jscherb
Expedition Leader
Sorry Mark, couldn't find a red truck. Maybe you can color in the white one
. But I did get the matching wheels and I made the trailer red for you...
Fiberglass M416/M100 Military-style Trailer Tub Kit
- Thread starter jscherb
- Start date
Sorry Mark, couldn't find a red truck. Maybe you can color in the white one
. But I did get the matching wheels and I made the trailer red for you...
jscherb
Expedition Leader
I'm very close to finalizing an arrangement with a company that wants to market these kits. They are telling me they would expect to have them on sale late summer.
Mark Harley
Expedition Leader
Going to be nice!
Thanks for feeding the fire!
Thanks for feeding the fire!
jscherb
Expedition Leader
The other day in my set of M416 comparison photos I included this shot of an original M416 with a jerry can mounted on the side:
I made the M72 trailer tub slightly taller than the original M416 tub, and the slightly taller height means the jerry cans won't hang down below the frame like on the original M416. Here's a can mocked up in place on the pollen-coated M72:
In the photo above, the can does not hang down below the bottom of the frame rails. For these photos, I just propped it up on some cinder blocks and 2x3's but maybe you can see that the tops of the 2x3's are above the bottom of the frame tongue rails.
Earlier in the design phase of this project, I did a some preliminary designs for frame-mounted brackets for jerry cans:
The brackets would bolt directly to the frame, and a standard jerry can holder could mount in the brackets. The above drawing shows some early ideas for the brackets, I didn't want to do a final design until the trailer was assembled and final measurements could be taken.
I made the M72 trailer tub slightly taller than the original M416 tub, and the slightly taller height means the jerry cans won't hang down below the frame like on the original M416. Here's a can mocked up in place on the pollen-coated M72:
In the photo above, the can does not hang down below the bottom of the frame rails. For these photos, I just propped it up on some cinder blocks and 2x3's but maybe you can see that the tops of the 2x3's are above the bottom of the frame tongue rails.
Earlier in the design phase of this project, I did a some preliminary designs for frame-mounted brackets for jerry cans:
The brackets would bolt directly to the frame, and a standard jerry can holder could mount in the brackets. The above drawing shows some early ideas for the brackets, I didn't want to do a final design until the trailer was assembled and final measurements could be taken.
jscherb
Expedition Leader
The frame-mounted brackets for the jerry cans in my last post could also be used to mount large ammo cans:
There's still enough room under the angle of the tub side to remove the top of the can, but if I were to mount a can there I'd probably convert the can to a hinged top with a locking latch, like this one I made up a while back, the locking latch and hinges would make them secure and really convenient to access:
There's still enough room under the angle of the tub side to remove the top of the can, but if I were to mount a can there I'd probably convert the can to a hinged top with a locking latch, like this one I made up a while back, the locking latch and hinges would make them secure and really convenient to access:
grimbo
Explorer
Have to wait until someone decides to make and sell them as per his post above
jscherb
Expedition Leader
I've designed this kit to be as simple as possible to mold, so it can be manufactured at the lowest cost possible. I've also designed it to ship UPS Ground to keep shipping costs as low as possible. But the price depends on the company that's going to bring it to market.
Pricing for my fiberglass Jeep-tub trailer kit project, which was licensed by a company and has been on the market for a year now, is at www.dinoot.com. The pricing of that kit is no guarantee of the pricing for this kit, but just for comparison, the Jeep-tub kit consists of 6 fiberglass parts (7 if you also buy a fiberglass tailgate with the kit), while the military tub kit consists of only 4 fiberglass parts (5 if you buy a fiberglass tailgate with the kit). So you could use the Jeep-tub kit pricing to make your own estimate about what the pricing might be for the military tub kit
.
jscherb
Expedition Leader
We won't have to wait much longer until someone decides to make and sell them, I'll have some news very soon
. Stay tuned!I confess I abuse my M416. But then so does the military. But they are so well built, that's why the trailers last a long time if cared for.
So I'm wondering has any load testing/Body strength integrity been done on the finished version yet? My own worst abuse scenario is a yard of top soil. Once did a yard of WET top soil. That was really heavy.
Not suggesting you throw a yard of topsoil into your prototype, but suggest some testing be done to prove its strength.
So I'm wondering has any load testing/Body strength integrity been done on the finished version yet? My own worst abuse scenario is a yard of top soil. Once did a yard of WET top soil. That was really heavy.
Not suggesting you throw a yard of topsoil into your prototype, but suggest some testing be done to prove its strength.
jscherb
Expedition Leader
I don't really intend this trailer to be used as a farm implement
, but testing is a big part of my design process. I design the tests at the same time I design the parts to ensure I work out the proper reinforcements so the parts serve there intended purpose. Here are photos of two of the "225-pound gorilla tests" I did on the prototype as it was being assembled.To test the strength of the side panels and to prove that they don't deflect under load, the gorilla is sitting on the fender.
BTW these are wide fenders, wider than the original M416 fenders, so they'd exert more leverage on the side panel under load than the stock M416 fenders would.
In this next photo, the gorilla is standing on the open tailgate, testing the strength of the tub end panel. You can see that I do these tests as early as possible, the floor isn't even in the tub yet in this photo and what you can't see is that the tub is only clamped to the frame in the front, the end panel isn't fastened to the frame yet (you can just make out a clamp in line with the driver's side of the tailgate opening):
Things get even stronger after final assembly when everything is bolted together with the frame.
I've done other strength testing that I haven't posted photos of but these two photos are representative of the type of thing I do. I will also do some load testing while towing.
I also plan some load testing with a roof-top tent as soon as I get the prototype for the fiberglass hard cover completed.
I'm sure a company that would market this kit would do their own testing as well. Their reinforcement design may differ from what I've done with the prototype, so they would be verifying their reinforcement design as well. Perhaps they would also do a test program with early adopters, that's up to them.
bonomonster
Adventurer
Any plans for building up something larger like an M101?
jscherb
Expedition Leader
One idea I've been toying with is a set of wider end panels for the current design. The current trailer is 48" wide at the top, about 40" wide inside at the bottom; by swapping a wider set of end panels for the current ones a trailer with a 48" width at the bottom would result:
If whatever company signs up to market this kit decides to also market a wider version, it would be easy to do.
jscherb
Expedition Leader
This being Memorial Day, for lots of people this is the first long weekend for some camping, so I decided to mock up the M72 as a camper today .
The tent is just supported on some 2-by wood laying across the top edges of the tub in these photos, but the reason I threw the tent on there now is to think about the reinforcements in the fiberglass cover I'm building that will be needed to properly support the tent.
The tent is a "Safari style" tent unit offered by Compact Camping: http://compactcampingconcepts.com/S...of-toptents/90-safari-style-roof-toptent.html
.The tent is just supported on some 2-by wood laying across the top edges of the tub in these photos, but the reason I threw the tent on there now is to think about the reinforcements in the fiberglass cover I'm building that will be needed to properly support the tent.
The tent is a "Safari style" tent unit offered by Compact Camping: http://compactcampingconcepts.com/S...of-toptents/90-safari-style-roof-toptent.html