Thinking Trailer (1 Viewer)

[cliffoto]

Once again I'm thinking about a trailer.
My cruiser is so filled up!
Better to pull the load than carry?

I found on a Sunday drive last week a guy who sell military vehicles
and has a trailer I could get for $700.
He offered to change out the lunette ring and the lighting hook-up.

For extra, sand blast and re-paint.
I like the way it looks as is.

Has a tailgate!

It also needs tires.

What do you guys think?
Thanks

 

[fireflyr]

Looks like a nice rust free trailer. The M100's are hard to find in that condition, I'd get it. Here's my M100 I paid $500 for.........

I like the addition of the tailgate and the Army markings.

Keep the lunette (they're worth about $100).

 

[sseaman]

It looks in decent shape, and price is reasonable.

 

[Mark W]

Leave the lunette on here. it is a much better setup for any trailer that will go off road than a ball hitch.

At one time I would have said that $700 was a bit high... but more and more folks seem to happily be paying that much for these. It looks to be in pretty good condition.

We use trailers like this one quite a bit when we go out in groups. it is a good answer if you simply can't pare your gear down.

They can be a real anchor on a slick muddy up hill or in a bog. Backing up in tight quarters can be a bit of a challenge. And they can get pushed sideways a bit in deep water crossings.

But if you need the additional space/weight carrying capacity, these are about the best thing going.


Mark...


Mark...

 

[Brian in Oregon]

What do I think? I think you need to sell me the lunette ring or the whole assembly. Seriously.

These trailers don't grow on trees anymore. If it has a solid body, no serious rusting or damage, it's worth $500 to $700. Collectors won't care for the tailgate, but it is useful. Looks like someone did a good job of it. Your find looks solid, and worth the money. My advice is to grab it.

And if you really don't care for the lunette setup, here's one alternative.

This is the hitch setup on my civilian Bantam trailer. The original hitch was too far gone. I designed it and my son fabricated and welded it up in his metal class.

The hitch can use a short lunette or it can be extended.

 

[Brian in Oregon]

And btw, yes, these trailers are nice for camping. Here's one of my two M100's. I paid $500 for it a few years ago, and that wasn't an out of line price then.

 

[Dell]

nice trailer... good price, decent condition...

X2 on keeping the lunette...

if you ended up changing that out later...
you can easily sell that lunette, for an extra buck or two,
worth holding on to... even if you don't use it

 

[greentruck]

Put me down as another "keep the lunette."

Just as important, you'll need a pintle to "keep the lunette." They're inexpensive as parts go. They have a standard bolt pattern that will bolt right up to the rear of your Land Cruiser.

There is some variation in sizing and thus the amount of slop when hitched. And some come with a ball so that you can also tow a trailer with a standard tow bar. Maybe someone has a recommendation the part number of one that plays well. I know ours is a Reese 7-ton capacity, but don't know the part number. It seems to work well in conjunction with our M101 CDN's lunette.

Throw five or more 5-gallon gas cans in the nose of it and it's like having an auxiliary gas tank, with room for a bunch of other stuff to boot.

 

[Mark W]

What do I think? I think you need to sell me the lunette ring or the whole assembly. Seriously.

These trailers don't grow on trees anymore. If it has a solid body, no serious rusting or damage, it's worth $500 to $700. Collectors won't care for the tailgate, but it is useful. Looks like someone did a good job of it. Your find looks solid, and worth the money. My advice is to grab it.

And if you really don't care for the lunette setup, here's one alternative.

This is the hitch setup on my civilian Bantam trailer. The original hitch was too far gone. I designed it and my son fabricated and welded it up in his metal class.

The hitch can use a short lunette or it can be extended.

What wall thickness did you use for that extension?


Mark...

 

[cliffoto]

Another Photo

Thanks for all the input!
Went back today to check it out some more.

Looking better all the more!

 

[Brian in Oregon]

What wall thickness did you use for that extension?


Mark...

The tubing is standard trailer hitch tubing. 2"x2" OD .25" wall for the extension, and the receiver tube was an off the shelf tube, 2"x2" ID .25" wall. Always use tubing rated for trailer hitches, because the radius on the corners is designed to slip into each other.

Here's a closeup of the hitch. It's just a trapezoidal plate overlapping the top of the A frame, with two rectangular plates almost forming a V inside the rails, with the receiver tube on top. There's a large hole for the through bolt, which is supported by the angle blocks on the chains. Two more holes are on each side where the original hitch holes were. There is no landing gear on this trailer yet.

The hitch has a short lunette stuck in it from Northern Tool. I also have a 2" ball coupler on a short 2"x2" tube.

If I had it to do again, I'd weld this up so the receiver tube was UNDER the plate, BETWEEN the rails. This would allow the extension tube to telescope further back, under the trailer. Right now it stops short at the front of the bed. Not a big deal, though.

 

[Brian in Oregon]

And here's another approach that preserves the existing landing gear and the lunette.

Someone welded up this extension onto the outside of the A frame. If I did it this way I'd install a receiver tube instead of a ball coupler. And keep it short enough so the lunette could be retained for trail use, since it it designed to swivel, but an extension tube similar to my civie trailer could be used to a ball coupler.

The pics look odd because currently the trailer is upside down while I do work on it.

There are a lot of other ways to do this. My advice is to keep the lunette intact and if you want a 2" ball, come up with a clean way to put a receiver tube in front of the casting, or even over it, then run an extension tube. The lunette assembly is the best design for off-roading where the vehicle and trailer are going to be at severe angles to each other. A 2" ball won't cut the mustard under those conditions.

But if you decide to part with the lunette ring or the whole assembly, I'm definitely interested. My M100 needs at least the lunette ring, and I'd rather have a whole assembly for the civie trailer.

 

[Brian in Oregon]

And here is a link to my thread on installing a rotating pintle on my FJ40.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/40-55-series-tech/187703-rotating-pintle-hitch-install-fj40.html

A rotating pintle is only needed if the trailer pintle doesn't rotate. That's one good reason to keep the original pintle setup. Only one or the other needs to rotate. But this allows me to use the civie trailer, which does not have a rotating pintle, in extreme conditions.

The combination pintle and 2" ball is available from various places for around $80 or so.

HITCH,COMBINATION W/2"BALL (BH82000) - Welcome to Buyers Products Company

You would use the above with one of these pintle plates to set the ride height of the trailer to the tow vehicle, using your existing receiver hitch.

Product Categories - Welcome to Buyers Products Company

They also make a combination pintle/ball drawbar, if ride height is not a consideration.

HITCH,COMBINATION,RECEIVER MOUNT,6-TON,2" (RM62000) - Welcome to Buyers Products Company

Again, you should really consider just using one of the above methods to keep the lunette assembly. It is THE best, period, for off road.

BTW, don't be tempted to free it up. You want the lunette to rotate only with the use of a long crowbar. Otherwise it is possible to roll the trailer over. Some of the u-joint style hitches for off-roading will not control a trailer at extreme angles and are more prone to rollovers.