My new M101A2 (1 Viewer)

[sggoat]

Finally found a 101. Almost totally rust-free-little bit of surface here and there. The PO has more, this was the best I could find out of his lot(8). Everything works!
Have a question for folks who have these type of trailers, though. I get a lot of slamming from the pintle hitch when in stop & go traffic. Is there some sort of rubber ring that can be installed either on the tow hook or the trailer lunette to soften this?
Thanks for any help,
Gary

 

[titanpat57]

Nice find..congratz!

Some guys and take a bike innertube and wrap the ring side..adding just a bit more tongue weight will help.

 

[Blueegg]

Likely the slamming is from the surge brake.
Try putting a long bolt in the hole in the surge brake housing and deactivate it and see if the problem does not improve.

 

[Dell]

The shock loads you are feeling...
are likely due to the combo pintle/ball hitch yer using.

Lose that in exchange for a properly sized, standard pintle... (possibly 5T or 10T)
and you will be happier. (recommend a 360* rotating pintle in yer case)

Forget inserts... because if the pintle and lunette are matched properly...
you won't need that... even if it could possibly endure.

on a different note...

It looks like that surge brake box thingy
is going to be interfering with your rear mounted spare tire...
if you articulate the trailer on a steep incline.

Might think to make some adjustment there.

just sayin'

 

[Rubiconcruiser]

Nice clean find there my friend, she will ll do well for ya, bring her up into Georgia and well try her out in style. LOL

 

[sggoat]

You are correct-I already have seen some small interference, esp with the rear psgr door, unless you the trailer is cocked to the driver's side. Do you have any recommendations as to "adjustments"?
You are also right on about the comby trailer ball pintle hitch I have. It has way too much space there so the lunette is moving ~ 1" back and forth. I 've made a 'spacer' out of 2 1/4" copper pipe, and housed it over the ball. This leaves ~1/4" play in the ID of the trailer lunette ring. This may work until I get the proper pintle.--pics after we get a new digi camera.
Thanks for the advice!!

 

[The Jade Bean]

Congrats! I've wondered about the clanging too, although mines not that loud so maybe I'll try that inner tube thing.

-Daniel

 

[Corbet]

I have a properly matched pintle to my M101a and only on a rare occasion do I experience any clunks due to movement back there. I do not have a surge brake though. Generally my clunk occurs offroad when a large movement is experience from articulation with a heavily loaded trailer. Do not ever recall anything on pavement. I've got 1000's of towing miles on mine.

 

[scrapdaddy]

There is a small " shock " in the surge brake and if you are getting alot of clunking, it might mean the shock is in need of replacing.

 

[sggoat]

Thank you all.
Dell's advice here seems to be the solution- I need to get a proper pintle hitch to match the trailer hook to reduce the free play. The PO has an original Jeep(sorry I had to say that)hitch that is matched to the trailer. I'm going to get the dimensions and see if there is a currently available hitch.

 

[scrapdaddy]

Here is an example of the damper. https://www.crofttrailer.com/balcrank-actuator-damper-shock/#page=page-1 If you can move the lunette in and out, by hand rather easy, then check the damper, they do wear out.

Good luck, Ron

 

[Dell]

Do you have any recommendations as to "adjustments"?

I personally would lose that box...
in favor of a Max Coupler and custom drawbar

Thank you all.
Dell's advice here seems to be the solution- I need to get a proper pintle hitch to match the trailer hook to reduce the free play. The PO has an original Jeep(sorry I had to say that)hitch that is matched to the trailer. I'm going to get the dimensions and see if there is a currently available hitch.

After a trip to Moab utilizing that combo pintle hitch...
I came to conclude those hitches suck ballz

I have one for sale if anyone might like to see for themselves

http://i426.photobucket.com/albums/pp344/TTORADell/M100 trailer/IMG_0007.jpg

 

[sggoat]

I found a solution! I made two copper pipe inserts for the Pintle hook. One was the orig. ID pipe diameter of 2 1/4". - Fit pretty snug inside the lunette hook. I cut another piece to fit inside the bigger one, ~2 1/16" in dia angling the ring cut to keep it concentric. Now with the pintle hook lock down, the "pipe-in-a-pipe" insert keeps the hook from moving excessively. So far, no interferrence in turning, or up/down grades. pics as soon as I get he new digi camera.

 

[sggoat]

Still no camera yet, but hope to post some pics soon of the fix.
On another note, I wanted to try the 'back up' method with the brakes locked to dump the trailer-there are some u-tube vids out there that show this. Had to remove all the rust and paint from the lock down brackets to get everything freed up, then I realized the wiring harness didn't have enough slack to allow-fixed that. Then I'm looking again at the dump test coming up and see the hard piped hydraulic line will flex a lot when this dump happens. Looks like I need to add some additional flex lines to the brakes at the pivot points. Any one ever do this?

 

[scrapdaddy]

Sggoat,

You might already know this, just trying to help. The M101's are not made to dump, but are made to raise the tongue up for shipping. Trying to use it for a dump, will break the frame and tail lights for sure. Search over on Steel Soldiers, for more information. Some pictures to go with it.

 

[Mark Harley]

Nice trailer, Don't dump it it will break the cast spring eye brackets.
What are the plans for it Expo or utility?

I love mine and have upgraded it a little.
Before and after:

 

[sggoat]

This is a 1989 Kasel M101A2 trailer, built in Pa.
The PO already showed me how the dump worked(no issues that I could see accept the needed incerased slack in the wiring harness, and a flex brake line at the pivot point{front spring hanger}) Not sure what you all are referring to. The pivot point is the front spring hanger(a greasable shackle) I have already moved it about halfway to check--didn't want to go full until I got the brake line fixed with flex hose. Don't see any issues so far. The rear lights do look dangerously close to the ground when it may go full back, though.
Gary

 

[sggoat]

Mark,
Very nice mod. Where did you get the front box? Did you make it?

 

[scrapdaddy]

Check out this link, http://www.steelsoldiers.com/trailers/70462-m101a2-not-dumping-5.html on dumping trailers. There is a ton of information, to do it safe, if you really need it to dump.

Good Luck

 

[Mark Harley]

Poor man's Tongue box.

I needed a place to store the little extras for my trailer build.
Receiver tubes, hitch pins, hoses, and a spot for a battery.

Being cheap and not wanting to spend $160.00 on a tongue box, I set out on making my own. Starting with several sheets of 12" wide cardboard I mocked up a design that was a good size for the area in front of the tub.

I matched the degree of the tongue angle but a few inches wider.
Diamond plate aluminum is not cheap, but I did find a piece 4 feet by 6 feet used but free. It was used in a sand blasting trailer. Rough but it was getting painted anyway.

Using my cardboard box as a guide I sheared the sheet down and welded it together with a spool gun. I need on of those! The result is a strong box big enough for my needs and it didn't break the bank.

I used a Jeep hood latch to hold the lid closed and sealed the inside seams with silicone.

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