The Josh's M416 Trailer Build

[TheJosh]

Had a great several days in pismo and on Sunday we packed up and headed up highway 1 to morro bay stayed a night then headed up highway 1 all the way home

Stopped at nepenthe in big sir for a cocktail

Then stopped at the river inn at big sur for some apps

Roadside vista

And this morning I broke down the trailer to bring to the body shop for final paint

 

[VanIsle_Greg]

Kool shots of your trip, looks like a mixed bag of weather. It will sure be nice to have it all painted for you, was a ton of work to do mine...and it needs a refresher this year at the end of the season. How did the trailer handle?

 

[TheJosh]

Kool shots of your trip, looks like a mixed bag of weather. It will sure be nice to have it all painted for you, was a ton of work to do mine...and it needs a refresher this year at the end of the season. How did the trailer handle?

Thanks! Mixed bag indeed!

We usually go to pismo every September but we came down this month for my cousins HS grad party so we camped on the beach joined by my parents and their new to them 28ft trailer. On Friday all day it was high winds and sandstorms and the proved problematic for my parents trailer and then in the evening it was a High tide surge that flooded the camp which didn't affect our trailer but was irritating. Saturday was nice but the tide came in higher and we had to move to higher ground (something we have never done at pismo). So by Sunday that's when we decided to head north to morro bay for the night and we were greeted by rain...

So yeah mixed bag haha


I found a excellent local body shop that painted my fiberglass fenders for my runner and the prices are great so I arranged months ago to have them do my my trailer and clean up the body work. After investing so much time and effort into the Fab work I didn't want to half *** it by doing the paint myself.


The trailer handled so great. I had my doubts that I would be able to make it so high quality but it really came out great, I was nervous at first towing on the freeway but soon got in the groove. I'm so glad I got trailer brakes it's just so much easier to handle and the marker lights I chose worked out great and I was able to spot each corner or the trailer thru the mirrors

 

[Mark Harley]

That trailer looks great!

I like the tank mount you made, Does the rubber clamp hold tight?

Matching paint to your toyota? two colors or one?

Did you get alot of people asking about the trailer on your trip?

Can't wait to see the final result. Be proud Your hard work has paid off well!

 

[TheJosh]

That trailer looks great!

I like the tank mount you made, Does the rubber clamp hold tight?

Matching paint to your toyota? two colors or one?

Did you get alot of people asking about the trailer on your trip?

Can't wait to see the final result. Be proud Your hard work has paid off well!

Thanks so much mark!

I'm happy with how the tank mounts came out too. Its a simple design but very effective. The rubber quick fist grab on extremely tight and they didn't move one bit for the 650 plus mile road trip. I'm thinking of maybe making a few more to sell if anyone is interested.


Yeah the areas that are grey primer on the trailer will be painted Toyota titanium metallic to match my 4runner and the parts that are black like the frame, Nerf bars and fenders will be painted gloss black.


I had so many people come up to me everyday and every place we camped they have never seen a trailer like that and asked a bunch of questions. Several people asked if I could build them one haha.


Thanks again. After its painted and assembled. I'm going to work on the rear bumper, solar panel set up, side camp table, and heater setup over time of course

 

[BADDANDY]

Almost done Josh, great job so far.

 

[3d fj]

I started rereading your thread and i came up with some questions that hopefully you can answer.

1. I know that you are 30" from floor to frame. I was wondering... How many inches are you from the top of the tub to the top of the lid. And then how many inches from the top of the lid to the bottom of the tent floor? I'm trying to figure out approximately where my annex floor will be. I am assuming of course that all these tent manufacturers have similar specs when it comes to annex height. I have a CVT Mt. Rainier.

2. You're running 35's. What made you choose the fenders that you have vs the stock fenders that the trailer came with? Did the stock fenders fit with the 35? Perhaps i missed it, but how did you mount the fender to the tub? Where did you get them from? (hopefully not sierra4x4 b/c i don't plan on ordering from them)

3. Do you have any more pics of the tent set up with the annex? I know i saw one, but i was wondering if perhaps you had more.

My build is uber slow right now and will probably remain that way for a little bit of time. Hopefully i can at least do the SOA tonight. Thanks!

 

[TheJosh]

I started rereading your thread and i came up with some questions that hopefully you can answer.

1. I know that you are 30" from floor to frame. I was wondering... How many inches are you from the top of the tub to the top of the lid. And then how many inches from the top of the lid to the bottom of the tent floor? I'm trying to figure out approximately where my annex floor will be. I am assuming of course that all these tent manufacturers have similar specs when it comes to annex height. I have a CVT Mt. Rainier.

2. You're running 35's. What made you choose the fenders that you have vs the stock fenders that the trailer came with? Did the stock fenders fit with the 35? Perhaps i missed it, but how did you mount the fender to the tub? Where did you get them from? (hopefully not sierra4x4 b/c i don't plan on ordering from them)

3. Do you have any more pics of the tent set up with the annex? I know i saw one, but i was wondering if perhaps you had more.

My build is uber slow right now and will probably remain that way for a little bit of time. Hopefully i can at least do the SOA tonight. Thanks!

Yeah no problem at all!

For #1 I'll have to wait til I get my trailer back to measure all that for you.


#2. Sorry to say, I did get them from sierra 4x4. I went to the shop to get them and I wish I could recommend them but after months of waiting on him to get me the correct hardware I already paid for I cannot.

The stock fenders I think were about 9" wide so they were too small and they looked horrible with my 35"s the angle of the downward part of the fender was way too sharp and I wouldn't have had that much up travel. To mount the fenders I just lined them up and drilled 5 holes on each side and when they come back from paint I will use a weather stripping between.


3. I don't have anymore at the moment but when I get my trailer back next week I'm gonna set it all up and clean it so I will take a bunch of pictures for you

 

[teotwaki]

Made it to the beach late last night and setup quickly and sleep like a baby for the first night in our RTT

The trailer towed great all the way down to pismo and tracked perfectly. Surprisingly I had excellent gas mileage all the way down at 15.1 miles per gallon which would be good without even towing and having the truck loaded with all the gear. Definitely a pleasant surprise!

Based on my experience I would offer that the roof rack and lights are what are limiting the gas mileage on level highways. The trailer's rolling resistance is probably modest and with the rack stirring up the airflow the trailer is not increasing overall aerodynamic drag by much. If the rack was off of the roof then you might see a delta in MPG when the trailer is in tow. I generally leave my roof rack off so I can see a MPG delta when I add the trailer on. When I have the roof rack on the trailer appears to be a small addition to the decrease in MPG. Off highway in varied terrain the trailer will definitely lower the mileage as compared to wheeling without it.

Another thought I had is that if you regeared for the 4Runner's bigger tires that the weight of the trailer may not have had much impact on acceleration (and gas consumption) if the truck is operating in the middle of the torque curve.

More picture ASAPs Josh!

 

[TheJosh]

Yeah the roof rack and lights are a factor at lower gas mileage but I'll never give those up cause I love them so!


I'll have more pics as soon as I get the trailer back and were going camping again July 4th weekend so I'll get much more!

 

[VanIsle_Greg]

I haven't used my trailer yet this season, and it is really starting to bug me. I have been camping 3 times with the other trailer, so that's not so bad! When do you get it back from paint?

 

[TheJosh]

I haven't used my trailer yet this season, and it is really starting to bug me. I have been camping 3 times with the other trailer, so that's not so bad! When do you get it back from paint?

You need to get your trailer out there with you! So much camping to be had!

I hope to get it back by Tuesday and we are leaving for our next camping trip on Thursday

 

[VanIsle_Greg]

Yeah, you said it. My wife works alternating 2 weekends on 2 weekends off, so it is tough to get away. Going to take my son for a 2 day camp soon.

 

[TheJosh]

Now Im curious now that a lot of us have trailers that we camp out of I'm sure we still have out regular tents and camp gear, with that said do any of you go camping without your trailer or do you feel like it's too Much work?'

My trailer is still very new to me and I spend a lot of time and effort building it and it was supposed to be out of the body shop yesterday so we can take it up to Kennedy meadows this weekend. But I got a call yesterday from the body shop that it won't be ready til Monday -pissed as I was they said they would make it up to me which I'm sure equates to a discount. Anyway we had this weekend planned and now no trailer. I still have all my regular camp gear but my trailer is just so new that I don't want to regular camp, its too much work and with all that effort I put into the trailer I just don't feel like going back to regular camping just yet

 

[seanz0rz]

I do both, depends on what type of camping, where, for how long, etc.

We still have a few nice tents and such to substitute for the RTT when we don't take it along.