M101A2 Camping/Expo Trailer

nexgen91

Observer
Not sure how much of a build thread this is going to turn out to be (may take a while). Here is my recently acquired (from Gov Liquidations at the tune of $352 out the door) 1990 M101A2 trailer. I would have prefered a M416 but since the price is stupid high and I cant even find one remotley close to me I settled for this cheaper/semi local option. It has the original axle and smaller tires. I want to swap out the axle, but right now funds wont allow it. I am working on getting rid of the rust (the inside of the box was worse than the outside) and repainting/roll on bed liner. For now its going to be a camping gear transport trailer (which ultimately most expo trailers are). I have thrown around the idea of cutting it down some by cutting out a portion of the center and re welding the sides to the inside of the fender wells, then rebuilding the exposed floor for more of a trail friendly shape (think M416 with shelves on the sides for fuel/water cans) but I don't know if that would be worth the effort/sacrifice of space. Here are the pics from the day I got it home (pulled it home with my wifes honda pilot). It almost looks to big for my truck, but Im loving the amount of space it has.


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Mark Harley

Expedition Leader
NICE! That trailer will look great painted toyota green with matching 6 bolt hubs and wheels.
Let the build begin!
Good purchase.
 

Heat Miser

New member
Nice trailer. It's definitely not too big for the Taco. I pull mine with a 2-door Wrangler. Have fun with it.
 

nexgen91

Observer
Where did yuo get that roll bar light bar? The one on your Taco.

It came on the truck when I bought it from the previous owner, I think they had it built. I like it cause its got a bed bar for a high lift, and a cb antenna mount to.


NICE! That trailer will look great painted toyota green with matching 6 bolt hubs and wheels.
Let the build begin!
Good purchase.

That would be awsome, for now though Im going to paint it krylon camo green (scratch resistance and easy to tuch up)

Nice trailer. It's definitely not too big for the Taco. I pull mine with a 2-door Wrangler. Have fun with it.

Thanks for the reassurance, I have seen pics of people pulling the with 4 dr JKs which are close to the size of my truck, and also FJ cruisers as well. The proportions just look off in my pics for some reason.
 
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nexgen91

Observer
Here are some photochops I did playing around (first one is for referance)
newtrailer2.jpg


For this one I removed part of the front of the box:
newtrailer2copy2.jpg


For this one I removed part of the rear and front of the box and shortened the tongue, looks more balanced, but Im kind of scared of shortening the tongue (my welding skills are not spectacular, and I dont have money to pay someone to do it):
newtrailer2copy.jpg


Either way it would still be really wide.

Speaking of a huge trailer check this out:
Here are the weights...
Empty (truck & trailer): 5920 lbs.
Full: 8680 lbs.
Trailer Weight (empty): 1,730 lbs.
Truck Weight (empty): 4190 lbs.
My Weight: 150 lbs.
Load Weight: 2710 lbs.
Truck/Trailer/Me weight: 8830 lbs.

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shogun

Adventurer
. It almost looks to big for my truck, but Im loving the amount of space it has.

You are correct. It is too big.

OK for highway use, and gentle dirt roads, but out of line for heavy use off-road. Of course you may never do that, which doeant mean its untrue. Heavily loaded this trailer will drive your vehicle. And keep in mind that, in general, mil trailers will gross out before they bulk out, which will entice you to overload it.

Then again, I am the lone voice on this issue. They are great trailers, I wouldnt cut it.
 

nexgen91

Observer
Train tables in the trailer?

Its the floor to my boys club house (the other wood parts are the sides), That thing was a paint to move.


Sorry to tell you this bro but the washer and dryer will not fit in th e build. lol

damn! lol

You are correct. It is too big.

OK for highway use, and gentle dirt roads, but out of line for heavy use off-road. Of course you may never do that, which doeant mean its untrue. Heavily loaded this trailer will drive your vehicle. And keep in mind that, in general, mil trailers will gross out before they bulk out, which will entice you to overload it.

Then again, I am the lone voice on this issue. They are great trailers, I wouldnt cut it.

Yeah I think for now Im going to leave it as is. Even if I dont use all the space (which I wont for camping) it will still be nice to have if I need it. I dont plan on offroading it, just use it to get my camping stuff to base camps. It might see light use on fire roads but thats about the extent of it.
 

Mark Harley

Expedition Leader
The 116 frames are great on these trailers.
Save weight and sell the bed "That is the heavy part"
and make a new box that is lighter.

I don't feel mine M101A2 when I drive even loaded But it is behind a 2500HD.
Keep us posted on the build.
 

JPK

Explorer
The 116 frames are great on these trailers.
Save weight and sell the bed "That is the heavy part"
and make a new box that is lighter.

I don't feel mine M101A2 when I drive even loaded But it is behind a 2500HD.
Keep us posted on the build.

I don't feel mine behind my 2500 Subuurban or my Hemi Jeep Wrangler Unlimited.

One reason that these trailers have a relatively light payload rating is because the Army rates the payload for off road use.

Does anyone really believe that the original axles on any of the variants, or the frames, tires, wheels are even close to max safe capacity with a total trailer and payload weight of under 3000lbs? (3500lbs for the one ton M101A3?)

And the trailers aren't limited in Army use to fire roads, there is no reason any of us should limit their use to fire roads - but tight trails are another thing. Find a trail that would be tight for a Humvee and there will be plenty of room, find one that is tight for a Jeep or even a 3/4 or one ton PU and it is going to be a challenge. I'm not advocating tackling the Rubicon with one though...

JPK
 

lowenbrau

Explorer
I narrowed and shortened an M101A2 to use as a bed for an FJ45 once. They are not really as big as people make them out to be.

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Pikeman

Adventurer
That is the cross country weight rating of 3/4 ton. The Highway mileage is over twice that. The axle is actually a 6k axle. Its funny if you read the various data plates the differences. Also the military has a real big habit of under rating things because they know soldiers are going to exceed the stated limits. Good example is the "self recovery" winch on an LMTV is only rated at 11k. Well below the empty weight of the vehicle it is supposed to "self recover".
 

Arctic Cat

Adventurer
Hey Pal;

I own an M101A2 trailer and I'm working on it. A lot people will said that the trailer is too big, but I'm going to give you some dimension and you will see no major diferences:

These are some of the dimensions of the M101A2 Trailer:
M101A2
Dry Weight: 1,340 LBS
Width: 73.5 inches
Length: 147 inches long

For comparison purposes, I’m putting the dimension of the AT Horizon and AT Chaser:
AT Horizon:
Dry Weight: 1000 LBS, (Completely outfitted: 1,600 lbs)
Width: 68 inches
Length: 124 inches

AT Chaser: (Comparable to the CND M101 or the M416)
Dry weight: 700 LBS (Completely outfitted: 2,000 LBS)
Width: 66 Inches
Length: 141 inches
 

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