DIY Fiberglass M416/M100 info...Its not out yet

[troyboy162]

Thought of this with Lance working on his trailer. I have run into info on this project for awhile. The premise is that the old military trailers are no longer $100 and plentiful. Now they are $800ish and rusty, so this guy figures that opens up an opportunity for a cheap re-make.

-Built around cheap, readily available, Harbor freight trailer or the original military frames
-Fiberglass tub for no rust and hopefully lower cost. Not flimsy (see below pic)
-Price is still in the air. I hope its ~$1000 and his other fiberglass trailers price makes $800-$900 total possible

If anyone has info please add it to the post as its available. The threads on the internet are all over for these but its hard to follow them since they are 12-18 pages long lol

Where to buy when they are available
http://www.dinoot.com/index.php/model-line-up

modding the harbor freight trailer. I think there are smaller versions that dont need modifications to the trailer.
http://tventuring.com/trailerforum/thread-119-post-2158.html#pid2158


All pics stolen of course but I would think he'd be ok with some more exposure.
overview of tub idea
http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc163/jscherb/MiniM416/DesignFeatures1_zps03f44417.jpg


http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc163/jscherb/MiniM416/M48Assembly2_zps20be259e.jpg

Real one on top and fiberglass one on the bottom (Yes I find the 5 bolt rims as disturbing as you lol):
http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc163/jscherb/MiniM416/FenderComparison2_zpsd129b001.jpg

Fiberglass and cheap would seem to be flimsy, but this guy is designing it burly. Mock up fender seen in this pic for fit testing
http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc163/jscherb/MiniM416/TailgateBrackets5_zps6fec4d8c.jpg

[Good Times]

Troy, I've been watching this same exact thread! I think a similar one is floating around on ExPo too. But this thread is more comprehensive.

I starting googling alternative options cuz I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with my trailer. Originally I was thinking of selling it and making a new trailer similar to some of the crazy AU trailers but reality hit me quick and hard just by looking at the 4runner still being incomplete. lol so instead I began researching what things I can do to quickly make my trailer a bit more road worthy and figured a full tune up with some new hardware wouldn't break the bank for me and also be an easy way to get me back on the road.

I'm still eying this thread to see what comes out of all of this. :)

[troyboy162]

its a pretty exciting project. Given the $800-$900 price puts you on Harbor freight tires, you shouldn't be going offroad, but as you bring it out to $1500 it should be a capable little trailer edging into the bottom end of 4k trailer territory. The effort to get it up and running isn't insignificant, but not terrible either.

cool stuff! I'm not sure I will ever be a trailer guy but this one makes the price alot less of a sting to get into it.

[troyboy162]

good info in this post for beefing up the harbor freight trailers on the cheap. Ex if you want to hang 35" tires off the thing then the axle and hubs should be upgraded. Edit...still learning...I dont know if upgraded hubs are needed to deal with the extra leverage of large tires. You figure these will be ultra light weight trailers so it would be great to just get some adapters to Toyota wheels and be done with it.
http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f27/mini-harbor-freight-type-trailer-ultimate-build-up-thread-1180456/

[Bob98SR5]

Gents,

While fiberglass is cool, easy to patch, light weight, rust proof, etc, I am not seeing the wisdom of paying that much more for something you cannot easily modify. Having a metal tub would allow you to weld on tabs, supports, etc. Knowing lance, he will add and/or weld so much shit onto it that it will have its own roll cage and a stinger on back!

Keep sanding away at the tub, Lance! Paint it with the rainbow camo that you were telling me about

Bob

[4x4mike]

I agree with Bob. Lance you already have the trailer and it's in good enough condition for you to put as much time into it as you have or plan.

If you're getting into a trailer the fiberglass option would be something to consider. You do need to keep in mind what your plans are for it though. It might not rust but it won't be as durable as a metal tub. Fine for casual camping but dump runs, flops and loaded wash board roads will decrease it's life.

[troyboy162]

Its not really the best option for those who already have a working trailer like Lance. With $800-$900 he could have a sandblasted and poweder coated princess than even the SD crew would be seen with. I think we can all agree the army version is more desirable from a traditional stand point.

I dont have a dog in the fight but something like this would not be harmed by all the hard core camping in the world. Fiberglass is strong enough for the application and air filled tires with suspension would treat it much better then a boat hual. Structural welds would be made to the frame and superficial tabs and brakets could be fixed to the tub like the tailgate and mods already done to the jeep version thats out.

What makes it good is you can go this route hopefully faster then restomoding a military one that you would be lucky to find in the first place. With your time invested of course, you could build something comparable for less then half the price of a expensive turn key adventue trailer. Its not the easy route but its not a bad one given the cheap trailers are all dried up

[Seanz0rz]

It would make a great option for a M762 trailer like mine. Toss that tub on top of my flatbed, then I have a trailer with a tub. and then I can take it off to haul 3x the trailers rated weight worth of tile!

[CJM]

I can see the tubs being worth it, its a good idea for those who just want a tub and wont be modifying it. I highly dislike bothering with the HF trailer. COuld easily weld something 10x stronger for 3-4x cheaper even if you paid someone, also dont trust the little axles on them things.

[troyboy162]

CJM is right. With the amount of work involved, boxing out a trailer base and sticking a axle on it wouldn't be much more work. Registration would be some hoops to jump through but worth while.

[Seanz0rz]

Not any more hoops than registering a military trailer without the decomissioning paperwork. Show recipts and pictures of the build, sign affidavit saying it's what you say it is. Took about 2 hours with out an appointment, and we had to be REALLY nice to the hateful dmv employee.

[troyboy162]

interesting...Now I just need to have a use for a trailer and two weekends of free time lol

[corax]

Pretty cool, I'll have to keep an eye on this . . . . it's even somewhat local to me

[CJM]

Whats this registration you guys speak of? here they ask you if you got a title or you made it and they accept a drawing if you made it.

[Seanz0rz]

I ran into problems registering mine because the PO put "Johnson military trailer" on the bill of sale. If he had put "utility trailer", we would have been out of there in 20 mins with a vin and everything.

here for a home built you need to explain that you built it, and it helps if you provide some documentation of that. pictures of the build, etc. from there, they will issue a title and vin. you get your 5 year perm trailer plate. it was cheap.

Yeah, I know, cali sucks... blah blah blah...

[The_Josh]

This tub will be on sale for about $1000 with the tailgate. So depending on what tires and rims you run realistically your looking at 2000-2500.

My tires were $700 for my trailer. Used extra Toyota rims. Custom axle with electric brakes is $440. Plus all your wiring and all that. Great option though but the cost will be a lot more than mentioned earlier


Can some one link to lances trailer build? I can't find it ...

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[troyboy162]

Still 775 on the website for the non tailgate and brakes aren't needed untill you go real heavy. Its as expensive as what you add I guess. We gotta teach you about budget building josh :-)

[Good Times]

Josh, see my sig. It should be in there. I just worked on the new frame today and will be painting everything. I will update w some pix when I get a chance. Plan is to bring it with me to pismo. :)

[The_Josh]

Still 775 on the website for the non tailgate and brakes aren't needed untill you go real heavy. Its as expensive as what you add I guess. We gotta teach you about budget building josh :-)

Brakes are never needed on that small of a trailer unless you want them and once you have them you will never go back.

I know about budgeting. I sold my motorcycle to do what I wanted to my trailer which I did. I still know what true costs are. Brakes are only $124 additional

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[troyboy162]

Project budget not personal budget josh. Skip the brand new tires, brakes and tailgate saves almost 1k. Its still too much for me to spend when I watch resourceful guys take their whole family on the mojave road with nothing more then tetris packing skills lol. Mark was amazing.. . We would stop for the night and he would have everything needed packed to the roof in the back of his runner.

I talked with Sean about building the trailer from scratch. More time of course but that eliminates concerns on the HF trailer.

I wish we all bought the 416 trailers back in the day when a nice one was 500 and hard to sell at that:-)

[Seanz0rz]

I am positive there is an old Tetris arcade cabinet somewhere with Mark's high score still on it!

For my M762, It was more cost effective to replace the axle than find bearings for the original one. New bearings were over 100, new axle, with everything but brakes (but has the flanges for it) was 180 ish. Uses standard bearings that cost about 15/side. Got it with 5 on 5.5 hubs to match the stock wheels, but could easily get 6 on 5.5 to match my wheels.

For wheels, I would have to match what is on my truck. Last time I purchased (5 or 6 years ago?) they were 80/wheel. Finding a used wheel is impossible. Tires are 250 each, that is about 700 for tires and wheels, mounted and balanced.

As much as I like saving money, I rather have new tires. My biggest example comes from JD's tire mishap in Rattlesnake Canyon. Americas tire, where I go, offers the free replacement for a small fee at the time you buy. If I buy used tires, I will be buying new tires to replace them soon enough after trail damage (which I feel is more likely on the trailer, since it can be controlled less in terms of avoiding debris on the trail and the road).

As for the fiberglass tub, I still rather have a steel tub. Trailers have a habit of sucking face with rocks and trees, and I rather be pounding out dents that cutting out damaged fiberglass and redoing it.

[troyboy162]

Just read lances post. Is yours a dexter axle as well? A little googling has shown they have nice stuff at good prices.

[Seanz0rz]

Got mine from http://www.trailerpart.com/ They were good to deal with, but it took a while to get.

[troyboy162]

Long long range radar for me but the guy is trying to expand into teardrop trailers and popups. Very interesting territory since a nice teardrop usually costs a first born child.
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/121184-quot-TrailTop-quot-modular-trailer-topper-building-components

[Kryptoroxx]

Long long range radar for me but the guy is trying to expand into teardrop trailers and popups. Very interesting territory since a nice teardrop usually costs a first born child.
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/121184-quot-TrailTop-quot-modular-trailer-topper-building-components

Ya know I would rather build my own trailer personally. Military trailers are great for offroading but I was thinking of building or modifying my own camping trailer for the family. Doubt I could do it now.....but down the road I think that would be an awesome project.

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[Seanz0rz]

After having owned my military trailer for a while, I rather build my own as well. Some day I will sell this one off and build one exactly to my specs. For the time being though, it will have to do. There are some changes I want to make though, hopefully this summer I will get some of them done before pismo and the desert season.

[troyboy162]

It would be a fun project and I could imagine it being less stressful since you're not down a vehicle during the construction. The socal teardrops are 10k-17k(new) and I would consider them the standard. I'd guess a similar unit would be 5k(possibly lots less if you used cheaper materials) with this method.

[Kryptoroxx]

I think a lot of those teardrops are made with little ingenuity as far as how things are arranged plus I have yet to see a teardrop made for a family.

Pretty sure you could incorporate some navy regs on bunks and squeeze at least two in the front bulkhead and then a double size bed on the other while still leaving room for the kitchen in the trunk.

Lol there I go trying to figure it out like I'm going to build next week or something. The tear drop is a very flexible design though and easy to really make an easy to tow trailer out of.

Aluminum for the frame and then that poly board laminate for the curved parts. I do believe I would use as little wood as possible and try to use fiberglass instead.

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[troyboy162]

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc163/jscherb/Camper/HFTrailTopAssy1_zps3ac376a3.gif

[Kryptoroxx]

That's not a bad little idea. Combo trailer

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