Fiberglass M416/M100 Military-style Trailer Tub Kit
- Thread starter jscherb
- Start date
jscherb
Expedition Leader
Thanks. Surgery went as planned and recovery going better than expected. Very little discomfort this morning. I'll need to be in a sling for a bit, but hopefully the doctor will clear me to come out it before too long.
Mark Harley
Expedition Leader
Good news!
jscherb
Expedition Leader
Are you talking about the width of the parts of the rack? They're rearranged from their original orientation. Bolting them together in the original orientation would result in the rack being 46" wide, which would be wide than the military tub. Reorienting them results in a 40" width, which is just under the width of the tub. Maybe this drawing will help explain:
jscherb
Expedition Leader
The Harbor Freight cargo baskets I posted about earlier can also be made into a very nice rack basket for use either on top of the tow vehicle or on top of the trailer. Here's a plan:
Here are photos of this rack on both my Safari Cab hardtop. My Safari Cab has an XJ roof rack, and the rack basket as shown in the drawing above mounts to that:
Next photo is an installation of the same rack on a Dinoot Jeep-tub trailer, the hard cover doesn't have an XJ rack on it; the rack can bolt directly to the hard cover:
Here are photos of this rack on both my Safari Cab hardtop. My Safari Cab has an XJ roof rack, and the rack basket as shown in the drawing above mounts to that:
Next photo is an installation of the same rack on a Dinoot Jeep-tub trailer, the hard cover doesn't have an XJ rack on it; the rack can bolt directly to the hard cover:
jscherb
Expedition Leader
I got the following question about the frame for the military trailer tub and the HF rack:
But in a scaled side view, the axle placement may not be ideal:
When I get to the point of doing the frame for the prototype trailer, I'll be starting with the HF 4x8 frame, and I'll post step-by-step instructions, drawings and photos for converting it from 4x8 to the 40.5"x72" to fit the M72 kit and strengthening it in the process. The end result will be a stronger frame that's a perfect fit for the M72 tub.
BTW here's a thread on shortening the 4x8 frame and strengthening it for the M48 tub: http://tventuring.com/trailerforum/thread-118.html. Here's the 4' result, it's got a backbone down the center that adds a lot of strength, and provides places to mount both a front receiver for swapping couplers, and a rear receiver for carrying accessory racks, the 40.5 x 6' version will be similar:
I'll give you two drawings. First, the rack on an HF 4x8 frame (didn't narrow the frame in the photo, so it's still 48" wide). Because of the perspective of the photo, the axle placement doesn't look bad in this one:
But in a scaled side view, the axle placement may not be ideal:
When I get to the point of doing the frame for the prototype trailer, I'll be starting with the HF 4x8 frame, and I'll post step-by-step instructions, drawings and photos for converting it from 4x8 to the 40.5"x72" to fit the M72 kit and strengthening it in the process. The end result will be a stronger frame that's a perfect fit for the M72 tub.
BTW here's a thread on shortening the 4x8 frame and strengthening it for the M48 tub: http://tventuring.com/trailerforum/thread-118.html. Here's the 4' result, it's got a backbone down the center that adds a lot of strength, and provides places to mount both a front receiver for swapping couplers, and a rear receiver for carrying accessory racks, the 40.5 x 6' version will be similar:
jscherb
Expedition Leader
More on leaving the frame 8' long, putting the rack on the front 2' and only narrowing it to fit the width of the tub...
If you wanted to move the axle back on the HF 4x8 trailer to center it under the 6' tub, it can be done, but there's good news and bad news.
The good news is that the HF spring hanger is a roughly 2' long piece of steel angle with the spring brackets welded to it. It's shown in this drawing from the HF instructions:
The bad news is that the 24" steel angle also serves as the fishplate to join the two 4x4 halves of the frame together, so you'd have to come up with something to replace that. But there's good news on that too - if you'd be narrowing the frame roughly 8" to be the width of the tub, you'd end up with several 8" scraps of crossmember, which is just the right size to fit inside the frame side rail, so two of them would be perfect fishplates; just drill some new bolt holes to attach the spring hanger further back and to bolt the new fishplates in place. You'd have to notch the fishplate a little so the center crossmembers fit inside it, but it all could be made to work. Then you'd look like this:
Pretty good, and uses all the original parts of the HF frame kit with perhaps a few new bolts.
If you wanted to move the axle back on the HF 4x8 trailer to center it under the 6' tub, it can be done, but there's good news and bad news.
The good news is that the HF spring hanger is a roughly 2' long piece of steel angle with the spring brackets welded to it. It's shown in this drawing from the HF instructions:
The bad news is that the 24" steel angle also serves as the fishplate to join the two 4x4 halves of the frame together, so you'd have to come up with something to replace that. But there's good news on that too - if you'd be narrowing the frame roughly 8" to be the width of the tub, you'd end up with several 8" scraps of crossmember, which is just the right size to fit inside the frame side rail, so two of them would be perfect fishplates; just drill some new bolt holes to attach the spring hanger further back and to bolt the new fishplates in place. You'd have to notch the fishplate a little so the center crossmembers fit inside it, but it all could be made to work. Then you'd look like this:
Pretty good, and uses all the original parts of the HF frame kit with perhaps a few new bolts.
jscherb
Expedition Leader
Here's a build concept for the M48 version of the tub kit. It's painted to match the builder's Jeep, and has a rack to carry a pair of kayaks. It uses the rack basket made from Harbor Freight parts that I posted earlier:
I'm happy to draw anyone else's favorite build ideas for this tub kit too, just post up your ideas and plans
.
I'm happy to draw anyone else's favorite build ideas for this tub kit too, just post up your ideas and plans
.
jscherb
Expedition Leader
The Safari Cab hardtop isn't a good fit on the military tub; it's designed for a Jeep body, which about a foot wider than the standard-width military tub. I have built a prototype camper top for my Jeep-tub trailer out of Safari Cab hardtop parts, and that worked out pretty well. Here's a photo of that unfinished prototype camper top:
I have given some thought to possibly doing a fiberglass top for the military tub kit, and I've done a few concept drawings of what one could look like, but given the smaller size of the military tub, I'm not sure putting a camper-type top on it makes any sense.
A fiberglass cover for mounting a roof-top-tent on the military tub might make more sense than a camper top.
I'd be interested in hearing what people think about tops for the military tub.
I just want it to retrofit to my existing M416...
A little depth for things that stick up (storage bins in trailer, so things like chairs, other soft items), allows tailgate to function without opening top, hinged but also removable, sturdy enough to mount racks on top of top, gas shock positioning so that shocks don't get in way of storage bins inside, and a suitable locaton for a beer bottle opener. I'm sure others will have ideas too!
jscherb
Expedition Leader
I just want it to retrofit to my existing M416...
A little depth for things that stick up (storage bins in trailer, so things like chairs, other soft items), allows tailgate to function without opening top, hinged but also removable, sturdy enough to mount racks on top of top, gas shock positioning so that shocks don't get in way of storage bins inside, and a suitable locaton for a beer bottle opener. I'm sure others will have ideas too!
It seems like the most common/popular(?) size and shape of hard cover for these trailers would be something like pictured below.
It would be pretty simple to do one of these in fiberglass that can support racks/roof top tents. It could be made so that it fits either the fiberglass tub kit or original M416s/M101s/M100s without too much extra trouble. So something like the one below? How tall should it be? Different shape? Should it hinge on the side or the end?
jscherb
Expedition Leader
A fiberglass cover definitely would save weight compared to a steel version, and probably saves some weight compared an aluminum or wood version, but what is your definition of "inexpensive"?I prefer the hinge on the end so it's a little easier to lift when the tent is deployed. I think there'd be a great market for a production fiberglass lid. Inexpensive + saves some weight