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Trailer fab

Discussion in 'Builds and Fabricators Forum' started by DanStew, Jul 28, 2008.

  1. Jul 28, 2008
    DanStew

    DanStew Preowned Merkin salesman Staff Member

    Lexington, South...
    Joined:
    Sep 22, 2002
    Messages:
    4,585
    Well i am getting started today to build a offroad trailer. With all my debating on getting a m416 or bantam i should jsut get to doing it. I am jsut trying to determine a few things.

    My frame and tub will be 6 inches wide and 5 foot long. The tub being 18 inches tall and i will make a tailgate for it. The M416 is a foot longer. I am trying to remember if the foot was too much or just right for trailering. I know i wanted my traielr to be shallower than the m416 but i am on the fence on keeping the 5 foot length or making it all te wy to 6 foot.

    Next debate is should i make the floor wood or skin it with steel. I do not have a roller to put any strenth dimples in the steel and really i do not have a large sheet of steel to do the floor in one peice, i would have to graft two together. But if i used 1x6 planks of wood i could have a pretty nice floor, i just would need to prevent the wood from making the classic wood rattlnig noise when hitting bumps.

    So those who have built their own trailers what did you do for yours differnt than a m416/bantam and what would you change? Do you have any pcis of the tubs you built, especially the supports.
     
  2. Jul 28, 2008
    Fnord5

    Fnord5 El Jeepo Gigantico!

    Sacramento...
    Joined:
    Aug 31, 2007
    Messages:
    177
    Make it waterproof so you can do this with it:
    [​IMG]
     
  3. Jul 28, 2008
    sammy

    sammy Coca-Cola?

    Albuquerque, NM
    Joined:
    Jul 1, 2007
    Messages:
    1,577
    IMO, my M100 looks too 'big' behind my Jeep, and a little smaller would look better. Whatcha gonna be hauling Dan? Make sure you have a tailgate or a removable panel. If I had it here, I'd take pictures of our other trailer, the way the tailgate works. It's not hinged, it just slides in and slides in there.
    Brace your floor with some hat chanel like, and then skin it with steel, MUCH better than wood. Last november I replaced all the wood after 9 years in our other trailer, and steel would have been better, but hotter. If you don't have the steel, 1x6 could work, just make sure you leave room for expansion. IMO the best design you may go with-do like Posi's off road traielr and make it a stake bed.
    oh, and Alex, they still do that...
    [​IMG]
     
  4. Jul 28, 2008
    schardein

    schardein Low Range Therapy

    Success, MO
    Joined:
    Aug 11, 2003
    Messages:
    553
    Here is my M416. The bed was way beyond saving, so I replaced it with a piece of plywood. I also have an M100, but I find I use this flatbed as much if not more. Picking up/transporting things like axles is so much easier to load on and off. The plywood was treated once with some waterproofing and is still in good shape 5 years later.
     
  5. Jul 28, 2008
    Homebrew2

    Homebrew2 Member

    Dunlap, CA
    Joined:
    Aug 17, 2007
    Messages:
    511
    I'm with plywood too. Just replaced the 1/2" floor on my fabbed 5'x10' trailer after 20 years of HARD use ... replaced with 3/4" this time ;)
     
  6. Jul 28, 2008
    Kman

    Kman Member

    Middletown...
    Joined:
    Feb 27, 2005
    Messages:
    410
    I redid an old trailer my dad had a few years back and used pressure treated 1"x6" boards and I put them tight against each other. Turns out they shrunk and I have gaps between them now. I would like to build a small trailer to haul camping gear in off-road behind one of our Jeeps. I hope you share photos of your build. Those M100's look about the size of what I'd like to build.
     
  7. Jul 28, 2008
    $ sink

    $ sink Gazillians of posts

    Virginia Bch
    Joined:
    Nov 25, 2004
    Messages:
    1,373
    I put a tailgate in my M416 because the rear panel had already been cut out. the only other thing that I think would make it more useful would be a set of stake pockets to extend teh sides when needed.
     
  8. Jul 30, 2008
    Posimoto

    Posimoto Hopeless JEEP Addict

    Minden, Nevada
    Joined:
    Aug 7, 2003
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    4,538
    If you do a wood floor, I'd stay away from planks because of the expansion and shrinkage. I used 1 1/8" plywood for my floor and sides and treated it with some SuperDek oil. I have one center support under the floor. I wanted my bed to be on the small side @ 3' x 4' long. It's really not much bigger than the back of the Jeep and if I were doing it over I might add a little to the length. I wouldn't go over 5' though. I made my wheel width slightly less than the Jeep so it would track pretty close to the rear wheel of the Jeep on the inside of a turn. I aLso made the distance from the hitch to the center of the trailer axle roughly the same as the distance from center to center on the Jeep axles.
     
  9. Jul 30, 2008
    Jeepman252

    Jeepman252 Sponsor

    Menomonie, WI
    Joined:
    Nov 20, 2005
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    198
  10. Aug 1, 2008
    Posimoto

    Posimoto Hopeless JEEP Addict

    Minden, Nevada
    Joined:
    Aug 7, 2003
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    4,538
    The synthetic boards are really floppy and you would have to have substantial support for the floor to keep them from sagging.
     
  11. Aug 1, 2008
    Don X

    Don X The Prodigal Moderator Staff Member 2023 Sponsor

    San Diego,...
    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2007
    Messages:
    3,383
    Dan, I'd recommend at least 18 inches wide. It'd be much more versatile. :D
     
  12. Aug 1, 2008
    DanStew

    DanStew Preowned Merkin salesman Staff Member

    Lexington, South...
    Joined:
    Sep 22, 2002
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    4,585
    No 6 inches is fine since i will place my beer cans and soda cans side by side, think of it more than just a trailer, it is a rolling cooler :)
     
  13. Aug 1, 2008
    bobcat

    bobcat Member

    lynchburg,va
    Joined:
    Nov 4, 2006
    Messages:
    197
    right click, save. bob
     
  14. Aug 1, 2008
    DanStew

    DanStew Preowned Merkin salesman Staff Member

    Lexington, South...
    Joined:
    Sep 22, 2002
    Messages:
    4,585
    I have found a few online sites to make my own sheetmetal brake and a very crude bead roller so i think i may be making a complete tub out of sheetmetal, since i have just enough to make one, given i will have a seam in the center of the tub, but oh well it will work out fine.
     
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