Pete M Posted August 16, 2018 Share Posted August 16, 2018 My longbed MJ trailer Here she is the day I got her. The bumper is pretzel, the tailights are cracked, the tailgate only opens with a screwdriver, the hitch is of the pintle variety, there are 3 coats of flaking paint and I had to supply my own leaf springs, but the price was right (free!) Title said she was built in colorado and I got her from a friend in georgia, but she isn't rust free so I don't know the rest of the story. Not even sure what year truck was cut up. (edit: the dates on the plastic bumper caps are 87, if they are original tot he truck) more or less it's an MJ sliced in half and a frame welded up front to make it a trailer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted August 16, 2018 Author Share Posted August 16, 2018 soon after acquiring her I sorted out the bad wiring and managed to locate a drop-in bedliner that wasn't all cut up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted August 16, 2018 Author Share Posted August 16, 2018 then, like any good truck, I put her to work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minuit Posted August 16, 2018 Share Posted August 16, 2018 Question: does that bedliner lift up at highway speed? I have that exact Duraliner bedliner, and I've never managed to get it to actually stay down on the bed above 55 or so. My '89 actually has the paint scraped off from a couple of spots because of abrasion from it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted August 16, 2018 Author Share Posted August 16, 2018 not only does it not stay down, I actually lost it on the freeway on the way to pick up those tires. (obviously I was able to recover it, but I never did find the spare tire). If the trailer was empty while driving I put the spare tire in the bed near the front. and this had worked great for driving around town (max 55mph), but apparently on the long freeway drive the tire had shifted to the back and that was all it took to let air pressure suck it right out. whoosh! took the tire with it and flung both off to the side of the road (thankfully). Lesson learned I'm still not certain how I want to secure it, but I threw a couple clamps in the bedbox until I do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted August 16, 2018 Author Share Posted August 16, 2018 the trailer is still looking kinda rough... but then I got lucky at the junkyard a while back: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted August 16, 2018 Author Share Posted August 16, 2018 and so here we are today. in the process of stripping it down for paint and some "shiny new" parts. I'd like to have it ship-shape for the PowWow on the 25th. If I can't bring a whole MJ, I can at least bring half of one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted August 16, 2018 Author Share Posted August 16, 2018 best laid plans... so the power washer was doing a fantastic job of removing the loose paint and then the head split and now it just dribbles water. so I'm off to the store for a wire wheel I guess... also, the hunter green I wanted to use clashes horribly with the Liberty's even darker green. soooo... I'm thinking a dark brown maybe? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wounded_Fighter Posted August 16, 2018 Share Posted August 16, 2018 neat-o. I think it'd be cool to pull a truck behind a truck lol. kinda make people double take ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gogmorgo Posted August 17, 2018 Share Posted August 17, 2018 My bed liner has double-sided tape under the rail caps, but also self-tappers into the side of the rails, and a strip of small angle iron bolted down along the bottom edge at the back, where it meets the tailgate. It's the way it came, and it holds down great up to 115mph. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted August 18, 2018 Author Share Posted August 18, 2018 oh my, what did I get myself into... turns out some of the red and green paints come right off with the electric power washer... but not all of it. so now I have to break out the sander and it'll need a coat of primer. I hate body work. and not just that, body work on a pile-of-crap dented and rusted body that will never be perfect. there's no way I'm fixing all the problems, so now I get to spend the next few days feeling like I'm halfassing it (even though this level of effort is way more than it deserves). sigh. hooray for hobbies? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted August 19, 2018 Author Share Posted August 19, 2018 no pics at the moment, but the sanding is done and she's coated in gray. still struggling with choosing a final color also contemplating making the lower 3rd will be black. just too much damage for a color so I figure black will hide some of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted August 20, 2018 Author Share Posted August 20, 2018 a sneak peak of the paint. it's a satin "almond" or some such thing. I wanted a tan, it seems more cream under the florescent lights, but whatever. whatever it is is what it's going to be for this weekend at the PowWow. I'm going to give it another day in the barn before I drag it out into the sunlight. It's just to dang humid outside. at least the barn has a de-humidifier running. then I'll touch up the black areas and start installing the rest of the bits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
500 MJ Posted August 21, 2018 Share Posted August 21, 2018 Looks good Pete! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted August 21, 2018 Author Share Posted August 21, 2018 I appreciate the kind words. just don't get too close. she's seen a hard life and I can only turn back the clock so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted August 21, 2018 Author Share Posted August 21, 2018 starting to look like a comanche again. I went with bolts and washers for the flares since the studs all snapped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wounded_Fighter Posted August 22, 2018 Share Posted August 22, 2018 Going to put some bedliner in it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted August 22, 2018 Author Share Posted August 22, 2018 I have a drop-in that should be installed later today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted August 23, 2018 Author Share Posted August 23, 2018 made some tiedown points. there's a big washer under the bedliner and I opened up the hole in the plastic for the nut. now the liner can move a bit and not buckle in the sun, but it is securely attached and won't blow away (again). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted August 23, 2018 Author Share Posted August 23, 2018 and the finished product. should look great rolling down the road. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOrnbrod Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 Looks great Pete. See THIS ad in the classifieds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
500 MJ Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 Nice job Pete! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted August 23, 2018 Author Share Posted August 23, 2018 1 hour ago, HOrnbrod said: Looks great Pete. See THIS ad in the classifieds. oh I promise, you don't want this particular trailer. the internal bedside rust is rampant and has just started popping pinholes under the flares. she's lead a hard life. but I just remembered that I wanted to pull a build date off one of the mangled rear bumper's endcaps. I'll put that on my list for tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted August 23, 2018 Author Share Posted August 23, 2018 couldn't wait. ran outside with a flashlight and found that the endcaps were molded in 87. for whatever that's worth. also, there's a big owl in the tree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOrnbrod Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 7 minutes ago, Pete M said: oh I promise, you don't want this particular trailer. the internal bedside rust is rampant and has just started popping pinholes under the flares. she's lead a hard life. Okay - I'll take your word for it Pete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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