No.5 1965 Australian Army Trailer

[Steve F]

So I built my last offroad teardrop camper from scratch around 8 yrs ago, but now it is too small for my family and is not capable of traveling some of the more extreme trails here in Australia (want to go to Cape York again but my JK is too small for 3 and all our gear so need a tough trailer)

I looked at building another trailer but then saw the military 1/2 ton trailers are pretty cheap at auction so decided to grab one of them.

It's a 1965 No. 5 trailer and was built to be towed behind the Land Rovers specifically in Vietnam, this one was still in service only a month or so ago.

First the trailer, I won't change it much, maybe soften the springs a little, add some shocks and a spare tyre mount.

And the tow vehicle, here it is setup for just me camping, with 3 of us we take a Jettent F25X so need a bit more packing room

Next step is to get it legal and on the road, should take a week or so, and then a few tweaks to suit the jeep.

Cheers
Steve

 

[indiedog]

Love these trailers Steve. Looks like a very tidy unit that one. Keeping the pintle? Any chance of a photo of the underfloor frame?

And is the new van on hold?

 

[Steve F]

Yep, new van is on hold, may end up getting a new JK when the JL comes out and campers take e forever to build I don't pick this up until Monday so will grab some pics and post them here then.

At the moment I plan to keep the pintle but I think it might mmake it sit low at the front, since it bolts on I may just weld up a dropped mount for another style off offroad hitch so I can have the trailer sit level. Depends on the final height after I pull a leaf or two and add some shocks though so pintle for now.

Cheers
Steve

 

[Steve F]

Picked up the trailer today and dragged it home. Very pleased with the way it tows behind the JK, wouldn't know it was there and the pintel was quiet. I think I will drop a leaf from it to bring it down a little, I don't need the full carrying capacity anyway and want it a bit softer. Next to rewire the lights and I'm ready for the the registration inspection.

It was interesting going through the log books, looks like back in the mid 80's it went to a mechanic around the corner from me for some repairs, kinda cool seeing at some point it was only a km or two from where it lives now.

I took the canvas off for the trip home and used a couple of cable ties for the hood bow as the rear pin was missing and the front was missing a piece as well, I turned it inwards as I felt a little more comfortable if it came loose but normally it mounts along the edge of the tub for storage when the canvas is not in use

Tyres look pretty much new, still have the rubber nipples on them over most of the tyre.

Cheers
Steve

 

[SamM]

Steve F,
That's a great looking trailer. Can't wait to see what you do with it. I love watching video from the Outback and the adventures you guys have down there. Please post lots of pics!

SamM

 

[Steve F]

This is the sort of thing it has to deal with, when I last did a Cape York trip my daughter was 2 so three of us slept in the roof top tent, now we take a ground tent and the XJ has gone so the trailer will be doing luggage duties One of the reasons it won't become a camper etc is it needs to stay pretty light and simple for this sort off thing.

Cheers
Steve

 

[stomperxj]

Subscribed Steve. Your original teardrop was a big inspiration for me while researching mine. Sad to see the XJ go. I was a big fan of that too.

Looking forward to updates

 

[Steve F]

So, went for a blueslip (inspection for unregistered vehicles) and as expected it failed, needs a few things to be legal on the roads here. So with that in mind a few parts have stated to arrive. First of all the Lunette has been removed and I'm getting a piece of 14mm thick steel bent tomorrow to form the base of my adapter so I can mount the new hitch.

It will be something like this only thicker and longer (which means replacing the safety chains with longer ones as well).

To mount this, LED submersible lights have also turned up to replace the old lights.

Insertion Rubber on the way for mudflaps and then it's pretty much ready to put on the road. Also found a place with spray cans of the correct flat army green for painting the new parts.

Cheers
Steve

 

[Steve F]

Fitted the new lights, just need to wire then up now.

Cheers
Steve

 

[indiedog]

Not surprised you need mudflaps. But I gather the lunette is not civvy legal?

 

[Gizzard Stone]

Sweet trailer! There are a lot of US military trailers available here M416 i think. But they are BIG and HEAVY.

-M

 

[Steve F]

Not surprised you need mudflaps. But I gather the lunette is not civvy legal?

Nup Doesn't have a load rating stamped on it or a manufacturer. Of course it's massive and super strong but that isn't enough. I was going to swap it anyway so no big deal, it is cheaper to replace than buy a pintle hook as mine is borrowed.

Cheers
Steve

 

[Steve F]

Sweet trailer! There are a lot of US military trailers available here M416 i think. But they are BIG and HEAVY.

-M

These are built to tow behind an early land rover so are light (ish) at around 350kg (770lb), and fairly skinny to fit in the Land Rover wheel track. I thought the M416 was pretty light? Less 700lb?

These NO 5 Trailers are a half ton payload trailer so are built to take 500kg (1100lb) offroad, unfortunately legally the most I can carry in it due to it having no brakes is 390kg (860lb) but that is anywhere, so will easily cope offroad carrying that

Cheers
Steve

 

[Steve F]

Got a piece of 16MM flat bar bent and cut to size in the end. I think it might be overkill but it should do the job Have set it up to lower the hitch a bit as well to level it out some more. I was thinking of puting some side braces on it but I don't think this'll bend as it is (I'll probably brace it anyway).

Cheers
Steve

 

[indiedog]

Nup Doesn't have a load rating stamped on it or a manufacturer. Of course it's massive and super strong but that isn't enough. I was going to swap it anyway so no big deal, it is cheaper to replace than buy a pintle hook as mine is borrowed.

Cheers
Steve

Ha, so it's good enough for the army to pull it all over the country for 50 years but not good enough to tow on the blacktop? Crazy. How did you get it home if you don't have a pintle hook? That 16mm plate would weigh a ton and should be plenty strong enough.