M101A2 & A3 Camping Trailer (1 Viewer)

[scrapdaddy]

Thanks Guys! Loading starts next week, Pig Party '18 here we come!

 

[GLTHFJ60]

How far inset is the wheel from the outside of the fender well?

Looks awesome Ron

 

[scrapdaddy]

Thanks Man, I'm guessing @ 4" between the tire and inside wall and the tire is right on the edge of the outside fender.

 

[J Mack]

I blamed J Mack for the 55

Wait what???

You clearly had a two year rabbit hole head start on my budget build, in fact following your build thread cost me so much of my budget on shiny parts I ran out of money for the Nebula paint I had planned.

She's done for now.

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Looks great Ron!!
Looking forward to enjoying a cold beverage and checking it out at the party.

 

[scrapdaddy]

I had to spread the blame around, couldn't handle all the heat alone.

See you at the Party!

 

[ontopofm]

I cut the 4 1/2" out today and had a surprise., got to love military stuff (heavyduty). That tube wall is 1/2" thick and the flange extended into the tube making that first cut a solid one. I had to use two different weapons getting through it. Coming up with a plan, but need to chuck the flange in a lathe and square it up.

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I have the same axle. If I cut it closer to the spring perch, will I be cutting on the solid too? How far does the solid on the flange extended into the tube?

 

[scrapdaddy]

Man, I just threw those pieces away. You could move the cut closer to the perch and depending on how much you cut miss the solid piece. I think the solid shaft went another 1/2" in, just guessing now. If you decide on how much you want to cut out, remember to subtract enough for a machined stub, maybe 3/4" to press into the tube for strength and alignment.

EDIT... Thinking about what you're wanting to do, I'd say stick with having the hub end solid, so you can machine a stub to stick in the tube. The stub helped align it and give some strength to the joint.

 

[ontopofm]

I want to sleeve it instead of getting the solid machined. I don't have access to machine.

 

[scrapdaddy]

That will work, guessing you'll have to cut the angled brace out and find a sleeve that fits tight. How much are you planning on cutting out on each side?

 

[ontopofm]

My 80 series wheel mount surface to wheel mount surface is 63". I will try to match to that. If the axle tube is 3" thick and the wall is 1/2", I guess getting the 2.5" tube won't be too hard. What tool did you use to cut the axle? I have chop saw, reciprocating saw, and angle grinder.

 

[scrapdaddy]

I used a die grinder with a thin 4 1/2" disc and then in order to get through that middle I switched to a Mil. band saw. I just took my time and made sure everything went straight.

 

[scrapdaddy]

Well, just got back from the Pig Party and everything worked great on the trailer except the brakes. I couldn't get the controller functioning right before we left. I highly advise having working brakes on a trailer this size. Coming down some of the high and long mountain passes it would certainly have helped to have the brakes working.

I really like the tongue jack, worked flawless even with it covered in dessert dust and mud.

 

[Ol Yeller]

Bummer on the break-s. I tow a 23’ tt (usually quite fast) and I need working brakes even behind the duramax...sketchy as hell when they decide to bail. Usually in the rain...

Glad it got you and your stuff back home!

 

[Mark Harley]

Great fab work on the trailer. Looks great.

 

[scrapdaddy]

Thanks Mark,

She'll probably stay that way for the Summer or until I figure out how I want to build the next phase. Works so good to just throw stuff in there and go.

 

[scrapdaddy]

I finally found some time to address the brake issues, the problem wasn't with the controller it was two wires cross wired in the trailer wire harness. The plug is molded together and they had the blue wire as ground and the white wire for the brakes. it took awhile figuring that out.

The brakes still weren't working right, just wouldn't stop the wheels from turning, but you could hear the magnet jumping. Turns out the military hub isn't made for an electric brake system and the magnet didn't have enough surface area to grab to. I called E-Trailer about their drum/hub for the brakes I bought from them and it turns out the axle stub the military uses has a different outer bearing (bigger) then the E-Trailer hub, out of luck again.I kicked around an idea with my go to machinist and here is what we came up with...

Here the hub was machined down flat so a plate (rotor) could bolt to it.

Here's the plate (rotor)

Bolted together

To get an idea of what i thought would work, you can see the magnet just barely touching the hub, yeah I'm an idiot...

Now the magnet grabs the rotor fully and stops great. I haven't tried it fully loaded, so can't tell you for sure it works, but I'm betting it does.

EDIT...Let me add, this probably isn't the best solution to the problem, but was cheap and it works.

 

[Ol Yeller]

Looks like the correct fix from here, looking at the before pic I’m pretty sure I’d have tried it and hoped for the best too.

 

[boerboel313]

Alright, I measured for the tongue length and wanted to know if I'm on the right track. As it sits here the tongue from the end of the body will be @ 51" and 107" overall. Is 51" too long of a tongue or could I go even longer?

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What engine is in that 55?

 

[scrapdaddy]

It's a 5.3 Chevy Vortec truck motor.

Good time to give an update on the trailer brakes. We took a camping trip up through Yellowstone and over Bear Tooth Pass and the brakes worked great. The 55 nor the trailer brakes ever got hot coming down from the pass and you couldn't feel the brakes grab much at faster speeds, but in gravel going really slow the trailer tires would lock up when applied. I need to get used to adjusting them on the fly with the brake controller.