Fiberglass M416/M100 Military-style Trailer Tub Kit

[/dev/ram]

Jeff, I used to run a similar setup on my M416, using a vinyl coated wire rope that ran thru the grommets, at just the right length to be tight when locked thru two eyelets on each end, but with enough slack when unlocked to allow it to come off the tie downs. Wasn't going to stop anybody that seriously wanted in, but kept the casual thieves out.
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One piece of advice if you haven't considered it already, it to really reinforce the corners of the tarp. Flapping is inevitable and will shred a standard tarp. I eventually had one made out of heavy vinyl material that lasted many years.
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Nice to see you still have ideas on accessorizing the design!

 

[jscherb]

Jeff, I used to run a similar setup on my M416, using a vinyl coated wire rope that ran thru the grommets, at just the right length to be tight when locked thru two eyelets on each end, but with enough slack when unlocked to allow it to come off the tie downs. Wasn't going to stop anybody that seriously wanted in, but kept the casual thieves out.
.
One piece of advice if you haven't considered it already, it to really reinforce the corners of the tarp. Flapping is inevitable and will shred a standard tarp. I eventually had one made out of heavy vinyl material that lasted many years.
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Nice to see you still have ideas on accessorizing the design!

Ralph,
Thanks for the input, that's good advice.

I do plan reinforcement - I'll be sewing heavy vinyl patches into the corners to prevent the corners of the tub from poking through the tarp.

Also, I'm sewing this out of an inexpensive Harbor Freight tarp for two reasons - mostly because I'm new at sewing and it doesn't make sense to use expensive material on my very first experiment at sewing. But the second reason is that this first example will also be to prove out the pattern I've made up - the cover will be very form-fitting so the details of the pattern are critical. Once the HF version is sewed and tested, I can always make one out of a higher quality/strength tarp material if I decide I want to use a tarp like this in the future.

But primarily this is a learning exercise to develop my sewing skills, I don't really need a tarp for this trailer - I've already got the fiberglass hard cover and the vinyl snap-on tonneau cover, so I probably wouldn't have use for a tarp in addition to those. This sewing project is just a warm-up for more interesting sewing projects to come, like the modular canvas for my roof-top clamshell tent design...

 

[jscherb]

I sewed the test cover for the trailer this morning. The pattern worked out very well, it fits great.

Next I'll take it out for a spin to see how it performs on the road...

 

[jscherb]

And also on the subject of protecting cargo in a trailer, the bed bag product that I saw at SEMA last fall has hit the market: https://ruffsack.com/. The product name is the RuffSack, it's a large zippered tarp bag that fits well in the tub of a military trailer or a Jeep tub trailer. It's shown with one corner unzipped in these photos.

Here are a few photos I took when I tested the sample they sent me shortly after SEMA:

 

[jscherb]

I found this posted on the Dinoot Facebook page yesterday:

A Dinoot M-Series heading for its new home in California. This is a tailgate version with tonneau cover, 3500 axle, 5 on 5 hubs and Lock 'N Roll hitch. It will be getting painted matching desert sand shortly.

 

[jscherb]

A number of people have asked me where I got the wide M416-style fenders I've got on my trailer. At 12.75", they're 3" wider than the original M416 fenders. Original M416 fenders vs. my fenders:

The answer is that I made the wide fenders myself because I wanted to fully cover the 32" Jeep-sized tires I'm running on the trailer.

Good news for people that need wider fenders to cover their tires - Compact Camping has just added fenders like mine to their product catalog, you can find them under the fenders tab on this page: http://www.dinoot.com/buildingcomponent/general/components-and-pricing2

Full disclosure: I am not an employee of Compact Camping nor do I get any financial compensation from Compact Camping's fenders, I'm posting this because of the interest I've gotten in my fenders, and based on the number of people who asked me if I would make wide fenders for them, I thought people might be interested in these.

 

[Mark Harley]

Very nice! I see so many people running wider tires that are not covered by a full fender.
Throwing dirt and rocks at trailing vehicles and the tow vehicle too.

 

[TikiJack]

M416 fiberglass trailer project

Hi all! New member here, and I decided to register because of this thread (like several others). I currently own an M416 trailer (see below, and yes... I use the mil spec pintle hitch) and the frame, axle, hubs, even the parking break mechanics are all in great working order. Even my floor's drain plugs, front and rear, still work fine. However, the trailer tub has been beat up a good bit.

Anyway, I stumbled on this forum by googling M416 tub replacement and find this whole project, from concept to production, very fascinating! Well done! I do want to ask, though, how you think the fiberglass will hold up on trail rides versus a metal tub. As a former military aircraft mechanic, I know fiberglass parts in that application were prone to cracking when struck by the occasional air compressor cart, APU, etc. And while I know fiberglass cracks are fairly easy to repair with a little glass cloth and resin, I am curious if you've had an opportunity to field test your trailer to see how it holds up during off road usage.

In the event the answer is "yes, and it held up great!", my next question is... who was it licensed to? Was it to this dinoot fabricator? And do they have the raised lid license?

 

[jscherb]

Hi all! New member here, and I decided to register because of this thread (like several others). I currently own an M416 trailer (see below, and yes... I use the mil spec pintle hitch) and the frame, axle, hubs, even the parking break mechanics are all in great working order. Even my floor's drain plugs, front and rear, still work fine. However, the trailer tub has been beat up a good bit.

Anyway, I stumbled on this forum by googling M416 tub replacement and find this whole project, from concept to production, very fascinating! Well done! I do want to ask, though, how you think the fiberglass will hold up on trail rides versus a metal tub. As a former military aircraft mechanic, I know fiberglass parts in that application were prone to cracking when struck by the occasional air compressor cart, APU, etc. And while I know fiberglass cracks are fairly easy to repair with a little glass cloth and resin, I am curious if you've had an opportunity to field test your trailer to see how it holds up during off road usage.

In the event the answer is "yes, and it held up great!", my next question is... who was it licensed to? Was it to this dinoot fabricator? And do they have the raised lid license?

View attachment 235782 View attachment 235783

"Yes, and it held up great!" Both the military and the Jeep-tub fiberglass trailer kits have had a lot of off-road use by their builder/owners. Some photos are below, including one of a Jeep-tub trailer rollover on the trail. No damage.

Both tub kits have been licensed to Compact Camping, www.dinoot.com

No damage:

 

[TikiJack]

Some photos are below, including one of a Jeep-tub trailer rollover on the trail. No damage.

Wow! Not even the rollover? Amazing. I'm sold. Thanks for the info! This may very well be the answer I am looking for in order to rebuild my trailer!

 

[jscherb]

Wow! Not even the rollover? Amazing. I'm sold. Thanks for the info! This may very well be the answer I am looking for in order to rebuild my trailer!

I just got the periodic Dinoot newletter in email, this might interest you:

... looking for someone close to me in Salem, OR with a M416 that needs a new tub. Would like to do a write up on replacing a trashed M416 tub with a Dinoot M-Series tub.

Might be worth contacting them.

 

[jscherb]

I've received emails asking about outfitting a military-style trailer with a chuck box.

One way to do it would be to make up a box that sits on top of the tub. bthe chuck box completely out of plywood and eliminate the cover shown below. In this concept the cover would be hinged to the top of the chuck box and be openable, also when the chuck box wasn't installed the cover would be hinged to the top of the trailer, so you could use the trailer both ways with the cover.

The one above is drawn with fairly shallow cupboards, the idea is that the chuck box would also provide for improved storage inside the tub - taller items could be stored inside, they'd go between the insides of the cupboards. You could build much deeper cupboards if that's what suited your gear storage needs.

The chuck box could easily be built to support a roof-top tent as well.

Anyway, the illustration above is just an idea starter, depending on someone's gear needs and camping style, the box could be designed much differently. Compact Camping offers an excellent diy guide for building your own box, they call their design the "Explorer Box" and intend it to sit directly on a trailer frame, but there's no reason you couldn't use the design ideas and concepts in that book to build a chuck box that sits on top of a Dinoot m-series tub like the one above. Here's a link to the book: http://compactcampingconcepts.com/diymanuals.html.

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I also have been emailing with someone who is interested in building a chuck box that stores inside the tub, under the normal cover on the tub, and "pops up" when needed to set up the kitchen. I've got a few ideas for him on mechanisms to accomplish that, when I get time to draw them I'll post them (I'm traveling and don't have much time for drawing right now). He also sent me a concept drawing showing one way a chuck box might store inside and pop up, if he doesn't mind I'll post his drawing to start off the conversation on pop-up chuck boxes.

(For the record I am not an employee of Compact Camping, I'm just referencing their book because it applies to this subject)

 

[jscherb]

Here's Jack's concept drawing:

You can see Jack wants the chuck box to store inside the tub, and deploy up to the side of the tub with some sort of mechanism.

I've got three different mechanism ideas for Jack, I'm traveling right now and I'll draw and post them as soon as I stop driving long enough to get some drawings done. In the meantime, if anyone has any comments on Jack's idea or any chuck box suggestions for military trailers, Jack and I would be very interested in hearing them.

 

[Mashurst]

Here's Jack's concept drawing:
You can see Jack wants the chuck box to store inside the tub, and deploy up to the side of the tub with some sort of mechanism.

I like the idea but not the implementation. Maybe with a 4 bar linkage to keep it all right side up. I dont think I would like having it "dumped over" like that... At what point then would it be simpler, cheaper and lighter to just make a portable chuck box? Just my thoughts...

 

[jscherb]

I like the idea but not the implementation. Maybe with a 4 bar linkage to keep it all right side up. I dont think I would like having it "dumped over" like that... At what point then would it be simpler, cheaper and lighter to just make a portable chuck box? Just my thoughts...

The drawing Jack drew is just to show the concept, he knows that a single bar on each side like that wouldn't be stable. Jack has reasons for wanting a "pop-up" mechanism for his chuck box vs. a portable chuck box, so that's why he drew that and why he asked me for input.

I do have 3 different design ideas for the mechanism, as soon as I get a chance I'll draw them and post them here.