so it looks like we'll be towing this... (1 Viewer)

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...where the redwoods meet the ocean...
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...it's a m105a2 trailer (2700+ lbs empty and probably 3500-4000 with our junk).

towing it from the oc to fallbrook was easy enough but I'm going to have to do something to get the brakes working for the trip to colorado. the brakes are air actuated hydrolic but there are converters for changing the actuator to eletric and keeping all the stock harware on this beast...

BrakeRite Electric / Hydraulic Disc Actuator 4813100 by Titan

the main concern is going down steep or long grades in the mountains in southwestern colorado...that would be scary, if not deadly, without brakes on the trailer.

I'm also going to see if I can flip the drawbar ring which will give a little more height to the front of the trailer and even it out a bit.

I'll keep ya posted if anyone is interested!
 
You're towing red X's? That shouldn't be too hard.

Seriously, 4000 lbs is about the same weight of the trailer I've towed with my 80 for several years. You will struggle mightely over the passes of CO, especially due to the altitude.

If you've ever driven the grapevine here in SoCal to give you an idea, northbound, I've hit the beginning of that grade at around 70 and if I didn't have to lift off the gas for traffic, I'd still be down around 45 by the time I got to the top. The southbound grade is a little steeper and I would normally be down to about 40. Realize that's only at 4000 feet. You'll be at 10,000 or higher on some won't you?

Just watch your temp guage and leave your air off. You'll be fine.

Remember, the turtle won the race with the rabbit! :D
 
Looks like a great project...post images of the progress. I'm always interested in this stuff being a trailer manufacturer myself (inTech Trailers), I am going to be building a custom expedition trailer myself sometime soon...all aluminum though. I would agree, you need brakes on that baby where you're towing, it's always a good idea anyway.

A couple other thoughts that might help with ride comfort and be more forgiving on your trailer and truck would be to put an air-ride hitch on your receiver. I use one on just about everything I tow and the difference is night and day, especially in rough terrain. I don't sell or represent any manufacturer, but you can get an idea of what I am talking about by visiting one the following sites:

Receiver

or

Shocker Hitch - Air Suspension Trailer Hitches

There are other manufacturers out there...I've used both of these and use the airsafehitch regularly.

Before I would modify your trailer, I would look at one of these with an adjustable height coupler or just go to a standard ball, no air ride with an adjustable hitch height...less headache, more versatility.

Good luck with the project and post more pictures!!
 
the main passes that concern me are in southwestern colorado where the elevation climbs fron 6000+ to well over 10,000...that'll be slow going for sure!

I'm going to check out those air ride options and also removing some of the leafs from the leaf spring packs to try to lower the trailer height...I won't be needing all the weight capabilty of these trailers with our stuff so it shouldn't be a negative.

did the pics come through? I see them fine.
 
Time for the SC and make those of us with OBD1 jealous.
 
I'm planning on removing some leafs from the leaf spring packs to lower the trailer along with flipping the drawbar ring to level out the trailer when towing.

thanks for the link to the surge setup...i'm checking out that option as well.

I would prefer to not invest too much money in this setup by swapping wheels and tires, axles, brake components, etc...this is a real budget build!
 

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