M416 trailer build my brother and I

Crush Jeep

Adventurer
I've added a battery and some outlets to the trailer. I'll post some pictures up of the wiring later this weekend. I also mounted an axe and shovel to the roof rack. I'm going to try it out on Monday, going to a local state park and work out the bugs. Getting ready for a bigger trip.
 
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Crush Jeep

Adventurer
Just a couple of pictures of the wiring in the tongue box.
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I have three plugs in the box, the first one is a double hook up for a USB port and the other two is for a lighter adaptor.
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I also added an axe and shovel on the roof rack.
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Crush Jeep

Adventurer
This is from the last couple of days, I finaly got to try out the trailer at Lake Norman State Park. Eveyone was ready to go.
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Of course it rained most of the time but it was a good test run.
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One at night.
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Despite all the rain we still had a good time and had several people come by to check out the treehouse tent. :1888fbbd:
 
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Bedwell

Observer
I really enjoyed reading your build thread this evening. I do have a couple questions for you. I drive a TJ (simular wheelbase to your 2D JK) and was wondering if you would have still extended the tongue / reciever if you weren't putting kayaks on the trailer? When you added the reciever tubing, did you run into any fitment issues where it connects at the factory location? My trailer has a ball hitch but IMO it could have been mounted better and was considering upgrading to the max coupler. How do you like it for ON road towing? Keep up the good work.
 

Ken Miracle

New member
Really nice trailer, I've tossed around the idea of putting a tailgate in my for a while. I was to give up on it when I seen yours. Can you tell me what kind of hinges you used on the bottom of the tailgate?

Thanks in advance,
Ken
 

Crush Jeep

Adventurer
I really enjoyed reading your build thread this evening. I do have a couple questions for you. I drive a TJ (simular wheelbase to your 2D JK) and was wondering if you would have still extended the tongue / reciever if you weren't putting kayaks on the trailer? When you added the reciever tubing, did you run into any fitment issues where it connects at the factory location? My trailer has a ball hitch but IMO it could have been mounted better and was considering upgrading to the max coupler. How do you like it for ON road towing? Keep up the good work.
Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it. Yes I would have still extended the tongue because it allows you to put on a tongue box and I also put the storage area for water / fuel cans. There was no issues with connecting the receiver, I had a ball hitch on it and we switched it out for the max coupler. I have not had any issues with the max coupler for on road towing, both my brother and I have towed it at 80 mph and have not had any issues. The trailer fits behind the Jeep well, I can barely see it in the side view mirrors.

Really nice trailer, I've tossed around the idea of putting a tailgate in my for a while. I was to give up on it when I seen yours. Can you tell me what kind of hinges you used on the bottom of the tailgate?

Thanks in advance,
Ken

Ken I think the tailgate is the way to go, when we took the trailer out this week it was nice to be able to get into the bed of the trailer without lifting the lid. Since it rained most of the time we kept our clothes and food that was not in the cooler in the trailer bed (the raccoons were very active out there). This is the hinge we used Rugged Ridge 11207.01 Black Tailgate Lower Hinge - Pair. We had to fill in the holes in the tailgate by building it up with some metal scraps. I will say this about the tailgate it needs to be reinforced for the gas struts. I'll post some pictures and explain what happened after we got back later tonight or tomorrow.
 

Crush Jeep

Adventurer
So some of the bugs that I discovered in the trip was first I needed to raise the shovel in the back, it is almost hitting the top of the trailer.
I raised the shovel raised about 3/4 of an inch, that problem solved.
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Another issue I found was the tongue jack, after putting in the battery, filling the water jugs and just putting other items in the trailer the tongue is heavy. It was hard to lift and move around so I will be putting a wheel on the bottom of the tongue jack so I can move it around easily.
The last issue is what I eluded to in the last post, after arriving home I set up the tent then closed the top. I heard a popping sound, the 250 lbs struts put too much pressure on the tailgate area and caused the weld to break. We have a fix for that and we are going to make a few more modifications to the trailer. Anyway here is a picture of what happened.
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Ken Miracle

New member
Another Tailgate Question

Wayne, thanks for getting back with me about the tailgate Mod. One more question, did put in a cable on the tailgate? Or do you allow it to hang down? I seen the bumper stops you installed. Didn't know if they were for the tailgate to rest on or not.

Ken,
 

Crush Jeep

Adventurer
Wayne, thanks for getting back with me about the tailgate Mod. One more question, did put in a cable on the tailgate? Or do you allow it to hang down? I seen the bumper stops you installed. Didn't know if they were for the tailgate to rest on or not.

Ken,

Ken, the bumpers were put on for the tailgate but the hook on the back is where it hits first, my brother but a rubber piece of hose over the hook to protect the tailgate. That is just in case the tailgate falls so it will not damage it. We put cables on the tailgate, they have loops on the one end that just loop around the area that the hooks would go through. When not in use they just hang inside. We though about many different ways to make this work and thought this would work the best for us.
 

Crush Jeep

Adventurer
Wayne, thanks for getting back with me about the tailgate Mod. One more question, did put in a cable on the tailgate? Or do you allow it to hang down? I seen the bumper stops you installed. Didn't know if they were for the tailgate to rest on or not.

Ken,

Here's a few pictures of the tailgate set up.
the cables when not in use.
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tailgate open
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close up of the cables hooked to the tailgate
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Ken Miracle

New member
Thanks Wayne, I follow a lot of threads on m416 builds and yours & your brothers is one of the best. I plan on copying your tailgate mod later this year. Thanks for the advice on the reinforcement around the corners. I'll keep that in mind.:)

Ken
 

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