rims).

How's your build going?

 

[prado t]

Looking forward to seeing the rest of the trailer. I am looking for new military 6.25 x 16s

 

[rubberduck]

I run the 235 85's on mine. they work great. I probably have a couple out back that would at least get you home. Trouble is, I don't live very close.

 

[AustinCruiser]

I run the 235 85's on mine. they work great. I probably have a couple out back that would at least get you home. Trouble is, I don't live very close.

Thanks for the offer. I just found some cosmetic blems at Leal's tire shop on Lamar for $60 each mounted, so I'll be going that route.

 

[Thornton]

Sounds like you found a great deal on some tires. The trailer looks like a nice find. Good luck to you on your build

 

[AustinCruiser]

Tire update

Well, the tire shop sold the last two cosmetic blems before I got there. I ended up putting on two used, though healthy looking, 235/85r16 trailer tires. They are both 10 ply and should do well.

I am still working on the coupler a bit and I am assembling the wiring harness for the lights. This way I won't be spending too much time in the farmer's field before being able to haul off the trailer.

I got an LED trailer light kit on sale from Harbor Freight for $29 - a good deal in my book.

Here are some iPhone pics of the tires and light kit:

P.S. You know that you are a redneck when you begin accumulating tires and rims in your backyard.

 

[Teotwaki]

I used the same H/F light kit for my trailer and the stop lights are really bright and the overall quality seems good.

 

[azTony]

I have been looking for one of these to build. What is the expected price? If I ran across one I would have no idea if the price was good or not.

 

[AustinCruiser]

I have been looking for one of these to build. What is the expected price? If I ran across one I would have no idea if the price was good or not.

I looked all around Texas for one and they ranged from $1300 (for a cherry, almost new, M-100) to about $450 (for a rust bucket M-416 in Houston).

I really hoped to find a Canadian M-101, but no joy.

Most of the guys selling M-416s are asking between $450 and $1000.

My trailer was $300 and I consider myself lucky since it is rust free. The only real rust was inside the rim that had the flat tire. I guess it was sitting that way for quite a while. The other reason it was so cheap was that it was missing some very important parts and could not be towed safely (no coupler, no lights, really bad tires).

Here's a link for a $200 M-100 that needs work: Russell's Military Vehicles - Items For Sale It is cheap enough that shipping to AZ may be worth it.

There are good trailers out there, just look around and be patient. It seems that Uncle Sam gave lots of these small trailers to fire departments, so that may be a good place to look.