Fiberglass M416/M100 Military-style Trailer Tub Kit

[jscherb]

I put the tent mounting nuts/rack basket mounting nuts in place on the cover:

With these nuts now in place, the tent can be bolted to the cover from above, without the need for wrenches on both the

top and the bottom of the cover .

Tee-nuts are epoxied into place in the mounting reinforcements I added when I molded the covers:

When nothing is mounted on the cover, button head screws/washers will go in the holes.

 

[merekat]

looks great! Quick question. Did the tent come with a template for the bolt holes? Or did you just have to measure? I'm hoping to get one and your kit and i was just curious

thanks!

 

[jscherb]

looks great! Quick question. Did the tent come with a template for the bolt holes? Or did you just have to measure? I'm hoping to get one and your kit and i was just curious

thanks!

Actually this tent came with a pair of rack bars, which won't be needed for installing it on this cover, but no template. The bolt holes are arranged in a 32" square, so it's easy to measure them out on the cover before drilling. Just make sure to also measure diagonally to ensure the holes will be drilled in a perfectly square pattern.

BTW I did get the tent from the same company that will be selling the tub kit.

 

[justageek]

The struts in this picture are mounted in two ways. Is there a reason to have one up and one down? Or just an experiment?

 

[jscherb]

The struts in this picture are mounted in two ways. Is there a reason to have one up and one down? Or just an experiment?

Just an experiment, trying them both ways .

 

[jscherb]

I installed the final two hinges this morning.

The cover is very quick to remove/reinstall.

Step 1 is to undo one end of each gas strut under the cover, that's one nut on each strut. Other than that, no tools are needed.

Top left: cover in place

Top right: The cover slides backwards off the hinges

Bottom left: Cover lifts off. The part of the hinges mounted on the tub is just below the top edge of the tub; they don't stick up

Bottom right: The hinges don't interfere with the tonneau cover or anything else you might want to mount on top of the tub.

And all that's left on the passenger side are the two catch pieces for the latches:

 

[jscherb]

The 225-lb. gorilla strikes again...

You can make up your own caption for this next photo:

There won't be any problem supporting a tent and it's occupants .

OK enough fooling around, I've got to get back to work and get the cover painted.

 

[jscherb]

I painted the cover today:

I'll let the paint cure overnight and then it's time for final assembly.

 

[/dev/ram]

Truly a functional work of art and craftsmanship!

What are your thoughts on adapting the lip on the M416 to work with the cover since your tub's lip is turned inward?

 

[jscherb]

Truly a functional work of art and craftsmanship!

What are your thoughts on adapting the lip on the M416 to work with the cover since your tub's lip is turned inward?

Thank you.

I've been asked a number of times if the M72 fiberglass hard cover and/or M72 tonneau cover can be installed on an M416.

As you said, the lip on the top edge of the M72 tub faces inward, rather than outward like on the M416. I designed the M72 tub this way for several reasons, which include making the tub just narrow enough so that a single piece of 4x8 plywood could be easily used to make a DIY-hard cover, and to make it easy to use a clamp-on tonneau cover like the one I've shown on my prototype trailer.

But the M72 fiberglass cover that I've just finished building and the M72 tonneau cover can both be installed on the M416 without too much trouble, here's how I'd do it (drawings not to scale)...

An inward-facing lip is installed on the M416 using 2" steel or aluminum angle. It can be bolted or pop-riveted in place, and either weatherstrip or silicone can be used to seal it to the tub.

It's not shown in the drawing, but the M72 tub-side strut brackets would bolt to the underside of the angle, just like they bolt to the underside of the M72 tub's inward-facing lip, so setting up the struts to support the cover would be pretty much a bolt-on.

Any of the M72 cover configurations would be possible on the M416 using these mounting angles:

 

[Zubicon]

1. Are these for sale?
2. If so where are the prices to save me having to go through 430 posts in this thread, I don't have time for that?
3. Fantastic Fab skills

 

[jscherb]

1. Are these for sale?
2. If so where are the prices to save me having to go through 430 posts in this thread, I don't have time for that?
3. Fantastic Fab skills

1. I have licensed the design to a company, and as soon as they to get their production molds made and produce a few tub kits for pre-production testing and detail finalizing, they plan to offer kits for sale.

2. They've posted some info here: http://tventuring.com/trailerforum/thread-119-post-2782.html#pid2782

3. Thank you very much .

 

[jscherb]

Cover assembled and installed.

 

[jscherb]

A few more photos.

 

[jscherb]

Next I'll throw the tent on top and take some photos of that.