PPansini10's M101 CDN2 Overland Trailer Build
- Thread starter PPansini10
- Start date
PPansini10
Member
Haha follow along everywhere!!
brentbba
Explorer
Nice! Having towed one of these little gems for about 5 years, you've done a great job.
My personal taste would have been to extend the fenders to cover the tires.
Second and a suggestion having seen it - cut off the bottom plate of the tongue jack and put a wheel on instead. You'll really like the easier maneuverability of the trailer! Got the idea from Paul May at Equipt1. AT Trailers had them, but all you've got to do is cut off the pad, and add a quick disconnect to bolt a wheel of your choice on with the standard 4 bolt patterns available at any trailer store.
My personal taste would have been to extend the fenders to cover the tires.
Second and a suggestion having seen it - cut off the bottom plate of the tongue jack and put a wheel on instead. You'll really like the easier maneuverability of the trailer! Got the idea from Paul May at Equipt1. AT Trailers had them, but all you've got to do is cut off the pad, and add a quick disconnect to bolt a wheel of your choice on with the standard 4 bolt patterns available at any trailer store.
PPansini10
Member
Thanks! For the fenders I was planning on doing that when I started, but really just wanted to get the trailer ready for camping season. Personally I don't mind the look right now, but its always something that I could fab up down the road if needed! I am definitely going to look into the wheel for the front jack that would make it way easier to move. To be honest, I'm not that happy with the jack. It works fine to hold the trailer up, but for some reason, the pin they supplied just give the jack a little too much wiggle for my liking. I might drill out the holes a bit to accommodate a better pin thats more snug, hopefully eliminating the wiggle I get now
Copasspupil
Observer
I really like your build. Nice toilet seat!!
I found myself in the same situation with the weld-on frame mount. It was even worse with a wheel as the base. I won't clog your thread with pictures, but the jack never stood up vertical. The wheel did not freely spin around and pretty much just skipped across the ground.PPansini10 said:
I have a bolt on jack now, for the time being.
PPansini10
Member
Got a few more things done to the trailer.. Attached some safety cables to the trailer and also bought a tongue box which i mounted up as well. The tongue box is a Kobalt universal truck tool box that fits perfectly on the tongue of the trailer. Almost like it was made for it! Decided on black diamond plate aluminum which is nice because it will match the paint scheme of the trailer, and also keep the weight down too.
Here's the cables and the weld on safety ring to attach them: I decided on cables vs chains because I wanted to keep the noise down and figured that cables would be better. Also less dragging and getting hung up on things.
Welded up and attached:
Next is the tongue box. For the mounting I decided to cut and weld on 4 tabs that I would then bolt the tool box too. Ended up working out great and the box won't be going anywhere!
And boom:
Here's the cables and the weld on safety ring to attach them: I decided on cables vs chains because I wanted to keep the noise down and figured that cables would be better. Also less dragging and getting hung up on things.
Welded up and attached:
Next is the tongue box. For the mounting I decided to cut and weld on 4 tabs that I would then bolt the tool box too. Ended up working out great and the box won't be going anywhere!
And boom:
Nice build. Neat to see these trailers get taken completely apart then reassembled.
What are you plans for the fenders? As others have mentioned, if you leave them as is, the rocks and mud will destroy your awning and make a general mess of everything.
I spied a few prime locations for gussets on the tongue and shelves that support the rack. I like how you oriented the pin hole on the tongue vertical. The length looks good to me, it will tow better and you will enjoy being able to jackknife it out of the way. Only draw back to such a long tongue is that you loose some high center clearance. The lockable, water tight, and dust tight toolbox will be nice.
For the landing gear, yes, a wheel makes it nice for moving the trailer around on hard surfaces and helps coupling to tow vehicle, especially with a max coupler. If you end up replacing it, consider a drop leg. Also, if you move the mount towards the rear, the jack will not take up your jackknife space/wont damage it accidentally if you get in a tight spot. It took some fiddling, but you can mount the female side of the mount with a gap at the top, this will make the landing gear vertical when deployed. Orienting the pin holes off of the perfect vertical/horizontal will also give some forward and backwards cant to landing gear, I found this to be nice as it takes the wobble out in this direction.
I know you already went with a max coupler but you had the worst possible combination to evaluate the pintle…. empty trailer with a 2” hook/ball combo.
Bumper dumper is nice, why not put in a location that could be covered by the awning/enclosed in awning room?
What are you plans for the fenders? As others have mentioned, if you leave them as is, the rocks and mud will destroy your awning and make a general mess of everything.
I spied a few prime locations for gussets on the tongue and shelves that support the rack. I like how you oriented the pin hole on the tongue vertical. The length looks good to me, it will tow better and you will enjoy being able to jackknife it out of the way. Only draw back to such a long tongue is that you loose some high center clearance. The lockable, water tight, and dust tight toolbox will be nice.
For the landing gear, yes, a wheel makes it nice for moving the trailer around on hard surfaces and helps coupling to tow vehicle, especially with a max coupler. If you end up replacing it, consider a drop leg. Also, if you move the mount towards the rear, the jack will not take up your jackknife space/wont damage it accidentally if you get in a tight spot. It took some fiddling, but you can mount the female side of the mount with a gap at the top, this will make the landing gear vertical when deployed. Orienting the pin holes off of the perfect vertical/horizontal will also give some forward and backwards cant to landing gear, I found this to be nice as it takes the wobble out in this direction.
I know you already went with a max coupler but you had the worst possible combination to evaluate the pintle…. empty trailer with a 2” hook/ball combo.
Bumper dumper is nice, why not put in a location that could be covered by the awning/enclosed in awning room?
PPansini10
Member
Thanks for the feedback and tips! Right now I plan on leaving the fenders as is. If it gets bad then I'll weld up a new set. I was also looking at some spots for gussets as well, those will come sooner or later. I'll prob end up getting a wheel to make it easier for me to move the trailer around, right now its not too bad but it only gets heavier as i load it. I love the max coupler its really smooth. For the bumper dumper, I have a blue pop up port potty that will enclose the whole thing, its actually an awesome little setup!
PPansini10
Member
Decided to paint up all the raw steel today in hopes of a maiden voyage soon. Still have other things i know i wanna get done before it gets professionally painted but just wanna stop as much rust as i can until then. Used flat black and it came out nice!
PPansini10
Member
First trip out with the trailer:
