Inkog's M416 Project

[Inkog]

Hi everyone. I’ve been lurking around this site for a few weeks now doing new research for a project that I’ve been wanting to do for over 3 years. Well I finally bit the bullet and picked up this M416 over the weekend. Thus far, I have been impressed with the maturity and helpfulness of the users of this site, so I’ve decided to document my project here for both my benefit and everyone else’s too.

I have been looking off and on for a decent ¼ ton trailer for over 3 years, but they were always in bad shape, too far away, or out of my budget at the time. After several camping trips this year with my new amenity-loving girlfriend, I quickly discovered my 2000 Jeep Wrangler just was not big enough for the two of us with all of her gear too. Needless to say, I had to step up my search for a trailer or find another girlfriend. I ended up taking the hard route and found a trailer…

It’s not in the best shape, but its straight and the tub is solid with no rust through. I had to drive a little further and paid a little more than I would have liked, but I decided that a day trip and $700.00 for a road worthy trailer was acceptable. It turns out the seller was right, I towed it home 380mi from North of St. Louis, MO to Frankfort KY, doing 65 mph without any problems what so ever.

My build plans are not 100%, but will involve converting over to 5 on 4.5 hubs to run the same tires and wheels as my Jeep, sandblasting and paint job, replacing the lunette, and a hinged lid of some sort.

Thanks in advance for any help that you give while I’m going through this build, as I’ll be asking tons of questions.

I’m excited to finally get this project underway.

More pics and updates to come soon.

 

[Inkog]

WTB / Trade post

I will be using this post to list items that I'm searching for during my build. If you have one of these items, or know of a good place to source them, please let me know. Thanks!

I'm looking for a junk tub from any 1/4 ton trailer. Preferably straight but with the bottom rusted out or something simillar.

1x - Lunette from a M416 or Canadian 1/4 ton M101 (not the american 3/4 ton M101). Are their any other lunettes that fit the M416?

2x - Factory Jeep Canyon Rims (see pic below) I think these were on all '00 - '03 wranglers. Let me know if they are on other years/models.

 

[Inkog]

Parts List w/ Sources and Cost

I'll use this to list the sources of the parts I use during my build.

Shackles:
JC Whitney
Left Hand Threaded Spring Shackle Kit ZX886201T $14.99
Right Threaded Spring Shackle Kit ZX886202A $14.99
2X Greaseable Spring Bolt ZX509139WF $9.99

Shocks:
Gabriel Guardian
81676 - 11.12 collapsed, 17.73 extended
89201 (private branded, identical to 81676)

2x Drain Plugs (Mullins Jeep Parts) $10.00

 

[jrose609]

Lunette: Brent Mullins Jeep Parts. (979)690 0536
or
D&L Bensinger (610)286 9545
or
Midwest Military(952)440-8778

These guys have good ones, not the cheap Chinese knock-offs. They're not cheap (nor inexpensive)

 

[Inkog]

Update 1

I ripped out the 24v wiring harness yesterday and installed new submersible LED trailer lights for the time being. This will all need to be removed next week to prep for sandblasting and some paint. I found a guy locally that will sandblast the whole thing, epoxy the frame and paint the tub and fenders for $250.00! I'm going to take the trailer with me on a camping trip this weekend, so the tear down and paint job will have to wait till next week. I may just have the tub primered for now and put off the paint until I get the lid fabbed up.

Titling this thing in Indiana is turning into a nightmare. I got a bill of sale, but it needs to be notarized. The process also requires a police inspection, and until I get some new tires on it, I doubt it will pass.

There is also a pic of my tow rig for good measure!

 

[Inkog]

Lid ideas

Here is a basic scale drawing of what I want to do with the lid. It would provide an additional 7" of internal hight.

 

[achampagne]

I have been using the Wal-mart brand stuff for a liner, and I have to say it is holding up very well, it has yet to be scratched through and holds up well. It sprays on easy and I bet you would only need 3 cans. I have had in/on my jeep since last summer.

 

[Robert Bills]

Anyone know of a good do-it-yourself bed liner coating? I think I want the stuff with the rubber particles in it. I plan to do the entire interior of the tub.

A "good" DIY bed liner is subjective at best. Some are better than others, but all of them have detractors as all DIY bed liners eventually scratch, fade and flake no matter how good the preparation.

Except for possibly Line-X, I don't like any of the DIY or professionally sprayed bedliners. I prefer a rubber mat (get a pickup mat for a short bed import and trim as necessary) or a piece of thin plywood for a trailer floor (roll or spray poly or DIY bedline it). As for the interior sides, I am partial to paint in a "standard" color that can be repaired with a rattle can.

 

[Inkog]

Weld on Lunette Eye?

Thanks for the info everyone.
Robert - I agree 100% and have planned on a rubber mat for the tub floor. I was at Wal-Mart last night and they had 4 cans of a brush/roll-on style bed liner on a clearance rack for $5.00 each. I ended up passing on them since your post reminded me of a bad “pro” bed liner job I saw a couple of years ago on a $40K rig.

WELD-ON LUNETTE EYE?

I found drop forged rings designed to be welded up as a lunette eye for towing. What are your opinions of using these to repair my lunette? It would probably save me close to $200.00. The OEM repros range from $150-400.00 :Wow1:

 

[I Leak Oil]

Try asking around G503.com for some possiblities on used lunettes. Now and then Ebay has them as well. There are many military vehicle sites on the web, you're bound to find one at a reasonable price.

 

[telwyn]

Lid design

Love your lid design. Are the drawings you've made technical enough that I could give them to a local weld shop to be built locally for mine m416? That's assuming you're willing to share.

Look forward to following your build.

 

[Inkog]

Love your lid design. Are the drawings you've made technical enough that I could give them to a local weld shop to be built locally for mine m416? That's assuming you're willing to share.

Look forward to following your build.

Not yet, but I will be getting there soon.

AFAIK, this design really will require a sheet bender to do it right, and I don't have access to one. Otherwise, I think it would require skinning a pretty rigid internal frame. Before I move forward, I'm going to talk to some guys that are a lot more knowledgeable in metal fab than I. I'm pretty sure it could be done in sheet with no frame (other than the lip), and still be as rigid as the tub.

 

[fjcruzn]

I'm having an aluminum lid fabricated for my M416 for $400 by a local boat shop. I'll post up pics as it progresses.

Also, the M416 came with 5 on 5.5 axles as this exert from the manual indicates.

Wheels:
Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Diameter of Stud Circle ...,. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.5"

Number of Studs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

I mounted CJ wheels on my stock M416 axle. Did they change sizes in late models? If they didn't the stock Jeep wheels should fit.

cheers,

dale

 

[scarysharkface]

Titling this thing in Indiana is turning into a nightmare. I got a bill of sale, but it needs to be notarized. The process also requires a police inspection, and until I get some new tires on it, I doubt it will pass.

Unless it's changed very recently, the Indiana inspection is only to verify that the numbers match..

Nice trailer..

John

 

[Inkog]

FJ, They switched to 5x4.5 on just about every Jeep model around 1986-1987.

Shark, - This trailer has never been titled, so I'm not sure what numbers they would be matching to what.

I've got the data plates off and soaking in brake fluid now. The rear frame plate on the frame was missing, but the other two were there hiding behind countless coats of paint. At least the one with the SN was there.

I tried to go the route of titling a home made trailer but they told me that there must not be, or have never been any identifying numbers on the trailer. Not that it matters, really all it would of saved me from was getting the Bill of sale notarized.

In Indiana they see trailers as any other motor vehicle.

This is the laundry list hoops I have to go through to get it titled:

1. Notarized Bill of sale.
2. Police Inspection Affidavit
2.a. Police Inspection to get the SN/VIN
2.b. Police stolen property check
3. Certified Title Inquiry - Requires #2
3.b. BMV verification of no previous title / or seller listed as last titler - If a name come back other than whats on the Bill of sale, I'm screwed.
4. Affidavit of Ownership - I swear I didn't steal it

Once this is done the DMV will issue me a VIN# & title.

Then I have to have a police inspection again to verify that my VIN is displayed on the trailer and that it is road worthy.

After all of this they will give me a tag.

*UPDATE*

I found out that Kentucky does not require titling or registration of private use utility trailers. So I called the IN BMV and told them I was buying a trailer from KY, and it was a whole different story than if it came from IL. My KY girlfriend is now the proud owner of a M416! Transfering ownership to me will be a breeze.