Fiberglass M416/M100 Military-style Trailer Tub Kit
- Thread starter jscherb
- Start date
jscherb
Expedition Leader
The parts of the modular versions can be cut trimmed to length to fit other size trailers. The TrailTop straight rails are molded 8' long and would be trimmed to fit the roughly 4x6 top edge of a military trailer.
Weight capacity isn't a problem, here's a roof-top tent mounted to the TrailTop modular cover on my Jeep-tub trailer, which is abou 5' wide and 7 1/2' long, so the cover is much larger than a military trailer.
And these next photos shows a roof-top tent on a military trailer, this trailer has the two-piece fiberglass cover but there's no reason the modular cover wouldn't be as strong when built, since it's smaller in both length and width than the cover on the yellow trailer above.
Depending on how you hinge it, and what gas struts you use and where/how you attach them, the cover can be opened with tent set up:
Did you see this http://portland.craigslist.org/grg/pts/4767804889.html
Fiber glass molds for the m100 /416 This has the resets not the flat ! You can do up to 8 feet & 27" high these have the resets . There where made in 1961 are very well care for the 8 foot one is steel 1/4". My son will be driving to Portland soon . Can drop off they can be use to do flat sides but have to use 2times the glass .If not it's very week and will be junk in 5 to 10 years .If done right will last for 75+ years. , Last set of M100/ M416 molds.It's look like there sold and the new buyer will be doing 17" to 24 deep kits starting at 660 and full roiling trailers for $2000 with a 3500 Axel starting in the last part of Oct./Nov
Fiber glass molds for the m100 /416 This has the resets not the flat ! You can do up to 8 feet & 27" high these have the resets . There where made in 1961 are very well care for the 8 foot one is steel 1/4". My son will be driving to Portland soon . Can drop off they can be use to do flat sides but have to use 2times the glass .If not it's very week and will be junk in 5 to 10 years .If done right will last for 75+ years. , Last set of M100/ M416 molds.It's look like there sold and the new buyer will be doing 17" to 24 deep kits starting at 660 and full roiling trailers for $2000 with a 3500 Axel starting in the last part of Oct./Nov
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jscherb
Expedition Leader
A couple of weeks ago I posted an idea for a new TrailTop corner piece to make it easy to build covers and toppers for trailers with square corners, such as military trailers. Here's the original post: http://www.expeditionportal.com/for...y-style-Trailer-Tub-Kit?p=1644373#post1644373
Yesterday I made up a prototype of the square corner piece.
This corner piece would use the same straight edge pieces as the other TrailTop parts, with those it would go together like this to make a cover for a square-cornered trailer:
Here's a few concept drawings of a cover made using this part...
Unpainted:
Painted:
Yesterday I made up a prototype of the square corner piece.
This corner piece would use the same straight edge pieces as the other TrailTop parts, with those it would go together like this to make a cover for a square-cornered trailer:
Here's a few concept drawings of a cover made using this part...
Unpainted:
Painted:
jscherb
Expedition Leader
My trailers usually live in the garage, but sometimes I need the garage space for a large project, so then a trailer or two will have to go outside for a while. That's fine, they're weatherproof, but still I'd like to protect them from the elements a bit. I could get a large tarp and try to secure it so it stays on, but tying a tarp down is a hassle, and finding a tarp that's a good size to fit nicely without too much extra or leaving parts uncovered can be difficult.
So I modified a Harbor Freight tarp to be form-fitting on the trailer. It's got a reinforced pocket up front that slides over the coupler, and the back end is fitted over the back of the trailer. It's a pretty straightforward sewing job, and it's way more convenient to put on and off than trying to secure a generic tarp in place. The tarp was $16 on sale at HF.
I sewed one for my Jeep-tub trailer as well:
So I modified a Harbor Freight tarp to be form-fitting on the trailer. It's got a reinforced pocket up front that slides over the coupler, and the back end is fitted over the back of the trailer. It's a pretty straightforward sewing job, and it's way more convenient to put on and off than trying to secure a generic tarp in place. The tarp was $16 on sale at HF.
I sewed one for my Jeep-tub trailer as well:
jscherb
Expedition Leader
Over the course of this thread it seems there's been a lot of interest in chuck wagon tops, and I've posted a number of chuck wagon top ideas and concept drawings - here's another top that's not specifically a chuck wagon, but may give people some ideas for building one.
This is a photo of a top I saw at a car show that someone made for their M100. The owner had installed a generator in the trailer to power his Jeep, which he had convertted to electric operation. The cover for the trailer is basically a rectangular box with doors that swing up; it's also got a railing around the top to contain cargo stored on top. It's got a steel frame covered with diamondplate sheet metal, but something similar could also be built from wood.
This is a photo of a top I saw at a car show that someone made for their M100. The owner had installed a generator in the trailer to power his Jeep, which he had convertted to electric operation. The cover for the trailer is basically a rectangular box with doors that swing up; it's also got a railing around the top to contain cargo stored on top. It's got a steel frame covered with diamondplate sheet metal, but something similar could also be built from wood.
jscherb
Expedition Leader
Mostly I use my trailers as "parts getters" but I rarely use my military trailer for that because my Jeep-tub trailer is much larger and has twice the weight capacity, but on a parts getting trip yesterday to Ohio the military trailer with it's weatherproof cover was the perfect size for the parts I was picking up.
highlandercj-7
Explorer
Davey's is great. You were less than 30 mins from my house.
jscherb
Expedition Leader
I'm in Elkhart, Indiana today and when here I always stop in some of the RV surplus places in town - you never know what you might find. For example, today at RV Parts Nation I found these M101-style aluminum fenders for $20 each (the angled ones on the bottom and in the back). They're a little over 33" between the legs, and just under 12" wide, so they'd cover most Jeep-sized tires, and they'd be perfect for someone building an M-series kit who wanted to style it like a Canadian military M101 and run large tires. Didn't buy any because I've got plenty of fenders for my military trailer.
jscherb
Expedition Leader
I've been thinking it might be fun to make a "covered wagon" canopy for my military trailer, so I've been collecting photos and information on examples of covered wagon style canopies to give me ideas and inspiration for making my own.
The original Bantam BT3-C (the commercial version of the M100) was available with a covered wagon top, here's a restored example I saw at a truck show a few years ago:
The Bantam had a wooden frame that mounted in stake pockets on the inside of the tub.
The stake pockets on the Bantam:
The original Bantam BT3-C (the commercial version of the M100) was available with a covered wagon top, here's a restored example I saw at a truck show a few years ago:
The Bantam had a wooden frame that mounted in stake pockets on the inside of the tub.
The stake pockets on the Bantam:
jscherb
Expedition Leader
Here's an interesting design I found in another thread here: http://www.expeditionportal.com/for...ully-restored-questions?p=1400836#post1400836 The tilt top might be useful on a military trailer that doesn't have a tailgate.
The design I'm working on would be possible to hinge that way, although since I've got a tailgate I don't see the value in hingeing it for my trailer.
The design I'm working on would be possible to hinge that way, although since I've got a tailgate I don't see the value in hingeing it for my trailer.
I think one of the reasons the old designs faded from use was the drivability factor - great when parked, but lousy on the road. If you can come up with something more aerodynamic that's still useful at camp, then it's worth pursuing. Otherwise, as I'm sure you've seen, some pvc pipe and a tarp are just as good at camp.
I made wood sides about 24" high for my Bantam and put them on both sides and front. I used three 1/4" thick pieces o fiberglass which were about 1.5" wide and bent them to form bows placed in notches in the wood sides. This formed a nice bow for my canvas cover, though I needed a small chain to go across the back of the wood sides to keep the fiberglass from pushing them out.