M416 Military Utility Trailer Build

[Quyle]

So to start things off i found this trailer on my family property, I guess my dad left it here before he moved back to Germany. Unluckily he didnt pull the drain plugs before he left so it has quite a bit of rust. My original plans were to give it a good sanding, slap some paint on it and call it good. Started sanding and discovered the eight layers of paint underneath so I decided to take it down to bare metal.

Started by stripping the whole thing. Tore out all the old wiring, lights, and unused brackets.

Next I started taking it all apart piece by piece. Everything came off. Put everything that would fit In the bead blasting cabinet and cleaned it up.

Ill be painting it with bedliner Sprayed with a layer off paint on top so seal it all up.











Cloe up of the texture. It dosnt have any rubber chunks in it like herculiner does.



Ive got the frame Pretty well cleaned up. Its obviously not done but its getting there.

Ive been using paintstipper, followed by a wire wheel, then finished by sandblasting. Its slow but it works.

[Quyle]

The floor was rotted out so I started cutting. It will be replaced with a sheat of ten gauge. The new floor be about twice as thick as the old one. I'll be adding a drain in each corner to avoid having to do this again.







After years of abuse the floors in these trailers tend to sag a bit so I added some extra suports.







I bought a cheap MIG wleder from Harbor Freight to do the welding. Im certified in stick and Oxy/Ac but have never use a MIG welder before so we'll see how things go.



A few pictures of the shop for anyone who is board.





We teach blacksmithing classes in our shop once a month. We are set up for 14 students. Classes are basically free just 10 bucks for materials and such. (not trying to pimp classes, We make no money)



So Im 18 and dont really know what Im doing so if you have any sugestions let me know.

More pictures to come and maybe some real tech.

[Albin]

Originally Posted by Quyle

The floor was rotted out so I started cutting. It will be replaced with a sheat of ten gauge. The new floor be about twice as thick as the old one. I'll be adding a drain in each corner to avoid having to do this again.

[snip]

So Im 18 and dont really know what Im doing so if you have any sugestions let me know.

More pictures to come and maybe some real tech.

I call BS on that statement. Looks to me like you're doing very well.

Good luck.

Al

[YellowSub1962]

only sugestion I have is stop turning the camera sideways or learn how to rotate picture 90 degrees

Looks good. I put air shocks on mine and it made a HUGE difference in the trailer's manners, both on and off road.

Put a receiver tube in the back

Flip the backing plates (or the entire axle, I foget) so te parking brak hardware is up high and out of the rocks and stuff

Since you have the bottom off alreay, have you thought about making the bottom attach to the trailer fram and making hte tub removable so you have a small flatbed if you want it?

Looking good
PSD

[YellowSub1962]

oh and we need mo' bettah pictures of the crane/hoist

[Quyle]

Originally Posted by YellowSub1962

Since you have the bottom off alreay, have you thought about making the bottom attach to the trailer fram and making hte tub removable so you have a small flatbed if you want

I plan on making the whole bed removable with pins. Then I will maka a wooden flat bed that would atatch to the frame with the same pins. I was thinking of making a small sleeeping shelter as well at some point. Good idea on the reciever tube, will do. Thanks

[Quyle]

Originally Posted by Albin

I call BS on that statement. Looks to me like you're doing very well.

Good luck.

Al

Im definitaly learning, Thanks Albin

[Quyle]

A few more shop pictures just because.

[boristheblade]

Originally Posted by Quyle

Cool shit upon more cool shit

You're doing great, and I wish I lived closer - I'd be taking those classes every week till you got sick of me.

The shop is sweet, and I can only wish that MN/ND weather permitted me to leave shit outside without it turning to a pile of rust.

[Quyle]

Originally Posted by boristheblade

You're doing great, and I wish I lived closer - I'd be taking those classes every week till you got sick of me.

The shop is sweet, and I can only wish that MN/ND weather permitted me to leave shit outside without it turning to a pile of rust.

First off Thank you. Check out http://www.abana.org/resources/education/schools.shtml There may be a class near you. Some of the steal on that rack has been sitting for 20 years and has nothing more than some surface rust.

Quyle

[Jeepskickass]

Originally Posted by YellowSub1962

Flip the backing plates (or the entire axle, I foget) so te parking brak hardware is up high and out of the rocks and stuff

We flipped the axle because the cables weren't long enough when we did the spring over. At least I think that's what we did.

[Quyle]

So I got a little more done last night.



Finished cutting out the floor and cleaned up the edges a bit. I needed somthing to hold the floor in position so I cut up some angle iron and tacked it in.







Test fit. Got it tacked in, Ill finish welding tonight when its cooler.



Some Hoist pics for YellowSub1962.

[PAToyota]

Sweet shop - lots of character!

[YellowSub1962]

Originally Posted by Jeepskickass

We flipped the axle because the cables weren't long enough when we did the spring over. At least I think that's what we did.

[hijack]Yes we did the spring over right out of the crate so the perches were on the wrong side but I didn't want to cut and weld them. I think I looked at the bolt pattern on the backing plates and I think they can can be flipped and swapped sides, but that or new perches for a spring over is what we should have done in a perfect world. the all-thread "j" hook and threaded couple were a good "temp fix" going on over 10 years and 4 Rubicon trips now. but hey who else does a spring over on a vehicle in the bed of a truck, before they even touch the wheels to the ground? [/hijack]



That Hoist is sooo cool, thx for the pix

That angle shear is pretty cool too. I love seeing old shop equipment still in use and taken care of. Kids these days with their fancy benders and electric punches a shears don't realize what guys used to do "back then" with stuff..

Trailer looks good, keep up the good work

[Quyle]

Started welding the floor in and ran out of wire with about six inches to go.



Im getting better with my new mig machine, still not completely happy with my welds but theyll do the job.



Made a 1" angle iron frame that will go around the inside of the tub to add a little bit of extra strength and weld material to the joint.



On a side note I have been trying to repair this hacksaw.



So I can cut this round stock.



So I can make a bigger one of these.

[Quyle]

Thanks for all the complements guys
Ive been having alot of fun with this project and so far Ive managed to not fawk anything up!

[Isley]

Originally Posted by Quyle

...
So I can make a bigger one of these.


...

Cool shop, but what exactly is that?

[surveyboy]

Originally Posted by Isley

Cool shop, but what exactly is that?

a big ass can crusher

[PAToyota]

Originally Posted by surveyboy

a big ass can crusher

Judging by the piping - hydraulic can crusher.

Bigger one? You want to be able to do kegs?

[Quyle]

It an air operated hammer. A cylinder raises the weight, when you hit a lever the presure is released and it drops the weight. We use it to stamp designs into metal. And of course crushing cans.

[Quyle]

I have been fairly busy with work and school but I have found a little time to work on this project.

I haul a lot of firewood in the winter and decided I need some bedsides for this thing. I didnt really like the idea of putting square pockets in because they took up too much space. Instead I designed the pockets to fit 2x2 angle iron. I added a thubscrew to hold everything tight.







I also thought it would be nice have a lid when camping to keep dust and animals out of my bags.

On one end I welded some hinges to a peice of angle iron and for the other I found some hood pins to work as a latch.







Both hinges and pins slide into the pockets and get secured by the thubscrews.

One of the things I liked about this system is that I can turn the lid 180 and be able to open it from the front or the back.

The next thing I have been working on is the hitch. I like the pintle setup but hate when it bangs into the truck. Im hoping that by putting springs on the shaft it will help this problem.

[Quyle]

I think I have abandoned the stock axle and am going to use a toy 8" rear to match my 4runner. This will give me spares and allow me to keep the same lug pattern all around. Will I be able to point the pinion straight up to keep it out of the rock or will I have pinion oiling issues?

Any input on this would be much appreciated.

[LOGANSTANFORTH]

Originally Posted by Quyle

I think I have abandoned the stock axle and am going to use a toy 8" rear to match my 4runner. This will give me spares and allow me to keep the same lug pattern all around. Will I be able to point the pinion straight up to keep it out of the rock or will I have pinion oiling issues?

Any input on this would be much appreciated.

Do you plan to keep a spare center section in the trailer axle incase you bust yours??? what about an electric over hydraulic setup so you will have extra brake components in case you need them for the truck.......

[Quyle]

Originally Posted by LOGANSTANFORTH

Do you plan to keep a spare center section in the trailer axle incase you bust yours??? what about an electric over hydraulic setup so you will have extra brake components in case you need them for the truck.......

Yes, I plan on keeping a third member in the axle as a spair. I am running 4.10in my toyota still so a spare will be quite cheap. I had also planned on keeping the brake components on the axle to retain the E-brake but I hadnt even thought of running real brakes on this trailer but I might have to look into it. Thanks for the good idea!

Anyone know how far I will be able to point the pinion upwards without running into oiling issues? Would straight up be possible?

Thanks
quyle

[Quyle]

I started machining the hitch today. It was a bit bent wich means I ended up having to take almost a quarter inch off to get it round but when its done it should be stronger than before. I will get some pics later.

On a side note I was thinking of using 2.5" .25"wall box tube for the tounge, will this be strong enough?