Jevy's humble M-416 build thread

[General Automag]

I have the 3 gal red ones on each side but was leary of putting doubles on each side due to weight on long bolt. How are yours holding up? Any issues? Thanks

So far the Rotopax containers we have are working fine. The only issue I had with the tanks was properly adjusting the mount or brackets, or whatever they're called. I like everything to fit tight and not move around. You just have to play with yours until you get them like you want them. I wish Rotopax made a thicker tank so as to hold more liquids. We have two 2.5 gallon tanks now for water.

I'm considering getting some fuel tanks, but I haven't determined the best place to mount them on the trailer. It's nice to have external fuel tanks on your vehicle, but in our situation, even with the FJ40's 16-gallon tank, we're really not in many situations where we are that far from a filling station. An extra five gallons of fuel, I assume that we'll have two 2.5 gallon Rotopax tanks, that's plenty of fuel for our needs. Really, we need extra fuel, gasoline, for our stove and lanterns. We use Coleman dual fuel lanterns and a 3-burner stove, and gasoline is cheaper and more readily available than white gas (Coleman fuel) or even the disposable propane bottles. (On that note, we're trying to figure out the best way to mount a standard 20-lb. propane tank. Again, they're readily available and cheaper to refill than the smaller (and very neat) see-through fiberglass propane tanks). We're looking to have a source for our Mr. Heater that we plan to place in the annex part of our roof top tent for cold weather camping. We then can use the propane to power our lanterns and stove and perhaps one of those silly camp fire rings if we ever travel to a place where you can't build your own fire. There are a LOT of very nice accessorized vehicles and trailers on the Expo forums, but you don't have to spend that much in order to have a functional vehicle and trailer. For example, we've been looking at just two NATO-style 20L (5 gallon) fuel cans with spouts and mounts, and the total cost was over $700. If money was no object, then we'd consider buying them, but since it is, we look for more affordable and practical solutions.

Back to the Rotopax tanks, let us know what you decide to do with yours. We're always looking for better ideas!

 

[Jevy]

The rotopax tanks will be mounted towards the front on the outside of the tub. I am also putting a Jeep together and my fuel pack will go on the rear tire carrier because my fuel gauge doesn't seem to ever work so keeping the fuel pack on the Jeep makes better sense to me. I am so going to stay with the 5lb propane set up. Most of my trips will be weekend get aways with an occasional week long trip. I know the 5lb tank will work for 99% of what I need. I gotta say I'm very happy with how the trailer is turning out. I just wish I could say the same for the Jeep. I'm really starting to doubt my decision of the CJ. I like it but man it's going to take forever and cost some serious $$$$ to get it in shape.

 

[Jevy]

finally some progress!!!! Today we mounted the latches and realized I didn't have the body bolted to the frame yet. We have to do a little manipulating with straps to fit the tabs over their holes. Now the latches don't line up so apparently the top/frame weren't completely square so I will have to remount the latches and do something about the holes in the top. It's not a big deal but just something I was prepared for.

This was the first time I've opened the cover since the tent was installed. It takes probably 15 lbs or so of pressure to get the top up and maybe 20-25 lbs of pressure to get the top down. I also got the lunette removed cut and ready to extend. I'm going to extend the lunette 36" but I don't know if it will be long enough. I am putting a rear tire carrier on the jeep. Between the tire mount and tongue box I'm not sure how it will work but I'm going to put this together and try it before I extend it any further. I don't want to make it any longer than necessary.

Tomorrow I plan on starting to put the parts together for the tongue. After that I am going to start on wiring up the trailer lights.

 

[Jevy]

Just thought I'ld throw up a little update. I have lots of parts here for the tongue box. Today I put up my spare kayak rack on the trailer so I could get a kayak off the floor. I'm going to be starting back on the trailer real soon. Most of my free time has been spent getting my Jeep back together.

 

[Jevy]

finally an update with some progress and pics!!!! I decided to swap my axles in the Jeep and they have to be swapped so lots of things are on hold with the CJ until the axles arrive.

Today I worked on the tongue box and installed the control panel that I purchased off of amazon. It's designed for boats and seems to be pretty water proof. The outlet below the panel is a USB receptacle that has two ports on it and it is rated to charge an ipad.

I was able to get two of the four marker lights in the trailer

The tail lights are now mounted and ready to be wired

Tomorrow I hope to get the trailer wiring harness installed for marker/tail lights and also hope to get the interior lights installed.

Still left to do:
install the shocks for SOA conversion(they are here just waiting to be installed)
weld up the tongue and get it mounted back up(going to have a shop finish the welding because my welder isn't strong enough to weld up the lunette).
Apply monstaliner to the outside of the bed
replace both tires(I think they are near 20 years old from what I've learned)
service the bearings
I hope to get everything above completed in the next couple of weeks since I don't have anything I can do on my Jeep until I get some parts with the exception of the monstaliner. I have to do some work to the CJ body and hope to do a small amount of touch up on the Jeep at the same time. Weather isn't looking to be in the range of where I can do the application of the monstaliner. I'm going to be more or less ready for it so if I get a few decent days I can get it done.

long term adds once both the trailer and Jeep are put back together I may:
possibly add an inverter to the tongue box
have it wired so the Jeep can charge the trailer battery while traveling down the street.

 

[DonBeasley]

Looks great! What axles are you putting under the CJ?

Most importantly, how is the back doing?

 

[Jevy]

dana 44's front/rear. Back is doing pretty good. I did alot of standing/walking in the garage today and am tired but feel good. Still very careful picking anything up.

 

[DonBeasley]

dana 44's front/rear. Back is doing pretty good. I did alot of standing/walking in the garage today and am tired but feel good. Still very careful picking anything up.

I did the same with my rear axle and went to a widetrack like you have. I had the old narrow axles. I swapped the front for a wide 30 with plans to go to a front 44 but never have done it.

Take it easy. As one who has a bad back and neck, I can tell you it is always something light that you get hurt on.

 

[Jevy]

tonight I ordered three more rear marker lights for the rear and a dome light for inside the tongue box. I will post up some pics over the weekend of where I'm at with it.

 

[Jevy]

well today was a VERY productive day. I started out taking the extended hitch to a guys fab shop that I kayak with and he had someone weld it up for me(pics to follow once I get it painted/installed). I also got the trailer wiring complete for the parking/brake lights on the trailer and also installed an LED dome light for the inside of the trailer and have ordered one for inside the tongue box. I'm planning on putting both the tongue box and interior light both on the same switch. I didn't realize it but I had to remove the battery from the tongue box in order to bolt it to the trailer. I also got the tires off the trailer and pulled the drivers side hub. I have a thread asking about how to do the bearings and will ask a couple questions there tonight. The front seal(if there is suppose to be one fell out in pieces, the bearings seem to be ok but I'm going to swap the bearings and seals out for new ones. I may go to the surplus place I bought my trailer from to see if they can sell me 3 sets of bearings/seals/races(although the races look fine and think I will probably just leave them in and reuse the existing ones). For a Christmas present I was given the Rancho shocks and had to flip the axle perch plates around but the shocks are now here and installed.

I'm not sure how I feel about the actual tail lights. I meant to order ones with a flange so I could flush mount them but ordered lights in a bracket. I guess I'll see how these hold up and if I have some trouble with them I will swap them out for flush mounted ones.

I know there is a big mess but you can see how the tail lights are mounted

These two show how I routed the wire and kept it as organized as possible. I ran out of wire loom and honestly that stuff is very hard to get all of the wires in it so I opted to just use straps and zip ties for the rest of it.

These are two inch LED marker lights

Here is a shot of behind the tail lights and how I routed it into the body

Tomorrow I hope to get the tongue box mounted and the possible the tongue if I can get the tongue mounted and clear the garage door in it's current spot.

 

[Jevy]

well I overdid it today....taking tomorrow off. I'm so sore I can't hardly walk lol :snorkel: . I may do a few things that I can do while sitting on a chair but anything else will have to wait a day or two.

 

[VanIsle_Greg]

Looking good man, coming along nicely! You are doing it right...build it all winter, use it all spring and summer. I finished mine in August (end of) and got one trip in before it got too wintery for me. I plan on getting out early in spring in 2013 after I do some work on the XJ to get her back in form.

 

[Jevy]

Looking good man, coming along nicely! You are doing it right...build it all winter, use it all spring and summer. I finished mine in August (end of) and got one trip in before it got too wintery for me. I plan on getting out early in spring in 2013 after I do some work on the XJ to get her back in form.

I'm trying to. Most of my work for the past couple months have been focused on the Jeep build but I'm real close on the trailer. I'm going to try to finish the trailer in the next couple weeks with the exception of the monstaliner. It will be to the point of where I can use it if I wanted to.

 

[VanIsle_Greg]

Kool. Cant wait to see it done!

 

[Jevy]

well today I'm proud to say everything is done except for doing the monstaliner and wheel bearings!!!! I can't even begin to describe just how happy I was to be done with it. I'm having trouble finding the wheel bearings/seals locally so I will try to order them online tonight if I can figure it out. We installed the three red marker lights in the rear of the top and completed the wiring. I was very disappointed to see that my rotopax carriers wouldn't fit where I had planned. I was hoping to mount both the rotopax and 5lb propane tank on the sides in front of the trailer wheels but it just wouldn't work with the supports I put on the side.

Here is the extended lunette. It was extended 36" longer than the length was originally.

Here is the rear marker lights

This is how the rotopax and 5lb tank was mounted up. Again not what I wanted but it still will work just fine. The hi lift jack is just laying there. It rides on the Jeeps tire carrier.

So once I get the bearings/seals in I will be able to service them and then all I'm waiting for is a couple days that are going to stay above 50* for a few days so I can get the monstaliner applied.