Purple heart 416 B1 road to rehab

[M422M416B1]

Old 422A1 custodian new 416B1 custodian and new member of the g838.
This seems to be the place for knowledge and stories about the great M416 trailers.
I was searching Craigslist for a "small" trailer to pull around the yard behind my quad and I came across this ad for a M416 trailer.

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Now having an M422 tucked in the back of my toy box I saw the wheels on it and knew this was no ordinary 416. This is the last thing I thought I would be buying but also realized it could be the last 416B1 I might find.
Now I'm in the Bay Area of Nor Cal and this is in the high desert of So Cal so it's going to be a commitment. After doing a little more research and getting more pics from the seller all the boxes get checked... 422 wheels and tires ... lifting hoops all 4 corners.... Jerry can mounts.... parking brake located on side. .. Now start looking at the bad... no data plates... rear panel butchered and tail gate cut in... lunnette, landing gear and safety chains replaced with a ball hitch... military lights gone. Now I look for comps.... several 416 and 416A1 ranging from $300 to $3000..... can't find any B1 comps. Now I see m422 wheels selling $300 used so I think the wheels are worth $600 so the rest of the trailer has some value even being butchered and missing the landing gear hitch assembly and lights. The seller is asking $1500 I offer $800 considering the amount of time and money it's going to take to get it presentable behind the 422 not to mention $400 in fuel to go down and back to get it. So he comes back at $900 and we have a deal.
So I fill up the gas tank and start draining my bank account and head south luckily the seller is kind enough to meet me just outside of LA on hwy 5. As I pull up I can see she is a little battered and bruised but apparently road worthy. The rear panel is bad and the 12v lights are not working so he ends up knocking another hundred off he did have a set of magnetic lights so that was great.
As I'm walking around checking it out he points out a bullet hole that went through one of the jerry can mounts.

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Now I start noticing all these little patches welded all over.

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On one fender I see two small patches on top and as feel under the fender I can feel what appears to be an exit holes from a bullet.

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Has this poor girl returned from battle or put out to target practice?
I get her hooked up and head into LA to visit some friends and take a look at the wheel bearings before the 400 mile return trip North. As I head into the craziness of LA I soon realize just how small the 416 is as I can not see it behind my van backing up is not an option lol.
Once I get to Venice I get lucky and get a spot in front of my friends house so I drag his jack out and pull the hubs off on Venice BLVD.

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Luckily the bearings look pretty good but some additional grease is good. I also find one side missing the second lock nut so I put it back together with the one nut and smash the tab over of the lock washer and cross my fingers.
I pull out of LA the next day and begin the journey north I leave the rear windows open in the hopes I hear something if anything happens back there. As I drive I notice the same thing I noticed when I first hooked it up the day before .... nothing ! The trailer is silent .. no vibrations .. no swaying nothing! I'm amazed how well the military tires roll along at 65 mph and over all how well this little trailer travels. I check the wheels for any bearing slop half way home and everything feels fine so I push on and we make it home.
So now what to do with her ? After looking at her for a few days I'm thinking her battle scars eliminate bringing her back to showroom condition. I would like to source original lights and bo light along with 24v wiring so she'll tow behind the 422. I'm also not having any luck on finding a replacement rear panel so maybe I try to clean up and re work the bastard tail gate? I've seen a two inch receiver mount that's made for the 416 rails and allow an newer style lunnette to slide in or ball style depending on what's pulling her. I've also found the data plates so help identifying the maker and production year would be appreciated. On that note any help in sourcing correct lights would be appreciated. I'll post more as the project progresses and when she meets my 422 buried in my toy box lol

[rickf]

Welcome to the forum. While we are mainly a M-151 forum we do like to look at oddball things once in a while. We actually have a forum just for oddball vehicles but this can go in the trailer section. My personal opinion would be that the bullet holes were mostly accumulated from sitting out in the desert somewhere. If it were on a military range there would be little to nothing left. And battle damaged trailers were not worth the time and money to bring back from any country they were used in am sure. Could have happened, you never know. Missing data plates are unfortunate. Member Redlight on here has done a lot of work buying and selling trailers, he might be able to tell you more about it. Have you checked out Steel Soldiers or G503.com websites for info on the trailers? Both of those sites cover the entire range of military vehicles. Member M3a1 did just come across a complete hitch setup for a 416 trailer. I don't know if he will part with it though, he is in Texas.

[Mark]

I used to have 2 m416 trailers, put on them a under-the-truck box spare tire carrier/tire.

[Horst]

nice find!

The parts you are looking for, aren't they standard M416 parts? Should be able to get them, right? I would guess anyone with good metal skills can make you a rear panel. I had one made for my MB - T style trailer (for the M201), it also had a tailgate cut in. I however left the rear open and the rear panel now slides in and secures with 2 bolts. You can't tell the difference from a few yards away but this way I have the option to take advantage of an open tail and the military look. But honestly, I never used it. In contrast to the M416 I have.

[muttguru]

If you bought your new M416B1 dataplates from Horne, they should have the Manufacturer and Contract Number already included.

If you want to see a picture of an original B1 dataplate, let me know and I'll e-mail it to you.
PS...is there any sign of its original USMC registration number?

Ken

[M422M416B1]

Thanks for the info on steel soldiers website. I think the tail lights are available but the lunnette and lunnette receiver are getting pretty pricey if found. Rear panel would need to be fabricated.
No sign of usmc markings but I hope to strip some layers off and see if anything appears.
From what I've read 2000 B1s were made. Can anyone tell me between what years the B1s were made and how many companies made them?

[rickf]

I am pretty sure the only thing different between the regular 416 and the B1 version is the axle. All the lights and hook ups, lunnette and tongue and body are all the same. Not even sure about the axle, are the bolt patterns different between the 151 wheels and the Mighty Mite wheels? If it is the same bolt pattern I will bet it is the same axle.

[Horst]

the TM_9-2330-251-14 is the very same TM for the M416 and the M416B1, so I would also assume all the key parts are the same. This is true for the October 1970 version, the later version from October 1985 only covers the M416 and the M416A1