4biker's M-100 trailer build from the bed up!

[4biker]

ok - quick update. I've been pouring some serious time into this thing the past couple of weeks, and I've made some good progress. I got the skin all welded up on all exterior surfaces now so now it's just a matter of fitting the sheets and making it look less home-made if possible. I've been making extensive use of my angle grinder - with the exception of the welder it's the most valuable tool I've had on any project, hands down. Flap discs are also a gift from heaven.

I've run into an issue on the roof - when I welded the skin on, I got a little overzealous and made some excessively long beads, which warped both the skin and the frame a little bit. I'm not too worried about it, but we'll see what it takes to actually fix it when it's time to cross that bridge. The next step is cleaning up everything and applying bondo - my first real experience with body work! Fortunately I'll be eventually covering a lot of the sides with the fenders and side boxes if I get that far.

 

[4biker]

More progress today. I hit it hard with the grinder for a couple of hours, so now all the panels are flush with the frame and the welds are ground smooth. I worked on fitting the roof piece again, and that's going to turn out nice. Next I have to give it a quick once-over to make sure it's ready, then clean it up with acetone and put on some body filler. Hopefully it'll be purdy when it's done!

 

[4biker]

I got a little more done last week. I really needed to straighten the roof since it warped while I was skinning it. I think I've gotten that pretty well under control and it will seal 100% when it's done. I also started putting on body filler to cover the welds. I'm obviously not good at this - it reminds me of mudding sheetrock, which is more of an art than a science. I'm not an artist, so I'll just keep working until it's acceptable. This is how it looked before it started snowing last week:

I'll hit the ridges with 120 grit flap disc and sand it flat with a wall sander. It seems to work ok - just lots of time. It won't have to be perfect since I'm putting fenders and boxes on the sides, but I want it to at least look good

 

[4biker]

I love that I'm actually making progress on this from week to week. I put in a BUNCH of hours the last two weeks getting the bondo sanded smooth. I now understand that I'm not good at body work.

At all.

Really I'm just doing a huge surface area and it's tough to make it perfect. I ended up sanding down to the parts that I was trying to cover in a couple of different areas, so I'm debating whether I'm even going to bother doing more bondo on those areas again. However, the tool of the week is my new Harbor Freight orbital sander. That thing is an absolute champ. I picked it up for about $17 after discounts when my Ryobi mouse detail sander died. The orbital does such good work that I might not even bondo the roof or the doors. It may just be because I'm sick of sanding, but I'm debating whether it's really worth it.

Here's what I've got to show for my work:

 

[4biker]

tonight I had some free time while the wife and kiddo were out on the town with some neighbor ladies. I trimmed down the skin on the front & rear doors and sanded the outer welds down

 

[4biker]

I got up early this morning and put bondo on more stuff. I wasn't going to but I folded. I got the roof, top of the frame/body, and most of the panels on the doors. Hopefully I'll be finished filling and sanding the big stuff by Saturday.

 

[4biker]

I think I'm officially now the most impatient person in the world. I'm getting a little fatigued from this project, so I sucked it up and sprayed some paint this week!

For the inside of the trailer I used Rustoleum self-etching primer, and for the exterior I used Rustoleum's filler primer. I think the self-etching goes on better and fills better than the filler primer. I only primed one coat, but it was good coverage, so I'm not too worried about it. You can see the body filler through it, but it's covered.

I painted with Rustoleum's tall, shiny can of gloss white. It's more money, but it brags about being a super hard glossy finish. It took me 4 cans and part of the firth to cover the exterior really well. It took two coats, but the second coat was quick and easy. If I feel super ambitious someday I'll do the interior white as well, but I just want to get it out of the garage for now. There were a few spots that it spit out a bunch of bubbles, but I'm not so worried that I'm going to change it at this point. It looks good from a distance at least, right? I feel a little stupid for worrying about body filler. What a waste of time! I should have sanded the high spots from the welds and primed/painted. That would have saved me a ton of time and headache, as well as some cost. My biggest surprise is how apathetic I feel about the roof! I know it looks crummy, but it's going to work fine so I'm just going to build a couple of roof bars and call it good. Speaking of the future, all I have to do to get it outside is mount the doors and roof, install latches and it's evicted from the garage! Today was a huge step forward, so I'm looking forward to parking out of the weather by Christmas.

 

[cerutti]

awesome build! can't wait to see what the future holds for your project.

 

[GPER]

Nice, can't wait to see it all come together.

 

[4biker]

Thanks - Tomorrow I should have the axle back on, as well as the roof back on top where it belongs. I'm debating whether to use a piano hinge (riveted) or 3 heavy duty door hinges (bolted) for all of the hinged panels. I've already got the piano hinges, so that should make the decision easier. I'm also trying to decide whether to have the rear door swing up like a liftgate on gas struts (better for when I install a receiver hitch for bikes and still loads/unloads pretty well) or swing with hinges on the left side. I also have to buy latches for the front and rear doors and figure that out, but at least it will be rolling again and I can clean the garage. I've got some nice latches for the roof that will be invisible when it's closed up for theft protection.

 

[4biker]

Roof's on, but not secured. I've just got to work out hinges and latches for that and the front/rear doors. When that's done I'll probably put them all on gas struts so there's nothing left to gravity. I think it's coming along. I just spent the last hour cleaning that filthy garage so cars can occupy it once again. Hopefully the doors will be secured soon.

 

[4biker]

So I wasn't able to go camping this weekend (frowny face), so I took most of the day to get the trailer looking presentable and hopefully more winter-proof for the future. Here is what's happening:

for a brief summary, I put the trailer together with some piano hinges and good quality weather stripping and left it out in the snow all winter. That was a bunch of months ago.

A few weeks ago I made cutouts for the T-handle locks that I ordered. This morning I took it out of the garage, wire brushed and/or steel-wooled the entire inside where there was only primer. It got rusty over the winter because it was actually TOO airtight (something I'm pretty proud of). Steel wool is like a gift from the heavens. Then I put either self-etching primer or rusty surface primer over anything bare or rusty. Here is the result of all of that:



Then I sprayed all of the inside surfaces white, except the floor. I think what I'll do, at least for the exterior surfaces, is wash it, sand it with steel wool (000 fine), and then put a polish on it. Maybe that will make the finish a little stronger. Then of course I have to let it breathe rather than let it freeze and thaw without any airflow. This is what it looks like right this minute:



Tomorrow I hope to get the outside of the thing painted (white and retouch the Navy Blue), but I don't think that will take too long. Then I can finally mount the T-bar latches. I'd like to be at that stage tomorrow night.

I ordered some old Yakima roof mounts that I'm going to bolt directly onto the roof, and they will match the ones that are on the 4Runner, just for fun. Then I'll have load bars for bikes or hopefully a RTT. Then I just need to put shocks, chains, and lights. Maybe I'll have a work party when I figure out how I'm going to cover the wheels. I've got some good ideas, but I've got to sort out details. The sooner I get that done, the quicker I get a bunch of scrap metal out of my garage, and I can clean house. Who knows, maybe someday I'll even get to pull this thing around with my 4Runner! It's only been about 20 months so I'd like to get this thing done (enough to have fun with) already.

 

[4biker]

I got a little more done over the weekend. I ended up putting a good coat of paint on, wetsanding the whole trailer (pretty quick overall), and getting the paint buffed out. The reasoning there is last winter the rough paint got all stained and wouldn't wash up very well. If I've got a hydrophobic polish on there and there aren't millions of pits to stain, it should hold up better. Here's the outcome of that work. I also put on the T-handle latches and it looks almost like a real trailer now.

I kept the blue paint (well, repainted the blue) in remembrance of the original color on the bottom of the trailer - Navy blue.

I'm getting shocks for it tonight after work.

 

[Mark Harley]

Fenders?

Manley has some blems on ebay.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/12-5-Wide-J..._Camper_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3a82758aed

 

[4biker]

Great - thanks for the suggestion. Those look like just what the doctor ordered.