New Project

Won a gubbment auction today on an old M101A1 trailer. Going to go through it and make it an offroad style trailer for our Jeeps.

Made in 1968, just like me. I have to drive over to Texarkana to pick it up from Red River Army Depot, either next week or the week after depending on when I can get it scheduled. Paid $250 for it. It needs a little TLC here and there, but not all that much.

I have wanted to buy one of those trailers, I'm signed up on their web site to bid on them. It would be handy to own and would look good with my Dodge M 37. About every other month they go to auction at Ft. Dix which is about 30 miles from here.
Keep looking at the auctions and maybe you can get the rail kit which will allow you to have a canvas cover.

I'd like the unimog with backhoe attachment behind it!

Good score too.

Paint it Army Green..

Its going to be OD Green in the end.

Its should last for sure.

My business partner had this to work on a few weeks back. I forget what he said it needed done but someone bought it from an action down at Fort Hood.

Made the run over to Texarkana today and picked it up. It's in pretty decent shape for its age. Pulls real nice. A really stable trailer.

Spent a few hours on it Saturday, powerwashed the entire rig, flipped the lunette ring, sanded down what little rust there was, did a little body filler along the front bottom seam on some pinhole rust spots and took the stake sides off. Redid the wiring to make it 12v and wired in a new trailer plug on the tongue. Sprayed rust stop primer over some bare spots and what rusty spots I sanded on. I have it pretty much prepped to shoot primer on the whole thing. Going to be too cool this weekend to do that though. Still have a little sanding to do on the body filler and some rusty areas showing through the paint on the frame.

Also got some paint samples mixed. Going to go with FS34052 Green. Its what the Marines used on their equipment in the Vietnam Era. Darker than OD but I like it.

I'm ordering a 5 lug 3500lb Electric Brake axle from Dexter so I can run the same bolt pattern wheels that is on our Jeeps. Going to replace all the wooden slats on it too. I'll have to use the table saw to make the wood for the bows, its not off the shelf dimensions, but no big deal. Picked up a couple of OEM wheels and tires for $45 each thats going on the new axle. I'll shoot the wheels black most likely. I haven't decided whether to do the frame and tongue black or green yet either.

A guy here local has some NOS covers in Green or Tan. Another guy online has them in the 3 color camo pattern. I haven't made up my mind on which yet.

Sounds like your making a lot of progress. My military truck is also 24 volt, a pain at times but I want to keep it original so it doesn't loose too much value when I eventually sell it. I like the idea of the Dexter axle, good move. I found that Hickory is a good wood for the bows.
Good luck, the pictures on the finished product are a given?

I'll be taking some pics and posting them.

The 24 to 12v conversion I did was changing the bulbs out to 12v ones and removing the NATO harness at the front and wiring in a 5 way plug at the junction box. I can plug the NATO harness back in at any time and put the 24v bulbs back in.

I have to find a source some wood for the bows, the big box stores sell shit for wood and that's about it.

Your place is getting packed with toys.

I need to pack them all up and leave for better pastures.

pup wrote:

I need to pack them all up and leave for better pastures.

don't come here, work is plentiful but everything else sucks

although I could finally eat some of that BBQ you make that looks good

come to think of it, the food is one thing that is really hard to beat, it's awesome around here

[quote="pup"]I need to pack them all up and leave for better pastures.
[/quote]
Colorado??

If I could make a living up in the middle of nowhere Colorado where I like it, I'd already be there.

pup wrote:

If I could make a living up in the middle of nowhere Colorado where I like it, I'd already be there.

At home daycare? Online Ebay store? Fur trapper?

Commercial Marijuana grower/distribution. Rocky Mountain High Gold Mine.

This guy sells trailer parts, the bows are metal though.
http://militarytrailers.yolasite.com/

Picking up the new axle today and hope to get it installed this weekend, weather cooperating. Picked up a couple of OEM take off JK wheels and tires for it too.

Dexter 3500LB axle, 3" tubes, 5 x 5 lug pattern hubs with Electric brakes. I've received the wiring kits and brake controller for our JK's, just have to get those installed too. Sadly, these aren't plug and play like every new truck on the market today, gotta go old school wiring them in.

Coldest weather in over 2yrs coming this week but its supposed to warm up by Sunday. Been raining and lately so I've made zero progress painting it, but I have completed the body filler part. I did slide under it and brush some paint removing gel over all the axle hardware and nuts did break loose with minimal effort once the 50yrs of paint/repaint came off.

When I do paint it, I'm going to remove the tub from the frame and paint them separately. I'll be taking pics along the way.

Also picked up a NOS camo pattern tarp/cover. Probably going to take most of the winter to get this done due to the weather.

My table saw also took a shit on me, the blade is wobbly, bearings took a dump. Its over 20yrs old so I can't complain. Gonna need to pick up a new one once I get ready to replace all the wooden bows.

I hope to have it all done by Spring.

By the time you're done there wont be but about half original parts but it should be awesome looking behind the Jeep.

It will be mostly original. Mainly just the axle and wheels are going. Everything else will stay or be restored.

Sounds like things are going as well as they could be. We have been having some nasty weather here also. Keeping the trailer mostly original is the smart way to go, I think you made the wise choice going with the new axel and electric brakes, no one needs their tow vehicle pushed through an intersection by a loaded trailer. It happened once to me towing a dump trailer for a friend.

That will be nice to have on your trips to Colorado.
Early next week my 1953 Dodge M 37 will be taken to the county vocational school that my wife teaches at. They are going to put it in the diesel repair shop and drop the gas tank, clean out the fuel lines for me. After that, two new batteries should be all it needs to get back on the road.

I must say. I'm kinda jealous.

I can't wait to see what it looks like when it is all done and painted..

https://goo.gl/photos/y6SPG2CoXVQrz8Nc9
Added a few more pics

55 and sunny turned out to be about 40, cloudy, windy and cold. Got the axle swapped out though. Thank God for impact guns.

What a difference. What surprised me was how much grease the Dexter axel takes. For my travel trailer, it is almost 1 tube per wheel. Just make sure you keep turning the wheel as you pump the grease into them.

Going to start in replacing the wood on the rails and bows next. I've gathered all the HW I need for it, just need to source the wood.
Weather didn't cooperate getting a layer of the red primer put on this past weekend. Too damn cold on Saturday, Sunday was warm enough, but it was windy and damp.
I still have to wire in the brake controllers on the Jeeps too.

Its coming along though.

Nice progress!

Perfect ride height!