SomedayAdventure's Military Trailer Build

Hold your Tongue!

So today...in the wake of BlkWgn and Defconbrix' words of wisdom, I completed (well almost) one of the nail bitinglyess upgrades to our Adventure Trailer for the Bear.
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We swapped out the Pintle Hitch for a Maxcoupler and added about 12" to the tongue length. Not a straight swap just so you know. Special thanks for help from Dave from Turtleback trailers for the help.


I don't know how to weld. There, I said it. Now that we've put that behind us, this is my friend John (from other work). I design the changes and he makes the metal stick. Mr. Leary and Cris should like him as he drives that truck in the background.

The plan was to take the pintle hitch off and swap in a max coupler. The reason for this was to eliminate the "play" in the hitch that was plaguing me for months. Every stop and start began and ended with an obnoxious "CLANK BOOM". It wasn't so much that my truck couldn't take it. It was just annoying. Another problem inherent in the pintle hitch system is accuracy. With so much room and jerking in the connection point, backing was a bit of a guessing game. If I was backing over uneven ground or up a hill, the trailer might suddenly decide to commit to a direction I had not put through my steering wheel.
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So off it came. Four annoyingly uneasy bolts to reach later and it was off. What made it even better were the five something layers of military grade bullet proof paint embedded in the threads of each bolt.
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Using my wheel grinder, I knocked off the cable holder as it was not necessary and got in the way of the planned upgrade. I also removed the brake line as there was no longer a surge brake on board.
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I measured six inches from the box of the trailer and marked my place for the new cross beam to support the new tongue. This was a piece of 2"x3" 1/8th" steel which would act as a square base for the 2.5"x2.5" four foot hitch tube. We marked off the angle of the arms and then...
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cut it to fit.
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Measure...adjust...measure...tac...measure...adjust...tac...measure...weld
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And there you have it.
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With the base for the new tongue done, I measured to find center and we tacked that in as well.
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We welded the hitch tube into place and then welded the tips of the original arms to the edge of the new hitch arm.
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Finally, we cut additional segments of the 2"x3" to further stabilize the hitch arm and strengthen the new tongue all together.

To be continued...








 
Part Deux: Hold Your Tongue

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After setting the initial cross piece to seat the hitch tube, we welded the edge of the original tongue. We welded vertically up the contact of course, but then overlapped about half an inch to give it a little extra support.

We then cut two segments from the 2"x3" tube to make additional lateral support as the overall length of the tongue/hitch tube would be drastically increased. My concern was that the leverage and pressure now capable of being produced by the longer tongue would cause the small (in comparison) welds on the tip of the old tongue to crack or break. 'Go big or go home' Chelsea always says. That's actually the reason we have an F350 and not just a 250 ha.

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Then, I had to deal with the safety issue. With the new and added length, the old chains could not reach my truck from their old mount points. I made the decision to weld them just in front of the new Max Coupler pin holes.
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And there it is. Old military paint ground off, welded to the new tongue, repainted and never left behind.
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Please welcome...the new...and improved...
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There still are a few things to do that we did not get to and actually had to add to the "to do" list.
*Steel deck for top of tongue to hold generator (for now that's the plan)
*Trailer to be rewired...old one not long enough lol
*New running lights for the front of the trailer (yellow) as it is longer and now I should have them.
*New brake lights (maybe LED and brighter)
*New reverse lights (maybe LED and brighter)



 
Looks great, the M101A3 matches your 350 perfectly.

The Maxcoupler is a nice addition over the pintle. The only draw back is it's not as easy to hookup. However the benefits of not have the noise while braking/accelerating and having control while backing makes it worth it.
 
Trailer looks great, I think you will be very happy with the max coupler. Now, on to important things . . . . where is the info on the Dodge :)
 
Can you send them to my house to do the same thing to my M101A3?
where are you out of?

Looks great, the M101A3 matches your 350 perfectly.The Maxcoupler is a nice addition over the pintle. The only draw back is it's not as easy to hookup. However the benefits of not have the noise while braking/accelerating and having control while backing makes it worth it.

I've already noticed noise and bang reduction. Now I just need to get it rewired with longer wire.
 
A Tale of Two Tents:

It was the best of trailers. It was the worst of trailers. And so, the build continues. There is still so much more to do and modify. Why oh why can I not be satisfied my lord...oh yeah! Because I want it to be awesome.
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So, the next phase of the build is up. You might think "But it's mounted to your truck!?" To this I tell you...well yeah it is. But, the plan is for that to be temporary. Maybe.
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You see, the idea is to develop a nowhere base camp. A place for a family to stay in the middle of nowhere. A family with a father that's 6'4" and a mother that's 5'10" and a 9 month old baby who would be in the 120% for growth. I also like the idea of bringing friends along.
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And so, I give you our newest living quarters...the CVT Mt. Thielson automatic deploying tent.
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One of my ideas (after I flip it around...mounted it facing the wrong way oops) is to have the two big boys stay in this one and have a plank from one tent to the other like a bridge so they never have to touch the ground. My OTHER idea is to mount this under the deck of the trailer on a roll out deck. This would extend over the tongue and have two support posts at the end to help hold it up. Unfortunately, the tent is about 5' wide and so is the inside of the trailer's deck posts. We'll see how that works out.
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Until next time...



 
Can you give a bit more detail on the platform you built. I'm about to start mine. Like what materials you used maybe a estimated cost. I'd appreciate it.
 
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