M416 Based Military Off-road Trailer Build - Desert Build with Lock-N-Roll hitch

[Bonofied Suiter]

Hi Again,
People have asked me about licencing and titling my trailer as it was originally a military trailer and I had no title or release from the Government and the trailer had no vehicle identification numbers on it. After I brought the trailer home from San Diego I brought it to the Nevada DMV and met with the lead inspector and two other inspectors and made sure that they would not have a problem with my trailer when it was completed and ready to be titled and registered. I showed them what I had purchased such as a replacement axle springs wheels tires etc. The lead inspector gathered his co-workers together and let them know he was approving this project and that I would have no problems with title or registration.

All in all it took me about 3-years to get it done to the point where I could get the trailer licenced. The inspection process went very smoothly and the inspectors were very impressed with what I had done. They also needed to inspect my 2003 Jeep Wrangler as it was a total loss and I finally finished rebuilding it. Now I have a rebuilt vehicle title in place of my salvage title on the Jeep.

There are a number of DMV forms to complete for both vehicles and I brought all of my receipts for them to see that the trailer was a custom build and I kept notes on my original meeting and who was there. The inspector stamped an assigned VIN number into the frame and riveted a plate below it. It is now titled as a 2016 ASVE (assembled vehicle) Utility 2W (two wheel) and is listed as SPECIALLY CONSTRUCTED with a gross weight of 600 pounds.

Registration costs were very reasonable with a 3-year registration costing me only $56.00

 

[Bonofied Suiter]

Hi Everyone,
As this M416 trailer build progresses I've found it necessary to re-do the springs and shackles. The first set of replacement springs were NOS original equipment springs that I bought from a surplus house and I've found them to be weak and the RH side was sagging. In use with a load on the fenders occasionally rubbed on the tires. My intention with this build has always been to avoid a spring-over conversion to keep the center of gravity as low as possible. These springs are a bit stiffer than the previous springs so rubbing on the fenders is not likely to be a problem.

The ultimate answer was new aftermarket springs, pins and shackles from Vintage Jeeps Inc. (888) 503-JEEP
If you want to replace the springs bushings and pins these are the part numbers you will need:

(2ea) 18201.02 Front Leaf Spring - 10 Leaf 41-53 Willy's Models
(2ea) 18270.17 Leaf Spring Pivot Eye Bushing 41-58 Willy's
(2ea) 18270.01 Leaf Spring Bolt Greaseable 41-58 Willy's
(1ea) 18265.03 HD FRT & Rear leaf spring shackles 55-75 CJ Models

The shackles replace the C shaped original shackles and appear to be stronger and they are also are a little longer than the stock shackles. The added length of these shackles adds a little extra clearance between the fenders and the tires. The trailer now looks perfect and the fender clearance is improved without doing a spring over conversion.

 

[jeepster1407]

Awesome build!

 

[RDK13]

very nice!!! I love my M416 trailer!!!

 

[ratled]

Thanks for sharing the build! Since you mentioned it in the thread title, care to share any thoughts on the Lock n Roll?

Thanks

ratled

 

[mb1k]

Very nice. I'm about to come into an M416 myself and this has answered the title & registration question, also living in Vegas.

 

[Bonofied Suiter]

Thanks for sharing the build! Since you mentioned it in the thread title, care to share any thoughts on the Lock n Roll?

Thanks

ratled

I love the Lock N Roll Hitch and their customer support is second to none. They have been supportive and also interested in how my hitch worked with having it able to pivot at the original pintle shaft area of the landing leg casting and also at the Lock-N-Roll hitch. I did notice that the whole assembly would rotate in a way that was less than ideal. (not the fault of their hitch) The answer to the problem was to drill into the casting and add a stop bolt to prevent the original pintle bar from rotating. Since I added the bolt everything functions perfectly. I never had the original pintle setup on the trailer but I could imagine it would come with a fair amount of slop and noise if I did. The Lock N Roll hitch is completely silent and never puts a bind on the jeep. Most of the time pulling the trailer I never hear a thing and can barely tell it's back there. I would recommend this hitch to everyone. It's of very high quality and completely trouble free.

 

[Bonofied Suiter]

After I had the inside of the trailer and the lip bed lined I went to the local feed store and purchased a 4'X6' rubber horse stall mat. They are not expensive (only around $40) and are quite thick (about 1") I cut the stall mat to fit and dropped it into the tub. I feel it has a number of advantages, first is that is looks great and it it levels out a floor that has seen decades of use and shows it. Secondly, it protects the floor and cargo doesn't slide around like it would without it. Third, it serves as a sound dampener and keeps the trailer quiet. It doesn't seem to prevent the water drains from performing their function. Because the mat is fairly substantial I'm tempted to install aircraft type anchor strips through the mat instead of through the floor of the tub using elevator bolts or carriage bolts. I'm reluctant to drill any holes into the floor of the tub if not absolutely necessary. This will give me an easy way to prevent cargo from shifting around or possibly bouncing out.

 

[Bonofied Suiter]

Latest Mod. Added roller to pivot point of the landing leg. Had this heavy duty roller meant for an RV hitch and it fit perfectly for my purpose. I could foresee going through a dip and possibly catching the trailer on the landing leg. This roller reduces to possibility of getting hung up.

 

[mb1k]

Been waiting for a response from the DMW on my own M416 project, nothing. Did you just drive up to the inspection shack (I live on the NW side) and just ask to speak to an inspector?

 

[Bonofied Suiter]

Been waiting for a response from the DMW on my own M416 project, nothing. Did you just drive up to the inspection shack (I live on the NW side) and just ask to speak to an inspector?

If I recall correctly, I tracked down the department manager for the inspections and setup a time and place to meet. Decatur DMV. I described my project, Trailered my project trailer on my car trailer and brought along a pile of parts and receipts for Items that I would be changing out including the axle, springs and more.
He brought the inspectors together and told them that he had approved my project. This was quite a while ago as the project took longer than I expected. When I had it done I really didn't have a problem or need to provide proof that this was approved earlier.

I hope that helps.

 

[mb1k]

It does help a lot, thanks.

 

[PacificNorthWestJeeper]

Will the yellow top optima battery fit in the tongue box if you turned it 90 degrees?
I have the same tongue box and I want to put two yellow top Optimas in it side by side.
I haven't bought the batteries yet, just curious the best way to fit both... thank you

 

[Bonofied Suiter]

Will the yellow top optima battery fit in the tongue box if you turned it 90 degrees?
I have the same tongue box and I want to put two yellow top Optimas in it side by side.
I haven't bought the batteries yet, just curious the best way to fit both... thank you

Just eyeballing it I would say that they will work that way. Unfortunately I think you may give up a lot of storage space due to the shape of the box. My battery is securely fastened to the 3/4" plywood bottom of the box so I can't easily move it around.

 

[Bonofied Suiter]

Here's the latest update on the trailer build. I've made a lid that I'm quite pleased with. It's made from the laminated plywood used for swing doors on semi trailers. It's 3/4" with aluminum laminates on the outside. One side was painted white and the other left aluminum. I was able to use a slightly damaged sheet that I got for free. To make it work the way I wanted I cut it into two pieces that would come together in the center. The advantage of this made it so the lid could be taken off and installed by one person easily and the design allows access from either end without taking it off or even removing the Yakima roof rack or basket. The two pieces where they come together are sealed with a foam seal and were painted with clear varnish to seal out the moisture on the exposed edge. I routed out a 1/4 inch groove to allow for trim that I bought on Ebay to be tapped into the outside edge of the roof panel. This gives it a more professional finished look and makes it more durable. The two sections are held together by two draw latches that can be adjusted easily if necessary. A flip of the draw latches can allow the sections to be separated but it's not necessary to open them if I need to access the contents of the tub. My trailer has small stake pockets in the four corners. I fabricated small stakes on the underside of the lid that fit into the stake pockets. This keeps the lid exactly in place but still allows me to lift it open as they are rounded off to make that possible. If needed, the whole top can be taken apart into sections and set inside the tub including the basket and rack.








One of the things that I did not want to do is drill or weld anything to the tub that I didn't have to. I really love that the whole setup can easily come off and there is no evidence that a top was ever on there. One idea that I came up with that made this possible was fabricating J-Hooks with 1/4" hand nuts that turn and hook under the lower lip of the stake pockets to hold the lid down tight. They work great and with a thin foam seal where the top meets the upper lip of the tub the whole assembly locks down tight and is sealed from water coming in.


I decided that I didn't want the lid to remain white so I roughed it up and sprayed on a black bed liner material that I bought at Harbor Freight Tools. The spray can version provided a more consistent finish which came out great and matched the rest of the trailer and the Jeep. I had a Yakima rack system that I used on a Dodge Durango that I used to own. With the adapter mounts purchased on Ebay I was able to mount this round bar rack to the top of the trailer lid. The rack is easily removed and can also be locked to the lid with keys. The basket was purchased used on Craigslist for $100.00 and the shovel and axe were mounted to the basket. The mount for my Pull Pal was given to me by a friend and is really nice. Because I already had or got a lot of my components for free I don't think I have more than $200 spent on this trailer top. It is strong enough to walk on and could easily support a Roof Top Tent if I ever wanted to add one. It is not on my short list as I have lots of tents.

At This point I'm just adding a little tweak here and there like Bottle Openers on the sides of the Tool Box and a Steel Roller on the landing leg when it hits the ground in tough terrain.