Fiberglass M416/M100 Military-style Trailer Tub Kit
- Thread starter jscherb
- Start date
piratexpress1369a
Explorer
I like that
jscherb
Expedition Leader
I was thinking it would be packed in either the front compartment or on the main slide, and set up a bit away from the trailer/tent for cooking. I'm not sure it's a good idea to have the grill too close to the tent fabric.
If not stored/set up for cooking, what would you guys suggest?
jscherb
Expedition Leader
I've been planning to build a chuck wagon/tent platform for the top of the military trailer for a while now... I collected the necessary hatches over the past six months, and now I've got the time to start work on this project. Today I did a quick mockup with the hatches by holding them in place with the lid...
They're positioned with the hinges on the bottom so the open hatches can serve as work surfaces.
The chuck wagon will be a module that goes on top of the tub and the current fiberglass lid will go on top of the chuck wagon section.
In the rear I'll be doing a swing-up hatch, it'll be made of this hatch, which is the same width as the tailgate. The red line shows roughly where it will be cut to form the hatch. It's probably too tall in this mockup, I'll decide on the final dimensions after I size the height of the size with the side hatches.
the goal is something like these concept drawings..
They're positioned with the hinges on the bottom so the open hatches can serve as work surfaces.
The chuck wagon will be a module that goes on top of the tub and the current fiberglass lid will go on top of the chuck wagon section.
In the rear I'll be doing a swing-up hatch, it'll be made of this hatch, which is the same width as the tailgate. The red line shows roughly where it will be cut to form the hatch. It's probably too tall in this mockup, I'll decide on the final dimensions after I size the height of the size with the side hatches.
the goal is something like these concept drawings..
piratexpress1369a
Explorer
That's going to be cool
jscherb
Expedition Leader
I'm working on the layout of the side panels for the chuck wagon. The skin will be 1/4" plywood, I'm using SurePly, an underlayment plywood carried by Lowes. It's fairly high quality, inexpensive and one side is primed (the side that's down in this photo), so it makes a good start for a skin.
In this closeup you can see that the horizontal rails are laminated - they're 1" x 2", and I made them by glueing two pieces of 1/2" plywood together. I'm laminating these rails from plywood because I want them to be very stable - no warping over time, and plywood will give me that.
In this closeup you can see that the horizontal rails are laminated - they're 1" x 2", and I made them by glueing two pieces of 1/2" plywood together. I'm laminating these rails from plywood because I want them to be very stable - no warping over time, and plywood will give me that.
jscherb
Expedition Leader
The basic shell of the chuck wagon is assembled. It bolts together in the corners so it can be disassembled and stored flat.
Hatches just setting in place for now.
The chuck wagon section will add 18" to the overall height of the trailer.
I plan to make the compartments behind the hatches removable/configurable, so if I needed to use the full height in the back half, for example, I could remove the compartment from that half. Or I could remove both compartments and have the full height usable over the full length of the tub.
And doing removable compartments means that the chuck wagon can be disassembled into two side panels, two end panels and the parts for the compartments, all of which would stack flat for storage when the trailer is being used without the chuck wagon. There's no top for the chuck wagon because the top is the current fiberglass cover; the chuck wagon will attach to the tub using the same lift-off hinges and latches that the cover uses now, and there will be another set of hinges/latches on the top edge of the chuck wagon for the cover to attach to. That also means that you could lift the cover to access the compartments from the top as well, although it might be a little high to reach into for most people.
Hatches just setting in place for now.
The chuck wagon section will add 18" to the overall height of the trailer.
I plan to make the compartments behind the hatches removable/configurable, so if I needed to use the full height in the back half, for example, I could remove the compartment from that half. Or I could remove both compartments and have the full height usable over the full length of the tub.
And doing removable compartments means that the chuck wagon can be disassembled into two side panels, two end panels and the parts for the compartments, all of which would stack flat for storage when the trailer is being used without the chuck wagon. There's no top for the chuck wagon because the top is the current fiberglass cover; the chuck wagon will attach to the tub using the same lift-off hinges and latches that the cover uses now, and there will be another set of hinges/latches on the top edge of the chuck wagon for the cover to attach to. That also means that you could lift the cover to access the compartments from the top as well, although it might be a little high to reach into for most people.
jscherb
Expedition Leader
The next step in the construction of the chuck wagon add-on is to assemble it on top of the trailer and install the hardware to hold everything in place, but instead of doing that I decided to put a first coat of finish on the parts this morning. I used an acrylic deck coating - Behr Deckover from Home Depot. They've got a color that's a pretty close match to the olive drab urethane paint I used for the fiberglass tub.
Decokver is very thick, it's almost like trying to apply catsup with a roller. I used a 1/4" nap roller and the result was a nice texture; after only one coat the texture completely hides the grain of the wood.
I'll let it dry overnight and tomorrow I'll assemble the parts on top of the trailer.
Decokver is very thick, it's almost like trying to apply catsup with a roller. I used a 1/4" nap roller and the result was a nice texture; after only one coat the texture completely hides the grain of the wood.
I'll let it dry overnight and tomorrow I'll assemble the parts on top of the trailer.
piratexpress1369a
Explorer
That looks good
jscherb
Expedition Leader
A quick test fit of the chuck wagon shell. Fits fine, and the color match is certainly good enough for military use 
.
The lid isn't on yet, it's sitting on the yellow trailer in the background. I'll throw that on after I install the hardware to secure the shell to the tub.
.The lid isn't on yet, it's sitting on the yellow trailer in the background. I'll throw that on after I install the hardware to secure the shell to the tub.
piratexpress1369a
Explorer
Looking good so far. ..