M101A2 Build Thread

[Gallowbraid]

Could have sworn I had a build thread here for my trailer, but after searching it appears I exclusively posted it on another "Portal". Time to migrate those posts over here and post some updates...

From September 2015:

Ever since stumbling on this whole "overland" style of travel and exploring I've been absolutely enamored with the variety of rigs folks use for getting around. Of particular interest to me was the "expedition style" trailers and the wider diversity of uses they seem to have. So after tying my wife to a chair and forcing her to watch episodes of Expedition Overland on repeat I obtained permission to find my own trailer. After reading all the build threads, searching endless corners of the internet and slogging my way through craigslist I narrowed my list down to one, a M101A2. I liked the size, my tow platform (2015 JKU) liked the weight and my wife liked the looks. I came across one a couple hours from me and after a quick phone call and a two hour drive it was mine.

This trailer is in excellent shape. No rust anywhere other than on some of the cotter pins. The paint is beginning to chip away inside the bed as it didn't seem to adhere very well to that galvanized metal in some places. The tires are in great shape (although they're 15 years old according to the date code), and the surge brakes are functioning as they should. As a plus all the hoops and the cover are in excellent shape. As of right now (like as I type this) I believe I'm going to sell those as they're not working into my plan for this trailer at the moment. This brings me to my first question: Other than Steel Soldiers and Craigslist is there anywhere to find a value for these things? I don't see many out there and prices are all over. I'm not looking to make a fortune but I don't want to give them away either.

I'm still finalizing the build plan and probably will be for a while but the short list is this:

1. Some sort of rack system to hold a roof top tent, either the Mt. Adams or Mt. McKinley from CVT.
2. Tongue box to house dual battery setup powering assorted 12v accessories and lighting and running an inverter to power some of those comfort items the wife wants while camping
3. Solar charging? Shore Power? Siberian Husky powered generator? Not sure yet...
4. A tarp style bed cover

That's it for the short list. This will be a slow build due to my work schedule but ultimately I'm ok with that as it'll be done right and enjoyed for years to come.

I'm off now to debate with myself the merits of axle swaps...

 

[Gallowbraid]

From a few days later in September of 2015:

Spent some time on the trailer tongue tonight. After exploring all the hitch options available I've narrowed it down to the Max Coupler and the Lock n Roll. Leaning heavily toward the Max Coupler as it "looks" much more solid. Seems to be quite a few moving parts on the Lock n Roll and more potential for failure. We'll see.

Either way there needs to be a 2" receiver on the front of the trailer and that means all that surge brake lunette stuff has to go. Break out the socket set!

Starting point:

Pulled the top to see how the fluid looks. I've seen worse stuff inside master cylinders and this was fairly clean. The picture makes it look horrible but you could actually see through the liquid to the bottom.

I put a can under the rear connection on the cylinder and pulled the brake line connector. After pumping the lunette back and forth about 3 times I was done with that hassle. I filled the shop vac with saw dust and went to town sucking out the brake fluid.

Then I started pulling bolts like a mad man.

In no time at all I had a pile of parts just begging to be listed on ebay or craigslist. This trailer has to pay for itself after all.

Then I tackled the 5 bolts holding the brace/mount/leg in place. My wife even joined in on the wrenching, she's really getting into this project (which helps!)

After a little clean up it'll be ready for the welder to add the receiver on.

Now I have to debate just putting the receiver on top which is simple or having the leg mount cut off and welding the receiver underneath...

 

[Gallowbraid]

Rolling right along in September of 2015 it was time to order a new axle to match the Jeep I had at the time.

Time to order an axle and this is the measurement method I've come up with. It makes sense to me, and hopefully it will make sense to the trailer company as well. They're asking for the spring center measurement in whole inches but mine measure out to be 43 1/4 inch on center. Once I get the axle ordered I'll throw some more details up. Just for clarity this will be 59" from hub face to hub face.

 

[Gallowbraid]

There was some back and forth about what other members did, their measurement techniques, etc...and the build rolled on...

So I have a work trip coming up that will prevent any progress on the trailer for roughly 7 weeks. Trying to tackle as many major things as I can before I leave. In that spirit I removed the axle tonight.

If you're considering doing this make sure you can dedicate about 3 1/2 hours of your life to laying on your back and screaming at nuts and bolts. Anyway...

I used a combination of jack stands and some saw horses to hold the trailer up in the air and raise the tires off the floor a couple inches. I then used a bottle jack to support the middle of the u-bolt bracket under each spring saddle.

By far the easiest part of this process was removing the bolts for the shocks and the shocks themselves.

After that I began to tackle the nuts on the u-bolts. This is not fun. Between the chemical resistant paint covering the threads and some sort of thread locking adhesive that the military used it was quite the job getting the nuts off the u-bolts. I used a 2 foot breaker bar and would certainly recommend a 3 foot if you've got it. There were times, because of the twisting pressure being applied, that the socket on my breaker bar was hot enough to cause burns. But, after 3 hours I had this:

I decided to pull the axle with the tires on and hubs intact just to keep it a little more mobile and easier to move. I have a feeling this is going to sit in my garage or under my covered back porch for a while until I can unload it. I also left all of the parking brake assembly, cables and handles attached because it was easier that way.

After pulling the axle I decided I was tired of trying to find someone to fabricate a new axle so I made a new one myself.

I figure a piece of 1 by 1 pine should easily support 3500 lbs right? Ok, maybe not. What it did do is allow me to double check my axle measurements before committing to the order I'm placing on Monday. I cut the 1 by to 63 inches, marked off the spacers, the hub faces and the spring centers and clamped it into place on top of the springs using the spring center measurements for placement. So far as I can tell this is going to work out exactly as I had planned, although in a fit of paranoia I may take the spare off the Jeep tomorrow and press it to the end of my "axle" just for further visual confirmation.

It looks like I'm going to order an axle through www.dexterpartsonline.com out of Greenville SC. I spoke to Justin there on Friday, explained what I was doing and the dimensions I needed. He made a few suggestions and came back with a quote of $328 for a 3500# axle 59" HF - HF with electric brakes and 5 x 5 bolt pattern hubs shipped to my door in about a week and a half. I had also requested a 3" outer diameter tube for the axle so I could reuse the military ubolts and hardware. He let me know that Dexter would charge somewhere in the ballpark of $110 to do that but that he could put together a ubolt kit for about $20 that would allow me to use the 2" military springs without going to a 3" OD axle. Sweet! I would like to say that I called 6 or 7 different places and got numerous internet quotes and this was by far the best price and the best service I got out of anyone. Price quotes ranged from the upper $300's to $670 from a local trailer place (can you say rip off?). I'm going to place my order Monday and I'll make sure to post up how the service and quality is after the order.

 

[Gallowbraid]

More axle stuff from September 2015:

So I pulled the spare off the Jeep and wheeled it into place just for peace of mind. Looks like things are going to line up just right. Ordering the axle in the morning.

 

[Gallowbraid]

Received the new axle toward the end of September 2015. I bought a bunch of rims and tires and I then took a lot of measurements to help out anyone else doing this in the future:

The parts keep piling up. Picked up 5 almost new take off rims and tires to match what I'm running on the Jeep and provide a spare....or two...or three.

Pretty much the same size as the military tires that are coming off.

Then I got a call today from FedEx that they were concerned about making a delivery to me on Monday. Apparently they were going to attempt to deliver my axle using an 18 wheeler and had examined where I live on google maps and decided it was a bad idea. So I drove down to Athens and picked up my axle from the FedEx hub.

I put it up on a jack under the trailer and it seems like all the measurements are good. Won't know for sure until the wheel spacers arrive but I wanted to get the axle in my hands first to take some measurements of the center hub before ordering the spacer. Here's some measurements that might help others in the future. This is an electric brake, ez-lube hub...other hubs will differ in dimensions.

 

[Gallowbraid]

I then spent a lot of weeks in Montana and North Carolina before coming home and continuing on the build in November of 2015:

After working the last 7 weeks in Montana and North Carolina I finally came home this past weekend. This morning I spent about an hour in the garage with the pile of parts that had been awaiting my return.

Today was a good day.

 

[Gallowbraid]

So I did all that measuring, worrying and work to match the axle to the Jeep I had at the time. Just as I finished it all up...I traded the Jeep in November of 2015 for something completely different...You guys have seen this before:

 

[Gallowbraid]

Late November of 2015 I started working on electrical:

Did a little wiring today. I broke out the multimeter to pin out the wires on the trailer.

I had found multiple listings online of the m101a2 wiring diagram but didn't trust that the former owner hadn't hacked into something somewhere. After pinning everything out I broke out the strippers, crimpers and heat shrink and went to work.

I hate ugly wiring so I then took an abnormal amount of time to organize and loom everything making sure to maintain flexibility for component movement when the trailer is in use.

Mounted the break away battery to the front of the tool box to keep it out of the way.

I began taking measurements for the tent rack and I'm trying to make up my mind on a design. If I go with a fixed rack the tent will sit below the roof line of the truck, but won't sit high enough for my liking or to use the annex room. I'm leaning toward an articulating design that will travel low and then be able to raise up a foot or so once it's time to deploy the tent. I have a local fabrication shop doing a quote on a fixed rack (or they're supposed to be, haven't heard from them in a few days). I'd really like to do something like Schutt Industries does on their Xventure XV-1.

 

[Gallowbraid]

In December of 2015 I taught myself to weld:

I'm home with no work projects scheduled until February so I should have plenty of quality trailer build time. Anyway, after a month of going back and forth researching metal tubing I finally went to Metal Supermarkets in Marietta and pulled the trigger on some sticks of metal. I ended up with:

4 pieces of 2x2 tubing with 1/4" wall thickness 24" long (yeah, I know, overkill)
4 pieces of 1.5 x 1.5 tubing with 3/16" wall thickness 27" long
2 pieces of 1.5 x 1.5 tubing with 3/16" wall thickness 75" long
8 pieces of 1.5 Angle 3/16" thick 6" long

The plan is to telescope the 1.5" tubing inside the 2" tubing, weld the 2" tubing to the angle which will bolt to the trailer and then run the long 1.5" tubing between them as the rails the tent will mount to. I'll put bolts through the angle to mount the whole thing to the trailer but still keep it removable. See?

I also stopped by Northern Tool on the way home and bought a Mig welder they had on sale this week. We'll see if i manage to learn to weld or if I burn my house down later this week.

 

[Gallowbraid]

More December 2015:

Taught myself how to use the welder and made some progress. My one fear was that the 1.5" tubing would be too tight inside the 2" tubing. Unfortunately that fear was founded. I picked up some 1.25" tubing tonight to alleviate the problem and will redo the top of the rack tomorrow.

 

[Gallowbraid]

It wasn't until March of 2016 that I finally had time to finish things up:

I finally got some time over Easter weekend to finish things up on my rack and get the tent mounted. Had a friend come over to lend a hand and we knocked out welding in some gussets, covering the rack with primer and then hitting it with some rattle can black paint. I think in the long run I'll be updating the rack now that my welding skills are improving, but for now I'm going to run it the way it is and see what works and what needs to change. Going to head out this week for 2 or 3 days with my daughter to do a shake down run on it. Just going to throw all my gear in the trailer and go to see what sort of storage organization will work out. Here's some pics of the tent all mounted up.

 

[Gallowbraid]

Then it was time to take it out for a test run:

Took the trailer and tent out for a shakedown run on the Tallulah River and had a great time. Came up with several additions that need to be made though. I'll list them here and then update as I find solutions.

1. Condensation under the mattresses. When I folded up the tent on the morning of day two the bottoms of the mattresses were soaking wet. From what I can find on the interwebs this is all about air flow (or the lack thereof) and condensation that forms between the mattress and the bottom of the tent. It seems the most common fix is to create a void between the mattress and the bottom of the tent using materials like these: Driwall Rainscreen or Rooftop Tent Condensation Mats. This seems a little pricey so I might look at strips of cedar under the mattresses to create some airflow. Anyone have any other solutions?

2. Support for the tent on the ladder side. It looks like I need to drill holes in the ladders at each rung to support the base of the tent a little better. I can't find any information on what actually supports the weight of the tent on this side. Is it the hinge? The connecting point between the two halves of the base? The ladders?

3. The tongue of the trailer needs some sort of wheeled jack that will work in uneven or muddy conditions. Really would like something with a rubber wheel that has some tread rather than the smooth rubber or nylon wheel. Searching the internet for this...

4. Shoe storage under the tent. I'm probably going to mount some sort of netting under the edge of the tent between the ladders for this.

5. Water storage and some sort of sink. I've been thinking about an option for a shower so I'm just going to integrate the kitchen into this as well.

 

[Gallowbraid]

And that brings us up to today, 9/18/2017. Used the trailer a few times locally and hauled it to Appalachian Rendezvous 2016. After that I thought I wanted to go a different direction so I put it up for sale. Nothing ever came of that and I decided against selling it. Used it again to go camping with @Twin Magnolias and caught the bug for some upgrades. That brings us to now.

With Irma roaring through last week and knocking our power out the timing couldn't have been better to test out the solar setup I'd been brewing up for the last year:

I temporarily mounted all the charging options and threw everything in the trailer.

We used this setup with an inverter during Irma to run a coffee pot since my Coleman Coffee Maker has grown legs. It worked quite well. This week I'm working on a larger mounting surface which will ultimately hold some terminal blocks, a couple 12V to 24V converters (I have 24v led strips I'll be using) and some other goodies. As I get it done I'll post updates.

 

[Twin Magnolias]

I can't wait to see this in action this weekend. Electrical is the next step for my trailer build.

 

[live2travel photography]

Great build. Hopefully you wont get the bug to sell it again and you can keep on building on what you have. I have always wanted a trailer for a base camp but never was able to bite the bullet and buy one. Looking forward to see what else you do to it.

 

[Gallowbraid]

I can't wait to see this in action this weekend. Electrical is the next step for my trailer build.

Hopefully I get this all sorted out by the time you start your setup so I can be of some assistance. So far I'm unhappy with the power distribution portion of version 2 and I can tell you what 12v to 24v converter not to buy.