M416 Overland Trailer Build – Part 1

In another great DIY article, Ryan provides us a rundown of his home brew trailer. Taking an old M101A2 military trailer from rundown to something functional and usable on the trails.

2/16/19 – The beginning. So I wanted to build an overland camper and get the rooftop tent off my Jeep and onto a trailer. So I first purchased an M101A2. While I loved the trailer for doing stuff around the house, it was too big for what I wanted. So I sold it and picked up an older and semi-decent shape M416 for $600. The overall shape was pretty decent, but I couldn’t stand the orange paint, so I did a “QUICK” spray bomb job to turn it black to use during the hunting season.

So after a TON of sketching and designing, I finally decided on the design for my trailer. I am going to build a steel topper for it with the rack on top. The top will be hinged to open. I also acquired an old CJ tailgate to fab into it. I will also be having a couple slide our drawers as well, a tongue box with all the electronic stuff and battery. The list is long.

Disassemble Johnny Five

So starting out, I needed to remove the big tongue and standard coupler, to replace it with a custom articulating lunette that a buddy and I designed. He fabbed it up and I think it will work perfectly.

So today I removed the tub from the frame. I decided to just remake the entire tongue from scratch since it’s only four bolts that hold it on. Have to get the steel for that tomorrow.

I decided to start on the tailgate today. Was more of a pain than I thought. The tub, once I cut out the back section, sucked in nearly 3/4″. So I had to weld in a mini frame inside the back to help push the sides back out. I pretty much have everything tacked in place and lined up for the time being. I am waiting on some CJ hinges to arrive so I can attach the tailgate, then I will be able to clean it all up and start on a lath system.