JKJenn
Adventurer
I had the same thought about vulnerability, but everyone seems to swear by their AT's. Your questions are my uestions, also.
FlashHole's M416 trailer Build
- Thread starter Flashole
- Start date
I had the same thought about vulnerability, but everyone seems to swear by their AT's. Your questions are my uestions, also.
HI, Any tips and tricks for removing the tub from the frame ? i got one 416 of craigslist and planning to fix all the rust and stuffs.
thanks
TheJosh
Explorer
Since you made you tailgate so wide I don't really have any suggestions on where to mount the struts. If the tailgate was a little smaller the typical place is the mount it on the rear onto whatever side of the tailgate you plan on mounting the hinges for the lid. With enough strength (in the shock) it can lift it no problem but you must make sure you strengthened the tub enough to take the lateral load
Sent from my Nexus 4
Sent from my Nexus 4
My best suggestion is to soak every single bolt with PB blaster about a week before you plan on removing the tub. That's what I did and every single bolt broke free for me. I had to cut off some of the screws holding the wire loom in place, but I wasn't planning on re-using them anyway.
I wanted a wider tailgate and was wondering why people didn't cut them wider. I hadn't thought of the lid struts as being a reason why. The width of my tailgate is another reason I had to add the cross-member, but that's where I'll mount the lid strut. I wasn't happy about having to add the cross-member, but it's actually coming in pretty handy. I do wish I had put it a little closer to the tailgate though.
A growing concern of mine is what's going to happen when I take it off the saw horses and put it on the frame. I'm starting to wonder if things aren't going to move around. I'm also wondering if it wouldn't be prudent to put it back on the frame when I build the lid.
Flashole,
I haven't worked on an M416, but with your corner gussets and additional vertical steel, I would think you could add the rear gas shock on that, and it not flex too much, if you wanted a side mount lid. But you'll probably just have to try it out.
As a comparison (although maybe not a good one), on my trailer, it has a 1x2 welded on end to the 2x2 frame at the rear corners. I initially planned to install a diagonal brace from the corner of the bumper up to the side of the trailer on the outside, expecting to need it. But as of now, that rear wall is rock solid, even without having turned the corner (my tailgate is full width).
I haven't worked on an M416, but with your corner gussets and additional vertical steel, I would think you could add the rear gas shock on that, and it not flex too much, if you wanted a side mount lid. But you'll probably just have to try it out.
As a comparison (although maybe not a good one), on my trailer, it has a 1x2 welded on end to the 2x2 frame at the rear corners. I initially planned to install a diagonal brace from the corner of the bumper up to the side of the trailer on the outside, expecting to need it. But as of now, that rear wall is rock solid, even without having turned the corner (my tailgate is full width).
Yep, I'm officially nervous. I don't know what IG is, but I've definitely noticed that the metal moves around, definitely the old metal.
Another update. The in-laws are in for a visit, so I didn't think I would get anything done, but yesterday I said screw it, I need to get some work done on the trailer. Ended up having a very productive day. Enough so that I'm taking the rest of the weekend off.
Masked it off for the self etching primer. Really looking forward to this step because the progress I;ve been making will be evident once it's all one color.
Primed up
The crappy thing about self-etching primer is that every square inch has to be sanded again prior putting anything else on it. And I've had about all the sanding that I can stand. My fingers are absolutely raw.
Anyway, got the interior all sanded after the primer dried. Then I laid down a bead of seam sealer.
Decided to seam seal around the lower section of the handles. That just looks like a pocket that would trap moisture to me. I'm a little surprised these things don't all rot out around them. As I said in an earlier post, this seam sealer really lays down nicely. It is some thick and sticky stuff though. I'll put it this way, it makes peanut butter seem like a lubricant.
Since I got that far, I decided that I wasn't going to stop just yet. Masked it off to put down the bed liner.
Sprayed it in really thick. The cool thing is that the patches aren't even visible at all. I knew that the texture would help hide them, but I figured they would still be somewhat visible. So, that's a nice surprise.
After putting down the etching primer, I got my first real indication as to just how straight it is. There are some sand scratches that will have to be addressed, and it's not perfectly straight, but all in all, I am very very pleased with how it's going to look. It's far nicer than what I had originally intended to make it. I'm literally hours away from having it ready to paint, as opposed to weeks or days.
Oh, and all my hardware for the lid arrived.
I bought 3 of the strap hinges. I'm not quite sure if I really need to use all 3 of them. Anybody have an answer to this?
As for the latches, they are smaller than I thought they would be, but they have something like a 350 lb. weight rating for each one. I would think that would be plenty.
The handle I bought is awesome! It's exactly what I had in mind.
Masked it off for the self etching primer. Really looking forward to this step because the progress I;ve been making will be evident once it's all one color.
Primed up
The crappy thing about self-etching primer is that every square inch has to be sanded again prior putting anything else on it. And I've had about all the sanding that I can stand. My fingers are absolutely raw.
Anyway, got the interior all sanded after the primer dried. Then I laid down a bead of seam sealer.
Decided to seam seal around the lower section of the handles. That just looks like a pocket that would trap moisture to me. I'm a little surprised these things don't all rot out around them. As I said in an earlier post, this seam sealer really lays down nicely. It is some thick and sticky stuff though. I'll put it this way, it makes peanut butter seem like a lubricant.
Since I got that far, I decided that I wasn't going to stop just yet. Masked it off to put down the bed liner.
Sprayed it in really thick. The cool thing is that the patches aren't even visible at all. I knew that the texture would help hide them, but I figured they would still be somewhat visible. So, that's a nice surprise.
After putting down the etching primer, I got my first real indication as to just how straight it is. There are some sand scratches that will have to be addressed, and it's not perfectly straight, but all in all, I am very very pleased with how it's going to look. It's far nicer than what I had originally intended to make it. I'm literally hours away from having it ready to paint, as opposed to weeks or days.
Oh, and all my hardware for the lid arrived.
I bought 3 of the strap hinges. I'm not quite sure if I really need to use all 3 of them. Anybody have an answer to this?
As for the latches, they are smaller than I thought they would be, but they have something like a 350 lb. weight rating for each one. I would think that would be plenty.
The handle I bought is awesome! It's exactly what I had in mind.
Adventure Copan
Adventurer
Looks great and I'm sold on that seam sealer. You didn't sand blast right, just by hand? If there was rust already behind that handle and you seam sealed it closed, will the rust stop?
-Daniel Kent
-Daniel Kent
I did have the entire thing sand blasted and then had them powder coat it just to prevent if from rusting while I worked on it. As for the handles, i didn't remove them prior to sand blasting. I debated on removing all the handles and hooks, but I wanted to keep some of the M416 traits. I'm sure there is rust under there, how much, I don't know. IMO, It's kind of a stupid design from when it was built. They welded the handles solid on the sides and bottom, but not the top, so it's like a pocket that water can get in, but it can't run out the bottom. Since steel needs moisture and oxygen to rust, by sealing it, I'm hoping to prevent water from getting in there and just sitting. I don't think it's an absolute cure, but it should slow it down greatly.
gordinho80
Adventurer
Where the latches an Amazon purchase? I bought a latch like that for my rear bumper/spare carrier last year that was about that small. I found a much more reasonable size for even less on Amazon as well. I'll look for the link.
EDIT:
This was the original one I purchased.. WAY too small.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003D3MPFE/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
This was the replacement...
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004K5YW0K/ref=wms_ohs_product?ie=UTF8&psc=1
EDIT:
This was the original one I purchased.. WAY too small.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003D3MPFE/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
This was the replacement...
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004K5YW0K/ref=wms_ohs_product?ie=UTF8&psc=1