dieselcruiserhead
16 Years on ExPo. Whoa!!
Finally scored my M416 trailer. It is a pretty neat 1967 that came from Pennsylvania that is actually technically (I believe) a pretty rare 416 that is a couple inches wider, called a M614 or this is how it's identified on the tag. If you google M614 trailer it yields some cool results...
So I'm unsure of what to do with it. My interest is pretty much because I always wanted one and never had one
My friend Damon with a sweet BJ42 wants to build it with me and it will sort of be "ours..." It is more useful for him as BJs are so small but would be fun to pull behind and use with my mini truck versus sleeping on the ground...
It tows like a dream, 75 mph without batting an eye and it is so light you don't even notice it there. All I noticed was slight loss of mileage. It does jackknife easy in reverse so I am planning to extend the tongue. Plenty of surface rust but no rot so we are going to take it apart and sand blast it, probably after thanks giving some time. And from there we have a nakid platform and are unsure what to do.
I'm interested in relatively minimal project/not tons of fab. I was thinking clean and paint and a nice lid. Possibly a roof top tent and possibly a tailgate. Not sure if I want to cut out the tail gate. We could do this really cleanly and have it functional. And not that I ever cross deep rivers but I like the idea of an unmolested M416 and I hear this might be the way to go.
I don't have much time for fab but Damon does this winter (within reason I think) so we could make it semi complex or not. I like the idea of a stand-alone unit with a stereo and all that but am not 100% sold on it and all that work.
Also not sure on suspension. I have some decent 60 series springs outside (and also some coils and matching shocks) that I could do an independent suspension with semi-imitating the AT stuff. Not sure if I am up to the fab for that right now or not. I was thinking SOA but switch to the longer/shallower 60 springs with new hangers to reduce height but still gain a couple inches in the SOA configuration...
I sort of like the stock military tires. I do have some tall skinny 9 x 16 Michelin XL tires around (measure about 36" - huge) lying aorund that would fit on the stock rims. I also have 33 x 10.5 x 15 tires and rims which is what will be on the mini truck that will be pulling it most of the time.
RE color: Damon's BJ42 is tan. My 55 will be white/orange and the mini truck is baby blue. Not sure what color I should paint it. A desert camo might be sort of fun, I dunno... It is important that it "looks cool" as always, LOL...
I'm all ears if you guys have recommendations...
So I'm unsure of what to do with it. My interest is pretty much because I always wanted one and never had one
My friend Damon with a sweet BJ42 wants to build it with me and it will sort of be "ours..." It is more useful for him as BJs are so small but would be fun to pull behind and use with my mini truck versus sleeping on the ground...It tows like a dream, 75 mph without batting an eye and it is so light you don't even notice it there. All I noticed was slight loss of mileage. It does jackknife easy in reverse so I am planning to extend the tongue. Plenty of surface rust but no rot so we are going to take it apart and sand blast it, probably after thanks giving some time. And from there we have a nakid platform and are unsure what to do.
I'm interested in relatively minimal project/not tons of fab. I was thinking clean and paint and a nice lid. Possibly a roof top tent and possibly a tailgate. Not sure if I want to cut out the tail gate. We could do this really cleanly and have it functional. And not that I ever cross deep rivers but I like the idea of an unmolested M416 and I hear this might be the way to go.
I don't have much time for fab but Damon does this winter (within reason I think) so we could make it semi complex or not. I like the idea of a stand-alone unit with a stereo and all that but am not 100% sold on it and all that work.
Also not sure on suspension. I have some decent 60 series springs outside (and also some coils and matching shocks) that I could do an independent suspension with semi-imitating the AT stuff. Not sure if I am up to the fab for that right now or not. I was thinking SOA but switch to the longer/shallower 60 springs with new hangers to reduce height but still gain a couple inches in the SOA configuration...
I sort of like the stock military tires. I do have some tall skinny 9 x 16 Michelin XL tires around (measure about 36" - huge) lying aorund that would fit on the stock rims. I also have 33 x 10.5 x 15 tires and rims which is what will be on the mini truck that will be pulling it most of the time.
RE color: Damon's BJ42 is tan. My 55 will be white/orange and the mini truck is baby blue. Not sure what color I should paint it. A desert camo might be sort of fun, I dunno... It is important that it "looks cool" as always, LOL...
I'm all ears if you guys have recommendations...
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