M101A3 for Moonshine (1 Viewer)

[GLTHFJ60]

I've always wanted a pickup for the purpose of hauling material, transporting messy or greasy objects and to make moving easier. I purchased a M416 some number of years ago that worked well for transporting such things in college, but the first roofing project showed me that it was too small. Here's an old picture of the M416 being towed by Moonshine:

This fall I picked up a VERY good condition M101A3 and it is awesome!! I can barely feel it behind Moonshine, I mostly hear the pintle banging around. I used the trailer to move to my new house and most recently, to volunteer in the Uwharrie National Forest.

My plan for this trailer is to keep it pretty stock as I think the trailer is the perfect platform for me. For camping, I'm brainstorming a pop-up style camping top that will drop into the side stakes and allow enough room to store my future dedicated offroading tires underneath.

I'm posting now instead of waiting for more trailer-specific progress because this weekend I broke my landling leg and need advice! Should I repair the stock leg or should I remove and replace with a modern landling leg?

Thanks for the advice!! Enjoy the following pics, with the two broken landing leg pics at the end.

Moving day:

Volunteering this weekend:

Broken landing leg:

 

[TRAIL TAILOR]

It was for a great cause.. Love the trailer. I plan on building a M416 style by summers end if not two or three...

Hows the 4BT pull the load J?

J

 

[GLTHFJ60]

It was for a great cause.. Love the trailer. I plan on building a M416 style by summers end if not two or three...

Hows the 4BT pull the load J?

J

The load of the trailer empty or loaded? Empty I barely feel it. EGTs are high when going up grades on the highway, other than that I can only hear the trailer banging around in the pintle. Loaded I can feel the weight, but it's no where near the pulling capacity of the 4BT.

 

[TRAIL TAILOR]

The load of the trailer empty or loaded? Empty I barely feel it. EGTs are high when going up grades on the highway, other than that I can only hear the trailer banging around in the pintle. Loaded I can feel the weight, but it's no where near the pulling capacity of the 4BT.

What is the pulling capacity of the 4BT.. I'm lazy today and don't feel like searching.. My M416 will be much less than your load was today at anytime in my future.



J

 

[GLTHFJ60]

What is the pulling capacity of the 4BT.. I'm lazy today and don't feel like searching.. My M416 will be much less than your load was today at anytime in my future.



J

There's a thread on 4btswaps about this right now, ironically enough.

4bts were usually put in trucks with a 10,000# GVWR, but the limit of the 4bt, in stock form, is likely closer to 16,000# GVWR.

 

[TRAIL TAILOR]

There's a thread on 4btswaps about this right now, ironically enough.

4bts were usually put in trucks with a 10,000# GVWR, but the limit of the 4bt, in stock form, is likely closer to 16,000# GVWR.

YEAH... So my M416 expedition camping trailer all day in the 14ers in Colorado... no problem.. with a new radiator and bird doggin' the EGTs.



J

 

[scrapdaddy]

GLTHFJ60,


The landing leg is hard to come by and expensive, over $200. That said, It's a great jack and is made for the trailer, so I would try to weld it. The cheap trailer jacks, just don't look right on there.


I've got one with a broken gear, so if you do decide to change it out, I'll buy it from you. They are great trailers and you can't over work them.


Some good pictures!

 

[GLTHFJ60]

YEAH... So my M416 expedition camping trailer all day in the 14ers in Colorado... no problem.. with a new radiator and bird doggin' the EGTs.



J

Yessir You're intercooled, right? You will have no problem whatsoever.

GLTHFJ60,


The landing leg is hard to come by and expensive, over $200. That said, It's a great jack and is made for the trailer, so I would try to weld it. The cheap trailer jacks, just don't look right on there.


I've got one with a broken gear, so if you do decide to change it out, I'll buy it from you. They are great trailers and you can't over work them.


Some good pictures!

I've been reading that they were expensive. I'll take the leg off and fix her up.

Thanks for the advice!

 

[TRAIL TAILOR]

Yessir You're intercooled, right? You will have no problem whatsoever.

yes intercooled!


I've been reading that they were expensive. I'll take the leg off and fix her up.

Thanks for the advice!

I'll see what I can find around here.. Lots of old military trailers were bought by the railroad system here and then sold off to the workers and townspeople later on. Send me a good pic and I'll do some digging.. I love scavenger hunts.

That means you too Ron...

J

 

[GLTHFJ60]

I'll see what I can find around here.. Lots of old military trailers were bought by the railroad system here and then sold off to the workers and townspeople later on. Send me a good pic and I'll do some digging.. I love scavenger hunts.

That means you too Ron...

J

Nah, that's alright. Thanks though J! I'm going to make a new upper plate that allows this tongue jack to swing up higher to prevent this from happening again in the future.

 

[scrapdaddy]

Reevesci,


Thanks for the offer, but I don't think you'll find that new style jack. The M101 A3 is from the 90's on up, so they are just getting released from the Government here lately.


GLTHFJ60,


post up some pictures of the fix, sounds like a good idea.

 

[se2000]

Repair and strengthen and then remove. Get a 2k or heavier trailer jack to use. It will keep out of the way and if it gets trashed, cheaper to replace.

 

[96Cruiser13]

Jonny I probably should have said something.. doh.

While I was behind you all day volunteering I watched the jack scrape EVERY weather hump on the trails. I figured you could feel it. Not sure if that's what broke it or not but I'm sure that wasn't good for it. Especially with 3000# of stone in it.

Use that sweet ass welder you just bought and fix her up!

Ryan

...via IH8MUD app

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Jonny I probably should have said something.. doh.

While I was behind you all day volunteering I watched the jack scrape EVERY weather hump on the trails. I figured you could feel it. Not sure if that's what broke it or not but I'm sure that wasn't good for it. Especially with 3000# of stone in it.

Use that sweet ass welder you just bought and fix her up!

Ryan

...via IH8MUD app

Seriously? Well s***.

Definitely going to fix / modify the trailer jack to lift up higher so it doesn't get hung up on rocks.

 

[scrapdaddy]

So, you're saying with the jack in it's locked up position, it was dragging when you crossed over rocks, logs, etc. Something I should look at, I thought it would of been high enough.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

So, you're saying with the jack in it's locked up position, it was dragging when you crossed over rocks, logs, etc. Something I should look at, I thought it would of been high enough.

Without a doubt it was dragging on the rocks. I did not do anything like drive away with it down.

 

[scrapdaddy]

It must be somewhat common, I bought one for my Son and his was broken in the same spot. I just thought someone backed up, when it was down


Thanks!

 

[GLTHFJ60]

It must be somewhat common, I bought one for my Son and his was broken in the same spot. I just thought someone backed up, when it was down


Thanks!

No problem Ron! I'll make sure to post up my fix.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

This trailer has been put to work over the past 6 months. She's worth her weight in gold to me.

All the important parts taken out of a CUCV K30:

Scrapyard trip with ~1600# of scrap steel:

 

[GLTHFJ60]

I'm updating because I want to take this thing to the next level. This trailers usefulness as a pickup-bed will always be necessary, but I'd like to set her up for extended camping trips as well, with the ability to easily switch between camping and utility. Thoughts:

- Ability to store offroad tires during travel
- Ability to sleep two people and dog very comfortably
- AC+Heat for added sleep comfort (if deemed reasonably possible)
- Collapsible for highway trailer

This trailer piqued my interest. I think I could mount a low-profile AC/Heat Pump to the tonneau cover, but the canvas wouldn't do a good job of insulating.

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/115599-M101-A3-Camp-Trailer-AKA-quot-Bode-Custom-quot

The S250 Military Shelter is a pretty slick setup, but it's a hair too short to sleep comfortably I think. I could cut one in half and extend it 1.5' to be the full length of my M101A3, but then it'd almost be less work to build one from scratch.

http://www.sanlee.com/jeep/S250camper/

Thoughts?