Tim's M100 Project

[Detour]

hi there, i wanted to tell you a little about my new trailer and myself.

this is most likely one of my first posts as i had lost my way to this site until recently being reminded of it's existance by tumbleweed. what a wealth of knowledge here! looking forward to learning a bit about my trailer with the plans i already have for it.

introducing me: i am on several jeep forums and usually i go by one of a few handles: Tim, T.Dome or Detour (like on my jeep's licence plate) usually i will check in on jeeps unlimited, jeep forum, links 4 jeeps, pnwjeep or jeepbbs.

the tow rig i will use will be my 1997 jeep wrangokee

reason: my jeep wants to lay on it's side and nap with a loaded roof rack... it just not me.... :Wow1:

the trailer is a dunbar kappel
delivered 12-52
recently media blasted, primed and painted
new wheels and tires as pictured.

plans are for a lid the likes of what tumbleweed did. i am very impressed with his trailer and want a carbon copy of sorts.

also i am going to wire in a 7way plug for reverse lighting and 12 volt aux.

pictures and descriptions below
====================

the night i brought it home

strange patches with misplaced reflectors... i will have to work around this...

led's in the holes where the patches were with reflective grote rings, reflectors placed back where they belong and a reverse light.

a shot of the led markers which are very bright, i also have them on my tg corners. same with this style of tail light...
the ovals will go away and there will be a bumper to drag on things with

the tongue may be something i need to rework. i think i would like to use square stock instead that is placed where the casting used to be. i haven't decided on a coupler or lunette but i am leaning towards a coupler after seeing all those trailers on their tops!

there you go! my humble beginnings... looking for input of any kind. encouragement. praise. friends...

very excited about my new project.

 

[Borrego60]

I think you have a very nice start,would be interested to see the final product.

 

[outdoorsaddict]

Where did you source the large LED lights on the tailgate? Thanks......

 

[The Swiss]

Off to a good start!

 

[Detour]

get to do some wiring today. removed the old stuff:

i am very serious about how my stuff gets juice. cleaning up sins from the past...

if anyone is paying attention to this dont use piggybacks and wire nuts... solder/waterproof heatshrink is leaps and bounds better.

the old wiring on this trailer is corroded all the way down the lines from shortcuts in wiring.

 

[Detour]

here's some pix from todays progress:

i like to use this heat shrink. it has glue and is waterproof

conduit and new wiring. there are no extra connections anywhere and everything is soldered..

ovals are gone and i am going to replace the lower section with some heavier gauge steel that can take a hit.

i placed the 7 way in the body to keep it out of harm's way from rocks, and it is a dry location.

hoping to upgrade the coupler a bit next time

 

[telwyn]

nice stuff. Great wiring and a clean look.

 

[Detour]

Where did you source the large LED lights on the tailgate? Thanks......

oops!
missed this one..

well the lights are truck-lite and the rings are from grote. grote lights fit tighter (so tight you cant seperate) inside the reflective rings but the LEDs i used will stay put just fine.

these i purchased at a local big rig shop. potter and webster... i don't know how big the store-chain is but i know there are several of them...

 

[Detour]

well, i now have a max coupler on the way to replace the 2" coupler and "C" channel tongue extention.

had a total communications breakdown at work; no phone, fax or email... i made an echoey cell phone call to martyn at AT and he is sending it out today!!

THANK YOU MARTYN!

took the jeep and trailer out on its first job in decades: put some bikes in the trailer for the kids and went to the park.

i suspected that i might have a problem with bumping the tail lights from the back side and popping them out. so, now i need to think of a clever way of protecting them from shifting loads. shouldn't be too hard to do...

the wee one

the ham

 

[Detour]

well, when i was hauling those bikes, one of them popped out a tail light... they snap right back in.

figured i would take care of that with some stuff i had laying about..

had some .5 rod and 3/16 plate, thought i try some stuff..

yeah, close enough for me i guess... whatever wants to poke em out will have to try harder now...

i also added a tie down to protect the wiring at the tub

sorry, its the only camo color i had left, better than grey or blue on this trailer...

paint is drying and i think i will have something else to show tomorrow too...

 

[Detour]

this arrived while i was away. maybe i can rework that tongue with the square stock and get rid of that "not-so-good" assy that was cobbled together by a previous owner..

 

[Detour]

looked a bit closer at my trailers tongue: the welds were perferated, the c-channel tongue was bent. it was also off center as i suspect it was jammed together in haste by the last owner.

here's a few pics of what is being eliminated:

2" reciever and a plated a frame coming....

 

[Detour]

i'm not sure if anyone is following this or not but i wanted to mention a small flaw in my light selection...

on the first page you will see truck-lite LEDs mounted in grote reflective rings:

i made this selection to match the tail lights on my tj...

the problem is, they don't stay snapped in tightly like the grote LEDs would. the grotes are so tight they are very difficult to remove.

mine would have to be siliconed into place which is no biggie...

just a heads up for those who might be interested...


progress ended for the weekend with the removal of the scrap tongue assy. i just ran out of steam... we had so many wonderful guests this weekend there just was no way i wanted to focus on this anyways.

the domebrew tail light interior guards and tie-downs are complete though!

 

[StaceyE]

I'm anxious to see just what you do to attach the new hitch, this is on my "soon to do" list.

 

[Borrego60]

Dude you are gonna love that coupler first time you hook it up. Wiring looks good and clean I also solder my connections, makes for less trouble offroad with stufff shaking loose. I bet you also ran gromments where the wiring went into the frame? I did the same thing to my old m416 used a new military harness and even went as far to solder to the light socket itself to the new harness. I also hate extra connections.