Did a springover on my M100 trailer....

[Brian in Oregon]

Here are before and after pics of the springover I did on my M100 trailer.

[Brian in Oregon]

We started by flipping the trailer onto its back. Then disconnected the parking brake cable assembly from the J-hook and the cable hold downs on the frame. Next the shocks and u-bolts were disconnected.

Instead of disconnecting one end of the springs or their mounts, I simply jacked up the spring to clear the brake drums. The axle was then slide to the side, followed by jacking the other spring to finish removal.

[Brian in Oregon]

The spring perches will rest on the opposite side of the springs. The perches need to have their holes opened up to 3/4" diameter to clear the nut on the spring bolt. Instead of drilling into the axle tube, we ground down the protruding portion of the spring bolt.

[Brian in Oregon]

The axle tube and backing plates will be 180 degrees opposite of where they need to be. Set the axle onto the springs so the spring perches mate with the spring surface. The orientation should be with the parking brake cable pointing to the REAR of the trailer, not the front. The brake drums are removed, the brake shoe springs are removed, the brake shoes are "butterflied" open, and the six bolts holding the backing plates to the axle flange are removed. The backing plates are then flipped 180 degrees, so that the cable points forward. One of the cables will have to be removed from the lever on the backing plate. This is a pin held by a small cotter pin. The cables are then threaded between the trailer frame and the axle. The brakes and cable are reassembled.

[Brian in Oregon]

Not shown here is the orientation of the u-bolt plates and its stud for the shocks. I checked one of the shocks, and it had plenty of travel to allow the studs to be towards the rear of the trailer. While hooking up the other shock, we discovered that the shock was bottomed out. Any bump would have caused damage to the trailer or shock. We swapped the plates so the shock studs were at the front. This doesn't dampen the trailer as well, as it makes the shock angle more severe. This will be addressed later by installing more suitable shocks and changing the plates so the shock studs are again at the rear.

[Brian in Oregon]

The brake cable clamp must be extended in the direction of the axles. I made up simple plates to do this. I can't claim this as my idea - I saw another trailer done this way on mud. We did run into a problem. I moved the clamp too far out, and this caused the brake cable to rub on the tire. Drilled new holes closer to the original position, and this gave enough clearance. For measurements, if you use basically a square design for the holes, you'll have the right spacing.

[Brian in Oregon]

Because a springover moves the axle further away from the trailer, the handbrake J-hook is now too short. I wanted to use a threaded sleeve and some threadall to extend the existing J-hook, but couldn't find the hardware locally. As an expedient, an 8" battery J-hook hold down was used. This particular one is smaller in diameter. It will be upgraded later.

[Brian in Oregon]

After double checking all bolts to make sure they were tight, and remounting the tires and wheels, the trailer was flipped upright. (This is at least a two man job, and three people would be safer.)

Jeep trailers with brakes obviously take more work than their brakeless civilian counterparts. It took us about an hour to do a springover on a civilian Bantam trailer, and about four hours on the M100. And note that we did not have other work to do on the M100. The brakes and axle seals were in good condition. All I had to do was clean dust, mud and a bit of grime out with brake cleaner spray. Add more time if other repairs are needed.

In this pic our kitty Buttons (aka Butthead aka Kitty Taliban) is inspecting our work. It's the last photo of him. He was run over shortly afterwards by a low slung speeding rice burner, who badly exceeded the limit in a quiet residential neighborhood. I was in the process of making this thread last night when he got run over.

[Ebag333]

Originally Posted by Brian in Oregon

In this pic our kitty Buttons (aka Butthead aka Kitty Taliban) is inspecting our work. It's the last photo of him. He was run over shortly afterwards by a low slung speeding rice burner, who badly exceeded the limit in a quiet residential neighborhood. I was in the process of making this thread last night when he got run over.

I hate with a serious passion people who drive too fast down a residential street. It's one thing to drive fast on the freeway, another down a street where kids and cats play.



This is an excellent thread and should be added to the FAQ.

[Farmer_Fred]

great looking job. This is a helpful thread. sorry to hear about kitty- he seems to be admiring your handywork in the picture, or thinking about hopping in the back of your truck

[Brian in Oregon]

He often hopped in the cruiser, and liked to sleep in it when the top was off. When the top is installed, he'd sit on it and watch the neighborhood. Maybe I should have nicknamed him Cruiser Cat.

[Morse_FJ40]

Brian that sucks about your cat... we are missing one of our kitties right now. Little Smith has been gone since sat night. Wesson really misses her sister. We posted flier all over the area. We heard that in the neighborhood behind our 2 1/2 arces, a man traps cats and takes them to the humane society. I really want to know which house it is!!

The trailer build is looking great!! What size lift do you have on your 40??

thanks
Ryan