Shock Relocation on M101 (1 Viewer)

[Skillet]

Well, I am doing the SOA on my M101CD and I ran into a little glitch...

If you flip the u-bolt plates to the top of the spring pack and switch sides, your shock mounts are actually about 3" closer together. (pic 1 & 2)

I see most people just do that and remount the shock and call it good, but I have a problem with that, as it seems that the shock will bottom out with that decreased space.

If you keep the plates on the same side and extend the shock towards the front, that solves the length problem but the angle of the shock is suspicious to me. (pic 3)

What do you guys say...should there be welding involved to relocate the lower shock mount to a more correct position or is this simply overkill on a little trailer like this?

I also thought about sandwiching the old u-bolt plate between the spring perches and the spring pack on the bottom and using new u1bolt plates on the top.

 

[greentruck]

I think the shallow angled mount towards the front would work, although not ideal. Problem is I'd almost bet the shock will overextend on long travel? At least it looks like it from here.

I've read several SOA stories. None mentioned this as far as I know. I'd almost bet they just go with the set-up that looks like it will overcompress.

I know there's not a lot of travel in the original location, most likely limited by the rubber bump stop. But that's a lot of spring and I'd bet you'll have a hard time getting enough of a load in that trailer to get those springs compressed enough to worry about bottoming the shocks. The only way that could happen in a 1/4 ton trailer if you loaded it with ammo in the new config. That's be a heck of a bunch of ammo.

And they're cheap shocks. I'd give it a try then work on Plan B if it comes to trouble.

 

[Splittilps]

Just run it with out, that's what I have done for the last 4 years with no problems.

 

[Skillet]

Just run it with out, that's what I have done for the last 4 years with no problems.

greater chance of a bounce flip on a trailer that light. there is a reason why the military put the shocks on there.

 

[Splittilps]

Good point, just saying that if you needed to use it without shocks until you get some on it won't be a big deal. Also mine is never light, last camping trip (10,000 km round trip) it weighed in at 2140lbs it doesn't bounce!

 

[ntsqd]

Find a shorter shock. Trailers don't articulate, they rotate about the hitch instead. So all of the 'normal' rules about shocks don't apply. You're only dealing with the normal bumps in the road.

 

[Skillet]

Find a shorter shock. Trailers don't articulate, they rotate about the hitch instead. So all of the 'normal' rules about shocks don't apply. You're only dealing with the normal bumps in the road.

I thought about that.

Tried to imagine it articulating to a point where it made a difference and just could not get there.

Thanks for the input.

 

[hey you]

Could you weld shock mounts on the axle housing?

 

[scrapdaddy]

Welding some new shock mounts to the axle, seems to be easy enough and correct. Keep your old shocks, where they were designed to be.

 

[Brentbba]

Skillet - took a look at the SOA on my M101CDN that the PO had done. Shock mount on the spring is in the same place your pic shows. Shock is yellow, but w/o crawling under the trailer, I can't see a make. Perhaps he went with a slightly shorter shock?

 

[george_tlc]

That original bump stop looks less than useful at this point

cheers,
george.

 

[Skillet]

Yes, bumpstop is useless now.

Putting it all back together this weekend so I will take some pics of what I did and give the numbers off of the replacement shocks. Bought new Rancho shocks that are almost the same dimensions as the original. Mounts will be in original locations.

 

[franklin40]

why not swap the u bolt plate side to side when you go spring over? that'll keep the axle side shock mount on the side of the axle as it originally was (in front or behind)

 

[franklin40]

never mind. I get where you're coming from on your original post. my above idea would shorten the shock which was your concern

 

[Skillet]

So...here we go...

My M101 CDN SOA with shock solution to keep original shock mounting position AND hub conversion to match 6-5.5 Toyota pattern.

Removed old tires, hubs, back plates and axle.

Scraped, pressure washed and painted everything. Brakes were in great shape. After cleaning with a pressure washer, I put a little white lithium grease on the springs and moving connections; careful, of course, to not get on pads.

New U-bolts, plates, hubs and bearings from a local trailer supply house. They had everything in stock for a direct swap. New shocks (Napa 94038), new tires (Interco TSL Super Swampers in 34 x 9.5), new 15 x 8 wheels from Wheelers Offroad. I have these same wheels on my FJ40 and I really like them. You cannot beat them for $60 apiece, as they have an extended bead edge to hold the bead better than a standard wheel.

Cleaned spindles with Scotch-Brite and they turned out very nice.

I used Green Grease to pack the bearings. It's waterproof and has served me well through multiple vehicles...a little spendy though.

The shock solution was to simply put the original U-bolt plate in it's original position, sandwiched between the spring perch and the spring pack. Slightly longer, new U-bolts and a new plate on top. I also added a nut on the bottom of the spring pack pin to extend it a bit and aid in centering the axle with the spring pack.
I needed to oblong the holes in the new plate a bit because the CDN military spring pack is a bit wider than standard for this size axle.

One thing to remember is to switch the rear hub plates from their original sides and flip them upside down to accommodate the brake lines. You will need to remove the brackets that hold the lines to the bottom of the trailer cross-member in order to re-install the lines in the hubs. Once the trailer is lowered and settles back in, it will give you enough cable to re-install the cable brackets. Also, this gives you a chance to clean them up and shoot some lube down the cables. The brakes ended up working perfectly without any adjustments at all.

All in all, I am very happy with the height and look of this conversion. Can't wait to get my 40 back to see how they look together.

Some pics of the job...

 

[Skillet]

mas pictorials...

 

[Skillet]

Before and after...

 

[greentruck]

Looks great!

 

[scrapdaddy]

Turned out nice, good job!

 

[danadog]

Great job!