M101A2 Project (1 Viewer)

[Teddy]

I've owned an M416 that was in pretty decent shape (but had some issues) for a while now. However, I was getting to the point that it was just too small for me. I would have loved to have kept it, but I don't have room or a need for two trailers.

So, after a few weeks of looking I found a guy about an hour from me that buys and sells a lot of military trailers as a side job. We worked out a deal and he ended up with my M416 and I ended up with one of his M101A2's (a 1990 model). Overall, it's in great shape, only rust is a little surface rust on the nose of the trailer, but there isn't a trace of rust anywhere underneath, on the suspension, or through the bed. Tires are almost new, parking brakes work great, surge brakes work great, front and rear factory landing legs are in place, and basically everything that it was built with in 1990 is still attached.

I already rewired it to run on a 12 volt 4 flat plug and was able to make it look pretty original by reusing factory mounts. Other than that, I don't really have any special plans for it in the immediate future. It will be used for general hauling purposes and I'll be taking it as a base camp setup on wheeling trips.

I'll use this thread to keep up with what I do to it and as a place to ask questions.

 

[Teddy]

It's been raining non stop for 3 days, and it supposed to rain until Friday. I hope to be able to pressure wash it and get it cleaned up next weekend. My dad has a sandblast booth at his shop, if I ever get fancy and decide to paint it...

 

[Squash]

Great rigs.
Picked one up with good hoops and fairly new tarp.

 

[Living in the Past]

If you decide to sand blast it be careful. The paint the military used is toxic from what I've read.

 

[Teddy]

If you decide to sand blast it be careful. The paint the military used is toxic from what I've read.

Good point. This one has a ton of weird undercoating. I've heard that means it was MARINES. If I ever did blast it, it'd be way down the line.

 

[Teddy]

So, even though the tires looked good, one was original to 1990 and one was 8 years old, so I went ahead and replaced them. I went with the 10 ply trailer tires in the OEM size. The reality is this trailer will be used for hauling on paved road, the farm, and fire roads 90% of the time. The other 10% will be on easy 4x4 trails and then get dropped at a base camp.

Yes, they are Chinese tires, no I don't care. For $200 out the door I'm not that concerned and I will have a spare with me. My brother in law has put 10000 miles on a set of these on his 47 foot horse trailer with living quarters. I figure they will age out before I have any issues.

 

[JayDoc]

Nice.
When you get a minute, could you show how you used the original mounts for your lights?
I have one that I tried to convert but gave up with the mass of wires and went with less than stylish walmart lights.
I still have the light housings and would like to use them again if it's not to much of a pain in the ass.

 

[Teddy]

Nice.
When you get a minute, could you show how you used the original mounts for your lights?
I have one that I tried to convert but gave up with the mass of wires and went with less than stylish walmart lights.
I still have the light housings and would like to use them again if it's not to much of a pain in the ass.

I just left the original 24 volt bulbs in there. They are just as bright as my tail lights on my truck. However, you can just stick a 12 volt bulb in them and they will be brighter. Just take a bulb the auto parts store and match up the blades on it. No need to rewire anything at the actual tail lights.

Or, where you asking how I rewired it to run on a 4 pin?

 

[Brimley]

That's the same trade I'm looking for. need something bigger.

 

[JayDoc]

Or, where you asking how I rewired it to run on a 4 pin?

Yeah, I was wondering how you added the 4 pin.
Did you splice it into the mass of original wires or run new wire to the lights?

 

[Teddy]

Yeah, I was wondering how you added the 4 pin.
Did you splice it into the mass of original wires or run new wire to the lights?

It's really simple, just take off the metal cover plate over the electrical junction for the NATO plug. There will be 8 wires and a ground in there, just pull them out of the connector. You only need 3 of them and the ground. They aren't color coded, they are marked with numbers on metal tags. Here are the numbers on the tags you will need:

Right turn/stop - 22-460
Left turn/stop - 22-461
Tail/markerlights - 21
Ground - 90

Here is a good link also: http://olive-drab.com/od_mseries_circuits.php

After you've found the wires you need, just splice them into the corresponding wires on your 4 flat plug. I ended up having to extend my harness out to 5 feet to have enough slack. They sell it in a big roll at Wal-Mart in the trailer section. Just wrap the other wires out of the way with some electrical tape and you're good to go. If you ever wanted to put the NATO plug back on, just re-splice it back together.

 

[JayDoc]

It's really simple, just take off the metal cover plate over the electrical junction for the NATO plug. There will be 8 wires and a ground in there, just pull them out of the connector. You only need 3 of them and the ground. They aren't color coded, they are marked with numbers on metal tags. Here are the numbers on the tags you will need:

Right turn/stop - 22-460
Left turn/stop - 22-461
Tail/markerlights - 21
Ground - 90

Here is a good link also: http://olive-drab.com/od_mseries_circuits.php

After you've found the wires you need, just splice them into the corresponding wires on your 4 flat plug. I ended up having to extend my harness out to 5 feet to have enough slack. They sell it in a big roll at Wal-Mart in the trailer section. Just wrap the other wires out of the way with some electrical tape and you're good to go. If you ever wanted to put the NATO plug back on, just re-splice it back together.

Sweet!.
Thanks for the info.

 

[Teddy]

Got this safety chain plate in the mail today.

 

[Teddy]

Took the maiden wheeling trip with the big girl this weekend. Handled like a champ loaded with what I'd estimate at about 1000 pounds of firewood and coolers.

 

[Teddy]

 

[Teddy]

 

[GLTHFJ60]

This is a trailer "build" along my lines! Use it for what it was built to do.

Although these are a bit heavy, I love the size of the US M101. Did yours come with a top?

 

[Teddy]

This is a trailer "build" along my lines! Use it for what it was built to do.

Although these are a bit heavy, I love the size of the US M101. Did yours come with a top?

It didn't come with a top, or bows, but I'm thinking about finding an old truck topper to use for camping trips. Maybe set a cot up inside with a buddy heater? Not sure yet.

And, although this is labeled as a "build", I'm not planning to do much to fancy it up. It does exactly what I want right now and I use it hard around my brother in law's farm and our trips.

As for weight, I can definitely fell it behind me as opposed to my old M416, but with a load on it the surge brakes are fantastic. I'd estimate I had about 1000 pounds in it on the trip to Black Balsam and it was fine offroad, especially in 4lo. Definitely much easier to back up than the 416 for sure.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

A cot with a buddy heater would work perfectly!

This is my "build". I toyed with the idea of building a camper for the M101A3, but decided against it.

M101A3 for Moonshine

 

[Teddy]

Yeah, I've read through your thread several times. It was one of the reasons I started looking at this size. Yours is in way better shape than mine from what I can tell. The tub on mine has some dents and bends in it, but I couldn't pass up the deal and I figured it would get beat on anyway.
I almost got an a3, but was kind of scared of the extra weight of the 37 run flats and didn't want to mess with switching out wheels and tires and the drop axle.