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I suppose picking up "new" trailers and bringing them home counts as "What did you do to your trailer"...? 
Tinstar's cool flightline trailer conversion made me think of these trailers.
I was recently offered two M416s extremely cheap. Both came off Laughlin Air Force Base many years ago, given by the USAF to the Civil Air Patrol. CAP hadn't used them for several years, so passed them on to me.
The chap who passed them on was the one who picked them up from Laughlin originally; he said the yellow one had been a flightline trailer, though he didn't remember specifically for what. My understanding is that DOL is Air Force lingo for aircrew life support, so we'll have to use our imagination for what they carried in it.
The topper is made out of 1/8" aluminium, a really professional job. The left side opens, right side is fixed. There is a rubber seal over the hinge on top, and seals around the edges, the rubber is pretty perished and all need replacing.
The yellow trailer is destined for a 383 camo paint job, to be pulled by my M1009.
The green one went to my buddy Domingo for his M1009.
The wheels and tires on my yellow trailer were civilian type, and rather small. Domingo had come up with a load of M151/416 rims and gave three to me to replace my civvy ones, and have a spare.
Evil Dr Porkchop had posted pictures of his M416 on 245/75R16 radial tires some while back, and they looked good to me, so that is what I chose for this trailer. New, those tires are half the price of new NDTs, are probably better suited for use behind the M1009 anyway, and mount fine tubeless on the military wheels.
The wheels were sandblasted, primed, and painted black. The tires are now mounted and ready to go on the trailer after it gets blasted and repainted.
The civilian lights will be replaced with standard military ones, I have a new trailer plug cable I picked up somewhere, and an NOS wiring harness I got at the Des Moines MVPA convention (from Ziggy-O?).
Cheers
PS - Yes, the trailers were tied down on the flatbed before we headed home!
Tinstar's cool flightline trailer conversion made me think of these trailers.
I was recently offered two M416s extremely cheap. Both came off Laughlin Air Force Base many years ago, given by the USAF to the Civil Air Patrol. CAP hadn't used them for several years, so passed them on to me.
The chap who passed them on was the one who picked them up from Laughlin originally; he said the yellow one had been a flightline trailer, though he didn't remember specifically for what. My understanding is that DOL is Air Force lingo for aircrew life support, so we'll have to use our imagination for what they carried in it.
The topper is made out of 1/8" aluminium, a really professional job. The left side opens, right side is fixed. There is a rubber seal over the hinge on top, and seals around the edges, the rubber is pretty perished and all need replacing.
The yellow trailer is destined for a 383 camo paint job, to be pulled by my M1009.
The green one went to my buddy Domingo for his M1009.
The wheels and tires on my yellow trailer were civilian type, and rather small. Domingo had come up with a load of M151/416 rims and gave three to me to replace my civvy ones, and have a spare.
Evil Dr Porkchop had posted pictures of his M416 on 245/75R16 radial tires some while back, and they looked good to me, so that is what I chose for this trailer. New, those tires are half the price of new NDTs, are probably better suited for use behind the M1009 anyway, and mount fine tubeless on the military wheels.
The wheels were sandblasted, primed, and painted black. The tires are now mounted and ready to go on the trailer after it gets blasted and repainted.
The civilian lights will be replaced with standard military ones, I have a new trailer plug cable I picked up somewhere, and an NOS wiring harness I got at the Des Moines MVPA convention (from Ziggy-O?).
Cheers
PS - Yes, the trailers were tied down on the flatbed before we headed home!
