My M101A2 Expo/Base Camp Trailer

[shack]

Trailer hitched up to it's new owners ride. I'm not gonna lie... it was a bit upsetting to watch it go.



The good news is that the new owner seems quite interested in using it for its intended purpose, so thats a plus. He's also a Toyota dealership GM, so thats another plus (for me, that is)

 

[jays0n]

Thanks very much for showing your linear actuator install, I built up my trailer two winters ago and opted to leave the tent rack at full height, knowing full well that the center of gravity will likely be too high for much off roading and I would have to come up with a solution later if it caused real issues. Well it's later and it's caused issues. Behind my FJ it just doesn't handle how I'd like it to. I've been tossing around the idea of using linear actuators as well but haven't pulled the trigger on it yet. Now that I've seen you pull off kinda what I was thinking I'd love it if you could answer a few questions about your experiences with the actuators

1. Do you pin the legs in the up or down position or just rely on the actuators to hold the rack in the up or down position?
2. Assuming that you just run all 4 at the same time do you have any binding on the way up or down? Did you have to grease the tubing at all?
3. Did you think about using just 2 actuators and leaving the lift cylinders on the other 2 posts?
4. Do all 4 stay in sync enough to do the job? I worry about 1 or 2 not running exactly the same speed and having binding because of it.

Thanks in advance, I was going to give up on this and leave it but you made it look easy, sounds like it's back on the menu again!

 

[dstock]

I'm about to swap mine over to the linear actuators, I'm going to mimic what shack has done. I do believe 4 are necessary, even just with regular struts it seems like just using 2 would cause binding issues.

I plan to get to mine between Christmas and New Years, and then I will post up in my build thread.

 

[jays0n]

That's about my time frame as well. I'll be going with 4 but was wondering if he ever attempted using just 2 in his build considering he could have easily swapped out just 2 and tried it.

 

[shack]

Thanks very much for showing your linear actuator install, I built up my trailer two winters ago and opted to leave the tent rack at full height, knowing full well that the center of gravity will likely be too high for much off roading and I would have to come up with a solution later if it caused real issues. Well it's later and it's caused issues. Behind my FJ it just doesn't handle how I'd like it to. I've been tossing around the idea of using linear actuators as well but haven't pulled the trigger on it yet. Now that I've seen you pull off kinda what I was thinking I'd love it if you could answer a few questions about your experiences with the actuators

[*]Do you pin the legs in the up or down position or just rely on the actuators to hold the rack in the up or down position?

The pop pins were really a hold over from using the gas springs. I still like being able to hold the rack in position but the actuators were so strong that once they were installed I didn't need to use the pins anymore. If I had it to do over again, I'd remove the pop pins and just use hitch pins on all 4 corners. That being said, when I wheeled TOTW, the rack wasn't sitting all the way down, meaning there was a gap between the inner leg and the outer sleeve, which caused the old actuator mounts to bend whenever I would drop off a ledge. This was caused by the actuator length being just a bit longer than the gas spring, so the pop pins didn't lock when the rack was in the lower position. Had the pop pins been situated correctly, I'd have had no problems

[*]Assuming that you just run all 4 at the same time do you have any binding on the way up or down? Did you have to grease the tubing at all?

no binding at all, no grease at all. I got a lot of binding with the gas springs but none with the actuators

[*]Did you think about using just 2 actuators and leaving the lift cylinders on the other 2 posts?

I did, but the actuators were cheap enough for me to not worry about that, IIRC about $240 for all 4. I also didn't want to run into any additional binding issues using springs and actuators. The springs and actuators rise at different speeds, so it just seemed overly complicated for no gain, really. The gas springs were $25-30 each, so you're only looking at an extra $60 to do it right.

[*]Do all 4 stay in sync enough to do the job? I worry about 1 or 2 not running exactly the same speed and having binding because of it.

Yes, I had no issues there. When I installed them, there was probably a 1/32" to 1/16" variation in mount placement between the legs, so I had to adjust the installed length accordingly. This means I just jogged the actuator a bit to get the mounts to line up. They I ran all 4 actuators positive leads to a terminal block so that if one did get out of whack, I could disconnect the ones that were ok and adjust the problem one accordingly. I never had any issues with that though. They all rise together and lower together. Flexing in the rack took care of the 1/16" difference in mount placement

Thanks in advance, I was going to give up on this and leave it but you made it look easy, sounds like it's back on the menu again!

Sure thing!

 

[dstock]

Great info as always!

I'm going to try to incorporate my pins when the rack is at rest but I figure I'm probably going to have to move one end of the actuator mounts to get things to line up.

Great idea with the terminal block for the just in case scenario.

 

[shack]

Great info as always!

I'm going to try to incorporate my pins when the rack is at rest but I figure I'm probably going to have to move one end of the actuator mounts to get things to line up.

Great idea with the terminal block for the just in case scenario.

Thanks, I try. I've gotten a lot of valuable info from forums, so I always try to share when I can. As for the terminal block, I was going to take it one step further and put an inline switch on each lead so I could just turn them off whenever I needed to. Never got around to it, though

 

[MrSmeed73]

Complete removal of surge brake assembly

Can anyone give a detailed process of how to remove the entire brake assembly (how to bleed hydraulics, things to watch for?)? Also do I need to get wheel spacers to make up the difference once the brake drum assembly is removed?

Sorry I'm a total novice to brake systems and need some help. I just bought one of these M101a2's and really like what you've done. Drove it home about 3 hours the other night and one of the wheel hubs was pretty hot by the time I got home, the other was completely cold. I'd just assume put the trailer on a serious diet and remove the whole system since I'll never really be hauling much more than my camping gear in it and a RTT.

 

[Lipek]

Can anyone give a detailed process of how to remove the entire brake assembly (how to bleed hydraulics, things to watch for?)? Also do I need to get wheel spacers to make up the difference once the brake drum assembly is removed?

Sorry I'm a total novice to brake systems and need some help. I just bought one of these M101a2's and really like what you've done. Drove it home about 3 hours the other night and one of the wheel hubs was pretty hot by the time I got home, the other was completely cold. I'd just assume put the trailer on a serious diet and remove the whole system since I'll never really be hauling much more than my camping gear in it and a RTT.

Depending what you drive it might be easier/better to replace the whole axle assembly with an aftermarket one ( you can make it your exact siz needed and with correct hub mounting for the same wheels as your truck)

 

[MrSmeed73]

That's in my plans eventually. I forgot to mention that I'm leaving on a 2 week road trip to Jackson Hole, Yellowstone and then on to Bozeman in about 3 weeks. Don't think I can pull that off in time and want to save some cash for this trip right now.

I dug a little deeper tonight after work and think I found my problem. The hand brake on the drivers side has some serious slack in it when the handle is in the off position. Makes me think that's the culprit. I've read that bearings make a lot of noise when they go bad (which this wasn't at all) and that the friction from a stuck brake matches the heat I felt coming home. It started in the hub and then the whole rim was warm. Going to try and pull the wheel and drum cover and see what's what.

I'm pulling it with a 2015 Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk so it's probably a little heavy for my rig. Losing the brake system seems to reduce a few hundy from the overall trailer which would be nice. If I put my money anywhere right now, it will be on the Ozhitch. I know the pintle system gets a lot of credit for off-roading, but being loose like that makes so much noise and on a washboard road (which lets face it, most of 90 is washboard) it tends to jerk on my truck and bounce a lot.

Overall the trailer is in decent shape, came with some brand new BF Goodrich's and even a older full size spare. Weight wise it probably a wash for removing the brake system almost).

Sorry shack, don't mean to take over your thread, but I'm new to how this all works and you seem to be an expert on the M101! Would appreciate any of your wisdom if you're still following this.

Thanks!

 

[RagnarD]

You don't save much weight removing the brakes. For your tow vehicle, if the surge brakes are working, I would keep them. Spray some lube on the cables, pull hubs, repack bearings, clean brake components, adjust brakes, adjust brake levers, bleed fluid/refill if needed, make sure break away lever is not engaged.

 

[shack]

I did a full axle replacement with electric and parking brakes. If you go with anything other than the stock lunette, you're going to lose your hydraulic brakes anyway, so you might as well replace the axle too. Axles are relatively cheap. Having said that, if you're dragging brakes on one side, there's a little slot on the back side of the brake shield that has a worm gear inside of it. Use a flathead screwdriver to adjust the brakes by rotating the gear up or down. You might also go over to steelsoldiers.com and download the manual for working on your trailer. Keep in mind these are designed to be worked on by 18 year old kids, so the systems are very easy to understand.

Good luck!

 

[bobholthaus]

Shack: reviving this post. Why did you sell it and what did you replace it with? The actuators have a 90 day warranty, which tells me they might be junk. How many times did you use yours? From the above, it sounds like you had no issues with them. Thanks for the great write up.

Anyone else using these actuators have any more feedback on them?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

 

[dstock]

Shack: reviving this post. Why did you sell it and what did you replace it with? The actuators have a 90 day warranty, which tells me they might be junk. How many times did you use yours? From the above, it sounds like you had no issues with them. Thanks for the great write up.

Anyone else using these actuators have any more feedback on them?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

I have the same actuators...no issues so far and I've used them quite a bit.

 

[bobholthaus]

Thanks, I'm ordering mine today!