My Bantam Trailer Evolved

[FloridaFJ80]

I have been wanting to hop on this bandwagon for a while now, but hadnt found a trailer that was in semi good condition (little rust), good price (under $500) and nearby (South Florida). Though I met the first two conditions, the third wasnt much of an issue as I attended a Toyota event (GSMTR 2014) in Oliver Springs, TN. I found this old trailer on a facebook group add and it just happened to be in nearby Knoxville. So I went ahead and purchased and towed it back to Miami. The PO had replaced worn oil seals, and reused the old timken bearings with a new repack. Didnt have any issues on the close to 1000 mile drive back home.

So this brings me to the present. I have a trailer that has no tailgate, little to none surface rust, I have zero welding skills, and have never really worked with rust and fabrication. So for me would be an undertaking but I am very excited to learn new skills and add another project under my belt. I plan to replace the axle, maybe do a SOA conversion on it, still on the fence on adding a tailgate or to close it completely and of course a lid where I can mount my RTT. This is the basic wants for now, on board water, kitchens, batteries, etc, will come at a later time.

I see a lot of people have extended the trailer tongue's, I have an 80 series so i dont have issues with opening my tailgate as a Jeep. Any other reasons why they do this?

I had taken a flap disc to some areas and it cleans up really easy, still on the fence on sending the whole trailer to get bead blasted. Might use that money for some mods like new axles or new wheels, etc.

Well without further a due here is my trailer.

 

[mizzle415]

Nice score on the trailer. This a good excuse to learn how to weld. I just started modding an old David Bradley I got last year. No previous fab experience, but it's been really rewarding learning experience. Go for it!

 

[johnspark]

Absolutely! Great find and great excuse to learn to strip rust, re-prime, paint, weld, bend, shape, mold and behold the new creation.

Once you strip the paint, rust, or whatever, clean the metal with acetone. Then prime (rust reformer if needed - POR15 for bad rust) and paint.

Good luck, I can't wait to see the progress.

 

[4runnerteq]

Awesome find

 

[FloridaFJ80]

Thanks alot guys.. reallt looking forward to taking on this project... still researching on a mig welder on how to weld, looking at purchasing some rust bullet protection for the whole trailer. Thanks for the kind words. This forum has given me the courage to get out of my comfort zone and try on some new skills.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

 

[jeep crawl]

nice find ! getting very hard to find them . ether rusted out or people think there worth tons of money

 

[FloridaFJ80]

Your right they are hard to find. This one was like it was meant to be. It worked out great.. Cant wait to get my hands dirty. I havent started working on it as of yet, as well family gets in the way. My wife and kids will be going to the inlaws in a few weeks for a month, so I will have plenty of alone time to work on it. So I plan to get it restored and somewhat built by then.

 

[FloridaFJ80]

Well I havent updated this thread in a while, so I will get to where I am today. I kind off put the trailer on the back burner up until I finish my rear storage system that I am building for my 80. I was able to source a rear panel for the tailgate from a willys restoration company, I am still debating on whether to use the panel as a tailgate or just weld it on and not have a tail gate. I have also decided to save some money and not get it media blasted as its not that bad. I have taken a flap disc and have started removing the old flaky paint. I purchased some rust bullet inhibitor and once I am done with the sanding I will be applying the rust bullet on.

At the same time, I will be purchasing a Dexter #3500 w/ Elec brakes on a 6x5.5 hub to accept my toyota wheels. Anyone know what the axle length has to be at in order to accept toyota wheels with a 4.5" backspacing wheel. If anyone here knows what the correct size is hub to hub so I can accomplish this I would greatly appreciate it.

 

[FloridaFJ80]

And I know we all love pictures.

 

[Ar_Davis]

I just bought one as well. This one has a some original bits that are still worth money but it looks like they may have been modded some. Honestly I would get it blasted, I called my local blaster/powder coater and he is actually building two sand said that it would take 2-2.5 hours to blast it @100/hr.

 

[atavuss]

Nice score there FloridaFJ80! The green paint could very well be the original paint (the trailers came in a choice of red or green paint). What number is the serial # (located on the front forward facing panel)?

 

[FloridaFJ80]

I just bought one as well. This one has a some original bits that are still worth money but it looks like they may have been modded some. Honestly I would get it blasted, I called my local blaster/powder coater and he is actually building two sand said that it would take 2-2.5 hours to blast it @100/hr.

Thank Ar_Davis, I had quoted a place around here and they were around $120/hr. But they wanted me to bring the trailer by so they can quote it correctly. They told me they had done one a while back and it was around 4 hours. If I can keep it under 250 then I can see myself doing the bead blasting. Plus I have a lot of interest in some OEM parts from G503 forums. So I will bead blast them and hopefully get some of my money back. I will see if I can get some time this week to get a quote.

 

[FloridaFJ80]

Nice score there FloridaFJ80! The green paint could very well be the original paint (the trailers came in a choice of red or green paint). What number is the serial # (located on the front forward facing panel)?

Thanks atavuss, but unfortunately it doesnt have the original plate. But I am pretty sure she is as original as can be. As I dig deeper into this restore I am sure I will be able to find some more info on her. The original owner told me his grandpa had gotten it in 1944.

 

[JCMatthews]

Nice trailer. It appears that you have a civilian version of the Bantam trailer. It's a BTC-3. It is very similar to the ones made for the military during WWII. The exceptions would be the flat panels in the rear where the tail lights would have been, tailgate, stake pockets, and a regular ball mount in place of the lunettes. It looks like in the pictures, that someone welded angle iron on the tail light panels, so that a board could be slid in for a tailgate. I have a later M416 and a PO had added a tailgate. I did a redesign that made it much better. I could not imagine not having a tailgate, I really like it, but mine also makes dump runs.

 

[FloridaFJ80]

I have been looking around and I think a tailgate might be the way to go. Thanks for the comments.